My brother is so cunning

Chapter 1025 The True Martial Emperor
The immortals inside the hall involuntarily dispersed, forming two groups of immortals, each more wary of the others, with many already touching their storage bags.

Within the Lingxiao Palace, only a handful of great gods received the honor of "entering the palace with sword and shoes," and none of the gods carried weapons with them.

But in this magical world, mortal cultivators all possess magical treasures with varying storage capacities. They can hide magical treasures and weapons in their personal pouches when they go to court, and the guards of Lingxiao Palace cannot search them one by one.

Therefore, the heavenly rule prohibiting the carrying of magical weapons and artifacts within the Lingxiao Palace has a symbolic significance far outweighing its actual security function.

Of course, no deity would be so audacious as to attempt to assassinate the Jade Emperor in the Lingxiao Palace. Security at the Lingxiao Palace had long been neglected, and this heavenly rule was thus preserved in name only.

The immortals in the main hall were divided into two groups. At a glance, they were clearly distinct. One group consisted of the disciples of the Jie Sect who were forced to accept the title when the Investiture of the Gods was established, as well as the civil and military officials from the Shang Dynasty. The other group consisted of immortals with backgrounds in the Chan Sect and the Great Zhou Dynasty, or immortals personally promoted by the Jade Emperor after the Investiture of the Gods.

A small number of immortals are caught in the middle, torn between two sides.

The immortals from the Jie Sect and the Shang Dynasty were mainly Doubu Xingjun, and even Jinling Shengmu was among them. In addition to Doubu Xingjun, there were also Leibu Leijiang and Leishi mixed in, but not all members of Leibu had sided with this side.

The gods and generals from the Plague Department, Smallpox Department, Water Department, Fire Department, and even the Military Department are also among this group of immortals.

After all, Wen Zhong, the righteous god of the Thunder Department, was still in a dilemma. Some Thunder Generals chose to stand with Wen Zhong, caught between the two groups.

Just as caught in a dilemma as Wen Zhong were the gods of the Ministry of Finance, led by Zhao Gongming and Bigan.

The number and quality of immortals from the Chan Sect and the Great Zhou Dynasty were relatively insufficient. The immortals gathered together were the gods of the Tai Sui Department and some Heavenly Lords and Heavenly Masters promoted by the Jade Emperor after the Investiture of the Gods.

While the immortals, divided into two groups, were wary of each other, their gazes also fell on Wen Rui, watching him intently and waiting nervously for his next move.

If it were two hundred years ago, when Wen Rui had just been conferred the title of god and ascended to heaven, and if he had fought with the Jade Emperor in front of all the gods in the Lingxiao Palace, even if there were countless relatives and friends in the hall, no one would have dared to defy the world and openly side with him.

At most, they could stop him from pleading with the Jade Emperor again, hoping to give Wen Rui a lenient sentence.

But times have changed. Thirty years have passed in the Milky Way East and thirty years in the Milky Way galaxy. Wen Rui is no longer the Wen Rui of the past. The prestige he has accumulated by quelling the demonic calamity has quietly influenced the balance of power in the hearts of the gods.

Under the watchful eyes of the gods, Wen Rui slowly turned around, moved his feet with difficulty, and walked silently toward the gate of the Lingxiao Palace.

The gods, who had been on edge, relaxed slightly, but the earth-shattering collision ultimately failed to erupt.

Wen Rui walked very slowly, as if every step he took required countless considerations. This was no longer just thinking thrice before acting; it was taking a step only after a thousand thoughts and considerations.

No one knows what he's thinking right now—whether he'll back down or not.
We still need to go back and make thorough preparations, mobilize the martial arts puppet army, and launch a surprise attack.

Before he could even step out of the palace gate, a thunderous shout rang out: "Heavenly Venerable, please wait!"

The True Martial Emperor shattered the golden bricks beneath his feet, and the Big Dipper pattern on his black Taoist robe suddenly lit up. The True Martial Sword in his hand hummed as it was drawn from its sheath, and the phantom images of the Tortoise and Snake Generals were reflected on the spine of the sword.

