Chapter 412: The Truth of Great Zhou (2/3)

"Situation, truth? Then why don't you tell me."

Li Heng smiled slightly.

Hearing this, the uninvited guest, who had shrouded himself in a hooded black robe and hidden within the shadows, smiled and spoke.

"I can naturally inform you of the truth and your situation, honored guest. But as you surely know, there is no such thing as a free lunch in this world; if you want to know something, you must pay for it."

"An equal exchange, that is fair, is it not?"

"It seems you still want to obtain something from me."

Li Heng replied calmly.

"No, how can you say that? It is merely an exchange."

The black-robed person spread his hands, then crossed them in front of his chest, looking quite imposing; all he lacked was a chair to sit on.

"Then what do you want?"

Li Heng did not mind, smiling slightly.

"I want you to help me deal with the Great Zhou Empress."

"Kill her."

The black-robed person stated his condition flatly.

Li Heng was thoughtful.

"Is there a possibility that I could capture you right now and hand you over to the Great Zhou Empress, and still obtain the truth and learn of my situation?" he said slowly.

The black-robed person shook his head and chuckled softly.

"The Great Zhou Empress does not know any truth."

"She is merely a lucky little girl, after all."

"Moreover, honored guest, although you possess a Supernatural Ability that even I cannot see through, that does not mean you are qualified to capture me. As an honored guest, you are ultimately too arrogant."

"So that is how it is? But you should know, it was the Great Zhou Empress who 'saved' me from the Black Fog," Li Heng said with a smile.

The black-robed person frowned inwardly and spoke with displeasure.

"And so what? You have only just met her. Besides, according to the information I have gathered, your own power is sufficient to walk out of the Black Fog, is it not?"

If it weren't for the fact that that girl Wu Wushuang valued this person highly and that he had such achievements, making him feel that this person must have some capability, he would not have appeared. But now, is this person trying to toy with him?

Li Heng shook his head.

"No, you misunderstand. I mean that the price must be increased."

The black-robed person was stunned. Increase the price?

He scrutinized Li Heng carefully. A man who looks like a refined gentleman but is so greedy? Thus, he shook his head in his heart, feeling disdain; he felt Li Heng was not worth grooming and would surely perish in the future.

However, since he had already appeared, he could not just leave.

Greedy is as greedy does; he still had some resources.

"Speak, what do you want now?"

"But you must consider carefully. Being able to learn the truth of Great Zhou and your own situation is already a life-saving grace for you. If you greedily ask for more, it will easily invite disaster."

The black-robed person spoke eerily.

"Let me set the conditions?" Li Heng asked with a smile.

"That's right, name whatever you want. I have everything here, whether it be supreme treasures, spiritual medicines, or beauties."

The black-robed person was full of confidence.

"Then I want your life."

Li Heng spoke calmly.

The black-robed person was startled, instantly distancing himself from Li Heng. He looked at him with great vigilance and spoke coldly, his words laced with anger, "What, you really want to make a move on me?!"

"Is that not allowed?" Li Heng laughed nonchalantly.

"It must be tiring to spread non-existent rumors these past few days, right?"

This black-robed person undoubtedly belonged to the faction opposing the Great Zhou Empress, Wu Wushuang. The various rumors that had been spreading throughout the city these past few days must have originated from this black-robed person's faction.

"It seems you have already guessed it."

The black-robed person sneered.

"But it seems you do not know a common truth: playing dumb when you know better. You could have cooperated with us and escaped with your life, so why seek your own death?"

"So why do you want to deal with the Great Zhou Empress?"

Ignoring the black-robed person's threat, Li Heng asked.

"Ignorant fool, why should I tell you now?"

"Just wait, you will face retaliation!"

The black-robed person flicked his sleeves and turned, wanting to leave.

Now that he had appeared and gauged Li Heng's attitude—that he was an enemy, not a friend—he had to return quickly to plan accordingly and erase this unexpected variable as soon as possible.

