Zero had never thought that Hua would get jealous.
And jealous over Marty, no less.
Weren't the two of them on good terms?
Besides, Zero had always treated everyone fairly.
He left the Xianzhou to Hua and gave the Patrol Tokens to Marty.
Very fair.
If anyone really got the short end of the stick, it was Lan instead.
Before They ascended and became a god, They had only been a crown prince in name for a short while.
Zero had sent Lan to the Luofu.
He never expected this guy to disappear the moment he let go!
The crown prince ended up thrown into prison and forced into slumber.
Because of his agreement with Fuli, Zero couldn't interfere directly.
He always kept his promises, so he could only take the next best option and find a way to kill Fuli.
Once the Aeon died, Zero wouldn't need to honor the agreement anymore.
Unfortunately, his old friend refused to cooperate and stopped appearing.
When Zero met Lan again...
The other party had just gotten out of prison, stopped being human, and become a god.
Following him, Lan had neither power nor money.
Of course, Aeons weren't human. Their thoughts couldn't be judged by normal standards.
The only thing Zero could give Lan was the faith of the Xianzhou people.
After Guanliang pointed out Hua's real thoughts, Zero quickly came up with a solution, give Hua a money tree.
He clearly knew Hua couldn't keep a money tree alive, yet he still gave her one.
Wasn't that thoughtful enough?
Zero felt the gift was very sincere.
But he forgot something.
Not only had Hua not been coaxed into a better mood, she turned around and dragged Dan Feng into pulling a huge stunt on him.
A group of Vidyadhara had red faces and twisted expressions. Their acting was terrible. They could only rely on exaggerated body language to perform a painfully cliché scene.
When speaking, they even exchanged looks with each other, encouraging one another just to keep the act going.
Jingliu looked worried as she held onto Zero's arm.
Zero showed no expression. He watched almost numbly.
Soon, the Vidyadhara stopped talking and all looked expectantly toward the High Elder.
Dan Feng's eyelid twitched. He instantly felt something was wrong.
He didn't know the Marshal's plan. He had only followed instructions and borrowed thirty-two clan members for her.
And the result...
'Could immortals fighting please stop dragging mortals like them into it?!'
The High Elder, who possessed countless assets and immeasurable wealth, laughed bitterly inside.
Then he sighed.
Clearly, he was the one who had done wrong.
Yet in the end, he became the only beneficiary of this whole mess.
The current Marshal still held a grudge against him. Making things difficult for him was perfectly normal.
Not a big problem. Redirecting the disaster elsewhere could solve this.
Under Zero's oppressive stare, Dan Feng forced himself to gesture to his clansmen.
The moment they saw it, they scattered like frightened birds, leaving only their High Elder behind to bear everything.
Dan Feng hurried over to Zero in a few quick steps.
Ignoring the almost frozen atmosphere by force, he grabbed Zero's other arm and pulled him inside.
Seeing this, Jingliu followed behind them.
Before the three could enter the restaurant, Jing Yuan behind them broke the silence first.
After leaving the battlefield, he had started preparing for exams.
To pass more tests, Jing Yuan had no choice but to make compromises and give up all subjects that required memorization.
He studied until his head spun. After finally finishing the exams, it became his turn for duty again.
If he hadn't swapped shifts with a colleague, he would still be out on patrol now.
He had been so busy his brain had stopped working for a while.
Jing Yuan said in disbelief, "...Wait, Zero, you really are the Dragon King?!"
Zero froze in place again.
Dan Feng's face twitched slightly. 'Jing Yuan, throw away your storybooks already!'
Wait, he was the one who lent those books to Jing Yuan... Then never mind.
'Jing Yuan, please say less!'
He had almost escaped.
He had almost gotten the immortals to start fighting each other.
Jing Yuan had no idea what Dan Feng was thinking and kept talking, "Hold on, Yingxing, you don't look surprised at all."
Yingxing replied, "What's there to be surprised about? I knew a long time ago."
Ever since turning into a Vidyadhara last night, he hadn't slept once.
In just one day, Yingxing had received a series of explosive revelations.
He still wasn't used to the Vidyadhara tail. He tossed and turned in bed, completely unable to sleep.
After staying awake the whole night, Yingxing reached enlightenment.
Zero had become the legend of the Xianzhou.
And he, Yingxing, had turned into a Vidyadhara.
He could already be considered someone who had seen the big world.
Even if Jing Yuan suddenly jumped from Cloud Knight Lieutenant to Xianzhou Marshal, Yingxing wouldn't even blink!
Jing Yuan looked shocked.
"How is that possible? Shouldn't the last person to know about this have been you?"
Yingxing slowly put up a question mark.
"Why do I feel like you're insulting me?"
Jing Yuan looked extremely sincere.
"Brother Yingxing, how could I?", Yingxing let out a dry laugh.
"...You only call me Brother Yingxing when you feel guilty or when you need something from me."
Jingliu lightly patted the back of Zero's hand and said softly, "You go in first."
The moment he heard that, Dan Feng instantly relaxed.
