The middle-aged man had a squared face. His brows and eyes were sharp. He wore white clothes and had his hair tied up with a hairpin. He looked like a cultivator. Li Nianfan had to admit, he was kind of handsome.

"An avatar?"

Li Nianfan was slightly taken aback. The middle-aged man did not look like the Jade Emperor at all but it was clearly a type of Clone Spell.

He noticed that the Jade Emperor had turned pale. He felt like it was not easy to do the Clone Spell.

'Wukong can make a lot of clones just by plucking his fur, right? This is afterward

'I have to ask because I don't understand.'

Li Nianfan asked, "Is it hard to clone yourself?"

"This isn't a normal clone. I separated a part of myself into an avatar. This is my Daluo Golden Immortal self."

The Jade Emperor was about to boast like he usually would. However, he thought about the expert and realized there was nothing to boast about. The expert could probably make multiple clones with his will. He instantly humbled himself.

"This clone is an avatar that has the powers of the original person. The more powerful it is, the more affected the original person will be."

The Jade Emperor paused and said, "If I clone myself normally and train the avatar to become a Daluo Golden Immortal, it wouldn't affect me as much. However, that would take a lot of time. It's too slow and it's unnecessary. It'd be meaningless."

The Jade Emperor was almost a Saint. He could separate a third of himself as his avatar. However, the risk was high. If the avatar was killed, it would be a huge loss for him.

They were being attacked by the Styx Laozu. The Jade Emperor obviously would not be so boastful just to risk his life. If he did everything himself, he would be easily defeated by others.

"I see," nodded Li Nianfan.

The Jade Emperor was irritated. "Just an Evil Dragon. It's more than enough to defeat it with my clone. Too bad the Heavenly Palace is understaffed. Otherwise, I wouldn't need to do it myself, right?"

He said that but Li Nianfan noticed his eyes lit up and sparkled. He was sighing but secretly, he was excited.

It was clear that…he could not wait to go outside and play.

The Jade Emperor told his clone, "From now on, your name's Taoist Taihua. Follow the instructions I gave you, go."

"I'll be going now." Taoist Taihua nodded at the two of them. Then, he got up and quietly flew out of the Palace of the Deluxe Merit Saint.

Li Nianfan raised his eyebrow. 'From the looks of it… It kind of feels scripted?'

As expected, he heard a commotion outside after a short while of drinking tea.

Then, Juling Shen could be heard at the Southern Sky Gate.

"Who are you? How dare you trespass the Southern Sky Gate. Hurry up and leave, otherwise, I won't be so polite anymore!"

"I came here because I heard that the Heavenly Palace is recruiting. May I know what Chancellor positions are available?"

Juling Shen replied, "Ha, you? You wish to become a Chancellor when you just got here? Let's talk if you can take my ax attacks!"

"You are not a worthy opponent."

"What did you say? How dare you instigate me? Argh, take this!"

Then, fighting noises ensued.

Li Nianfan could imagine a defeated Juling Shen just from the noise.

Li Nianfan and the Jade Emperor looked at each other and slowly left the palace. They headed towards the Southern Sky Gate.

Taoist Taihua had a long sword behind him. He did not even use it. He conquered Juling Shen casually by pressing him down on the ground with his hand. He smiled calmly.

Juling Shen laid on the ground, stunned.

He suddenly saw Li Nianfan and the Jade Emperor. Motivation instantly overcame him. He stood up and picked up his ax on the floor. He looked menacing as he said, "That was my careless mistake. Let's battle again!

"Argh!"

His eyes were like coins. His giant body expanded and grew 16-feet-tall. His ax grew larger, too. He attacked Taoist Taihua!

His ax was powerful because of the Deluxe Merit. It could easily break Defense Spells. It was amazing.

'Only I can fight in the entire Heavenly Palace. Plus, I have the axes because of the Deluxe Merit Saint. I'm truly the invincible one of the Heavenly Palace.'

Juling Shen thought too much. He was bruised and defeated afterwards.

"Saint, it's my time to shine. Excuse me."

The Jade Emperor whispered to Li Nianfan. Then, he went serious. His voice was like the rumbling thunder. He asked piously, "What happened here? This is the Heavenly Palace. How dare you cause a scene here?!"

"I'm Taoist Taihua. Greetings to the Jade Emperor."

"What's your business here?"

Then, Li Nianfan was stunned by what happened next.

Taoist Taihua and the Jade Emperor went back and forth to compliment each other. One complimented the Heavenly Palace and the Jade Emperor, the other complimented how great Taoist Taihua was.

