Five: To the Nine Heavens

Foreword to this chapter:

As answered in TANG QI's Question and Answer session, the difference of time between the immortal realm and the mortal world need not be '1 day in the immortal realm equals 1 year in the mortal realm'. In some mortal worlds, time goes by very fast.

In this chapter, I have made up a rule that immortals not from the Sky Kingdom require a visit pass to enter the Nine Heavens. This is just for my story's reasons.

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Fengjiu lifted her head from the novel she was reading and looked at the calendar on the table before her. 15 December 2018. Three months had passed since she had hosted the event with Jiuchong Group. Si Ming had paid her a decent amount of mortal currency for her work, but she had not heard from him after that. Also, she had not seen or heard news of CEO Dong since then. Perhaps he was busy getting a makeover inside some freezer, since he was icy-cold to everyone he met, after all. She pictured the man himself napping among some ice, and giggled. Maybe if she took his temperature, it would be under -10 degrees Celsius. If he didn't break her thermometer first.

She scanned her finger with the fingerprint reader of her smartphone to access her online banking account. As expected, she had more than she needed in mortal currency from the day-to-day business of her clothing shop run by her mortal employees, and earnings from a few jobs she had done at the request of Jiuchong's associates, courtesy to Si Ming who had assisted with getting her some customers. She wondered what else there was to do, other than watch TV, sing karaoke and sleep all day. Xiaoru and Xiaoni had also found jobs within the service sector and currently did not have the time to come by to her place to chat everyday, as they were working hard to fulfil their three months probation period.

She opened the ice compartment of her fridge to realise she had run out of ice cream. Grunting, she forced herself up from her bed to march herself to the nearest convenience store to buy a pack of Magnum. It had been a cold day after the rain, so she was reluctant to leave her warm blankets and her comfy apartment to get her sugar fix. But she had always loved sweet desserts, so perhaps, it was worth it.



The nearest convenience store was some kilometres away, so she hurriedly pulled on a long jacket over her thin dress to shield herself from the coldness of the night and headed downstairs. Passing the guard at the security desk, she flashed him a friendly smile. She noticed that the mortals were such warm and nice people, unlike the immortals who were so strict and solemn everyday, living under the strict rules of the Heavens. Unfortunately the store had just run out of Magnum brand ice cream, so she pulled on a long face and satisfied her with some generic old school vanilla ice cream in a cone.



She pulled out her keycard from her wallet and tapped it on the card reader to make an instant payment. Just as she was leaving with her purchase, she was surprised by a familiar face at the entrance to the store. "Zhe Yan?" She refrained from using the words High God when they were in the mortal world, practically when it was in twentieth-century modern day Asia. As the saying goes, when in Rome, do as the Romans do. Regardless their immortal status, once they appeared in the mortal world, they were to act like the modern-day mortals. He sported a trendy hairstyle and wore a stylish jacket over his tee. Apparently, he was afraid of the cold, as well.



She continued to bite into her ice cream, contrary to how the mortals licked their ice cream. A sugary taste was left sticking to her tongue as the ice cream melted inside her mouth. Zhe Yan beckoned for her to walk with him to a more secluded spot, away from the mortals. They headed to the neighbourhood park, while Fengjiu finished her ice cream as they walked. Zhe Yan had been a close friend of her fourth uncle, Bai Zhen. They had an extraordinary relationship, but nobody had ever asked them how they had actually felt about each other.

"How do you know I was here?" she asked after they were alone.

"Patient records," Zhe Yan said calmly with a small smile on his face.

"What do you mean?"

"Dr Feng's Clinic." The name of his clinic was enough to explain.

"But the physician that day-"

"..Was my mortal assistant. I wasn't there that day."

Fengjiu pouted. "I should have known it was yours." The word Feng meant phoenix, and Zhe Yan was an old phoenix of the Honghuang era, that had existed as one of the earliest inhabitants of the immortal realm when the world was created, and was the very first phoenix of the world. "But what are you doing here?"

"I'm just here with a few of my old friends," Zhe Yan explained. "Of course I'm not here to play, unlike someone we know."

Fengjiu scowled, understanding that he had meant her. "Are you here to lecture me, or bring me back to the immortal realm? You know I won't leave, especially when it's such fun to be here. Especially when I don't have to be matchmaked-"

"Fengjiu, something has happened in the immortal realm," Zhe Yan said. His expression didn't change, so Fengjiu assumed it wasn't at all that serious. "It's your aunt."

"Aunt?" Fengjiu was caught by surprise. "Has she come back?"

"No, she is still missing. But we need you, as the future monarch of Qingqiu, to take care of a few matters in her absence. And also-" he looked hopefully at the skies, "While you were away, a lot has happened. The Sky Emperor has cancelled the wedding between your aunt and Sangji. She is now engaged to Crown Prince Yehua. But the Crown Prince has brought a mortal woman back to the Nine Heavens."

There was only silence between them, but Fengjiu had decided to return to the immortal realms. She would disguise herself to enter the Nine Heavens with the help of her old friend, Cheng Yu Yuanjun, to settle the score between Qingqiu and the Sky Kingdom. First, she had to do some investigating to find out more information about this mortal woman and why Yehua had been so willing to forego his engagement to her aunt over her. Hadn't his uncle Sangji taught him a big lesson with his demotion?

