Chapter 730

「……」

Yan Lanting suddenly rose to his feet, the aura of the Great Luo Immortal Sovereign sweeping like a tidal wave through the hall.

Indeed, not a single monk of the Puti Sect is any good!

They betrayed Nan Yang so easily.

If I didn't misperceive, the aura leaking from this young monk is identical to that of the black dog back then—meaning this man's life was saved by Nan Yang at great risk.

I once thought Master Qianbi's Transformation into Beasts was too demonic, and even defended this man's cause—now I see he deserves every bit of suffering!

If this remark spreads, whenever any disaster strikes, officials of Da Nanzhou and Zhan Yao Si will instantly blame Nan Yang.

He's a true savior, saved Da Nanzhou more than once—why should he suffer such injustice?

"Don't lose your temper!"

Lady Lady Feng Xi sensed something was wrong and quickly stepped in front of Yan Lanting.

She stopped him, but when she looked again at the monk in the hall, her expression was filled with shock and complexity.

Though she had little contact with Nan Yang, everyone had come to understand his carefree nature—for instance, when he first appeared before them, he had unilaterally slain the monkey demon of Elder Yu Chi's sect.

But even so.

Lady Lady Feng Xi never imagined that beneath Nan Yang's shocking acts—guarding Songfeng Prefecture and seizing the Bodhisattva's Great Scripture—he had quietly done something even more terrifying.

Bodhisattva… Immortal Sovereign…

These titans capable of shaking the heavens and earth had perished without the Divine Court's knowledge.

So our earlier belief that the Three Sects' turmoil had subsided was merely the calm before a far greater storm!

For a moment, even Lady Lady Feng Xi, wanting to ease the tension, opened her mouth but found herself speechless.

In contrast to Yan Lanting, Ye Lan initially instinctively gripped her sword hilt, but after a moment, her lips tightened and her fingers trembled slightly as she released the blade at her waist.

Compared to others, she understood Shen Yi better and knew he never misjudged a person.

Master Zhikong's words now were almost certainly spoken on Shen Yi's orders.

She simply couldn't understand: whether as a Zhan Yao agent or as the current General of the South, Shen Yi owed the Divine Court nothing—indeed, he had gone far beyond his duty—so why shoulder all the burden alone?

「……」

Yang Mingli stared blankly for a long time, his face still tinged with anger, but his mind spun dizzily; his arms weakly propped on the table, his whole body appearing dazed.

Originally, the Three Sects intended to breed and pit their juniors against each other like poisonous insects, while gradually eroding the Emperor's standing among the mortal masses.

To accomplish a silent dynastic transition.

But after the true third-rank masters perished, this calamity became a slaughter capable of overturning heaven and earth—its brutality far beyond anything previously imaginable.

When those Bodhisattvas and Immortal Sovereigns no longer valued their lives, the sheer terror of their power was unimaginable.

If Yang Mingli had still hoped to promote General Nan Yang to intimidate the Three Sects' juniors and delay Da Nanzhou's chaos, waiting for the imperial court to devise a new solution, there might have been a glimmer of hope.

But now, with both sects disregarding even the Celestial Gods and going all out, breaching Da Nanzhou would be as easy as crumbling dry straw.

The eight demon sovereigns led by Nan Huang were the decisive strike the two sects were determined to land.

Now the sword had reached his brow—Yang Mingli realized he could do nothing but watch helplessly as his third eye was pierced through.

"Alas!"

He closed his eyes, not blaming Shen Yi.

After all, Shen Yi meant well.

A warrior capable of slaying Bodhisattvas and Immortal Sovereigns—no matter the method—need not fear domination by all under heaven; at least, self-preservation was assured.

Yet General Nan Yang still chose to stand by the Divine Court.

He merely hastened the inevitable fate of being slowly boiled alive.

"Old man… old man shall report to the imperial court—see if we can summon aid."

Yang Mingli shakily returned to his seat, took out paper and brush; that hand once capable of stirring clouds and rain now trembled so badly he could barely hold the brush.

All in the hall watched the aged man, their faces pale.

Though none knew what had truly happened in the imperial court—perhaps other Dazhou regions were in greater peril, or perhaps the court was gathering strength for a final desperate stand—everyone understood: if aid were possible, it would have come already. Why send another letter?

Though they thought this, no one dared interrupt him.

The thoughts of those in the hall were strangely unified.

That was: do everything one must do, fight like a mantis until the last drop of blood is spilled, then wait for the unstoppable cart to roll down…

……

A rush secret letter drifted lightly into the majestic imperial city.

The Emperor had not attended to court affairs for years, lost in drunken oblivion within his garden and wine pools.

