Chapter 44: The Butterfly Effect Begins

Outside, the first to arrive was Shi Yue's old rival, Perfected Taiyi, a formidable Taiyi Golden Immortal whom Shi Yue wished he could club to death on the spot. Unfortunately, this was in the celestial palace, and Perfected Taiyi's immense power forced Shi Yue to temporarily suppress his murderous intent.

After speaking, Shi Yue couldn't help but smirk, shapeshifting into The Jade Emperor's form. He vanished, leaving Six Paths baffled, and immediately appeared in the grand hall of the celestial palace, stunning everyone. Perfected Taiyi stepped forward and saluted, "Your Majesty."

Only the High Sun Officer, with his eagle nose and dressed in a purple robe, noticed a flash of white light in his eyes and quickly retreated in alarm. Shi Yue could distinctly sense an immense aura approaching rapidly—likely a secret communication between the father and son. Not daring to linger, Shi Yue took a step and was instantly 10,000 meters above the celestial palace, only then hearing High Sun Officer's voice echo from below, "That was not Your Majesty! It was a black-furred demon monkey!"

Perfected Taiyi felt a shock upon hearing this, realizing it was the black-furred demon monkey who had infiltrated the palace. Furious, he flashed out of the celestial palace to pursue Shi Yue. At that moment, a wrathful voice echoed through the sky.

"Queen Mother! How dare you consort with Perfected Taiyi?"

Perfected Taiyi, using clouds to chase, trembled violently, nearly falling from the sky, face pale, lips trembling.

Inside the celestial palace hall, Six Paths, poised to attack High Sun Officer, trembled with shock and disbelief, his heart beating wildly as he thought, "My brother truly has guts!"

Disguised as the Pagoda-Bearing Heavenly King, he appeared behind High Sun Officer, wielding a large Blackwood Staff. Though capable of changing size, it couldn't change form.

"Watch out, Heavenly Official!"

A celestial soldier shouted, but as the words were spoken, a tremendous "boom" resounded, causing the very palace hall to shudder.

Looking again, High Sun Officer had been reduced to minced flesh, blood splattering, with his terrified Primordial Spirit instantly vanishing under a golden beam from the forehead of the Pagoda-Bearing Heavenly King, who then disappeared from the spot.

Reduced to pulp, soul destroyed—he was truly dead beyond recovery.

Meanwhile, in the sky, Shi Yue had no choice but to flee, as two immense auras closed in on him rapidly—opposite in nature, revealing them to be The Jade Emperor and the Queen Mother. Shockingly, the Queen Mother was at the Great Luo level, noticeably stronger than The Jade Emperor.

With no time to think, Shi Yue quickly entered the space within the Measuring Sky Staff, knowing he was no match for a Great Luo. Even with the Somersault Cloud, escape was uncertain.

Almost simultaneously with his disappearance, a man and a woman appeared not ten meters from where he had been. The man was The Jade Emperor from the Hall of Miraculous Mist, and the woman was strikingly beautiful, dressed in palace robes with an angry face full of wrath.

Inside the Measuring Sky Staff space, Shi Yue couldn't help but want to slap himself. Why did he have to provoke that woman? Yet, the next moment, he found himself with a peculiar expression, eyes wide.

Outside, as the two met, The Jade Emperor immediately let out a cold snort.

The Queen Mother's gaze, sharp as a knife, also turned toward him, and she said coldly, "It's you!"

This scene made Shi Yue's eyes widen with amusement, and he couldn't help but delight in the chaos. Who would have thought The Heavenly Court was such a mess! Even The Jade Emperor and the Queen Mother had sordid dealings. How could the celestial officials and generals expect to have a good life under such leadership?

The Jade Emperor, upon hearing this, responded impatiently, "You know full well that voice wasn't mine, so why engage in such talk?"

The Queen Mother remained cold, "That may not be true. Perhaps you disguised yourself. Otherwise, why are you here?"

"You!"

The Jade Emperor was so furious he couldn't speak. This was nothing but unreasonable bickering!

Their relationship was complex—they were a couple yet not truly one, united only for the sake of celestial order and balance in the three realms. After countless years of marriage, the relationship had lost its flavor. The days passed monotonously, and they had been intimate countless times, or perhaps never truly harmonious. Consequently, they mostly lived separately, maintaining the facade of harmony only in public.

After a moment, the Jade Emperor coldly snorted, "I won't argue with you. Someone infiltrated my Hall of Miraculous Mist. This is bad!"

Realizing the implications, he suddenly remembered his son's potential danger if the intruder was truly who he feared. Exclaiming, "Not good," he vanished, leaving the Queen Mother alone, her expression darkening with anger. She was seething that someone dared to insult her so boldly in the celestial palace, longing to seize them, strip them of their flesh and bones, and condemn them to eternal damnation in the depths of the underworld.

Inside the Measuring Sky Staff's space, Shi Yue dared not move the staff at all, quietly observing the Queen Mother. She appeared ageless, at an ideal age, elegant and alluring. He had to admit she was a captivating woman, especially in her noble palace robes, which ignited a desire for conquest within him. However, the coldness in her eyes repelled him so much that he didn't even feel like engaging further, simply scrutinizing the famed Queen Mother of the West.

