Chapter 419: The Secret of King Cangqing (3/3)

"This... this is impossible, this... this shouldn't be..."

Looking at everything before it, this little golden dragon was somewhat flustered; the words it spoke carried a tremor, and it even began to stutter, finding it hard to accept the facts before its eyes.

"His Excellency King Cangqing, a Sacred existence surpassing the Creation Realm."

"Dead?"

"If this Divine Bird is truly King Cangqing."

"Then that is indeed the case."

Wu Wushuang responded softly, fearing she might agitate the little golden dragon.

The little golden dragon fell silent, no longer possessing that lively, jumping spirit; its entire True Spirit became dejected, and the golden light it radiated dimmed by several shades.

Li Heng was calm, looking at the Divine Bird before him.

The corpse, or rather the body, of this Divine Bird was unimaginably vast; otherwise, it could not have contained the Great Zhou, which was one light-year in size. Moreover, unlike that previous Dragon Corpse, it had not rotted or been polluted by the Calamity; it still shone with brilliant radiance, and one could vaguely see five-colored light circulating within.

Inscribed on its surface were several Great Dao Runes; the energy of these Great Dao Runes connected with one another, forming a field that protected the Great Zhou and faintly communicated with the Space-Time Tributary.

It seemed to be the Time-Space Array that Wu Wushuang had spoken of.

But that was all; there was no sign of life.

It spread its wings, as if soaring through the Void.

Yet it remained motionless.

"You said the True Realm has fallen, and the Immortal Gods have already been defeated."

"Is that true?"

Suddenly, the little golden dragon looked at Li Heng, speaking in a faint voice, staring at him; those pupils shone with a glimmer of hope, as if it wanted to obtain a different answer from Li Heng's mouth.

Upon hearing this, Li Heng merely replied with a question.

"What do you think?"

The little golden dragon fell silent once more.

Li Heng could not be bothered to comfort this dragon and spoke indifferently.

"I think you should hand over that Secret Letter now; after all, you have already seen that King Cangqing is dead, and that Secret Letter serves no purpose. Furthermore, Wu Wushuang, who has a connection to King Cangqing, is right here; she should be qualified to obtain the contents of this Secret Letter."

"I know, I know, I know all of this!"

"But I truly cannot fathom what His Excellency King Cangqing encountered? To allow her to perish here? According to the information, wasn't this Excellency intending to return home to visit her homeland?"

The little golden dragon was bewildered, murmuring to itself.

As a member of the Dragon Clan, its relationship with this King Cangqing of the Phoenix Clan was not close, and it should not have been this devastated. But it also clearly realized that if King Cangqing, who was above the Creation Realm, had died, then how could the other powerhouses of the Heavenly Court have been spared?

It was likely just as this Li Heng had said.

Was everything over?

It fixed its gaze on Wu Wushuang again.

"You said His Excellency King Cangqing died here to save your Great Zhou? Then what exactly did your Great Zhou encounter at that time, and why did such a situation occur!"

Wu Wushuang shook her head, then answered softly. "Heavenly Calamity appears, Strange Monsters emerge, the common people die, the Divine Bird appears, Heaven and Earth are cleared..."

All she could answer with were the historical records documented by the Great Zhou.

The common people die, the common people die...

Li Heng chewed on these three words repeatedly to the side, increasingly able to perceive the cruelty and despair contained within these light, floating words.

He suddenly spoke.

"Wu Wushuang, Prince Qi, now that the matter is settled, you should tell me the truth about the Great Zhou that you know."

Wu Wushuang and Prince Qi were startled upon hearing this.

They looked at each other, somewhat surprised; they had not expected that the other party also possessed a portion of the truth regarding the Great Zhou. They just did not know if the extent of his knowledge was sufficient.

The little golden dragon also watched them.

It also wanted to know what had happened back then.

The two were silent for a moment, and Prince Qi spoke first.