As for why he did not act now.

Naturally, it was because he was not an idiot.

Acting here without any preparation would easily attract the attention of the Great Zhou Empress, and he could not see through this person and might not be able to kill him, so for the sake of safety, he could not act rashly.

Then, he discovered he could not get out; the entire building was sealed and suppressed by an eternal, extremely heavy power.

"I told you, I want your life."

Li Heng sat on the chair without moving, smiling leisurely.

He hated these people who acted mysterious the most. If he hadn't wanted to probe for some information just now, he would have slapped him away long ago.

And now that this black-robed person was no longer revealing information.

That meant it was time for him to take action and suppress him.

"You cannot keep me here."

The person in the black robe was not panicked; they stated this sentence calmly, and in an instant, a monstrous power erupted, a Nine Heavens True Dragon faintly emerging behind them, their aura climbing step by step.

In the end, it actually reached the terrifying level of a Six Tribulations Heaven and Earth.

It was even stronger than that Lord of Great Zhou, Wushuang.

Li Heng was somewhat surprised.

If the person in the black robe had such strength and still opposed that Great Zhou Empress, then how did that Great Zhou Empress manage to sit firmly on the imperial throne? Could it be by relying on some strange things like national Luck?

The next moment, the person in the black robe spoke, confirming Li Heng's thoughts.

"You sensed it, didn't you? You cannot keep me here. Even if that girl appeared and joined forces with you, you still couldn't keep me. That girl only obtained the imperial throne through good fortune; otherwise, she would have died long ago!"

"And you only have two choices now. Either release the seal here and let me leave, or I will erupt with my full power right here and kill you on the spot. On this point, I really must thank you; after all, it has been a long time since I used my True Reality strength."

They gave a low shout, and that True Dragon lunged at Li Heng.

The True Dragon traveled along the threads of the Time-Space River, its head in the previous second and its tail in the next second, with every part existing at a different point in time, making it difficult to capture.

Li Heng did not pay it any mind, remaining lost in thought.

True Dragon and Phoenix.

Interesting, a struggle between dragon and phoenix?

However, in this Great Zhou, the phoenix should be the more powerful one. After all, that Divine Bird that saved Great Zhou from the Calamity was closer in relation to a phoenix; it might even have been a phoenix itself.

Before he could think too much.

A strange sensation emerged in his mind, and several segments of strange memories appeared before his eyes: his past self, his self from the previous second being struck by dragon breath, and his future self, his self from the next second, being strangled by the dragon tail.

Li Heng reacted and was somewhat surprised.

The True Dragon Dharma Image condensed by this person in the black robe could not only travel between the threads of the Time-Space River, but could also launch attacks from different points in time? No wonder they were so confident.

If it weren't for his previous experience traveling through time and space in Xianshi Tiandi, and even having endured a strike where his own future was locked, he might have been flustered at this moment.

After all, this perspective of being attacked from both the past and the future was a very strange feeling; it would be hard to adapt if one were encountering it for the first time.

Of course, although so much had been said.

It was still just flashy and showy.

Li Heng sighed, not caring about the past and not watching the future; remaining only in the current time segment, he extended his palm and traced a marvelous trajectory through time and space, directly grabbing the True Dragon by the neck.

With a slight exertion of force, this True Dragon Dharma Image shattered instantly.

"Flashy and showy methods are not as good as grasping the present."

Li Heng commented.

The person in the black robe groaned, as if they had suffered a backlash from the shattering of the True Dragon Dharma Image; they were shocked in their heart, seemingly not expecting that the True Dragon Dharma Image they had condensed would be broken so quickly.

Although they hadn't used their full strength just now, they had used eighty percent of it; how could it be crushed so easily? Moreover, they had used a rare time-space method from the True Realm, yet this person had reacted so quickly?

It was truly surprising.