Li Nianfan looked at the Jade Emperor, then he looked at Taoist Taihua. He realized that they both looked so natural. It was not awkward at all. They seemed to be getting better at acting, too.

'Awesome!'

'A new height for complimenting himself. I learn something new every day.

'I think it should be called…self-complimenting.'

He kind of knew what the Jade Emperor had been doing all those years of being sealed. The exquisite acting technique was impossible without years of training.

Finally, Taoist Taihua ran out of compliments. He started to switch the topic and said, "Emperor, please, allow me to join the Heavenly Palace and bring peace to the three realms!"

"Nice!" the Jade Emperor shouted and complimented. "The Heavenly Palace needs talents like you! Here are your orders, Taoist Taihua!"

"Yes!"

"There's a problem in the sea. I give you the temporary title of Lord Taoist Taihua. Lead three thousand guards to settle this problem. Once done, you'll be rewarded!"

The Jade Emperor flicked his wrist and out came the three-foot-long sword. He said in a clear and loud voice, "This sword is the Sun Sword. It's made from the essence of sun fire. I shall give this to you today to defend yourself against evil and to attack the Demons!"

Taoist Taihua was so touched that he teared up. He said, "Thanks for the trust, Emperor. I'll do my best or die trying!"

'I have goosebumps from watching this duo act.'

Every Immortal could tell something was off. They carefully observed. They did not know that Taoist Taihua was the clone of the Jade Emperor but they assumed they knew each other. They thought Taoist Taihua had connections.

Except for Juling Shen.

He held his axes and laid on the floor. He was scratching his head, looking puzzled.

'What's going on?

'New guy was able to lead an army to battle because they complimented each other?

'What does the Heavenly Palace need me for then?'

The Jade Emperor said, "Juling Shen, you're the second-in-command, help Taoist Taihua."

Juling Shen felt crossed. He said pitifully, "I… Yes!"

Gradually, everyone left. Juling Shen felt hurt. He clenched his jaw and went to train the guards. He was planning to find his ground again and become invincible!

Li Nianfan had nothing to do. He suddenly remembered that he had not checked out how the Immortals manage the realms. He instantly felt curious and was going to observe.

He had no goal in mind. He just walked along the halls and looked at the names of the Heavenly Palaces. If he was interested, he would go in and visit.

The breeze felt nice when he was walking on white clouds. Li Nianfan stopped and saw the Palace of the Finance Gods in front of him. He smiled and walked inside.

The palace was huge. There were no guards or students. It was empty inside. Most palaces were like that.

He kept walking and saw two people interacting with a mirror. Conversations could be heard.

The two people wore orange clothes. There was a golden Ingot on the back and a golden coin at the front. Li Nianfan did not expect the tacky costume.

He refrained from laughing. He did not make a sound either. He stopped walking and floated over slowly on a cloud.

He had to try out the Dingshen Armor. According to the Jade Emperor, the Dingshen Armor could also hide his presence and aura. Li Nianfan wanted to try it out.

He had been floating around those two for a while. He had to admit…the Dingshen Armor was awesome!

'I'm an ordinary man flying around these Immortals. Don't they notice me?

'Cool. Awesome armor!'

Perhaps those two were too distracted by the 'television', too. Li Nianfan silently looked at the mirror. It seemed like they were looking at the Immortal Realm in the mirror.

The main character of the visuals was a middle-aged man. He looked cynical and arrogant as he was walking along the streets.

When he passed another middle-aged man, they bumped into each other. Then, he sneakily stole the wallet.

"Haha, he did it again. That was the eighteenth time!"

One of the guys in the tacky costume laughed. He was very excited.

The other one hurriedly picked up a brush and wet it with his tongue. Then, he quickly took note, "Stole twenty-eight silver dollars in total. Take note. He won't be reincarnated as a person in the next life."

"Hmph, he's considered lucky. If he caused death because he stole silver, he'd be in Hell!"

"Come on. Switch the channel."

They were both entertained. They were so into it that they still had not noticed Li Nianfan.

Cough!

Li Nianfan had no choice but to expose himself.

The two of them jumped. They went pale when they saw Li Nianfan. They almost slumped to the ground. They shivered after a while of being stunned. They hurriedly said with trembling voices, "Greetings from Cao Bao and Xiao Shen to the Deluxe Merit Saint."

They were extremely nervous. Their limbs were cold.

'How did such a bigshot appear to supervise our little palace? We aren't ready. This is so freaking shocking.'