It is said a sovereign must not seek immortality—once the thought of eternal life takes root, his heart no longer holds the lives of all under heaven.

Who could have imagined that the former revitalizing monarch now cared for nothing but the word "immortal"?

Not the immortal of the Dao, but the immortal of the Immortal Division.

Only matters concerning the Immortal Division could enter this secluded, deep garden.

"Your Majesty."

Lin Shuya hurried to the edge of the wine pool, unfurled the letter, and bowed to the back immersed in the liquid.

"Speak."

The old man, missing a front tooth, his face flushed with drink, turned his head drunkenly, masking the pain in his eyes with a barely perceptible frown.

Human hearts cannot be tested.

Even the most upright man, faced with a treasury of gold and silver left unguarded, might still harbor a fleeting thought.

If gold and silver are so tempting, how much more so the immortality that even gods, Buddhas, and Immortal Sovereigns crave?

The mighty imperial aura is that treasury of gold—day after day, the Emperor faces it; all he need do is reach out, and he may seize transcendence beyond the Dao.

But he merely stayed drunk all day, never once leaving this place even half a step, and yet never once extended his palm.

It was a kind of torment, one with no end in sight.

"A report from Dananzhou: General Zhennan Shen Yi has consecutively slain third-rank powerhouses of the Puti Sect and the Sanxian Sect. Now Nan Xumi has truly flared up, and by some means has gathered a full eight Yao Zun, intending to borrow their hands to breach Da Nanzhou with the speed of a sudden thunderclap."

As the head of the Xian Department, Lin Shuya's composure in the face of matters was basic training.

Yet within his calm tone at this moment, there seemed to be some other meaning.

"What is your view?" The Human Sovereign listened quietly, was silent for a moment, then closed his eyes once more.

"Logically speaking, slaying powerhouses of the three sects is by no means something that can be accomplished in a day; it requires advance planning. Yet the imperial court has received no word of it. Though the letter deliberately omits this matter, Shuya suspects... Yang Mingli himself may not even know — it was done privately by that General Nanyang."

Lin Shuya's gaze swept over the letter in his hand. Though he used a tone of speculation, the confidence in his voice was absolute.

"I did not ask you that."

The Human Sovereign let out a long breath, seeming utterly at ease in his soak: "Who is Nanyang?"

"It is the General Zhennan you newly appointed last time."

"Oh—"

The Human Sovereign drew out his voice, as though his brain had been soaked ruined by the wine, his thoughts growing somewhat muddled. Only after a long while did he say: "So it is him..."

"Are there still men in court who can be dispatched to Dananzhou?" This sovereign of restoration had now reached such a muddled state that he no longer even knew which powerhouses the Divine Dynasty possessed.

"The other three continents have already fallen more than half. Nearly all the court's powerhouses have been dispatched there. The reports recently coming from Dananzhou have all been good news, so no men were held back for them."

"Is that so."

The Human Sovereign answered lightly, and after that there was nothing more.

Lin Shuya lifted his eyes. Shenzhou was already in utter chaos, its cause traced to a single whim of the man before him, yet upon hearing these reports, the man could still put on this air of having nothing to do with it.

There is no grief greater than a dead heart.

"He did, after all, do these things on his own..." Lin Shuya pressed his lips together and brought up Nanyang once more.

"On his own?"

The Human Sovereign opened his eyes again, looked over with curiosity, and a meaningful glint rose in his gaze.

"Shuya knows there is no room left for maneuver between the three sects and our court, but we need time — even if it is only an empty title — to stall."

In the end, Lin Shuya still spoke his mind.

What now held the three sects in check was not those powerhouses of the Divine Dynasty, but the greater righteousness under heaven.

So long as the reasoning would not hold, they would not dare act rashly.

In short, if Dananzhou were willing to make this matter public, own up to the fault openly and frankly, then offer up that Nanyang as the price, and finally proclaim to the world a plea for aid to the three sects.

Even if those eight Yao Zun were all summoned by them, so long as they did not wish to leave a bad impression in the hearts of Li Min and the common folk, that lot of Bodhisattvas and Immortal Sovereigns would have to pinch their noses and slaughter those Yao Zun all over again.

Naturally, doing so would not only cost a capable general, but would also leave the common folk with the impression that the Divine Dynasty was incompetent — playing right into the three sects' hands. But at least... Dananzhou would not fall into that state of utter devastation.

"Tch."

The Human Sovereign withdrew his gaze, stared quietly at the sky, lost in unknown thoughts.

"What does Your Majesty think?" Lin Shuya clenched his teeth and stubbornly pressed on.

