Chapter 15

◎Hierarchy◎  

For Zhuoying, the destruction of the Princess Temple was both unexpected and expected.  

In her bid to secure a grand merit, she had gone to great lengths to interfere with the Mount Meru Goddess’s mortal tribulation. She had already prepared herself for retaliation from Mount Sumeru.  

Fortunately, she had taken precautions by establishing another Goddess Temple to preserve her Immortal Root.  

Though her devout followers remained only Xiao Liuer and Xian Qing, the daily trickle of one or two Merit Points was better than nothing.  

“—And here you are, calmly cultivating while the immortals in Purple Tenuity Hall are nearly tearing each other apart over your affairs.”  

Amid the fluttering white plum blossoms, the leisurely Young God of War strolled into the courtyard. There, he saw the snow-robed, raven-haired girl practicing the Tai Chi Palm Technique taught to her by Divine Lord Feng Li, over and over again.  

Tai Chi embodied softness, and the girl had nearly perfected the technique’s gentle force.  

Under her palm strikes, the white plum blossoms fell like snowflakes, while her billowing sleeves flowed like drifting clouds, weaving through the tangled shadows of the trees like dawn’s glow dancing atop the mist.  

Her expression was serene, focused.  

Not once did she slacken, despite her currently minuscule Immortal Power.  

Xie Cexuan, who had just emerged from the cacophony of Purple Tenuity Hall, inexplicably felt his own mood settle.  

Upon reflection, there was no need for him to be anxious. The very person whose temple had been razed wasn’t even perturbed—why should he, the bystander, fret like an—  

Lost in thought, he suddenly sensed a flash of snowy white, accompanied by a palm strike and a faint medicinal fragrance, rushing toward him.  

Instinctively, Xie Cexuan flipped aside, plucking a nearby plum branch as he did. Using it as a sword, he channeled a wisp of sword intent to deflect the strike.  

Zhuoying had intended to spar with Xie Cexuan, but the disparity in their strength was too vast. Her resistance was like a mayfly trying to shake a tree—her gathered palm force shattered instantly, and she struggled to keep her footing, stumbling to the ground.  

Her fall sent a jolt of alarm through Xie Cexuan.  

“Wait—I barely used any force! How did you— Hey, are you alright? Did you break anything?”  

His panic wasn’t unwarranted. Zhuoying’s previous tendency to cough up blood had left such a deep impression on him that even the sight of her stumbling—or even coughing a few times—made him fear she might faint on the spot.  

With his help, Zhuoying rose from the ground and sighed softly.  

“Have you not eaten?” She lifted her gaze, coolly eyeing him. “Such feeble strength—how can you call yourself the Young God of War?”  

Xie Cexuan: ?  

Weak, yet sharp-tongued.  

Zhuoying refused further assistance, slowly standing on her own.  

“Fu Yao confiscated my Golden Horse and Golden Bell, forbidding me from going to Purple Tenuity Hall. Why are they arguing?”  

“What else could it be?” Xie Cexuan leaned against the plum tree, speaking leisurely. “When it comes to matters related to Mount Sumeru Immortal Realm, aren’t the disputes always the same?”  

Though Zhuoying had spent a considerable amount of time in the Supreme Purity Heavenly Palace, her focus had always been solely on her own affairs.  

Regarding the relationship between Upper Purity Heaven and Mount Sumeru, she had vaguely sensed some underlying issues. But since they didn’t concern her, she had never delved deeper.  

This time, however, was different. The matter involved her own interests, and Zhuoying had no choice but to understand it clearly.  

Xie Cexuan briefly explained.  

It turned out that Mount Sumeru Immortal Realm’s belief in its superiority over the Supreme Purity Heavenly Palace wasn’t entirely unfounded.

In fact, even within the Supreme Purity Heavenly Palace, some Upper Third Rank Immortals believed that the Immortals of Mount Sumeru Immortal Realm possessed noble bloodlines and transcendent status, deserving different treatment from those of the Upper Purity Heaven.

