On the Avenue.

Chapter 743 Heavenly Court Rewards
Little Duan Fairy walked over, her gaze falling on Li Tianwang, who was struggling to crawl, and she looked puzzled.

Unable to make up her mind, she let Li Tianwang go for the time being. She came here hoping Chen Shi would make a decision on whether to pursue and kill Li Tianwang, but she never expected to encounter him again here.

Chen Shi, Yang Bi, and Fairy Xiao Duan all fell silent, watching Li Tianwang continue crawling without uttering a sound.

After a moment, Chen Shi asked calmly, "Where are you headed, fellow Daoist?"

Li Tianwang's body stiffened, and he stopped crawling.

"I've just escaped the wolf pack, only to fall into the tiger's den. This trip of mine is sure to be a harbinger of bad luck, and I'm doomed. Oh well, I might as well die a glorious death."

He struggled to sit up, maintaining his composure, and said with a bitter smile, "I beg you, Heavenly King Chen, to give me a quick death!"

Chen Shi asked in surprise, "Brother Dao, why do you say that? You came here on the orders of the Great Heavenly Venerable, but the world is in turmoil. You encountered bandits from the Celestial Court on your journey and were seriously injured. Fortunately, your wife rescued you and saved your life."

Li Tianwang was slightly taken aback and asked in confusion, "Was I injured by the traitors of the Celestial Court?"

Chen Shi nodded solemnly: "The Celestial Court is full of treacherous ambitions. They disguised themselves as bandits and roamed around Zhangren Province. In order to eliminate the Grand Celestial Venerable's right-hand man, they ambushed and killed you, and then framed Jin'ao Island to sow discord between us. Their intentions are sinister! When Jin'ao Island heard that you were in danger, they immediately sent experts such as Yan Zhibei, Wen Ting, Bian Liuer, and Bai Jingming to rescue you."

Upon hearing this, Li Tianwang tentatively asked, "Then these experts from Jin'ao Island must be righteous and chivalrous, fighting bravely and overcoming many difficulties and dangers."

Chen Shi's expression was solemn: "They fought bravely and fought bloody battles. Although they were wounded in hundreds of places, they fought relentlessly and risked their lives, all in order to save the Heavenly Court's envoy and ensure that the Great Heavenly Venerable's decree could be delivered to Jin'ao Island."

Li Tianwang nodded silently, then looked at Fairy Xiao Duan: "So, I was rescued by your wife?"

Chen Shi sighed, "The Celestial Court bandits are a powerful force. Although Yan Zhibei and the others are quite strong, their cultivation is still shallow. The Celestial Court bandits who besieged you were incredibly strong and severely injured you. You fought bravely and also severely injured them. Unfortunately, you were outnumbered. Fortunately, the Lady of the Sect Master of Jin'ao Island broke through the encirclement and rescued you, thus saving you."

Li Tianwang showed a look of gratitude, struggled to get up, and said, "For such a life-saving grace, my benefactor should accept my bow."

Little Duan Fairy was at a loss and looked at Chen Shi.

Chen Shi quickly stepped forward to help Li Tianwang up, saying, "Brother Dao, please don't do this. We are so ashamed! We are both serving the Heavenly Court with loyalty and courage. Rescuing you is our duty. Why do you have to do this?"

Li Tianwang rose to his feet and asked, "I will never forget the life-saving grace of you and Jin'ao Island. How can I repay the kindness of Jin'ao Island?"

Chen Shi grasped his hand with one hand and placed the other on the back of his hand, gazing into his eyes, and said earnestly, “Jin’ao Island does good deeds without seeking reward. But the Master said that taking the gold would not harm the deed, and not taking the gold would mean not redeeming people. Therefore, to show kindness and expect something in return is the conduct of a gentleman. Brother Dao, in order to repay the kindness of Jin’ao Island, you should write to the Heavenly Court and petition the Great Heavenly Venerable to reward Jin’ao Island.”

Li Tianwang nodded slightly and said, "As soon as my injuries improved a little, I immediately wrote a memorial to the Heavenly Court to commend the benefactors of Jin'ao Island. In particular, your wife is a woman who is just as capable as any man and whose deeds will be recorded in history."

Chen Shi said seriously, "You are my fellow Daoist, why be so polite? Just call me sister-in-law."

Li Tianwang, with a solemn expression, greeted Fairy Xiao Duan and said, "It is I who am being distant, sister-in-law."

Xiao Duan returned the gift, but was still somewhat confused.

Li Tianwang paused for a moment and said, "Unfortunately, I was ambushed and killed by the celestial bandits, and all the personal guards I brought were killed or wounded, so no one can go to the Heavenly Court."

