Chapter 525: Court Historian
White Hongtu felt that indeed it was the Ancestor Master – when it came to spouting nonsense, the Ancestor Master surpassed him by several levels.
“With that mouth of yours, I almost want to bow to you as my master,” White Hongtu said sincerely.
Immortal Elder Changcun glanced sideways at White Hongtu, immediately seeing through his little scheme: “Trying to increase your seniority ranking, are you?”
As Jiang Li recounted his experiences in the Underworld, White Hongtu provided sound effects beside him.
“Everyone heard Jiang Li describe the Underworld’s beautiful scenery and developed a yearning desire for the Underworld.”
As expected, White Hongtu got beaten up by Yu Yin and the Immortal Elder. Holy Maiden Jingxin showed some face by only giving him a kick.
“Yearning desire, huh? I’ll show you yearning desire,” the Immortal Elder said while mercilessly beating his grand-disciple.
“You can keep beating him while I talk – we can do both at once,” Jiang Li said, completely accustomed to such scenes.
Back when everyone was still at the Golden Core and Nascent Soul stages, White Hongtu often got beaten by the Immortal Elder because his mouth couldn’t stop itching for trouble.
After being beaten, White Hongtu would boast to Jiang Li that he had fought dozens of rounds with an immortal and neither could gain advantage over the other.
The most shocked person was undoubtedly Holy Maiden Jingxin. This was her first time learning the truth about the Outer Realm Demons, understanding what really happened nine thousand years ago, and discovering that the Mahayana Stage was actually fabricated.
Holy Maiden Jingxin accepted this quickly because one fundamental fact remained unchanged – Jiang Li was invincible.
In her mind, Jiang Li was invincible, and reality proved this to be true.
She also believed it wasn’t that Jiang Li couldn’t find the Immortal Realm, but rather that the Immortal Realm feared Jiang Li and was deliberately hiding.
There was nothing Jiang Li couldn’t accomplish.
“One Primordial Chaos and Limitless Immortal, ten Golden Immortals – the Underworld’s strength is even more exaggerated than I imagined,” Immortal Elder Changcun nodded. If the Heavenly Dao didn’t intervene, the Underworld would have the qualification to compete with the Immortal Realm.
“As for these eight great rules, I’ve never heard of them before. These principles sound quite ordinary at first hearing – all things we commonly encounter. But if they can make a Primordial Chaos and Limitless Immortal devote their entire life to research and force the Heavenly Dao to follow them, then calling these principles ‘ultimate’ is not excessive. And if survival of the fittest is also a rule, then wouldn’t the current Nine Provinces be violating the rules?”
After all, Immortal Elder Changcun was only Dao Ancestor’s disciple, not the Dao Ancestor himself, so he wasn’t aware of these secrets.
“Your Majesty, the Zhou Emperor has arrived,” outside the bedchamber, a palace maid respectfully announced.
Only then did Yu Yin remember that Ji Zhi had indeed mentioned visiting the Tianyuan Dynasty recently to discuss talent exchange matters. She had been so engrossed in playing in the novel world that she forgot about this.
She showed no expression outwardly, calmly acknowledging with an “Mmm,” maintaining an appearance of complete control.
…
“I just came to visit you, no need for such a grand reception, right?” Ji Zhi was startled by Yu Yin’s entourage.
Jiang Li, Immortal Elder Changcun, White Hongtu, Holy Maiden Jingxin.
“You’ve reached the Unity Stage?” Jiang Li could tell Ji Zhi’s cultivation level at a glance – clearly he had just broken through recently.
Jiang Li slapped his forehead, filled with regret.
He should have used merit power to boost Ji Zhi to the Earthly Immortal stage – then he could freely enter and exit the River of Time.
“Come, let me test if I can send you into the River of Time.” Ji Zhi’s confidence swelled, feeling that as a Unity Stage expert now, sending mere Jiang Li into the River of Time would be effortless.
Back then, he said that when he reached the Unity Stage, he could send Jiang Li to the River of Time. Now was the time to fulfill that promise.
Ji Zhi widened his eyes, his double pupils opening, aimed directly at Jiang Li. He operated the Dao of Time, forming hand seals, his face turning red with strain, veins bulging.
Finally, he sent himself into the River of Time.
