Chapter 459: The So-Called Heavenly Emperor

The past?

Heavenly King Guangnan remained confused. But Old Man Bai seemed to have thought of something; his expression froze, his body trembled, and he then revealed a look of contemplation and sudden realization.

"So that's how it is, no wonder..."

Bai Laotou sighed aloud, having figured many things out.

"What on earth is going on here!"

Heavenly King Guangnan frowned, somewhat annoyed. Why was he the only one who didn't know? Or was it that these two fellows were colluding to play tricks? Were they treating him like a fool?

"Guangnan, don't be impatient, listen to me explain in detail."

Bai Laotou spoke up, slowly recounting his own encounter.

And incidentally, re-introducing Li Heng.

After a while, Guangnan finished listening and stared blankly, lost in thought.

"You say the True Realm has fallen, the Heavenly Court is shattered, the Immortal Gods have fled in defeat, and that we are all already dead, and now are merely images of the past, with my corpse still nailed to the Heavenly Gate?"

Heavenly King Guangnan spoke slowly, asking his question.

"Guangnan, I know you don't believe it; in fact, I don't want to believe it either. But as it stands, this is the high-probability truth. You can also sense that Fellow Daoist Li isn't lying, right?"

Bai Laotou said with a sigh.

"Heh, who said I don't believe it?"

Guangnan sneered.

"No wonder I've always felt something was wrong lately, always staying near this broken gate and never thinking of entering the interior of the Heavenly Court. So that's what it was."

"You aren't surprised?"

Now it was Bai Laotou's turn to be surprised.

"Surprised by what? Even if my path is hopeless, I am still a Half-step Divine. As the saying goes, the sky can collapse before one's eyes without one changing their expression. You old man still have a long way to go."

Guangnan curled his lips and said.

Old Man Bai's expression remained calm, because he was trying his best to suppress his anger to prevent himself from coming to blows with Guangnan the next moment. He cursed inwardly: was this bastard really putting on airs now?

"Well said, well said."

"It's just that I don't know who it was that started slacking off the moment their Dao foundation was damaged."

He was very "in agreement" with Heavenly King Guangnan's words.

Heavenly King Guangnan gave a muffled snort.

"This isn't just a matter of the Dao foundation, but even if I told you, you old man wouldn't understand! And now is not the time to talk about such things; let's solve the situation at hand first."

He indicated that he couldn't be bothered to pay attention to this stubborn old man.

"This Li Heng... hmm, Fellow Daoist Li, I roughly understand your words. But to be honest, I'm not afraid of you laughing at me, I don't want to admit this point, even though I did indeed feel that something was wrong."

Heavenly King Guangnan said frankly.

"Then which point does Fellow Daoist Guangnan not want to admit?"

Li Heng raised an eyebrow and said.

"I know I am dead, but I will not admit that I am dead."

He spoke an extremely contradictory sentence.

"Fellow Daoist Li Heng, you should also know that for those of us in the Half-Step Sacred Realm, it is very difficult to die completely. As long as I do not admit that I am dead, if there is a persistent thought, there will be an echo; then one day, I will be able to return again."

"The Immortal Gods who fled in defeat that you speak of will also return again."

Li Heng was thoughtful upon hearing this.

This sentence sounded familiar; Su Xian at the Tianjian Sect had seemingly said it to him before: if there is a persistent thought, there will be an echo. But perhaps this was a characteristic of practitioners of the Eternal Dao?

As long as one does not admit to being dead, one will not truly die.

One day, one will be able to return again.

Even if that possibility is less than one in a billion.

"Hmph, it sounds nice. But since ancient history, I have never seen a single Immortal God who truly died completely succeed in returning. All that talk of 'Eternal' is a lie."

Bai Laotou curled his lips and poured a bucket of cold water on them.

Heavenly King Guangnan was not angry upon hearing this; he spoke leisurely.

"Bai Laotou, this is the reason why you cannot advance any further. You do not believe in the Eternal, so naturally, you cannot truly exist eternally and ascend to the Sacred."

"Heh, the Void is infinite; who says there is only this one path? I don't believe that only this path of stubborn reasoning is the one that works!"

Bai Laotou was also dismissive.

Li Heng felt somewhat surprised in his heart.

This Bai Laotou was truly an outlier.

As it stands, the path taken by the Immortal Gods of the Heavenly Court is the Eternal Dao, yet this Bai Laotou does not believe in the Eternal? Could it be that he is walking a different path?

He sensed the aura of this Bai Laotou and noticed that the aura of the Eternal was not pure, but it was not mixed with the aura of other paths, such as the infinite breadth of the black hole essence.

Clearly, unless his sensing was wrong, this Bai Laotou was only in the initial stage of opening his own path and had not found a concrete, effective path independent of the Eternal.

Because of this, his desire to investigate weakened significantly.

After thinking for a moment, he temporarily pushed this question to the back of his mind, then looked at this Heavenly King Guangnan and spoke slowly.

"I can understand the words of the Fellow Daoist; after all, this is the Eternal. But as for what you said later, that the defeated and perished Immortal Gods will also return, what is the basis for this?"

An individual returning is one thing.

You want a group to return as well?

Especially a group of Immortal Gods who were crushed head-on by various Calamities? Play is play, and joking is joking, but don't make a joke of the Calamity. When you want to return, the Calamity is watching.

"Basis, confidence?"

Heavenly King Guangnan laughed and looked at Old Man Bai beside him.

"You old man, didn't you tell him?"

"Even if I told him, he wouldn't necessarily believe it."

Bai Laotou curled his lips.

This person's methods could interfere even with His Majesty's own arrangements, so he might not necessarily hold much awe for His Majesty.

Hearing this, Heavenly King Guangnan looked thoughtful.

"Since that is the case, then I shall tell you, fellow Daoist. Our basis and our confidence both stem from our Majesty, the Heavenly Emperor of the Immortal God Heavenly Court; he can absolutely lead us to return once more!"

"For instance, this segment of the past right now is very likely something intercepted by His Majesty. Although I do not understand the calculations involved, it must contain profound meaning!"

Hearing such a resolute tone, Li Heng raised an eyebrow slightly.

"Is that all your basis is?"

"You should know that even with that Majesty of yours present, the Immortal Gods still suffered defeat and fled. With such things having already occurred, do you still think your Majesty is reliable?"

Heavenly King Guangnan sighed and shook his head.

"I finally understand why this old man didn't tell you; it's because you, fellow Daoist, are unfamiliar with our Majesty—with that supreme power of the number one in all the heavens."

"But I can tell you, yes."

"Even though the Immortal Gods have already fallen and fled once, we still believe in His Majesty. You may interpret this as arrogance, but to us, that is our unique confidence!"

"His Majesty alone is the Absolute Reason!"

Li Heng's expression was somewhat strange.

So this Heavenly Emperor's prestige is this high?

Just now, Heavenly King Guangnan's words sounded like he was saying Li Heng was unfamiliar with the Heavenly Emperor's power, but if one savors them carefully, one can also detect dissatisfaction regarding his lack of awe.

Awe for that Heavenly Emperor.