"How many years has it been since we last t?"
Wang Linchi and Pei Jiang sat opposite each other in the main hall of Dai Temple, attended by a great number of guards and eunuchs.
"Thirty-three years, I believe," Wang Linchi responded. He didn’t actually rember, as such a trivial matter wasn’t worth committing to mory. He only knew because he had retrieved the record from his Thought Mirror.
"In a short while, it will be thirty-four years." Pei Jiang looked at the still youthful Wang Linchi, and a peculiar feeling arose in his heart. He was just a hair’s breadth away from reclaiming eternal youth like Wang Linchi, but that tiny distance seed a chasm, a world apart. He yearned to cross it, yet the difficulty was beyond words.
Fortunately, he had found Wang Linchi, which confird one thing for him: as long as Dai Temple existed, he could keep Wang Linchi in check.
"So, you wish for my help to break through your bottleneck once again?" Wang Linchi asked leisurely.
"Mr. Wang, your discernnt is impeccable. I’m just one step away from reaching the Golden Core. After this, I won’t disturb your peace anymore," Pei Jiang said. Yet, he knew that if another problem arose, he would still seek out Wang Linchi.
"I can do it, but you must give an explanation," Wang Linchi said, lowering his eyelids, clearly implying that Pei Jiang had broken his vow.
Pei Jiang’s expression remained unchanged; he appeared nonchalant. "Mr. Wang, what explanation do you require? Dai Temple is still here, and so is Mount Tai."
"Ha! Do you really think I don’t know? For at least twenty of these past thirty-three years, this place has been deserted. Is this what you promised ?" Wang Linchi scoffed.
He had noticed that the further Pei Jiang advanced in the Nine Revolutions Inner Pellet Technique, the more dismissively Pei Jiang treated him.
While Pei Jiang might not have known the full extent of the Dai Temple’s situation, his clear lack of concern irked Wang Linchi. Did he really think Wang Linchi was so pushover?
"That was my son’s failing. He has since fallen into the water and drowned due to his injuries. There’s no point in pursuing his responsibility now," Pei Jiang said, lightly deflecting the bla onto his deceased son.
"Hmph. The one who made a vow with was nad Pei Jiang," Wang Linchi said, dismissing the attempt to shift bla. The oath was made by Pei Jiang, not Pei Kui.
"Impudent!" a eunuch imdiately rebuked. The surrounding guards instantly drew their long knives, awaiting Pei Jiang’s order to dice Wang Linchi into minceat.
However, Pei Jiang was all smiles. "Mr. Wang, do you still not recognize the situation?"
"I am the Great Xuan Emperor, and you are but a commoner. For you to address so directly by na is an act of gross disrespect, a cri punishable by law."
"Even if your Charms are exquisite, can they contend against powerful crossbows and long knives? I only deigned to co here out of consideration for your past hardships; otherwise, you would have died dozens of tis over! In other words, I’ve spared your life, yet you still dare to adopt this tone with ? Are you courting death?"
Wang Linchi observed Pei Jiang intently, searching for so semblance of the man he once knew. Alas, the Pei Jiang before him was no longer that person.
"Pei Jiang, oh Pei Jiang, vows are not so easily made and broken. You too lived through an age where it was said ’the divinities are but three feet above one’s head.’ How can you not understand this?"
"I helped you beco the Xuan Emperor, and I can just as easily remove you from that position."
Wang Linchi spoke with an air of profound disappointnt. This fellow was utterly clueless.
His words made Pei Jiang’s smile falter. He hadn’t expected Wang Linchi to bring up such old matters. Before he could respond, Wang Linchi continued, "Six months ago, you told your Crown Prince that he was the greatest weakness in your plan."
"And now, have you not beco the weakness in your own grand sche?"
Hearing this, Pei Jiang’s strained smile relaxed. "Of course, I know. That is precisely why I brought so many n."
"Hundreds of armored n wielding sharp weapons are in this main hall, and an entire battalion of soldiers is garrisoned within the temple grounds. Mr. Wang, do you believe you can take down in a short ti?"
He wouldn’t repeat his son’s mistake. That was why he had brought not just a few n, but an entire army. In fact, he hadn’t revealed the full extent of his preparations: besides those in the temple, Mount Tai was teeming with his soldiers, both up and down its slopes. If Wang Linchi dared to make a move, he would definitely be trapped on the mountain. This was the true source of his arrogance.
"It is not I who would kill you. But do you recall what was said? ’Violators of the oath shall be struck dead by five thunderbolts.’" Wang Linchi remained unfazed by Pei Jiang’s threats.
