Translator’s Note: I felt that using the word soar felt weird, so I changed it to ascend.
Chapter 2
"Congratulations your highness."
Hearing this, Xie Lian looked up, smiled and said, "Thank you, but can I ask you what you are congratulating me for?"
Lin Wen put his hands behind his back, saying: "Congratulations on becoming #1 in "the most antic.i.p.ated G.o.d to be banished" poll."
Xie Lian: "Still, at least it"s first place. But, I think that since you are congratulating me, there should be something good about it?"
Lin Wen: "Yes, you can obtain 100 merits by becoming first place"
Xie Lian immediately replied, "Next time, if there is a poll like this again, you definitely need to include me."
Lin Wen asked, "Do you know who second place is?"
Xie Lian thought about it for a while and said, "That"s too hard to guess. After all, I have the ability to take all of the first three places."
Lin Wen: "You pretty much got it right. There is no second place. Your talent in this field surpa.s.ses any other G.o.d by miles. No one can catch up to you."
Xie Lian: "You flatter me~ May I ask who the previous winner was?"
Ling Wen: "There is no previous first place either. This poll was created this year, or to be more accurate, this day.
"Oh," Xie Lian was slightly startled and asked, "This poll wasn"t created just for me right?"
Lin Wen: "You can believe that this date was a coincidence, and that you won first place by coincidence."
Xian Lie smiled, "Okay, I"ll be happier if I think like that."
Lin Wen continued, "Do you know why you won first place?"
Xie Lian: "Because everyone thinks I deserve it."
Lin Wen: "Let me tell you the reason. Please look at that clock."
Lin Wen pointed to it, and Xie Lian turned his head towards a beautiful view. He saw a white jade palace and a pavilion surrounded by clouds and flying birds swirling in the sky.
He looked at the view for a while, and asked, "Did you point in the wrong direction? Where is the clock?"
Lin Wen: "I didn"t point wrong. That"s the place, did you see?"
Xie Lian earnestly looked there again, and said, "I can"t see a clock."
Lin Wen: "That"s right then. There was originally a clock there, but when you rose to the heavens, it jolted and fell."
"That clock is even older than you are, but it has lively personality. Whenever someone soared, it would come down and join in. During your ascension, the clock gong rattled like crazy; it couldn"t even stop. In the end, the clock shook down from the clock tower, and finally stopped. When it dropped, it even fell on a G.o.d."
Xie Lian: "Then…is it better now?"
Lin Wen: "No, it"s still being repaired."
Xie Lian: "No, I"m talking about the G.o.d."
Lin Wen: "He"s a martial G.o.d. At that time, he immediately cut it into two pieces. Again, look at that golden palace over there. Did you see?"
He pointed again, and Xie Lian looked again. He saw a beautiful golden roof shrouded among the clouds, and said, "Ah, I see it this time."
Lin Wen: "That"s wrong then. There was originally nothing there."
"When you ascended, many of the pillars of their golden palaces tumbled down. Their glazed tiles broke, and their reparations would take a while. So in the meanwhile, they could only build some new makeshift ones."
"I"m responsible for this?"
"You"re responsible for this."
"Oh… …" Xie Lian wanted to make sure and asked, "Did I offend a lot of G.o.ds just after soaring?"
Lin Wen: "If you compensate then maybe not."
Xie Lian: "Then how can I compensate?"
Lin Wen: "Easy. 8,880,000 merits."
Xie Lian smiled again.
Lin Wen: "Of course I know that you can"t even obtain a tenth of that number."
Xie Lian sincerely said, "How do I say this, although it"s embarra.s.sing, I can"t even take out ten thousandth of that number."
The prayers of the mortal believers would transform into a G.o.d"s powers, and every believer"s prayer incense would count as one "merit."
Xie Lian finished smiling, and seriously asked, "Do you want to kick me down the heavens, and give me 8,880,000 merits?"
Lin Wen: "I"m a literary G.o.d. If you want someone to kick you, you should find a martial G.o.d, so they can kick you harder, and give you more merits."
Xie Lian sighed, "Let me think a bit more about what I should do."
Lin Wen patted his shoulder, "Don"t worry. When a cart meets a mountain, there will always be a road through."
Xie Lian: "My situation is, the boat meets the bridge end, and naturally sinks."