Meanwhile, the Queen Mother was scanning her surroundings. After detecting nothing, she bit her silver teeth, her cold eyes flickering with unspoken thoughts. Shi Yue didn't dare move an inch.

On the other side, the Jade Emperor returned to the heavenly palace where the High Sun Officer resided. Upon seeing the High Sun Officer's "corpse," his expression turned ominously dark with rage. At this sight, the surrounding celestial soldiers shivered, kneeling in silence. Perfected Taiyi was nowhere to be seen, and the Curtain-Lifting General remained bound, appearing almost asleep.

Sweeping his gaze around, the Jade Emperor emotionlessly looked at the Curtain-Lifting General and asked, "Do you have anything to say?"

The Curtain-Lifting General opened his eyes, replying in an emotionless voice, "My cultivation is limited, but I saw Pagoda-Bearing Heavenly King Li Jing appear, who killed the High Sun Officer with a single strike, sending out a golden light from his forehead, utterly destroying the High Sun Officer's body and soul."

The Jade Emperor almost lost his temper, biting his teeth and coldly saying, "Li Jing! Have you seen Perfected Taiyi?"

The Curtain-Lifting General replied in a calm voice, "He came, and then he left."

"Hmph!"

The Jade Emperor's cold snort sent shivers down the spines of the heavenly soldiers kneeling on the ground. He then spoke in a frosty tone, "In consideration of your countless years of service to me, I will allow a sliver of your primordial spirit to be reborn in the mortal realm. If fortune allows, you may find enlightenment again. If not, you'll be destined to cycle through reincarnation eternally. Do you have anything left to say?"

The Curtain-Lifting General bowed his head and closed his eyes. "I have nothing to say, Your Majesty."

With those words, a golden sword suddenly appeared in The Jade Emperor's hand, and with a single strike, he reduced the Curtain-Lifting General to dust, leaving only a trace of a spirit, bewildered and unaware, which was sent down to be reincarnated. The heavenly soldiers trembled, too terrified to speak.

Though The Jade Emperor appeared calm, his heart seethed with rage. His son's death demanded a companion for the grave, and his wrath was not solely directed at the Curtain-Lifting General. The Pagoda-Bearing Heavenly King, Li Jing, also incurred his hatred; yet he knew that Li Jing remained defiantly unperturbed by anything. Still, The Jade Emperor had his means to handle him.

However, there were two others whose involvement not even Shi Yue and Six Paths could have guessed—his grandnephew, True Lord Erlang, Yang Jian, and the recently vanished Perfected Taiyi.

The logic was straightforward. A third eye capable of shooting golden light and evading his vision belonged to the Eight-Nine Arcane Art that his grandnephew practiced. Coupled with Yang Jian's long-standing grudge over his imprisoned mother, this made him a suspect with both motive and ability, severely testing The Jade Emperor's incredulity.

As for Perfected Taiyi, The Jade Emperor's enmity was simply because of his disappearance; his flight implied guilt. It was a situation comparable to mud staining one's pants—impossible to clean.

Indeed, Perfected Taiyi was somewhat shaken. An accusation of illicit relations with the Queen Mother of the West was gravely serious. Even if The Jade Emperor used this excuse to eliminate him, there would be no room for protest.

The crucial issue was that the drama had become public knowledge in the celestial palace, leaving reality inconsequential next to perception. In such circumstances, the Queen Mother of the West would undoubtedly spare him no leniency, regardless of the truth.

Although eliminating him was unlikely, a pleasant future was out of the question. Under these conditions, staying would have been courting disaster. However, his absence undoubtedly incriminated him further, turning assumptions into certainties about his guilt since fleeing only added to the appearance of wrongdoing.

The final outcome was a further unsettling atmosphere in the Hall of Miraculous Mist. First, the Pagoda-Bearing Heavenly King Li Jing's impudence angered the Emperor, then the unexplained madness of the Curtain-Lifting General incriminated by the Pagoda-Bearing Heavenly King's treachery.

Then, suddenly from above the heavenly palace came an enraged shout: the Queen Mother had an affair with Perfected Taiyi? This revelation sent shockwaves through the entire Heavenly Court, stirring it into chaos! Whether true or not, the news was scandalously shocking and rife with implications. What could possibly unfold from such an allegation? Would Your Majesty dare to sentence her to death as well?

In the Hall of Miraculous Mist, the Jade Emperor's face was as dark as a stormy sky. Below, none of the celestial ministers or heavenly generals dared to speak; all kept their heads bowed, eyes averted, feigning oblivion. Even Venus Tai Bai had fallen into silent contemplation.

Perfected Taiyi, fortunately not completely foolish, returned after only half a day and immediately reported upon entering the hall. He claimed everything was Sun Wukong's doing! Who could have guessed that after the Emperor kindly summoned him to serve in the heavens, he would bring along a black-furred monkey brother, causing havoc in the Hall of Miraculous Mist, resulting in harm to the Emperor's beloved Curtain-Lifting General. Afterward, he even went on to bludgeon the High Sun Officer to death—a crime deserving of ten thousand deaths! However, the black-furred monkey had since returned to Flower Fruit Mountain, where tens of thousands of demon soldiers awaited...

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