Hearing Lanling’s question, Tian Daoqi raised his head and said, "Your Majesty, I don’t know."

"Then what do you know? Say it." Lanling said. 𝚏𝕣𝕖𝚎𝚠𝚎𝚋𝚗𝐨𝐯𝕖𝕝.𝕔𝐨𝕞

Tian Daoqi said, "Because of her personality, Zhi Yan stood out in all the tests at Shenlong Academy, and together with Huai Bingyi and Ji Xiuning, she was listed as the three most outstanding peerless beauties. I’ve checked the relevant data; Shi Tian valued Zhi Yan very highly, placing her score above Ji Xiuning and Huai Bingyi."

Lanling said, "Go on."

Tian Daoqi said, "This person Huai Bingyi is extremely intelligent. But he is too aware of his own genius, and too proud of it, so at critical moments his heart is not upright and he easily becomes extreme. This woman Ji Xiuning is far too cold inside, seeing all beings as ants and using any means to achieve her ends. Only Zhi Yan is different: she is extremely intelligent, yet doesn’t care about her own cleverness. Her temperament is calm, and toward all living beings she is not utterly cold and ruthless. In Shi Tian’s mind, Zhi Yan is the best future heir to the Sky Holy Palace."

"And then?" Lanling said.

Tian Daoqi said, "At that time, to test Zhi Yan’s state of mind, Huai Bingyi, Ji Mengbai, and Ji Xiuning all entered Sky Academy early, but Zhi Yan alone was kept in Yanjing Dragon Academy, precisely to see whether her heart would waver, but she did not care very much. And just as Shi Tian summoned her to enter Sky Academy, in less than half a month, King Quo Bian of Rage Wave Kingdom recalled Zhi Yan back home with a letter. Your Majesty should know that compared to the position of heir to the Sky Holy Palace, the throne of Rage Wave Kingdom truly isn’t worth a single coin. When Zhi Yan was about to leave, Gu Ban said to her that if she stayed, she would be on equal footing with Ji Xiuning, perhaps even above her. If she left, then everything she had in the Dragon Temple would be reset to zero. Yet Zhi Yan still left. It can be seen that in her heart, the weight of her father Quo Bian outweighed her position in the Sky Holy Palace."

"The Sky Holy Palace invested heavily in Zhi Yan, didn’t it?" Lanling asked.

Tian Daoqi said, "Very heavily, very heavily. Many energy resources, including some resources of the Dragon Emperor Bloodline, were largely used on Zhi Yan. You also know that we have always tried to cultivate the strongest leader, one who could replace the Dragon Emperor and wield the divine authority of the planes. We analyzed the Devil Star Mark, analyzed the Divine Dragon Nihility Bloodline, analyzed the Dragon Emperor’s spiritual imprint, all to ensure that the future first leader of the Sky Holy Palace could fully command the power of the Divine Dragon Nihility Bloodline. And Zhi Yan is our most successful creation; various bloodlines and energy imprints are most perfectly compatible in her body."

Lanling said, "Then when she wanted to leave, how did the Sky Holy Palace react?"

Tian Daoqi said, "At that time, many in the Sky Holy Palace proposed executing Zhi Yan and reclaiming everything, and that viewpoint was held even by her teacher Gu Ban. Yet Shi Tian overruled the crowd and suppressed it, saying, ’Let her go.’ But when I spoke privately with Shi Tian, he said this might be a part of Zhi Yan’s life experience. So Zhi Yan was able to leave the Dragon Temple successfully, and her memories related to Sky Academy and the Sky Holy Palace were washed away, after which she was sent back to Rage Wave Kingdom."

Lanling was silent for a while, then said, "How did Shi Tian evaluate me?"

Tian Daoqi immediately dropped to his knees, prostrating himself, not daring to move.

Lanling said, "Speak."

Tian Daoqi said, "Shi Tian feels that you are entirely self-serving, doing whatever you please, your domineering aura reaching the heavens, and that you have no great love for the world. Your bringing of calamity to the world outweighs any blessings. In terms of righteousness, you are inferior to Emperor E Tian, and also inferior to Emperor EYun. You are very similar to the Dragon Emperor, except that the Dragon Emperor was kind at heart; even for the sake of his own private love, he could not bear to ruin all beings. But you are obsessive and mad, ignoring all beings, and in order to fulfill your inner desires, you would not hesitate to let the whole world be buried with you. Therefore, when all the officials of the Sky Holy Palace were considering surrender, he still firmly refused. I once discussed surrender with him, but he rejected it. He said that only after he died would his words carry even a tiny bit of credibility; if he were alive, even if he said anything, Your Majesty, you would find it redundant as so much wind in your ears."

Lanling fell silent for a moment, then said, "Shi Tian had no wife, concubines, or descendants in the Sky Holy Palace?"

"None," Tian Daoqi said.

Lanling smiled, and his mind recalled Shi Tian.

In Lanling’s mind, this first leader of the Sky Holy Palace truly carried no weight at all. Because he had tried to use Suo Ningbing’s soul to make a deal with Lanling, and ended up having his King-level Bloodline taken away, becoming a withered old man. He was stripped naked and paraded through the streets, then specifically hung and bound over a dung heap, and in the end he was also hanged to death above a cesspit.

His death was miserable; Lanling had never even bothered to care about what he thought or what he said. After conquering the Sky Holy Palace, this first leader of the Sky Holy Palace was, in his eyes, just a random nobody.

Who would have thought that within the Sky Holy Palace, he was instead a clear, untainted stream.

However, this had nothing to do with Lanling.

Lanling said, "Then what do you think—back then on the ship, why did Zhi Yan kill me with a single sword?"

