Chapter 1: I, a Celestial Soldier of the Southern Heavenly Gate!
Heavenly Court, Southern Heavenly Gate.
A myriad of golden rays burst forth, and thousands of auspicious clouds swirled in hues of crimson and purple, with cranes faintly weaving through them, lending the Southern Heavenly Gate an ethereal and wondrous aura.
Jiang Wang stood silently, unmoving, not even the slightest flicker of emotion in his eyes. After a period of transmigrating into this world, his heart had grown calm as a still lake, unruffled by any disturbance.
He was no longer the mortal who would once be stirred to excitement just by glimpsing the Southern Heavenly Gate.
No matter how mystical or magnificent the Southern Heavenly Gate appeared, what did that matter to a lowly celestial soldier guarding the gate?
It was like in his previous life—would a security guard at a luxury residence feel proud simply because he worked there?
At first, Jiang Wang had harbored some curiosity about the Heavenly Court. After all, in Chinese mythology, the Heavenly Court was always a place of fascination and longing.
But after truly crossing over and arriving at the Heavenly Court, he found himself utterly numb.
First, the Heavenly Court he had transmigrated into was the one from the mythic era of Journey to the West.
That alone was enough to paralyze him with dread.
Because of one ominous figure—the Monkey King.
Countless articles and popular stories in his previous life had claimed the Monkey King was weak, unable to defeat the Spiritual Official Wang, unable to withstand the Giant Spirit God, and forced to flee before the likes of Erlang Shen.
Whether the Monkey King could really best these gods, Jiang Wang didn't know.
But no matter how inferior the Monkey King might be compared to the other gods, he was still far stronger than a mere celestial soldier like Jiang Wang.
After all, when the Monkey King wreaked havoc in the Heavenly Palace, a hundred thousand celestial soldiers and generals were little more than background scenery!
And even as part of that backdrop, Jiang Wang was merely one among those hundred thousand.
If he truly ran into the Monkey King causing chaos in the Heavenly Palace, he would be in dire straits.
A hundred thousand celestial troops—death might not be certain, but to be struck by the Monkey King's golden staff would leave one half-crippled at best.
The Monkey King, though, was something he could live with. If the day ever came when the Monkey King stormed the Heavenly Court, at worst, Jiang Wang could try to slip away in the confusion and maybe survive.
What truly plunged Jiang Wang into despair was his role: the celestial soldier stationed at the Southern Heavenly Gate!
To put it nicely... he was called a Golden-armored General.
To put it bluntly, he was nothing more than a gate guard—a security officer of the Heavenly Court. Unless blessed with extraordinary fortune, he would never rise above this position in his entire life.
Moreover, every celestial soldier was at the Heavenly Immortal level, possessing the lifespan of ten yuanhui—over a million years!
To gain such longevity the moment he transmigrated could be considered a blessing!
Jiang Wang had indeed been delighted at first to receive a million years of life.
But to be honest, if he had to spend a million years just guarding a gate, he'd rather never have transmigrated at all.
"Time to change shifts!"
Just as Jiang Wang was sinking into melancholy, a new squad of celestial soldiers arrived to relieve him.
There were countless celestial soldiers in the heavens, and those stationed at the Southern Heavenly Gate rotated daily.
After exchanging greetings with the incoming soldiers, Jiang Wang mounted a white cloud and flew away from the gate.
Most celestial soldiers like him lived in the Lower Nine Heavens.
The Upper and Middle Nine Heavens were the domain of the mighty immortals.
Returning to his own quarters, Jiang Wang closed the doors and windows, then sat cross-legged on his mat. With a thought, a tiny fragment of jade flew out from the spot above his head known as the Three Flowers.
The moment the jade fragment appeared, all around Jiang Wang’s residence was sealed off. No one could peer inside, not even beings of the Four Royals’ rank in the Heavenly Court could sense anything amiss.
Exhaling a heavy breath, Jiang Wang fixed his gaze on the floating shard of jade.
Each time he retrieved this fragment, it drained a considerable amount of his energy and spiritual power.
Yet he never tired of doing so.
For no other reason than this: if the jade fragment were whole, its true name would be the Jade Disc of Creation!
After transmigrating, Jiang Wang had discovered a fragment of the Jade Disc of Creation within his spirit.
It was thanks to this fragment that he could keep his peace, mindlessly watching over the Southern Heavenly Gate.
There was no way he could rise through the ranks!
The only hope was to rely on the Jade Disc’s fragment to cheat his way forward.
Though only a fragment, its powers were formidable.
The Jade Disc fragment could deduce cultivation techniques, foretell the future, and more.
But as always, there was no such thing as a free lunch.
To activate its powers, one had to expend spiritual power or spirit stones.
With the spiritual power of a Heavenly Immortal, activating the Jade Disc’s abilities could only be sustained for a few breaths.
As for spirit stones... Jiang Wang’s annual wage was a mere two hundred stones for guarding the gate.
Yet, despite such meager conditions, Jiang Wang still felt that with the Jade Disc fragment in his possession and a million years of life at the Heavenly Immortal level—even if he advanced by mere increments—he could eventually attain the rank of a Golden Immortal!
Then he would be indestructible, impervious to all laws!
Perhaps, he might even ascend to greater heights!
Quasi-saint, or even Sagehood, could be within reach!
With this thought, Jiang Wang placed the Jade Disc fragment atop his Three Flowers and prepared to cultivate.
The Jade Disc fragment not only possessed the powerful abilities to deduce techniques and predict the future, but also had other mystical properties.
With it above his head, a single session of training could equal dozens for other celestial soldiers.
Closing his eyes and calming his mind, Jiang Wang quietly began to circulate his immortal technique.
The technique he practiced was the Grand Heavenly Immortal Art.
Ordinarily, as a celestial soldier, he should have been practicing the standard Heavenly Court-issued Lesser Heavenly Immortal Art.
All celestial soldiers and generals were treated equally in this regard.
Jiang Wang owed his ability to practice the Grand Heavenly Immortal Art to a stroke of luck at the moment he transmigrated...
When he first arrived, the Jade Disc fragment still retained a measure of power.
At the time, he found the Lesser Heavenly Immortal Art obscure and awkward, his spiritual power unable to flow smoothly through it. Days of practice yielded no progress.
In frustration, he had activated the Jade Disc fragment to deduce a new path.
After a round of deduction, the Lesser Heavenly Immortal Art was upgraded to the Grand Heavenly Immortal Art—this was the very foundation of his confidence that, even if he advanced slowly, he could eventually attain Golden Immortality!
After all, the Grand Heavenly Immortal Art was the very technique Bodhi Patriarch passed to Sun Wukong!
Sun Wukong, with only a brief period of practice, had managed to ascend to a Taiyi Immortal with this art!
Jiang Wang believed that even if his talent was inferior to the Monkey King’s, with the Jade Disc fragment in hand, he might not be any worse off!
His thoughts churned as spiritual power surged within him.
After several cycles of cultivation, Jiang Wang sensed his power and attainment had grown ever so slightly.
It was not much, but even the smallest daily progress left him content.
For cultivation was like rowing upstream—not to advance was to fall back.
Just as he was immersed in his training, a sudden, emotionless prompt sounded in his ear.
[The Dimensional Chat Group welcomes you! Accept? Yes/No?]