Chen Shi whispered, "Madam, have you killed Li Tianwang's men?"

Xiao Duan shook his head: "No. The Heavenly King brought a Heavenly Army battalion, which was willing to surrender, and the losses were not many. Some divine generals resisted stubbornly, but they were killed. The Giant Spirit Vanguard was captured, though."

Chen Shi turned to Li Tianwang and said, "The celestial bandits are ruthless. The soldiers you brought with you have all been killed or wounded. Only the Giant Spirit Vanguard was rescued."

With a sorrowful expression, Li Tianwang choked out, "My heart aches so much! I wish I could die on the battlefield alongside my soldiers!"

Chen Shi advised, "Brother Dao, please accept my condolences. Everyone knows that the Heavenly King loves his soldiers like his own children, sharing meals and robes with them. Brother Dao, you are a master strategist, but this defeat was due to an ambush by bandits. You are not to blame."

Li Tianwang sighed, "Although victory and defeat are common occurrences in war, I still feel I have let down the soldiers of this battalion. This giant spirit god..."

Chen Shi looked at Xiao Duan, who whispered, "Qiao Gu and Jing Mei didn't know whether they should kill him or not, so they had no choice but to send them to Jin'ao Island. They are on their way there right now."

Chen Shi exclaimed excitedly, "Good news! Brother, Fellow Daoist Juling has been rescued by the soldiers of Jin'ao Island. Brother, please rest and recuperate. Fellow Daoist Juling will arrive at Jin'ao Island in a few days. However..."

He hesitated.

Seeing this, Li Tianwang knew his worries and said, "The bandits are masked and disguised as people from Jin'ao Island to intercept the Heavenly Court's envoys. The Giant Spirit God has fought with these people before and will naturally be able to tell that the skills they use seem to be those of Jin'ao Island, but in fact they are the methods of the Celestial Court."

Chen Shi breathed a sigh of relief and smiled, “The lineage of my Golden Turtle Island comes from the Heavenly Gods such as Doumu Yuanjun, Leisheng Puhua Tianzun, and the Plague Emperor. The abilities of these gods have long been passed down, so it is normal for them to be imitated. Fortunately, Fellow Daoist Juling has discerning eyes and recognizes that the other party’s abilities are not the true inheritance.”

Li Tianwang said, "The Giant Spirit God will be able to tell the difference."

Chen Shi said, "The Heavenly King's injuries are too severe, and he needs to recuperate on Jin'ao Island for a period of time. He cannot return to the Heavenly Court to report for duty for the time being."

Li Tianwang nodded and said, "My injuries are indeed very serious, and I need to recuperate. So I will be troubling Jin'ao Island these days."

"Brother Dao, there's no need for such formalities. Saving lives and healing the wounded is simply the duty of us cultivators."

Chen Shi then summoned several immortals to escort Li Tianwang down to heal his wounds, and ordered people to gather the immortal herbs from Jin'ao Island to refine medicine for Li Tianwang's injuries.

Yang Bi watched Li Tianwang leave and said, "True King, Li Tianwang's life is now in your hands. Everything is up to you, and he will not dare to object. But when he returns to Heaven, he will inevitably complain about you. It would be better to nip this in the bud and prevent future troubles."

Chen Shi shook his head and said, "If I kill him, the Great Celestial Venerable will truly not tolerate me. Jin'ao Island is not ready yet, and it is not advisable to break with the Heavenly Court."

Yang Bi said, "You just had people gather celestial herbs to refine healing elixirs, but none of them were effective. They were probably just delaying Li Tianwang's recovery. But if Li Tianwang doesn't return for a long time, the Great Celestial Venerable will be furious."

Chen Shi said, "It's just to let Heavenly King Li stay for a while. Heavenly King Li came here with the decree of the Great Heavenly Venerable, who is determined to have me send troops. If I send troops, I will die outside and become a Heavenly God. The one who kills me may not be the Celestial Court, but the Heavenly Court."

"The true king can hide for a while, but he cannot hide forever."

"If the Great Celestial Venerable pushes me too far, I will retreat back to the Celestial Realm and continue to be my True King."

Yang Bi didn't say much.

More than ten days later, Qiao Gu and Jing Mei escorted the Giant Spirit God and a group of heavenly soldiers and generals back to Jin'ao Island. Chen Shi arranged for the Giant Spirit God to meet with Li Tianwang.

Li Tianwang said, “Juling, the bandits you encountered in Zhangren Province were not the lame fairy, sick scholar, medicine immortal, or groom from Jin'ao Island.”

The Giant Spirit God was slightly taken aback: "No?"

"No."