If it was eight hundred years ago during Xian Le Nation"s most prosperous period, 8,880,000 merits are not hard to earn at all. The crown prince would give them without even blinking his eyes. But now is different from before. His temples were all burned down without a trace. There are no believers, no incense, and no offerings.
Needless to say, there is nothing left anyway. Nothing, absolutely nothing!
With a headache, he squatted on the side of the road for ages before he abruptly remembered that he hasn"t visited transmission array after he soared yet, and he forgot to ask what the pa.s.sword was.
The G.o.ds set up a transmission array together so they can use their divine sense to communicate, but you need a pa.s.sword in order to locate the correct array. The last time Xie Lian entered the array was 800 hundred years ago, so there was no way that he could still remember what the pa.s.sword was. He used his divine sense to scout around, and found an array that seemed familiar. He carelessly entered the array and was blown in the face by loud cries of a large crowd:
"Careful, you can"t change your bets! This time let"s bet how long our crown prince can last!"
"I bet a year!"
"A year is too long. Last time was 15 minutes, so let"s bet 3 days this time! I bet three days, three days!"
"Don"t do that you fool! Three days has almost pa.s.sed already!"
… …Xie Lian silently came back out.
Wrong. It"s definitely not this one.
The upper heavens const.i.tute all the vital G.o.ds that are all well known. Because they all used their own abilities to soar, these G.o.ds typically hold a dignified aura and are well restrained in order uphold their images. Their speech and actions all have a pretentious feeling to them. There"s only Xie Lian who soared for his first time that would use the transmission array to greet every single G.o.d, and thoroughly introduce himself from head to toe.
After he backed out, he searched through the arrays once more, and randomly went into another array. After he entered the array, his heart relaxed, and he thought, "It"s so silent. This one should be it."
At this time, he heard a voice that lightly asked, "Your highness, you have returned again?"
You would feel very comfortable after hearing this sound. The voice is gentle and respectful; however, if you carefully listen, you would realize that the voice is very cold and emotionally cold as well, letting people think that this voice does not have good intentions.
Originally, Xie Lian wanted to properly enter the array and lurk there for a while, but since someone started speaking to him, he can"t just pretend to be deaf and mute. Besides, he is very happy that the upper heavens still have someone willing to speak to this pest G.o.d. And so, he quickly replied, "Ah yes! h.e.l.lo everyone, I"m back again."
How would he know, that after this one question and answer, all the G.o.ds in the transmission array perked their ears."
That G.o.d slowly said, "Your highness" ascension this time really created a large commotion."
In the upper heavens, the n.o.bility walk everywhere and heroes are as common as flowing rivers.
To become a G.o.d, one must first become an emblem of the people. It has always been easier for those with great accomplishments or talent to ascend. And so, it"s not an exaggeration to say that a king, prince, princess, or general isn"t some rare occurrence. Who isn"t some important or glorious child of the heavens? Everyone is just polite to call each other "your highness," "your majesty," or "general." The G.o.ds would call each other whatever sounds more courteous. But after that G.o.d said those two sentences, "your highness" no longer sounded courteous.
Although he repeated greeted him "your highness," one could not feel an ounce of respect in those words. In the opposite, it feels like he is using a needle to stab people. The transmission array has some other people who were also crown princes that felt their hair rise down their back after his greetings. Xie Lian could tell the other does not have good intentions, but he didn"t want to argue, so he thought, "I"ll run." He smiled and said, "It"s been okay." But that G.o.d would not let him run, and lightly said, "Your highness is okay. But my luck has not been so okay."
Suddenly, Xie Lian heard a secret message from Ling Wen.
Lin Wen said one word, "Clock."
Xie Lian realized at once.
So, he was the G.o.d who was. .h.i.t by the clock!
Since it"s that way, then they aren"t mad without a reason. Xie Lian is very accustomed to apologizing, so he immediately said, "I heard about the thing with the clock. Many apologies, I"m really sorry about that."
The other hmphed a sound, not letting others know what he meant.
There were many martial G.o.ds in the heavens, many of whom ascended after he was banished. So, Xie Lian could not pinpoint who he was just by hearing his voice. But he couldn"t apologize to someone whose name he didn"t even know, so he asked, "May I ask how I should greet you as?"
After those words, the other became silent.
He was not the only one silent. Everyone in the entire transmission array became silent, deathly silent.
Lin Wen transmitted, "Your highness, although I don"t think you would talk with him for so long without realizing, but I want to remind you, that is Xuan Zhen.
Lin Wen: "Xuan Zhen?"
