Chapter 104: Taking pleasure in misfortune
"Yu Hua, the star official of Gu Chen, drinks and has fun all day long. He often causes trouble when drunk and should be severely punished. His teacher, Yu Yuan, the star official of Shui Fu, also failed to educate him strictly."
"Hu Lei, the Tianliang star official, spoke indecently, disrespected the emperor, and made irresponsible comments on state affairs. He should be punished with thirty strokes of the cane and imprisoned for sixty years as a warning to others. His teacher, the Holy Mother of Fire Spirit, protected his disciple and openly obstructed the enforcement of the law by the Temple of Justice. He should be severely punished to uphold the majesty of the Heavenly Laws and Regulations."
"The Plague God, the Eastern Plague Envoy Zhou Xin, took advantage of the plague to test the plague on the people of the world, causing the deaths of 130,000 people in Yizhou and Anjun in the Southern Continent who should not have been affected by the plague. He should be punished with a thousand arrows piercing his heart for a thousand years, and be suppressed to the point of despair and never released."
…
Yang Jian still had no idea why the three parties of Chan, Jie and Tianting had joined forces to bring down a large number of natural disasters in the Southern Continent to weaken the fortunes of the human race.
He could only use this temporary solution and try his best to keep these righteous gods of the Jiejiao who were in charge of disasters and blessings in the Heavenly Palace to buy himself some time.
In just half a month, Yang Jian submitted thirteen memorials and successfully sent eleven righteous gods, including Yu Hua, Hu Lei, Zhou Xin, etc., to the Heavenly Prison.
People like Yu Yuan, the Holy Mother of Fire Spirit, and Lu Yue, who had extraordinary identities and status, were also implicated by their disciples, and were either fined their salaries or ordered to reflect on their actions behind closed doors.
For a moment, the entire heaven was shaken.
[Prisoner: Yu Hua, the lonely star official]
[Sin value: three stars]
[Cultivation: Ninth Level of Celestial Immortal]
[Status: Escorted]
[Capture participation: 5%]
[Benefit: 2850 experience points/day]
…
[Prisoner: Tianliang Star Officer Hu Lei]
【Sin value: two stars】
[Cultivation: First level of Celestial Immortal]
…
[Prisoner: Zhou Xin, the Eastern Plague Messenger]
[Sin value: six stars]
…
Li Anran watched as one Jiejiao deity after another was sent to the Heavenly Prison, and mistakenly believed that the big thing Yang Jian was talking about was that he was going to take action against the Jiejiao deities.
Besides being worried, I also feel confused.
"Yang Jian doesn't need to be so forceful! Those people from Jiejiao don't want to be the true gods. He can take back the power with more gentle means!"
Yang Jian wants to rectify the heavenly rules and change the lazy working habits of the various departments in the heavenly court. These righteous gods of Jiejiao are undoubtedly the biggest problem!
They were forced into the List of Gods, becoming gods in heaven, which was never looked down upon by the gods, just sitting in a vacant position doing nothing!
He ignored the Jade Emperor's orders and acted according to his own preferences.
With these righteous gods setting an example, the gods, immortal officials, heavenly soldiers and generals below all follow suit and always do things perfunctorily, trying to save as much effort as possible and to gain as much benefit as possible.
Occasionally there are people who are serious about doing things, but they will quickly be assimilated by them.
Those who cannot assimilate will be excluded and suppressed.
Just like what happened to Li Anran in the Heavenly Prison.
However, these places still have some bottom line, unlike the Sky Prison which is so thoroughly corrupt and rotten so wantonly.
The wrong judgment made Li Anran unable to understand why Yang Jian did this, but this did not affect his clear understanding that he could do nothing.
Li Anran suppressed his doubts and looked up the life stories of these righteous gods.
As a result, he discovered that the third and fourth generation disciples of Jiejiao had never been to Jin'ao Island!
Most of them were disciples recruited by the second generation of Jiejiao on their way back to their caves from Jin'ao Island after the signing of the List of Gods.
It would be fine if it was just one case, but it is obviously not a coincidence if all of them are like this!
But it had already been discussed!
"It's true that all crows are evil! Whether it's the Chan Sect or the Jie Sect, none of these ancient Qigong practitioners are good people!"
Li Anran thought of the three generations of disciples that the Chan Sect accepted on the eve of the Conferred God Catastrophe.
In the previous life, many people speculated that the Twelve Golden Immortals of the Orthodox Sect accepted disciples such as Huang Tianhua, Yang Ren, Yin Jiao, and Yin Hong so that they would not be included in the List of Conferred Gods, and let them serve as scapegoats and make up the numbers on the list.
Now it seems that not only Chanjie, but also the disciples of Jiejiao are making the same plan.
It’s just that their methods are a little weaker, their faces are a little thinner, and their hearts are not cruel enough or dark enough.
It is well known that the Conferred God Ceremony has already begun, and most of the people on the list will come from the two sects of Chan and Jie.
