*Gathered from Tianyu's celestial peaks, I was born alongside the sun and the moon.*
*Covering the infinite, its wondrous mystery took form.*
Below the Temple at the highest point of the Heaven Palace, within a 'cavern' that only a handful of Divine Spirits could reach, Emperor Shun stood silently amidst a hazy cloud mist.
Beneath the cloud mist was a tranquil lake, its depth unknown; but if those clouds outside were to be erased, one could easily see to the bottom of the lake.
Countless Divine Runes were carved below, embodying the essence of countless Great Daos.
Emperor Shun stood with his hands behind his back, gazing at the bottom of the lake, his eyes seemingly wandering.
"Your Majesty, why are you here?"
A gentle call ca from behind. Emperor Shun did not turn his head, his eyes revealing a trace of vitality, the corners of his mouth curving into a slight smile.
The Head Manager's figure appeared in the corner of the 'cavern,' walking towards Emperor Shun and calling out again, "Your Majesty?"
"Ah, it's the Head Manager." Emperor Shun chuckled lightly.
"Your Majesty, why are you here?" the Head Manager asked with so confusion. "Is there sothing unusual happening with the Divine Pool?"
"Unusual?" Emperor Shun said slowly. "What exactly do you an?"
"The Primordial Divine Power at the bottom of the Divine Pool seems to be rapidly depleting," the Head Manager said anxiously. "The Primordial Divine Power at the bottom layer is related to the stability of the Heaven and Earth Seal... Is Your Majesty also concerned about this matter?"
"Are you talking about this Divine Power?"
Emperor Shun raised his hand slightly and slid it. Around him appeared several pale golden orbs of light; these orbs, the size of ornantal balls, swirled with colorful grains within.
The Head Manager's pupils contracted, yet he put on a perplexed look, frowning as he said, "Your Majesty, what is happening? Why are you taking out this Divine Power?"
"I am leaving, Officer."
Emperor Shun slowly turned around, his face gradually losing all expression. "No need to feign confusion. We have known each other for two divine eras; today, let us speak openly and honestly."
The Head Manager also dropped his sowhat exaggerated expression, his face growing grim, though his eyes remained exceedingly complex.
On the mirror-like lake surface, shrouded in faint cloud mist, stood Emperor Shun in a pale golden divine robe and the Head Manager in an indigo long coat. The forr had his hands behind his back, the latter's hands hung by his sides; thus, they faced each other.
"Leaving? Where does Your Majesty intend to go?" the Head Manager asked in a low voice.
"To find a place to hide," Emperor Shun replied indifferently. "When the Candle Dragon and the Human Domain have settled their victor, I will naturally return."
"Does Your Majesty an to abandon the Heaven Palace?"
"You can certainly understand it that way," Emperor Shun smiled. "However, this is a asure I am forced to take."
The Head Manager lowered his head slightly, seemingly in thought, but his expression darkened.
Emperor Shun, however, sighed softly and said indifferently, "I... I had thought you were clever enough not to appear when you noticed the anomaly in the Divine Pool.
"We should have had such a tacit understanding, Head Manager. Had you chosen thus, I would have been imnsely gratified.
"When I return, you would naturally still be, in the new Heaven Palace, second only to myself and above all gods.
"A pity. You ca."
"Ah, I still ca."
The Head Manager shook his head gently, seeming sowhat unwell. He then forcefully twisted his neck to one side, murmuring to himself, "Why did I have to co here?"
Emperor Shun, however, paid no mind to his actions and continued, "You must have noticed. Wu Wangzi's rise has been sowhat too rapid, as if a hand is constantly pushing him forward. That, in fact, is the true sovereign of this Heaven and Earth.
"They hide in the Kunlun Ruins. If the developnt of this Heaven and Earth displeases them, they will choose soone to replace a divine era.
"I was once the Heavenly Emperor they selected, and I experienced that feeling of power rapidly swelling, of riding the wind and breaking the waves all the way.
"Wu Wang is their new toy."
"This has nothing to do with Wu Wangzi." The Head Manager looked up, directly at Emperor Shun, his gaze suddenly sharpening. "You betrayed the Heaven Palace."
