Chapter 193: True Monarch Gu Jiahao!

To be honest, Ji Yixi had considered many possibilities, but this was the only one she hadn't expected.

For the longest time, the fact that she was the sole successor of the Great Record had been deeply ingrained in everyone's mind, but the current situation undoubtedly overturned her understanding.

She remained frozen with her mouth agape, but the small black dragon by her side, whom she called “Senior,” had already reacted.

With a soft thud, it slid down from the tea table, its four claws landing neatly on the floor tiles. It pressed its dragon head to the ground in a posture even more formal than the one it had struck back in Floating Islet City.

“We welcome the return of the Kaitian True Monarch of Daqian!”

“?”

A question mark also popped up over Gu Chengming’s head.

Let’s review the little dragon’s thought process.

As a being that had formed a bond with the Daqian imperial family since ancient times and could truly be considered an “auspicious beast” of Daqian, it naturally understood very well what the Great Record meant to the empire.

Although it had lost most of its memories due to some unknown reason, the memories regarding the Great Record were carved into its very bones.

This was why, when it was awakened by Ji Yixi in the Azure Lotus Secret Realm and couldn't remember anything, it had boarded her ship without looking back just by hearing her say, “I cultivate the Great Record.”

Precisely because of this, upon sensing the aura of the Great Record emanating from Gu Chengming, this name instinctively surfaced in the little dragon’s mind.

—The Kaitian True Monarch of Daqian.

The founding emperor of Daqian, an Eighth Realm True Monarch, and the creator of the Great Record technique.

The Great Record was a “unique” technique. It wasn't an ordinary manual to begin with; it was a product created by that True Monarch, who had used a Dao Throne to bind spirits and then forcibly stuffed them into the shell of a cultivation technique.

Because of this, if one were to look for another person in this world besides Ji Yixi who could use the Great Record, it could only be that ancestor of Daqian who lay in legends, and who knew if he was truly dead or not.

Looking back, this little dragon had actually felt that there was something wrong with this kid for a long time.

His cultivation level skyrocketing was one thing, and his methods being so numerous and sinister was another. In private, it had even suspected that this kid was a certain Daqian ancestor who had seized a body to be reborn.

But no matter how it thought about it, he didn't seem like one... After all, from beginning to end, this kid hadn't shown a single trace of any technique related to the Daqian imperial family.

He was full of all sorts of tricks, and if one were to trace them, they seemed more like things he had scavenged from various unrelated corners of the cultivation world.

Well, as it turned out, he just hadn't shown it. Once he did, it was the Great Record.

—Wait, no, it shouldn't call him “this kid” anymore; it had to change its address.

It should call him “Ancestor.”

Even though the little dragon was already considered a veteran in Daqian, it was truly insignificant before this person.

Ji Yixi had clearly gone through a similar mental process, though she was half a beat slower than the little dragon. After all, she first had to digest the shock that she wasn't the only successor of the Great Record.

She hesitated for a moment, looking at Gu Chengming’s face, then instinctively glanced at her “spiritual object” that was already prostrate on the ground. Finally, she spoke with some uncertainty.

“Great... Great-great-grandfather?”

Gu Chengming pressed his palm to his forehead.

【The Great Record couldn't help but smack its own head, commenting with an expression of pure embarrassment: “Two idiots.”】

【Thinking back to how it had once worked alongside these two idiots in a long-destroyed world line, the Great Record felt that this moment was particularly hard to endure.】

Ji Yixi and the little dragon, person and dragon alike, maintained the same “don't even dare to breathe” posture, eagerly waiting for Gu Chengming to give a definitive answer.

Gu Chengming cleared his throat and told a lie.

“Your Highness has misunderstood,” he explained. “I am not the Kaitian True Monarch. This strand of aura is merely simulated.”

“...Simulated?” Ji Yixi was stunned.

