Chapter 1878: Foolish Multitude

"The Golden Flash Plains—sooner or later, the gods will roll back the dust and return." He drew a light breath. "With the gods' might and the power of the Bekaa, humanity simply cannot resist them. Not even Mount Spirit can, let alone you. You have already witnessed the true power of immortals and demons in the Inverted Sea. If you had not taken the Great Ingenuity, borrowed the Great Square Vase to sneak into the Thousand Illusions Consciousness Sea, you would have no standing to duel the Divine Sovereign to the death." "White Brother is too rational."

"What does that mean?" Is this praise or blame? "Overly rational people excel at calculation but easily yield to reality." He Lingchuan's gaze finally carried disappointment. "You see the long-standing poverty and division of the Golden Flash Plains and doubt I can turn it into a wealthy, strong nation; you have grown accustomed to the Bekaa's strength and assume it will endure eternally; you deem the heavenly demons too mighty, so you bow and kneel, not daring to harbor even a heart of resistance."

"White Envoy, White Envoy, you only believe in the 'present,' yet dare not hope for the 'future'! This is called shortsightedness."

Bai Ziqi wanted to speak but held back.

"If the world's order never changes, if strength and weakness cannot interchange, how did the Bekaa rise and establish a nation six hundred years ago? Back then, it went with the flow, so heaven and earth lent their strength; now you act against the current! Do you think it can stop a chariot with a mantis's arms?" He had never said that the Bekaa's founding six hundred years ago was a mistake. At that time, it might have been progress.

But now? He Lingchuan sighed long: "What a pity for such a clever person as you, also blinded and obstinate, persisting in delusion."

Bai Ziqi gave a bitter laugh: "Indeed, we cannot convince each other."

He had known this would be the result. He and He Xiaoyao, their convictions were simply too strong.

He Lingchuan, however, seemed to have seen through his thoughts, shaking his head in denial: "When have you ever had conviction in your heart? You merely take your master's will as the highest command, treat obedience as faith. Do you know why you lost in the Inverted Sea?"

This sentence struck Bai Ziqi's heartache, and he could not help but press: "Why?"

"Your master's limit determines your limit." He Lingchuan said lightly, "The heavenly demons are no more than this, Miao Zhantian is no more than this, even if you are astonishingly talented..."

Even the most astonishingly talented dog is still just a dog.

"Your master's foolishness will ultimately require you to die with him!"

Bai Ziqi fell silent.

In the Battle of the Inverted Sea, the Heavenly Palace was led by him, but ultimate decision-making authority lay in Miao Zhantian's hands.

Miao Zhantian, even if he trusted him, would not fully obey him, thus making several strategic errors—such as judgments on the lower realms, such as judgments on He Xiaoyao.

And as a follower, he could do nothing about it.

Therefore, He Xiaoyao's remark was indeed spot-on.

If he could start over, if he could regain supreme decision-making authority, if he could let go and truly match wits with He Xiaoyao in a game, free from so many interferences and restrictions...

Alas, what ifs? Victory to the king, defeat to the bandit—this has already reached the endgame.

He Xiaoyao still had one correct remark: he had always been adept at facing reality.

He Lingchuan looked at him and slowly said: "If I could convince you, you would still have a path to life; otherwise, I have come to see you for the last time. You know that, don't you?"

Bai Ziqi nodded.

"Then will you submit?"

Bai Ziqi smiled, shook his head, light as clouds and wind.

"No."

He Lingchuan laughed, then refilled his cup: "Indeed, this is the Bai Ziqi I know."

The last cup, the vase emptied.

Bai Ziqi raised his cup, sipping slowly mouthful by mouthful.

This was the last cup of wine in his life, and he could taste a hundred flavors in it.

But first, again, a faint pear fragrance.

Until he finished drinking, He Lingchuan only then rose to his feet.

"Auntie, trouble you to see White Envoy off."

Zhu Xiuer had previously remained motionless, as if fused with a boulder, only now stretching and rising to her feet.

"No." He Lingchuan was about to turn when Bai Ziqi called him back: "For the sake of our acquaintance, trouble the Great Emperor of the Nine Depths to personally see me off."

He did not even glance at Zhu Xiuer.

Foolish myriad beings—how dare they take his life?

He Lingchuan did not refuse; instead, he drew his Floating Life Blade sideways before Bai Ziqi:

"White Brother, any last words?"

Bai Ziqi lifted his eyes, seeing the snow-bright blade reflect his own bloodless, pallid face.

He slowly reached out, tidied his sideburns, adjusted his attire.

As the blade fell, the one standing opposite him was no longer He Lingchuan, but a black-armored ghost-faced figure, as if stepping forth from the Yin-Yang Qingming— the Great Emperor of the Nine Depths! Heaven grew dark.

His life would welcome no further dawn.

……

He Lingchuan walked out of the village, Zhu Xiuer following behind.

Only a small number of captives from the Heavenly Palace team entering the Inverted Sea surrendered; the rest were all slaughtered.

Several newly alive lives, in the blink of an eye, returned to dust.

"Hey, Bai Ziqi debated with you for so long—why just won't yield, preferring to lose his life rather than submit?" Even Zhu Xiuer felt a twinge of regret.

This Bai Ziqi is a talent.

Even Zhu Xiuer could see it—from the start of these two's talk to its end, He Lingchuan had given Bai Ziqi how many chances, how many!

Had Bai Ziqi shown even a hint of wavering, a hint of compromise, he might have survived this trial.

How intelligent he was—how could he fail to sense He Lingchuan's sincerity? Yet he insisted on arguing.

This is refusal, and again and again, from beginning to end, never once wavering.

Does he not know, the more fervent and impassioned, the more he pushes himself onto the dead-end road?

