Immortal Father
Chapter 1233: 439: Phoenix Clan's Crisis [Update 3! Please vote!]

Chapter 1233: Chapter 439: Phoenix Clan’s Crisis [Update 3! Please vote!]

Li Ping’an was deep in thought, trying to come up with a brilliant plan for dealing with the Divine Court.

What kind of clever plan could there be?

The only strategy was to find a way to subdue the Southern Continent Divine Court, letting its Divine King become an ‘Honored God’ of the Heavenly Court like Senior Brother Xuanyuan, directly reaping the spiritual offerings.

This involved a series of issues.

The Divine King of the court was no longer the Human Emperor of the Southern Continent from those years; these deities didn’t even recognize Xuanyuan Huangdi as their ‘ancestor’, making negotiations nearly impossible.

The Southern Continent Divine Court was a product of the resonation between the Heavenly Dao and the constant worship by living beings inside the Skycutter Great Array, entirely bound to the Southern Continent, its land, and its people.

Li Ping’an speculated that not only would killing deities cause disasters in the mortal realm, but if a large number of mortals died, it would reverse and weaken the powers of the deities in the court, possibly even causing some deities to die.

Of course, the Heavenly Court definitely couldn’t resort to killing mortals to weaken the Divine Court.

Only now did Li Ping’an realize he had completed his preparations but had no idea how to proceed with the follow-up plan.

“Surely I can’t just infiltrate the Divine Court, right?”

Li Ping’an mumbled, then paused, frowning as he contemplated the feasibility of such an idea.

If he could think of a way to become the Divine King of that court in no more than two or three hundred years, wouldn’t it allow the Heavenly Court to directly assimilate the Divine Court, while ensuring the Southern Continent remained unharmed?

In this way, the problem seemed to transform into how to become the Divine King of the Southern Continent’s Divine Court, or how to make its deities submit to him.

Li Ping’an continued to project along this line of thought.

His advantages were very clear.

First in the Heavenly Dao sequence (for now), closely collaborating with The Faceless One of the Heavenly Dao, and able to dispatch experts from the Three Teachings of the Taoist Sect.

If he went to the Southern Continent, joined the Divine Court, conquered the Divine Court, and controlled the Divine Court, it didn’t seem too difficult.

Li Ping’an sat in the empty Lingxiao Hall, lost in profound contemplation.

It was unknown how much time had passed when the breathtaking sight of a blood-red sunset faded outside, giving way to countless stars in full glory.

Li Dazhi strolled into the Lingxiao Palace with his hands behind his back, looking around and touching here and there, constantly praising.

“Dad, did the meeting over there end?”

Li Ping’an snapped back to reality, casually placing a chair beside the throne.

In private, there was no need for formality between father and son; Li Dazhi casually walked up the steps and sat beside the Heavenly Emperor’s throne.

“This Lingxiao Palace is really nice.”

Li Dazhi raised an eyebrow:

“You really know how to shirk responsibility, leaving just after a speech, with a bunch of things needing arrangement and handling afterward.”

“Just do as you see fit,” Li Ping’an chuckled, “Look, if I set up two rows of low tables here, put a Heavenly Court dance troupe in the middle, a band next to it, and sprinkle some white clouds all around.”

Li Dazhi laughed heartily, “The 1986 version of ‘Journey to the West’?”

“This is way more spacious than what they showed in the TV drama,” Li Ping’an leaned back again, “Sigh, I’ve become the Heavenly Emperor, made post-development plans, and we should see results in a few hundred years.”

“You better not really slack off.”

Li Dazhi lectured sternly:

“It seems peaceful now in the Heavenly Court because the Six Saints have yet to return, and all kinds of conflicts have been temporarily suppressed.

“We should seize this gap period, work hard, strive forward, and aim to develop the Heavenly Court, anchoring it in people’s hearts.”

Li Ping’an:…

The authority of Old Li is becoming increasingly formidable.

“Dad, I want to deal with the Southern Continent Divine Court.”

“Deal… why do you want to handle this thing?”

“It’s about spiritual offerings and merits, haven’t I mentioned it to you?”

Li Ping’an laughed and said:

“If I don’t collect this merit, the Two Saints of the Western Religion will surely do so upon their return. After becoming saints, they likely won’t mind their reputation as much.

“We can only grab these merits while they haven’t returned yet.”

“If everything goes smoothly, the Heavenly Court can get close to its full potential in a short time, allowing us to concentrate on preparing for the Dao Immortal Tribulation.”

Li Dazhi took out a cigarette from his sleeve, wearing a robe, with hair styled in a Daoist bun, and began puffing.

He pondered for quite some time before saying, “Ping’an, don’t burden yourself too much, has the position of Heavenly Emperor overwhelmed you?”

“Not overwhelmed, really.”

Li Ping’an’s eyes gazed blankly at the stars outside the hall, speaking slowly:

“I’ve lived here for so long, there’s a sense of belonging here for me.

“People like Ningning and the Jade Pool, I have emotional ties, not to mention you are still here.

“When I was cultivating the Way of Sentient Beings, sometimes I envied those mortals who didn’t know the full picture of this world; each person just toiling for three meals a day, thinking of food and warmth when poor, looking for respectability when wealthy, wishing to grow up quickly when a child, wishing for health and longevity in old age.

“In my hometown, I would also have this kind of life, and a respectable job. If I could produce research outcomes, I could make a tiny, insignificant contribution to the progress of human society.

“Here, whether forced or willingly, we’ve come to this position and should achieve something.

“This life was initially salvaged, so there’s nothing to fear losing.

“Even if I can only extend the life of this world by a hundred years in the end, that’s still a hundred years for tens of billions of mortals, quite significant.”

Li Dazhi laughed, “Your ideological awareness is good, Comrade Heavenly Emperor.”

“Let’s not talk about that; saying too much seems hypocritical.”

Li Ping’an spoke earnestly, “Currently, the Heavenly Court has two major opportunities for development: one is obtaining the spiritual offerings and merits of the Southern Continent Divine Court, the other is the six paths of reincarnation.