After a moment of deliberation, Gu Chengming explained, “The Unfettered Freedom Art, which I inherited from a senior, specializes in the path of mimicking auras.”

“...The Unfettered Freedom Art.” She repeated the name, then looked up at him, a trace of hesitation flickering in her expression. “Is it the lifebound technique of that True Monarch Jiahao?”

“?” Another question mark appeared over Gu Chengming’s head.

—What was a “True Monarch Jiahao”?

Wait, what was the origin of this name?

Seeing his dazed state, Ji Yixi became somewhat flustered instead. She thought she had said something wrong and was almost about to follow up with “Did I remember it incorrectly?”

Only then did Gu Chengming snap back to his senses and timely added a cover story: “I never heard that senior state his title. I only received the inheritance and truly have no way of knowing his name.”

Ji Yixi breathed a sigh of relief and, after a moment’s hesitation, began to explain.

As it turned out, the Little Terror Immortal who created the Unfettered Freedom Art was surnamed Ji, given name Jiahao, and was one of the extremely famous True Monarchs of that era.

While other True Monarchs chose their titles or dharma names based on their Dao Thrones, traits, or states of mind, this person had directly used his original name as his title.

Gu Chengming clicked his tongue; this indeed fit his impression of that True Monarch Little Terror.

After this misunderstanding, Ji Yixi outwardly accepted Gu Chengming’s explanation, though she naturally remained somewhat skeptical in her heart.

After all, what level of technique was the Great Record? If one could simulate the aura of the Great Record to such an extent just by relying on another technique, then the Daqian imperial family wouldn't need to bother anymore.

Of course, Ji Yixi naturally didn't press him. Since Senior Gu... er, Fellow Daoist Gu was unwilling to go into detail, she didn't need to ask further.

After all, on the matter of the Dragon Qi and many other things, the two of them were still on the same side.

So, she just needed to believe!

Ji Yixi straightened her thoughts in her heart like this.

Signs that the Dragon Qi Seed was being targeted had appeared long ago. She had been keeping a low profile all these years precisely because she was waiting for someone who could work together with her.

Now that the person had appeared, she couldn't miss the opportunity.

...

Believing was actually quite simple to do.

Although the Emperor, who lived deep within the Dragon Qi, kept a very close eye on Ji Yixi, he wasn't very guarded against others.

In any case, the Dragon Qi Seed was protected by “rules.” Aside from the Son of Heaven of Daqian and the successor of the Great Record, the difficulty for anyone else to even get close was so high that even ordinary True Monarchs would have to take a detour.

It wasn't to say there was no way at all; some True Monarchs on the main branches could bypass this rule by relying on the traits of their own Dao Thrones.

However, such methods would cause too much of a stir. As soon as the Fengtian Array was triggered, the bell and drum towers would chime together, and in the next breath, every Fifth and Sixth Realm expert in Daqian would follow the trail of the aura all the way here.

As long as they weren't dead, they would be able to react... and in the current situation, Gu Chengming himself had the “authority” granted by the Great Record, so what needed to be done was much simpler. He just needed to be safely sent inside.

To achieve this was not difficult for Ji Yixi.

After the barrier of the inner hall was closed, she took out a palm-sized ancient bronze mirror from her sleeve, with a small beast curled into a circle carved on the back.

“This object is called the Shadow-Tracer,” she said, handing the mirror to Gu Chengming. “Using the Great Record as a guide, I will use it to overlay a copy of your aura onto my own. As long as the mirror is in my hand, your presence will be counted as entering the Royal Court along with me.”

Gu Chengming took the small mirror. “Then what about Your Highness?”

“I will request an imperial decree from my father, saying that the Imperial Observatory has recently detected some minor deviations in the Fengtian Array’s foundation and that I need to enter the Royal Court personally for a re-inspection.” Ji Yixi paused. “My father is very suspicious; I must pass this stage myself.”