Li Tianwang said, "It was the people from the Celestial Court who disguised themselves as the Lame Fairy and the Sick Scholar to ambush us, attempting to frame Jin'ao Island and sow discord between Chen Tianwang and the Great Celestial Venerable."

The giant spirit scratched his head: "They don't seem to be people from the Celestial Court in disguise."

"They were imposters."

Li Tianwang said, word by word, “Their faces were covered with black cloths, so you haven’t seen their faces. Therefore, they are experts from the Celestial Court in disguise. On the contrary, our fellow Daoists from Jin’ao Island—the Lame Fairy, the Sick Scholar, the Immortal Medicine, the Stableman, and others—were incredibly righteous and rushed to our aid, defeating the enemy and saving us.” The Giant Spirit God widened his eyes and argued, “But they captured me and took me to Jin’ao Island in western Penglai…”

Li Tianwang reminded him, "Wasn't it the sick scholar, the lame fairy, and others who rescued you and escorted you to Jin'ao Island in Penglai?"

The giant spirit stared wide-eyed, gradually understanding his meaning.

Li Tianwang patiently explained, “When we were in danger, fortunately, the wife of the Master of Jin'ao Island was nearby. Seeing that I was seriously injured, she came to our aid and saved our lives.”

The giant spirit's eyes darted around, looking at the soldiers who had been escorted to Penglai West with him, and asked, "Where are these soldiers?"

"They have already died in battle."

Overwhelmed with grief, Li Tianwang wept and said, "They bravely sacrificed themselves in the battle against the Celestial Court."

The giant spirit looked at these immortals and asked in confusion, "Did they sacrifice themselves?"

"They were martyred."

The giant spirit was heartbroken and wept, saying, "What fine soldiers! Heavenly King, what should I do?"

Li Tianwang said, "I will submit a memorial to His Majesty, explaining this matter and requesting credit for Jin'ao Island and Chen Tianwang. You take my memorial to the Heavenly Court and report this matter to the Great Heavenly Venerable."

The Giant Spirit hesitated, saying, "What if the Great Celestial Venerable asks..."

“You will answer as I have said.”

Li Tianwang said, “Sometimes, if the truth isn’t revealed, everyone saves face. But if it is, no one will benefit. The Great Heavenly Venerable is currently in need of people, and if he touches on Chen Tianwang, it will have far-reaching consequences. He won’t pursue the matter.”

The Giant Spirit understood and said, "The Great Heavenly Venerable ordered us to set out this time to request Heavenly King Chen to send troops. Now that we have arrived at Golden Turtle Island, if Heavenly King Chen does not send troops..."

Li Tianwang looked at Chen Shi beside him, and Chen Shi said, "I will soon lead my troops to suppress the bandits and wipe out the banditry in the Zhangren Province area. From now on, the Heavenly Court's envoys will no longer need to worry about being intercepted and killed by bandits."

Li Tianwang said, "Chen Tianwang's expedition will surely be a resounding success."

Chen Shi said with great emotion, "I will serve the Great Heavenly Venerable with all my heart and soul, even unto death!"

Two days later, Chen Shi reorganized his troops and personally led them to quell the banditry in Zhangren Province. He killed many monsters and returned victorious. Several months had passed since the campaign began.

Chen Shi then drafted a memorial to the Heavenly Court, recounting his achievements in suppressing the bandits in Zhangren Province over the past few months. He mentioned that the banditry was recurring and that it was likely caused by evil people from the Celestial Court. He requested the Great Heavenly Venerable to send more heavenly soldiers and generals to provide support, and so on.

More than three months passed before the Great Celestial Venerable saw his memorial.

The Heavenly Court and the Celestial Court were already in chaos and in disarray. The Great Celestial Venerable read the memorial, slammed his hand on the table and laughed, then threw the memorial down and shouted, "You still have the nerve to ask me to send more heavenly soldiers and generals! If I send more, they will not return! Someone, summon Venus!"

Not long after, Venus rushed over and asked, "What are your orders, Your Majesty?"

The Great Celestial Venerable instructed him to pick up the memorial.

Venus picked it up and scanned it, saying, "Your Majesty must not send more heavenly soldiers and generals, otherwise it will be like throwing meat buns to a dog, with no chance of return!"

The Great Celestial Venerable said, “This scoundrel has defied Heaven! He even dared to detain my trusted confidant, Heavenly King Li! He even dared to impersonate a celestial court bandit, stirring up trouble and killing angels! Taibai, go to the west of Penglai, behead this scoundrel, and bring his head to me! You will be in charge of his troops!”