Being shocked, he choked up for a bit, and just reacted, "That is Mu Qing?"
Xuan Zhen general is the southwest martial G.o.d. Having a total of 7000 temples, his reputation has spread far and wide.
And this Xuan Zhen general"s original name is Mu Qing, who was once the lieutenant general under Xian Le Nation"s crown prince.
Lin Wen was also very shocked, and asked, "You really didn"t realize who he was?"
Xie Lian: "I really didn"t know who he was. Before, he didn"t talk to me this way, and plus, I don"t even remember when was the last time I talked with him. If it wasn"t 500 hundred years ago, then it was 600 years ago. I almost completely forgot how he looked like, so how would I know how he sounded?"
The transmission array remained deathly silent. Mu Qing didn"t peep a sound, and the other G.o.ds pretended that they weren"t listening while excitedly waited for someone to continue the conservation.
To say these two, it"s really awkward. After their situation was spread to others for so many years, everyone already knew what was pretty much going on. That year, when Xie Lian was Xian Le Nation"s crown prince, he cultivated in the Imperial Dojo, which were on royal grounds. Access to these grounds was extremely limited and strict. Mu Qing, who was a peasant whose father was a criminal and executed, was not qualified at all to enter the Imperial Dojo. So, he could only work as a servant, helping the crown prince clean his room in the Dojo or bring tea and water. Xie Lian thought he was hardworking, and so he asked the royal preceptor to break the rules and accept Mu Qing as his disciple. Mu Qing could only enter the Imperial Dojo and cultivate with him because of the crown prince"s will. And once the crown prince ascended, he brought along Mu Qing to the heavens.
However, after Xian Le Nation was destroyed and the crown prince was banished to the mortal realm, Mu Qing did not follow the crown prince. Not only did he not follow the crown prince but he did not say a word in defense of the prince. The crown prince was gone anyway, and so he was free. He searched for a cave and started cultivating diligently until after a few years, a heavenly tribulation appeared and he ascended too.
Before, it was one in the heavens and one on earth, and now it"s still one in the heavens and one on earth, except that the situation is completely reversed.
Lin Wen: "He"s really angry."
Xie Lian: "I think so too."
Lin Wen: "Let me say something to him while you take the opportunity to run."
Xie Lian: "No need right? I"ll just pretend nothing happened."
Lin Wen: "No need? I feel awkward just by looking at you too."
Xie Lian: "It"s been okay!"
For Xie Lian this person, anything could happen, just not death; he doesn"t have a lot of anything, but he would definitely lose a lot a face. He has done things that were more awkward than this by many times over, and he would still think, "It"s been okay." Who knew that you couldn"t count your eggs before they hatch; just after he said, "It"s been okay," a voice roared, "Who the h.e.l.l destroyed my golden palace?! Get the f**k out here!"
This one roar made all the G.o.ds felt that their scalp was going to explode.
Although their stomachs were rolling over, they calmed themselves and silently waited for Xie Lian"s response to the angry insults. Who knew that there is no such thing as most exciting, only more exciting. Xie Lian didn"t even start replying when Mu Qing made a sound.
He laughed two claps, "He, he."
The other coldly said, "You"re the one? Okay, just wait for it."
Mu Qing lightly replied, "I never said it was me. Don"t make slanderous accusations."
The other said, "Then why did you laugh? Are you sick?"
Mu Qing: "It"s not that. I just feel that your words are laughable. The one who destroyed your palace is right in this transmission array. You can ask him yourself."
As things evolved to this point, Xie Lian became too embarra.s.sed to think of running.
He coughed, "It was me. I"m sorry."
After he talked, the other became silent as well.
By his ear, Lin Wen transmitted, "Your highness, that one is Nan Yang."
Xie Lian: "I recognized who he is already, but I don"t think recognized me."
Lin Wen: "No. He just frequently enters the mortal realm, but hardly ever returns to the heavens, and didn"t know that you ascended again."
Nan Yang general is the southeast martial G.o.d. His temples come near 8000 in number, and he is extremely beloved by the people.
His original name is Feng Xin, and 800 years ago, he was Xian Le crown prince"s #1 general.
Feng Xin is a very loyal person. He was the crown prince"s guard from the time Xie Lian was 14 years old. They ascended together, were banished together, and were exiled together. But sadly, they could not undergo these 800 hundred years. In the end, they drew their lines and parted their ways, never to meet each other again.