Gu Chengming gave an affirmative sound and, after a moment of thought, went over the steps of entering the array, the expected reactions of the Shadow-Tracer Mirror, and how to handle any changes midway with her in detail.

By the time the two of them finished discussing the final point, the night watch drum outside the inner hall had already struck three times.

The moonlight fell obliquely through the window lattice, and Ji Yixi looked up at the night sky.

Although her father had long resided deep within the Dragon Qi, he was still her father after all, and she had traded move after move with him ever since she could remember.

To try and deceive him under his very nose this time... she truly couldn't afford to be careless.

...

The next day, deep within the Imperial City.

The main hall was empty, without the usual rows of officials for a court session. Even the eunuchs holding the ceremonial fans had been dismissed beyond the multiple tiers of jade steps.

Only a mass of Dragon Qi occupied the imperial chair in the center of the hall. The Dragon Qi hung down from the ceiling and converged on the chair, condensing into a phantom.

Ji Yixi stood below the steps, lowering her eyes in a salute. “Father.”

The mass of Dragon Qi shifted, and a voice emerged from within. It was impossible to tell if it was male or female, or how old it was. It was so flat that it felt strangely detached, like it didn't belong to a living being.

“The Fengtian Grand Array...” It paused. “I remember the Imperial Observatory just performed maintenance on it a few years ago.”

The flames of the bronze lamps on all four sides of the hall dropped by half an inch simultaneously.

“Wanting to inspect it again.”

“Is this the intention of the Imperial Observatory... or your intention?”

Ji Yixi kept her eyes down and didn't answer immediately.

If she answered “It is the intention of the Imperial Observatory,” the Director might not necessarily help her maintain the lie. If she answered “It is my intention,” she would have to provide a reason that her father could believe and that wouldn't lead him to personally enter the Royal Court to check; otherwise, today’s attempt would be in vain. If she answered “The Imperial Observatory noticed it first, and I followed up with a memorial,” it sounded the most stable, but the thing her father dreaded most was any hint that “I have established a connection with the Imperial Observatory.”

Ji Yixi hesitated for a moment, then looked up and replied, “It is my intention.”

The voice of indeterminate gender drifted down slowly. “Why?”

“I have recently used the Great Record to deduce the fortune of the capital, and the things I observe are even more blurred than before,” she said. “If it weren't for an important matter, I wouldn't bother Father with this. But for the Great Record to be obscured to this extent, I cannot be sure if it is a deviation in the Great Record itself or some minor error in the Fengtian Array’s foundation.”

“Since I cannot be sure, a re-inspection is necessary. Father’s Dragon Qi is at its peak; entering to inspect personally would instead disturb the array’s foundation. Although the Director’s cultivation is sufficient, he is not a successor of the Great Record, so the deviations he observes may not be accurate.”

“Therefore, I volunteer to enter the Royal Court.” She paused slightly and added, “If the re-inspection shows no deviation, then it is merely my own shallow cultivation and misjudgment. Father may punish me as he sees fit.”

The hall was silent for a moment. The outline of the mass of Dragon Qi seemed to rise and fall slowly. When the voice spoke again, it sounded even more weary than before.

“...The evil spirits disturbing the capital lately, is it related to this?”

Ji Yixi’s eyelashes fluttered. She thought to herself that he had indeed asked about this.

This meant her father knew the Night Guard Division was making a big move, and it also meant he knew what Gu Chengming had been doing in the capital.

“The matter of evil spirits falls under the jurisdiction of the Night Guard Division; I have not intervened.”

The mass of Dragon Qi was silent for a moment. It moved with a sense of weariness, as if someone within that phantom had slightly raised a hand.

“...Fine, then have it your way.”

Ji Yixi kowtowed in thanks, retreated to the hall door, gave another salute, and then turned to leave.

Inside the main hall, the door Ji Yixi had just exited through closed again. The mass of Dragon Qi occupying the imperial chair dispersed slightly, revealing half of a humanoid shadow from deep within its outline. Immediately following that, a coughing sound was heard, filtered by a layer of aura so that it was completely silent by the time it reached the outside of the hall.

