Daojun, start from Penglai foundation building

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The sound of bells and chimes rang out from the Nine Heavens Palace, gradually spreading throughout the Nine Heavens, echoing in the east, west, south, and north, and reaching far and wide across the Three Realms.

With this series of chimes, the immortals, gods, demons, and Buddhas throughout the Three Realms realized that the time for the Immortal Banquet at the Fragrant Palace was approaching.

In the hazy moment, four ethereal gates, seemingly perched on clouds, appeared in the four directions of the Three Realms: east, west, south, and north.

The gate was entirely gilded, with dragons and phoenixes coiled around it, reaching a height of ten thousand feet. On both sides, auspicious clouds and rosy light filled the air. The palace walls stretched endlessly, and one could vaguely see the magnificent palaces and celestial temples behind them. Below the gate were countless jade steps and celestial soldiers and generals lined up on both sides. One could see strongmen beating drums and celestial soldiers playing music, while billions of rays of heavenly light were falling on all directions of the mortal world, as if to guide mortals into the heavens.

These are the four heavenly gates: east, west, south, and north.

The Heavenly Gates were not originally meant to be directly revealed to the mortal world. Not to mention the mortal world, even true immortals of the Eastern Heaven or venerable beings of the Western Heaven would find it difficult to see the true face of the Heavenly Gates unless one crossed the fierce winds, thunder, and fire and traversed the void. Only by crossing countless miles could one see the four Heavenly Gates hanging high above the starry sea. One would also need to travel countless miles to reach the foot of the Heavenly Gates.

To enter the Heavenly Gate directly, only four continents—east, west, south, and north—are within its reception range. Furthermore, one must wear a Heavenly Court pass token to be remotely received by the Heavenly Gate.

Throughout history, the Heavenly Gate has been a symbol of immortality and enlightenment in the mortal world. It is often said that when a great emperor or monarch issues a decree to guide mortals to ascend to heaven and attain enlightenment, the illusory image of the Heavenly Gate will appear.

This mysterious Heavenly Gate is now shining brightly before the eyes of mortals throughout the Three Realms, as if one could simply raise a hand to climb the nine thousand nine hundred and ninety-nine jade steps and then step into the ten-thousand-foot Heavenly Gate to attain immortality.

In reality, the Heavenly Gates are far taller than ten thousand feet. These are merely miraculous images of the four Heavenly Gates, meant to help the immortals, gods, demons, and Buddhas qualified to attend the banquet at the Hall of Fragrant Breeze to find the location of the Heavenly Gates more quickly and be received by them.

To travel from beneath the starry sea to the vast human world, one must first traverse a 30 million li thick layer of illusory flow, then a 60 million li thick layer of fierce winds, thunder, and fire, and finally a 10 million li thick layer of illusory clouds. Only then can one see the vast human world, including the east, west, south, north, and four seas. At this point, one is still hundreds of millions of li away from the human world. Such a vast distance means that even a 10,000-zhang heavenly gate would be invisible to the human world, let alone a 1 million-zhang heavenly gate.

Activating the four Heavenly Gates to manifest extraordinary phenomena and project them onto the four continents and oceans, making them visible to all living beings, is not as simple as being separated by hundreds of millions of miles. The Three Realms are now so vast that the resources consumed by this projection alone would be too much for even the Great Emperors of the Heavenly Court to handle, let alone the emperors of the Heavenly Court, unless there are a few Pure Yang Realm Divine Emperors activating the Heavenly Gates with their own Pure Yang power.

Mortals and ordinary immortals were unaware of the magnitude of the Heavenly Court's actions; they only saw the majesty displayed by the Heavenly Court and felt a sense of longing.

In the Flowing Jade Sea Realm of the South China Sea, as the waves surged, a large number of shrimp soldiers and crab generals rushed out of the sea. Immediately, a dragon roared loudly, and a vermilion South China Sea dragon rushed out of the Flowing Jade Sea Realm. Under the envious gazes of countless True Immortals in the Flowing Jade Sea Realm, it transformed into human form and sat on the dragon palace ceremonial guard, heading straight for the South Heavenly Gate.

Amidst the raging waves of the North Sea, a fierce storm raged, accompanied by swirling ice and snow. As the snow danced in the air, a pure white dragon soared into the sky, hurtling straight toward the North Heavenly Gate.