"Betrayal?"
Emperor Shun's eyes held a touch of coldness. "The roles of sovereign and subject; you've sowhat confused them."
"You betrayed the Heaven Palace."
The Head Manager suddenly raised his hands to cover his eyes, his entire body trembling. In an instant, he erupted in fury, glaring furiously at Emperor Shun.
Emperor Shun remained silent, a hint of a cold sneer on his lips.
The Head Manager took a deep breath, trying his utmost to calm himself, but the trembling of his body still hadn't subsided. He suddenly raised his head, his eyes carrying a hint of pleading.
"Can it not be this way?
"Your Majesty, you are the Heavenly Emperor, the master of Order! You possess power unmatched by any god! The current problem in Heaven and Earth is rely the Human Domain; can't we solve it by destroying the Human Domain?
"If you drain the Divine Power from the depths of the Divine Pool, when the Candle Dragon assaults the Heaven and Earth Seal, the cracks that form will have no Divine Power to nd them. At most, the seal can only withstand three assaults from the Candle Dragon.
"At that ti, this order that Your Majesty painstakingly established, wouldn't it be utterly destroyed?
"If Your Majesty leaves, there will no longer be any being in this Heaven and Earth capable of resisting the Candle Dragon."
Emperor Shun's gaze shifted to the side, as if he couldn't bear to look at the Head Manager's pleading face.
"Officer, order is always destined for destruction, and a new order will eventually end the chaos."
Emperor Shun said, "What forced to choose this path was not the Human Domain, nor Wu Wangzi, but the gods of the Heaven Palace.
"As ages pass, all the gods have beco depraved. They unscrupulously indulge in the base nature of living beings, wantonly copulating yet gradually becoming numb, drinking and making rry yet not knowing what joy is.
"The gods are seeking stimuli to stir their spirits. In another thirty thousand years—no, at the earliest, ten thousand years—
"all the gods of the Heaven Palace will all beco like Jin.
"When that ti cos, it will be the Heaven Palace's collapse from within. The gods might not even need the Human Domain to act; they themselves will start a divine war, falling one after another in internecine slaughter."
The Head Manager interjected, "Can't they be thoroughly reshaped?
"Didn't we discuss it before? A plan, step by step, to have the gods of the Heaven Palace complete their reshaping?
"Wasn't this the reason Your Majesty once told that letting so Divine Spirits die in rotation when facing the Human Domain was beneficial to the Heaven Palace?"
"It once was," Emperor Shun said gently. "Indeed, it once was so. I, too, pondered how to salvage this Heaven Palace, how to allow Order to continue.
"But this does not solve the fundantal problem.
"The fundantal problem is that the Candle Dragon is too formidable, and I have no way to defeat it head-on."
"Is it truly that you cannot win, or that you simply dare not face it?"
"Officer, I never undertake anything I am not certain of."
"So you intend to abandon the Heaven Palace? To push the gods of the Heaven Palace onto Wu Wang?"
"There is so truth in your words, but you are not yet mature. With the prestige Wu Wangzi has only just begun to build, he cannot yet support this Heaven Palace," Emperor Shun said with a smile. "According to my plan, I will leave my Order Avatar behind and completely sever myself from it.
"So, in a sense, I have not abandoned the Heaven Palace. I have rely withdrawn my true self from Order.
"If I wished to destroy Order myself, I would only need to unleash the Great Dao of Order here. The Heaven and Earth Seal would imdiately shatter, and the Candle Dragon would appear in this Heaven and Earth without lifting a finger."
The Head Manager slowly clenched his fists, his voice low. "So, you have, in this very place, siphoned away the Primordial Divine Power accumulated by the Heaven Palace over countless ages."
Emperor Shun was silent.
"You are ticulously controlling all of this."
The Head Manager's eyes narrowed slightly as he murmured, "After you withdraw the Primordial Divine Power, the Heaven and Earth Seal will be in an unrecoverable state. The Candle Dragon's next assault will cause cracks in the Heaven and Earth Seal.
