My Master Disconnected Yet Again (Part 3)

Chapter 445: No One Ascends

By the time the few of them arrived at the front hall, the country emperor of East Tsui, Yu Cang, was already inside waiting for them. When he saw the three of them walking in, he immediately got to his feet and bowed toward Yi Qing. "Yu Cang greets the Celestial Emperor." He was unbelievably humble. Nobody would have guessed that he was the same man who was filled with such righteous anger before.

The three of them ignored him and continued walking straight. Shen Ying took the main seat as she slumped down on her chair, one arm resting on the armrest. Yi Qing stayed by her side and retrieved pastries for her to munch on out of habit. He placed it on the side table beside Shen Ying.

Lonemoon, on the other hand, took a seat closest to him on the lower platform. He glanced at the uncomfortable Yu Cang and smiled. "Young Emperor Yu, to what do we owe this honor? Did your disciples misinform us? Were you looking for Celestial Emperor Lan Hua?" He mentioned this on purpose. "How about I ask him to come over now?"

"No, no, no!" Yu Cang was perspiring. He quickly denied it. "Young Emperor, you're mistaken. I... I came to look for Celestial Emperor Yi Qing."

"That's strange..." Lonemoon smiled. "If I'm not mistaken, didn't Young Emperor Yu announce in front of all the country emperors and immortal friends from other continents that you only knew Celestial Emperor Lan Hua, and not Celestial Emperor Yi Qing?"

"Yes... Yes, I did remark indiscreetly. Please forgive me, Celestial Emperor." Yu Cang's legs turned to jelly, and he fell to his knees. "No matter how the Celestial Emperor wants to deal with me, I will accept my punishment."

Lonemoon paused. Logically, if he could afford to cause so much trouble before, he should be quite a proud person. Why was he giving in so easily? What's more, he fell to his knees to admit his wrongs without much more. Suddenly, Lonemoon realized that what Yu Cang was about to ask of them was not going to be simple.

"But all of these was a folly on my part. It has nothing to do with the people of East Tsui, nor with the people of the Bo Sea." Yu Cang raised his head and looked very seriously at the man who was now handing more food over to Shen Ying. Yi Qing did not even spare him a glance. Yu Cang hesitated, then turned toward Lonemoon instead. "The matter I am here for today is extremely important. It concerns the entire immortal realm. I have no choice but to ask Celestial Emperor Yi Qing for help."

"Oh?" Lonemoon was getting curious now. "What is it that Che- I mean, Yi Qing can handle that I cannot?"

Yu Cang's expression changed. As if he thought about something, he hesitated and lowered his voice. "Reporting to Celestial Emperor – my East Tsui is located on an island further east of the Bo Sea. It's considered a more prosperous piece of land compared to the other countries'. There are many immortals there. But in recent years, no more immortals have been ascending. At the start, we did not know the reason. We thought that the cultivators in the lower realm were just not training adequately."

He looked up and glanced at the three of them, then he lowered his gaze again and continued. "Recently, we received a letter from one of the City Lords, City Lord Chang Qing. He said that his nephew in the lower realm had great potential as a cultivator. In fact, the City Lord had already calculated his fate and discovered that his nephew was bound to ascend to immortality. Yet, for some reason, while he was going through the tribulation, his cultivation level fell. He was stopped from ascending. It was only then that I realized that this entire situation was strange."

Lonemoon frowned and studied Yu Cang. "Cultivators are going against the course of nature after all. Any tiny change – even a hint of a mental demon in one's heart – would affect a person's ascension. How can he say that his nephew is fated to ascend?" That was of course apart from Shen Ying, the cheat. "What's more, many people were stopped mid-way while ascending. That's considered a common occurrence. What's so strange about it? Even if nobody ascends in a few years, that's..." Normal.