As the North Sea Dragon King took to the sky, one after another great demons from the Northern Continent flew through the air, each riding in their ceremonial regalia towards the Northern Heavenly Gate.

In the westernmost part of the Great Lingyin Temple, the Golden Awakening Buddha opened his eyes, looked towards the Western Heavenly Gate, and then nodded slightly. The Lingjue Bodhisattva said, "The World Honored One has decreed that all Bodhisattvas and Arhats shall follow the World Honored One to the Heavenly Court."

In an instant, the Great Lingyin Temple was filled with the vast Buddhist light of Bodhisattvas and Arhats. The Eight Treasures Golden Lotus of Merit stretched across the sky, and various Venerable Ones, attendants, Dharma protectors, and monastics surrounded the Buddha's Dharma carriage, heading straight for the Heavenly Court.

Meanwhile, in the east, beams of celestial light shot into the sky, and processions displaying the grandeur of immortals entered the Eastern Heavenly Gate.

East China Sea, Penglai Island.

On Penglai Island, Lin Fan looked at the projection of the Eastern Heavenly Gate that was almost overhead and couldn't help but laugh: "Could it be that our Emperor was driven to desperation by the scene a hundred years ago when the Heavenly Venerable Kaiyuan preached the Dharma and all the immortals from the Three Realms and Four Directions came to pay homage? He is actually willing to spend so much effort to project the four Heavenly Gates to the four directions of the human world."

Lingwei said calmly, "Lingzhao, don't talk nonsense! How could a mere Refinement Void True Monarch like you presume to know His Majesty the Heavenly Emperor's intentions?"

"Once you arrive in Heaven, do not speak nonsense, lest you tarnish the reputation of Penglai."

Lin Fan chuckled and said, "Senior Brother, I understand, I understand. When we get there, we just need to eat and drink. Anyway, it's free to eat the food from the Heavenly Court. I will definitely not talk nonsense and make our Emperor lose face."

Lingyu rolled her eyes at Lin Fan, but was pulled back by Lingqiu, who asked with a mixture of anticipation and nervousness, "Senior Sister, I've never been to the Heavenly Court before. What exactly does the Nine Heavens Palace look like?"

Upon hearing this, Lingyu fell silent. Although she had entered the Heavenly Court, she had never been to the Nine Heavens Palace.

Seeing this, Lin Fan laughed and said, "Only your senior brother Lingyuan has been to the Nine Heavens Palace. It's a pity he's not here right now. But don't worry, little Lingqiu, you have many acquaintances in the Heavenly Court. All your uncles and senior masters are there. There's nothing to be afraid of."

Just then, Ling Xuan and Ling Yan arrived. Seeing that everyone was there, Ling Wei immediately said, "Let's go to the East Heavenly Gate first, and then go to Penglai Heavenly Realm to act together with our senior uncles and elder brothers."

South China Sea, Little Penglai.

Standing outside the Xuanqing Palace, Tian Ming'an looked at the tightly closed palace doors with some anxiety. The Heavenly Court had manifested four Heavenly Gates to guide immortals, gods, demons, and Buddhas from the mortal realm into Heaven, but this only lasted for seven days. Now it was the fifth day, but his master still hadn't made a move.

"Why hasn't Master made a move yet?!"

Li Jianchun and Huang Ping'an were already extremely anxious, but Tian Ming'an maintained a calm demeanor: "What's the rush? Master has his own plans. Why are you all so impatient?"

Li Jianchun laughed and said, "Senior brother, I just wanted to go to the Nine Heavens Palace to see what the Heavenly Emperor who rules the Three Realms looks like."

Before the words were finished, a voice rang out: "Even I, your master, cannot enter the inner hall of the Pixiang Palace. You will probably never be able to see what the Heavenly Emperor looks like."

Upon hearing this, Li Jianchun, Tian Ming'an, and the others quickly looked up and saw that the gate of Xuanqing Palace had been opened, and a tall and handsome figure walked out from it.

Wearing a jade crown with stars on her head, a black robe with lotus patterns, a bright jade belt with flowing clouds around her waist, and a green bamboo and crane robe on top, her eyes were bright and clear, her aura was clear and otherworldly.

"Greetings, Master!"

Tian Ming'an and others performed the prayer service.