Some even argued that the authority to rule the Six Realms should be returned to the Immortals of Mount Sumeru rather than remaining in the hands of these so-called mortal Immortals.

Xie Cexuan finished speaking and tugged at the corner of his lips:

“Quite ironic, isn’t it?”

These Immortals, who should have been pure and detached from worldly concerns in the eyes of mortals, were now dividing themselves into hierarchies based on bloodline superiority.

What was even more laughable was their willingness to humble themselves while elevating others.

“I’ve seen women in inner chambers who take pride in their obedience yet scorn those who dare to stand independently. Some in this world strive to break the rules and carve out their own path, while others seek stability within outdated conventions—each to their own choice.”

Xie Cexuan couldn’t comprehend it at all.

Choosing to be someone’s dog? That was certainly a unique preference.

Xie Cexuan asked, “And what’s your choice?”

Zhuoying lifted her gaze, meeting a pair of piercingly perceptive eyes. Though Xie Cexuan usually lacked cunning, he possessed an almost beast-like intuition.

He knew very well that everything Zhuoying had done wasn’t for the sake of upholding the Supreme Purity Heavenly Palace or so-called justice.

Zhuoying replied, “Take me to the Purple Tenuity Hall, and you’ll know my choice.”

He scoffed, dragging out his words lazily:

“The Young God of War hasn’t eaten—no strength to escort you.”

This man truly held grudges over the smallest things.

“Fine.” Zhuoying remained unruffled. “Then I’ll walk to the Celestial Medicine Bureau myself.”

Xie Cexuan frowned. “Weren’t you going to the Purple Tenuity Hall?”

A radiant smile bloomed on Zhuoying’s lips as she answered leisurely:

“My arm was dislocated when the Young God of War pushed me away earlier. I’ll need to have it set at the Celestial Medicine Bureau before heading to the Purple Tenuity Hall.”

“…”

Dislocated, and she still dared to say he hadn’t eaten! She’d even stood there chatting as if nothing was wrong!

“With a body like yours, you still dare to spar with me? Chi Shui Zhuoying, are you out of your mind!”

Before Zhuoying could react, he had already pressed her down onto a stone bench in the courtyard.

The Young God of War crouched beside her, his expression dark, his back teeth clenched so tightly it seemed he might snap her arm off in frustration.

Yet when he reset the bone, his movements were almost painfully careful.

Zhuoying lowered her eyes, watching his focused expression.

Just as Xie Cexuan finished setting her dislocated arm, he looked up and met her scrutinizing gaze.

Their breaths intertwined.

“…What are you staring at?”

“Nothing.” Zhuoying pointed at his eyes. “Just noticed your eyelashes are quite long.”

“……”

Two breaths later.

The Young God of War, his ears burning red, practically leaped away from her as if she were a ghost.

“Let’s go.”

Completely oblivious to what she’d just done, Zhuoying brushed off nonexistent dust from her robes and stood.

“Time to visit the Purple Tenuity Hall and see how they plan to deal with me.”

—

Before they even stepped through the gates of the Purple Tenuity Hall, Zhuoying and Xie Cexuan heard a voice brimming with righteous indignation from afar—

“…I ask the assembled Immortals present, how many dare claim they have never received a single incense offering from the people of Yaoguang City? Today, Chi Shui Zhuo Ying, a mere hostage, risked offending the Immortals of Mount Sumeru to seek justice for Yaoguang’s citizens. Yet you all stand by indifferently—even demanding she apologize to Mount Sumeru? This chills the hearts of righteous souls!”

Xie Cexuan, who had been walking side by side with Zhuoying up the long steps, halted abruptly.

His eyelid twitched:

“Righteous soul? You?”

Zhuoying nodded impassively. “It would appear so.”

…Fu Yao must truly be an idiot!

How could he still not see that Chi Shui Zhuo Ying was solely motivated by her own Merit Points!

“Your Highness the Crown Prince.”

