Chapter 230 Erosion
Fairy Court, Guandi Pavilion.

Emperor Qingxu, dressed in an elegant cloud brocade Taoist robe, sat quietly in the Guandi Pavilion, overlooking the clouds rolling and unrolling outside the pavilion. This transcendental scenery could not conceal the indescribable complex emotions in his heart.

At this moment, he seemed to see the scene of Gu Yunli's first audience with the emperor.

Even though Gu Yunli tried his best to hide it, one could still see the uneasiness he felt along the way. The awe in the depths of his eyes made him in no mood to appreciate it at the time.

Because he has seen this kind of look many times!

Who could have thought that in just ten years, the subordinates whom he once didn't bother to look at were not only more powerful than him, but the Internet they created also destroyed his network without any chance of fighting back.

“Open Internet…”

Emperor Qingxu couldn't help but murmur something, feeling a strong sense of powerlessness.

When the Internet launched the private attribute panel, he could shirk that it was Gu Yunli's unique personal ability;

When the Internet launched the Internet Secret Realm, he could use the excuse that it was Gu Yunli's whim;
However, when the Internet chose to open up completely and allow everyone to create applications, Emperor Qingxu discovered that all the excuses were nothing but self-deception.

Because this moment is just like that moment.

Looking back to the beginning of the creation of the Internet, in order to win over the immortal officials of the Immortal Court, Gu Yunli racked his brains to create a section for the immortals and even launched an online temple, an extremely ridiculous section.

Faced with the tactical play that had long been introduced on the Internet, he never thought of learning it.

Even today, when he has already lost the battle in the Internet, he has never thought about it.

Until now, when the Internet was opened again and opened to the whole world, Emperor Qingxu was stunned.

It would be fine if Gu Yunli didn’t know the future trend of the Internet.

However, in his open source announcement, he clearly gave countless directions, and it is obvious that he knows the future development direction of the Internet.

There is also a clear plan.

But he still resolutely chose to open up.

It is still open to ordinary people.

Emperor Qingxu didn’t know how to evaluate this behavior?
But he knew that the terrestrial network, and even the network outside the Internet, had been defeated.

The Internet, which already has an absolute advantage, has become unshakable after this wave of money-making and people-attracting.

At this point, even if they opened up, it would be too late.

"One wrong step, one wrong step..."

Emperor Qingxu's words came to an abrupt halt, and a barely perceptible trace of regret flashed across his eyes.

"Perhaps I took the wrong path from the beginning. The position of Earth Official made me, but also destroyed me."

"When the great way competes, what should be fought for is the way, not the technique. The Internet has been showing off its power until now, but the Five Imperials have not come out, and the Three Pure Ones have not been revealed. Above Daluo, there may be a better scene. In this case, why should I fight for the power of the Internet? If I can reach Daluo, I may be willing to give up the world, let alone the power of the Internet?"

Thinking of this, Emperor Qingxu gently raised his hand, and the magical weapon of abacus appeared in his palm.

——The geographical network he mastered was built on this magical weapon.

He looked at the magic weapon with a complicated expression, and after some hesitation, he suddenly stood up and left.

……

……

No matter how turbulent the outside world is, the Taiwei Yuqing Palace still stands tall.

Its momentum is like a flying dragon, lying across the clouds and mist, majestic and solemn.

Beneath the thousand steps, Taiyi Tianzun stood quietly, dressed in a glittering Taoist robe, ethereal and unrestrained. However, beneath this otherworldly appearance, he could not hide a trace of uneasiness and anticipation.

He lowered his eyes, folded his hands lightly in front of his chest, and gently stroked the jade ring on his thumb. Every touch seemed to calm the waves in his heart.

The hunt that Your Majesty had carefully planned ultimately failed in his hands. No matter how many excuses he had, he could not escape the responsibility for dereliction of duty.

"Da da da……"

There was a faint sound of footsteps.

It was a messenger who approached quietly and said, "Your Majesty, His Majesty is calling you."

Taiyi Tianzun nodded, cupped his hands and said, "May I ask, sage, what is the situation in the palace?"

As he spoke, a stream of light flew out from his sleeve and fell into the sleeve of the usher.

The usher showed a somewhat embarrassed look on his face, and said in a secret voice: "Your Majesty, His Majesty is very angry, probably because of the launch of the new Internet version."

Taiyi Tianzun nodded and sighed in his heart.

This seemed to be because of the new version launched on the Internet, but in the final analysis, it was because he failed in the sniping attempt.

If it succeeds, why would there be so many things to do?

Perhaps, all updates on the Internet will become updates on the Xinghai Network.

With a sigh, Taiyi Tianzun composed himself a little, but still walked in with gritted teeth.

After entering the hall, the atmosphere inside was indeed extremely depressing.

Wanfu Tianzun stood in the hall, expressionless and with a look that said "no strangers allowed".

"Your Majesty, I, the guilty minister, pay my respects to His Majesty!"

"Victory and defeat are common in the military, there is no need to accuse me of anything. Hurry up and tell me what happened."