Jiang Sheng waved his hand: "I have received news that the people from Penglai, Qinghua, and Tianhe have entered the Eastern Heavenly Gate, and the Daoist fairies from Chixiao Dao Sect and Yaochi Holy Land have also entered the Three Realms Great Thousand World."

"However, we are not too late to act."

"Let's go, follow me into the Heavenly Court and see the grand spectacle of the Immortal Banquet in the Fragrant Pavilion."

Li Jianchun and Huang Ping'an nodded in agreement with great delight, but Tian Ming'an hesitated: "Master, what about Junior Brother Shen?"

Jiang Sheng laughed and said, "He is the master of Jinhua Mountain, representing the fortune of the Immortal Path and the lineage of the Dharma Protectors. He is also able to participate in this Dharma Banquet, but like his master, he will not enter the inner hall. You will have plenty of opportunities to meet him then."

Upon hearing this, Tian Ming'an felt relieved. He was genuinely worried that all his fellow disciples would go to the Heavenly Court for the banquet, leaving Shen Yao alone on Jinhua Mountain. As the senior disciple, he really didn't know how to maintain the relationship between his fellow disciples.

Jiang Sheng raised his hand, and two golden lions led the cloud chariot over. Jiang Sheng slightly leaped and sat on the chariot, while Tian Ming'an, along with Qiu Buyu, Li Jianchun, Huang Ping'an, and other junior brothers and sisters, guarded the chariot on either side. With the two golden lions shaking their large heads, the cloud chariot soared out of Little Penglai Island and headed straight for the South Heavenly Gate. The South Heavenly Gate is located above the South China Sea, connecting the Nine Heavens above and the Underworld below. It has the most places of guidance in the human world, including the Southern Continent and several sea areas in the South China Sea.

After Jiang Sheng's cloud chariot reached the reception area of ​​the South Heavenly Gate, a beam of heavenly light came from afar, and in no time Jiang Sheng traversed hundreds of millions of miles of sea and sky to arrive directly at the foot of the South Heavenly Gate.

At this moment, the South Heavenly Gate was shimmering with divine light, and a large number of immortals and gods were queuing up to enter. These immortals and gods all possessed the cultivation of the Upper Three Realms, and only those who had reached the Upper Three Realms were qualified to attend the Dharma Banquet at the Fragrant Pavilion.

According to Jiang Sheng's understanding, the banquet in Pixiang Palace is divided into an inner hall and an outer hall. The standard of the inner hall is at least that of a Five Tribulation True Lord, a Mahayana Immortal Lord, or a Divine Emperor. It can be said that the inner hall is the real banquet of Pixiang Palace. However, even the Immortal Lords and Emperors are just accompaniments to the inner hall. The only true guests of His Majesty are the three Heavenly Venerables of the Eastern Heaven and the Buddha of the Western Heaven.

As for the outer hall, it houses Star Officials and Divine Lords of the Refining Void Realm, True Lords and Venerables of the Integration Realm, as well as True Lords of the Side Sects, Heavenly Kings of the Buddhist Sects, and immortals, gods, demons, Buddhas, spirits, monsters, dragons, and phoenixes—a veritable gathering of heroes and geniuses.

But in the end, it was simply His Majesty's act of sharing joy with the people.

In the vast Three Realms, whether it's the Heavenly Court, the Mortal Realm, or even the Underworld, millions of immortals, gods, demons, and Buddhas at the Refinement and Integration Realm are no different from the six mortal realms in the eyes of that Emperor.

As the cloud chariot arrived at the South Heavenly Gate, Jiang Sheng caught a glimpse of a large number of deities and dragon lords from the South Sea waiting there. These included dragon lords from the South Sea, mountain gods and river gods from the Southern Continent, as well as scattered immortals and underworld gods appointed by the Heavenly Court. The auras of various Void Refinement Realm and Body Integration Realm cultivators intertwined, resembling a vast and dazzling galaxy. Among these deities and scattered immortals was a dragon lord from the Flowing Jade Sea Realm.

When this Dragon Lord set off, he made a grand entrance, with shrimp soldiers and crab generals leading the way, the Dragon Palace cloud chariot riding the clouds and mist, and wind and rain accompanying him, as if he wanted everyone to know that he was going to attend the banquet in the Fragrant Palace. Even Jiang Sheng in Little Penglai could sense his aura.

