After paying homage to Saintess Shui Tianyi, Shui Miao followed Hong Lian to study secret formation techniques from the Grand Minister of War.
However, no sooner had Shui Miao left than Saintess Shui Tianyi used her supreme divine consciousness to contact the Grand Minister directly, instructing him to hold back and not reveal all the crucial formation techniques to Shui Miao.
Meanwhile, Jue Ying was retained by Saintess Shui Tianyi.
“Jue Ying, you’ve been in the Jade Void Splendor Mansion for quite some time now. Now I want you to step forward and take over the position of Sect Leader of the Jade Void Sect in the Sixth Heaven. Do you feel confident about it?” Inside the octagonal jade pavilion in the backyard garden, Saintess Shui Tianyi slowly sat down on a jade stool, slightly narrowing her eyes as she fixed her gaze on Jue Ying.
A gentle breeze passed by, causing Jue Ying’s black hair to flutter in the wind, making her look incredibly beautiful.
Tall and strikingly cold in appearance, Jue Ying stood respectfully to one side and quickly replied, “Rest assured, elder sister. I will certainly not辜负 your trust.”
“But…”
Saintess Shui Tianyi suddenly arched her left eyebrow slightly, “I heard that the rogue Hong Xu seems quite interested in you?”
“Rest assured, elder sister. I am your spy placed inside the Jade Void Sect. I can control myself when it comes to matters of the heart. Besides, he is my nominal master, so this issue can be completely ignored.” Jue Ying’s expression was serious, her eyes sharp and cold, appearing extremely ruthless.
Saintess Shui Tianyi nodded, “Good. Let’s not speak of romantic entanglements. Keep doing well, and when the battle between immortals and deities comes, I will find a way to elevate you to the position of Grand Sect Leader of the Jade Void Sect.”
“Elder sister, there’s something I… I want to ask, if I may!”
Jue Ying glanced at Saintess Shui Tianyi. Judging from her expression, it seemed that the Saintess was in a particularly good mood today.
Saintess Shui Tianyi nodded, “Ask.”
“Elder sister, I want to know, what exactly is my mission?”
This question had long troubled Jue Ying.
Saintess Shui Tianyi furrowed her brows slightly before replying, “Originally, I didn’t want to tell you about this, but since things have come to this point, I’ll let you in on a little secret. In fact, the Celestial Court has been controlling the development of all the sects in the Immortal Realm. On the surface, we seem to be doing nothing, but in reality, the fate of all sects lies in our hands. As the administrator of the Sixth Heaven, I must take actions to control these immortal sects so that I can regulate them at crucial moments, guiding their development according to my wishes.”
Today, she had encountered Shui Miao, so she no longer needed to worry about crafting divine artifacts, which was why Saintess Shui Tianyi was in such a good mood.
If it weren’t for her good mood today, Saintess Shui Tianyi would never have revealed such secrets.
“Thank you, elder sister, for having so much faith in me. I will certainly live up to your expectations!”
Jue Ying had long suspected that the sects in the Immortal Realm were secretly controlled by the Celestial Court. Today’s confirmation only proved her suspicions.
Seeing Jue Ying’s obedience, Saintess Shui Tianyi felt deeply comforted, treating her as family. In a spontaneous mood, she added, “Don’t be fooled by how powerful those immortals from the sects seem on the surface; in reality, they are all fools. What is the celestial war between immortals and deities? It’s a scheme by the Celestial Court to clean house, consolidate wealth, and reestablish order. It’s like raising a group of stupid pigs. Because their pen is so large, they forget they are pigs and start forming factions, thinking highly of themselves. But they don’t know that their master plans to slaughter them for meat, so he devises a scheme called the ‘Stupid Pig War.’ These foolish pigs fall for it, getting deeply entangled in the deception, unable to extricate themselves. In the end, some pigs die, some are injured, while the master of the pen remains unscathed, growing fat and prosperous from feasting on pork—hahaha…”
“Jue Ying is fortunate to have you, elder sister. Without you, I would have been one of those foolish pigs…”
Jue Ying was deeply shaken, never imagining that the Celestial Court could be so sinister, nor that the sects of the Immortal Realm could be so pitiful.
Saintess Shui Tianyi nodded, “Little sister, keep doing well. I won’t let you down. Go back and wait. If the opportunity arises, help me keep an eye on the Nine Heavens Mystical Sect.”
“The Nine Heavens Mystical Sect! Elder sister, isn’t that sect uninvolved in the affairs of the Immortal Realm?” Jue Ying was slightly taken aback, puzzled as to why Saintess Shui Tianyi was so interested in them.
Saintess Shui Tianyi sneered coldly, “Don’t underestimate those neutral sects. They may have already seen through the Celestial Court’s tricks. If their power continues to grow, and if those pigs learn more, the Celestial Court will face serious trouble.”
“I understand. I will keep watch.”
With a bow, Jue Ying turned and left.
After Jue Ying left, Saintess Shui Tianyi immediately summoned her female attendants and said to one of them, “Xiao Xiao, go to the mortal realm immediately and investigate Shui Miao’s family and friends. Find out exactly who Shui Miao is. Also, discover why the people from the Nine Heavens Mystical Sect are protecting him. This mission is purely for intelligence gathering—do not act rashly.”
“Xiao Xiao understands and will obey!”
A small-statured female attendant immediately accepted the order and left.
