Chapter 499: 473 Speculation

When Tang Zhao walked out of the Zizai Tower gate, the sun was already high, and the sunlight shone warmly, making the clouds bright; it was early spring, with a gentle breeze and beautiful scenery.

He felt a moment of trance, as if he had not yet fully withdrawn from the Zizai Realm.

The restoration project of Baiyujing was still in full swing, and most Sword Heroes were busy arranging the pavilions, having already scattered far away. Nearby, only Tan Jianxia was standing in front of the door, talking to Ling Baoyu; hearing the door sound, both turned their heads together.

In an instant, both of their expressions were filled with astonishment.

Ling Baoyu touched her face and said, "Ah, you... how did you become even better-looking again?"

Tang Zhao almost laughed out loud and said, "As expected of you. Your focus is always on this; I didn't go for a disguise, so how could there be a question of looking good or not?"

Tan Jianxia, however, said, "Baoyu is right; you are indeed different. Before, when the light shone on you, it was only very harmonious. Now, you seem to have become the sunlight itself. A Sun of Sunshine."

Tang Zhao smiled and said, "Sister Tan is too kind, though I have indeed taken a step closer to the sunlight."

Ling Baoyu clapped her hands and said, "Did you succeed?"

Tang Zhao smiled and nodded; the harvest was indeed quite satisfying to him.

Compared to the progress in his realm, finding the path for the future was even more important.

Ling Baoyu did not know the specific situation, but she knew Tang Zhao's pursuit and asked directly, "Then the Sword Hero..."

Tang Zhao nodded again, and only then did Ling Baoyu heave a sigh of relief and say, "Congratulations, Sword Hero Tang."

Tan Jianxia also offered congratulations repeatedly, looking at Tang Zhao with a very subtle difference in her expression.

In fact, it was not just Tan Jianxia; all Sword Heroes were like this. They were naturally grateful for Tang Zhao's kindness to Baiyujing and were friendly from the bottom of their hearts, and they would not reveal the slightest contempt for Tang Zhao just because he was a Sword Guest.

But a Sword Guest is a Sword Guest, and a Sword Hero is a Sword Hero; there is a chasm between the two. Even a so-called "half-step" Sword Hero is the same.

A cultivator who has stepped onto the path of a Sword Guest has an understanding of realms that is deep in their instincts, and it is impossible for there to be no influence at all. Just like Tan Jianxia just acknowledging a younger brother; if Tang Zhao were already a Sword Hero, the two would be on equal footing, and with a layer of kindness between them, no matter how understanding she was, she would not have directly spoken of the words of sister and brother, but would have had to wait for Tang Zhao to speak himself. But now, a Sword Hero acknowledging a Sword Guest as a younger brother is her kindness.

Now that Tang Zhao had truly become a Sword Hero, it was naturally different.

Tang Zhao instantly closed the gap in status between himself and the remaining living Sword Heroes of Baiyujing, leaving only pure affection and righteousness.

The relationship between Ling Baoyu and Tang Zhao was the purest; they had become teammates back in Xishan, ascended to Baiyujing together, fought against the Wangliang together, and truly fought side by side, having long cast aside worldly status to become true friends. Even when Tang Zhao later revealed his true face, it did not let Ling Baoyu's nature as a face-con suppress their friendship, which shows the foundation was solid. She was simply happy for her friend's progress.

Ling Baoyu said, "I heard you are going back to your hometown? You have urgent matters and still don't say it straight? Why be so falsely polite with me? What if you delay important matters? You hurry back; I have a token here, and you can come back whenever you want. It just so happens that the two cities of Lingxiao and Haiqiao were not destroyed, and there are teleportation platforms inside. It is very convenient for you to come back; you just need to remember to come back to see me, to see us, when you are free."

Tang Zhao smiled and nodded, and here Xiangyangzi turned over and said, "Leaving already? Don't forget what I entrusted to you."

He was talking about finding the successor of Dongjun.

Tang Zhao's heart stirred; he pulled Ling Baoyu and smiled apologetically at Tan Jianxia.

Tan Jianxia was clever and delicate, immediately understanding, and smiled, "I have to go tidy up the Zizai Tower; I just took on the job but am chatting here, not doing a lick of work, and people will call me lazy." Having said that, she took her leave.

At this time, only Xiangyangzi and Ling Baoyu remained with Tang Zhao; they were both people he trusted and people directly related to what he was about to say, so he said softly, "I have a guess, which might be wild thinking. You two listen first. The key to the matter lies with that Bai Ni."

"I have several records of Bai Ni here; one is the words she wrote on the wall at Qianqiu Tower, another is a note she left in the Zhugong, and the last is the words carved on the coffin lid. Piecing several items together, I can probably put together a line."

Ling Baoyu let out a sound and said, "Leaving words all over our Baiyujing, did she think she was here for a tour and carving 'I was here' everywhere?"

Tang Zhao said, "According to the chronological order, the one at Qianqiu Tower is of course first. She recorded her own experience, saying she was a little Disciple beside Ju Dongjun, and came to take revenge on Baiyujing..."

Ling Baoyu said, "Revenge?"

Tang Zhao repeated, "Yes, revenge. She believed that the Ruyi Sword harmed Ju Dongjun, so she wanted to work from the inside and out with outside forces to let Baiyujing be destroyed."

Ling Baoyu was trembling with anger and said furiously, "What kind of joke is this? How could His Highness harm Dongjun? On what grounds is she slandering and spreading rumors?"

Xiangyangzi said from the side, "That is true; the situation in that battle was intricate and complex, the enemy was strong, and our own people made mistakes, but in the end, it was not the Ruyi Sword that harmed him. Otherwise, they wouldn't have placed Dongjun's cenotaph in Baiyujing."