But now, this Dragon Lord of the Flowing Jade Sea Realm is obediently queuing outside the South Heaven Gate, showing no sign of arrogance.

"Master, do we also have to wait in line?"

Li Jianchun asked in a low voice.

Jiang Sheng smiled and said, "They are them, and I am my teacher."

As they spoke, the two golden lions pulled the cloud chariot up the 99,999 jade steps, heading straight for the magnificent South Heavenly Gate, which stood 100,000 feet high, amidst the astonished gazes of the gods and immortals of the South China Sea.

The heavenly soldiers and generals standing on both sides of the South Heavenly Gate, however, seemed oblivious to this, as if they had never seen it.

Some deities were dissatisfied, wondering why he had rushed to the South Heavenly Gate early in the morning and waited in line for three days without getting a turn, while that wandering immortal with no official position in the Heavenly Court could go straight to the South Heavenly Gate.
Just as the deity was about to ask the heavenly general on duty, he was stopped by someone else: "That one is different from us. That one is the True Lord of Penglai Lingyuan!"

True Lord of Penglai Lingyuan!

Upon hearing this, all the scattered immortals and deities around looked at Jiang Sheng's cloud chariot with surprise and doubt. The deity who had initially been dissatisfied was stunned for a moment, and then exclaimed in a low voice: "Is that the one who overpowered both gods and Buddhas when the Three Realms merged, and who is known as the number one in the contemporary Xuanmen of all heavens?!"

A bystander said, "Besides this one, who else has the Daoist name Lingyuan? This one was personally bestowed the title of 'Unfettered by All Taboos' by the Eastern Heavenly Venerable. Half of the heavenly soldiers and generals guarding the Southern Heavenly Gate are from the Eastern Heaven. Who would dare to interfere with this one?"

As the group of immortals and deities were talking, Jiang Sheng's cloud chariot arrived at the South Heavenly Gate. A heavenly general on duty saw Jiang Sheng arrive and hurriedly stepped forward: "True Lord, you have finally arrived. The Southern Dipper Star Lord instructed me to go straight to the Nine Heavens Palace when you arrive. The True Lords of the Eastern Heaven are already in the Dipper Palace."

Jiang Sheng nodded and led his disciples into the South Heavenly Gate.

Tian Ming'an and Qiu Buyu had walked through the South Heavenly Gate many times and were used to the grandeur of the Heavenly Court. However, Su Yutong, Zhuang Yi, and Zhang Xiaojiu had never seen such a sight before. All they saw above them was a dazzling Milky Way, with vast, bright, and enormous stars. Every single one, whether near or far, was crystal clear. When looking at the stars, they could even sense their exact location and the origin of their names.

Within the vast and dazzling Milky Way, twelve sun stars and thirteen moon stars are arrayed in the star sea. The sun stars shine brightly, while the moon stars are shrouded in a hazy glow. Surrounded by these twenty-five sun and moon stars, and guarded by the vast Milky Way, lies the Central Heavenly Court.

Within the Nine Heavens, although the vast starry sky surrounds the Heavenly Court, the starry sky actually only extends to the seventh heaven. The first to third heavens contain the most dense starry sky, which are also the most common scattered stars in the Three Realms. These stars are also the scattered immortals and gods who have been bestowed the most titles by the Heavenly Court and are ranked among the star officials of the Three Realms. In the fourth to sixth heavens, there are far fewer stars, but these stars are also exceptionally large and of extraordinary status. They are all of the rank of great stars, and their lords are all among the star lords. They are the mainstays of the vast star sea.

Upon reaching the seventh level of the Heavenly Realm, stars become even scarcer. One can only see a vast galaxy surrounding the area, with only a few enormous stars, as large as the sun and moon, radiating magnificent starlight and extraordinary divine power. These stars are the main stars of the Milky Way and the heavens, each representing a star system and sea of ​​stars, holding a particularly revered position and possessing the status of a star lord. For example, the five planets of metal, wood, water, fire, and earth are all located in this seventh level of the Heavenly Realm.

Those twenty-five suns and moons are also ranked in the seventh heaven realm. Before the position of the sun and moon star lord reaches the pure yang level, even the sun and moon are not enough to enter the eighth heaven realm, after all, that is the dojo of the pure yang.