Tian Daoqi said, "I think she did it to fulfill you. She knew you wouldn’t die. She understands our Sky Holy Palace too well, especially that man Ning Wuya—there is absolutely no way he would be willing to let you die."

Lanling said, "Then if she didn’t kill me, but instead stood at my side and became an enemy of the Dragon Temple, would that not have been possible?"

Tian Daoqi said, "If she did that, she would die."

Lanling said, "Was she afraid of death? Why was it that at that time she just couldn’t die?"

When he said this, it was truly tyrannical to the extreme. The meaning was very clear: even if I cannot die, could Zhi Yan not die for me, as a lover’s sacrifice?

Lanling continued, "Now that she’s alive, does she still have any particularly great value? Is there any reason she absolutely must stay alive?"

Tian Daoqi immediately sprawled on his knees, trembling as he said, "This minister does not know, but she truly is someone who does not fear death. Perhaps she has some reason she cannot die, but this guilty minister truly does not know."

Lanling said, "Does the Lunar Holy Palace have any informants inside the Sky Holy Palace? Someone playing a role similar to an Observer?"

Tian Daoqi said, "This minister does not know, and no one knows."

"Then make a guess..." Lanling said.

Tian Daoqi’s forehead was already entirely covered in blood. Only now did he realize just how terrifying a monarch like Lanling was. Aside from his own family, there was no one in the world who could not be killed. When he slaughtered people, he did not care who you were, nor did he care how many he killed.

A towering figure like Shi Tian had been hung above a cesspit and killed just like that; Lanling hadn’t even given him a single glance, not a single question. Tian Daoqi himself was the same: if he failed to give an answer that satisfied Lanling, he would be crushed like a fly.

Sweat and blood streamed continuously down Tian Daoqi’s face; the dignified leader of the Sky Holy Palace was now utterly bedraggled and miserable.

At this moment, the little daughter on Lanling’s back, Gui Ling’er, had even forgotten to play and was staring curiously at the pitiful old man on the ground.

"I’m going to find Mother, it’s no fun here." Gui Ling’er hopped down from the dragon throne and ran off. She felt this old man was somewhat pitiful, but she didn’t want to plead for him, so out of sight, out of mind. It showed that though this little girl had a terrible temper, deep down she still leaned toward kindness.

Tian Daoqi said, "I guess there should be. The Lunar Holy Palace has informants or an Observer either on the Dragon Demon Planet or in the Sky Holy Palace. It’s just that this Observer perhaps doesn’t even know it themself. Only at a critical moment will they awaken and be activated."

Lanling said, "Keep talking. Why do you think that?"

Tian Daoqi said, "According to the records in the Sky Holy Palace’s archives, after Emperor E Tian captured the Sky Holy Palace, he repeatedly gazed up at the sky, pondering how he should attack the Lunar Holy Palace. On the night before he disappeared, he received a defector from the Sky Holy Palace, by the name of Jing Wubian, a Candidate Sky Priest. She spoke with Emperor E Tian for a full four hours, and after that Emperor E Tian vanished completely, leaving not the slightest trace!"

Lanling said, "You’re saying this Jing Wubian was the Lunar Holy Palace’s Observer?"

Tian Daoqi said, "This guilty minister is entirely speculating. After Emperor E Tian disappeared, those defectors from the Sky Holy Palace counterattacked, rebuilt the Sky Holy Palace and rebuilt the Dragon Temple, then joined with the traitors who had followed Emperor E Tian earlier and destroyed the E’tian Empire. Jing Wubian should have been the greatest hero of all, but she never said a single word about that night’s meeting with Emperor E Tian. The records even mention many times that in her mind she had absolutely no memory of that night’s audience with him. Later it wasn’t that she was unwilling to confess anything to the Sky Holy Palace; it was that she herself didn’t know what she had talked about with Emperor E Tian. So from then on, she was set aside and neglected until she died of old age."

Lanling said, "And those secret records of the Sky Holy Palace?"

"Destroyed," Tian Daoqi said. "Shi Tian destroyed them, but I had already read a great portion of them and committed them to memory."

Lanling said, "Then what sort of temperament did this Jing Wubian have?"

Tian Daoqi said, "Very unexpectedly, her temperament was extremely similar to Zhi Yan’s. Calm, yet not entirely cold; brilliant beyond compare, yet she cared almost nothing for her own brilliance. As if she had no desires and no pursuits, her life seemingly without a goal, yet she could stop at any time for some tiny thing by the roadside."

Lanling said, "Do you know who she makes me think of?"

Tian Daoqi said, "The Fourth Hell Knight, Bai Ye Prince!"

"Yes, the fourth of the Hell Knights!" Lanling said. "Her soul is lurking in the shadowed region of Ji Xiuning’s brain, and no one has discovered it, not even Ji Xiuning herself."

"Yes." Tian Daoqi kowtowed.

Lanling said, "So what you’re speculating is that Zhi Yan is like that Jing Wubian, an Observer left behind by the Lunar Holy Palace. Only, Jing Wubian didn’t know it at the time, and Zhi Yan now likewise does not know. Only when it’s necessary will they both awaken on their own. But after awakening, they’ll utterly forget again, not even knowing what they themselves have done? Just like how Jing Wubian met with Emperor E Tian, and after their secret conversation, Emperor E Tian completely disappeared from this world and the Empire of Misfortune was destroyed."

Tian Daoqi fell silent for quite a while, then rasped, "Yes, this guilty minister is purely speculating."

Lanling said, "Then when do you think Zhi Yan will come to seek a secret talk with me?"

...

Note: Here’s the second Chapter of the day. I beg for your support, thank you all!