Within Purple Tenuity Hall, Jiuxuan Xianweng sat rigidly to the left of the Celestial Pivot Prime Minister. His stern, weathered face bore the marks of millennia, his narrow eyes reflecting an eternal calm utterly unmoved by Fu Yao’s words.

“When heaven and earth first parted, they birthed the Mother Goddess and the Progenitor God. The Mother Goddess created humanity and mended the skies before perishing from exhaustion. While the Nuwa Palace remains secluded, only the Progenitor God’s bloodline persists in this world—now embodied by the Mount Sumeru Immortal Realm.”

“These two deities are the origin of all origins. Though the Goddess Yingchu of Mount Sumeru may have erred, as the sole remaining descendant of the Phoenix God Clan, any punishment must never harm her fundamental being.”

“Now Chi Shui Zhuo Ying has recklessly interfered with Goddess Yingchu’s mortal trial. Should this ultimately prevent her from successfully transcending her tribulation, causing an Immortal to perish in the mortal realm and severing the Phoenix God Clan’s lineage—which among us could bear such responsibility?”

At these words, murmurs spread through Purple Tenuity Hall.

It was common knowledge throughout the Immortal Realm that this Mount Sumeru Goddess Yingchu, despite having lived thirty thousand years, had accomplished precisely nothing.

This thirty-thousand-year-old senior possessed less cultivation than century-old junior Immortals of Shangqing. The sinecure positions Mount Sumeru granted her were constantly mismanaged—she frequently stole the Supreme Elder’s elixirs or plucked peaches the fairies had tenderly nurtured for five centuries.

Yet all could only swallow their grievances, none daring to confront her.

For she was the last of the Phoenix God Clan.

Her elder brother Ting Yun, sharing only a mother with her, bore impure bloodline and thus inferior status—destined since childhood to clean up after his sister’s messes.

Thus coddled day after day, Goddess Yingchu developed a temperament that recognized neither law nor restraint.

So when informed she’d be separated from her beloved as punishment for Yaoguang City’s thousand deaths, her immediate response to Divine Lord Feng Li was—

“If you harm a single hair on Tan Lang for those mortals’ sake, I’ll have my uncle slaughter the entire Yaoguang City as his funeral offering!”

Divine Lord Feng Li’s explosive temper brooked no such threats.

He reportedly snapped Tan Lang’s arm on the spot. Witnessing this, Goddess Yingchu was said to have wailed in anguish, her cries resembling a phoenix’s blood-song.

When later asked what a phoenix’s blood-song sounded like, Divine Lord Feng Li merely frowned:

“Annoyingly loud. Would’ve screamed the whole journey if we hadn’t knocked her out.”

Yet Yingchu’s claim about her uncle massacring a city wasn’t entirely baseless.

While Mount Sumeru’s Immortals might lack profound cultivation, they truly held not an ounce of compassion for mortals.

In recent years, whenever conflicts arose between Shangqing and Mount Sumeru, Shangqing typically conceded.

Not from fear, but knowing that when gods quarrel, mortals suffer—avoiding conflict unless absolutely necessary.

This time, the path to avoiding conflict remained straightforward—

The proposal was to push the human hostage forward.

Since this matter originated from her, it should also be resolved by her—a perfectly reasonable arrangement.

Many Shangqing Immortals who sided with Xumi thought so.

However, after their lengthy discussions, the Celestial Pivot Prime Minister seated above remained noncommittal, while the Shangqing faction below either gazed at the sky or fidgeted with their hands.

Their attitude was essentially: “Your point is valid, this matter isn’t being dismissed, we can continue discussing it.”

It was only due to Crown Prince Fu Yao’s bluntness—standing at the forefront, single-handedly trading barbs with three opponents without pause—that the two factions could maintain their heated debate.

Zhuoying stood outside listening for quite some time.

Suddenly, Xie Cexuan noticed an extremely faint smile curve her lips.

“If Jiuxuan Xianweng dares not shoulder this responsibility, then I will.”

