Ye Wen had never considered that a grand Heavenly General of the Celestial Court would have domestic troubles.

But after a moment's thought, it seemed perfectly normal. Most people in the Celestial Court were cultivators who spent their entire lives focused on their practice. Even those not cultivating were constantly bogged down by official duties. It made sense that they wouldn't understand matters of the heart, leading to marital discord.

He glanced at Shen Gongbao, unsure how to advise him, and finally managed only, "If you have the chance, perhaps have a proper talk with your esteemed wife..." That was as far as he could push it. After all, as the saying goes, even the wisest official can't settle a domestic quarrel, and he, an outsider, shouldn't interfere too much.

The two had moved to the foot of the mountain by now, circling Mount Shu. Before long, they arrived at the back, where a vast lake opened up before them. Shen Gongbao looked at the water, so clear one could see the bottom, and smiled at Ye Wen: "Your sect's mountain truly is a blessed grotto-heaven. This water is not only slightly cool but also imbued with the primal energy of Heaven and Earth. Your disciples using water like this all day is subtly beneficial to everyone."

Ye Wen smiled without speaking. He knew perfectly well the nature of this water. The fact that it retained so much vital energy after flowing down from the peak could not be separated from the contribution of the Nine Provinces Cauldrons. However, this was the greatest secret of the Mount Shu Sect and absolutely could not be revealed. He could only smile and reply, "Our sect was established upon this very mountain. When our founding ancestor chose this place to settle and establish the school, they weren't thinking so much about these things; they just found the environment tranquil and the location convenient!"

Shen Gongbao dipped his hand into the lake water, feeling the coolness and the spiritual essence within. "This is also your sect's great fortune. Without someone possessing immense destiny, even standing atop this mountain, one wouldn't perceive its virtues, ultimately missing out on such blessed favor!"

As he spoke, he added another thought, "It does make me quite curious what kind of visionary your founding ancestor must have been... I imagine the person who founded your sect must be a rare talent under heaven!"

"What kind of person? Just a down-on-his-luck vagrant!"

Knowing the truth, Ye Wen could only laugh it off. He didn't know how to answer this question. He certainly couldn't tell him, "Our sect is just something thrown together by a bum!" Furthermore, Mount Shu wasn't originally solely occupied by the Mount Shu Sect; he had taken it from various 'neighbors' after becoming its leader.

"By the way, I wonder what Mount Olympus and the Buddhist Realm are like?"

Ye Wen suddenly recalled that his Mount Shu Sect might clash with the Olympian Gods or the Buddhist Realm. Coupled with the Celestial Court deliberately leaking some information to prepare him, perhaps he could gather some intelligence now?

He didn't need to inquire too deeply about the Western Buddhist Realm; its general situation was much like the legendary one. The current Buddha presiding over it was Tathagata Buddha. Although many other Buddhas held a status equal to Tathagata, they were hands-off managers who were rarely seen.

So, the current Western Buddhist Realm was headed by Tathagata, supported by a large contingent of Bodhisattvas, Arhats, and Venerables—they formed the core structure. If a real conflict erupted, this group would be the ones to respond; the nearly invisible Buddhas would not emerge unless absolutely necessary.

Ye Wen didn't need to worry about those reclusive figures. His current focus was on the main fighting force: the Venerables, Arhats, and Bodhisattvas. It was rumored that the most powerful among them were the Five Great Wisdom Kings, the Peacock Wisdom King, and the Victorious Fighting Buddha—considered the primary commanders of the Buddhist forces.

The soldiers of the Buddhist Realm were the monks, and what was troublesome was that nearly all the ordinary subjects under their jurisdiction practiced Buddhism, a large portion of whom could serve as Dharma-protecting monks and participate in warfare. Fortunately, these less powerful civilian monks couldn't create a drastic impact on the situation; they just needed to guard against these people infiltrating the territories under the Celestial Court's jurisdiction to preach their doctrines.