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The Goddess Cheng Yu was one of Fengjiu's best friends in the immortal realm. Having fair complexion and a slender body, she was the apple of the Third Prince Liansong's eye. However, he had already failed 1,001,000 times in pursuing her. Nevertheless, he was not going to give up, even if it meant hundreds of thousands of years, or even eons. Word had it that they had fate from a previous lifetime, and they probably still had feelings for each other.

Fengjiu just arrived to see Liansong leaving dejectedly with his eyes looking downwards. As much as she felt sympathetic for the prince's situation, she still didn't understand love much.

"You're finally back, little fox," Cheng Yu said. "Finally remember your old friend?"

Fengjiu looked a little apologetic, and insisted she was just occupied with matters and hadn't forgotten her. "Okay, fine," Cheng Yu said. "Forget it. So what's the occasion today?" She was wearing a pale blue embroidered dress that complemented her complexion. Fengjiu felt that if she was Liansong, she would be enchanted by Cheng Yu too. Although she couldn't beat the charm of a nine-tailed fox, she was indeed, a very beautiful woman.

Fengjiu gave Cheng Yu a brief account of what Zhe Yan had told her, and how she needed help to infiltrate the Sky Kingdom to investigate what had happened. Cheng Yu sighed. "I'll help you, but you need to stay out of trouble. Say, how did you enter the gates, though? I recall that every time you visited, you would have to call me for help. Since you came in here straight away, I presume something special must have happened."

"I... I disguised as my aunt," Fengjiu said. "Now, where do we start?"

"Does that mean the immortals of the Sky Kingdom expect that High Goddess Bai Qian is in the Nine Heavens?" Cheng Yu gasped. "Did anyone else other than the gate guards see you when you were in your aunt's image?"

Fengjiu counted on her fingers. "Quite a few, but they only bowed deeply and greeted me. I was smart enough to pretend to be my aunt and ignore them. Let me see, maybe 9? 10?"

"Your aunt is well-known among the immortals of the Four Seas and Eight Deserts. I suppose all these immortals have a story to tell," Cheng Yu said, unsure whether to laugh or to cry. "Very soon, the Sky Kingdom will be in chaos from these immortals' fear of your aunt's wrath."

"Why?" Fengjiu asked. "Will they think that my aunt is here to exact revenge on the woman who caused her to be in this predicament?"

"Well, Shaoxin is not here for her to have her revenge on, anyway. I presume you are referring to the mortal woman that Zhe Yan told you about. She is imprisoned in the demon-sealing pagoda."

"Is it easy to enter the pagoda?" Fengjiu asked. Cheng Yu shook her head. "The area is heavily guarded. While that mortal woman is punished, they have to make sure she doesn't get rescued or dies."

From a distance, Liansong and Dong Hua watched the two women conversing. They were engaged in a game of go in the pavilion close to where Fengjiu and Cheng Yu were talking. Unknown to them, the purple-robed immortal had a very sharp sense of hearing and had very easily overheard their conversation.

"Who is that woman beside your beloved?" Dong Hua asked nonchalantly. It was obvious he knew the answer, but he asked anyway. He wanted to see how Liansong would answer his question with additional information that had reached his ears.

"She is Cheng Yu's friend, the future monarch of Qingqiu," Liansong said. "I heard she is only around 30,000 years old. She comes to visit Cheng Yu from time to time, but this is the first time she had come without a prior announcement. In the past, Cheng Yu had to escort her into the gates and issue her a visit pass, but this time she somehow walked right in."

"The future monarch of Qingqiu can't come and go as she pleases?" Dong Hua asked.

"Not according to the rules of my Lord Father," Liansong said. "It's for security reasons. With immortal magic and ample cultivation, anyone can impersonate each other. Especially with what happened with the ghoul clan, my father fears that the Ghoul Clan might send someone in disguise to the Sky Kingdom. So having a visit pass issued in favour of that person acts like an identification card in the mortal realm."

The women turned around and looked in the direction of the men, but due to the angle of where Fengjiu was sitting in the pavilion, a bush was in the way and she wasn't able to see Dong Hua's face. "Who's there?" Fengjiu asked Cheng Yu.

"Ah, that fool Liansong and his friend, the Dijun," Cheng Yu said. "I don't think they will be very helpful to the plan. There must be a way to sneak into the pagoda. But it's sealed with very ancient magic."

"Anything is worth a try," Fengjiu said. "As the mortals say, no pain, no gain."

"The longer you remain there, the more you're going to give me a headache from all these mortal theories," Cheng Yu said. Like being best friend to a mischievous fox isn't enough of a headache.

"Let's go there and take a look," Fengjiu said.

"As you say," Cheng Yu said. The two women spirited away almost immediately, causing the men to exchange stares with each other.

"She wants to enter the pagoda," Dong Hua stated coldly. "Just let her. I'll tell the guards to stand down and allow her entry." Liansong looked a little puzzled. Had he, the cold and emotionless Dong Hua Di Jun, been staring at the woman in silence and listening to her conversation all this while at the pavilion? What was his intention of allowing her to enter the pagoda?

As if he could read Liansong's mind, he suddenly said, "The pagoda is filled with demons of all shapes and sizes, and different kinds and levels of cultivation. I doubt the young immortal will even last a minute inside, before she rushes out and runs for her life."

Ah, this was definitely him, exhibiting the uncaring 'I don't care if you die' attitude that made him Dong Hua. Liansong breathed a sigh of relief. The Dong Hua beside him had to be authentic.