"He has sworn by a lifetime's creed, impossible to shift course with just a few of my words; otherwise, he would be denying his past, denying everything that made him who he is." A man like Bai Ziqi must hold firm convictions—call it "obstinate and unenlightened," "to make such a proud man deny himself—what difference is there from killing him?"

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"Just because of that?" Zhu Xiuer could not understand; she only knew a bad death is worse than a grudging life: "When did you decide to kill him?"

"When he saw the walls of Panlongcheng."

"Huh?" Zhu Xiuer was surprised, she could barely understand.

"They are both walls—his Lingxu City's walls are good, keeping enemies outside, protecting the Lingxu people's health and peace; my Panlongcheng's walls, in his eyes, are prison walls, imprisoning the bodies and minds of Panlongcheng's folk." He Lingchuan smiled slightly, "Clearly the same thing, yet in his heart he insists on applying different standards."

Bai Ziqí spoke so naturally that He Lingchuan understood at once — this mindset was not only deep-rooted, but heartfelt, and could never be changed.

"A Bai Ziqí who refuses to surrender is the fastest blade in the demon's hand, loyal once he acknowledges a master." He Lingchuan let out a long sigh toward the sky. "I admire him greatly, but the Nine Nether Great Emperor cannot tolerate him!"

How could one not feel regret? The person who understood him best was killed by his own hand.

Yet he could not leave Bai Ziqí to the Heavenly Palace, just as Bai Ziqí, given the chance, would absolutely never leave him to this world either.

They were thorns in each other's eyes, splinters in each other's flesh, each hating to destroy the other and be done with it.

They admired each other, but as long as they could raise the butcher's knife, they would absolutely not hesitate.

He Lingchuan also anticipated that Bai Ziqí would not surrender; their final meeting was merely a farewell.

Saying a final goodbye to a former enemy, and to a past of hiding one's light and biding one's time.

That was why Bai Ziqí demanded that the Nine Nether Great Emperor personally see him off.

Using the Heavenly Palace's cloud envoys as sacrificial offerings for the blade — that is the opening chapter of a bloody storm!

Miao Zhantian and the Yao Kingdom have fallen; on the Shanjin Plain, what enemy remains to stop the Nine Nether Great Emperor's steps?

Just then, Wang Fubao came running to report: "Found the wealth the Heavenly Palace left behind — wow, so many xuan crystals!"

Miao Zhantian had made thorough preparations for this trip to the Overturned Sea — artifacts, xuan crystals, manpower — all very substantial.

Earlier, Bai Ziqí had also used a scheme to steal a large quantity of xuan crystals from the Illusion Sect's treasury.

Although successive great battles consumed a great deal, the Heavenly Palace's force could not possibly have exhausted all their wealth. Now is the time for these treasures to change hands.

"That's only a small part." He Lingchuan was very calm. "No rush, there are still several days to slowly collect the spoils."

Besides his Black Armor Army which could still fight with vigor, the Illusion Sect only won a miserable victory in the Overturned Sea battle; the cultivators were all exhausted, some sitting on roadside boulders and falling asleep in a single breath. Now that all combat has ended, there are only three follow-up matters:

Heal injuries, rest, clean up the battlefield.

The Great Fanghu temporarily takes charge of the Thousand Illusions Divine Sea; the Hao Yuan Golden Mirror can then directly connect to the Upper Realm — that is, the minor grotto-heaven most closely linked to reality, where living people reside.

The Illusion Sect force crossed the mirror and returned to the sect's garrison.

Entering the familiar mountain gate once more, everyone felt as if a lifetime had passed.

A shadow flashed by the Wenhui Pavilion, and a massive green ox charged over. Its legs and body were covered in scars, but the wounds had all stopped bleeding.

Elder Liu was overjoyed: "Shituo, younger martial brother!"

Shituo was the only yaoxian elder under Qianhuan, with the lowest rank, only accepted into the sect in the early Middle Antiquity period.

Elder Liu had not seen it appear in the Lower Realm all along, and thought it had already fallen in battle; the fighting in the Lower Realm was also exceptionally fierce, and Xiao Wencheng had not mentioned it either. Only now upon asking did he learn that Shituo, cooperating with the Cave Infant King controlled by the Blood Demon, killed two Heavenly Demons, but was also lightly injured. At that moment a squad of Luodian people happened to infiltrate the Illusion Sect's garrison, wanting to take advantage while the sect fled; Shituo was not about to be polite, happily killing them all.

But this delayed the hour, causing them to miss entry into Yaozi Lake.

At that time Qianhuan and Miao Zhantian were dueling with great enjoyment, and had no time to specially modify the laws for it. So Shituo just patrolled the garrison, incidentally watching the prisoners.

Later when Qianhuan and Miao Zhantian fought to the death in the Divine Sea, Shituo had even less to do with it, and was not summoned into the Lower Realm.

Unexpectedly, it thus escaped a calamity, becoming one of only two surviving Upper Immortals of the Illusion Sect! "Watching prisoners?" Dong Rui asked in surprise. "Where did prisoners come from... oh, that Fire Giant Lizard!"

He remembered — their three-person team and Elder Liu had ambushed Zhao You Shen and Jie Shui True Person in the mine tunnel; Zhao You Shen was killed on the spot, a fragment of his soul taken by He Lingchuan, while Jie Shui True Person was captured by Elder Liu and thrown into the garrison's prison.

This giant lizard with a yellow base and dark red patterns originally lay in the water prison with eyes closed, nurturing its spirit; this extreme cold spring water froze the surrounding stones into a thick layer of hard ice, and the Fire Giant Lizard had to constantly release heat to avoid being frozen into a statue.