Come Out and Fight Ling Xiao: What Does This Have to Do With Me

"I came here for money, not to fight you. Pay up!"

The Central Altar Marshal remained unshaken, unmoved.

After all, if he really beat this guy up, whether he won or lost, the Treasury Department would have an excuse not to pay. Why would he fall for such a trap?

Hah, what a cheap provocation!

"What are you pretending for? Come out and fight me!"

The God of Wealth grew even more aggressive—he wasn’t afraid.

Before becoming the God of Wealth, he had been the Eighth War General under Immortal Emperor Wuji, known as the Golden Scale Vice General, famed across the immortal realm for slaying the Phantom Dream General under the previous Immortal Emperor Lingxiao!

He had fought and bled for His Majesty Wuji’s ascension to the throne!

What kind of spineless trash are you, a Central Altar Marshal who switched sides halfway? How dare you bark so arrogantly here?

Asking for money? If I had money to spare, wouldn’t I be rich already? Can’t you read the situation?

"What does it matter if you hit me or I hit you?" The Central Altar Marshal stood firm. "If morale collapses and chaos follows, whose responsibility is that? Don’t think I don’t know—your Treasury Department recently discovered an ultra-large immortal essence mine!"

"Other departments need money too! Are the Three Altar Heavenly Armies the only ones struggling? The Thunder Department, the Star Department, the Nether Department, the Nine Bureaus and Twelve Courts—which one isn’t short on funds? Every allocation is accounted for. You just open your mouth and demand—what contributions have you made? When I asked you to deploy troops to escort goods, you always had excuses—wind one day, rain the next. How dare you have the gall to ask for money?!"

"If you paid the full wages, morale wouldn’t be so unstable. How can you blame me?"

"If you can’t even control your own subordinates, what right do you have to demand wages?"

"If you paid in full, I could manage them!"

"If you can’t manage them, why should I pay?"

"Are you deliberately picking a fight?"

"I’ve never seen someone so shameless. No money for you—come out and fight!"

The Central Altar Marshal was fuming, while the God of Wealth’s temper flared even hotter.

Watching the Treasury and Military Departments clash head-on, Immortal Emperor Wuji felt a headache coming on.

Not a physical one, of course—an Immortal Emperor’s body was indestructible, eternal and unyielding. Few things could harm him.

No, this was a mental headache, born of financial strain, of being a skilled cook with no rice to cook!

There was no helping it. After overthrowing the previous Immortal Emperor, he hadn’t immediately located Lingxiao’s treasury, allowing the man to flee with the accumulated wealth of nine epochs.

This left him, upon ascending the throne, without the resources to consolidate power and fully control the immortal realm.

Times were tough. Though he could suppress unrest with sheer strength for now, it wasn’t a sustainable solution. You can’t make a horse run without feeding it—sooner or later, it’ll buck you off!

He had barely stabilized the situation, with treasury resources finally showing positive growth. Though still in deficit, things were improving. He refused to let the immortal realm descend into chaos again!

"Enough!"

A voice of imperial authority rang out, and the Central Altar Marshal and the Treasury’s Chief God immediately stood at attention.

"What kind of spectacle is this bickering? By decree, the Treasury will disburse this year’s military wages in full, and the Military Department will prepare its forces for duty. Any objections?!"

"Thank you, Your Majesty. This servant will spare no effort to fulfill your command!"

The Central Altar Marshal bowed deeply. Getting these terms was already a victory—after all, the Immortal Emperor’s coffers were still shallow. Asking for more would be futile.

"Hmph, bootlicker!" The God of Wealth shot him a disdainful glance before solemnly declaring, "Since His Majesty has ordered it, I’ll tighten my belt and scrape together the funds. But next time I ask for troops, if you drag your feet again, I swear I’ll drag you into a fight—no jokes this time!"

The Central Altar Marshal ignored him, contentedly closing his eyes to meditate atop his lotus platform.

Seeing the Central Altar Marshal succeed in securing funds, the other departments grew restless.

Unfortunately, the penniless Immortal Emperor Wuji gave them no chance to voice their demands—instead, he assigned them more work:

"Just now, this Emperor sensed a faint disturbance from Lingxiao somewhere in the immortal realm. No matter the method, find him!"

With that, Immortal Emperor Wuji vanished from his throne.

The Treasury officials, as if expecting this, swiftly followed their Emperor in making a quick escape.

Leaving behind a crowd of immortals who, once again, failed to get their money, staring at each other in dismay.

At the same time.

In an unknown corner of space-time.

The fugitive Immortal Emperor Lingxiao also sensed Wuji’s pursuit. That dog’s nose was too sharp. After some deliberation, he cautiously slipped back into his giant bronze coffin.

But this time, he didn’t dare sleep. Instead, he activated the Primordial Chaos Creation Array, frantically calculating the elusive variable that seemed to haunt him.

Until he found its source, it was like a thorn in his throat—an invisible, razor-sharp blade hovering around him, ready to strike at any moment!

Rather than living in constant fear, he decided to risk it all. Even under Wuji’s watchful gaze, he would crush this budding variable before it grew strong enough to threaten him!

"There’s a lead. The variable isn’t in the immortal realm—it’s in the lower realms!"

"But... what in the lower worlds could possibly affect me?"

"Could it be another inverse-rule abomination from a non-origin universe? What is Wuji even doing? Can’t he rule properly?!"

Lingxiao’s expression darkened.

Universes were divided into origin and non-origin.

Origin universes were naturally formed, where the Great Dao begets one, one begets two, two begets three, and three begets all things. They had stable space and matter, with cosmic laws derived from the Dao, bound by causality.

Non-origin universes, however, were artificial constructs—experimental realms forged by beings above the Taiyi realm to test their paths!

These experimental universes lacked stable space or matter. All rules were set by their creators, making them brutally harsh environments where life was nearly impossible.

But heaven has no fixed numbers, and man is full of variables. If life did emerge there, it would be an absolute freak of nature!

For instance, during Lingxiao’s reign, a Taiyi realm being failed to destroy his experimental universe in time, leading to the birth of an inverse-rule abomination called "Enlightenment."

That thing was born from nothingness, existing in a bizarre, unobservable quantum state!

Its abilities were downright broken—when consciously observed, it would collapse into reality, replicating the observer’s ideology and powers!

When unobserved, "Enlightenment" would vanish from perception yet still act deliberately, appearing before any being and forcing observation upon them unknowingly!

A true inverse-rule monstrosity, it wreaked havoc across the immortal realm the moment it emerged!

Lingxiao himself had been beaten by "Enlightenment." The damage was minimal, but the humiliation was extreme!

Worse, it couldn’t be killed—when destroyed while observed, it would revert to nothingness, only to return stronger the next time it was perceived!

It took Lingxiao immense effort to seal it away. Learning his lesson, he decreed that all Taiyi realm beings must immediately destroy their experimental universes after testing!

And now, he has stepped down. Has the newly ascended Wuji overlooked this ironclad rule?!

"But that doesn't make sense. I'm no longer in power now. Even if some monstrous anomaly appears in a non-origin universe, shouldn't it be causing chaos in the Immortal Realm? Why is this variable still connected to me?"

"What does this have to do with me?!"

"Wait... could it be that the Primordial Chaos Creation Disk has been tainted by this thing?!"

"Oh no!"

"My treasure vault!"