The light from the bronze lamps in the hall didn't reach the depths of the imperial chair, but it did reach a small section of the floor tiles in front of its armrest. A few drops of dark red had fallen onto the tiles.

...

For the next two days, Ji Yixi went to the Imperial Observatory as usual and dealt with a few trivial matters in court, making all the necessary preparations before the “re-inspection of the array foundation.”

Meanwhile, Gu Chengming nurtured his aura and gathered his strength within the Night Guard Division, keeping the Shadow-Tracer Mirror close to him without letting anyone notice.

Until nightfall on the third day, everything was ready.

Three days later, deep within the Royal Court.

Gu Chengming held the small bronze mirror in his hand. The mirror surface reflected a section of gray-white stone steps, which was the palace path Ji Yixi had just passed through.

With every step she took, the image in the mirror moved an inch. The moment she approached the Fengtian Grand Array, the mirror surface darkened slightly.

Gu Chengming felt the ground vanish beneath his feet, and his entire being was pulled by a force into a stone hall.

No pillars or doorways could be seen around him; only masses of pale gold Dragon Qi slowly swam along the walls. Gu Chengming raised his hand to restrain his aura and looked around.

—It was unexpectedly smooth.

【The Great Record said indifferently: You are already a recognized holder of the Great Record. Since you aren't breaking the rules, the rules naturally won't make things difficult for you.】

【The Great Record observed the situation before them and added: Most of the Dragon Qi Seed’s roots have already been severed. The remaining ones are entirely dependent on the Fengtian Grand Array to stay connected. Once the array disperses, the seed will die.】

Gu Chengming was quite surprised that the Great Record had taken the initiative to speak.

【The Great Record: I told you long ago, this is an inevitable node.】

【As for who is taking action, it’s different in every timeline. It could be the Longevity Sect’s years of erosion, it could be some other True Monarch fishing in troubled waters as the Great Calamity approaches, or it could even be... the Heavenly Dao itself pulling the Dragon Qi Seed back.】

Gu Chengming caught the key point: “The Heavenly Dao is pulling the Dragon Qi Seed back?”

【The Great Record revealed more information, which was quite rare: “The Dragon Qi Seed is essentially another manifestation of a Dao Throne. Naturally, the Heavenly Dao would want to pull the Dragon Qi Seed back.”】

【As for the specific reason or who exactly is meddling, no one knows. Even different world lines have different reasons.】

【Because almost all True Monarchs want to obtain the Dragon Qi Seed.】

Gu Chengming was deep in thought and suddenly realized a major point.

—All True Monarchs want to obtain the Dragon Qi Seed? Why?

Logically speaking, at the level of a True Monarch, something like a Dao Throne should no longer be that important...

After all, a Dao Throne is necessary to advance from the Fifth Realm to the Sixth Realm, but advancing from the Sixth to the Seventh requires a Dao Throne on the same “main branch.” Dao Thrones from other branches would only be useless to them.

But the Great Record’s sentence “almost all True Monarchs want the Dragon Qi Seed” was very thought-provoking... Did this mean the Dao Throne represented by the Dragon Qi Seed was different from other Dao Thrones?

Gu Chengming questioned the Great Record, but it did not respond.

【The Zhou Rites Heavenly Rectifying Art was quite dissatisfied: This technique completely ignores the Three Obediences and Four Virtues. It should be dragged into the Hat Trial Court and given a good thrashing with a belt.】

【The Cangxian Wine Sword Art deeply agreed.】

Gu Chengming was somewhat helpless. Although he also really wanted to interrogate the disobedient brat of a technique, now was clearly not a good time.

He started walking, slowly heading inward from the center of the stone hall.

The Dragon Qi on all four sides flowed along the walls, and there were faint, low hums beneath the ground he stepped on. After walking about twenty paces, the densest mass of Dragon Qi in front of him slowly parted, revealing a narrow entrance behind it.