From Master Tongtian to direct disciples such as Duobao Wudang Jinling Guiling and Lu Yue, as well as outer disciples such as Qiushouxian and Lingyaxian, they all regarded the Conferred God Catastrophe as a competition among fellow disciples that was forced to take place under the will of heaven.
At the beginning, he treated the disciples of the Chan Sect as his former fellow disciples and only wanted to seek justice, so he did not kill them.
The Chan sect is much more sober.
From the beginning, it was understood that this was a life-and-death struggle, and the attitude towards Jiejiao was to kill if possible, and if not, to go back and ask the parents to kill them.
If one of the opponents dies, there will be one less deity on the list of gods, and you will have one more chance of survival.
By the time Jiejiao reacted, its disciples had already suffered heavy casualties.
Master Tongtian was so angry that he no longer cared about his face and started to fight himself.
Unexpectedly, Yuanshi Tianzun was more thorough and directly brought in the Supreme Saint, Jie Yin and Zhunti to form a four-on-one situation.
As a result, they not only sacrificed their new disciples, but also themselves.
By watching the life stories of these Jiejiao disciples, Li Anran once again confirmed his judgment that "misfortunes often bring good fortune".
During the catastrophe, the speed at which all cultivators improve their cultivation will be greatly increased.
After successfully surviving the catastrophe, your cultivation will surge again.
But after that, the speed of improvement in cultivation will slow down until it stagnates.
People like Li Qi, Yu Hua, and Hu Lei practiced for thousands of years before they became disciples of Jiejiao, and they have only just become true immortals.
But after becoming a disciple of Jiejiao and being caught up in the catastrophe of the Conferred Gods, their cultivation began to advance by leaps and bounds. In just a dozen years, they broke through to the level of celestial immortals, and some even reached the seventh level of celestial immortals.
Li Qi and his friends did not understand this and thought that it was due to their master's teachings and guidance, so they attributed all the credit to the Jiejiao and the saint.
This is also an important reason why they are grateful and loyal to Jiejiao.
In their life stories, Li Anran also saw Nezha and Yang Jian during the Conferred Gods period, and saw the process of their fight with Nezha and Yang Jian.
Compared to them, people like Yang Jian and Nezha, who have a deep background and outstanding talents, improve their cultivation at a faster speed.
In the early stage of Conferred Gods, Yang Jian had just entered the realm of Golden Immortal, and Nezha had only the initial stage of Profound Immortal.
But later on, Yang Jian had already reached the seventh level of Golden Immortal, and Nezha also made rapid progress to the peak of Profound Immortal.
And this took less than ten years!
It’s much faster than the speed Li Anran improved using the system!
Li Anran speculated that after surviving the catastrophe of the Conferred Gods, Yang Jian's cultivation should have reached the peak of the Golden Immortal and might even have broken through to the Taiyi Golden Immortal realm.
Nezha must have broken through to the Golden Immortal level.
However, after this, there was a long period of stagnation in cultivation.
When Nezha fought against the Nine-Headed Insect before, the strength he displayed was only slightly stronger than the Monkey King who was at the sixth level of the Golden Immortal Realm, but not as strong as the Monkey King who was at the ninth level of the Golden Immortal Realm.
Ten thousand years of peace are not as good as more than ten years during a period of catastrophe. This shows the impact of catastrophe on cultivation!
Apart from this, Li Anran’s biggest feeling is that magic weapons are really the key!
Li Qi and Yu Hua's cultivation was far inferior to that of Yang Jian, Nezha, Jinzha, and Muzha, the third-generation disciples of the Chan sect, but they were able to fight back and forth with them, and even nearly killed them. All they did was rely on the magic weapons bestowed by their respective masters!
Of course, what is more important than magic weapons is a backer!
Especially a backer who can save your face!
The advantage that Li Qi and Yu Hua had gained with their magic weapons vanished in an instant after Yang Jian and Nezha returned to the mountain to invite their parents, and even he himself died and was listed on the List of Gods!
This is enough to illustrate the importance of having a backer!
It was as if Lu Yue had not taught Li Qi many real skills and only treated him as a scapegoat to avoid being on the list.
Yu Yuan and the Golden Spirit Mother also did not teach Yu Hua and Hu Lei any real skills. They only taught them how to practice breathing exercises and gave them some magic weapons.
None of this is of any use to Li Anran.
Although Yu Yuan and Holy Mother Fire Spirit are stronger than him, their strengths are limited.
The level and depth of his preaching is far inferior to that of Taoist Yan and Demon Master Kunpeng.
Li Anran’s only gain was that he knew how to deal with them!
How to make an antidote for smallpox, how to make an antidote for the Blood-Transforming Divine Sword...
He already knew it all.
Time flies and another two months have passed.
On this day, Li Anran was practicing martial arts in the Tianlao Palace when he saw a figure flying over from the horizon.
The person who came was Nezha!
Ever since Li Anran and Yang Jian "broke up", Li Jing may have felt that this was the result of his previous deliberate sending of Nezha to escort the prisoners to the Heavenly Prison, and he no longer restricted Nezha's interactions with Li Anran.
