Translator: EndlessFantasy Translation Editor: EndlessFantasy Translation
‘Nice?
‘Nice how?’
Li Nianfan thought he heard it wrong.
He opened his eyes. He saw the Jade Emperor and the others standing from excitement. They all looked like they were hopeful.
‘No way, do you really think there’s nothing wrong with the solution? Are you serious?’
The Jade Emperor analyzed, “It’s just like how the markings of the realm got wiped out when the Heavenly Palace ceased. If everyone knows the Heavenly Palace is still here and believes in the Heavenly Palace, we’ll have Deluxe Merit from the Faith of the people. We can use it to break the seal!”
The Empress kept nodding. She said with understanding, “That’s right, it’s a great plan. Why didn’t we think of it before?”
‘Awesome. We got this!’
They were irrecoverably excited. ‘The expert’s truly the expert. This hard situation is just a small case to him, he easily found the solution. If it were us, we won’t even know how long it’ll take before we can think of that!’
Li Nianfan had to gently cough. He said, “Everyone, I think you should all calm down.”
The Jade Emperor and the others instantly jolted. They hurriedly stopped smiling and adjusted their attitudes. ‘How could we forget our composures in front of the expert? We shouldn’t have done that!’
They hurriedly sat back down with caution. “Sorry about that.”
Li Nianfan saw how excited they were, and they were convinced that it would work. He did not want to say anything that would hurt them, so he asked, “What do you all think about the solution?”
The Jade Emperor said, “It’s spot on. It’ll probably work!”
Li Nianfan nodded and asked, “What are you planning to do then?”
“Um…” The Jade Emperor was stumped. He looked confused. He had to look at the Empress and ask, “Empress, what do you think?”
The Empress slightly frowned and groaned. She said, “Since we need the people to believe in the Immortals of the Heavenly Palace, the most important thing would be to spread the news.”
Soon, the four of them looked at each other. They were a bit clueless.
They knew the solution but when it came down to specifics, they did not know what to do.
‘How?’
The Jade Emperor and the Empress fell into deep thought. They frowned. ‘Are we going to give out flyers on the streets?’
Ziye at the side said, “It’s kind of like preaching… The Buddhists would know what to do, maybe we should pay them a visit?”
Cheng Yi suggested at the side, “We can also ask for help from the Underworld.”
At that moment, they realized that Humans were very important. The Humans were directly related to the Deluxe Merit they needed. They were truly the elites of the realm.
Li Nianfan noticed that they looked troubled. He hesitated for a moment and finally said, “If you’re sure that you want to carry on with this solution, I might be able to help.”
He did not know whether it would work. However, since everyone made up their minds to accept the solution, Li Nianfan felt like he had to help. After all, the Jade Emperor and the Empress were so courteous. He should do something for them, too.
“You have methods, Mr. Li?” The Jade Emperor was overjoyed. He hurriedly saluted and said, “Please, teach me, Mr. Li.”
Li Nianfan smiled and said, “It’s not that deep, but I’m an ordinary man after all. I’m more familiar with ordinary people.”
Everyone nodded in agreement. If the bigshot said he was an ordinary man, then an ordinary man he was.
Li Nianfan structured his sentence and said, “Um… If you want to let the people know about the Heavenly Palace, let the people be familiar with it. The best way to do so is through stories. Stories will be passed on. It’s best to create a household tale.”
“Household tale?”
Ziye had a thought. She asked without thinking, “Mr. Li, do you mean like ‘Journey to the West’ kind of story?”
“You could say that,” nodded Li Nianfan.
Cheng Yi asked curiously, “But… ‘Journey to the West’ is already well-known. Why aren’t there any signs of the Heavenly Palace’s revival?”
“I think it might be because of the characters. ‘Journey to the West’ simplifies the Heavenly Palace in the story. The main focus is on Wukong. It’s not quite powerful enough.” Li Nianfan put it nicely. Truthfully, the ‘Journey to the West’ TV series also focused on Wukong.