Truthfully, if Pei Jiang had pleaded with sincerity, Wang Linchi might still have helped him break through to the Golden Core, allowing this ’great dicinal ingredient’ to mature longer. But given Pei Jiang’s current despicable and utterly arrogant behavior, Wang Linchi had no intention of helping him fulfill his wish. Instead, he would invite him to a swift death.
Hearing this, Pei Jiang abruptly stood up, laughing with blatant arrogance. "Struck by five thunderbolts?"
"I am the Son of Heaven! How could re thunderbolts harm ?"
He dared to be so arrogant because it was a clear day, without a cloud in the sky for thousands of miles. Forget thunder and lightning; there was barely a breeze. How could he possibly be struck by five thunderbolts?
Moreover, even if Wang Linchi used Charms, he wasn’t afraid.
He carried a great number of Amulets on his person. He refused to believe Wang Linchi could best him.
He was the sovereign of all under Heaven, possessing imnse wealth. Whatever Charm materials he required, he could decree it today and have it delivered by tomorrow. Wang Linchi, however, was a solitary figure, without wealth or influence. How could he possibly gather such expensive Charm materials? Thus, for every Charm Wang Linchi used, he surely had one less.
Not to ntion Charms capable of commanding lightning. Even if Wang Linchi gathered the materials, given the current state of the world, he couldn’t craft them. And even if he did, they’d be no more than children’s toys, utterly incapable of electrocuting anyone to death.
Therefore, death by five thunderbolts was nothing but a joke.
Pei Jiang had, of course, noticed that sothing was amiss with the world. That was why he was so desperate to achieve immortality. Otherwise, as the world’s suppression intensified, his cultivation speed would only continue to slow. Hence his urgency.
Everything had to make way for his pursuit of immortality.
"I didn’t expect such confidence from you. But rember, humans act, and Heaven watches," Wang Linchi stated calmly.
He *was* the world, so it wasn’t much of a stretch for him to refer to himself as Heaven.
Pei Jiang was about to retort when he suddenly sensed a fierce wind whipping up outside. The sky, monts ago clear and vast, was rapidly darkening.
CRACK!
A clap of thunder echoed, and Pei Jiang’s expression involuntarily stiffened.
His mind reeled in turmoil; he had never anticipated such a developnt.
"What have you done?" Pei Jiang demanded, advancing on Wang Linchi, a flicker of fear in his eyes.
His fear of death had grown with each passing year. He had clung to the hope of immortality, but now he faced death by five thunderbolts—a fate he absolutely could not accept.
Thus, his gaze fixed on Wang Linchi.
"I’ve done nothing. Your retribution has simply arrived," Wang Linchi replied, feigning ignorance.
But Pei Jiang knew. This was undoubtedly Wang Linchi’s doing.
Abruptly, he raised his head, his gaze falling upon the statue of the Dongyue Tianqi Emperor of Life and Benevolence in the main hall. In that instant, a horrifying realization seed to dawn on him.
"The Holy Emperor... hasn’t fallen!" he gritted out.
Other than this, Pei Jiang could conceive of no other explanation for such a powerful phenonon.
Wang Linchi shook his head. "The Holy Emperor has been gone for a long ti."
This was true. The Holy Emperor had been fused into his body long ago and thus no longer existed as a separate entity. Pei Jiang was indeed overthinking.
The thunder grew louder, more incessant. The guards present naturally grasped the gist of the situation.
It was clear: His Majesty had once made so vow to this Wang Linchi. He had broken that vow, and the consequence was death by five thunderbolts. Unfortunately for them, His Majesty had indeed violated the oath, and the five thunderbolts seed imminent. If this wasn’t resolved, the throne might soon pass to another—perhaps King Yong, the regent, who could then claim it effortlessly.
"The ti is about up, Your Majesty. If you have any last words, now would be the ti to say them," Wang Linchi said, rising slowly, an air of detached nonchalance about him.
"Attack! Kill this traitor for !" Pei Jiang roared, his face contorted with fury. The surrounding guards surged forward, intent on carrying out his command.
But in the next instant, a terrifying change swept through. Outside, a furious wind erupted, a truly petrifying sight. It howled into the hall, throwing the guards off balance; they stumbled and fell, scattered across the floor in disarray.
The roof of the main hall was torn away, revealing a sky choked with black clouds. A bolt of lightning crashed down.
BOOM!
"I don’t believe it!!!" Pei Jiang scread, engulfed by the lightning. The nurous Amulets on his body flared with light, but their glow swiftly dimd within the torrent of electricity, then shattered completely.
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