Chapter 657
The Official Gazette Scandal
Zhuang Yan quickly digested the information from Hongjun Daoist, but he still had some questions. "Why would the Five Elements Heavenly Dao destroy the Profound Law Heavenly Dao?" he asked Hongjun Daoist.
Hongjun Daoist smiled and said, "This answer is the key to all the questions, but we cannot tell Shenxiao Emperor yet."
"Why?" Zhuang Yan frowned, then looked at Laozi and Buddha.
Hongjun Daoist did not answer; his gaze also turned to Laozi and Buddha.
Finally, it was Laozi who spoke up: "Divine Emperor, you need to attain the 'Great Dao Fruit' within three hundred years before I can tell you the answer."
The Buddha said, "What I can tell you now is that it was by chance that the souls of the Twelve Beauties were corrupted by the Five Elements Heavenly Dao. The power of the Five Elements Heavenly Dao and the Pangu Heavenly Dao accidentally intersected at that moment, and then the souls of the Twelve Beauties were caught in a sudden spatial intersection."
"But chaos is infinitely vast, and this encounter did not establish a connection between the two Heavenly Daos. It is extremely difficult for the powerful beings of the Five Elements Heavenly Dao to find the location of our Pangu Heavenly Dao in the vast chaos. According to Laozi's calculations, this timeframe is over three hundred years," the Buddha Tathagata said slowly.
Zhuang Yan asked, "So, this chance encounter allowed the Five Elements Heavenly Dao to learn of the existence of my Pangu Heavenly Dao, but it will take them at least three hundred years to pinpoint our location from the vast chaos?"
Lao Tzu laughed and said, "It will also take us three hundred years to pinpoint their location."
Zhuang Yan sensed something different in Laozi's tone: "Does Laozi mean that you are also searching for the location of the Five Elements Heavenly Dao?"
Laozi and Buddha smiled without saying a word, while Hongjun Daoist's face showed an inexplicable expression.
"Divine Emperor of Shenxiao," Laozi said again, "You have three hundred years to attain the Great Dao Fruit as soon as possible, and then you will know the whole truth."
Zhuang Yan asked, "What would happen if someone knew the truth before attaining the Great Dao Fruit?"
Hongjun Daoist said, "You will be sensed by the great powers of the Five Elements Heavenly Dao, and then they will continuously send great power to erode you. Only cultivators who have attained the Great Dao Fruit can resist the erosion. The memories of the immortals of my Xuan Sect are still sealed."
Zhuang Yan nodded and said, "I understand."
After saying this, Zhuang Yan bowed to the three sect leaders in front of him and said, "Then I will take my leave."
Laozi, Shakyamuni, and Hongjun Daoist all cupped their hands and said, "Please go ahead, Divine Emperor Shenxiao."
Zhuang Yan rode the auspicious cloud away from Zixiao Palace and returned to the Tongming Hall of Taiwei Yuqing Palace.
The spirit official at the entrance told Zhuang Yan, "The Great Celestial Venerable said that there is no need to report when the Divine Firmament Emperor arrives; he can enter the hall directly."
Zhuang Yan nodded, then straightened his clothes and stepped into the Tongming Hall.
The Jade Emperor remained seated high in the Hall of Universal Brightness, but there was still no one inside.
"Have you already met Hongjun Daoist?" the Jade Emperor asked.
Zhuang Yan nodded and said, "Yes, I already know some things, but the three leaders have not told me the reasons and the truth."
"Hmm." The Jade Emperor nodded and said, "You have not yet attained the Great Dao Fruit, so naturally I cannot tell you the truth."
At this point, the Jade Emperor asked Zhuang Yan, "Can you attain the Great Dao Fruit in three hundred years?"
Such a thing would be hard to believe for anyone. After all, Zhuang Yan has only been a celestial being for a little over a thousand years. To go from a celestial being to a Great Enlightenment or a Great Luo in just over a thousand years is something that everyone thinks is a pipe dream.