"These cracks will beco the source of terror for the gods. If a god spreads the news that the Candle Dragon will devour everything that once drove it away, and that the Heavenly Emperor has fled into the void...
"The gods, on the verge of complete depravity, will spontaneously seek a Great Tree to rely on.
"Your Majesty... with the Heavenly Emperor's sudden disappearance, the Order Avatar's instinct is to maintain the order of Heaven and Earth. They will turn their gaze to the Star God who drove away the Candle Dragon back then.
"And Wu Wangzi, as the Star God's proxy, will..."
The Head Manager paused, then looked up at Emperor Shun.
Emperor Shun nodded with a smile, speaking softly, "Precisely. Wu Wangzi will beco the new Heavenly Emperor."
"Then," the Head Manager instinctively took half a step forward, "then, Wu Wangzi will quickly force the gods to submit. Using the threat of the Candle Dragon, he will integrate the Heaven Palace and the Human Domain. He will have large numbers of Human Domain experts garrison the Heaven Palace and quickly purge so Innate Gods who committed great cris against the Human Domain in the past, thereby alleviating the Human Domain's hatred for the Heaven Palace.
"All this will happen in the interval between the Candle Dragon's three assaults on the Heaven and Earth Seal.
"You siphoned the Primordial Divine Power not to destroy the Heaven and Earth Seal, but to buy Wu Wangzi ti?
"At that ti, the Heaven Palace and the Human Domain will form a true alliance. Heavenly Emperor Wu Wangzi will have consolidated all forces within Heaven and Earth. The enraged Candle Dragon returns from the Outer Sky, and the two will inevitably clash in a great war..."
The Head Manager's words trailed off.
Behind Emperor Shun, a cloud of mist materialized, and within it, sowhat blurry images of light and shadow appeared.
Divine Spirits clad in Battle Armor, strange beasts filling the air, ferocious beasts roaring, and countless Divine Guards obscuring the entire Heaven Palace.
Immortals in flowing robes, great formations taking shape on their own, endless battle arrays, and waves of Immortal Soldiers covering the sky and the earth.
Before them was a rapidly spinning pitch-black vortex, and within the vortex, a pair of crimson colossal eyes, like vast lakes, were slowly opening...
"Perfect," Emperor Shun chuckled. "And in this process, I need only do a few simple things to easily witness such a scene.
"Moreover... Officer, are you familiar with the Dao of Ti?"
The Head Manager's lips were pressed tightly together, his complexion sowhat pale.
Emperor Shun murmured, "The Third God King's strength lies in his mastery of Ti. I have only comprehended half of the Dao of Ti, yet it has benefited imnsely.
"The most wondrous aspect of the Dao of Ti is that it allows you to see a part of the future.
"These visions originally did not exist; my future was initially just chaos.
"Chaos, do you know what that ans?"
The Head Manager remained silent.
Emperor Shun smiled calmly. "It ans returning to nothingness, disappearing. It ans a future where I do not exist; I die."
Emperor Shun continued, "I panicked over this outco for a long ti, yet I could find no way to avert it, because the existence that could truly threaten had, at that ti, not yet been born.
"Until the Order Avatar first laid eyes on Wu Wangzi, I, too, saw Wu Wangzi.
"Guess what I saw?"
"What?" The Head Manager looked bewildered.
Emperor Shun raised his hand slightly, a speck of light blooming from his slender fingertip. The cloud mist behind him billowed; the original images dissipated, coalescing into a blurry silhouette.
This silhouette was ascending a staircase, a staircase ford from Primordial Divine Power. That silhouette radiated an incomparably intense pressure.
It was as if this figure was Heaven and Earth itself.
He climbed to the top of the staircase, facing the vast, boundless Heaven and Earth before him. The green-robed woman standing beside him presented him with a Longsword. The figure turned his head slightly...
Wu Wang.
The Head Manager's pupils quivered faintly.
"From the very first mont I saw him, through the Dao of Ti, I saw his form. The sixth divine era, the new Heavenly Emperor, calling himself the Eastern Emperor, titled Taiyi," Emperor Shun chuckled lightly.