Venus laughed and said, “Your Majesty, it would not be difficult for me to kill him, but the Dou Department, Lei Department, and Wen Department are all his people. He is also the adopted son of Houtu Huangdiqi. If I go to kill him, I will be killed on my way back.”

The Great Celestial Venerable sneered, "A dignified Martial God, actually afraid of weapons?"

Venus said, "My divine power is limited, and I cannot compare with the Heavenly Venerable and the Four Emperors."

The Jade Emperor, the Great Heavenly Venerable, did not truly intend to send him to his death. He waved his hand and said, "Chen Shi has gone too far in deceiving Heaven and must be punished. Yet he seeks credit and rewards, which is truly hateful."

Venus said, "Your Majesty, Chen Shi has only 200,000 troops under his command, which is nothing but a drop in the ocean compared to the strength of the Heavenly Court. Why bother with him?"

As the Great Celestial Venerable walked, he said, “He is my Heavenly Dao Treasure. All thirty-two Heavenly Dao Treasures have been returned to their places, leaving only him. I cannot rest easy until he is returned to his place.”

Venus quickly caught up with him with small, quick steps, and said with a smile, "Your Majesty, can't Chen Shi, who is alive, be a Heavenly Treasure?"

The Great Celestial Venerable glanced at him.

Venus said, “Chen Shi is a treasure of the Heavenly Dao even while he is alive. When the Great Heavenly Venerable wants to use him, he can simply use him to activate the Heavenly Secrets Strategy. If we spare his life, the Dou Department, the Wen Department, and the Lei Department will be loyal to him, and the Empress Earth Goddess will be of one mind with Your Majesty. It is Your Majesty’s magnanimity that this will cause the ruler and his ministers to become estranged. If it is because of him that the ruler and his ministers become estranged, that would be undesirable.”

The Great Celestial Venerable pondered for a moment and said, "What you said does make some sense... King Chen has quelled the bandits in Zhangren Province, which is a great service to the country. So you should go and reward King Chen and reward the heavenly soldiers and generals."

Venus received the decree, bowed, and withdrew.

During this period, Yang Bi frequently traveled to Jin'ao Island to listen to Chen Shi continue explaining the Yuanfu era.

The Yuanfu fundamentally reinterprets the Dao of Immortality, and Chen Shi incorporated elements of the Dark Overseas Dao into it, essentially reconstructing the Dark Overseas Dao as well. To comprehend the mysteries of the Yuanfu in a short time and achieve a perfect replacement is virtually impossible.

Fortunately, Yang Bi was extremely intelligent and studied diligently. If he couldn't learn something, he would write it down and ponder it carefully.

After more than half a year of study, his cultivation level has greatly improved. He has already cultivated to the fifth level of the Dao Realm in the True Immortal Realm, and is not far from the sixth level.

It took him another three months to fully master the Yuanfu, and he couldn't help but marvel at its all-encompassing nature.

"In the war between the Celestial Court and the Heavenly Court, the Heavenly Court was always on the offensive, while the Celestial Court was on the defensive."

Yang Bi said to Chen Shi, "It will take me a year to learn the Yuanfu, and it will take even longer for the experts of the Celestial Court to learn it. The reason why the Celestial Court is defending is mainly because they have not yet mastered it. The day they master it will be the day they launch a counterattack."

Chen Shi said, "The Heavenly Court is attacking, and the Celestial Court is defending, but the Heavenly Court is not going all out. The Heavenly Court is also waiting."

Yang Bi's heart stirred slightly, and he said, "Wait until the calamity begins!"

Chen Shi smiled and said, "We are also waiting for the Heavenly Dao and the Divine Man to mature."

Just then, someone came to report: "An old man with white hair, white beard and white robe has come outside. He claims to be Venus, and has come on the orders of the Great Heavenly Venerable to request an audience with the Religious Master."

Just as Chen Shi was about to go and greet him, Yang Bi hurriedly said, "True King, please invite the True Queen Consort to accompany you, just in case. Also, activate the Dao Ruins Dao Realm and invite several experts to oversee it."

Chen Shi laughed and said, "Venus is a kind old man, why be so cautious?"

Yang Bi said, "Li Changgeng, the Venus, is the son of the White Emperor of the Western Heaven. The White Emperor is in charge of war and slaughter, and Venus is powerful and has amazing martial arts skills. His fighting methods are unparalleled in the world, and he can kill strong enemies in close combat as easily as taking something out of a bag!"

Chen Shi stood solemnly, invited Fairy Xiao Duan to his side, and then activated the Dao Ruins Dao Realm, burying the Demon Blood Treasure Tree in ambush. After making all the preparations, he went to see Venus.

(End of this chapter)