On the Avenue.

Chapter 675 Loyalty
The Star Chariot finally arrived at the last stop of the Tianhe Ferry. This simple ferry crossing was welcoming so many Star Chariots for the first time, so many Star Chariots had to queue to enter the ferry crossing.

There were celestial soldiers and generals guarding the ferry crossing. I was stunned to see so many celestial soldiers and generals walking down from the star raft.

"With so many heavenly soldiers and generals sent from above, are they going to launch a military campaign against Jin'ao Island?"

They couldn't help but let their imaginations run wild.

Jin'ao Island, once polluted by heretics, has been restored to its sacred status, and the Jade Purity Spring has regained its clarity, causing a great commotion. The heavenly soldiers and generals guarding Penglai West were also alarmed, besieging Jin'ao Island. All the Taiyi Golden Immortals of Yunxia Cave Heaven were captured, and even the Daluo Golden Immortals intervened, making for a series of extraordinary events.

Now that so many heavenly soldiers and generals have arrived, they naturally assume that the Heavenly Court has sent troops.

"Isn't the Heavenly Court not that closely related to the Cloud and Mist Grotto Heaven?"

They were puzzled, "Why would the Heavenly Court support Yunxia Cave Heaven?"

At this moment, a young man dressed in yellow robes, with a tall hat and wide belt, came up to greet Chen Shi and said with a smile, "Fellow Daoist Chen, Gongsun Xuanyuan greets you."

Upon hearing this title, Chen Shi's heart pounded. He bowed and said, "This junior, Chen Shi, pays his respects to the Yellow Emperor!"

The man in yellow was none other than Gongsun Xuanyuan, the head of the Five Elders of the Heavenly Court. Back then, on the banks of the Milky Way, his sword moved the ten directions, wielding the arms of a group of Great Luo Golden Immortals, forcing back the strongest beings among these immortals, and saving Li Tianwang, which amazed everyone.

He is the Yellow Emperor, one of the Three Sovereigns and Five Emperors, and one of the oldest deities in China. He became a god before the Jade Emperor of Heaven ascended to the throne, hence the title "Old".

Gongsun Xuanyuan laughed and said, "No need for formalities. Fellow Daoist Chen comes from the Dark Sea, possesses heterodox teachings, yet is in harmony with the Heavenly Dao. Therefore, he is highly regarded by the Great Heavenly Venerable, who has entrusted you with the Heavenly Secrets Strategy. This act is both to protect the Heavenly Dao and to fulfill your potential. The Great Heavenly Venerable originally intended for you to become a Heavenly Dao deity, wielding the Heavenly Secrets Strategy and becoming a great ally of the Heavenly Court. However, the Great Heavenly Venerable also had the intention of taking pity on your talent, and thus has not yet taken action. Even now, even though Fellow Daoist Chen has taken away all the Heavenly Soldiers and Generals, the Great Heavenly Venerable has only allowed you to leave."

Chen Shi smiled and said, "I greatly admire the Great Celestial Venerable's magnanimity."

Gongsun Xuanyuan said, "The heavenly soldiers and generals you took away are only a drop in the ocean compared to the heavenly soldiers and generals under the Heavenly Court's control. The Heavenly Court has forty-nine heavenly palaces distributed throughout the world, and its heavenly soldiers and generals number in the millions. Two hundred thousand heavenly soldiers and generals are not many."

Chen Shi still dared not relax in the slightest, saying, "The Great Celestial Venerable has a broad mind, which is truly admirable. If it were me, I would not have such magnanimity."

Gongsun Xuanyuan said, "Although what Fellow Daoist Chen did was not a big deal to the Heavenly Court, it was a considerable blow to the Great Heavenly Venerable. King Li is the Grand Marshal of the Heavenly Army, and the Heavenly Soldiers and Generals under his command are actually the Heavenly Soldiers and Generals under the Jade Emperor, the Great Heavenly Venerable. This time, Fellow Daoist took away all the Heavenly Soldiers under the Great Heavenly Venerable's name."

Chen Shi's heart skipped a beat, and he said, "We signed a ten-year agreement with the Heavenly Court. After ten years, we will be free. Has Your Majesty come here to kill us?"

Xuanyuan shook his head and said, "You signed a ten-year agreement with the Heavenly Court, which is equivalent to signing a ten-year agreement with the Great Heavenly Venerable. How could His Majesty go back on his word? It was His Majesty who overruled all objections and allowed you to leave."