"I think he deserves a reward."

The Human Sovereign suddenly burst into a wide grin, his laughter grating, as though tinged with mockery and contempt.

In the eyes of this aged lord of the mortal realm, Lin Shuya was as though stripped bare — no scheme could be hidden from him.

"Let alone killing Bodhisattvas and Immortal Sovereigns — if one day he can slay a true Buddha, I shall still enfeoff him as General Zhen Guo!"

As the man's words fell, Lin Shuya's face had already flushed crimson.

Were the lives of those common folk truly so worthless in the eyes of these lofty ones!

Even if they all perished, was it still less important than venting a single breath of their anger?!

"Shuya."

Just then, the Human Sovereign reined in his laughter, his gaze briefly clearing: "Do you think those pigs in the pen, butchered at will — do they count as alive?"

Faced with this inexplicably off-topic question.

Lin Shuya paused briefly, then frowned and said: "Alive is alive, dead is dead. So long as one can still move, eat, drink, and relieve oneself, naturally one is alive. This is the way of heaven and earth — how could it be changed by a single notion?"

"..."

The Human Sovereign listened quietly, fell silent once more, and only after a long while gently waved his hand: "Go."

Jianyang Prefecture, Shen Zhai.

Shen Yi had, unusually, lingered in the courtyard for many days now. Apart from contemplating the shattered fruit-position left behind by the Five Directions Bodhisattva, he spent his days idly sitting beneath the locust tree.

Master Zhikong had already hurried back.

But strangely, even though the news had already been delivered to the Zhan Yao Si of Dananzhou, as of now, no one had yet come to Jianyang Prefecture.

This could only prove one thing.

That was, the people of the past — even if there was still a sliver of hope — would still strive to grasp it. Shen Yi was that wisp of hope in their eyes.

Yet faced with the present situation, even General Nanyang, it seemed, could change nothing.

Better each to do their own part, lest in such circumstances they still stir up mutual displeasure and create the awkward scene of pushing responsibility onto one another.

"They do not think this is your responsibility, my lord — it is simply that the pressure is too great."

Master Zhikong, worried that Shen Yi might misunderstand, softly explained a word from behind him. After all, he too rarely saw Shen Yi in such an idle state.

"It is nothing."

Shen Yi picked up his tea cup and lightly moistened his lips.

He paid no heed to such things.

Besides, the present situation left no time for stray thoughts.

Thinking of this, Shen Yi closed his eyes once more.

These days of seeming idleness were actually because he had to maintain contact with the Thousand-Legged Black Dragon brothers at every moment.

The brothers' hurried reports gradually formed a picture in Shen Yi's mind.

Within the Seven Saints' Marsh.

After the Puti Sect people departed, the Southern Emperor did not rush to arrange how to breach Dananzhou.

Instead, he settled the newly arrived several Demon Sovereigns separately.

Immediately following were day-and-night conversations without rest.

As if they were old friends who had known each other for many years, rather than a demon army temporarily gathered to attack the Divine Dynasty.

From their origins and backgrounds, all the way to their life stories.

He even asked the Thousand-Legged Black Dragon brothers why they concealed their forms with bizarre methods, and the brothers brushed it off with the excuse of long-standing habit.

Fortunately, the Southern Emperor had no intention of digging to the very bottom.

Once they had chatted enough, he finally revealed his true intent.

"This Emperor will not hide it from all of you."

"Ever since I returned from the Savage Wilds, I sensed something was off—every time, no matter how I arranged things, that Divine Dynasty always seemed to receive word in advance."

"I am not saying that among all of you, or among us, there are spies for that Divine Dynasty."

The Southern Emperor's expression was calm, but the bodies of the Thousand-Legged Black Dragon brothers, hidden behind their Void-Concealment methods, subtly stiffened for a moment.

"After all, this information could have leaked from my side, or it could have leaked from that great sect. Time is pressing, and I truly have no strength to distinguish one by one."

"But please also bear with me."

As his words fell, several streaks of flowing light swept out from the Southern Emperor's body and landed in the hands of the various Demon Sovereigns: "These are my arrangements for each of you, one portion per person. You may only read your own, and absolutely not a single word may be revealed between one another."

"If something goes wrong at that time…" The Southern Emperor's gaze gradually grew cold: "This Emperor will at least have a thread to follow, and know where to begin."

"…"

Within Jianyang Prefecture, Shen Yi slowly opened his eyes.

Even he had not anticipated that, with victory all but assured, the Southern Emperor could still be this cautious.

Truly worthy of being an old demon who has survived until now.

(End of chapter)