Without hesitation, he manifested his jade-green dragon tail and used the Vidyadhara secret art, Coiling Leap, dragging Zero and running inside without looking back.
Before leaving, he could still clearly hear Baiheng's voice.
The Foxian deliberately sounded dissatisfied.
"Jingliu, that's too much. How could you tell them and not tell me?"
Dan Feng hurriedly brought Zero to the private room entrance, avoiding the other man's gaze.
Just as he was about to use his secret art again and leave the area, Zero suddenly reached out and grabbed his dragon tail.
Dan Feng felt like his dragon scales were about to explode.
Zero smiled faintly as he tilted his head and looked at him.
Dan Feng forced himself to defend himself.
"As a subordinate, it is only right to do everything possible to ease the Marshal's burdens."
As for which Marshal... That depended entirely on interpretation.
No matter how one interpreted it, there was nothing wrong with Dan Feng's words.
They both identified the mastermind behind today's events and stated his position.
Zero stared at him for a while, then suddenly lost interest.
Dan Feng wasn't like Hua.
The High Elder had lived a life of luxury. Even if Zero gathered sixty-four attendants to greet him in unison, he wouldn't feel even a trace of embarrassment.
Zero lost interest, released the dragon tail, and turned to enter the private room.
Hua had reserved the entire restaurant beforehand, so naturally the private room she chose also had the best view.
The most eye-catching thing was the waterside pavilion standing above the water.
Zero stepped into the pavilion and casually glanced at the tableware on the dining table.
Twelve sets.
Hua and Guanliang had arrived long ago.
Zero walked to their side, glanced at Hua, and said coldly, "If you were a boy, I would've already started hitting you."
Guanliang held his breath.
Next came the battle between this father and daughter pair.
He'd better stay quiet so he wouldn't get dragged into it.
After nearly a thousand years, Hua had long since matured.
When facing her father, she was no longer a powerless child without any way to fight back.
She didn't argue with Zero and immediately asked back, "Then have you ever hit the 'Reignbow Arbiter'?"
Zero raised a brow.
"That, I haven't."
"They bit my hand once, and even chipped a tooth on it."
Hua had a very good memory.
Or perhaps it was because she hadn't spent much time with her father in the first place, so she remembered every moment they shared.
For example, he once said he would place the glove bearing her bite marks in a museum.
Hua closed her eyes briefly and smiled.
"Oh? Then didn't you preserve it and put it in the Xianzhou Museum?"
Zero sounded regretful.
"No. They stole my glove."
Remembering the scene at the restaurant entrance and the Vidyadhara deliberately emphasizing the number of planets, he asked, "Picked your successor yet?"
Hua shrugged, "That depends on his willingness."
Her words were ambiguous.
She smiled meaningfully.
"As long as he's willing, he can take over my position at any time."
Zero, "..."
'Why does this feel like a trap?'
This "he" couldn't also refer to himself in addition to Jing Yuan, right?
Without changing expression, Zero filled in the hole himself.
"Jing Yuan, huh. He's not even twenty yet. We'll see later."
Hua cooperatively continued, "Exactly. He hasn't even graduated from the academy yet."
She herself had graduated at eighteen.
The corner of Zero's mouth twitched.
"Cloud Knight military merit can't replace academic credits."
"And besides, you were the one who changed that policy."
Hua suppressed a smile.
Yes, the Xianzhou's graduation delay rate was far ahead of the entire universe.
That was her doing.
The person before her was a victim of both her and the "Reignbow Arbiter." Because of it, he had done plenty of practice problems.
Hua thought for a moment.
Rather than waiting for her father to counterattack, she might as well attack first.
Her tone became light.
"Starting next semester, the academy will add more than ten new history courses."
Zero, "..."
The moment he heard the word "history," he felt danger immediately.
Hua didn't mention her father and Marty. Instead, she brought up the generals.
"Back then, the generals asked me to seal away their records. I agreed."
"I kept all the records."
"At the time, I thought that one day, I would put them back into the textbooks."
Hua looked directly at Zero and stabbed straight at his weak spot, giving a reason he couldn't refuse.
"The generals' achievements shouldn't be forgotten."
Zero opened his mouth, then softly replied with an "Mm."
The moment Hua saw this, she escalated further.
"I think both the Cloud Knights and the Six Charioteers should hang your portrait."
Hearing this, Guanliang nearly lost control of his expression.
Like a student afraid of being called on by the teacher, he silently reduced his presence.
Zero retaliated quickly. Determined to drag Hua down with him, he casually blew up the foundation too, "No. Besides the Cloud Knights and the Six Charioteers, every household should also hang the Marshal's portrait and worship her longevity tablet."
Hua and Guanliang both stiffened.
They remembered some unpleasant things.
Since Father brought it up himself... then he definitely cared deeply about the longevity tablet.
As for the Xianzhou citizen who sold the longevity tablet, investigations later found that he frequently visited casinos in other star systems.
He squandered all his Patrol Tokens and even sold off family property everywhere, including the longevity tablet.
After Hua learned about this, she quickly retaliated.
