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Chapter 355: Chapter 352: The Truth
Daqian.
Emperor Tower.
Jiang Tianji continuously searched through one document after another, reviewing report after report, his eyes filled with bloodshot.
Three days.
Since the message from Immortal Wuzhong in the Sanqing Hall had spread, telling of Immortal Wushi silently sorting through a century of events in the Spirit Realm, he had gone three full days without sleep, without food or drink, not resting for a minute.
He had exerted every effort to find evidence that Immortal Wushi hadn’t merely been sitting in the Spirit Realm safeguarding Qiantian, but because he was severely injured in a battle with Emperor Tianji, he had to recover through deep sleep and breath-holding.
But...
As he verified the information continuously received from the Heavenly Master and Hidden Guard of the Daqian Court itself, and also from Sanqing Hall, the truth seemed to grow further from his assumptions.
Until...
...
"Not long ago we indeed clearly sensed vibrations in the Spirit Realm, because we do not possess the capability to directly contact the True Spirit Realm, we couldn’t figure out what exactly happened in the Spirit Realm firsthand."
At that moment, the one delivering the scriptures was Lord Wan Wusheng, serving the Daqian Imperial Family.
He spoke with a grave expression, "I have combed through numerous books during this period. According to some records, I finally found some clues. Such vibrations... could have several possibilities, either the fall of a being powerful enough to match the Creator, or a major shift in the nature of the True Spirit Realm, or perhaps... a Great Sky Lord risking everything in an attempt to reach the Creator Realm..."
"Great Sky Lord!"
Unlike Gu Jinlai, Jiang Tianji was familiar with the concept of the Great Sky Lord.
He raised his head, his sunken eye sockets turned to Wan Wusheng, "Are you saying... Immortal Wushi was a Great Sky Lord!? The turmoil in the Spirit Realm was due to an assassination by Venerable Xuan Tian, choosing to fight despite knowing it would lead to certain death, aiming to break into the Creator Realm?"
"Although it’s hard to believe, I have learned of the lifetime deeds of Immortal Wushi. If he had indeed changed his cultivation to the Heavenly Master Lineage, reaching the Great Sky Lord Realm is not without hope... combined with the timing of the vibrations in the Spirit Realm and Immortal Wushi’s fall, they almost exactly coincide..."
Wan Wusheng hesitated but still voiced the truth.
Because, he too was a Heavenly Monarch.
He naturally did not wish for a Great Sky Lord, who had contributed silently to the Qiantian World for hundreds of years, to pass away so quietly.
However, when he noticed that as soon as he finished speaking, the Qi in Emperor Jiang Tianji surged violently, and his Essence Qi Spirit seemed to have significantly diminished, he quickly added, "This coincidence at most can only prove that Immortal Wushi might have been a Great Sky Lord, but it doesn’t mean that he really managed the Spirit Realm for a century... Qiantian is not like the Holy Land or the Divine Mountain, Netherworld, Sea God Temple, etc. It might be that the Demon Spirits from the Demon Realm think that the cost of swallowing our Qiantian is too great, which is why not many Demon Realm Rifts have opened."
Jiang Tianji did not respond, and after a while, he finally asked, "You said... Immortal Wushi chose to risk everything, to break into the Creator Realm... Could he have succeeded?"
"This..."
Wan Wusheng really wanted to say something like "Immortal Wushi has his own divine balance," but eventually...
He chose to remain silent.
This expression let Jiang Tianji know his answer.
He looked at the Royal Heavenly Monarch and mustered a bit of spirit, "I understand, thank you for your efforts, Lord Wan can go back to his own affairs now."
"Your servant takes his leave."
Wan Wusheng then bowed and left.
After Wan Wusheng had left, Jiang Tianji still sat in the room, his gaze unfocused.
Compared to Wan Wusheng, he had actually "seen" more than the others.
At the moment when Immortal Wushi had fallen, he vaguely sensed a change in the Qi fate of Qiantian World.
However, the flow of Qi fate is usually slow and takes a month or two to fully manifest.
At that time, he didn’t pay too much attention to it.
He even thought that it was a sign that the situation was beginning to turn for the better for the Daqian Dynasty, now that they had lost the biggest obstacle, Immortal Wushi.
But now...
After this period’s developments, he had figured out the changes in Qi fate brought about by Immortal Wushi’s fall.
Dark clouds over the city!
He clearly saw Qi fate receding rapidly from all sides except the sparsely populated Yan State, which was surrounded by the Black and White Sand Sea. Qi fate on the other three sides of Qiantian World was growing.
The Qi fate belonging to Qiantian was fading fast, while the Qi of other directions...
Especially the southern Qi, was slowly but steadily rolling toward Mu State.
It wouldn’t take long to completely envelop the entire Mu State.
Even the recently fortuitous Southern King, who had been thriving, couldn’t compete with this tremendous oppressive aura.
A few days ago, he didn’t know why the Qi fate of the Qiantian World was declining so rapidly and extensively.
But three days ago, when he learned about that message from the Sanqing Hall, he suddenly realized it.
All of it...
Stemmed from Immortal Wushi’s fall.
Him!
Jiang Tianji!
With meticulous calculation, he had personally broken the pillar that supported the entire Qian Devas Race, leading it to its ruination.
"How could this be..."
Jiang Tianji was despondent.
In almost a hundred years since he took power, he had always been diligent, doing his utmost to maintain the stability of the Qian Devas Race, never resting for more than an hour a day.
If not for working overtime on Daqian’s administration, it was about diligently practicing cultivation without any indulgence, slack, or enjoyment.
If not for ensuring the succession of the royal lineage, he wouldn’t have wanted to take a single concubine at all, so as not to waste time on them.