Saintess Shui Tianyi then turned to another female attendant, “Da Da, how is the preparation of the materials for the chessboard I want to create?”
Another slightly taller female attendant quickly responded, “My lady, we are still missing half of the required materials.”
“So much is still missing?”
Saintess Shui Tianyi frowned immediately.
The attendant hesitated, “My lady, this chessboard itself is an ultimate divine artifact. Each of the sixteen black and sixteen white chess pieces are divine artifacts, totaling thirty-three divine artifacts along with the board. The required materials are simply too numerous, and the time is very tight…”
“Enough, no more excuses. I know it’s difficult, but you must gather all the materials within the next few days. I now have a ready-made artisan. If we delay too long, once that ruthless artisan is discovered by other powerful beings, all my efforts will be in vain.” Saintess Shui Tianyi slammed the table and stood up. “Peng Kun Immortal Emperor has already begun his moves in the Ninth Heaven. We cannot afford to sit idle. You two must focus on the Seventh and Eighth Heavens. Don’t fear offending anyone—acquire all the materials at any cost.”
“My lady, with your words of encouragement, I can proceed!”
The female immortal attendant bowed and hurriedly exited.
Both female attendants left.
Inside the pavilion, Saintess Shui Tianyi suddenly smiled coldly to herself, muttering, “Once this Shui Miao helps me forge the Apocalyptic Chessboard, I will kill him on the spot to prevent him from leaking my plans. I’ve waited over a thousand years for this celestial war between immortals and deities. This time, I will stir up chaos in this murky soup and, at the final moment, ascend to become the Supreme Emperor—the true ruler of the immortal and divine realms!”
This seemingly ordinary and low-key Saintess Shui Tianyi harbored such grand ambitions of usurpation.
As a Heavenly Emperor of an entire realm, she was still not satisfied, daring to forge the Apocalyptic Chessboard and seize the throne of the Supreme Emperor!
※※※
In the Secret Formation Treasury of the Forging Department,
Inside the treasury, formations were piled up like mountains, at least a hundred thousand formation manuals.
Seeing so many formation manuals, Shui Miao was immediately delighted. He quickly spread out his divine consciousness to sense these formation manuals.
Under his divine perception, Shui Miao suddenly discovered that as many as one-tenth of these manuals had actually given birth to spirits—essentially becoming immortals!
Indeed, these were immortal manuals—manuals that had become immortals, or “book immortals.”
These manuals were made from special wooden materials, and after being stored in the treasury for a long time, absorbing the spiritual energy of the Immortal Realm, they had gradually developed spirits. These spirits slowly grew stronger, eventually becoming immortals themselves. However, their cultivation levels varied—some were only basic spirits, while others had reached the level of Immortal Elder.
Standing beside Shui Miao, the Grand Minister of War softly laughed, “Brother Qing, there are countless formation manuals here. Feel free to read whatever you like, but don’t damage them. For the next three days, this treasury is under my control, so you don’t have to worry about anyone interrupting you. But after three days, someone else will be in charge, so you only have three days. As for those powerful book immortals inside, if you can subdue them, do so. If not, don’t provoke them, to avoid damaging the manuals. That’s all. You can start reading now. I’ll come back to get you in three days.”
After saying this, the Grand Minister of War turned and left, leaving Shui Miao alone inside the treasury.
Three days was a short time to go through so many formation manuals. At most, he could only fully study two or three types.
If he wanted to access the more powerful manuals, he would have to confront the book immortals. But these book immortals were no easy opponents—they had formed factions and set up formations. Even experts at the Immortal Sovereign level couldn’t defeat them.
Therefore, the Grand Minister of War was confident that Shui Miao wouldn’t learn much.
Moreover, he had already hidden the lower halves of the three most important formation manuals, following Saintess Shui Tianyi’s instructions.
Otherwise, he wouldn’t dare to leave Shui Miao alone to freely browse the formation manuals.
The three lower halves that the Grand Minister of War took with him were the manuals for time-controlling formations, life-nourishing formations, and soul-destroying death formations.
Time, life, and death—these three formation manuals were the most supreme and precious in the entire Immortal Realm.
Without the lower halves, the upper halves were useless; no formation could be set.
“Actually left…”
Shui Miao waited for a while, sensing with his divine consciousness that the Grand Minister of War had truly left. His heart immediately surged with excitement. There were so many formation manuals—where should he start?
Deep within the treasury were the most powerful formation manuals, including even the ultimate compendium of Thunder Sect formations.
He was irresistibly drawn to them…
However, just as he took a few steps forward, a swarm of book immortals flew toward him, forming a formation and surrounding him.
“Haha! It’s been thousands of years, and finally someone has come for us to play with…”
“Haha! Young man, let me remind you—you might be more powerful than us, but you can’t harm us because that would damage the books. If you damage the manuals, the Grand Minister of War will punish you, and you’ll wish you were dead.”
“That’s right, what he said is true.”
“So, you can only let us play with you. Once we’re done playing, we’ll teach you a couple of formations.”
“Haha! Alright, we’ve already warned him. Now let’s discuss how to play with him!”
…
Shui Miao was momentarily stunned. These book immortals were tiny dwarves, dressed in colorful clothes, resembling a group of vibrantly colored little fairies bouncing around him.
“You’re sure you want to play with me?”
Shui Miao paused, then sat cross-legged on the ground, addressing the swarm of book immortals with interest.
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