However, this is not surprising when applied to Zhuang Yan, because Zhuang Yan is only a Celestial Immortal, yet he is already able to suppress a Great Awakening Golden Immortal.
Therefore, both the Jade Emperor and Laozi have already regarded Zhuang Yan as a cultivator who has attained the Great Dao Fruit, only that his cultivation level has not yet reached that level.
Zhuang Yan bowed deeply and said, "Your subject will do his utmost."
"Very well." The Jade Emperor said, "And what about the mortal realm? Can you guarantee that three hundred years from now, when the Heavenly Dao of Pangu meets the Heavenly Dao of the Five Elements, all the heavens of the Three Realms will be completely under your control?"
Upon hearing this, Zhuang Yan immediately realized something. "Your Majesty, does this mean that in the future, when we fight against the Five Elements Heavenly Dao, we will still have to rely on the power of the mortal world?"
"Not bad." The Jade Emperor nodded and said, "You must ensure that the Jade Palace of the Mortal Realm has absolute control over the Three Realms and all the heavens."
"Your Majesty understands," Zhuang Yan said. "I can do it, please rest assured."
The Jade Emperor smiled and nodded, saying, "With your words of advice, I have no worries."
After staying in Heaven for some time, Zhuang Yan bid farewell to the Jade Emperor and returned to the mortal realm.
What Zhuang Yan learned during his trip to Da Luo Tian truly shocked him, and the three hundred years he had left was indeed too short.
Whether it was Laozi and the other two, or the Jade Emperor, they all seemed to have high expectations for him to attain the Great Dao.
You should know that the Jade Emperor immediately sent the Fengdu Emperor back to the underworld. He didn't even tell the Fengdu Emperor this, but told him alone.
Zhuang Yan's mindset has undergone a huge change. He originally wanted to slowly push forward the integration of Nanzhanbuzhou, but now he can no longer delay.
It was at this moment that someone offered Zhuang Yan a knife.
The person who handed over the knife was the Southern Jambudvipa branch of the Human Remnant Gazette, which had retreated to the Two Realms Mountain. They then released a massive amount of gazettes into the Southern Jambudvipa.
This time, the official gazette was even more shocking, so much so that Chi Ling immediately presented it to Zhuang Yan after reading it.
"A Critique of the Governance of the Southern Mountain Emperor and the Southern Mountain Divine Palace over the Southern Jambudvipa." The author is Qi Ying'e, the head of the Southern Jambudvipa branch of the Human World Gazette.
Zhuang Yan's gaze narrowed slightly as he read on carefully, discovering that everything described above pertained to the corruption of the entire Southern Continent's divine path.
There are mountain gods who extort cultivators from their sacred cave dwellings, water gods who devour young boys and girls, land gods who collude with monsters, and deities who wreak havoc on the region alongside evil spirits.
This official gazette detailed the current chaos in the pantheon of deities and the corruption of those gods.
Moreover, each statement is substantial and clearly identifies which deity from which shrine it pertains to.
Furthermore, at the end of the official gazette, all the chaos was attributed to the incompetence of the Great Emperor of the Southern Mountain and the Southern Mountain Divine Palace, and their failure to govern the Southern Jambudvipa.
Clearly, Qi Ying'e came prepared this time; she was not just making things up, but had collected a great deal of evidence.
Zhuang Yan put down the official gazette and said to Chi Ling, "Go to the Southern Mountain Divine Palace."
Chi Ling bowed respectfully and said, "As you command." Then she immediately went to summon the divine generals.
The seven hundred scattered immortals have now become generals under the command of the Generals ...
Qi Ying'e's official report this time caused a huge uproar in the Southern Jambudvipa, not only greatly shaking the divine path of the Southern Jambudvipa, but also stirring up waves in the cultivation world of the Southern Jambudvipa.
In the Wuliangbao Temple on Mount Sumeru, Maitreya Buddha asked Amitabha Buddha, "How many of my Buddhist disciples are involved with the deities of Jambudvipa?"
