Chapter 1629

"I've come, Old Madman."

"You You Shangren slowly approached, looking at Old Madman."

"Old Madman's hair was disheveled, his body curled up in the dog kennel, his body constantly trembling, his mouth constantly speaking."

"\"Dead, all dead...... \""

"His robe was filthy, dragging on the ground, covered in all kinds of filth, exactly like an old beggar, hunched over, seemingly unaware of You You Shangren's arrival."

"He was talking to himself."

"\"It's me who killed them. \""

"\"It's me...... \""

"\"My fault...... \""

"His face was filled with a pained expression, almost contorting."

"You You Shangren stared at Old Madman, feeling somewhat emotional, and asked, \"Old Madman, is this the future you plotted? \""

He naturally knew the so-called "plan" of the old madman.

In order to plot a path of survival for Chi Yao Xianzi, he thereby doomed Empress Yao Xi and doomed Yang Tianming.

Although the entire Yaochi Dynasty is now under the control of Chi Yao Xianzi, it has in fact long since fallen, becoming a subordinate force of the Longevity Sect.

Empress Chi Yao indeed survived, but she sacrificed too many people.

The great clans and major powers that had poured endless effort into the Yaochi Dynasty back then were all blood‑washed by Empress Chi Yao, which also led them to join the Reincarnation Ancient Court.

Within the Yaochi Dynasty, the human race sees no hope.

He is a rational person, a cold person; all his choices are made for the Dao, and although he sees these circumstances, he does not intervene.

"It is obvious that the present Yaochi Dynasty is not what you want to see." Master Youyou sighed, "If time could be turned back, Empress Yao Xi would certainly not be able to tolerate Chi Yao Xianzi."

The old madman showed no reaction, continuing to mutter to himself.

"Dead, all dead……"

Master Youyou did not attempt to wake the old madman.

Given his attainment, he had long guessed something, but he never told Chi Yao Xianzi, nor the Guile Clan.

Although Master Youyou is quite absurd, he also has a bottom line.

He sat down, directly on the floor of the doghouse, not minding the dirt on the ground.

"Old madman, do you know? I have probed into a mysterious matter. Do you want to know?"

The old madman showed no reaction, continuing to mutter as if gone mad.

Master Youyou continued, "I have investigated that although Yang Tianming and Empress Yao Xi are dead, they seem to be in a kind of undead state, which is a very mysterious matter I cannot comprehend."

As the saying goes, when a person dies, it is like a lamp going out.

But he once, at the moment of Yang Tianming's and Empress Yao Xi's deaths, obtained a thread of their Dao Resonance.

This Dao Resonance is not a dead, cold silence, but rather an indescribable state.

Upon these words, the old madman's body exhibited a barely perceptible tremor.

In fact, deep within the old madman's Sea of Divine Sense, a trace of consciousness still remains.

It is a golden little figure, still wearing a yellow robe, faintly bearing an imperial aura, except that his face is filled with regret.

Once, this thread of his consciousness was seen through by Lord Lu Zun, but Lord Lu Zun did not expose him in front of others.

And Master Youyou knows him, and he has not truly gone mad.

Even, the secret technique he used to conceal this thread of consciousness was given to him by Master Youyou unintentionally, allowing him to evade the joint slaughter of the Guile Clan, the Longevity Clan, and the Gu Clan.

Needless to say, this secret spoken by Master Youyou moved him greatly.

Imprisoned on the Yingzhao Star for tens of thousands of years, he also seems to have understood a principle.

That is, the fates of Chi Yao and Yao Xi are incompatible like water and fire.

"Wanting it all" is impossible.

But he still cannot bear to part with Chi Yao.

Even if Chi Yao treats him like a dog.

At this point, Master Youyou continued, "Since the Longevity Ancestor revealed that Lord Lu Zun is in the Chaotic Star Sea, I have been observing the Heavenly Dao. I have discovered that the Dao is undergoing an extremely strange change."

"This is a world‑shaking change, not merely a fluctuation in the river of time, but a transformation within the ultimate source of the Dao itself."

The old madman sensed the subtlety within it.

He suspects that it is precisely because of Lord Lu Zun.

No one in the world knows that Lord Lu Zun is actually in the Azure Cloud Star Sea.

Master Youyou took out an ancient book, the "Chronicles of Lord Lu Zun," which records some events from the ancient era of Lu Xuan.

He has these things deeply etched in his mind by his profound learning.

He holds Lord Lu Zun in the utmost reverence.

Just because.

The Dao he has painstakingly sought finds a perfect embodiment only in the legendary Lord Lu Zun; others, even Butterfly Yue or the Longevity Ancestor, have many flaws.

"Perhaps everything is the work of Lord Lu Zun?"

Master Youyou stared fixedly at the old madman's eyes, trying to get an answer from his reaction.

"Where exactly is Lord Lu Zun?"

"What exactly is he plotting?"

"The Longevity Ancestor says Lord Lu Zun is at the Dao Sovereign realm, but I don't believe it."

"Even if, conceding ten thousand steps, Lord Lu Zun were at the Dao Sovereign realm, his methods are not limited to this."

The old madman remained silent.

Venerable Youyou put away that ancient book and continued asking, "Old Madman, if you could go back to the past and change all of this, but you can only choose one among Yao Xi, Yang Tianming, and Chi Yao, what would you choose?"

Surely, after being imprisoned on Yingzhao Star for so many years, you already knew their fates clash.

In the Sea of Divine Sense, the Old Madman's tiny phantom form trembled incessantly.

His eye sockets were a little moist.

Yes.

How should he choose?

Venerable Youyou said, "Your feelings for Chi Yao aren't just because of her mother, are they? Back then, that woman, famed as the first beauty of the Yaochi Imperial Dynasty, made you lose your mind, until she died giving birth to Chi Yao. After all these years, you still haven't forgotten her, have you?"

Wouldn't doing this be somewhat unfair to Yao Xi?

Even such an aloof person as him feels that many of Chi Yao's actions are too outrageous, too excessive.

What's more, what about others?

The Old Madman remained silent.

There was a tacit understanding between the two.

Neither of them spelled it out.

Venerable Youyou stood up, "Old Madman, pretending to be mad for too long might actually make you mad."

This remark seems like a reminder, and also like a rebuke.

Although the Old Madman appears to be suppressed here by the Longevity Sect and the Strange Clan, he is actually self-imprisoned here.

But what good does that do?

Venerable Youyou left, continuing to wander in the void, forgetting that he had once come to Yingzhao Star, and continued to investigate the changes in the Azure Cloud Star Sea.

I'm really curious—who exactly made a move against the Azure Cloud Star Sea?

His mastery surpasses mine!

His expression once again became lost in ecstasy.

Like a child, he was obsessed with learning, immersed in it.

……

The Longevity Sect's damaged garrison.

Empress Chi Yao and the Destroyer Elder, Elder Luo Chong were still discussing the final matter: "Since we've come, let's just wipe out the Azure Cloud Alliance outright."

……