Her pristine white robes brushed against the cold jade floor as she entered. Most Divine Lords in Purple Tenuity Hall were of mid-to-high rank, and their gazes turned toward her the moment she appeared at the doorway.

The grand hall was vast and resplendent, the collective gaze of the Immortals like flickering candlelight, all fixed upon the instigator of today’s dispute.

“Chi Shui Zhuo Ying?”

Jiuxuan Xianweng guessed her identity, but his stagnant eyes showed no ripple, only an ancient, unyielding frost.

“This Lord had yet to seek you out, yet you deliver yourself to us. Chi Shui Zhuo Ying, you meddled in Goddess Yingchu’s tribulation without authorization, returning the daughter of Prince Duan’s Mansion, Zhong Xianqing, thereby intensifying the conflict between Zhong Xianqing and Zhong Yingying and disrupting their household. Do you admit your guilt?”

“I admit my guilt.”

Zhuoying answered crisply.

Fu Yao’s brow furrowed tightly as he pulled her aside.

“What guilt do you admit? Didn’t I tell you not to come? How did you get here?”

His peripheral vision caught Xie Cexuan leaning idly in a corner, watching the spectacle. Gnashing his teeth, Fu Yao muttered,

“…We’ll settle with him later. Don’t speak—stay behind me.”

Zhuoying blinked as she was tugged backward.

“What I mean is, I admit my guilt—but not for interfering with the Goddess’s tribulation. My guilt lies in my insufficient Immortal Power, failing to directly slay Goddess Yingchu and ensure the young mistress’s smooth return. That is my true failing.”

Her voice was soft, yet the moment she spoke, the gathered Immortals subtly shifted expressions.

The Celestial Pivot Prime Minister above watched the human hostage with amused interest.

“Slay Goddess Yingchu?”

Jiuxuan Xianweng repeated incredulously, ensuring he hadn’t misheard before exclaiming,

“How audacious! Do you comprehend the vast gulf between your status and the Goddess’s, that you would utter such insolence?”

Zhuoying inquired gently, “Between the Goddess and myself—what exactly is this vast gulf?”

“Goddess Yingchu is of the Phoenix God Clan, bloodline of the Primordial God! When the heavens and earth were first cleaved apart, the phoenix was the first spiritual being created by the Primordial God—”

“If the first being created by the Primordial God is supremely noble, then what of those created by the Mother Goddess?”

Jiuxuan Xianweng faltered.

“The descendants of Wa Huang Palace… naturally share equal nobility. But within the Immortal Realm, Wa Huang Palace remains reclusive—what connection does that have with you?”

“Reclusive?”

Zhuoying chuckled lightly.

“No. The Mother Goddess Nüwa molded humans from clay, nurturing all living beings with boundless divine power. Are the multitudes of the mortal realm not also her creations?”

Her words struck the Shangqing faction like sunlight piercing clouds, bringing sudden clarity.

Indeed.

Also created by the Mother Goddess and the Ancestral God, why are the phoenixes and the immortals of Xumi considered nobler than humans?  

In terms of immortal power, that Goddess Ying Chu’s abilities are utterly mediocre. With just a bit of cultivation after ascending, any human could surpass her in power.  

Where exactly lies this nobility that makes the lives of thousands in Yaoguang City worth less than hers alone?  

Jiuxuan Xianweng had never heard such unreasonable arguments before. He abruptly rose from his chair.  

“You—”  

Zhuoying, however, showed no fear. Instead, she took several steps forward, meeting his gaze directly:  

“Jiuxuan Xianweng, the Phoenix God Clan, created by the Ancestral God, is revered as golden and noble. But does that mean the humans, born of the Mother Goddess, are as lowly as dust? You keep preaching that the two ancient deities are the source of all things, yet now you honor only the Ancestral God and disregard the Mother Goddess. Is this truly reverence for antiquity, or are you merely using their names to legitimize your own authority?”  

“I—”  

Under Zhuoying’s relentless questioning, Jiuxuan Xianweng found himself with little room to retort.  

His own thoughts had already descended into chaos.  