Gu Chengming stood still, his pupils shrinking slightly.

He had thought this stone chamber would be empty, but a figure was standing right in the middle of it.

The figure had its back to him, its frame slender, with a familiar curve to the shoulders. A sky-blue long robe was bound by a quite sophisticated silk cord at the waist.

The hair was also familiar, with a familiar sprig of osmanthus tucked into it from behind.

Gu Chengming’s heart gave a violent thud.

—Elder Yu?!

No, it wasn't Elder Yu. Was it an illusion?

The figure turned around at the sound. Upon seeing him, the corners of her eyes curved up. “Oh?”

The person tilted her head, her tone carrying a bit of unexpected joy, perfectly matching the way Elder Yu usually sounded when she suddenly encountered a rare guest.

“I thought no one else would come in.”

She smiled and took a step toward Gu Chengming. “Little friend, how did you get in?”

Gu Chengming didn't move. The Qingxin Art of Love activated on its own.

【Maintain clarity under any circumstances!】

In the next instant, the figure of “Yu Wenqiu” before Gu Chengming’s eyes was directly punctured, and the sky-blue robe dispersed.

What entered his vision was a mass of black mist whose shape was completely indistinguishable.

The black mist paused for a breath, clearly having noticed something as well.

The same voice from before emerged from within the black mist, though the tone had changed slightly. It no longer carried that lazy quality mixed with a bit of a smile that Yu Wenqiu had, but was instead a more unfamiliar and quite surprised tone:

“What kind of method is this? To actually be able to break my Sword Reflection Mirror.”

The few strands of Dragon Qi that were originally swimming along the stone chamber’s walls all froze in this instant.

Gu Chengming said nothing. His left hand silently gripped the sword hilt at his waist, and he pinched a white jade talisman between the fingers of his right hand.

The mass of black mist stood quietly in place, as if waiting for him to answer. Unfortunately, Gu Chengming had no intention of responding to it.

It let out a low, somewhat regretful “Ah,” as if sighing over a small disappointment that could have been a good chat.

“Forget it.” Its voice drifted over slowly. “Since little friend is unwilling to speak—”

The Dragon Qi on the four walls of the stone chamber suddenly surged backward.

A towering aura, pressing from bottom to top and from all directions simultaneously, crashed toward Gu Chengming.

Within the deepest part of that aura, the black mist converged into the shape of a hand.

The hand pressed directly down. Gu Chengming activated the Red Dust Phantom Step almost by instinct, and the phantom left in his place blocked the descending hand for a brief moment.

It was this hair’s breadth of a gap that allowed Gu Chengming to slip out from under the hand.

...

Damn it, a point-blank burst.

Gu Chengming slipped out from that descending hand and cursed fiercely in his heart.

Are all True Monarchs this sneaky?

His original plan was clearly a smurfing match: sneak in first to see what was going on with the Dragon Qi Seed, and if something was wrong, retreat and consult with Ji Yixi on the next step. He hadn't expected a Sixth Realm expert to be squatting in this “fish pond,” and for the opponent to go for a point-blank burst the moment they met, not even bothering with the etiquette of an exchange.

What was even more unexpected was that the Fengtian Grand Array hadn't reacted at all... Ji Yixi and he had made all sorts of arrangements to prevent the array from being accidentally triggered, but looking at it now, this Daqian truly only screws over its own people.

The mass of black mist was still chasing him, and karmic threads were biting hard at his back. He had made seven or eight turns but still couldn't shake them off.

He flipped his hand, and the artifact at his waist, refined from the remains of the Inverse Cause Lotus, silently lit up. The moment his spiritual sense touched the artifact, Gu Chengming used “escape from the depths of the Royal Court” as his directive.

Leap!

