Chapter 70

"Marshal Tianpeng, are you convinced?" the Jade Emperor asked Marshal Tianpeng again.

Marshal Tianpeng, of course, had no objection to this punishment. Even before the battle with Yang Zhen, Marshal Tianpeng had already thought about leaving the Heavenly Court. Being sent to the mortal world was exactly what he wanted; at worst, he would have to cultivate again for a lifetime. With the foundation of this life, it would only take a few hundred years to restore his cultivation.

Marshal Tianpeng bowed to the Jade Emperor and said, "This immortal is convinced!"

Upon hearing this, the Jade Emperor ordered the heavenly generals to take Marshal Tianpeng away, waiting for the auspicious moment to send him into the cycle of rebirth and reincarnate him.

Seeing Marshal Tianpeng being taken away with a calm face, Yang Zhen was somewhat puzzled. However, Yang Zhen knew that the Jade Emperor's plans for Marshal Tianpeng were far from over. After being sent into the cycle of rebirth, Marshal Tianpeng was also sent to the animal realm, reincarnated as a pig, thus beginning the legendary life of Zhu Bajie.

The Heavenly Court was often shrouded in mist, with the red light of the rising sun piercing through the clouds, casting a rainbow of light, dazzlingly bright.

The scenery of the Heavenly Court was beautiful, captivating countless people in the three realms. But beneath this beautiful scenery lay boundless coldness.

The Way of Heaven is a path without emotion, as the Daoist Ancestor Hongjun once said when explaining the three methods of enlightenment. Currently, the most recognized method in the three realms is to cut off the three corpses to become a sage. The method of enlightenment through power is too difficult, and no one believes they can achieve it. The method of enlightenment through merit is also rare and unpredictable; the merit required to become a sage is not the kind of small-scale merit that Yang Zhen can achieve. It requires merit that can change the era and overturn history, which is extremely difficult.

As for the method of cutting off the three corpses to become a sage, it involves cutting off the good, evil, and self corpses to reach a state of no desires and no demands. This method is the most recognized in the three realms because, from the beginning of the world to now, several people have successfully cut off their corpses. Although they have only cut off one or two corpses, this still shows that this path is feasible, so everyone began to walk down this path of cutting off corpses.

To reach a state of no desires and no demands, the mindset of the primordial cultivators gradually changed, using every means to achieve their own enlightenment.

Just like the struggle between the Jade Emperor and the Great Emperor Ziwēi, as soon as the two started fighting, the ultimate victor would receive tremendous benefits. Therefore, even before the battle began, the heavenly deities supporting the two had already started to compete. They were more eager for the battle to start than the Jade Emperor and the Great Emperor Ziwēi, because once they won, they could be promoted to higher positions and enjoy more merit.

As soon as Marshal Tianpeng was taken out of the Lingxiao Hall, someone stepped forward to plead for him.

"Your Majesty, Marshal Tianpeng has led the Heavenly River Army for many years, with great contributions. This time, it was just a drunken disturbance, and the underlying reasons have not yet been investigated. How can Your Majesty hastily determine Marshal Tianpeng's guilt? This immortal believes that Marshal Tianpeng should be temporarily imprisoned, and once the truth is clarified, if Marshal Tianpeng is indeed guilty of deliberately causing chaos in the Heavenly Court, then it will not be too late to punish him." Marshal Wude stepped forward to plead for Marshal Tianpeng.

Marshal Wude was a wise man. Recalling the scene at the Peach Blossom Banquet, he immediately realized that this was a well-planned scheme by the Jade Emperor, with the assistance of Taibai Jinxing, to trap Marshal Tianpeng. Therefore, Marshal Wude used the "underlying reasons" to argue, threatening the Jade Emperor to lighten Marshal Tianpeng's punishment.

With Marshal Wude leading the way, many heavenly deities secretly supporting the Great Emperor Ziwēi also began to speak up for Marshal Tianpeng.

With so many immortals holding different opinions, even the Jade Emperor could not act unilaterally. The Jade Emperor glanced at Taibai Jinxing, letting him debate with these people. As the ruler of the Heavenly Court, the Jade Emperor could not openly favor any side. If Taibai Jinxing failed to refute the opposition, the Jade Emperor would have to follow the majority's opinion and lighten Marshal Tianpeng's punishment.

"Cough, cough!" Taibai Jinxing cleared his throat and said, "Your Majesty, what Marshal Wude said is true, but the heavenly laws are not something that can be exempted by 'great contributions.' To say 'great contributions,' every immortal here has served the Heavenly Court for many years. Can they all violate the heavenly laws just because of 'great contributions'?

Moreover, we all clearly saw the battle between Marshal Tianpeng and Yang Zhen. At that time, Marshal Tianpeng was already sober, but he still resisted the Heavenly Court, fighting to the death, even willing to die with Yang Zhen. Marshal Wude, if it weren't for Marshal Tianpeng's past 'great contributions,' such a serious crime would have been punished by erasing his memory. Being sent to the mortal world is already a lenient punishment."

"But we don't know if Marshal Tianpeng had any underlying reasons. How can we determine his guilt without investigation? If Marshal Tianpeng was threatened or drugged, or under a spell, making him act involuntarily, shouldn't we give Marshal Tianpeng a fair judgment?" Marshal Wude said.

Taibai Jinxing sneered, "Marshal Wude, do you think this is possible? With Marshal Tianpeng's cultivation, who could drug him or put a spell on him while he was sober? We have also examined Marshal Tianpeng's body, and apart from Yang Zhen's spell and the seal on his powers, there was no abnormality. This proves that what you said is impossible."

Just as Marshal Wude was about to argue, Marshal Tianpeng's voice came from outside the hall, "Marshal Wude, I appreciate your kindness, but there's no need to plead for me. There's no point in causing trouble for me and making others unhappy."

Marshal Tianpeng, hearing the debate inside the hall, thought that since he intended to leave the Heavenly Court, there was no need to let his brothers in the Heavenly Court get into trouble with the Jade Emperor for his sake. Otherwise, the next one to suffer might be Marshal Wude, and Marshal Tianpeng did not want his brothers to follow in his footsteps.

Marshal Wude sighed and stepped back.

Throughout this incident, the Great Emperor Ziwēi never showed up, let alone speak a word for Marshal Tianpeng. Although this made the Jade Emperor somewhat puzzled, he could only discuss it with Taibai Jinxing later. The most important thing now was to send Marshal Tianpeng to the mortal world and weaken the Great Emperor Ziwēi.

Yang Zhen watched this debate coldly, feeling some aversion. If this was the life of immortals, then staying in the Heavenly Court was right or wrong.

And to gain merit, did he really have to get involved in the struggle between the Jade Emperor and the Great Emperor Ziwēi? At this moment, Yang Zhen had some doubts and began to reconsider his future.

But then Yang Zhen laughed at himself. He was just a small demon who had not yet reached the Golden Immortal realm, wanting to live a good life without letting others decide his fate. But could things in the world be so smooth, everything going as he wished?

Since he was pursuing the supreme 'Sage' position, he should treat these unpleasant experiences as a form of training. Only by truly transcending everything could he truly be free.

Following the other immortals to the Demon Execution Platform, Yang Zhen looked at Marshal Tianpeng tied to the platform. Golden divine lightning continuously struck Marshal Tianpeng, causing him to scream in agony, but Yang Zhen could sense that Marshal Tianpeng was not sad about leaving the Heavenly Court. Instead, he seemed to feel a sense of relief...