In the Nine Heavens, the Fate’s Scribe, Shun Tao, was madly grinning while looking at the scroll of fate of crown prince Jing He. He could hardly believe it but even within without him doing anything, the trial was developing in a very good direction.

Traveling alone with such a feeble woman was the perfect foil for a new trial. Actually, it was a pity that she was a little old. Otherwise, he might have been able to put in a love trial. Wouldn’t that have been exciting?

Shun Tao hurriedly shook his head at himself, pushing the thought away. It was good enough that His Highness finally had the chance to accomplish some trial down there. He shouldn’t ask for too much. That would only bring bad luck. Anyway, this was a chance for him.

Just when he rolled the scroll back up and wanted to put it away, the transmission stone that had been quietly laying on his table pulsed with white light.

Shun Tao rushed to pick it up and imbued his spiritual energy, answering the other side. Seeing the apparition of the other person appear, he nodded with some reservation. "Leng Jin Yu."

The ascended deity nodded back at him. "Fate’s Scribe."

"Don’t tell me there is a problem with His Highness’ trial cropping up. It can’t be. I just checked his scroll of fate this very moment and everything was alright." And anyway, the dragon king had been behaving quite well these past five years since he had gotten into trouble for his previous meddling.

Leng Jin Yu shook his head. "That’s not it. Well, that’s not quite right. There’s no problem with His Highness’ trial but another problem came up and I’m afraid that this is quite serious as well. I probably wouldn’t have contacted you regarding this matter but I didn’t quite know how to reach the God of War or anybody else, for that matter." He was, after all, just a recently ascended deity that still stayed in the courtyard of the idle gods. How would he have the kind of contact necessary for this?

Shun Tao had a sinking feeling when he heard that. "What is it?"

His tone sounded flat and the way his image slightly shook told Leng Jin Yu that his hands were probably trembling as well. That poor guy really couldn’t catch a break. He actually felt a bit sorry for bringing this up as well.

"Something happened to the dragon king. I’m afraid that you’ll have to contact somebody of the dragon race and send them down here."

Shun Tao furrowed his brows when he heard that. "Something happened to him?" He had seen in His Highness’ scroll of fate that he was worried about that senior martial brother Qiu. Naturally, that guy was the dragon king but Shun Tao hadn’t believed for a single moment that something had really happened to him. They were in the mortal realm, after all.

"How bad is it?" He calmed down a bit now that he knew what the matter was but inwardly, he still felt a sense of panic. If something happened to the dragon king that wasn’t good. After all, their races were allies. The implications of Longjun being injured …

Leng Jin Yu looked at the person next to him and sighed. "That is the problem. When I found him, he was unconscious. Now, it’s been half a week but he still is. I couldn’t find anything just by taking his pulse but I’m not quite sure I should use my spiritual energy to figure this out. He is a dragon, after all. I don’t know if they are any differences between humans and dragons that might make this even worse if I got involved. So I would feel more at ease if we could involve somebody from his race in this."

Shun Tao nodded hurriedly. "Of course, of course. That’s definitely the best we can do." He got up and already wanted to storm out of his palace when he remembered that he was still under house arrest. He sighed and then cleared his throat. "Let me send somebody to inform one of the dragons."

Leng Jin Yu nodded. "Then I will wait for you to contact me."

"No!" Shun Tao interrupted him before he could do anything. "I think it would be better if you could take part in that conversation as well. After all, it might be that the dragon will need some input on what you’ve been able to observe."

Leng Jin Yu nodded. "Then I will wait for that."

Shun Tao nodded and then still got up, looking out into the corridor and waving one of the scribes over. "You go and get either adviser Qiang Wei or adviser Yi Zan from His Highness’ palace here. Tell them it’s about Longjun and of utmost importance."

The scribe nodded and then rushed off, making sure to hurry over to the palace as fast as possible.

Shun Tao went back to his seat and gave Leng Jin Yu another deep look. "So … While we wait, is there anything else you can tell me?"

Leng Jin Yu sighed. "To be honest, I feel a bit like it was a waste to send me here. Since everything was explained to him, the dragon king doesn’t seem to have done anything else to interfere with the trials. I guess it’s not good that he approached His Highness and is trying to get married to him but at the very least, he lets everything else happen. Recently, the two of them were out traveling but I’m sure you already know that."

Shun Tao nodded. "That’s what I thought as well." His expression turned awkward as soon as he had said the sentence. "I mean, not that what you’re doing is not important." He hurriedly backpedaled but Leng Jin Yu just gave him a smile.

"It’s alright. Honestly, I wouldn’t put it past you if you were angry at me. I played a large part in how everything turned out."

Shun Tao shook his head. "To be honest, you did do that but not in a negative way. His Majesty was right in that I didn’t do what I should have. I also knew that but I was afraid so I behaved like a coward. You as somebody who looked at it from the outside could clearly see the issue as well but didn’t have as many apprehensions since it didn’t concern you.

"In the end, you did the right thing while I didn’t. It’s lucky that things turned out this way. So I have no right to be angry at you. In fact, I’m quite thankful. If not for your intervention, things might have gotten even worse."

Leng Jin Yu nodded and then couldn’t help but give Shun Tao a subtle look. "There’s one thing I’ve been wondering about."

"Oh? Go ahead. If I can shed some light on it …"

"Have you taken a look at what is up with Hong Bao? She is also in the mortal realm right now. I wonder if her life is going well. It’s been a few years here after all."

Shun Tao sighed. "That girl …" He shook his head. "Honestly, I don’t even know what to do about her. She … has somehow gotten involved with a demon-hunting sect. She has become a disciple and from what I’ve seen quite an outstanding one. I’m more than just a little surprised. After the way she behaved here, I never would have thought she had it in her."

Leng Jin Yu also raised his brows. "She became a demon hunter?"

Shun Tao nodded. "Yes. She did. I am quite surprised at that actually. But, well, maybe that would’ve been her fate if she wasn’t brought to the Nine Heavens back then. After all, the area where she lived was infested with demons. It’s quite interesting actually if you think about it like this."

"Interesting is definitely one way to put it. I hope she didn’t make any trouble?"

Shun Tao shook his head. "What trouble could she make? She’s probably annoying the people in the demon-hunting sect every day but that is their problem and not mine. Anyway, she’s nowhere close to His Highness’ reincarnation so I’m happy. I just don’t want her to get involved in this. If she does …" He shook his head. "Well, she’s not an ascended deity anymore so the Heavenly Emperor wouldn’t be able to do anything. Still, I feel like it would be bad luck."

Leng Jin Yu nodded. "Yes, I also don’t think that would be good." He wanted to say something more but at that time, the door to Shun Tao’s study opened and a rather disheveled-looking dragon rushed in.

"What did his Majesty do this time?!"

Shun Tao Couldn’t help but gape at him. This … Was that really the question he should ask at this moment?