The Time-Space River within the True Realm was incomparably vast and its rules were strict; at the Creation Realm level, it was impossible to replicate the kind of time-space operations Li Heng had performed in Xianshi Tiandi within the True Realm.

"I admit I underestimated you."

The person in the black robe said slowly.

"So what!" Li Heng was a man of few words.

"You don't think I came here in my true body, do you?"

The person in the black robe laughed.

Li Heng smiled slightly.

"There is actually no difference."

He tapped lightly on the Void, pulling a thread from the Void; one end of the thread was connected to the person in the black robe, and the other end disappeared into the Void, connecting to the other side of time and space.

The expression of the person in the black robe changed abruptly in secret.

It was actually their Causality thread?

After they had refined this Body Outside of Body, they had always been hiding the Causality between themselves and their true self to avoid being completely exposed. Yet, this person's attainment in Causality was actually so high that they could grasp their Causality even while it was hidden?

What kind of old monster was this!

"Who doesn't know how to practice a few more clones and open a few more aliases these days? Is that something to brag about? While you were still refining clones and opening alternate accounts, decent people had already started practicing the Causality Secret Technique; one grab and you're caught, and if the clone dies, the true self dies all the same."

"On the road of involution, you are still far behind."

Li Heng spoke earnestly and sighed slightly.

What is wrong with the young people these days?

Opening an alternate account and putting on a mask makes one foolproof? Thinking too much.

The person in the black robe was somewhat embarrassed and angry.

They had thought they were cunning enough, but why did this guy, who looked so young, have more schemes than them? And he actually mastered such a dirty Causality Secret Technique.

"You think you have me cornered? Since you have discerned the relationship between me and my true self, it means I no longer need to hide. In this way, I can use the power of both the clone and the true self without restraint."

"Can you withstand the combined power of the two?"

They sneered and warned Li Heng.

"Then you are welcome to try."

Li Heng smiled.

Looking at Li Heng's confident appearance, the person in the black robe felt uneasy. They were confident that the combined force of their clone and true self would allow them to temporarily break through to the Seventh Tribulation Heaven and Earth and sweep away everything.

But who knows what methods this person could pull out?

"Fine, you win, name your price. If you really had me cornered, you wouldn't be wasting so much breath on me."

The person in the black robe said indifferently.

"A child who can be taught."

Li Heng smiled slightly.

The black-robed person was furious in his heart; to think he was called a child? Very well, once he left this place, he would use a thousand ways to kill this person, and even if that dead bird appeared, it wouldn't be able to save him, he swore it!

"What exactly is the truth and the situation you mentioned before?"

Li Heng got straight to the point, without any dawdling.

"The truth? Heh, the truth is naturally this Great Zhou. Do you think Great Zhou can avoid the Calamity truly just because it is located on a Space-Time Tributary?"

"That is merely a reason to fool fools. If the Calamity can occupy the main channel of the Time-Space River, why can it not occupy a Space-Time Tributary? Even if the Space-Time Tributaries are infinite, so what? Certain Terrors of the Calamity still possess the power to span infinite time and space!"

To these words, Li Heng spoke calmly.

"Please stop your complaining."

"Otherwise, I can only send you to your death early. Or you may try to see if your so-called power of the true body plus the power of the avatar can rival my methods. Right, clever fellow Daoist in black robes?"

The black-robed person's tone faltered, but his current situation was indeed not good; he was the fish on the chopping block. He could only speak sullenly, his voice laced with intense dissatisfaction, getting straight to the point. "Actually, the root cause is that Great Zhou is inside the body of a dead bird!"

"Thinking about it, it is ironic. Proud as Great Zhou was, its past glory shone upon the surrounding ten thousand Worlds, and it could be called a superior dynasty. Even to the Immortal God Heavenly Court of the Central Great World, our Great Zhou counted as a vassal king."

"But what about now?"

"To think it has fallen to the point of having to build a nest inside the corpse of a dead bird?"

"Pitiful ants, a pitiful kingdom indeed."

His words were shocking.