Unexpectedly, the Jade Emperor did not get angry, but was in a pleasant mood instead.

"Here."

Taiyi Tianzun felt more at ease and told the Jade Emperor everything about the attack on Gu Yunli. The Jade Emperor nodded repeatedly and asked after a long while, "Is there still a chance?"

Taiyi Tianzun secretly groaned and replied: "Your Majesty, the canonization of incense and fire requires surprise. Now that Gu Tianmo is prepared, I am afraid it will be difficult to continue."

The Jade Emperor narrowed his eyes, and an inexplicable pressure corroded from top to bottom, making Taiyi Tianzun breathless.

The pressure from the Golden Immortal was not something he could challenge!
"Nothing at all?"

Taiyi Tianzun was silent, and shook his head: "Gu Tianmo's cultivation method is extremely treacherous, and he can easily tamper with the incense and golden body. Even if I try my best to confer the title, it will be in vain."

After the voice fell, the hall fell into dead silence.

"I know!"

After a long moment, the Jade Emperor responded in a cold voice and waved his hand as if he was shooing away a mosquito.

Taiyi Tianzun bowed, turned and left.

He knew that this trip would take him away from the center of power.

But after stepping out of the hall, he felt lighter all over, and every pore exuded endless comfort.

Since you are a Golden Immortal, why do you want to interfere in the affairs of the world?
Being a carefree immortal, making elixirs and drinking tea when he has nothing to do, and when he feels too quiet to do anything, he goes for a walk in the human world. Isn't this a happy life?
Why do you have to intervene in the world's disputes?

Taiyi Tianzun thought in his heart, but deep in his eyes, there was a hint of fear that could not be concealed.

The incense and canonization have never failed.

Especially this time, the amount of incense mobilized was so huge that it could be said to be the largest in life, but even so, they still failed.

He had to admit that when Gu Yunli chased him and summoned the Buddha's incarnation, he was scared.

After thousands of years of hard training and countless fortunes, he finally gained his current elegant status. If he were to die in that fearless dispute, it would be a great loss.

Forget it, forget it, just be your free and easy immortal self.

After thinking about it, Taiyi Tianzun left, having made up his mind that he would never leave the mountain unless it was necessary.

Even if Gu Yunli conquers the world and ascends to the throne one day, the worst that can happen is that he will have to leave and apologize. He doesn't believe that Gu Yunli, who has firmly established his position in the world, will kill him just because of the battle that year.

While daydreaming, Taiyi Tianzun returned to his residence and announced to the public that he had suffered internal injuries from the fight and needed to recuperate in seclusion. He would not see any visitors during the recuperation period.

When the announcement was made, saying that no visitors would be received, in fact, all the close friends and relatives came with gifts and asked about the well-being of the family. This made the mansion quite lively for a while.

The excitement comes quickly and goes away quickly.

Before long, Taiyi's residence was deserted. After all, he had personally said that he would not see any guests.

Taiyi Tianzun was also happy with this.

The battle with Gu Yunli brought him great gains.

It is a good opportunity to take advantage of this free time to think carefully, absorb and organize the knowledge.

On this day, he, who should have been meditating on the golden body of incense, suddenly felt irritated for no reason. He threw the tortoise shell and told three hexagrams. Two of them were auspicious, and one was unlucky.

He became more and more annoyed, so he simply left the meditation room and took a walk in the back garden to relax, wondering if he had overlooked any details.

He called the medicine boy and asked, "Xiao Chazi, is there any news from outside the palace recently?"

Ochako paused for a moment and said, "It's nothing."

"Really? Your Majesty is not attacking the Internet again?"

"No, Xiaochazi heard that they are all working on some open source editor!"

“Oh, and what’s the news on the Internet?”

"There's not much news, but Xiaochazi heard that after the Internet was open sourced, many applications were launched online, which was quite lively."

"Really? What applications have been released?"

"There are many such cases. There are many dating apps, which make the matchmaker furious.
There is also a fairy music platform, which contains many arrangements that the immortals never reveal to others. Many people say that this application was created by people in the fairy court, which has aroused a lot of suspicion;

Oh, by the way, there is also a dream-reading app, which seems to be quite accurate..."

When talking about the Internet, Ochako knows everything about it, counting on his fingers and talking about it eloquently.

Among them, many applications are actually imitations of existing sections of major networks, but they cannot resist the wild imagination, so even similar applications have their own merits, which has caused a lot of controversy.

Of course, the most controversial applications are those that are suspected to come from the Immortal Court.

It caused quite a stir within the Immortal Court.

"Wealth and silk are so touching!"

Taiyi Tianzun exclaimed.

An anonymous post on the Internet is enough to lure countless people in.

Of course, there are many old foxes in the Immortal Court, and they probably won’t get involved themselves, but the method of controlling puppets is not uncommon.

Thinking of this, Taiyi Tianzun felt his heart beating fast.

Compared to going to great lengths to obtain the method of refining the source of abacus and then promoting it online, it is undoubtedly more time-saving and labor-saving to directly develop applications on the Internet.