Ji Zhi stood bewildered on the River of Time, completely confused about how he ended up here.
Shouldn’t it have been Jiang Li who came?
A figure approached from downstream, rapidly closing in on Ji Zhi while steering a boat.
Ji Zhi saw the Ji family ancestor he had been yearning to meet – Emperor Shun.
Emperor Shun, holding an oar, knocked Ji Zhi back to the Nine Provinces World with a single strike while shouting angrily.
“Ungrateful descendant! You still dare to send that great deity into the River of Time? Are you afraid the River of Time won’t collapse? Among the Ji family descendants, only you and your daughter have such capability!”
In terms of cultivation level and mastery of the Dao of Time, Ji Zhi was far inferior to Emperor Shun.
Ji Zhi returned to the Nine Provinces completely disoriented, still unable to make sense of what happened.
“What just happened? How did I end up in the River of Time?”
White Hongtu analyzed: “Probably because you were born noble, esteemed as a prince, you might never have played on a seesaw.”
“Let me explain the principle of a seesaw. On a seesaw, one person sits on each end. Due to different weights, one person goes up while the other goes down.”
“You and Jiang Li are in this situation. Jiang Li is heavier than you, so no matter how much force you use, it’s you who ends up in the River of Time.”
“…Being a prince doesn’t mean I’m an idiot.”
Back when everyone was a Human Sovereign candidate, White Hongtu always treated Ji Zhi like an idiot, and he hadn’t changed now.
Ji Zhi, who mastered the Dao of Time, also treated White Hongtu like an idiot every day.
They were even.
Every time Jiang Li saw Ji Zhi and White Hongtu opposing each other, he felt he was too normal and didn’t fit in with these two.
“Who’s that following behind you? He looks somewhat familiar.” Jiang Li noticed that among Ji Zhi’s accompanying ministers, one was writing furiously.
Hearing Jiang Li ask about him, that person looked at Jiang Li excitedly.
“He was originally the Big Senior Brother of the Great Vehicle Observation Sect, Si Nan,” Ji Zhi said.
Jiang Li remembered now – he had seen this person during the Human Sovereign celebration preparations on the commercial street, where he claimed to know Jiang Li.
“And now?”
“My newly recruited court historian. He said he originally wanted to be a historian at the Human Sovereign Hall, but it’s hard to see you there, so he came to our Great Zhou instead.”
“He said he gets to see the Human Sovereign more times in Great Zhou than he would at the Human Sovereign Hall.”
Yu Yin, who had been silent nearby, felt this person made a very reasonable point.
Ji Zhi continued: “When he applied for the official position, I examined him on why he wanted to be a court historian. He told me that the original purpose of establishing the Great Vehicle Observation Sect was because he believed you are both the Human Sovereign and at the Mahayana Stage – the destined Human Sovereign of all realms, whose every action affects the fate of all living beings.”
“The Immortal Realm has the Heavenly Dao, with the Immortal Emperor acting on heaven’s behalf. All realms have the Human Reincarnation Path, and the Human Sovereign is the spokesperson of the Human Reincarnation Path.”
“The Great Vehicle Observation Sect both observes all living beings to deduce changes in the Human Reincarnation Path, and observes the Human Sovereign to deduce the fate of all realms.”
“But the Great Vehicle Observation Sect found it difficult to observe you, so they adopted an indirect strategy by serving as officials in Great Zhou to observe you.”
“I thought about it – since your Human Sovereign Hall doesn’t have a historian anyway, relying entirely on Commander Liu’s ‘Human Sovereign Memoirs’ as historical records, I might as well pay out of my own pocket to hire one for you, so I recruited him.”
Using his spiritual sense, Jiang Li saw Court Historian Si Nan writing: The Human Sovereign’s mighty power is beyond comprehension, possessing unique insights into the Dao of Time. When His Majesty attempted to send the Human Sovereign to the River of Time, the Human Sovereign instead used his supreme divine ability to send His Majesty to the River of Time. His Majesty returned from the River of Time bewildered and disoriented.
“The court historian writes like this, and you don’t do anything about it?”
Ji Zhi pursed his lips, signaling Jiang Li to look at an old man.
“He’s my real court historian, responsible for recording my daily activities. This Si Nan is specifically assigned to record your movements.”