Chapter 1963 Escaping Control

Wu Hong's avatar — acting as a proxy — began to ponder whether she should use drastic measures to break through the True Qi Path Holy Land. Although it would reveal some of her trump cards, the cons might outweigh the pros. The issue now was the timing, with the court already embroiled in a massive conflict with the Red Cloud.

"The True Qi Path Holy Land is like a bone stuck in my throat. I can't feel at ease without removing this threat — or at the very least, I should know what their endgame is," Wu Hong thought.

"We need to take down the True Qi Path Holy Land."

"...Your Majesty, is this a wise choice? Now of all time, shouldn't our focus be on the Red Cloud?"

"I think it is," another analyst said. "Currently, one of our greatest worries is these people attacking us from the back. And without Sir Qilin Sovereign overseeing them, we might not be able to detect their actions."

"What do you think?" Wu Hong asked.

"I think it's a good idea," Nie Rouxin replied. "We don't know what they are planning, but if there ever were a time for them to execute it, now would be it. They will also not expect us to divert our powers and deal with them."

"That's exactly my line of thinking. In that case, let's use —"

"There is no need."

Wu Hong frowned, turning his head to the speaker. Xu Yuhan walked into the meeting room, but his demeanor was completely different: he was noble, arrogant, domineering, with a hint of charisma and gentleness.

"Emperor Sui?"

"It's me."

"What do you mean by stopping me?" Wu Hong asked, her eyes squinting with a slightly dangerous light.

"The True Qi Path Holy Land wants to save Three Virtue, which is in our best interest."

"Explain in more detail."

"Remember what my memory said about their plan?"

"You claimed that the Three Virtue Saint made the Qi Paragon Path prosper so he could use its destiny to reach higher stages of Sainthood."

"That was his original plan, but now, he only wants one thing: freedom," Emperor Sui explained. Wu Hong did not speak, waiting for him to explain. She was currently clueless about the situation at the core of the Red Cloud, and Emperor Sui's presence was the best opportunity to rectify that.

"Lady Ai was plotted against and almost died. However, she also severely injured Gu Chang'an, who was already injured from trying to refine the Omni Cube. Our arrival brought a moment of respite, but not long afterward, Three Virtue and Five Elements turned on us."

"The [Tree of Omniscience]," Wu Hong said, with a deep frown.

"That's right. The tree didn't just turn them into a vessel for Gu Chang'an to absorb more knowledge; it could also turn them into pawns."

"Lady Ai's seal didn't work?"

"Her situation is worse than you can imagine. Honestly, I don't even know if she's still alive; she's existing and continuing to fight purely out of spite and obsession."

Wu Hong groaned softly. That was bad news. No, the worst news. Lady Ai is the only person in the same cultivation realm as Gu Chang'an, meaning her existence would be crucial to the final battle.

"Right now, Three Virtue only wants to remove his status as a pawn, and the best way to do it is through the power of destiny."

"I understand where you're coming from, but that's still not enough for me not to interfere. After all, what if Three Virtue turns on us after his revival?"

"He'll definitely turn on us; his ambition has become his obsession," Emperor Sui replied. "However, he won't do it now. Besides ambition, he's also a prideful man; he can't accept being enslaved by Gu Chang'an. More importantly, he cannot completely remove his status as a vessel; the best he can do is put a powerful seal on his [Existence]. The only way to truly free himself is to eliminate the source."

"Or, he can regain the power of destiny he lost to the Heavenly Court — that should also help," Nie Rouxin uttered.

"Yes, but he doesn't have the time for that. A war with the court will not be decided easily. More importantly, Gu Chang'an will not allow another power to establish itself again. This time, he's determined to swallow the rest of the timeline to heal his injuries and deal with his current predicament."

Wu Hong's brow furrowed. She wasn't completely convinced by Emperor Sui's argument. A civil war between the Qi and Emperor Path would be quite beneficial to Gu Chang'an. At the same time, it was true that time was running out for this timeline.