Chen Shi was slightly relieved and asked, "Then, what brings Your Majesty here?"

Xuanyuan laughed and said, "The Heavenly Court cannot be without Heavenly Soldiers and Generals. Heavenly gods all have their divine duties to maintain the operation of the human world, and Earthly Deities also have their own responsibilities to maintain the connection between the human world and the underworld. However, the Heavenly Court also needs to prevent chaos in the Earthly Immortal Realm and suppress demons in various places. Therefore, it needs immortals to become Heavenly Soldiers and Generals to handle the trivial matters of the Earthly Immortal Realm on behalf of the Heavenly Court. You took away 200,000 Heavenly Soldiers and Generals, leaving the Great Heavenly Venerable with no troops to use. This will cause the Great Heavenly Venerable's control over the Earthly Immortal Realm to drop to zero."

He paused slightly, then continued, "The Celestial Court's infiltration of the Earthly Immortal Realm has reached an unprecedented level. Even the Heavenly Army and the Heavenly Court have been infiltrated by the Celestial Court. If the Great Celestial Venerable does not have any Heavenly Soldiers and Generals that he can mobilize, he will be handing over the world to others."

Chen Shi tentatively asked, "What does Your Majesty mean?"

Xuanyuan said, "The heavenly soldiers and generals can be freed, and the heavenly army camp can also be free from the control of Li Tianwang. But the Great Heavenly Venerable must have heavenly soldiers and generals at his disposal."

He smiled and said, "These 200,000 heavenly soldiers and generals can leave the Heavenly Court, can reside in Penglai West, and the Great Heavenly Venerable can even grant Penglai West to Jin'ao Island. Furthermore, the Heavenly Court can continue to pay their monthly salaries as usual. However, these 200,000 heavenly soldiers and generals must obey the Great Heavenly Venerable's orders! This is the bottom line."

Chen Shi's eyes flickered as he asked, "What if I don't agree..."

Xuanyuan said solemnly, "The Grand Marshal of the Heavenly Army doesn't have to be Li Tianwang, nor does he have to be Chen Shi. The Great Heavenly Venerable will be more at ease if you become a Heavenly Dao deity after your death..."

“I agree,” Chen Shi said decisively.

Xuanyuan smiled and said, "Fellow Daoist Chen, won't you reconsider?"

Chen Shi shook his head and said, "My loyalty to the Great Celestial Venerable is as clear as the sun and moon, and there is no room for hesitation. Your Majesty, just tell the Great Celestial Venerable that the Heavenly Army Camp is in the west of Penglai, which is no different from being in Xitiandang! At the Great Celestial Venerable's command, I will lead 200,000 loyal ministers and righteous soldiers to attack!"

Xuanyuan smiled and said, "Fellow Daoist Chen is loyal."

Chen Shi puffed out his chest even higher.

"Does Fellow Daoist Chen need a deputy to train troops?"

Xuanyuan said, "It's not that I don't trust you, fellow Daoist, but with a skilled deputy, you don't need to do everything yourself. You can leave many trivial matters to your deputy."

Chen Shi blinked: "Could this deputy be Li Tianwang?"

Xuanyuan laughed and said, "He is a trusted minister of the Great Heavenly Venerable."

"No."

Chen Shi laughed and said, "He is my enemy."

Xuanyuan did not insist, saying, "Since that's the case, I will return to the Heavenly Court and inform the Great Heavenly Venerable of this matter. Farewell."

After seeing Gongsun Xuanyuan off, Chen Shi finally breathed a sigh of relief, thinking to himself, "The Great Celestial Venerable invited Xuanyuan Huangdi, one of the Five Elders, with impure motives. If I don't agree, Xuanyuan Huangdi will surely kill me. However, there's nothing wrong with agreeing to the Great Celestial Venerable's request; he can provide money and provisions to support my army." He led his celestial soldiers and generals into the west of Penglai.

Penglai West, Jin'ao Island.

Jiao the Cripple was no longer lame, but the golden needle in his left eye remained, deeply embedded in his pupil. The needle seemed alive; it trembled incessantly whenever his hand touched its end, as if trying to grasp it would cause it to pierce his brain through his eyeball!

Chen Shi helped him dispel the heretical forces in the Dao Integration Land, which healed his old injuries, but the golden needles were actually the immortal artifacts of his enemies.

