Kunlun Jade Void Palace.

Yuanshi Tianzun sat high upon the All-Heaven Celebration Clouds, surrounded by auspicious clouds with propitious Qi rising.

Holding a Jade Ruyi in hand, he closed his eyes slightly, his expression as calm as water.

Beneath the nine-tiered cloud ladder, an elderly figure with white hair and beard stood silently.

His appearance was wizened, with crane-like hair and chicken-skin, a thin build, a sallow complexion, and a turtle-like hunchback.

At a rough glance, he looked entirely like an old man from the mortal world over seventy years old, an age rarely reached since ancient times.

This person was none other than the key figure of the Great Tribulation of the Investiture of the Gods: Jiang Ziya.

"Difficult, difficult, difficult; the Dao is the most profound, do not treat the Golden Core lightly. Without meeting a supreme person to pass down the wondrous formula, empty words will only exhaust the mouth and dry the tongue."

I do not know when it was, but Yuanshi Tianzun, who sat cross-legged above the nine-tiered clouds, slowly opened a pair of eyes reflecting the supreme principles of heaven and earth, letting out a yawn as if he had just woken up, and softly chanted.

After a long while, he finally seemed to see Jiang Ziya, who had been standing under the nine-tiered steps for a long time.

"Jiang Ziya, how many springs and autumns have passed since you entered my Chan Sect?"

"Reporting to Master, this disciple entered the Kunlun Mountains to cultivate at the age of thirty-two, taking Master as my Master, and forty springs and autumns have passed since then."

Jiang Ziya, standing below the steps with his wizened appearance and turtle-like hunchback, replied respectfully.

"For forty years, you have been immersed in the cold and heat, wasting your thoughts as the sun rises and the moon falls, consuming the rosy clouds and dew while contemplating the Big Dipper, yet it is all in vain like trying to fish for the moon's reflection in the water."

"Jiang Ziya, you were born with thin fate, and it is difficult for you to achieve the immortal Dao; you can only enjoy the blessings of the mortal world. Cheng Tang's numbers are exhausted, and the Zhou Dynasty is about to rise."

"You shall act in my stead, descend the mountain for the Investiture of the Gods, assist a wise lord, and become a general or prime minister. This will not waste your forty years of effort cultivating on the mountain."

Having said this, Yuanshi Tianzun stopped speaking and closed his eyes once again.

Jiang Ziya felt disheartened in his heart.

Although he had long known that his Fortune was shallow, making it difficult to cultivate the Great Dao and hopeless to achieve longevity,

But upon being personally sentenced to death by the sect leader and Master, Jiang Ziya still could not hide the despondency in his heart.

Fortunately, Master also pointed out a clear path for him: descending the mountain to assist a wise lord could exchange for a lifetime of wealth and leave a famous name in history.

Thinking of this, Jiang Ziya cheered himself up, took a deep breath, respectfully bowed three times and kowtowed nine times toward Yuanshi Tianzun above the nine-tiered cloud ladder, and only then bowed and retreated from the main hall of the Jade Void Palace.

After Jiang Ziya went out, naturally, a Chan Sect disciple explained the details of the Investiture of the Gods to him, as well as how to assist a wise lord.

And they handed Jiang Ziya the four-piece set for the Investiture of the Gods: the God-Striking Whip, the Investiture of the Gods, the Wuji Apricot-Yellow Flag, and the Three-Ring Sword.

Guang Chengzi, Chijingzi, and the other Twelve Golden Immortals saw Jiang Ziya bringing the Chan Sect Master's supreme treasure down the mountain, yet not one of them showed any envy.

Within their gazes, there was only a trace of pity and sighing.

"I didn't expect that after more than forty years on the mountain, Junior Brother Ziya would still end up with nothing in the end."

"Without achieving longevity, he ultimately cannot be considered as truly entering the gate of our Chan Sect."

"More than a hundred years from now, I'm afraid he will merely be a handful of yellow earth."

However, Daoist Randeng, who was once one of the three thousand guests in the Purple Firmament Palace, the actual instructing Master of the Twelve Golden Immortals of the Chan Sect, and also the Vice Sect Leader of the Chan Sect, smiled slightly and said:

"Not necessarily."

The Antarctic Immortal, who had just seen him off to the side, immediately raised his pair of longevity eyebrows and said in surprise:

"Why does Senior Brother say so?"

Daoist Randeng glanced at Yun Zhongzi, the immortal of blessed virtue who was also smiling.

Yun Zhongzi instantly understood and explained to the puzzled Twelve Golden Immortals and Antarctic Immortal:

"Senior Brothers and Junior Brothers, have you ever seen Teacher so solemnly bestow his personal supreme treasure upon any single person?"