“Hmph, if it wasn’t for the orders from the Buddha, I wouldn’t have backed down and gone along with it!” The Jade Emperor and the Empress did not look happy at all. Their Flat Peach Ceremony was ruined and it was a huge embarrassment for the Heavenly Palace.
Li Nianfan instantly looked curious. He asked casually, “Can you tell me the details?”
“Back then, the Buddha was fighting with Luohou. Luohou ruined the Western areas, which caused the Westside to be poor. The people didn’t have faith. Jie Yin and Zhun Ti made up their minds to help the people in the West to have faith again. Therefore, they gained Deluxe Merit and were able to become Saints.”
The Jade Emperor reminisced. He continued, “It could be said that the Deluxe Merit was borrowed from the realm. The two Western Saints wanted to fulfill their wishes as soon as possible, so they did anything they could. Their methods were too extreme, but the people were indeed poor, so the Buddha naturally helped them. During the investitures of the Gods, the Heavenly Palace gained the most benefits. The Western religion did not benefit as much as we did. During the journey to the West, the West got to improve and grow speedily!”
Li Nianfan nodded. He knew about the legendary stories but he did not know the context. He learned something new.
The Empress smiled and said, “It’s a shame that the West was destroyed by Luohou in the end. That is how it goes. There’s no smoke without fire. I can only say that karma has its own ways.”
“I see.”
Li Nianfan nodded. He paused, then said, “I think that if we want the people to believe in the Heavenly Palace, the important focus shouldn’t be on the Heavenly Palace. It should be on the characters instead!”
“Characters?”
The Jade Emperor and the others looked confused. They felt like they could learn something new with each moment around the expert. They asked, “Why so?”
Li Nianfan smiled and replied, “People only recognize one thing. The fastest way for people to recognize something is through characters. You can list out the characters in the Heavenly Palace and choose the ones that can best represent the Heavenly Palace. It’s better if they went through struggles, and it’s even better if they have a tragic backstory. Then, make it a household tale. People will have a deep impression on the Heavenly Palace by then.”
“Choose representative characters of the Heavenly Palace?” The Jade Emperor immediately went serious. He asked, “Mr. Li, what do you think about me and the Empress? We served the Buddha for countless years and we slew a lot of evil Demons. We’re the Jade Emperor and Empress of the Heavenly Palace. I would say that leaves quite an impression.”
“Obviously not.”
Li Nianfan shook his head without hesitation. “You two did leave an alright impression. But that’s not the point. There’s no emotional backstory, no tear-jerking incidents. The character development’s poor, it won’t leave an impression on the people. It’ll be doomed to fail.”
The Jade Emperor and the others struggled to think of anyone.
Li Nianfan decided to give them some hints. He said, “You can think of more examples around you, especially the ones with a romantic story.”
The Jade Emperor and the others started to recall their memories. Some incidents were similar to legendary stories. Li Nianfan had not heard of them, but they were not a big deal. Li Nianfan also realized that the Seventh Princess, Ziye, had not met Dong Yong yet. She had not experienced The Cowherd and the Weaver Girl love story.
Maybe it had not happened yet, or maybe there was a mix-up with reality and the legendary stories, but it was none of his business.
Suddenly, the Empress had an idea. She said, “Jade Emperor, do you remember your sister and…”
“This… Really? It’s a shame in our family.” The Jade Emperor looked troubled. He looked at Li Nianfan and said, “Back then, my sister, Yao Ji, married an ordinary man and gave birth to a son and a daughter. Their names are Yang Jian and Yang Chan. Years later, Yang Chan also married an ordinary man and gave birth to a son.”
The Jade Emperor sighed heavily. It was hard for him!
His sister and his niece both liked ordinary men. Their tastes in men were troubling. He did not see it coming.
“What about you guys? Didn’t you stop them?” Li Nianfan cared more for that question.
“Of course, we did. We also fought. They don’t see that I’m just looking out for them.”