"Brother Li, you should still remember our previous conversation; I said I was still alive, and that was no lie. But why would I emphasize this point?"

"Naturally, because some people are dead."

"Then how many people are dead?"

"Almost everyone in the Great Zhou is a dead person. Including Shuiyue, Huoling, Zhou Mingyi, and Tian Xuzi who are present here—they are all already dead, yet they do not know it themselves."

The expressions of Shuiyue and the others changed drastically upon hearing this.

Zhou Mingyi shouted in anger.

"Prince Qi, you've gone mad again!"

"No, I am not mad; you are indeed dead!"

Prince Qi said decisively.

"Cut the crap, I clearly feel that I am living perfectly well; my flesh and blood, True Spirit, and soul are all completely normal! If you want to die, don't drag me into it!"

Zhou Mingyi cursed angrily, and the other three did not look well either.

To be told suddenly that they were dead.

No matter who it was, it would not be easy to accept.

"Heh heh, that is exactly the problem."

"If you are not dead, why do impurities exist within your bloodlines, things that do not belong to the Human Bloodline? And those things are precisely what are being radiated by this Divine Bird's body."

"The dead spirits are deceived, so they believe they are alive."

Prince Qi said calmly.

"Since that is the case, then why are you still alive?"

Upon hearing the words of the Prince of Qi, Zhou Mingyi carefully searched his own bloodline and indeed discovered things he clearly could have perceived but had always ignored, yet he remained unwilling to accept it and spoke thus.

"That is naturally because I am different!"

"I was a dead man before, but I am alive now!"

The Prince of Qi spoke proudly.

"When you were all still immersed in deception, I had long since perceived the truth within it; it is a pity I only succeeded by half a step, otherwise how could I have become so crazed!"

"Third Uncle, stop talking."

Suddenly, Wu Wushuang frowned and spoke.

"No, this is the truth. But rest assured, although I do not know how it came to be, you seem different from them; you are not a dead man, you are alive just the same, and your state is even better than mine."

The Prince of Qi looked at Wu Wushuang and said.

"Third Uncle, please, really, do not say any more."

Wu Wushuang shook her head helplessly.

"Third Uncle, you believe you can transition from death to life by relying on the True Dragon bloodline passed down through Great Zhou, but have you ever thought that doing so is actually the true path to self-destruction?"

The Prince of Qi was startled upon hearing this. "What are you saying!"

Wu Wushuang sighed and spoke.

"It seems all the questions are beginning to be filled in; now let me answer that final truth."

She looked at the crowd.

Except for Li Heng, who was still deep in thought, everyone else looked at her with rapt attention, hoping she could provide an answer.

"Actually, what the History Book says is correct."

"Heavenly Calamity appears, Strange Monster emerges, the common people die..."

"In the past, when the Calamity descended and the monsters appeared, the entire Great Zhou and the subjects of Great Zhou all died; this is exactly what 'the common people die' means. But in the end, Great Zhou was incredibly fortunate, and the Divine Bird descended into the world."

"The Divine Bird used her own life to save Great Zhou, weaving an illusory dream for the already deceased Great Zhou. Furthermore, because the power of the Divine Bird is so great that it can confuse Reality and Illusion, all the people of Great Zhou within the range of the Divine Bird's power are counted as alive."

"Therefore, Third Uncle, your reliance on the True Dragon bloodline to transition from death to life is truly a path to self-destruction; to leave the illusory dream without authorization will only result in being corrected by Reality and turning back into a dead spirit."

Wu Wushuang stared at the Prince of Qi and spoke slowly.

"But, but..."

The Prince of Qi's face was blank, somewhat unable to believe it.

"Are we to live in a dream forever?"

In the end, this was all he could manage to squeeze out.

He had thought he had seen through the truth, yet in the end, he actually knew less than the young girl he had always wanted to protect.

"You underestimate the power of the Divine Bird. Her power is still exerting its effect; as long as Great Zhou still exists and continues to exist under the radiation of the Divine Bird's power, the dead can eventually be reborn."