The most important thing is that the Internet has become a trend and traffic has exploded.

Unless Gu Yunli is physically eliminated, 90% of the world's network traffic will sooner or later belong to Gu Yunli.

Seizing the initiative at this time is, to some extent, a form of returning a favor.

"You understand it very well."

After thinking about this, Taiyi Tianzun joked.

As soon as she finished speaking, Ochako's face turned pale. She knew that something was wrong and she had let the cat out of the bag.

If he had heard it from someone else, how could he know it so clearly?
When he looked up at his master, he saw that he did not look angry. He was moved and said:
"To be honest with you, Master, I have logged into the Internet to gather intelligence. However, Master, please rest assured that my disciples have never logged into the Internet Secret Realm, and have never touched the Paradise of Heaven. I will never become Gu Tianmo's pawn."

"He is quite alert!"

Taiyi Tianzun nodded and said:

"You have been following me for quite a while. You must know that there is no shortcut to cultivation. The fragment of the Great Dao in the Interconnected Secret Realm may seem like a shortcut, but it must be dangerous. Don't lose the big picture for the sake of the small! Moreover, even if you have the fragment of the Great Dao, it can only speed up the stage of Refining Essence into Qi. When it comes to Refining Qi into Spirit, or even Refining Spirit into Void, you still need to take one step at a time. You have already reached the stage of Refining Qi into Spirit, so practicing this unorthodox path will be of no benefit to you."

"Disciple understands!"

Ochako quickly bowed and secretly breathed a sigh of relief.

I actually don’t agree with what the master said.

It is true that the fragments of the Great Dao in the interconnected secret realm seem to have a much smaller effect on refining qi into spirit and refining spirit into emptiness.

In fact, what it boils down to is that the fragments of the Great Dao that have reached the stage of Refining Qi and Transforming into Spirit are becoming increasingly difficult to obtain.

In addition, incense and burning candles are needed, which slows down the speed of climbing the stairs.

If resources are sufficient and there are enough fragments of the avenue, one can still make rapid progress.

Don't ask him how he knew that. There is no shortage of miracles in the secret world of the Internet. There are always a few lucky people who make rapid progress.

To be honest, he was already watching and his heart was pounding.

The only way of life is competition. Who doesn't want to be among the immortals, live forever, and live freely in the world?

Ochako doesn't know how long she can hold on.

Little did they know that after this interrogation, the master who strictly abided by the immortal rules had quietly logged on to the Internet using the puppet method and started to study the open source editor.

"Fellow Daoist Taiyi?"

While Taiyi Tianzun was pondering, a sudden pop-up window made his pupils shrink.

The specifications of this pop-up window are very similar to the notification when the Internet is updated. With such specifications, the identity of the sender is obviously self-evident.

"who are you?"

"Haha, it's you, Taoist friend Taiyi. We are not acquainted without fighting. Have you forgotten me so quickly?"

"Gu Yunli?"

"We have become strangers, is it so hard for you to say "fellow Daoist"? Or are you afraid that I will make it public and tie you up in the car?"

"You are joking, my friend. The Internet is full of truth and falsehood. Even if you post a video of our meeting, no one will believe it."

"You are a wise man, but I really want to meet you."

As soon as he finished speaking, the Internet interface where the puppet logged in suddenly twisted and turned into a black hole. At the end of the black hole, there was a galaxy like an abyss, and Gu Yunli could be vaguely seen raising a glass to invite him.

Taiyi Tianzun was silent for a moment, and the puppet soul immediately accepted the invitation and left.

As his consciousness shifted, Taiyi Tianzun opened his eyes on the puppet's body, and the world changed drastically.

It was a pitch-black starry sky, with no distinction between front, back, left, or right.

In the void, Gu Yunli sat cross-legged beside a table, cupped his hands and said, "I am honored to have you here, fellow Taoist. Please come in!"

Taiyi Tianzun was not polite either. He strode away and sat down on the other side of the desk.

Gu Yunli picked up a stone pot and poured a cup of tea for Taiyi Tianzun, saying, "This is the best-tasting tea in the secret space-time. Come, have a taste."

Taiyi Tianzun picked it up, took a sip, frowned and said, "Although this tea has a tea fragrance, it is too sweet and lacks some tea flavor. It doesn't taste like real tea, but more like a drink made by mountain people with honey."

Gu Yunli laughed: "Hahaha, Tianzun likes tea. To be honest with you, this thing is virtual, so it naturally doesn't have the bitter flavor of tea."

Taiyi Tianzun's heart trembled slightly, and he picked up the teacup and took a sip again. This time he was not tasting the tea, but tasting how he felt the taste of the tea.

After a long time of wondering why, I finally understood why the secret realm of time and space has driven so many people crazy.

"Fellow Daoist, you invited me here, didn't you, for tea tasting?"

"Of course not. I came here to ask for a treasure from you, and I hope you can agree."

"Oh, what do you want?"

(End of this chapter)