The Jade Emperor sighed. Then, he said, “I understand the mind of an Immortal. Back then, the Buddha created marriage that was all about Yin and Yang, all about harmony. It’s just the way it is. How can an Immortal and an ordinary person last forever? They don’t have the same bodies! Years will pass by in the blink of an eye. You haven’t even enjoyed it yet and that part will already be old and useless.”
Li Nianfan processed that phrase and felt like the Jade Emperor made a dirty joke.
His point of view was quite fascinating.
Li Nianfan felt like an Immortal should not be with an ordinary person because one would grow old and die. Their ages were not compatible. However, the Jade Emperor had a different angle, he considered ‘that’ part of compatibility.
‘What did he experience to have such a unique state of mind?’
However, Li Nianfan confirmed that there were mix-ups in legendary stories and reality. The Jade Emperor was not as extreme in opposing their love as how the legendary stories described. Nothing bad happened to his sister. Every problem she faced was reasonable.
The Jade Emperor was a Lord, and he was the student of the Buddha. His sister fell in love with an ordinary man, so he had to oppose it. However, he was not as violent as described. No idiot would attack his sister either.
“This is a nice setting. There’s an ordinary man in the story so it’s relatable. But it still won’t work, there aren’t enough obstacles.”
Li Nianfan started to help them fill in the story. “You should oppose their love strongly, send someone to hunt him down. Then, banish your sister or your niece to the ends of the world. Let them go through struggles…”
Li Nianfan told the story while everyone went serious because he was talking about them. They could fully immerse themselves in the stories, it was fascinating.
A Goddess and an ordinary man fell in love because of a coincidental meeting. Their love was opposed. In the end, they had a happy ending. Li Nianfan finished the story without thinking about it.
By the end of the story, Cheng Yi and Ziye had tears streaming down their faces. Their shoulders slightly trembled from the sobbing. Their romantic teenage girl hearts were enslaved by the tragic love story.
Nanan and Dragin were also touched. They said with sympathy, “I feel like this love story’s more touching than Sister Yiyi and Jiese’s love story.”
Li Nianfan analyzed, “Because this story has three parts. The happiness when they were in love, the pain when they were separated, and the hard work they did to get back that happiness. Plus, the emotional incidents along the story make people feel something.”
The Jade Emperor snapped out from the story. He started to question his life. “I can’t believe I’m such an animal.”
Li Nianfan said awkwardly, “It’s necessary to add in some opposing elements in the story. If you feel like it’s inappropriate, we can change it, Jade Emperor.”
The Jade Emperor said, “No need. It’s indeed a good story. It’s also your hard work, Mr. Li. We can’t waste it.”
Li Nianfan added, “Apart from that, we need to have positive stories, too. Like how the Jade Emperor saved the people from Demons, or how he supervised the realm and made sure everything was alright…”
Everyone listened closely with a serious face. They were fearful with respect. They felt like they could fully immerse themselves in his stories. They did not grow impatient at all. Subconsciously, they also learned a lot.
They chatted. The sky turned dark before they realized it.
Li Nianfan ate an orange that Daji passed to him. Then, he smiled and said, “There’s something more important than the story!”
The Jade Emperor naturally saluted and said with respect, “Please, teach me, Mr. Li.”
That was the eighth time he did that.
The honorable Jade Emperor was like a repetitive machine.
“Stories exist in people’s hearts but they aren’t convincing enough. The best deal is for them to see it!”
Li Nianfan held his chin and groaned for a moment. “That requires a live performance. We need a script and proper actors. The location should be suitable, too. Goddess Gu Xirou invited me to an end-of-the-year cultivators event last time. Maybe you should use that as a reference.”
Ziye was instantly intrigued. “Can we use the end-of-the-year event?”
Li Nianfan shook his head. “It’s a cultivators’ event. How many ordinary people will be there? It won’t be powerful enough.”
“We can invite more Humans!” said the Empress. She chimed in, “We can change the event into an ordinary end-of-the-year event. What do you think, Mr. Li?”
“That…could work!”
Li Nianfan nodded. He was suddenly looking forward to the event. It would probably be nice and crowded.
He had to suggest, “We have an audience. As for the performance script… How about I write it for you?”