"Just as this little True Dragon said."

"The power of the Cangqing King can transcend Life and Death."

Wu Wushuang answered slowly.

Finally, she looked at Li Heng.

"Fellow Daoist Li, this is the truth you wanted. Are you satisfied?"

Li Heng smiled and shook his head at this moment.

"The general picture is clear, but there are still some questions."

"For example, why would the Divine Bird help Great Zhou?"

"Perhaps the Divine Bird was kind-hearted," Wu Wushuang replied.

"For example, why do you know so clearly?"

"This might be the memory inheritance of the Lord of Great Zhou."

Wu Wushuang answered again.

"Fellow Daoist Wu, are you intending to confess now?"

"Why did the Divine Bird help Great Zhou? Actually, is there a possibility that Great Zhou was originally of the Divine Bird lineage and only later transformed into the True Dragon lineage; is Great Zhou actually the hometown of this Divine Bird?"

The little True Dragon beside them was stunned upon hearing this.

He had indeed just said that the Cangqing King was returning home to visit his hometown.

Wu Wushuang nodded, "That also makes sense."

"As for why I know so much, it is actually very simple. I do have a guess here; do you see this Divine Bird body shining with five-colored flowing light?"

Li Heng pointed at the massive Divine Bird body and said with a smile.

Everyone nodded.

Then he pointed at Wu Wushuang.

"Fellow Daoist Wu, could you manifest that Phoenix of yours?"

Wu Wushuang did not decline and nodded directly; the Nine Heavens Divine Phoenix appeared behind her, likewise shining with five-colored flowing light, symbolizing the five virtues.

Li Heng nodded and spoke with a smile.

"So, Fellow Daoist Wu, are you the reincarnation of the Cangqing King, or what?"

Once these words were spoken, everyone present fell silent.

But the next moment, their breathing became rapid.

The Great Zhou Empress is actually the reincarnation of this Cangqing King?

Especially that little True Dragon, who had widened his eyes; he had never even considered this possibility. Could it be that this Wushuang is really not the descendant of the Cangqing King, but a reincarnation!

They could not help but be suspicious; it was too much of a coincidence.

Li Heng felt calm in his heart.

Although that man in the black robe had said back then that the Great Zhou was once a dynasty of the True Dragon, what did that man in the black robe amount to? Was he the Truth? What he said was not necessarily correct.

He had always maintained a skeptical attitude.

Thus, he thought of the Great Zhou in the history of Earth, where the phoenix sang at Xiqi to establish the Great Zhou, which was not a True Dragon. Then he thought of the Wu Zhou of the Tang Dynasty, which changed the dragon dynasty into a phoenix dynasty, with the phoenix gracing the world...

And so, this line of reasoning came to be.

Following that, the appearance of this little golden dragon, and his words, also indirectly confirmed that this line of reasoning of his seemed correct, which was why he had put forward such a conjecture.

Wu Wushuang laughed and clapped his hands.

"Fellow Daoist truly has eyes like torches, but I cannot verify it. Because I do not have memories regarding the Azure King, nor have I been alive since the very beginning of the Great Zhou's birth. Even though various signs indicate that I have a tremendous connection to this Azure King."

Li Heng smiled slightly, "This is actually not a difficult matter."

He looked at the little golden dragon, "You should take out the Secret Letter."

The little golden dragon was stunned; whether hindered by Li Heng's pressure or out of some consideration, he directly took out the so-called Secret Letter, and a multicolored orb of light emerged from within his body.

"This is the Secret Letter; only the Azure King can open it."

The little golden dragon replied.

Li Heng glanced at Wu Wushuang, and Wu Wushuang nodded to show he understood, walked in front of this multicolored orb of light, extended a jade finger, and tapped it lightly.

In an instant, the orb of light slowly dissipated, about to reveal the object inside.

At the same time, a voice rang out.

"We are all finished, run!"