Chapter 173: The Lamp Goes Out

"Dad… Dad…"

"Old bastard, come out here!"

"My son is looking for you!"

Wuwei shouted loudly throughout the palace.

Yet, there was no echo in response.

He even ran to the back of the shrine to check if the old man's figure was in the spirit plant garden.

No!

In the spirit plant garden, the once-thick trees had long withered into nothing but bare trunks.

"Where did the old man go?" Wuwei glared at He Pingsheng.

The others also stared at He Pingsheng.

He Pingsheng took a deep breath; he knew this secret could no longer be hidden. He nodded and said, "Fine, I'll tell you—but those uninvolved must leave first!"

There were six people in this room.

Besides He Pingsheng, there were Wuwei, Chongyang, Jianzhu, Yuxuan, and the outsider dressed in purple Daoist robes.

He Pingsheng's meaning was clear.

Wuwei bowed to the Daoist and said, "Sir, please step outside first. We must handle some internal matters. I promise you, not a single item I promised you will be withheld!"

"Very well!" The purple-robed Daoist nodded and left the grand hall immediately.

Now, only those within the inner circle remained.

Aside from He Pingsheng, all the rest were Golden Core cultivators.

"Good. Now you can speak," Wuwei's eyes narrowed as he fixed his gaze on He Pingsheng.

As if afraid he'd flee.

He Pingsheng said, "Although Master publicly declared he had attained knowledge of fate and had sixty years left to live, in truth, he has already ascended to immortality!"

"So that's it!" Before He Pingsheng finished speaking, Wuwei burst out, "The old bastard did say he had sixty years left—but now he's ascended? Did you kill him?"

He Pingsheng gave him a look of utter disbelief. "Brother, do you really think a Foundation Establishment cultivator like me could kill a Nascent Soul?"

"This…" Chongyang added, "Brother, you're joking. Even if it weren't little brother, neither you nor I could do anything to Master!"

A Nascent Soul was still a Nascent Soul—even one nearing death!

"Little brother, continue," Jianzhu also found it implausible that He Pingsheng had killed the old man.

He Pingsheng nodded and continued slowly: "The claims of knowing fate and having sixty years left? They were all lies… more precisely, lies told to you!"

Wuwei said, "Lies to us?"

"Correct!" He Pingsheng said. "He lied not only to you, but also to the Beast Taming Immortal Sect. Master's true lifespan had already nearly expired back then!"

"He lied about having sixty years left to buy the Grand Void Gate sixty years of time!"

"He hoped that within these sixty years, the Grand Void Gate would produce a Nascent Soul to protect the sect!"

He Pingsheng said, "That's the full truth. Believe it or not—it's up to you."

"Good!" Wuwei said. "So the orders issued over the past two years under the Ancestor's name were actually your own, weren't they?"

Wuwei pressed aggressively.

He Pingsheng nodded. "Yes. I issued only one order under the Ancestor's name: promoting Yu Ning and Yuxuan to Elder positions. Big Brother, I see nothing wrong with that!"

Two Elder positions had been vacant; two Golden Core cultivators filled them—and only these two could fill them.

So Wuwei had no grounds to complain.

"Hehe… little brother, you're speaking nonsense!" Jianzhu suddenly spoke up. "I heard the Beast Taming Immortal Sect possesses a divine technique called 【Gazing at Qi】, an extremely powerful art. If the Ancestor had passed, how could they not know? How could they just sit idle?"

"Is there something more to this matter?"

Since the truth could no longer be concealed, He Pingsheng decided to reveal everything at once.

By now, whether he spoke or not made no difference.

He raised his hand and pointed to a golden lamp atop the dais. "Brothers and sisters, do you see this golden lamp?"

Everyone nodded.

"This is the Lamp of Destiny!" He Pingsheng said. "Before his death, Master transformed his entire bloodline, destiny, and Nascent Soul into lamp oil, merging them into this golden lamp."

"This lamp can burn for sixty years!"

"While it burns, it continuously emits the Ancestor's own aura to mask the Beast Taming Immortal Sect's 【Gazing at Qi】 technique!"

"Therefore, as long as we do not spread the news of the Ancestor's death, the Beast Taming Immortal Sect will never know he has perished!"

Upon hearing this, everyone was stunned into silence.

They had never imagined that even in death, the Ancestor had thought only of the sect.

A new wave of respect for the Ancestor rose in their hearts—except for Wuwei.

Wuwei glared fiercely at He Pingsheng. "Little brother, I ask you: before he died, did the old man pass the 【Grand Void Great Mystery Scripture】 to you?"

Swish…

All the others turned their gazes toward He Pingsheng.

The 【Grand Void Great Mystery Scripture】—this was the highest transmission of the Grand Void Gate.

Countless people coveted it.

Though few among them could possibly cultivate it.

"Big Brother…" He Pingsheng remained calm. "Do you know why I ran away that time?"

Wuwei said, "How would I know?"

He Pingsheng said, "I am a Five-Element Spirit Root. I feared the old man would pass the 【Grand Void Great Mystery Scripture】 to you—and that you'd kill me to absorb my spirit roots!"

"Don't you dare say you never had such thoughts!"

He Pingsheng stared calmly at Wuwei.

Wuwei said, "And then?"

He Pingsheng said, "Then the Master captured me. He swore to me that the 【Grand Void Great Mystery Scripture】 was too contrary to heaven's harmony, so he planned to take it with him and never let it be passed on again in this world!"

"So I never received the Great Mystery Scripture!"

"And if Master had truly passed it to me, do you think I'd still be here waiting for you to attack after he died?"

"No…" Before Wuwei could answer, He Pingsheng answered himself. "I would've fled long ago. Wouldn't it be easier to hide somewhere?"

"So I truly never received the Great Mystery Scripture!"

Hearing this, Wuwei believed him at least seventy percent. He cursed at the golden lamp: "You damned old bastard! Even dead, you won't pass the scripture to me?"

"Do you deserve me?"

"Do you deserve my mother?"

"You deserve to die…"

"If I die, you won't live well either!"

"Destroy it all… destroy everything… hahaha! What is the Grand Void Gate? What is this legacy?"

"It's all bullshit!"

Boom…

Wuwei swung a punch, smashing it straight into the golden lamp.

The blow came too suddenly; no one could stop him in time!

With a crash, the lamp toppled to the ground, its oil spilling everywhere.

"No!" Everyone's faces turned pale.

But at that moment, the lamp's flame suddenly flared up, igniting the spilled oil. Flames roared skyward, engulfing the entire grand hall.