Upon ascending to the eighth heaven, one sees the sun and moon shining brightly beneath one's feet, surrounded by a vast sea of ​​stars. The Taoists of the Eastern Heaven, the Buddhists of the Western Heaven, as well as the Great Sages of the Demon Race and the Great Emperors of the Divine Path, all look down upon the sun, moon, and stars from this eighth heaven, gazing upon the magnificent sun and moon beneath their feet.

The ninth heaven realm is even higher than the eighth pure yang realm. It is the true realm of soaring through the heavens and overlooking the starry sea of ​​the three realms.

Although Tian Ming'an and Qiu Buyu had traveled through the South Heavenly Gate more often, they had only ever traveled between the South Heavenly Gate and the East Heavenly Gate. They had rarely even come to the first three Heavenly Realms. This time, following Jiang Sheng, they had only seen a few glimpses of these Heavenly Realms, but they were still awestruck by the magnificent and grand atmosphere of the Heavenly Court.

As for Li Jianchun, Huang Ping'an, and the others, they were like country bumpkins entering the city. They stared wide-eyed at the celestial palaces and temples, at the magnificent buildings and star palaces of the Heavenly Court, and sensed the vast and majestic aura that soared into the sky. Their eyes were filled with envy.

Jiang Sheng glanced over and saw Li Jianchun and Huang Ping'an whispering to each other, seemingly saying something about how a true man should act, while Su Yutong and Zhuang Yi were completely immersed in the magnificence of the vast starry sea.

Looking at his disciples, Jiang Sheng shook his head: "Above is the Ninth Heaven Realm. You must be extra careful in the Ninth Heaven Realm. Do not look around aimlessly. To the east is the Daoist temple of the Heavenly Venerables, and to the west is the Pure Land of that Buddha. With your current cultivation and fragile minds, even a glance will influence you with the Daoist aura of the Heavenly Venerables and Buddhas. In the future, whenever you cultivate, the images of the Heavenly Venerables and Buddhas will involuntarily appear in your minds, and you will unconsciously gravitate towards the Dao of the Heavenly Venerables and Buddhas, eventually turning into complete madmen. At that time, even your master will not be able to save you."

Upon hearing Jiang Sheng's warning, Li Jianchun and Huang Ping'an, who were still planning to see what the Buddha of the Western Paradise looked like, immediately calmed down, put on obedient expressions, and followed Jiang Sheng straight up to the Ninth Heaven Palace.

Upon entering the Nine Heavens Palace, while Tian Ming'an, Qiu Buyu, and the others were still immersed in its ethereal beauty and profound Daoist charm, a voice rang in their ears: "Oh, so you guys have also come to attend the banquet at the Fragrant Pavilion?"

"Very well, very well. This time we are here to entertain the Daoist Bodhisattva, the Great Sage Emperor, and the others; you juniors are here to entertain us as well. We are all monkeys on the stage, how interesting!"

Upon hearing this, Tian Ming'an and the others were startled and looked to their side, where they saw Lin Fan standing with his arms crossed, smiling brightly.

Jiang Sheng looked at Lin Fan with annoyance: "You, as the senior uncle, are you setting such an example for your junior nephews right from the start?"

Lin Fan laughed and said, "Isn't this reality? For this banquet at the Pixiang Palace, His Majesty offered a generous reward. The powerful Pure Yang cultivators from all directions are sitting high in the inner palace, watching us perform magic battles in the outer palace. Isn't that just like watching a monkey show?"

"Since the powerful beings of Chunyang are watching our performance, shouldn't we at least let the younger generation show their faces?"

As they were talking, suddenly the bells and chimes rang out, thunder and drums boomed, and the sky shone brightly. Hundreds of millions of rays of light shone down, and one could see splendid celestial flowers dancing in the air and golden lotuses blooming all over the ground. With the vast heavenly sound, one could see the Great Dao manifested, and fortune and merit condensed into auspicious clouds, and thousands of laws intertwined to form the Dao Wheel.

Under the illumination of the auspicious cloud wheel, a ceremonial procession slowly entered the Nine Heavens Palace, and the vast heavenly might descended with a thunderous roar.

For a moment, both Jiang Sheng and Lin Fan became serious:
A powerful cultivator of the Pure Yang realm has arrived! (End of Chapter)