Within a breath, he was standing outside the Royal Court. The nine tiers of jade steps beneath him were shrouded in an even thicker twilight, and the lamps on the corner towers of the Imperial City in the distance were lighting up one by one. The True Monarch hidden in the depths of the Royal Court didn't follow immediately, but the previous “attack” did.

The Unborn Lotus could only allow him to skip the process; it couldn't skip the karma that was already locked onto him.

In the next breath, blackness splashed from the direction of the Royal Court into the air, shrouding toward Gu Chengming.

Just as Gu Chengming was startled and about to use his trump card, the space in front of him seemed to freeze.

The black mist pressing down from above stopped before him and then dissolved like water.

A figure had appeared before him at some unknown time, moon-white as of old, with flowing clouds as before.

Gu Chengming was stunned, then saw the slightly reproaching and aggrieved look in the eyes of True Monarch Liuyun Suyu.

“Fortunately, I arrived just in time.”

She sighed softly. “How could you charge into such a dangerous matter alone again?”

Gu Chengming finally breathed a sigh of relief. The figure before him gave him a great sense of security. However, hearing True Monarch Liuyun Suyu’s slightly angry words, he still said “I didn't know” in his heart.

He had thought it was a smurfing match, but then a True Monarch suddenly appeared and went for a point-blank burst. Who could withstand that?

But he didn't dare to actually say that out loud. He just respectfully cupped his hands. “...I have made the True Monarch worry.”

True Monarch Liuyun Suyu felt somewhat helpless and also a bit pained. She moved her gaze from his face to the surging Dragon Qi at the Royal Court, and her expression gradually became solemn.

She murmured, “The Dao-Supplementing Jade... this is going to be trouble.”

Gu Chengming looked up. “True Monarch, this is?”

Liuyun Suyu glanced at him, and that “reproaching and aggrieved” look in her eyes added a few more points.

This child of hers had truly dived in without understanding anything. Those words she used to nag and remind him of—that “all matters involving Dao Thrones must first have their source investigated”—he probably hadn't taken a single word to heart.

However, she also seemed somewhat clear about Chengming’s slightly reckless character and explained patiently: “The Dao Throne, the Dao-Supplementing Jade, is also the source of the Daqian Dragon Qi... it is a Dao Throne that does not exist on any main branch.”

Gu Chengming was slightly startled and suddenly realized.

Advancing from the Sixth to the Seventh Realm required a Dao Throne on the same main branch as a guide. Dao Thrones on different branches were useless to a True Monarch. But what if it were a Dao Throne that wasn't on any branch?

Liuyun Suyu seemed to hear the question in his heart. “Because it does not stand on any branch, any True Monarch, after attaining their own branch’s Dao Throne, can supplement the Dao-Supplementing Jade into it.”

“No matter which main branch you have attained, no matter which rank you are missing on your branch, it can fill it.”

Gu Chengming’s heart skipped a beat.

—Holy shit, there are even wildcards for Dao Thrones.

He suddenly understood the weight behind the Great Record’s previous sentence, “almost all True Monarchs want it.”

The Dao-Supplementing Jade itself might not be the strongest Dao Throne, but it was the cheapest and most precious “patch” in the world. No matter what anyone was missing, it could step in and be that “something.”

For something that everyone would be a bit envious of, Daqian actually just displayed it so openly in the capital?

Was it that the previous Daqian was strong enough to ignore all covetous gazes, or was it truly just reckless for tens of thousands of years?

As Gu Chengming was thinking this, the surging strand of Dragon Qi deep within the Royal Court suddenly lit up.

It was the Fengtian Grand Array! The lights above the entire Imperial City lit up, and a bronze bell chimed heavily from the direction of Tianshu.

Immediately after, appearing from who-knows-where, three auras arrived one after another through the air. All were True Monarchs.

This was the true meaning of what Liuyun Suyu had called “trouble.”

The auras settled.