Tang Zhao said, "This is definitely a misunderstanding, and it is a conspiracy. Bai Ni was also deceived by others, because she believed at the time that Ju Dongjun was still alive."

Ling Baoyu was only puzzled, but Xiangyangzi had already spoken bluntly, "Impossible! Absolutely impossible. The fall of Dongjun is certain and beyond doubt, and by the time that woman came, it had already been decades."

Ling Baoyu asked curiously, "What? Dongjun is dead?"

This was the information gap; Ling Baoyu, like Tang Zhao before entering the Zhugong, knew nothing about Dongjun.

Tang Zhao explained slightly, "The previous Dongjun had already fallen, and a cenotaph was built in the Zhugong. But Bai Ni did not know; she even received orders from Ju Dongjun himself, telling her to participate in the battle of Baiyujing. However, in the first note, she had already revealed some doubts."

"At that time, she did not meet Dongjun in person, but received Dongjun's orders through a familiar channel. Dongjun said he was seriously injured and was hiding in a secret place to heal. But she sensed herself that Dongjun seemed to be in the Human World. She also wondered why Dongjun did not return to Tianwaitian but had to be in the Human World?"

"But the channel for transmitting orders was correct, so she believed it and acted according to orders, and because she deeply hated Baiyujing, she even performed beyond expectations, adding quite a bit of harm, such as causing destruction from within..."

Ling Baoyu spat and said, "She truly deserves to die ten thousand times."

Tang Zhao said, "This is the first section of the notes; she said herself that writing down this process was to let future generations know that the destruction of Baiyujing was deserved."

Ling Baoyu said angrily, "I think she is the one who deserved it!"

Tang Zhao nodded and said, "She indeed deserved it, and she said so herself. In the Zhugong, she already knew she was wrong; she discovered that the one who had been giving her orders was not Dongjun, but the enemy of the real Dongjun. It should be that in the battle where Dongjun died, her contact channel fell into the hands of others."

Ling Baoyu asked, "Was it the Wangliang?"

Xiangyangzi replied, "No, although I don't know how they contacted each other, Dongjun's things could not have fallen into the hands of the Wangliang; how would the Wangliang appear on the Qianxian? It should be the Eternal Night Court."

Ling Baoyu let out an "Ah," and immediately thought of the Eternal Night Court that appeared at the end—so they were the masterminds?

Tang Zhao said, "She wrote herself that she met with Hua Jianxian and spoke openly, and had already clarified the truth, but the troops were already at the city walls, and saying anything was useless. Baiyujing was plunged into a siege, and it was hard to save it that day; she was determined to die in battle at Baiyujing to atone for her sins."

Ling Baoyu said, "But she..."

Tang Zhao said, "She did not die in battle in the end; I guess it should have been Hua Jianxian's arrangement. But at that time she still didn't know; the main purpose of her writing that text was to tell future generations that her previous sensing was not wrong, that the Jinwu Sword was in the Human World. She hoped future generations would go find it, and only by finding it could Dongjun be re-established. She gave the location she sensed, and also combined some clues given by the Ruyi Sword to make an analysis, analyzing a general situation, reminding everyone to go find it as soon as possible, otherwise..."

Xiangyangzi said happily, "So she knew where the Jinwu Sword was? That's great; it will be easier for you to find it."

Tang Zhao smiled bitterly, "It's not that easy. It would have been fine if we had gone to find it back then; the longer it drags on, the harder it is. Now I can no longer go alone; I have to go back to report to the Lord and think of a way..."

Xiangyangzi asked curiously, "What a coincidence, could it be that the Jinwu Sword is in..."

Tang Zhao answered briefly, "In Yunzhou."

Xiangyangzi said "Oh," and Ling Baoyu was thoughtful, saying, "That makes sense. Back then, His Highness also left behind the two words 'Yunzhou'." She said in a few words the message the Ruyi Sword didn't finish saying before throwing her down at Mingzhu Bay, and said, "You can look for the Jinwu Sword if you want; if I can help, we can go together. But what does Dongjun have to do with His Highness?"

Dongjun is not her father, so she doesn't care where Dongjun went.

Tang Zhao said, "So I have to talk about my guess. The clear text Bai Ni left behind was all about Dongjun, but the text she finally carved on the coffin lid, besides regret, also contained pleas. She explicitly asked for help from Dongjun, asking people to seek help from Dongjun. But she clearly knew Dongjun was dead, yet still asked people to seek help; it might be that she hoped that even if it was seeking help from a later Dongjun, it would work, and then borrow the power of Dongjun to save something."

Ling Baoyu said, "Isn't it seeking the power of Dongjun to save Baiyujing?"

Tang Zhao said, "One can think so, but I feel it might be more than that. If the time she left was late enough, she should have known that the people here were all dead, and what remained were only buildings; even if Baiyujing was shrouded in Shadow, it was equivalent to a 'relic'. Would she really make it a knot in her heart before she died and desperately carve it on the coffin lid? And she wrote 'seek help', not 'revenge'; only the living need help, right? She wanted to seek the power of Dongjun, and what she wanted to save..."

He took a deep breath and said, "Could it be the Ruyi Sword herself?"

Ling Baoyu was struck as if by lightning, then reacted and said, "Wait, you mean to say..."

Tang Zhao said, "Yes, to not even know who the New Dongjun is, yet be certain about seeking help from the East Pillar of State, naturally implies feeling that the East Pillar of State's power is effective, perhaps because the East Pillar of State's power is an absolute restraint against the enemy? I suspect, though it is regrettable... that the Ruyi Sword should be with the Wangliang."