Chapter 884: Heavenly Mandate

Chapter 884: Heaven's Mandate

“Was the fortune taken from a shaman?” Li Huowang repeated the long-haired emperor’s words in his mind.

According to him, it was because of this fortune that the world came into being.

But the nature of this shaman remained unknown, leaving Li Huowang somewhat confused and lost in a fog of uncertainty.

Still, this time he did not dismiss it outright. He knew that among legends, some might be false, and he must carefully consider what truth lay beneath.

Perhaps like other myths and tales, although twisted by time, they still contained a kernel of reality.

After pondering for a while, Li Huowang felt that this fortune was likely none other than the hour itself. Without such an hour, this place would probably be as unstable as Great Qi, teetering on the brink of collapse at any moment.

With half his body buried within the wall, Li Huowang turned to Xuan Pin and said, “Though they claim there is no Guardian of Fate, don’t you think that if that shaman was indeed the one who governed time, everything falls into place?”

Xuan Pin paused, then silently nodded.

“If so, elder, do you know what this shaman who stole the fortune looked like? Was he shaped like a golden dragon?” Li Huowang asked, looking at their scales, pressing his most pressing question.

If that golden dragon truly was the dragon vein of Tianchen, it seemed different from the dragon veins of Great Liang or Great Qi—perhaps they didn’t need emperors to serve as vessels.

“A golden dragon? I do not know.”

“We are true dragons, sons of heaven!”

“Ling Yang is a dragon—but not a golden one.”

Listening to their answers, Li Huowang became more convinced of his theory.

If that were true, then what had happened in ancient times would gradually become clear.

Back then, people were not like this now. To avoid servitude, they had been stripped of the mandate of time by someone who took control of the Guardian of Fate.

Because one person could not bear the power of the Dao, it was divided into sixteen dragon veins—matching the original sixteen locked hours of Great Liang.

Yet upon reflection, something didn’t add up. There wasn’t just one history of Great Liang, but five distinct histories, each with its own time and “fortune of the shaman.”

If he was right, then in all five histories, people had divided the Dao held by the Guardian of Time among themselves.

If each history originally had sixteen dragon veins, and there were five such histories, that made exactly eighty dragon veins.

This reminded him of the past experiences of Wusheng Laomu—her Dao had also been divided by the people of Tianchen.

They had once thought the people of Tianchen strange, but now it seemed such things had occurred long ago.

Over time, people had grown accustomed to the bizarre events happening around them.

“Father, if that golden dragon is a dragon vein, when you go there next time, try to estimate how many hours there are in a day in Tianchen,” Li Huowang said to his daughter.

Li Huowang nodded—he understood what she meant. How many hours in a day in Tianchen meant how many dragon veins the country possessed.

If the people of Tianchen could easily touch the Dao, perhaps they might also divide the dragon veins to fight him.

If that were true, then dozens of dragon veins united would possess strength beyond his own.

Even worse, the dragon essence from so many veins could easily render experts immune to all attacks of the Dao.

If they were willing to spend so much effort against him, even invoking the Avatar of Doumu wouldn’t help.

Li Huowang thought deeply and decided to proceed step by step. Thinking about these things now was useless.

Since they hadn’t used such methods before, there must have been restrictions preventing them from doing so.

“Thank you, elders, for clearing my doubts,” Li Huowang said, bowing respectfully and pulling Li Sui up the coffin wall toward the surface.

“Father, does this really help us now? I don’t see how their words can aid our current situation,” Li Sui said as they emerged from the imperial temple.

Li Huowang nodded. “Though it seems vague, it still helps. Even if it doesn’t now, it may come in handy later. We shouldn’t be left clueless when problems arise.”

Li Huowang slowly raised his head, gazing at the starry sky above, and after a moment, said with a sigh:

“And through this exchange, I’ve suddenly grasped something.”

“What is it?”

“Have you noticed? This world isn’t fixed. Both history and the Dao have changed. Everything from the past has altered. Do you understand what that means?” Li Huowang raised both hands and enveloped the heavens.

Then, with a sudden grip, his eyes lit up. “It means that as long as we have enough power, we can reshape everything into what we desire.”

Li Sui slowly lifted her gaze, joining him in staring at the stars.

“Father, you want to change the world like this? Don’t you think things are fine as they are?”

“It’s not that they’re bad—it’s just... I find it hard to accept. Do you remember Dan Yangzi?” Li Huowang shrank his steps and quickly left the palace of Great Liang.

“Yes, you told me about him—a fool who killed without blinking, illiterate and cruel,” Li Sui floated beside him, following closely.

“When I was at Qingfeng Monastery, I hated him so much that I’d risked my life to kill him.”

“But do you know? After all this, I finally understand why he became so evil. It wasn’t because he was born bad. It was because this absurd world shaped him into this way.”

“If he hadn’t been so evil, he might have died long ago. He simply chose the best option in every decision he made.”

The two walked out of the palace, heading down the main road. At a crossroads, they saw many people drawing circles and burning yellow paper and paper gold ingots—Qingming Festival had arrived.

Great Liang had suffered many disasters in recent years, and many had died, so many people were burning paper offerings.

All knelt beside the flames, burning paper while whispering messages to their deceased loved ones. With his keen hearing, Li Huowang could hear every word clearly.

Most of them asked how their families were faring in the underworld, and reminded them to send dreams if anything was missing.

“Sui Sui, don’t you think something’s wrong? In this world, villains live to old age while good people die young. Why is that fair?”

Speaking, Li Huowang went to a stall selling yellow paper and gold ingots and bought some too.