"If you're worried about an internal war, I can give you a guarantee," Emperor Sui continued. "I'll speak with Three Virtue and threaten to return. He knows more than anyone the consequences of me leaving my post, so he won't dare do anything to jeopardize the current status quo."

"Is your threat a bluff or are you willing to go through with it?"

"I am," Emperor Sui replied without hesitation. "If he cannot see the greater good, then I'll also act in my best interest."

"Good."

With that single word, the court's decision was made. They ignored the True Qi Path Holy Land and focused on the war efforts. Meanwhile, Wu Hong's true body was in deep thought. She didn't make a decision simply because of Emperor Sui's words. During the conversation, she noticed something: "Tree of Omniscient and Book of Infinite Knowledge," Wu Hong thought. "My Proving Dao Artifact used to be a pagoda — why did I change it into a book?"

Long ago, she chose a book as her Dao Artifact. But at some point in her life, Wu Hong realized she was obsessed with knowledge; the world around her was scary and made no sense, so she thought that if she knew everything, her life would be alright—the world would be in her palm.

However, after a couple of experiences, epiphanies, and a change in her state of mind, she chose the pagoda because it represented the endless pursuit of knowledge. Learning should not have an end, and simply amassing knowledge should not be the point; the point should be the endless improvement of the self through the process of acquiring knowledge.

"It really is never a simple thing to deal with these Saints."

Wu Hong raised her hand to summon the book, and without a single hesitation, crushed it into a million pieces. Her already poor complexion grew even paler, and half her body suddenly disappeared. However, Wu Hong didn't care: nothing mattered more than a pure Dao Path.

She ignored the terrible pain and snorted coldly. "Gu Chang'an, you dare try to corrupt my Dao and turn me into your vessel? Good, good, good. Wait until we meet: I'll crush you like the little bitch you are and make you regret you ever lived."

Wu Hong exhaled to calm down her raging emotions. Her injuries were extreme, so now was not the time to be agitated. Instead, she activated the Time Acceleration Array, leaving control of the court to the avatar and to Nie Rouxin.

The war lasted about 3 yuan epochs of constant fighting and killing. Finally, Gu Chang'an realized he couldn't reverse the effect of the Holy Creation Conversion easily. So he slowed the attacks but didn't stop them completely. The court used this opportunity to recoup their previous losses by training a new generation of soldiers, generals, and top Emperor Path powerhouses.

Four Yuan Epochs after the war slowed down, the entire timeline trembled slightly. Everyone felt it: a slight revival of the dying Qi Paragon Path. Although there were no grand visions or spectacles, people understood the True Qi Path Holy Land must have done something.

Under orders, the Qilin Sovereign secretly left his post to visit the True Qi Path Holy Land, but he still couldn't bypass their barrier. Moreover, the Holy Land refused any attempts at communication. The good news is they also showed no signs of intervening in the world's affairs in any way.

Time passed, and 25 yuan epochs after the war slowed down, another major change occurred: the Six Paths Samsara was fully repaired. With its presence, the rules of the world accelerated their repair, and more importantly, more life appeared in the world — new races too. The court had never stopped building artificial Chaos Worlds. With the appearance of the underworld, even more sentient life appeared to rapidly occupy these worlds, which in turn boosted the Battle Spirit System.

As for the contradictions between humans and these new races? There was no such thing. The Heavenly Court ruled over the world, and no one could challenge that. Divine Positions were offered to capable individuals of these new races, and anyone who tried to rebel was swiftly suppressed.

With the revival of Samsara, Grand Dao recuperated enough to be more effective. So, less than ten yuan epoch later, the River of Fate returned to the world, born from the foundation of Death Assassin's curse. With its presence, people's lives and the world became more orderly; luck was more easily controlled and manifested, accelerating the prosperity of the Heavenly Emperor Era. More importantly, Wu Hong could finally partially repair the Merit System.A