The Great Emperor who guarded the Northern Heaven stared intently at Wen Rui's retreating figure with eyes as sharp as lightning: "In the Lingxiao Palace, before the Jade Emperor, you spoke vehemently against the might of Heaven. Now you leave as if nothing has happened. What do you think of the laws of Heaven and human ethics?" The gods, who had just breathed a sigh of relief, suddenly felt their hearts tighten again.

In the past, when Zhenwu the Great attended the Heavenly Court's court meetings, he usually did not utter a word, never showed any political inclination, did not participate in the disputes in the Heavenly Court, and would even occasionally be absent from the court meetings under the pretext of suppressing the heretical gods in the north, thus maintaining a transcendent status.

This Jiazi court assembly concerns the reconstruction of the mortal realm's order after the demonic calamity has subsided. This great deity made an exception to attend the assembly, but unexpectedly, he has come across such a crucial court confrontation.

Although Zhenwu the Great is respectfully called "Great Emperor", in terms of celestial rank, he is actually on par with Wen Rui's Jietian the Great Emperor and the Creation Heavenly Venerable, and his seniority is far superior to Wen Rui's.

The True Martial Emperor also has another title, called "Demon-Slaying Heavenly Venerable", whose full title is "North Pole Town Heavenly True Martial Mysterious Heavenly Emperor Jade Void Master Minister Golden Palace Incarnation Demon-Slaying Eternal Town Final Calamity Salvation Heavenly Venerable".

His title of Heavenly Venerable was much longer than Wen Rui's, which showed that although they were both Heavenly Venerables, his status was higher and subtly surpassed Wen Rui's.

Let alone Wen Rui, even Wen Rui's father, Wen Zhong, would have to show respect to the True Martial Emperor in person. Guanyin Bodhisattva would treat Zhenyuan Daxian with the same deference.

In the vast Lingxiao Palace, hundreds of immortals gathered. The number of great gods who were qualified, had the courage, and the ability to stand up and rebuke Wen Rui could be counted on one hand, and the True Martial Emperor was one of them.

The celestial officials from the Chan Sect and the Great Zhou Dynasty were initially terrified due to their weak position, but when they saw the True Martial Emperor openly supporting the Jade Emperor and upholding the celestial order, they all showed joy.

"May the heavens bless Your Majesty! Fortunately, the True Martial Emperor has also come to the Jiazi Court Assembly. Let's see if Wen Rui and his cronies still dare to be so arrogant!"

"Hmph, rain is caused by the heavens, and calamity is caused by the gods! Those remnants of the Jie Sect have acted perversely and disrupted the order of heaven and human relations. Do they really think that heaven will not punish them?"

"Emperor Zhenwu is indeed the most astute. Letting Wen Rui go is like releasing a tiger back into the mountains. If he goes back and gathers his puppet army to attack, even Emperor Zhenwu will find it difficult to deal with him!"

……

The pressure they faced was far greater than it appeared. Although both sides had gathered a group of immortals, the two great gods, Doumu Yuanjun and Wen Zhong, could wipe out the immortal officials from the Chan Sect and the Great Zhou Dynasty just by taking action within this main hall.

Although Wen Zhong did not explicitly take sides, many immortals had already categorized him as supporting Wen Rui.

First of all, what kind of father would not support his son?
Secondly, Doumu Yuanjun has sided with Wen Rui. As Doumu Yuanjun's disciple, even if Wen Zhong is forced to put aside his own family for the greater good, how could he possibly betray his master and ancestors?
Now that the True Martial Emperor is on their side, the situation has immediately turned in their favor.

Doumu Yuanjun and Wen Zhong were deified after their deaths, and their strength was reduced compared to before their deification due to the disintegration of their Dao bodies. Zhenwu Dadi, on the other hand, was an ancient god who obtained the Heavenly Dao divine office tens of thousands of years ago and was eternally guarding the Northern Heaven. He could easily suppress both of them even when fighting one against the other.

Many deities believe that while the Jade Emperor's two hundred million years of cultivation may surpass him in terms of spiritual attainment, the True Martial Emperor is the supreme martial immortal in terms of actual combat techniques.

If Zhenwu the Great had been present when Yang Jian stormed the Lingxiao Palace, Erlang Shen, who had barged into the palace, would probably have only been able to awkwardly scratch his head and say, "Sorry, I've come to the wrong door," before slinking away with his tail between his legs like a dog.

(End of this chapter)