On the palace walls, a figure appeared in each of the three directions. The one to the east was a woman wearing a green cloth Daoist robe, with a withered peach branch tucked into her hair. Her hands were empty and her lips didn't move, but with every step she took, the tiles on the palace ridge spontaneously cracked with a very fine fissure. She was known as True Monarch Wangyan.

The one to the west was so thin she was almost skeletal, wearing a white robe, but the hem of that white robe was soaked for a section by something that could not be clearly identified as pus or water. When she raised her hand, her joints creaked, and a piece of flesh was clearly missing from her palm. She was known as True Monarch Huiyi.

The one from the north arrived last. He wore a sky-blue long robe with a beautifully woven silk cord at his waist. His face broke into a slight smile toward Gu Chengming, revealing a familiar bit of playfulness.

“Little friend.” He cupped his hands toward Gu Chengming. “We meet again.”

It was the True Monarch of black mist who had attacked Gu Chengming deep within the Royal Court, known as True Monarch Baixi.

The four figures each occupied a direction. True Monarch Wangyan glanced at Liuyun Suyu. She didn't open her mouth, but her voice landed in everyone’s ears.

【Today has good wind and a good moon. It seems we are all here.】

True Monarch Huiyi shook out a flower petal soaked in corrosive liquid from her sleeve. She pinched it with her fingertips, and the petal turned to ash, the ash turned to mist, and the mist spread along her feet.

“Since we are all here, let us discuss.”

True Monarch Baixi smiled and gathered his sleeves. “The Dao-Supplementing Jade is right there. What you all want in your hearts is precisely that.” He tilted his head, his gaze meaningfully landing on Liuyun Suyu. “Surely Fellow Daoist didn't come today to share a piece of this pie too?”

Liuyun Suyu moved Gu Chengming half a step behind her. “I have no intention of participating in this matter.”

“It would also be best if you all do not stop me.”

The peach branch by True Monarch Wangyan’s temple trembled slightly again, and the whispers in the fissures of the palace ridge tiles spread out from her side once more.

【Naturally we won't stop you; your intention is to protect someone. We also have no wish to form a grudge with a Fellow Daoist who has attained the Dao on the Unfettered River.】

True Monarch Huiyi nodded, and True Monarch Baixi smiled, a trace of wariness flashing in his eyes. “In that case, we shall not consider Fellow Daoist Suyu.”

He raised his hand and reached toward the depths of the Dragon Qi. “Let us proceed according to the rules.”

Gu Chengming’s expression was quite subtle behind Liuyun Suyu. He thought to himself that everyone seemed quite afraid of Senior Liuyun; it seemed the path of time was universally recognized as troublesome.

But then again, it was true. The path of time not only had broken mechanisms and a perverted playstyle, but even if you died, you might not truly be dead. If you truly formed a grudge, you probably wouldn't even be able to sleep peacefully.

Liuyun Suyu seemed to sense this lapse in his concentration and apparently misunderstood something, explaining via voice transmission: “At the beginning of Daqian’s founding, there was an unwritten old covenant. Once the Dragon Qi Seed is detached from the Royal Court, it will return to heaven on its own.”

“But if a True Monarch can take it before it returns to heaven, then it counts as that True Monarch’s opportunity.”

Hearing this, Gu Chengming was truly a bit speechless.

Should he say that founding emperor of Daqian was free-spirited or just careless? To set such a rule that would obviously lead to disaster... logically, this kind of rule was either giving people a handle or it was fishing...

Wait, fishing?

Gu Chengming’s heart stirred, and a subtle premonition surfaced in his mind.

That Emperor of Daqian was like a dead man, and the Fengtian Grand Array had been active for so long, yet no True Monarch of Daqian had come out.

As far as he knew, the Director of the Imperial Observatory was a True Monarch, and that Master was also a known True Monarch. Logically, it shouldn't be that not a single person had shown their face by now.

Could they really be fishing?

...

The three parties stood silently on the palace ridge, with mutual constraints between the three corners and their natures countering each other.