Compared to Buddhism, Ye Wen knew far less about Mount Olympus. He only knew that the God-King of the Olympians was Zeus, and his two older brothers were Poseidon, the Sea God, and Hades, the King of the Underworld. Overall, the structure was quite similar to Greek mythology, with many familiar names among the deities of Mount Olympus.

For instance, Apollo, the Sun God; Artemis, the Goddess of the Moon and the Hunt; Athena, the Goddess of War and Wisdom; Ares, the God of War, and so on...

However, Ares had already been stripped of his title as the God of War. Since the God of War traditionally served as the vanguard commander for the Olympian Gods' wars against outsiders, Ye Wen was uncertain who would hold that post should Mount Olympus launch its next offensive.

"Could it be Athena?"

His interest in Mount Olympus was partly related to this goddess; he was curious if the Olympian heights in the Immortal Realm possessed a cadre of warriors called the Saints (Seinto/Saint Seiya).

"Saints?" Shen Gongbao looked utterly bewildered. "What are those?"

Judging by that reaction, Ye Wen knew for certain that Mount Olympus did not have warriors called Saints. If they did, perhaps he would have been tempted by curiosity to pay a visit to Mount Olympus.

"Nothing important!" Since such fighters didn't exist, what comprised the Olympian army? Shen Gongbao provided a very clear answer to this question.

"They are led by a collection of demigods, commanding troops specially selected from among their subject populace. While their numbers aren't vast, their strength is slightly superior to our Heavenly Soldiers, and they are utterly fearless and extremely difficult to deal with."

"They also utilize monsters sourced from their so-called Underworld and Sea Realms, along with countless strange half-human, half-monster entities—I wonder if they are demonic cultivators! That's the composition of Mount Olympus's army; it's quite messy..."

Shen Gongbao's knowledge of Mount Olympus greatly surprised Ye Wen. Upon asking, he learned that Shen Gongbao, as the General of Water Division, had once commanded the Celestial Court's navy to engage the forces of Mount Olympus by sea. That battle had been a chaotic, dark affair where Shen Gongbao encountered the great army led by Poseidon.

Those soldiers were mostly various sea monsters, creatures that inherently possessed immense destructive power coupled with a host of bizarre abilities, inflicting massive losses on the Celestial Navy. It was only due to Shen Gongbao's skills and Wen Zhong leading the Thunder Department gods to the rescue that they barely managed to repel the navy from Mount Olympus.

But in that battle, Mount Olympus only lost a host of monsters that were mere pets to them, whereas the Celestial Navy was nearly annihilated and hadn't recovered since.

"Because of that battle, I'm practically an idle man now!"

A general without troops—that feeling was indeed unpleasant! Although Shen Gongbao wished to restore the Celestial Navy, the replenishment of the Celestial Court's forces was slowing down, with priority given to the few more crucial commanders.

"How are the Celestial Court's troops replenished?"

"They are exceptional individuals from the Lower Realm, or perhaps the reincarnated souls of those who died valiantly in battle!" Shen Gongbao sighed helplessly. "There are hardly any military conflicts in the Lower Realms under the Celestial Court's jurisdiction; the populace lives in peace and contentment, the price of which is the difficulty in replenishing the Heavenly Soldiers." This situation was unavoidable. The simplest way to secure a large influx of troops was to plunge the entire Eastern Immortal Continent into war, ensuring the death of numerous soldiers, which would naturally feed the Celestial Court's ranks.

However, the Jade Emperor disagreed with this method. Although the Celestial Court would not directly interfere with worldly affairs, every official who attained divinity possessed a character that could not disregard mortal life. Should a true conflict arise in the mortal world, these very immortals might immediately appear to quell it.

Moreover, many Immortal Dao sects also resided in the mortal realm. If they intervened, no war could even begin, unless those sects started fighting amongst themselves first.

Therefore, the Celestial Court's recruitment had to rely on finding exceptional individuals to be absorbed into the Heavens, or waiting for cultivators who felt they had no hope of advancing their cultivation to seek a post in the Celestial Court. If they performed well, they might even have a chance to ascend the Investiture of the Gods list and be granted the rank of Heavenly General—which would, in turn, grant them nearly endless longevity.