The Phoenix God Clan. Humans.  

One exalted, the other lowly—such a stark divide.  

The beliefs he had upheld all his life—the distinctions between heaven and earth, ruler and subject, immortal and mortal—now, under this young girl’s words, suddenly seemed…  

At this moment, the boundary between the two blurred abruptly.  

Zhuoying turned back and calmly addressed Fu Yao, who was staring dumbfounded:  

“To argue with such a stubborn old fossil, you must stand on his ground and use his own beliefs to defeat him. All those repetitive words of yours earlier were useless.”  

In her past life in the Barren Sea, the ancient ministers and noble families who had lived for millennia were even more difficult to deal with than Jiuxuan Xianweng.  

As the Young Master of Fate in the Barren Sea, Zhuoying often had to face off against a crowd of ministers in court.  

No other reason—just sheer practice.  

“The matter is settled. May I continue intervening in Goddess Ying Chu’s tribulation now?”  

Zhuoying tilted her head, looking at the stunned immortals of the Supreme Purity Heavenly Palace behind Fu Yao.  

Her little believer was still waiting for her in the mortal realm.  

Among the many Supreme Purity immortals present, apart from Wen Chang Xing Jun, Yan Jun, and Feng Li Shen Jun, who had some interaction with Zhuoying, many had never even met this human princess before.  

What they had heard most was the scandal involving Feng Li Shen Jun, leaving them with a poor impression of her.  

But today’s display in the Purple Tenuity Hall completely overturned their perceptions.  

Who said Chi Shui Zhuoying was scheming and deceitful?  

This was clearly wisdom, fearlessness in the face of power, and even a hint of broad-minded equality for all living beings. What an exceptional talent!  

Qing Yuan Shenjun was the first to regain his composure. He stepped forward and patted Zhuoying’s shoulder:  

“Earlier, the Crown Prince said you were wholly devoted to the Supreme Purity and to humanity. I thought he had been deceived by you, but it seems this time, His Highness truly saw correctly.”  

At the head of the hall, the Celestial Pivot Prime Minister finally set down his teacup.  

“Zhong Xianqing has offered you incense and worship, and you have answered her prayers. From start to finish, you have not violated any Heavenly Palace regulations. Of course, you may continue.”  

The faction of Supreme Purity immortals who sided with Xumi immediately grew restless.  

Just as they were about to rise and protest, Feng Li Shen Jun, who had remained silent until now, spoke solemnly:  

“If any immortal in the Immortal Realm interferes in mortal affairs without a believer’s prayer, this lord will naturally… act according to heavenly law and escort them back to the Supreme Purity Heavenly Palace for judgment.”  

The restless immortals silently sat back down.

Divine Lord Feng Li personally making an arrest was no joking matter.

Caution was paramount.

“What about the destruction of the Princess Shrine?”

Xie Cexuan, who had been watching the commotion from the corner, suddenly spoke up as if casually asking:

“Since Chi Shui Zhuo Ying isn’t at fault, shouldn’t the Mount Sumeru Immortal Realm be held accountable for this? We can’t just let it slide, can we?”

The Celestial Pivot Prime Minister hesitated.

Although Lord Qing Yuan had confirmed that the Immortals of Mount Sumeru were the masterminds behind the destruction of the Princess Shrine, the truth was, bound by the constraints of Divine Retribution, they hadn’t acted directly.

In a way, this was Princess Zhuo Ying’s personal affair.

“The Supreme Purity Heavenly Palace can order Emperor Que to rebuild the Princess Shrine, but as for those who actually destroyed it, Princess Zhuo Ying will have to decide for herself.”

Zhuoying frowned slightly.

The Celestial Pivot Prime Minister continued:

“Because the one who led the destruction of Princess Zhuo Ying’s shrine was none other than her younger sister—Chishui Zhaocui.”

Author’s Note:

Sorry for the delay!

Feeling a bit rushed with the noon updates, so starting tomorrow, I’ll switch to 6 PM updates! Will try to write more, mwah mwah mwah!