Amitabha Buddha replied, "World Honored One, this matter should be asked of the Buddha of Nirvana."
Maitreya Buddha immediately said to the yellow-browed boy beside him, "Boy, quickly go and invite the Buddha of Nirvana."
The Yellow-Eyebrowed Boy bowed and said, "I will obey the Buddha's teachings."
Not long after, the Buddha Xuanzang arrived at the Mahavira Hall of Wuliangbao Temple, bowed to Maitreya Buddha, and said, "Greetings, World Honored Maitreya."
Maitreya Buddha asked, "Buddha of Nirvana, how many of my Buddhist disciples are involved with the deities of Jambudvipa?"
“Then there are many,” Xuanzang said. “Disciples from Wutai Mountain, Emei Mountain, Fanjing Mountain, Luojia Mountain, and even the Joyful Sacred Realm have connections with the deities of Jambudvipa.”
The Joyful Sacred Realm is the sacred site of Ratnasambhava Buddha in the South. After hearing this, Maitreya Buddha frowned deeply.
After a moment, he asked Xuanzang, "Why are there so many disciples?"
Xuanzang replied, “Reporting to the World Honored One Maitreya, these are all disciples of various Buddhas and Bodhisattvas, or disciples of disciples, or disciples born out of personal connections. Naturally, they have a deep connection with the deities of Jambudvipa.”
At this point, Xuanzang asked, "Buddha Maitreya, is there anything wrong with this?"
Maitreya Buddha asked, "Buddha of Nirvana, have you read today's Human World Gazette?" Xuanzang shook his head and said, "Not yet."
Maitreya Buddha slightly raised his hand, and a gazette immediately flew to Xuanzang. Xuanzang took the gazette and looked at it carefully, and his expression immediately hardened.
"Why would the Western Mountain Divine Palace do this?" Xuanzang was puzzled for a moment.
Maitreya Buddha said, "No matter why the Western Mountain Divine Palace does this, there will be a great purge of the divine path in the Southern Jambudvipa. The Divine Emperor is currently in the Southern Jambudvipa; he is not here for sightseeing."
Xuanzang asked, "If that's the case, our Buddhist community will inevitably be implicated."
As a native of Jambudvipa, Xuanzang naturally understood how deeply many Buddhist disciples were entangled with the deities of Jambudvipa.
Maitreya Buddha addressed Amitabha Buddha, saying, "Buddha of Amitabha, immediately transmit my decree to all Buddhas, Bodhisattvas, Arhats, and immortals in Jambudvipa, ordering them to close their mountain gates from this day forward. Without my order, they shall not leave the mountain or participate in matters below the mountain. Those who violate this decree shall be punished according to the precepts."
Amitabha Buddha bowed and said, "I will respectfully obey your instructions."
In the Southern Continent, at the Wuji Cave of Yunluo Mountain.
As the Immortal of Green Cliff looked at the official gazette in his hand, he seemed to recall some unpleasant memories. His expression shifted between anger and gloom, and his eyes held a hint of rage.
"I told you there was a problem long ago." Immortal Qingya took the official gazette and found his fellow Daoists living in Yunluo Mountain. He said to them, "When I went to Taibai Mountain, I wanted to open a cave for cultivation there. But the mountain god of Taibai Mountain refused on the grounds that the spiritual energy was too thin. Later, he asked me to spend 80,000 purple coins to buy a piece of land to open a cave, and he even called it maintaining the earth veins. Now it seems that he was just trying to make money."
As soon as the Immortal Qingya finished speaking, the other immortals chimed in, “I remember now, it was the same thing back in Aoshan. The mountain god of Aoshan also asked me for purple coins. He wanted 70,000. How could a rogue immortal like me have 70,000 purple coins to give him?”
"Now that you mention it, I also encountered something similar in the Taihang Mountains. At the time, I just thought that maintaining the earth's veins was very expensive, and I didn't think about it in this way at all."
