As is well known, the difference between the Eastern Deity System and the Western Deity System is as vast as heaven and earth.
Eastern mythology has had a very orderly working-class model from the very beginning, advocating that no matter who you are, there must be work to do: the land of China does not sustain idle gods.
Even if you dwell in the Heavenly World, high above and not indulging in the worship of the human race, like Ying Long, when the time comes, you still have to go down and work. It doesn't matter how much stronger you are than the ants below; if you're supposed to deliver packages, you deliver packages. If you're meant to be ridden, you will be ridden. Otherwise, a lightning strike from the heavens will come down and you're dead, very dead.
According to Shiller's understanding, Marvel does have a Heavenly Court, but according to what Marvel says, they all live in a Pocket Universe and usually don't interact with the Human World.
And from what Shiller learned from the Chief of the Spear Bureau, the Heavenly Court is more or less what ordinary Chinese people perceive it to be: a civil servant system responsible for managing the workings of the skies and earth of China, with the Jade Emperor as the boss.
Shiller also learned that the story of the Investiture of the Gods did indeed happen, which means that no matter what kind of troublemaker you were before, once you've worked in the Heavenly Court, you need to punch in and attend faithfully.
The story of Journey to the West also happened in reality, otherwise there wouldn't be a Monkey. Traditional mythological figures like Yang Jian and Nezha all really exist and, barring any accidents, should currently be working in the Heavenly Court.
The only difference is that the part about modern history wars has been altered, in a nutshell, battles happened, but they didn't penetrate in, they were stopped outside Shanhaiguan. But there seem to be some problems that caused a multitude of demons to emerge, throwing the masses into chaos.
In other words, the original physical wars turned into magic wars, but the outcomes were incomparable because if someone else hits you, they'll think you're weak.
But if you hit yourself, with both hands fighting fiercely and a single finger exhibiting enough power to crush a small country, then basically no one would dare speak.
This led to China being a tremendously terrifying backdrop in Marvel's stories, with the world not at all adhering to the balance of the Five Powers, always with China and the US standing off against each other.
Shiller was actually very curious about that period of history, but he also knew it was easy to be seen as having ulterior motives if he investigated now in his current capacity. In case it was a very serious national trauma, it wouldn't be nice to directly poke at the wound.
Of course, there were these concerns when dealing with people, but not with a dragon. Ultimately, Shiller couldn't contain his curiosity and asked, "So, do you know what happened to China at the beginning of the 20th century?"
Ying Long had the look that expected this question, saying, "The Chinese mainland, with its long and extensive history, has had enough time to give rise to countless demons, all of which have been suppressed by determined individuals."
"Kunlun was the main force in suppressing the demons, but that year, Kunlun itself encountered problems, resulting in the complete breach of the sealing arrays everywhere, leading to the unleashing of demons that had accumulated over thousands of years, and eventually a decades-long war to exterminate demons ensued."
"What about the Heavenly Court then? Didn't they care?"
"Of course they cared, not only did they care, but various marshals also led the Heavenly Generals down to earth, and Mount Ling produced many talented individuals, including the Victorious Fighting Buddha, who performed numerous feats, and is still revered by mortals as the 'Great Saint'."
Shiller was somewhat puzzled and asked, "Were all those people unable to defeat them? How strong were those demons?"
"Demons were merely the vanguard." Ying Long shook his head, saying, "Going back, there was the conflict between spirits, shamans, and humans, and moving forward, there was the battle between the Yellow Emperor and Chi You. In short... it's complicated."
Shiller roughly understood that it was some longstanding grievance, but as it involved such ancient secrets, it certainly wasn't any coincidence. The planning must have been in the works for a long time, and the forces involved were likely of high caliber.
Shiller paused in thought, then tentatively said, "I heard that in the end, Chi You was fought?"
"Chi You is dead! I killed him!" Ying Long raised his voice, saying, "What came after was nothing but a puppet! Not worth mentioning!"
"But I heard they borrowed the Xuanyuan Sword."
"That was because they feared defeat!" Ying Long snorted, saying, "Although Chi You had a fierce nature, he was once the hero of the Jiuli fighting alongside various lords. The one resurrected later... hmph."
Ying Long didn't say much more, but his tone and expression conveyed disdain. The resurrection of Chi You must have caused a great loss of face for him, since it was he who had killed Chi You originally. It's no wonder that people would talk if Chi You later returned to life.
"So how was it resolved in the end?" Shiller asked again.
"They sealed it, what else?"
"I'm asking why they couldn't kill it? If those demons had been killed earlier on..."
"They couldn't be killed." Ying Long also seemed somewhat helpless, saying, "These so-called demons were actually not demons at all, but mostly gods sustained by the worship of the human race, which were violent and fierce due to the weakness of the human race at that time. However, since they came into existence because of humans, as long as there are offerings and memories, they're very hard to kill. They could only be sealed, waiting for people to gradually forget them."
Shiller nodded, understanding that the principles of operation in the East and West are probably different, then asked, "So Chi You is truly dead, right?"