—Whoever reached out first would be suppressed by the other two corners together.

But this “mutual lack of action” was merely on the surface.

True Monarch Baixi’s sleeve fluttered in the wind. A strand of silk from the Floating Life Painting had already silently crawled out of his sleeve, following the night wind, the tile fissures, and all “invisible” angles, inch by inch toward the surging mass of Dragon Qi deep within the Royal Court.

His actions on the field were just a feint. His true methods had already been placed months ago.

That strand of silk from the Floating Life Painting entangled a corner of the Dragon Qi Seed.

In the next breath, that Dao Throne, which was detaching from the foundation of the Royal Court, was gently hooked by this strand of silk and was about to drift toward his direction.

Seeing this scene, True Monarch Huiyi frowned in alarm and anger. “You already meddled with the Fengtian Grand Array!”

True Monarch Baixi didn't even turn his head. “Everyone is avoiding the Great Calamity; how could I be an exception? It’s just that while you all are avoiding the calamity itself, I have taken an extra step to avoid all of you.”

His fingers reached out, touching that suspended Dragon Qi Seed.

The Dragon Qi Seed trembled slightly, appearing to resist, or perhaps just struggling instinctively.

The peach branch by True Monarch Wangyan’s temple shook violently three times, and True Monarch Huiyi’s plague-mist erupted for an inch.

But both were a step too late. True Monarch Baixi had no idea how long he had been preparing this move; even Liuyun Suyu hadn't noticed when his silk fell.

The Dao-Supplementing Jade Dao Throne was about to enter his sleeve.

Right at this moment, Gu Chengming’s Unfettered Freedom Art unexpectedly began to operate.

He felt his entire body suddenly not belong to him. He was startled, and before he could react, an aura used his body to cross an unknown depth of karma and reached out a hand from a period of time that had long since ended.

That hand used the Unfettered Freedom Art, used Gu Chengming, and used the shaking Dragon Qi of Daqian at this moment to pull itself from a certain “past” moment into the “present.”

Gu Chengming cried out in shock in his heart, but he couldn't even utter a single word.

...

At the same time, the three figures in the center were still in a standoff.

True Monarch Wangyan, Dao Throne: Babbling Branch. She was once the First Seat of an immortal sect’s Enforcement Hall but suffered a qi deviation while studying the path of “Words Becoming Law,” discovering that speech itself could distort reality and karma. After betraying her sect, she traveled everywhere, using words as blades; she could save all living beings with a single word or curse a True Monarch to death with a single phrase.

True Monarch Huiyi, Dao Throne: Death Flower. Originally a grandmaster of the medical path, in order to break the boundary between life and death, she tested poisons on herself, merging filth and vitality to refine an unsullied yet unclean ghostly dharma body. Her physical body was half-rotten and half-alive; she could disperse into a plague-mist or converge into a humanoid form.

True Monarch Baixi, Dao Throne: Floating Life Painting. Those who attained this Dao Throne could weave, perceive, and even interfere with the dreams and deep-seated thoughts of living beings, performing their methods between reality and illusion. During a fight, there were often no flashes of blades or shadows of swords, yet the opponent had already fallen into multiple layers of illusions or heart demons, making it impossible to guard against.

They were opponents to each other, and because their strengths were equal, they didn't dare to act rashly, forming a state of mutual restraint between the three parties.

And now, right at the moment before True Monarch Baixi was about to seize the Dao Throne and this state of mutual restraint was about to collapse.

One of the corners fell.

...

“True Monarch Baixi.”

Gu Chengming watched his own hand pierce through True Monarch Baixi’s chest and pull out the other’s heart. He saw the other’s expression of disbelief and despair, and his mouth uncontrollably spoke the next sentence:

“What an interesting junior.”

Then, the hand that had stopped in the center of True Monarch Baixi’s chest cavity was slowly withdrawn.

The blood of a True Monarch pattered onto the ground.