"Although Junior Brother Ziya is a mortal body, if he is diligent and conscientious, completes the great cause of assisting Zhou in attacking Shang, and establishes the Investiture of the Gods,"

"Even if there is no credit, there is still bitter labor."

"By then, whatever rewards Teacher casually bestows will be enough for Junior Brother Ziya to undergo a mortal transformation and take a seat among the ranks of immortals."

Hearing these words, the Twelve Golden Immortals suddenly came to a realization.

"In that case, the affinity between Junior Brother Ziya and us has not yet ended?"

"Precisely so."

Daoist Randeng reminded them meaningfully.

As a veteran Primordial Great Power and one of the former three thousand guests in the Purple Firmament Palace, most had withered away, and the rest had basically gone into hiding and vanished from hearing.

Only Daoist Randeng not only did not vanish, but instead rode the momentum upward, seizing the opportunity of the Chan Sect's growth and development to join the Chan Sect's gates.

Without feeling any shame, he took his former Fellow Daoist Yuanshi Tianzun as his Master and humbly asked for guidance.

This was how he exchanged it for his current lofty status as the Vice Sect Leader and the instructing benefactor of the Twelve Golden Immortals.

Although the Chan Sect created by Yuanshi Tianzun, the Daoism created by Taishang Laozi, and the Jiejiao created by the Tongtian Jiaozhu did not have Fortune as prosperous as the Human Race and the Human Sect,

At the very least, they were major Sage sects, as well as the Authentic Lineage of Pangu and the direct descendants of the Three Pure Ones, boasting a long history.

As long as the Primordial World was not destroyed for a day, the Three Pure Ones could forever enjoy Pangu's legacy.

Naturally, Daoist Randeng, relying on the shade of the Three Pure Ones, had no worries of perishing.

Daoist Randeng was crystal clear about all of this.

There was no helping it; living long simply had its advantages.

As long as one hid out well enough, not to mention achieving Hunyuan, at the very least, lasting for ten thousand ages without decaying was still quite easy.

Precisely because the Three Pure Ones were noble as the Authentic Lineage of Pangu, the current Wu-Yao Heavenly Court permitted the Three Pure Sects to jointly discuss the matters of the Investiture of the Gods.

Those agreed upon to be on the list and invested as gods could enter the Great Luo Heaven Heavenly Court to take their place among the immortal ranks, serve on rotational duty, and share the Fortune of the Heavenly Court.

As the only orthodox Heavenly Court of the Primordial World today, it represented the mandate of heaven of the Primordial World.

Regardless of The Three Daos of Heaven, Earth, and Man, or the Three Talents of Sun, Moon, and Stars, or even the Saints of the Three Pure Ones, all needed to act under the rules of the Wu-Yao Heavenly Court.

As the sole head honcho of the Primordial World, holding the distribution rights of the world Origin, those Sages had no choice but to obey obediently.

However, the world Origin was too high-grade and precious, and it was not yet the turn of practitioners below the level of Hunyuan Sages to enjoy it.

The monthly and annual salaries of the Celestial Officials and Heavenly Soldiers and Generals on rotational duty in the Heavenly Court were merely Fortune and Merit.

Only the leaders of the Three Teachings were qualified to share the authority of the Primordial World Origin.

Of course, the amount of that authority they held was also pitifully small.

Taiyi would never allow supreme authority to fall into other hands.

In this world, after all, he was still the one who called the shots.

What Daoist Randeng, Antarctic Immortal, and the others did not notice was that after Jiang Ziya left, a Daoist with a fair face and long beard was hiding in a remote corner of the Kunlun Mountains, watching with envious eyes as Jiang Ziya descended the mountain wrapped in Yuanshi Tianzun's personal Dharma Treasure.

He seemed to be murmuring to himself: "This Jiang Ziya is merely a mortal body, and after cultivating for more than forty years, he is nothing more than a skeleton in a tomb with no real Daoist attainment."

"Who would have thought that today he would have such dogshit luck dropped from the heavens!"

"He actually won Master's regard and took on such a huge task of issuing edicts to enshrine the orthodox deities of heaven and earth."

"This means his time has turned, and he is going to step right on top of this Daoist's head!"

"No way!"

"How could I, Shen Gongbao, who has cultivated for thousands of years, be compared and outdone by a mortal old man!"

"This mandate of the Investiture of the Gods ought to be done by me, Shen Gongbao!"

Having said this, Shen Gongbao quietly pinched a spell formula, concealed his form, and stealthily chased after Jiang Ziya.

He thought he was completely undetected, but he did not know that Yuanshi Tianzun, sitting upright above the All-Heaven Celebration Clouds, opened his eyes expressionlessly.