"So that's how it is!"

Ye Wen actually thought this situation wasn't unsolvable. One approach was to increase contact with various sects, or perhaps even demand that they send disciples in rotation to serve in the Celestial Court's military.

Alternatively, they could pursue a 'elite troops' strategy, desperately striving to enhance the power of every single Heavenly Soldier. If every Heavenly Soldier could achieve the strength to fight ten men alone, then even without vast numbers during wartime, there wouldn't be an insurmountable problem.

The final method was to broaden the source of manpower—Ye Wen felt Earth was an excellent choice. Why didn't the Celestial Realm expand its recruitment to Earth? Since Heavenly Generals could be found on Earth, why not soldiers too?

"This... the Jade Emperor has actually considered this issue. In fact, if this situation persists, the Celestial Court will seriously put this into action," Shen Gongbao said, glancing around stealthily as he confided in Ye Wen, "It's not just Earth; the Jade Emperor also plans to contact the various Immortal Sects, asking them to designate the worlds under their management as sources for troop recruitment!"

Ye Wen blinked, momentarily failing to grasp the implication of Shen Gongbao's words!

Seeing Ye Wen's expression, Shen Gongbao showed no surprise, acting as if he hadn't noticed, and continued his explanation. "Actually, within the Immortal Realm, there are cultivators who originate from places beyond Earth! Furthermore, some of the larger Immortal Sects even hold dominion over specific worlds; if anyone ascends from that world to the Immortal Realm, they are immediately absorbed into that sect!"

Ye Wen's first reaction was that the secret of the Nine Provinces Cauldrons had been exposed. But upon deeper thought, he realized that wasn't the case. Shen Gongbao seemed to be telling him that many sects were doing things similar to what he had done.

To control a world, observe its changes, and if an outstanding individual leaves that world for the Immortal Realm, they can be immediately brought into the sect to bolster its strength. However, the difference between those sects and the Mount Shu Sect was that the Kyushu World was a reality manifested by the Nine Provinces Cauldrons; the entire world was under Ye Wen's control. If necessary, Ye Wen could shatter the void and cause the immediate demise of anyone he didn't want to succeed with just a single thought.

He could also, with a single thought, make the entire Kyushu World revolve around a single 'protagonist,' cultivating a powerhouse.

The worlds controlled by those sects, however, were self-regulating realities; they were purely observers, powerless to interfere with the fate of that world or its cultivators.

In that regard, the Mount Shu Sect still held an advantage! Nevertheless, this news greatly astonished Ye Wen; he hadn't realized that the various sects in the Immortal Realm possessed such a channel for recruiting members.

"What about Earth? Which sect controls it?"

Shen Gongbao chuckled. "The gods of the Celestial Court are mostly from Earth, so they naturally pay special attention to it. Which sect would dare to try and steal something right from under the Celestial Court's nose?"

That sentence made Ye Wen understand why Yang Jian held his Mount Shu Sect in such high regard; it was undoubtedly linked to the fact that the Mount Shu Sect was kin to the gods of the Celestial Court.

Additionally, Ye Wen realized that since all current gods originated from Earth, had others from different worlds never come to the Immortal Realm?

Shen Gongbao answered crisply: "Naturally, they have! The reason for the Investiture of the Gods War back then was precisely to unify the cultivators of Earth so we could finally ascend to the Immortal Realm and contend against the gods of other worlds. After a great battle, we secured dominance over this Eastern Immortal Continent!"

He never expected the Investiture of the Gods War to have such an underlying cause—it was essentially an internal cleansing war aimed at unifying resources. Those who refused to submit were eliminated and controlled via the Investiture of the Gods list, while useful talents with lower cultivation were also made subordinates through the list. Finally, they led large forces to the Immortal Realm to seize territory.

After the struggle, the gods of the Celestial Court defeated the other deities and occupied this Eastern Immortal Continent—the name was probably given later.

"Then are there no remnants of the gods from other worlds?"

"Of course, there are!" Shen Gongbao pointed westward. "A few factions over there are..."

