"Oh... I see now."

Xuan Mingyu finally understood at this moment, his astonished expression slowly fading.

He wanted to laugh, and indeed he did, with a hint of pure curiosity and a suppressed delight: "Grand Preceptor, why do you say so?"

"Your Majesty." Grand Preceptor Hong also smiled: "With the sudden death of the Late Emperor, the Imperial Court weakened, and King Jing, whom we supported, died by our hands due to the indifference and machinations of us Heavenly Officials, the Town Kings, and the families—the only chance for the Imperial Court to revive departed with Princess Mingjing."

"Although you are Emperor, in reality, you are our puppet."

The Emperor’s Throne and the Emperor on the throne exchanged glances, he did not show disdain, on the contrary, he maintained his usual, extreme seriousness: "I am unwilling as well, but the great trend of the world pushes forward, perhaps the Cause and Effect was set the moment when the Holy Ancestor established the Undying Tree and then repeatedly altered it... Destruction will inevitably come, and the bloodline of the Xuan Family from Zhenwu Mountain will become the Ring of Cause and Effect."

At this point, Grand Preceptor Hong spoke with an air of inevitability: "Ex Nihilo and the Nature Master, what else can correspond to the Heavenly Mandate?"

"You intend to develop a new path of power through An Jing, the Nature Master, to fight against the Holy Ancestor who usurped Ex Nihilo’s authority, overthrow the court, and start a new era, which we can all see."

"You have no interest in this throne, and even from the start, you had the ability to leave, but you didn’t. Presumably, you have been waiting for this moment, haven’t you?"

"But now, tell me, what is your plan!"

He spoke firmly: "Since the opening of the Huai Xu Realm, there has never been an entity that Imperial Heaven wanted to destroy that could escape."

"But being part of the Heavenly Ancestor, the Great Chen Dynasty can definitely take away more than one [Seven Fiend Tribulation]!"

"You are mistaken."

Xuan Mingyu laughed, shaking a raised finger, wearing a peculiar expression, whether it was pity or sympathy, mockery or sighing, he looked at the serious Grand Preceptor Hong and spoke equally seriously: "Honestly, you are mistaken."

"I truly never cared about the throne from the start because I had long realized all of this was dull, and I was tired of it."

"But I had no intention to deliberately destroy anything. Rather, I have always wanted to walk a... new path."

"Regarding all this, except for inviting An Jing to Shenjing, I have done nothing. And if I hadn’t invited, it doesn’t mean An Jing wouldn’t have come. Rather, as you said, perhaps from the time the Holy Ancestor established the Undying Tree thirty thousand years ago and repeatedly returned to it, intending to seize the body of the Undying Tree..."

"The Cause and Effect has been established, everything will naturally unfold, like dominoes falling, like mountains collapsing, like the heavens..."

In the sky, a red light appeared.

At first, it was just a line, but in an instant, it painted the entire horizon, and the increasingly bright light illuminated Xuan Mingyu’s eyes, reflecting the bloody shadow in the Emperor’s pupils.

He laughed: "Overturn."

Simultaneously.

"This is the last chance."

Beside the firelight on the Divine Beheading Platform. 𝚏𝕣𝐞𝗲𝐰𝕖𝐛𝐧𝕠𝕧𝚎𝚕.𝐜𝚘𝗺

Under the brilliance, within the darkness.

Yin Gujin lowered his gaze, observing the ground as black as obsidian: "Even though I know you definitely won’t turn back, out of habit, I’ll ask one last time, where is Heavenly Martial."

"Where else could it be?"

Unexpectedly, Gu Yunzhi answered the question easily: "It’s in Shenjing."

"Shenjing? Where?"

Yin Gujin was surprised, but then nodded, as if not entirely shocked by the answer: "Is the most dangerous place really the hardest to find, given King Jing’s study of the Heaven, Sea, and Earth Veins Array, it can truly be achieved... is it the abandoned Prince Jing Mansion, or?"

"Neither." Gu Yunzhi laughed, looking at Yin Gujin, his tone light and humorous: "It’s later, my granddaughter will bring Heavenly Martial over, and it will smash down on the Heaven and Sea Array in Shenjing!"

"Alas." Yin Gujin was played, but he was not angry; he merely sighed: "To be honest, if it weren’t for the fact that you have a granddaughter, still have bloodlines, I really wouldn’t want to kill you, keeping you in the Heavenly Prison, how many Spirit Jades would it cost?"

"Like Virtuous King said, killing you isn’t in accordance with skill or virtue, but it exposes the evil of Da Chen."

"Since you know that, nothing I say would matter, would it?"

"I just don’t understand."

Yin Gujin spoke calmly: "The goals of King Jing and the Late Emperor, we all know, were to revitalize Da Chen—then they collided with the Holy Ancestor, awakened us, and realized the decay and irreparable state of the Imperial Court, necessitating a complete reformation."

"So you decisively caused the Hanhai Demon Disaster." Gu Yunzhi said blandly: "The Demon Disaster could have been contained; you forcibly let the north fester."

"The Imperial Court had to be weakened, and we had to gain power under the guise of disaster relief. It was a necessary sacrifice to replace the Imperial Court." Yin Gujin was without hesitation: "Otherwise, in the future, if the Imperial Court is corroded by Heavenly Demons, the situation would inevitably be tenfold or a hundredfold more dire than now."

"So, what is your purpose, really?"

Yin Gujin frowned, puzzled: "We might indeed be selfish, but at least we have a seemingly noble purpose; I don’t deny that. But what is your intention? I truly don’t understand."

"But regardless of what it is, honestly, give up; it wasn’t us who killed King Jing, but the Imperial Court and the Holy Ancestor, the Heavenly Demons once commanded by the Holy Ancestor, the Dao Spirit left behind by Him, the Imperial Dynasty maintained by the Four Great Families—if you really want revenge for King Jing, then help us defeat these people."

"If you don’t win, it’s them who win."

Yin Gujin raised his head slowly, his gaze passing over Gu Yunzhi, looking forward: "Look at the faces of these people..."

Gu Yunzhi followed his gaze, raising his head to look ahead.

Gu Yunzhi looked at the faces of the Four Great Families beneath the throne, beneath the Emperor’s Throne.

Yuan Chengjun, Song Anshi, Yao Mingguang, Guang Daoquan... on everyone’s face, there was the same expression.

Apathy, indifference, disdain, mockery.

They believed themselves to be the victors.

"If you don’t win, you’ll let them win."

Yin Gujin said calmly: "We are clearly not your enemies."

"But would you rather let them win than us?"

"Haha."

Gu Yunzhi was silent for a while, then laughed: "You all think King Jing’s goal was just to revitalize Da Chen?"

He laughed heartily, so much that the entire Divine Beheading Platform echoed with the old man’s hearty laugh: "Do you think the enemies King Jing imagined were only those elements causing Da Chen to weaken?"

"You are all mistaken!"

His words rang out like metal striking rock: "These goals are too small! Too small! Too small!"

"Merely the rise and fall of a dynasty, the rise and fall of an era, even without the Holy Ancestor’s schemes, an organization, by running to the end, would naturally reach that limit."