The Jian Zheng from the Observatory knelt below, his voice trembling, "Peering into the secrets of the heavens will surely draw the attention of the Celestial Dao. I’m afraid this matter won’t end well..."

The Emperor of Daqi remained silent for a long time, gazing beyond the study, as if seeing the current prosperity of Daqi, and said:

"Such is the will of Heaven, Daqi cannot escape this calamity."

He slowly stood up, his hunched figure gradually straightening, clearly not tall, yet he seemed to support the heavens!

An aura as vast as a mountain erupted, enveloping the entire Imperial City.

Countless palace attendants immediately knelt toward the Imperial Palace Hall, and even the cultivators paid solemn respect in that direction.

Meanwhile, inside the Observatory, the previously mad and babbling Star Official suddenly grew quiet, trembling as he knelt.

The Emperor of Daqi stood with his hands behind his back, speaking in a deep voice:

"But I can strive to save the people of Daqi, to let most of them survive..."

He reached towards the sky, and a streak of golden light flashed across the heavens, then everything returned to peace.

It seemed as if nothing had changed, but should the sky display any anomaly again, those who looked up would see nothing different and would simply overlook it.

The Emperor had already concealed the secrets of heaven!

The Emperor of Daqi possessed a cultivation of the Second-Grade Daoist Shore Realm, an actual saint!

The Daqi Dynasty was the last nation left from the Ancient Era of Ten Thousand Kingdoms, and the only vast nation standing in the Central Domain without relying on any sect.

The Emperor himself was the most elite of cultivators.

Not relying on national fortune, he still overshadowed many sects!

"Having Your Majesty is the fortune of Daqi!"

The Jian Zheng kowtowed again, saying, "I vaguely observed just now that the crack in the sky may have been torn open by someone, and its location is approximately in a small village to the south. Should we send someone to investigate?"

He worriedly said, "If someone intends to use this to overthrow our dynasty... Such a malicious person must not be spared!"

The Emperor of Daqi pondered, "Can we see this person?"

"Yes!" The Jian Zheng took out a Star Disc, reciting an incantation and manipulating it a few times, whereupon a shadowy image appeared on the Star Disc.

The scene within the shadow was precisely the straw cottage where Chen Kuang and Xi Mengquan were located.

Two figures, one seated and one standing, with Chen Kuang instructing Xi Mengquan and Lin Qin.

The Jian Zheng pointed to Chen Kuang, saying sternly, "It is he who has brought disaster!"

But then, he looked closer, and was suddenly taken aback, because Chen Kuang’s cultivation was only... Sea Breaking Realm!

This... this is too low?!

The Jian Zheng looked down at the Star Disc in his hand, starting to doubt if he had made an error in the calculations.

How could someone at the Sea Breaking Realm perform such a feat?!

Could it be that the secrets of heaven were obscured, leading him to the wrong place?

The Jian Zheng couldn’t help but say, "Your Majesty..."

The Emperor seemed to know what he intended to say, looking at Chen Kuang on the screen, shaking his head:

"He doesn’t belong here."

"Now we know, you and I, the entire world, are but puppets on strings. If fate has brought him here, it’s destined to bring about the fall of Daqi... we cannot blame him."

"Even if not now, someday, we will witness that scene."

The Jian Zheng remained silent.

Because the Observatory was currently researching a Sky Dome Array, attempting to calculate Daqi’s fate for the next year through celestial phenomena, to glimpse the future.

If the research succeeded, they might indeed be able to see the crack in the sky.

The Emperor smiled, "You don’t need to worry about this matter, you may leave."

The Jian Zheng saluted and stood up, "Yes."

After he left, the Emperor said, "Yang Xiuxian."

A gaunt old eunuch who had been waiting at the doorway turned and entered, "At your service."

The Emperor of Daqi took from his sleeve a thumb-sized seal, bearing the single character "Qi," handing it over.

"Take it."

The old eunuch was shocked, "Your Majesty! This must not be!"

This seal was not the National Seal but the private seal of the Royal Family, from the ancestors of the Daqi Royal Family in the Ancient Era, representing the expansion and heritage of Daqi.

The name of the ancestor contained the character "Qi."

And for strength-above-all Daqi, this seal held far greater significance than the National Seal!

The Emperor smiled, yet his words brooked no dissent, "I watched you grow up, you’re the person I trust the most."

"From today, take it and retire to your hometown."

"When the time is right, deliver this seal to that person."

The old eunuch carefully accepted it, his eyes brimming with tears, "Your Majesty..."

The Emperor waved his hand, and the old eunuch, holding back his grief, slowly retreated before the Emperor, then knelt and bowed three times and nine times outside the study, and finally left.

The Emperor of Daqi looked at his retreating figure, muttered to himself:

"Although a saint lives three thousand years, the life of this world now falls short of three thousand. I once thought I was mistaken... I hope this move allows Daqi to endure."

...

Thus, Chen Kuang was considered to have gone into seclusion in this sparsely inhabited small village, gradually understanding Xi Mengquan’s current circumstances.

This village had largely been abandoned a few years back, with only a few families remaining.

Aside from Xi Mengquan, the other households were occupied by elders in their fifties or sixties, so most of the village was overgrown with weeds, and the fields lay uncultivated.

Xi Mengquan had been abandoned at the village entrance as a child and was raised by a few elderly villagers.

But unfortunately, there was no delightful twist that these elders were anything but ordinary people.

They were merely ordinary folks.