If one wishes to establish a foothold in this realm, merely bearing the title of an Old Lord's disciple is definitely not enough.

Creating another Heavenly Court isn't a viable option either.

Song Lin had roughly investigated the structure of this Heavenly Court.

The Heavenly Court consists of Thirty-Six Heavens, which represent thirty-six Small Thousand Worlds, but this doesn't mean there are only thirty-six Small Thousand Worlds. There are many mighty factions on the periphery with their own heavenly courts, along with Buddhist Sect worlds, totaling at least over a hundred Small Thousand Worlds.

Song Lin has reason to suspect that this Jade Emperor's Heavenly Court is the main body of the Jade Emperor Divine System beneath the Three Pure Ones.

And this is just the Jade Emperor's Heavenly Court—there are also numerous hidden forces in the Western Pure Land.

In summary, this is a Medium Thousand Heavenly Court with extremely high power ceilings, a famously prominent presence within the Great Thousand World.

The Jade Emperor and the Buddha are likely cultivators approaching the Golden Immortal stage.

Therefore, brute force cannot be relied upon, and direct opposition is out of the question.

Instead, one must join them, infiltrate from within, and gain control over immense power.

The future Xuantian God who will emerge is an excellent potential ally.

The Journey storyline is about to begin.

From the plot perspective, the Jade Emperor and the Buddha are probably unaware of these developments.

Song Lin could use his foresight to devise a strategy.

Winning over all Four Saints of the North Pole is crucial; they are the most formidable forces in the Heavenly Court.

"At this point in time, the Four Saints of the North Pole all seem to be absent?"

Song Lin suddenly realized this. It seems he still needs to enlighten the other three Saints himself.

The Tianpeng in Journey to the West is likely not the true Tianpeng.

After the Northern Travel Record comes the South Travel Records, and Emperor Huaguang is another formidable combatant.

Moments later, Song Lin finalized his objective—a strand of his Divine Split ventured into the mortal world.

After Lord Lao Zi left, disputes between factions within the Heavenly Court surfaced with no one to mediate.

The Four Heavenly Kings and the Four Sea Dragon Kings, tied to the Buddhist Sect, barely reported to the Heavenly Court anymore, treating the Jade Emperor as if he were nonexistent.

The subordinates of the Jade Emperor included the Spirit Officials guarding the gates, twenty-four immortals of upper, middle, and lower ranks, and various Heavenly Lords and Heavenly Masters from the different Small Thousand Worlds.

Although there was no shortage of talent, losing the Four Heavenly Kings was more about dignity. The Four Heavenly Kings held significant authority, and this blatant disregard was a major affront.

The Jade Emperor was so enraged that he wanted to send troops to annihilate them. The Buddhist Sect was becoming more aggressive, and the two factions seemed destined for an eventual confrontation.

The Jade Emperor and the Buddha, both at the True Immortal Peak, were like two tigers on the same mountain—one could not tolerate the other. Both sides were fully aware that only by utterly defeating the other could they achieve the Immortal Golden Immortal Great Dao.

Compromise was absolutely impossible.

Of course, initiating war was merely a thought for now.

Making the first move openly would be a disadvantage.

On this day, the Jade Emperor issued a decree to host a grand banquet in the Thirty-Two Heavenly Lingxiao Palace, inviting Heavenly Lord Fu, Heavenly Lord Zhang, Heavenly Lord Xuu, Heavenly Lord Lii, Heavenly Lord Ge... as well as Sect Hierarchs from the Small Thousand Worlds,

and the True Emperor Taihuang Huangzhen, Red Ming Emperor Yang, Great Emperor Yuan Zai Kongseng... and a host of thirty-two Small Thousand World Heavenly Emperors.

The assembly of thirty-two Heavenly Emperors from all directions and heavens formed the overall framework of the Heavenly Court.

As for the Star Lords, there weren't many among them with formidable power.

This realm had long been dominated by Taoist and Buddhist cultivators, and most Innate Divine Beings held little status.

The gathered immortals paid homage, their voices resonating like a mountain chorus as they completed their formal rites.

The Jade Emperor spoke, "I have ruled for five hundred kalpas, rising early and retiring late, through endless trials and hardship. Yet when I look at my Divine Court, it still falls short of the hundredfold brilliance of the West. Why is this so? Does any beloved minister understand?"

The thirty-two emperors appeared imposing, but the Jade Emperor knew how much of it was for show.

Twenty-four were merely immortals (in Harmonization), and only eight were Heavenly Immortals.

The Heavenly Court was no longer what it once was. Although the Buddhist Sect's poaching contributed to the decline, the root issue was the management of the Heavenly Court itself.

The departure of the Four Heavenly Kings and Four Sea Dragon Kings caused the Jade Emperor to question the overall strength of the Heavenly Court.

Heavenly Lord Luo stepped forward and said, "This is likely the result of the Buddhist Sect's proselytization and their use of the mount system."

The Buddhist Sect's influence in the mortal world had already surpassed that of the Heavenly Court. Bodhisattvas and Buddhas often took demons as their mounts, giving them significant sway over the Demon Clan.

The root of all this could be traced back to the Buddhist Sect's East Crossing.

The Taoist School is relatively loose and doesn't require others to follow its teachings as strictly.

As a result, the Buddhist Sect's forces in the mortal world grew increasingly robust. With a massive base, naturally, more talents emerged, and over time, the Buddhist Sect produced more and more powerful individuals.

"Perhaps we should revise our doctrines? Should we also promote proselytization?" Heavenly Lord Xuu suggested.

"It's too late. The Buddhist Sect has been doing this for thousands of years. Even if we try to catch up now, we lack the foundation for spread."

Once one faction forms a dominant foothold, another faction will naturally face rejection.

In some regions, there's already a negative stereotype towards Taoists. Mentioning Jianghu swindlers, many people's first impression is inevitably a Taoist.

The Jade Emperor squinted slightly, listening to the discussions. For some reason, he felt incredibly irritable—these were all tired, old issues. Couldn't anyone offer constructive suggestions?

The Heavenly Court lacked capable individuals.

"There is one other way… annihilate Buddhism…" a Heavenly Emperor proposed.

The Jade Emperor's gaze immediately turned sharp.

The Heavenly Emperor continued, "But we cannot act directly. The immortals are forbidden from interfering with mortal affairs. What if a mortal emperor led the effort to suppress Buddhism?"

"How would that work? Most mortal emperors already believe in Buddhism. We're lucky they haven't suppressed us instead."

"Then we'll have several disciples reincarnate to 'assist' them..."

"This is inadvisable," Heavenly Lord Luo objected. "If you incite mortal emperors to suppress Buddhism, they could very well suppress Taoist practices too."

The Buddhist Sect likely has more tools at their disposal than we do.

In conclusion, this precedent must not be set.

The Jade Emperor suddenly spoke, "It is possible!"

With the Jade Emperor's decision, the gathered immortals had no choice but to abide by his will.

Soon, several cultivators who had committed offenses were punished by the Jade Emperor...

And thus, a grand Taoist-Buddhist conflict spanning the Four Great Divine Continents, thousands of mortal nations, and dozens of dynasties officially began—a struggle that even extended to the thirty-six Small Thousand Worlds.

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