Chapter 1112: Chapter 1112 Lin Shen’s Plan

When Lin Shen and the others left Immortal-Returning City, eight days had already passed.

During these days, Yan Li had been completely compliant with Lin Shen. Even though her injuries had mostly healed, she didn’t dare disobey his orders and was deeply intimidated by him.

Lin Shen, on the other hand, was wary of Yan Li turning against him. The problem lay in his uncertainty about being able to kill her, so he could only feign an attempt to tame her, pretending to make her serve him.

He would have preferred to kill Yan Li and rid himself of the trouble once and for all. However, Yan Li was a being of ultimate power–not someone you could kill on a whim. Even gravely wounded, killing her was an exceedingly difficult task.

As it stood, this outcome was already fortunate enough. Yan Li feared him, which was advantageous. If he couldn’t use her, at least he had managed to escape Immortal-Returning City.

Only after leaving Immortal-Returning City and teleporting away from Yin Mountain Star did Lin Shen finally breathe a quiet sigh of relief.

“We’d better not return to Yin Mountain Star in the future,” Lin Shen said to Wei Wufu and Di Esi.

Di Esi chuckled, “That strike you used, you wouldn’t be able to do it a second time, would you?”

“If I could, Yan Li wouldn’t still be alive,” Lin Shen sighed, “With the Yan Family there, we’ll just have to give up on the resources of Yin Mountain Star.”

“I don’t agree,” Di Esi said. “You can choose not to come, but Wei and I can still go. Borrowing the tiger’s might is still a valid tactic.”

“Too bad I’m just a paper tiger,” Lin Shen said with a bitter smile.

“If no one discovers that you’re a paper tiger, then you’re a real tiger. Besides, if we don’t return, Yan Li will soon realize she’s been deceived, which will be even worse for us,” Di Esi said thoughtfully. “The resources of Immortal-Returning City and Yin Mountain Star are critical to us right now. Leave this matter to me.”

Lin Shen nodded and said nothing more. Di Esi had his own plans; it was fine to leave it to him to handle.

After parting ways with Di Esi, Lin Shen returned to Crystal Charm Star, intending to try once more to summon the Jade Emperor.

If he succeeded in summoning him, Lin Shen had already thought of the reasoning he’d use: “You, the mighty Jade Emperor, were summoned to help me kill someone, but not only did you fail to kill them, you left me with a mess to clean up. That’s unacceptable, isn’t it?”

Unfortunately, Lin Shen was disappointed. He recited the Jade Emperor’s honorific name and uttered the spell several times, but there was no response at all.

Lin Shen tried chanting it in various ways several more times, but still, there was no reaction. As expected, it could only be used once.

“Looks like I’ll need to find a way to collect those Sacrificial Robes and go to the Celestial Court to obtain a Guardian Spirit,” Lin Shen mused. Having witnessed the power of the Guardian Spirit, he planned to gather the robes and visit that mystical Celestial Court again.

However, now that he was here, he had no way of returning to the Ancient Realm. Collecting those robes would be quite challenging.

Lin Shen decided to use the Commerce Star trading system to gather the robes, mobilizing people from the Ancient Realm to search for them.

But for the moment, Lin Shen had no mind to deal with that. There was another issue he needed to address: could he still control the Smart Brains without the Immortal Spirit Protection of the Jade Emperor?

Setting aside other matters, Lin Shen first headed to the Central Heaven Star Divine Palace. Entering the Star Constellation Hall, he bypassed the Star Constellation Token and directly attempted to communicate with the Star Constellation Sea.

Under normal circumstances, without the Star Constellation Token, the Star Constellation Sea would surely ignore him.

To Lin Shen’s delight, the Star Constellation Sea actually responded to him, just as it had before. Even without the Star Constellation Token, Lin Shen was still able to issue a variety of commands to it.

“Little Xing, can you clone the body of a Divine Being?” Lin Shen thought of how the Six Paths Reincarnation Institute could clone divine bodies and asked casually.

“Master, the cloning function has been locked and is unavailable,” the Star Constellation Sea replied.

“Can the lock be removed?” Lin Shen’s heart leaped; it seemed the Star Constellation Sea indeed had this capability, but it was merely restricted.

“The lock can be removed, but according to the agreement, six Great Emperors must come together to disable the lock and reactivate this feature,” the Star Constellation Sea replied, leaving Lin Shen slightly disappointed.

“What agreement?” Lin Shen murmured, pondering aloud.

“The Twenty-Third Accord, signed collectively by the six Great Emperors, prohibits any Star Constellation Sea from using the cloning function,” the Star Constellation Sea explained.

“How strange. Why would they lock this feature?” Lin Shen was puzzled.

If the six Great Emperors were indeed Smart Brains, this function would undoubtedly be incredibly useful to them.

With it, they could endlessly clone Divine Beings, utilizing them as assistants, rendering actual Divine Beings and the Star God Palace obsolete.

Why, then, would the six Great Emperors forsake such a powerful feature and even establish an accord to ban it?

“For now, the only place not bound by this accord is the Six Paths Reincarnation Institute in Immortal-Returning City. I’ll need to figure out how to get my hands on that,” Lin Shen thought. But would attempting to take the Six Paths Reincarnation Institute push Yan Li into risking everything to oppose him?

Just as he left the Star Constellation Sea, a Star Divine Official was waiting for him outside. Shi Zhongqing had some business with him.

In the grand hall, Shi Zhongqing was sitting behind a table, fiddling with his tortoiseshell and copper coins.

When he saw Lin Shen enter, Shi Zhongqing smiled warmly and said, “The other Star Constellation Pavilion Masters are about to arrive. How’s your preparation coming along?”

“Preparation for what?” After everything that had happened recently, Lin Shen had completely forgotten about this matter.

The moment he finished speaking, Lin Shen immediately remembered and quickly said, “I have only so much ability; when the time comes, I’ll just do my best.”

“You haven’t forgotten about this, have you?” Shi Zhongqing, ever shrewd, saw through Lin Shen’s thoughts instantly.

Feeling slightly embarrassed, Lin Shen replied, “It’s just that there’s not much I can do. I’ll have to play it by ear.”

Shi Zhongqing wasn’t offended. With the same cheerful demeanor, he said to Lin Shen, “I’ve just received news from the Star God Palace in the Houtu District. Jiang Xishan should arrive tomorrow. I was about to find you to discuss this, but it’s good that you came on your own.”

“Jiang Xishan? Why is he coming? Isn’t he known for rarely making public appearances? Even during the appointments of so many past Pavilion Masters, he didn’t attend,” Lin Shen said, feeling a headache coming on.

Although Jiang Xishan held the title of Star Constellation Pavilion Master, his strength had long since reached the level of a Great Divine Official. It was only because the current Great Divine Official in the Houtu District hadn’t stepped down that Jiang Xishan remained in his role at the Pavilion.

That said, it was well-known that Jiang Xishan effectively controlled most of the Houtu District’s affairs, as the old Divine Official had essentially retired from active duty.

“Hard to say. In any case, be mentally prepared. Jiang Xishan isn’t easy to deal with. If he gives you trouble, you’ll find yourself in a tough spot.”

Lin Shen couldn’t help but detect a hint of schadenfreude in Shi Zhongqing’s tone.

“No matter how strong he is, he wouldn’t actually kill me, right? Worst case, it’s just a bit of humiliation. I’m not afraid of being humiliated, anyway–it’s not like I’ll be the only one embarrassed,” Lin Shen said, curling his lips.