Jiao the Cripple's cultivation has recently surged, his progress astonishing, and his strength has increased considerably. Jin'ao Island is also flourishing, with Jing Mei, Jiang Guo, and others making rapid progress and achieving remarkable success. However, all of this gives Jiao the Cripple a sense of unreality.

The Jade Purity Spring, in particular, always made him uneasy. He would stay by the spring every day, worried that someone would come to steal the water.

He knew his cultivation was inadequate, and if someone came to steal the spring water, they would definitely be an extremely powerful expert, or even a Great Luo Golden Immortal. He would only be willing to die, but he still couldn't bear to part with the Jade Purity Spring.

Fortunately, he hasn't encountered any such thugs in recent days.

"There are still too few people on Jin'ao Island."

He thought to himself, "Jin'ao Island is indeed only left with cats and dogs. Qiao Gu still often runs away, and Jing Mei, after recovering, also often runs away. Usually, it's just me or Jiang Guo on the island. Jiang Guo is also often not on the island..."

Just then, the barking of a gourd dog startled him awake. Jiao the Cripple's heart stirred slightly: "Strange, are there still people who go through the mountain gate these days? Shouldn't they just storm the mountain and steal the spiritual spring?"

He stood up and looked towards the mountain gate. The first thing he saw was tens of thousands of immortals, standing in neat rows, already outside the mountain gate.

This was the first time he had ever seen so many immortals.

"When our ancestor set up the Ten Thousand Immortals Formation, it was with troops like this," he thought to himself.

Just as he thought of this, Jiao the Cripple was startled: "The immortal soldiers and generals of the Three Pure Ones lineage! They've come to destroy the mountain and ruin the temple!"

Now he's all alone on the mountain, along with a gourd dog.

With just him and his dog, there's no way he could protect the Jade Purity Spring!
Just then, a voice came: "Uncle Jiao, I have brought some people to our Penglai West."

"Chen Shi?"

Jiao the Cripple looked in the direction of the sound and saw Chen Shi walking towards them. He was somewhat lost in thought. "What are these people doing in Penglai West? Isn't it because the Heavenly Court wants to destroy my Golden Turtle Island?"

Chen Shi came to his side and suddenly shouted, "Sword Offering!"

"Shh-"

The sound of sword energy cutting through the air rang out. Two hundred thousand heavenly soldiers each activated the sword energy in their sword boxes. The sword energy pierced the sky, and countless sword shadows flickered as they unleashed the moves of the Hunyuan Sword Scripture in perfect unison!

Jiao the Cripple watched, a sense of bewilderment washing over him: "My sect's swordsmanship, the Hunyuan Sword Scripture... But who are they? Why do they know the Hunyuan Sword Scripture?"

Chen Shi came to his side and said with a smile, "Senior Uncle, these are the two hundred thousand outer disciples of our Jin'ao Island."

Jiao the Cripple was startled. He had just been muttering about how sparsely populated Jin'ao Island was, but he never expected that there would suddenly be 200,000 more people!

He hurriedly grabbed Chen Shi: "Chen Shi, where did you hire these people from?"

Chen Shi smiled and said, "They are soldiers of the Heavenly Army Camp. Now that their contracts have expired and they have regained their freedom, they have come to Penglai West with me."

"The heavenly soldiers and generals of the Heavenly Army Camp?"

Jiao the Cripple's face turned ashen, and he exclaimed, "Do you think the Jade Emperor, the Great Heavenly Venerable, would let you off? This is treason!"

"Rebellion? What kind of rebellion?"

Chen Shi was greatly surprised and said, "I'm just taking them to Penglai West to make a living. It's much better than them wandering outside. Uncle-Master, you're overthinking it! The Jade Emperor not only spared me, but also promised to pay these heavenly soldiers and generals their salaries on time and in full every month!"

Jiao the Cripple stared in disbelief, muttering, "You really aren't planning a rebellion?"

Chen Shi shook his head: "I am absolutely loyal to the Great Celestial Venerable. Otherwise, the Great Celestial Venerable would not have entrusted me with these 200,000 heavenly soldiers and generals."

Jiao the Cripple suddenly remembered someone and quickly asked, "What about Li Tianwang?"

Chen Shi thought for a moment and said, "Perhaps the Great Celestial Venerable thinks he is not loyal enough. He is always exchanging glances with the Western Heaven, so the Great Celestial Venerable has probably wanted to get rid of him for a long time."

—I'm so sleepy, I'm dozing off, I can't write anymore, this chapter will only be 3,000 words.

(End of this chapter)