Chapter 783: Emperor

Chapter 783: The Emperor

“It’s time!” With those words, Huangfu Tiangang, now utterly transformed, had everyone raise their dragon claws to their faces and forcefully pluck out their own eyes.

“Go!” Huangfu Tiangang flung the Star Constellation Sword he held into the air with all his strength, then kicked off the ground with both feet, stepping directly onto the sword and soaring toward the Yak Gate.

The Daoist robe on Xuan Pin suddenly shrank, then expanded again, and a strange golden dragon with three pairs of claws burst forth from within it, rushing toward the Yak Gate.

With their departure, the others followed suit, each employing their unique abilities like the Eight Immortals crossing the sea, charging toward the Yak Gate.

As they moved, the spiritual veins of the entire land shifted along with them. They didn’t merely draw upon the power of the dragon veins—they also borrowed the energy of the whole world.

When Li Huowang opened his eyes again, he found himself lying on the ground, blood streaming from his nose, dizzy and unable to stand steadily.

Even so, he remembered everything that had just happened with crystal clarity, every detail intact.

This wasn’t simply revealing a secret—it was forcing that secret straight into Li Huowang’s mind.

“So... so that’s how it is! They couldn’t help Si Ming on their own, so they had to rely on two dragon veins and the entire earth’s spiritual currents to even have a chance at interfering in Si Ming’s battle! I knew Xuan Pin had a hidden ace!”

But as soon as he said this, the excitement on Li Huowang’s face gradually faded. Even so, Xuan Pin and the others were ultimately dead.

Before Li Huowang could mourn them for long, something strange occurred—his incredibly vivid memories began to vanish.

Li Huowang panicked, “What’s going on?! Weren’t you helping me? Why are you taking it back?!”

As the disappearance accelerated and began affecting the incantation Xuan Pin had cast, Li Huowang clasped his head with both hands and roared, “Come back! Don’t disappear!!”

He tried to alter this phenomenon using his cultivation powers, but these ethereal memories seemed unaffected by such efforts.

“I said! Come back!!” Veins bulged on Li Huowang’s forehead as he clenched his fists harder and harder. Suddenly, with a sharp crack, he crushed his own skull.

Hearing the sound of his skull breaking, Li Huowang paused slightly, then a trace of wild joy appeared on his face.

He raised his right hand and inserted it into the crack in his skull, quickly searching through his mind.

After a while, he finally located the memory that was fading away. He grabbed it tightly with his right hand, refusing to let it vanish even a bit more.

Then, trembling, he used his left hand to touch the soft memory and began writing frantically on the floor.

He couldn’t allow the memory to fade—he had to write down everything.

With one hand holding the memory and the other scribbling rapidly, he wrote on the floor, then the walls, then his body, wherever he could record it, he filled it all.

When he realized there was nowhere else to write, Li Huowang slowly withdrew his hand from his mind.

Standing in the center of the room, looking at all the records around him, he exhaled slowly. At last, he had written everything down.

With his worries resolved, Li Huowang began carefully reviewing what he had recorded, trying to sort out the threads.

But as he read, he frowned, sensing something was wrong.

“No! There’s something odd here! If they all went to the Yak Gate, how did the Sect of the Law manage to ambush them? Isn’t it said that Xuan Pin died because of a sneak attack by the Sect of the Law?”

“The Grand Master indeed wasn’t present, so it’s possible he didn’t know. But Gao Zhijian was clearly there—how could he not know?”

The truth that Gao Zhijian had relayed earlier now became blurred and unclear. “Could it be… he lied to me? Even he lied to me?”

Thinking this, Li Huowang’s expression darkened. His first instinct was disbelief—he believed he should ask him directly.

Li Huowang found Gao Zhijian on a distant road outside the military camp. Dressed in imperial robes, he sat atop a jade palanquin drawn by sixteen horses, surrounded by great ceremony.

The common people dared not block the way; they scattered to the sides and knelt before the emperor.

Li Huowang’s appearance immediately alerted the eunuchs and palace guards, but upon Gao Zhijian’s command, they stepped aside.

“Senior Brother Li, can we talk later? I’m preparing to bid farewell to the troops in the camp. If we delay too long, they might start to think ill of me.”

“Tell me honestly! How did Xuan Pin and the others die?” Li Huowang leapt onto the grand jade palanquin.

“They were ambushed and killed during the ritual to aid Si Ming,” Gao Zhijian replied.

“You’re lying! They set up the Dragon-Slaying Immortal-Slaying Formation, drew upon your fortune and the entire world’s energy, and went straight to the Yak Gate! How could the Sect of the Law harm them?”

At this, Gao Zhijian’s expression stiffened. “How... how did you find out?”

“Don’t ask me how I know! I want to ask you one thing! Why did you lie to me? You were there, and you even participated in the formation—why didn’t you tell me?”

“Are you still that foolish man who trusted his life to me, or are you now the emperor who plots everything from the throne?”

The yellow silk draping from the canopy above gently swayed in the breeze. Inside, Gao Zhijian remained silent.

After a moment of contemplation, he spoke, “Senior Brother Li, some things, Xuan Pin told me not to reveal to you, and I agree.”

“Senior Brother Li, I am still the fool who once trusted his life to you. But you once said you wanted me to be a good emperor.”

“A good emperor doesn’t speak freely. A good emperor must be cunning, able to lie without blinking.”

“A good emperor must prioritize national matters over family affairs.”

“A good emperor must ruthlessly manipulate all people using the art of kingship to protect his people. One step forward is tyranny, one step back is folly.”

“But if a good emperor conflicts with the fool who once shared his life with you, which do you think I should choose?”

“Senior Brother Li, you saved my life more than once. You tell me what to choose, and I will follow your choice forever, no matter what.”

Li Huowang’s anger had vanished. He looked at the man before him with a complex expression, saying nothing.

Just then, a cry of pain came from beside them.

A pregnant woman with a distended belly suddenly collapsed to the ground, blood flowing beneath her.

Gao Zhijian, alarmed, pointed urgently, “Quickly! Help her give birth! Don’t let her die in labor!”

Eunuchs and palace maids from the retinue quickly split off and rushed to assist.

“A good emperor.”

“A good one.”

At that moment, a scream pierced the air. The eunuchs and maids assisting with the birth fled in terror like madmen.

Then everyone saw a creature rise from the blood—a monster with an infant's head and a bald vulture’s body.

Its mouth, filled with rotting teeth, opened wide and laughed wildly.

(End of Chapter)