"The Taihang Mountain God is asking you how much you want?"
"110,000 purple coins."
A collective gasp filled the air.
Then he continued, "So that's how it is. Have you all noticed that all those blessed lands and famous mountains and rivers in the Southern Continent are occupied by immortals and gods with names and titles? We, the scattered immortals without strength or backing, can only live in these small mountains and rivers."
"If it weren't for this 'Human World Gazette,' we would probably still be kept in the dark."
"Has the divine path of Jambudvipa fallen so low?"
"Everyone! Everyone! Do you remember what happened at Huoshan Divine Palace a few days ago? That Marquis Anlu is the son of the Great Emperor of Nanyue. If even he has fallen so low, I'm afraid this situation has already spread to Nanyue Divine Palace."
"The Great Emperor of Nanyue shouldn't have gone that far. Didn't he personally sentence Marquis Anlu to death? Many others were killed as a result."
"No, the Great Emperor of Nanyue had no choice but to do so."
"Oh? Why did you say that?"
"Because the Divine Firmament Emperor is in the Southern Continent, the only one in the mortal realm who can suppress the Five Sacred Mountains Emperors is the Divine Firmament Emperor. Do you think the Southern Sacred Mountains Emperor doesn't want to protect his son? No, he's afraid of the Divine Firmament Emperor."
At this point, everything became clear. All the immortals and cultivators raised questions: Had the Great Emperor of Nanyue truly fallen from grace? Had he acted as a protector for these people?
If not, then why have these gods been able to commit evil for so many years?
Qi Ying'e's official report ignited an uproar throughout the Southern Continent, causing the prestige of the Southern Mountain Emperor to plummet. Everyone began to doubt the Southern Mountain Emperor, and once this doubt arose, it was very difficult to dispel.
At this very moment, in the Southern Mountain Divine Palace, the Southern Mountain Emperor sat in the Hall of Astronomy, his brows furrowed as he held the official gazette in his hand.
"Go, summon Minister Ye Meicang to the Hall of Astronomy to see me," the Great Emperor of the Southern Mountain said to the celestial officials below.
The celestial official acknowledged the decree and quickly left the Palace of Astronomy.
Inside the main hall of the Minister's residence, Ye Meicang was raging at the crowd before him, "Didn't we already kick them out? Where did this official report come from?"
The celestial officials below stood there trembling, enduring Ye Meicang's thunderous wrath. Only Grand Commandant Ling Feiling stepped forward and said, "I have already sent people to investigate. Although Qi Ying'e and the others have withdrawn from Nanzhanbuzhou, the Nanzhanbuzhou Gazette branch has not been shut down. They continue to publish Gazettes about Nanzhanbuzhou within the territory of Niuhezhou in the Two Realms. And this Gazette was secretly sent into Nanzhanbuzhou by them through various means."
"Damn it! Damn it! Damn it!" Ye Meicang slammed his hand on the table and roared "Damn it!" three times.
Then Ye Meicang continued, "Qi Ying'e's heart is despicable. Now, all the divine palaces in the Southern Continent have reported to me that the cultivation world of the Southern Continent is in great chaos, and everyone is questioning whether His Majesty is the backer of these fallen gods! This is simply blasphemy! It is insubordination!"
Ling Feiling could not accept these people's slander against the Great Emperor of Nanyue, so he immediately said, "Minister, give the order."
Ye Meicang looked up at Ling Feiling and asked, "What order do you give?"
Ling Feiling said, "Order the arrest of those who speak ill of His Majesty. The Heavenly Laws state that those who slander or speak ill of the Heavenly Gods shall be punished with caning."
Ye Meicang gently rubbed his forehead and said, "Can you catch them all?"
Ling Feiling said, "For this kind of thing, we just need to make an example of someone to warn others; there's no need to arrest everyone."
Ye Meicang calmed down at this moment. He looked at Ling Feiling and said, "Grand Commandant Ling, do you know what it means to quell the people's voices more than to dam a river?"