"Chi You's corpse did not decompose, and although the power controlling him had been purified, his body was still buried," Ying Long said. "But no worries, they said that this time it was definitely preserved properly, so it wouldn't harm them."
Doctor Schiller always felt there was something strange about that statement, so he asked, "Properly preserved? How was it properly preserved?"
"If you ask me, they probably just found some desolate place and dumped it there."
Doctor Schiller had a bad feeling, "A desolate place? Exactly where?"
"I heard it's on the border of present-day China, inside a very tall mountain. There's also an organization like Kunlun up there, so it should be relatively safe."
Doctor Schiller gasped and immediately pulled out his phone, shouting in that direction, "Pamela! Don't start work yet, in the mountain there might..."
"Pamela! Pamela! Are you there? The machinery is ready, hurry on over…"
"Oh, I'm on my way," Pamela said as she hung up the phone. "Doctor Schiller just called and said to hold off on starting work…"
"We haven't started work anyway," Stark said, somewhat puzzled. "Isn't it because the personnel haven't arrived yet? Forget it, don't worry about it, take a look at this, what do you think of this temperature cycle pump?"
In front of Stark was a bizarre-looking machine that appeared to be a magical contraption. It was radiating magic energy, yet it also had the intricate structure of a machine.
"The temperature cycle scheme you guys thought of before is completely unworkable, it's just too wasteful of energy," Stark said. "At least 80% of the energy is used for meaningless consumption; you have to use my system."
"So, what are the advantages of your system?" Pamela asked. After some initial interactions, she had discovered that a little provocation worked wonders on this fellow. Just reveal a hint of disdain for his technology, and he would yap away at length.
Although Pamela was indifferent towards such people, she did not particularly dislike them. The reason she did this was to try to learn a thing or two. After all, she had several greenhouses of her own, held the power of All Things Green in her hands, but had never found a truly efficient way to utilize it. If she could learn something here to take back with her, she wouldn't have to worry anymore.
"Using mana to produce heat for insulation is the most wasteful method. Mana itself is a universal energy and doesn't necessarily have to provoke a transformation into heat for insulation. Instead, we should focus on its intrinsic properties and use other methods to catalyze it into thermal energy."
"In this way, it only takes a little mana to achieve the same effect, saving at least ninety percent of the mana, and the heating is also more even," he went on.
Pamela nodded repeatedly as she listened. Their previous concept was simply to create a heater, except using magic as the fuel for the boiler.
Because this place was above the snow line, the temperature was consistently low year-round, unsuitable for the survival of most plants, so a lot of effort had to go into insulation. The previous concept wasn't unusable; it just required an amount of energy that made Strange wince.
Then, Pamela looked at the weird-looking power pump in front of her. It didn't look like a stove or anything like that, and at the front, it even had a large nozzle, as if a surge of magic energy was about to burst forth.
"I think the traditional methods of altering seeds and grafting cultivation are too slow. I believe we can directly construct a special magical environment with magic power. The only problem is that normal magic energy disappears quickly without a substrate or support, so we need a way to prevent it from vanishing."
"Besides being able to provide warmth to the magic energy, this machine also converts magic energy into a form of radiation. Although a lot of energy still dissipates into the air, the process has been greatly slowed down. During the process of dissipation, the plants receive sufficient radiation," he explained.
Stark stepped forward and patted the machine, "I'm not entirely sure what kind of mutations such radiation could bring to the plants, but we have to try. Of course, let's not do too much at the start. We can just carve out a small experimental field, and it must be fully enclosed because this thing produces radiation harmful to humans too."
On hearing this, Pamela felt a little nervous. "Don't tell me it's like nuclear radiation."
"I can assure you it's not harmful radiation, but if this radiation actually produces a few magicians, that would be a trouble. Moreover, this type of radiation could affect the normal operation of magic power. It would be bad if a student sneaked in, cast a spell, and caused an explosion."
"Then we really need to find a more secluded place," Pamela mused, stroking her chin. "Oh, I know! The village head mentioned to me before that there's a cave under their village. The entrance is small, but inside it's a whole different world. As long as we establish the experimental field in there and seal the entrance, it should be no problem."
"Let's go check it out," Stark suggested.
"Aren't we calling the Supreme Magician?"
"We still don't know how it will turn out. Let's not make a big fuss," Stark said. "I'm never fully confident about magic-related stuff. It's too esoteric for me, and I don't want to give that guy the satisfaction of mocking me. Anyway, with you here, there's nothing dangerous."
Pamela thought it made sense. Although she couldn't use the power of All Things Green at the moment, she was still very sensitive to the states of plants. Even if there was a plant that could attack, as long as she provided an early warning, a cabbage surely wouldn't be able to rush up and punch Iron Man, right?
On the other side, Doctor Schiller hung up the call.
He thought, with all the trouble Chi You's body had caused back then, sealing it couldn't possibly involve just shallowly burying it on the surface. Growing cabbages on the ground should be no problem; after all, a cabbage wouldn't be able to punch through a thick mountain to hit Chi You, right?