The Head Manager asked in confusion, "Then why not eliminate him beforehand?"
"That is why I say you do not understand the Dao of Ti," Emperor Shun laughed. "What the Dao of Ti glimpses is that which is already determined.
"All your actions, including all actions you deliberately take to destroy this outco, are fated to beco the impetus that steers the result in this direction.
"Does the past determine the future, or does the future determine the past?"
The Head Manager did not know how to answer.
Emperor Shun said leisurely, "In truth, they determine each other. Like water in a mountain lake, why does it flow to lower ground? Because a 'potential' exists.
"How is this potential born? Because the mountain and the ground are already fixed.
"The path the water takes as it flows down is the process we are currently experiencing. Whether the water becos a mountain stream, a waterfall, or a torrent, it will reach the ground.
"In other words, once this potential is generated, unless you can hold up the entire lake, the water will inevitably flow down.
"So, do you understand now?"
"You intend to reach the low ground ahead of ti."
"Worthy of being my Head Manager," Emperor Shun smiled. "Wu Wangzi is to beco Heavenly Emperor, so I will directly give him the Heavenly Emperor's throne. He becos Heavenly Emperor, and the future I glimpsed is realized. Then the potential will let go.
"And what happens after he becos Heavenly Emperor?
"He doesn't know, and neither do I. That is the new future I have carved out."
"Potential?"
The Head Manager looked as if he had heard sothing utterly preposterous. "You are doing all this simply because you glimpsed two scenes through the Dao of Ti?"
"You are mistaken," Emperor Shun said calmly. "That scene of gods and humans united against the Candle Dragon was revealed by the Dao of Ti only after I had made all these arrangents.
"And the various anomalies appearing in this Heaven and Earth also correspond to what I have said.
"Behind Wu Wangzi is the Ice God Cang Xue, and Cang Xue holds the initiative in breaking the Heaven and Earth Seal. If I move against Wu Wangzi when I am unprepared, it will only make needlessly relinquish all initiative.
"My departure today is my way of leaping out of this fixed outco. Don't you understand yet?"
"I do not understand."
The Head Manager gazed at Emperor Shun, his eyes slightly red. "Then everything I have done over these long ages, has it all been for nothing?"
Emperor Shun rely looked at the Head Manager, a hint of pity in his eyes.
The Head Manager pointed to the cloud mist beside him, his voice trembling, "You pushed to depravity step by step, forced to stand opposite all living beings! You made my sister, my most cherished sister, devour my Great Dao—I accepted it!
"You constantly said the Human Domain could be used, telling to prepare immortal bodies for the Human Domain's Transcendent Realm experts. This violates the Lifespan Dao, yet I prepared them!
"Back then... back then you said that if Emperor Suiren's lifespan was not restricted, he would eventually beco a new source of chaos! You said Suiren was a pawn of the Candle Dragon!"
The Head Manager ripped open the front of his robe, revealing his robust chest. But beneath his chest was a black, bowl-sized mark, exuding a thick stench of decay.
"This is the price for trapping Suiren! Did you ever care? Did you ever bear it!"
The Head Manager's lips were slightly purple as he said in a low voice, "Now, you intend to personally destroy the Heaven and Earth Seal! What do you take all my previous sacrifices, all this suffering I've endured, for?"
Emperor Shun said, "I was the one who originally created the Heaven and Earth Seal."
The Head Manager flung his hand violently forward. "The Heaven and Earth Seal was us! You, , the Star God! Eight hundred and twenty-five Divine Spirits of the Heaven Palace created it together!
"You have betrayed us!
"Emperor Shun, you have betrayed Heaven and Earth!"
Emperor Shun erupted in fury, his figure suddenly appearing before the Head Manager. He seized him by the throat, yanking him close, his face contorted as he roared, "It was Heaven and Earth that betrayed first!"
"You... you never considered... us..."
The Head Manager's eyes looked as if they would tear from their sockets. He grabbed Emperor Shun's wrist in a counter-move, cursing through clenched teeth, "In your heart, there is only yourself—selfishness, greed, cowardice, inferiority!
