However, in Zhang Yan's view, pleasing humans and pleasing immortals were entirely different matters.
Humans enjoyed flattery; a few compliments could easily win them over.
Immortals, on the other hand, were rational beings, able to discern truth from falsehood in flattery, praise, or criticism. Dealing with immortals was exhausting, which was why Zhang Yan had chosen a mortal realm assignment.
Little did he know, the old gentleman now wanted him to appease them. This, he thought, would be a difficult task for him!
"..." He was dumbfounded.
The old gentleman glanced at the assembled immortals standing opposite them. Just as he was about to speak, the female immortal in charge of celestial hygiene asked, "Zhang Yan, how do you teach your disciple?"
Hearing this, Zhang Yan looked up at the hygiene immortal and gave a dry laugh. "What makes you say that?" For Mu Anxiao's sake, he had to brace himself and respond.
"What makes me say that?" the hygiene immortal sneered. "You ask me? You know your disciple is practicing demonic arts, don't you?"
"I..."
"That day, at the Immortal Lake, we wondered why you were so agitated for so long... was it all a cover-up?" the second hygiene immortal chimed in.
General Immortal: "Exactly. Your behavior that day was indeed abnormal. So that's what you were hiding."
At this moment, Mu Anxiao stood at a location beneath the Immortal Lake. The purpose of the Immortal Lake was to apprehend those practicing demonic arts. It could swiftly capture any immortal using such arts, regardless of how far in the past the act occurred. The instant Mu Anxiao had unintentionally used demonic arts, the Immortal Lake had detected it.
Therefore, just like that day, the process of Mu Anxiao using demonic arts was fully revealed within the Immortal Lake.
Earlier, when Shen Xian saw the scene, he had quickly tried to conceal it... but due to his limited magic, he ultimately failed to deceive them.
Now, standing at the door, he looked at the immortals in the celestial hall and began to worry for Mu Anxiao.
Shi Yi: "Why is this happening?" he stood beside Shen Xian.
Shen Xian glanced at Shi Yi and sighed.
Shi Yi: "I am a demon, I can become an immortal, I can use magic. Why can't she use demonic arts? It's unfair." He was confused.
"She is not a demon; she is an immortal. Unless," Shen Xian's eyes darkened, "her true nature requires the use of demonic arts, then these immortals would have no grounds to do anything to her."
Shi Yi's eyes darkened. "You didn't have any celestial posts during Feng Qi's time. She..." He sighed, unable to finish his sentence.
Shen Xian: "Her master will surely help her." he said with conviction.
Shi Yi nodded. "Yes, I think so too."
Shen Xian sighed, feeling anxious for Zhang Yan.
Inside.
Zhang Yan was rendered speechless after being questioned by General Immortal.
The old gentleman looked at Zhang Yan's helpless expression, contemplating the recent events, and remained silent. He knew that if he spoke, he would be unable to help Zhang Yan and might even harm him.
Seeing Zhang Yan's silence, General Immortal grew impatient. "Say something, will you?"
Zhang Yan: "What do you want me to say?" he looked at General Immortal.
General Immortal: "How do you intend to deal with your disciple? The Heavenly Emperor has decreed that you must resolve this."
"The Heavenly Emperor knows?"
In this celestial realm, the Heavenly Emperor toiled day and night, and typically did not interfere in such minor matters; celestial officials usually handled them. Now... General Immortal claimed the Heavenly Emperor was aware of this?
This made Zhang Yan realize the gravity of the situation. It seemed Mu Anxiao's tribulation was truly imminent.
"If you don't propose a solution soon, we will inform the Heavenly Emperor. This matter must be escalated," General Immortal panted.
Upon hearing this, Zhang Yan let out a sigh of relief. He then looked at the immortals eyeing him menacingly and suddenly felt pity for Mu Anxiao.
He then thought of the minor immortals they had let go and couldn't help but ask, "Why are you picking on my disciple? What has my disciple done to offend you?"
Hygiene Immortal: "What has she done to offend us?" she sneered. "How dare you ask? Do we need to tell you how she became an immortal?"
Second Hygiene Immortal: "Exactly, your disciple is..." she glanced at the old gentleman, "she became an immortal by drinking Shen Yan's immortal blood. Shen Yan suffered fifty years of hardship in the mortal realm because of her. Even though she has atoned for her mistakes, she will never be truly accepted by us."
"Gained without effort, greedy, avaricious, not content with becoming an immortal, she even practices demonic arts. Such a person is a disaster to the world."
"Indeed, she should be sent to hell."
"Now, tell us, how do you plan to deal with your disciple?"
Zhang Yan hadn't expected their animosity towards Mu Anxiao to be so deep. He suddenly felt lost, as he himself had only recently learned about Mu Anxiao's use of demonic arts. He couldn't make hasty judgments about many things, and most importantly, Mu Anxiao was currently in the past.
These immortals were stubborn and unyielding. He could only remain silent in their presence.
"..."
General Immortal: "Why aren't you speaking?"
First Minor Immortal: "He doesn't want to punish his disciple, does he?"
Second Minor Immortal: "Definitely. But speaking of which, your celestial post seems unrelated to demonic arts. If you think about it this way," he clicked his tongue, "your disciple's life might truly be over."
At the same time, Ye Yin, standing at the very back, could no longer hold back. "For decades, Mu Anxiao has apprehended countless demons. In the underworld, she is considered a person of status. Using demonic arts is, by its nature, part of her duties. Therefore," she squeezed past the other immortals and came to Zhang Yan's side, "it's perfectly fine if her master doesn't punish her."
Ye Yin's words served as a reminder to Zhang Yan.
The assembled immortals fell silent.
More than ten years ago, the incident involving the two hundred and fifty demon souls had caused quite a stir in the celestial realm. However, at that time, Mu Anxiao was merely considered useless in their eyes, and they had placed bets on when she would die.
All these words had reached Zhang Yan's ears.
But, to provide Mu Anxiao with a peaceful environment for subduing demon souls, he had not shared these morale-damaging words with her, and thus had disregarded them as mere background noise.
Now, however, they were brazenly speaking about Mu Anxiao in front of him. If Ye Yin hadn't spoken, he wouldn't have fully realized what Mu Anxiao had done. With Ye Yin's words, he also gained a measure of confidence.
"My disciple performs a high-risk job. She fights against demon souls and monsters. It's necessary for her to understand demonic arts. Speaking about my disciple like this," he said with a stern expression, "makes me very angry."
"Are you even immortals? Jealousy, stabbing someone in the back – these are things only mortals do. You are immortals," Ye Yin swept her gaze across the immortals who seemed eager to see Mu Anxiao dead, "what's the difference between you and meddlesome mortals?"