During this period, Nezha would come to Li Anran from time to time to drink, discuss Taoism and exchange martial arts.
But today, Nezha obviously didn't come to him to drink and exchange ideas.
Nezha excitedly pulled Li Anran and said, "Li Anran, have you heard? A big thing happened in the Southern Continent recently!"
Li Anran looked confused: "What's the matter?"
Nezha said: "There is a Qigong master named Zhang Jiao in the Southern Continent. He used the names of Emperor Xuanyuan and the Supreme Saint Laozi to create a Taiping Dao, claiming that 'the blue sky is dead, the yellow sky should be established', and he also worshipped Zhonghuang Taiyi as the supreme god."
Li Anran: “???” Is this the big thing you are talking about?
Li Anran was a little confused.
The history of Jambudvīpa in the world of Journey to the West is extremely similar to the history of China on Earth.
When the monkey was suppressed under the Five Finger Mountain, Wang Mang was usurping the Han Dynasty. Now, more than a hundred years have passed, and it is the end of the Eastern Han Dynasty. Isn't it normal to have the Yellow Turban Rebellion?
In his previous life, Li Anran liked Journey to the West and also loved watching Romance of the Three Kingdoms.
I had thought before that if I had the chance, I could go to Jambu Continent to see those famous civil and military officials in the Romance of the Three Kingdoms and watch some famous scenes.
Anyway, those mortals can't find him.
The other gods didn't know about the Romance of the Three Kingdoms either, so they just thought he was curious about the affairs of the mortal world and didn't think much about it.
But soon, Li Anran noticed that Nezha's expression was not right.
The look on his face didn't sound like he was talking about some insignificant peasant uprising that happened in the mortal world, but rather something that made him extremely excited and happy.
Something that can make Nezha extremely excited and happy?
An idea suddenly flashed through Li Anran's mind, and he asked tentatively: "Isn't this just a peasant uprising in the mortal world? Could it have an impact on the heavenly court?"
"It's more than just an impact!"
Seeing Li Anran's bewildered face, Nezha almost jumped up in anxiety and shouted, "Zhang Jiao is a Qigong practitioner, not an ignorant mortal! He said, 'The blue sky is dead, the yellow sky should be established', and Zhonghuang Taiyi is worshipped as the supreme god. Then where does he put the Jade Emperor?"
"Moreover, he is not just talking, he has gained the support of a large part of the people in the Southern Continent. The destiny of the human race has been divided into two, a small half is on the Han Dynasty, and the other large half is concentrated on him! Do you know what this means?"
"This means that if that horn succeeds, it will be able to gather the destiny of the human race and establish a heaven on earth! Then maybe the events of the witch and lich will happen again!"
"Ah?! A repeat of what happened with the lich? Is it that exaggerated?" Li Anran found it hard to believe.
He never expected that a mere Yellow Turban Rebellion would be associated with the Lich Catastrophe.
"Of course!"
Nezha stared and said loudly: "Why did the Wu Clan go to war with the ancient demon clan of Heaven? Wasn't it because Donghuang Taiyi and Dijun were too domineering, and they wanted to unite all the tribes in the prehistoric world into one demon clan!"
"The Wu tribe refused to submit to them, so they used various means to target the Wu tribe, trying to make them surrender."
"As a result, the twelve witch ancestors directly raised the banner of rebellion, refusing to recognize Donghuang Taiyi and Di Jun as the emperors who ruled the ancient world. They regarded Pangu as their ancestor god and went to war with the demon clan."
"That's why the war between wizards and liches happened later. The ancient demon clan was destroyed, and Haotian had the opportunity to become the Jade Emperor."
"Think about it, isn't this very similar to the current situation? There have been various natural disasters in the Southern Continent, and the three brothers Zhang Jiao, the human Qigong masters, have risen up in resistance, calling on all human beings in the world to work together to overthrow the rule of the Heavenly Court."
Li Anran: “…” An eighty-pound body, and a seventy-nine-pound rebellious character!
This description of Nezha is absolutely correct!
Nezha's expression showed that he wished that Zhang Jiao would unify the human race tomorrow, no, it should be today, and lead his troops to attack the heaven tomorrow!
Nezha noticed Li Anran's speechless expression and felt a little embarrassed. He quickly controlled his expression and tried to speak in a calm tone: "So this matter is really serious, a thousand times and ten thousand times more serious than the monkey's rampage in the Heavenly Palace!"
Li Anran asked: "What will the Jade Emperor do?"
Nezha said, "There is nothing we can do! The human race is the protagonist of the Heavenly Dao today, and there is the Nine Cauldrons Formation in the Southern Continent! If the Jade Emperor forcibly sends troops to suppress Zhang Jiao, it will only backfire, and he might even be suppressed by the Nine Cauldrons Formation!"
Li Anran: “…” Do you really want to destroy the Heavenly Palace?
Li Anran could see that Nezha was trying very hard to hold back his laughter and to appear more serious, but he could not conceal the smile on the corner of his mouth and the gloating on his face.