However, even so...
The situation in Qiantian continued to worsen.
Just as there was a glimpse of hope in Tian Nan due to multiple powerful War Spiritual Artifacts appearing that decimated Devils, a shocking change of this magnitude occurred.
"Why..."
He muttered to himself.
He couldn’t even understand why Immortal Wushi didn’t want to inform him or others about this matter?
After a moment, connecting some received information, he understood something.
Trust.
Immortal Wushi couldn’t trust anyone.
Because, even his junior brother, whom he regarded as his right and left arm, had almost come to blows with him over the World Sword and the Star Heart, two Supreme Divine Weapons.
If they had known that his True Spirit was immersed in the True Spirit Realm most of the time, having little perception of the real world...
It would inevitably give rise to many unnecessary thoughts.
If even a disciple he had lived with for over two hundred years could feel thus, how much more so for the Daqian Royal Family, who were inherently his rivals?
At this thought, Jiang Tianji gave a wry smile, "Fate! Fate!"
At this moment, he thought of many things.
The future of the Daqian Dynasty.
The sacrifices of Master Wushi.
The newly appointed Sky Extreme Sword Master.
The dawn south of Tianhe.
Everything...
In the end...
He turned his gaze back to himself.
"Peak Heavenly Being."
Long ago, he had already reached the stage of a Peak Heavenly Being.
However, the step of the Undying Will firmly trapped him, preventing him from progressing any further.
So much so that he was still a Peak Heavenly Being decades ago, and was still so now.
But now...
If he could take one step further and become a Saint.
With his Qiantian Legitimacy, it was entirely possible to gain the support of other Saints.
At least...
Li Mufeng could be persuaded to come over.
Gu Jinlai could also try.
And even...
Venerable Xuan Tian.
By then, with the combined strength of five Saint Level powers, he would not fear Immortal Wu Zhong, Immortal Wunian coming down to cause trouble.
Even the Blood Demon Emperor Luo would be no exception.
"Saint."
Jiang Tianji closed his eyes, a resolution forming in his heart.
At this time, the sound of footsteps came from outside.
Immediately following, the voice of Emperor Master Tai Yuan sounded.
"Your Majesty."
Upon hearing the voice, Jiang Tianji opened his eyes.
He mustered up his energy and stood up, watching Emperor Master Tai Yuan enter.
"Imperial Advisor."
"The words of the Sanqing Hall should not be fully trusted; they could very well be psychological tactics. Right now, our top priority is to try to call Venerable Xuan Tian back as soon as possible."
Tai Yuan went straight to the point, "He has already obtained the Sky Extreme Sword, it will be difficult to bond with the World Sword again. Your Majesty could personally try to see if you could become the master of this Divine Sword."
After speaking, he looked at Jiang Tianji, somewhat expectantly, "Your Majesty can call him back, can’t you?"
"Originally, my cooperation with Venerable Xuan Tian was to make him a sharp sword that would sweep through the obstacles of the Sanqing Hall and the True Immortal Palace, aiming to secure internal peace before outward expansion."
Jiang Tianji knew what the Imperial Advisor meant, "Having attained the rank of a Deva, his combat strength is not inferior to a top Saint. Immortal Wu Zhong nearly dying under his sword is the best example. If we want to control him..."
His expression bitter, he shook his head.
Tai Yuan’s expression darkened.
But he quickly rallied his spirits, "Then what about continuing the cooperation?"
"Right now, we don’t even know where he is."
Jiang Tianji said, "Back when he first reached the Divinity Transformation Realm, he managed to hide his presence from the pursuit of the Earth Immortal Palace and Human Immortal Palace, never leaking a trace of where he was. Finding him... will be difficult."
"Can’t find the person..."
Tai Yuan frowned and pondered.
After a moment, he seemed to think of something and suddenly said, "The latest news about Venerable Xuan Tian was from three days ago when he defeated Immortal Wu Zhong and immediately went to the Wuchen Residence where Master Wushi lived, took some information about Master Wushi, and even abducted a person... Since then, he has vanished without a trace, neither the intelligence system of the Sanqing Hall nor our Daqian Dynasty’s intelligence system can find any trace of him."
Jiang Tianji remained silent.
After a while, Tai Yuan said, "Since we have some relationship with Venerable Xuan Tian, let’s first strive to maintain it. Although it’s unwise to directly conflict over the issue of Venerable Xuan Tian with Blood Demon Emperor Luo, Immortal Wu Zhong, and Immortal Wunian, staying neutral and not easily engaging can itself exert a certain restraint on these three parties. This also indirectly helps Venerable Xuan Tian. Once he hears about this, he will naturally understand our position..."
After finishing, he looked at Jiang Tianji, "But you need to be prepared for a response."
"A response? Do you mean... Master Wushi?"
"Exactly."
Tai Yuan said, "Lest the Sanqing Hall leverage the great moral duty of Master Wushi guarding the Spirit Realm for a hundred years to manipulate public opinion and force us to act, this is something we must not acknowledge."
"Not acknowledge?"
Jiang Tianji was startled, "But according to my investigation, the matter of Master Wushi organizing the Spirit Realm for a hundred years..."
"Who knows?"
Tai Yuan spread his hands, "Where’s the evidence?"
Jiang Tianji was speechless.
"You have to be clear, you are an emperor, the Emperor of Daqian!"
Tai Yuan emphatically said.
Jiang Tianji was silent for a while before slowly saying, "I understand now."
"The truth was never the point."
Tai Yuan looked at him; he knew it was tough for him, but he could only sigh and say, "All for Daqian."
"For Daqian."