Ye Wen was speechless. He had considered countless possibilities, but never this connection. Because he came from Earth, and the legends of those gods were known on Earth, he had initially assumed all these gods were indigenous to Earth.

"Actually, those few major factions fought fiercely amongst themselves. Not only did Earth end up with their descendants, but their original worlds also developed lineages of our Eastern Immortal Dao."

"And the doctrines and myths you heard on Earth are products of them blending those local legends and modifying them for propagation. They might differ greatly from what was originally transmitted in their home worlds, but they were better suited to the conditions on Earth!"

"Could it be that Caucasians, Africans, etc., weren't originally from Earth?" Ye Wen found it hard to steer his thoughts away from this. However, Shen Gongbao clearly told him: "They are Earthlings. The differences between white, black, and so on, are due to environmental factors, lifestyles, and long-term evolution. In essence, they are all human!"

"As for the religious lineages on Earth, it's because those gods chose to propagate their teachings through the groups of people who were closest to their own kind."

Ye Wen felt his head spinning. He had absorbed too much insider information in one day and couldn't process it all immediately.

To summarize briefly: the Investiture of the Gods War was initially an internal unification conflict among Earth's cultivators, after which the Celestial Court faction was formed.

This Celestial Court faction then contended with several other major powers in wars that spanned multiple planes, with Earth not spared from being a battlefield. Numerous factions worked hard to spread doctrines appealing to the Earthlings closest to them, resulting in many legends and sects spreading across Earth—including factions leaving members on Earth to preach their creeds, which Ye Wen guessed was aimed at severing a root connection for the Eastern Celestial Court.

Having finally pieced some of it together, Shen Gongbao dropped an even bigger bombshell: "In reality, Earth was merely one world where many cultivators lived. Before that, we lived in other worlds as well!"

"What was the name of the world you originally lived in?"

"It had no name..." Shen Gongbao shook his head. "That world was vast, and the primal energy of Heaven and Earth was incredibly abundant, which is why it could nurture all sorts of powerful life forms! But even so, it couldn't sustain the ever-increasing number of cultivators and eventually perished. Afterward, we arrived on Earth and stayed for an unknown period before His Majesty the Jade Emperor found the current Immortal Realm. The trouble was, we first had to contend with various factions for ownership of the Immortal Realm!"

It turned out Earth was merely a temporary stopover before the Celestial Court gods seized a territory in the Immortal Realm. To put it crudely, these cultivators had selected a battlefield long ago. It was only because their ancestral home was destroyed that the gods of the Celestial Court held such affection for Earth—especially since many had indeed established their own lineages there, viewing it as their former home.

Learning the true origins of the various gods, Ye Wen felt his entire perception of reality had been overturned. He even realized that much of what he had heard on Earth was incorrect! For example, the legend that the gods left Earth because its spiritual energy diminished—in truth, they never intended to stay long in the first place.

He surmised that the so-called legends of ascension were deliberately left by the Celestial Court, possibly to ensure that cultivators ascending from Earth would join the Celestial Court and enhance their strength there.

Once he understood this, Ye Wen continued conversing with Shen Gongbao about the worlds controlled by various sects. He learned that the current state of existence wasn't simple; many sects in the Eastern Immortal Continent weren't founded by cultivators from Earth. These sects kept a close watch on the worlds they once inhabited, much like the Celestial Court focused on Earth.

"However, over these past centuries, fewer and fewer people have managed to ascend to the Immortal Realm, regardless of the world," Shen Gongbao remarked with feeling. "So, these worlds are gradually receiving less attention now. Fortunately, the cycle of life and death in these worlds is operating normally. His Majesty is currently considering linking the cycle of life and death to the Celestial Court's military, allowing soldiers killed in wars in those worlds to become Heavenly Soldiers."

This piece of information, aside from confirming to Ye Wen that the Celestial Court was planning major actions, offered little direct benefit to the Mount Shu Sect. This entire conversation made Ye Wen realize that the so-called immortals were, in the end, just... people.