Eat, eat, eat in the primordial world

"Heavenly secrets cannot be revealed; you will know when the time is right."

Di Jun did not answer Jiang Yuan's question, but instead asked him, "There are rumors in Mintian that you have been extorting money and blackmailing people all the way, causing great suffering to all the tribes."

Do you have an explanation for this?

Disappointed that his doubts remained unresolved, Jiang Yuan dared not press further. Instead, he addressed Di Jun's inquiry by explaining:

"This is a rumor. It is a deliberate attempt by the Mintian Demon Clan to spread rumors and slander me in order to cover up their own mistakes."

After saying this, before Di Jun could ask what wrong the Mintian Demon Clan had committed, Jiang Yuan continued:

"Now that I have just arrived in the Heavenly Court, I should pay my respects to the Heavenly Emperor. However, it is not reasonable for me to visit empty-handed."

"Therefore, I deliberately stayed in the Heavenly Realm to prepare to draw a map of the Heavenly Realm and compile an illustrated guide to the spiritual herbs of the Heavenly Realm, so as to present it to the Heavenly Emperor."

"That's what I thought, and that's what I did. However, the Mintian Demon Clan is extremely arrogant. Seeing that I was all alone, they thought I was easy to bully, so they plotted to kill me and steal my treasure."

"I had no choice but to resist while revealing my identity. In this way, the crisis was resolved, but the Mintian Demon Clan also realized that they had gotten themselves into big trouble."

"Afterwards, fearing punishment from the Heavenly Court, they maliciously slandered me, describing my actions as extortion."

"In this way, they become the victims, and even if the Heavenly Court knows they are wrong, it cannot continue to blame them."

Jiang Yuan's words not only absolved him of his responsibility, but also accused the Heavenly Court of lax discipline, which allowed the demon race to wreak havoc in Mintian and almost cost him his life.

Therefore, Di Jun should not only not blame him, but should also compensate him instead.

"You're as sharp-tongued as ever. If you had revealed your identity earlier, which member of the Mintian Demon Clan would have dared to provoke you?"

Di Jun sneered.

"Your Majesty is joking. Even if I were a disciple of a sage, I wouldn't wear those four words on my forehead when I'm out in the world, would I?"

"Furthermore, I never intended to hide my identity. It's just that when the Mintian Demon Clan made their move, they didn't even bother to ask, giving me no chance to speak at all."

"The way they acted clearly showed that they were used to being arrogant and had no sense of respect whatsoever."

Faced with the doubts, Jiang Yuan had plenty of reasons to refute them.

"you……"

Di Jun wanted to say something more, but Jiang Yuan didn't give him a chance to speak, and only heard him continue:

"Your Majesty, there is still one thing I don't understand. The Mintian Demon Clan is a bit too audacious. They know I am a disciple of a sage, yet they still dare to maliciously spread rumors and slander me."

"In response, I have to suspect that they are not actually targeting me, but are being instructed by someone to smear the legendary figures Xi Huang and Nuwa behind me by slandering me."

"We implore Your Majesty to order a thorough investigation into this matter!"

As soon as Jiang Yuan said this, the entire Lingxiao Palace fell silent.

This conjecture is quite bold, but it has to be said that it makes a lot of sense. Because in order to seize power, Di Jun did indeed order people to secretly collect dirt on Xi Huang, Nuwa, and Kunpeng.

Although this matter was kept secret, nothing stays hidden forever. Many people had figured it out, but they all kept it to themselves and dared not say it aloud.

"Shut up! You have no right to spout nonsense before the Heavenly Emperor. Now quickly present your grand gift and let the Heavenly Emperor see if he is satisfied!"

Seeing that the atmosphere was a bit awkward, Xi Huang reprimanded Jiang Yuan and then quietly changed the subject.

Despite his angry expression, he was secretly delighted. Jiang Yuan had spoken his mind; he understood Di Jun's desire for power.

However, to order people to collect his faults everywhere in order to seize power was going too far. Emperor Xi was very dissatisfied with this, but he couldn't afford to fall out with Emperor Jun over such a trivial matter.

Now that Jiang Yuan had inadvertently revealed this matter, it suited his purposes perfectly.

He neither escalated the situation nor failed to subtly undermine Di Jun, reminding him that he had gone too far and it was time to back down, lest he be forced to retaliate.

"What gift is it? Let me see it first."

Worried that Di Jun and Xi Huang would quarrel, Dong Huang stepped in to smooth things over. It must be said that if it weren't for Dong Huang, the Heavenly Court would have fallen apart long ago.

After Nuwa became a saint, Dijun worried that Xihuang would gain her support and compete with him for the throne, so he kept trying to suppress Xihuang.

Fortunately, Donghuang mediated and tried his best to ease the tension between the two; otherwise, they would have broken up long ago and split the demon race in two.

"These are the Map of Mintian and the Compendium of Mintian Spiritual Herbs. The former was drawn by a disciple who collected the essence of various places in Mintian. With this, Your Majesty can understand all the changes in Mintian without even leaving your home."

"The latter was written by a disciple who had tasted all the spiritual herbs of the heavens. It contains detailed records of the medicinal effects, uses, and harvesting methods of these herbs."

"If Your Majesty obtains this book, you can use it to educate the demon race, enabling them to understand the effects of various herbs and thus heal themselves."

Jiang Yuan presented the Mintian Map and the Mintian Spirit Herb Illustrated Guide, which he had not yet completed.

"This is truly a great gift. With this, who will dare to say that the Heavenly Court's civil administration is inadequate?"

Originally, Donghuang didn't care much, thinking that Jiang Yuan, a celestial being, couldn't possibly come up with any decent gifts.

Unexpectedly, Jiang Yuan truly gave him a surprise. This gift was more important to the Heavenly Court than a top-grade innate spiritual treasure.

"This is indeed a generous gift; it's clear you put a lot of thought into it. I misunderstood you before; I didn't expect you to be genuinely doing serious business in Mintian, not just fooling around."

"The Mintian Demon Clan has wronged me; they truly deserve to die!"

Whether Di Jun was angry before is unknown, but he is definitely overjoyed at this moment. He is so happy that he took the initiative to admit that he had misunderstood Jiang Yuan before, and that he was not fooling around in Mintian, but was really doing important business.

"Although the Mintian demon race is indeed guilty, causing my Divine Map Treasure Book to fail to be compiled, their crime does not warrant death. I hope Your Majesty will show mercy and order them not to commit murder for a hundred years as a sign of repentance, so as not to go on a killing spree in Mintian."

Upon hearing Di Jun's words of "furious anger," Jiang Yuan instead pleaded for the Mintian Demon Clan. He knew very well that Di Jun was just making empty threats and would not pursue the matter with the Mintian Demon Clan afterward.

But he ignored all of that and took Di Jun's words as true. Then he began to plead for the Mintian Demon Clan, suggesting that Di Jun give them a minor punishment as a warning.

In this way, the Mintian Demon Clan was punished, and they were not only unable to resent Jiang Yuan afterward, but also had to thank him for pleading for them.

He played both the good guy and the bad guy.

"You!"

Upon hearing this, Di Jun laughed in anger, but said nothing. Instead, he looked at Bai Ze beside him and said:

"Did you hear that? Go to Mintian and do as Di Yuan said. Order the Mintian demon race not to kill any living beings for a hundred years as a sign of repentance."

After saying that, Di Jun looked at Jiang Yuan again and asked, "Tell me, what do you want? You have rendered meritorious service by presenting the gift. As long as your request is not excessive, I will grant it."