While the Heavenly Empress Bai Fen made sure that her husband wouldn’t bother their son and his lover, her brother Qiang Yan went back to his own palace. When he reached the gates … he found them empty.

His brows twitched when he looked from one side to the other. Seriously? Those two had actually left their post again? "Gang Tai, Ru Zhen, get back to your post now if you don’t want to pack your things today!"

One of the bushes behind the wall rustled suspiciously and at least one guard came running, his head lowered in shame and his ears flushed crimson. The lapel of his robe was off-center too as if it wanted to make sure there wouldn’t be any doubt about what that guy had done just now.

The bush rustled again and another guard happily skipped over. He didn’t seem embarrassed though and even smiled widely at Qiang Yan. "God of War!"

"Don’t 'God of War' me! The two of you left your post while you were on duty. Again! What if the demons had attacked?"

The one on the left fluttered his eyelashes. "But nobody attacked."

Qiang Yan facepalmed. Ugh. Just who had decided that it was alright to let someone from the demonic sects ascend to the Nine Heavens? That guy was doing all this on purpose!

The other god cleared his throat but still didn’t dare to lift his head. "Uh, there was an ascended deity that came to see you. We told him you were at the Heavenly Emperor’s palace. He didn’t say what he wanted though."

"An ascended deity?" Qiang Yan furrowed his brow and tilted his head. Was there any ascended deity he had wanted to meet? Or anyone who would want to report something to him?

"He was handsome."

Qiang Yan turned back to the one on the left. "Ru Zhen."

The ascended deity perked up. "Yes?"

"Just shut up or I’m really going to punish you."

"But you looked really troubled just now. I only wanted to help you with identifying the person."

The other god coughed. "He said his name was Leng Jin Yu."

"Leng Jin Yu?" Qiang Yan’s brows raised. Wasn’t that the ascended deity he had talked to earlier? Why would he have come by? He hadn’t struck him as a person that would do something just for his own benefit. If he came by, there was probably something important he wanted to report.

"Mn, very well. At least you managed to remember that." He threw the two of them another glance and turned away, not bothering with them any longer.

Ah, honestly, it wouldn’t change anything. That Ru Zhen had managed to make so many of his guards lose their heads for some time that he couldn’t even count them anymore. He could only hope that Gang Tai would get back to his senses soon or a good seedling would be ruined.

Speaking of that … Hadn’t he recently discovered another good seedling? He should probably thank the Fate’s Scribe for that. Whatever he was planning in regard to the new recruits from the courtyard of the idle gods it had at least excavated some talent for the God of War’s palace and finding someone that fitted with them truly wasn’t easy. If that Leng Jin Yu was such a person … Ah, but he had to observe a while longer. He couldn’t rashly extend an invitation just based on one conversation. At the very least, he had to make sure if this person knew how to use a sword.

Mn, considering that Leng Jin Yu had wanted to see him anyway this might just be an opportunity to test him a little more. He would first ask what he wanted and then see if he was up to a short fight. Mn, that shouldn’t be asking too much.

Qiang Yan reached the courtyard of the idle gods but didn’t step in immediately. Instead, he stood next to the gate and observed the people inside. There wasn’t much different to how things had been when he came by with his brother-in-law the last time. A lot of the idle gods were diligently training the responsibilities of the positions they wanted to achieve in the future. Only a few were sitting around and stayed idle true to their name. Surprisingly, one of the people sitting there seemingly doing nothing was exactly the Leng Jin Yu he had wanted to test for his own palace.

Qiang Yan’s brows raised. Had he been mistaken about him? Could it be that the way he acted before had indeed only been a show to deceive him? But he had been so sure …

He took a closer look at the person in question. Leng Jin Yu was sitting at one of the tables in the outer part of the courtyard, a beautifully painted cup of tea in hand that he didn’t use though. He was only looking at it and he had furrowed his brows while he did so.

Eh? Could it be that he was pondering the issue that had made him come over to the God of War’s palace? In that case, his behavior wasn’t too bad. He would have liked him to be more active in countering whichever problem he had encountered but at least he wasn’t giving up on it immediately. Maybe he would even try to approach him about it again later on. Mn, he should wait and see how this Leng Jin Yu decided.

Qiang Yan smiled and stepped back behind the wall. He even turned around the corner and hid behind the wall that was closest to Leng Jin Yu. If Leng Jin Yu talked about the matter or anything else happened in the courtyard, he would be able to hear everything.

Ah, he really was curious how this ascended deity would go about this matter and what it would turn out to be in the end!