If it had been eight hundred years ago, at the height of the Xianle Palace’s glory, what difficulty would there have been in gathering 8,880,000 merits? The crown prince wouldn’t have blinked an eye before giving them away. But times have changed. All his temples and shrines in the mortal realm had long since burned to the ground. No followers, no incense, no offerings.

There was nothing more to say. In short, there was nothing—absolutely nothing!

He squatted alone at the edge of Xianjing’s main street, clutching his aching head for a long while before suddenly remembering: it had been almost three days since his ascension, and he still hadn’t entered the Heavenly Court’s spiritual communication array. He’d forgotten to ask for the password.

The officials of the Heavenly Court had jointly set up an array that allowed instant spiritual communication within it. After ascending, one had to enter the array, but only those who knew the password could locate the specific communication array with their spiritual sense. The last time William Carter had entered was eight hundred years ago—he couldn’t remember the password at all. He sent out his spiritual sense, spotted an array that looked about right, and entered it at random. The moment he stepped in, he was nearly knocked over by the wild shouts coming from all directions:

“Place your bets, no more bets! Let’s gamble on how long our The crown prince will last before he falls again this time!!”

“I bet a year!”

“A year’s too long. Last time it was just the time it takes for an incense stick to burn. This time, three days. I’m betting three days!”

“Don’t be stupid! Three days are almost up—are you sure about that?!”

…William Carter quietly backed out.

Wrong. Definitely not this one.

The Heavenly Court was filled with high-ranking officials, each presiding over their own domain, all famous and busy. Moreover, since they had all ascended properly, they carried themselves with dignity and usually acted with restraint, always maintaining a certain decorum. Only during his first ascension, William Carter, being overly excited, had greeted every official in the communication array, introducing himself from head to toe with utmost seriousness and detail.

After exiting, he searched around again and randomly entered another array. This time, as soon as he entered, William Carter felt relieved and thought, “It’s so quiet—this must be the right one.”

Just then, a voice gently said, “The crown prince has returned again?”

At first, the voice sounded very pleasant—soft and refined. But on closer listen, the tone was cold, the emotion even colder, making that gentleness seem almost sinister.

William Carter had only intended to enter the array quietly and keep a low profile, but since someone had already spoken to him, he couldn’t just pretend not to hear. Besides, the fact that there was still an official in the Heavenly Court willing to talk to him, a god of misfortune, made him quite happy. So he quickly replied, “Yes! Hello, everyone, I’m back again.”

Little did he know, after this brief exchange, every official currently in the communication array perked up their ears.

That official spoke unhurriedly, “The crown prince’s ascension this time was quite the spectacle.”

In the Heavenly Court, emperors, kings, and generals were everywhere, and heroes and prodigies flowed like water.

To become an immortal or a god, one must first be an outstanding person. Those who achieved great deeds or possessed great talent in the mortal world naturally had a higher chance of ascending. So, it’s no exaggeration to say that kings, princesses, princes, and generals were nothing rare here. Who wasn’t a favored child of heaven? Everyone addressed each other politely—Your Majesty, Your Highness, General, Leader, and so on, with all sorts of honorifics and flattery. But the way this official spoke just didn’t sound right.

Although he kept calling him The crown prince again and again, there wasn’t a trace of respect in his tone. Instead, it felt like he was poking at him with needles. There were several other officials in the array who were also genuine The crown prince, and even they felt a chill down their spines at his words, thoroughly uncomfortable. William Carter could tell the other party meant no good, but didn’t want to argue, so he thought to himself, I’ll just leave, and said with a smile, “It’s alright.” But the official didn’t give him a chance to escape, replying coolly, “The crown prince, it’s alright for you. But my luck hasn’t been so good.”

Suddenly, William Carter heard a secret message from Edward.

She said just one word: “Bell.”

William Carter understood instantly.

So this was the martial god who had been hit by the bell!

Given that, it was understandable for the other party to be angry. William Carter had always been good at apologizing, so he immediately said, “I heard about the bell incident. I’m truly sorry—my deepest apologies.”

The other party snorted, making it hard to tell what he meant.

There were many renowned martial gods in the heavens, several of whom had ascended after William Carter and were now rising stars. Just by voice, William Carter couldn’t tell which one this was, but he couldn’t apologize without knowing the person’s name, so he asked, “May I ask how I should address you?”

As soon as he said this, the other side fell silent.

Not only did the other side fall silent, but the entire communication array seemed to freeze, a wave of dead silence washing over.

Then Edward sent him another message: “The crown prince, although I don’t think you could have talked this long without realizing, I still want to remind you. That’s Robert.”

William Carter said, “Robert?”

He paused for a moment, then finally realized, and replied in slight shock, “That’s Alice?”

General Robert was the martial god presiding over the southwest, commanding seven thousand temples, and was renowned throughout the mortal realm.