She arranged for an item resembling a longevity tablet to be auctioned for hundreds of billions of Patrol Tokens, and spread the news throughout the sea of stars.
That scum who lost all his wealth and obsessed over gambling halls...
After learning he had missed the only chance in his life to turn things around, he would spend the rest of his days drowning in regret.
Hua pulled herself out of her thoughts and suddenly felt refreshed.
Even if she couldn't beat her father, dragging him down together was fine too.
Trading eight hundred of her own losses for a thousand of the enemy's wasn't a bad deal at all.
She smiled faintly, "Of course. Besides portraits, we should also add dozens of required texts related to you."
Zero fell silent for a moment.
He was actually starting to lose ground.
Grinding his teeth, he said, "Mm. And statues should be built for the Marshal too."
Hua was starting to struggle as well.
Still forcing a smile, she said, "Yes. And during every holiday, the Xianzhou people should make offerings to you and pray to you..."
Guanliang couldn't watch anymore and finally stepped in to mediate.
Using a tone that sounded like he hated seeing good iron fail to become steel, he rebuked them both, "How can you forget our 'Reignbow Arbiter'?"
Zero and Hua exchanged a glance and, with perfect tacit understanding, redirected the disaster elsewhere.
Hua spoke first, "Every landmark building in each Xianzhou realm should hang a portrait of the 'Reignbow Arbiter.'"
Zero followed, "Everyone should worship a statue of the 'Reignbow Arbiter' in their homes."
Hua added, "And more than a hundred required texts should be added to the textbooks. Also, during every holiday..."
Guanliang's head went numb listening to them.
The two people before him went back and forth, arranging everything for the "Reignbow Arbiter" down to the last detail.
As they talked, Zero suddenly asked, "By the way, where's Lan?"
Hua replied, "Keeping that guest company."
Zero casually said, "They still haven't left?"
Then the two continued discussing serious matters.
"No need to pick another day. Let's do it today and hang up the portraits first."
Following orders, Guanliang sent instructions to the Balance Commission branches across the Xianzhou.
Ten minutes later, at a scenic spot in one of the Luofu's realms.
Lan and Aha both wore unreadable expressions as they looked up at the portrait slowly rising in the distance.
The two Aeons held various snacks in their hands.
Lan had paid for all of them.
Aha handed Lan a transparent snack that looked like it was made from bamboo shoots and urged Them to eat it.
Lan said nothing and merely accepted the snack.
Seeing that the trick failed, Aha could only curl Their lips and continue staring at the portrait.
A long time ago, no matter how important your background was, you still had to follow the Xianzhou's rules.
When mentioning Their best friend, no joking was allowed. Honorifics had to be used.
A thousand years later, the Xianzhou's rules had changed.
People forgot Their best friend and instead worshipped the Aeon.
When mentioning the Aeon, everyone had to respectfully call Them the "Reignbow Arbiter."
Sure, going to prison really was fun...
But back when Their best friend served as Yaoqing General, Aha had already gone once.
This time, They didn't want to go again.
If They laughed out loud, the Xianzhou people would arrest Them for a bounty of five hundred thousand Patrol Tokens.
Aha shared a special relationship with Their best friend.
The Aeon had seen what They looked like as a "god."
And also witnessed the process of Them changing from a "god" into a "human."
If the Empire's subordinates learned that someone had succeeded...
That would definitely be very entertaining.
Unfortunately, They wouldn't get to see it.
On such a special day for Their best friend, how could They make trouble on the Luofu? Even if They wanted fun, They could at least wait a few more minutes!
Just as Aha was thinking that, someone behind Them firmly said to their child, "When the 'Reignbow Arbiter' was three years old, They used a pebble to cut down a poplar tree a hundred meters away..."
Immediately afterward, someone else refuted him, "Wrong, wrong, you remembered it wrong."
"It was clearly when the 'Reignbow Arbiter' was six years old and killed a True Sting Bug thousands of miles away with a pebble!"
Lan, "..."
They wanted to say They couldn't do that.
Even as an Aeon, a trace of curiosity rose in Their heart.
Back when the Marshal had still been the Yaoqing General, she once praised Them as a genius "capable of piercing willow leaves from a hundred paces and taking heads from a thousand miles away."
How had the rumors become more outrageous the more they spread? Was this what unofficial history looked like?
What kind of image did the Xianzhou people even have of Them?
After the Xianzhou released the Marshal's records, would the people also spread this kind of ridiculous unofficial history about her?
Aha, "..."
The snacks in Their hands all fell to the ground.
Aha burst into laughter while clutching Their stomach.
———
[Another Ten Minutes Later]
Guanliang held his jade abacus to his ear, his expression full of disbelief.
"...You're saying the Cloud Knights caught someone during patrol, and that person claimed to be the 'Masked Fool'?"
The corner of his mouth twitched.
"Don't tell me the 'Reignbow Arbiter' is standing next to him too?"
The person on the other end sounded shocked.
"How did you guess that? That man said the person traveling with him is the 'Reignbow Arbiter'!"
Guanliang, "..."