Ling Feiling frowned and said, "Are we just going to let them slander His Majesty like this?"
Ye Meicang raised his hand and said, "The source of this matter is not these people who are talking about it. We should arrest people, but not those who are talking about it."
"Who are we arresting?" Ling Feiling asked.
Ye Meicang said, "Qi Ying'e." At this point, Ye Meicang directly gave the order to Ling Feiling, saying, "Grand Commandant Ling, you must immediately lead the divine generals to Liangjie Mountain and capture the criminal Qi Ying'e, who slandered His Majesty the Great Emperor of Nanyue! Remember, capture her alive."
Ling Feiling was indeed very capable and upright, but he was completely clueless about the ways of officialdom.
It is obvious that Qi Ying'e did not do what she intended; there must have been instructions from the Western Mountain Divine Palace behind the scenes.
So what needs to be done right now is to capture Qi Ying'e, and then negotiate with the Western Mountain Divine Palace. Ultimately, the goal is to resolve the issue of the Human World Gazetteer branch.
Ling Feiling suddenly realized and laughed, "Your Excellency is truly wise. I'll set off now." With that, Ling Feiling immediately turned and left.
Just after Ling Feiling turned and left, the celestial officials of the Sitian Palace arrived in the main hall and summoned Ye Meicang to the Sitian Palace for an audience.
Ye Meicang immediately accepted the imperial decree and then rushed to the Imperial Observatory as quickly as possible.
"Your subject Ye Meicang pays respects to Your Majesty." Inside the Hall of Astronomy, Ye Meicang bowed to the Great Emperor of the Southern Mountain.
The Great Emperor of Mount Heng asked, "Minister Ye, have you read today's official gazette?"
Ye Meicang replied, "Your Majesty, I have already read it, and it is all baseless slander and blasphemy."
The Great Emperor of Mount Heng asked, "How will you respond?"
Ye Meicang said, "Your Majesty, Qi Ying'e and others were expelled from Nanzhanbuzhou by my Divine Palace, and they are dissatisfied. They have gathered in Niuhezhou in the two realms and continue to publish the official gazette to slander my Nanyue Divine Palace and the divine way of Nanzhanbuzhou. I have ordered Grand Commandant Ling to lead the divine generals to arrest Qi Ying'e and bring her to justice."
The Great Emperor of Mount Heng nodded, then asked, "So how should we quell this uproar?"
Ye Meicang pondered for a moment, then said, "Your Majesty, I believe that the Divine Palace should issue an edict refuting the defamatory statements in the official gazettes one by one, and then order all the major and minor Divine Palaces to mobilize and collect these gazettes within their respective jurisdictions, and then destroy them in a unified manner."
The Great Emperor of Mount Heng nodded and said, "Minister Ye is indeed a pillar of Mount Heng. Very well, I ask Minister Ye to handle this matter in full."
Ye Meicang was overjoyed and immediately bowed his head, saying, "Your subject obeys the decree."
Afterwards, Ye Meicang bid farewell to the Great Emperor of the Southern Mountain and returned to his own Ministry of Rites to deliver imperial edicts to the various divine palaces, large and small.
However, just half an hour later, auspicious clouds of ten thousand feet appeared above the Southern Mountain Divine Palace. Then, the red silk on the auspicious clouds shouted loudly: "The Great Emperor of the Spirit Platform and the Bright Divine Firmament has arrived here. The Southern Mountain Divine Palace is to receive him immediately."
Chi Ling's voice echoed throughout the entire Hengshan Mountain in the south, and soon the Emperor and Empress of Hengshan Mountain led all the gods and officials of Hengshan Mountain to come out to greet them.
The Great Emperor of Nanyue's expression was extremely solemn. He knew that Zhuang Yan must have come about the official gazette, and that this time his intentions were not good, because the last time Zhuang Yan came, he didn't make a show of it, but rather arrived very casually. (End of Chapter)