"You feel inferior because you rose from humble beginnings! You feel that attaining the Heavenly Emperor's throne without possessing a supre Great Dao ans Order has failed you, that this Heaven and Earth owes you!
"You are utterly unworthy of being this Heavenly Emperor!"
"Get lost!"
Emperor Shun's arm shook violently. The Head Manager was sent flying, slamming into the cavern wall with such force that it shimred with multicolored specks of light.
The Head Manager slid powerlessly into a corner, collapsing in the cloud mist, yet he suddenly let out a laugh.
Then the laughter grew wilder, echoing everywhere.
"HAHAHAHA! HAHAHA!"
"Emperor Shun!" The Head Manager raised his head, his long, narrow eyes glinting with a cold light. "Are you that desperate? You don't even care what's happening in the Divine Court, HAHAHAHA!"
Divine Light surged around the Head Manager, projecting a scene of the Divine Court in session.
The gods stood silently in their respective places, their faces filled with unwillingness as they gazed at the Head Manager.
"When I appeared here, I had already projected my situation to the Divine Court. This is the authority you granted ."
The Head Manager sneered, slowly getting to his feet.
"Emperor Shun, return the Primordial Divine Power! Relinquish the Heavenly Emperor's throne! Leave your Order Avatar behind!
"Everyone! The Heavenly Emperor intends to abandon the Heaven Palace!"
"Tsk."
Emperor Shun suddenly chuckled, his expression sowhat impatient.
The Head Manager was stunned. He whipped his head around, looking at the projected illusions surrounding him, then towards the various parts of the Divine Court.
The gods rely stood there, unmoving, without any reaction, offering no feedback whatsoever.
Emperor Shun walked forward, hands behind his back, and sighed, "Officer, you truly are not suited for matters of intrigue. You always tend to think of everything too simply. Your capabilities only allow you to consider one thing at a ti.
"The authority I gave you—did you think I wouldn't leave a contingency?
"Do you know how I first beca strong? Through calculation, never through brawling and Duels."
The Head Manager instinctively retreated half a step.
The 'Divine Court' he was currently projecting suddenly developed countless cracks. Those Divine Spirits were rely clay figures, now covered in fine fissures.
Emperor Shun mimicked the Head Manager's earlier tone, "It was just a simple illusion. You didn't even observe whether they reacted."
The Head Manager's nostrils flared, and he lunged forward suddenly.
Emperor Shun, however, rely smiled and raised his hand, pressing down slightly. The Head Manager's figure stopped strangely, and he was stomped to the ground by Emperor Shun's foot.
The disturbance in ti quickly subsided.
Emperor Shun stepped on the Head Manager's cheek, looking down at the figure, his eyes devoid of any emotion, and said slowly, "Relax, I will not kill you, Officer.
"Do you know why?
"Because you are sufficiently cowardly. Your so-called counterattack is not worth ntioning. You are just a pitiful wretch, selfish yet unaware of it.
"I will leave you for Wu Wang, let him experience what it ans to be caught between a rock and a hard place.
"You have committed so many atrocities against the Human Domain; the Human Domain will not forgive you.
"But your sister is the type to let her compassion overflow. And Wu Wangzi is that kind of arrogant man; a smooth journey so far has made him think he can succeed at anything. He will protect you for Young Master's sake.
"Then, he will experience what discord ans.
"Listen to : if you truly wish well for your sister, die here by your own hand. If you lack that courage, then just barely survive, becoming a hidden threat in the new order.
"I have taken the Primordial Divine Power. The Candle Dragon's next assault should be in three years.
"Oh, by the way, you most certainly will not let yourself die here."
Emperor Shun chuckled softly.
"You still have to tell this news to Wu Wang, to the gods, and to my two beauties.
"Such a pity. I also have to bid an early farewell to my two wise consorts."
"You cannot take—the Divine—Power—"
The Head Manager felt everything before him suddenly freeze, his speech becoming incredibly sluggish.
Emperor Shun shook his head, his figure sinking into the Divine Pool, allowing the mist within the cavern to continue swirling.
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