The light and shadows of time and space slowly contracted, the gray-white light and shadows disappeared, and Li Guanyan finally broke free from his restraints. The first thing he did upon landing was to check himself.
Li Guanyan raised his long blade, staring intently at the flickering golden lightning.
For a long time.
He saw a fleeting shadow containing the essence of the Dao of Time.
“The essence of the Dao of Time… Ten years ago… the young man in black robes… memory sealed… Meng Qingzhou…”
Li Guanyan raised his head in shock, looking at Meng Qingzhou in disbelief, his mouth slightly agape—The Human Emperor!?
Ji Wushuang was just a puppet pushed by the Heaven-Watching Pavilion, a fake Human Emperor on the surface, while Meng Qingzhou was the true chosen one!?
‘So, for the past ten years, my memory has been sealed, and I had no idea how I broke through to the late Morning Glow Realm…’
‘Even when I met Meng Qingzhou, I couldn’t recognize him until now, when my memory was finally unlocked.’
‘The trace of the essence of the Dao of Time in my Thunder Dao is the ironclad proof!’
Li Guanyan was stunned for a long time before coming back to his senses. Without hesitation, he knelt down on both knees, clasped his fists, and said, “Subordinate Li Guanyan, greets the… my lord.”
Li Guanyan was drenched in cold sweat, suddenly remembering that Ji Wushuang was the apparent chosen Human Emperor, while Meng Qingzhou was hidden in the shadows, not to be known by others. Wang Xianjia was watching from the side, and if this was spoken aloud, the consequences would be unimaginable.
This sudden change left Wang Xianjia completely bewildered, causing the summoned black thunder blade and the dozen or so half-step Sky-Reaching Realm shadows to freeze in place, not daring to advance.
“Li Guanyan, do you know what you’re doing? Serving the enemy as your master, the Heaven-Watching Pavilion will not spare you!” Wang Xianjia roared in fury.
Traitor! You idiot!
“Is your brain filled with mush, with shit? What are you thinking, why the sudden change, and why recognize a thief as your master!?”
“I always knew you were stupid, but I didn’t think you were this stupid. I regret bringing you into the Heaven-Watching Pavilion, you damn fool! I want to kill you!”
Wang Xianjia was hopping mad, cursing incessantly from within the black cocoon.
Li Guanyan knelt on the ground, veins bulging on his forehead, unable to hold back his anger, he shouted back:
“Shut up!”
“Old Wang, don’t blame me for not advising you. Beg the master for forgiveness now, and you might have a slim chance of survival. Otherwise, I can’t save you!”
Wang Xianjia was stunned, speechless for a long time, and said, “What?!”
“You recognize a thief as your father, and you want to drag me along? You want me to beg Meng Qin for forgiveness?!”
“Why should I!”
Li Guanyan chuckled coldly, “It’s hard to persuade a damned ghost with good words. If you remain obstinate, there’s nothing I can do. But if you trust me, immediately lift the Curtain of Heaven Technique, kneel down, and beg the master for forgiveness. Maybe the master will spare your life!”
As soon as he said this, Wang Xianjia’s vision went black, almost spitting out a mouthful of old blood in anger.
Betraying at the last moment, stabbing a teammate in the back, and speaking so righteously and confidently! Absolutely shameless, unbelievably stupid!
“Tell me, what makes you so firm in believing Meng Qingzhou is your master.” Wang Xianjia took a deep breath, sensing something was wrong, and calmly persuaded.
He had worked with Li Guanyan for over a hundred years, assisting the previous emperor for the first seventy years, and becoming a dark agent of the Heaven-Watching Pavilion for the last thirty years. He knew Li Guanyan well.
No matter how stupid Li Guanyan was, he couldn’t be so foolish as to not distinguish right from wrong.
There must be something fishy, very likely Meng Qingzhou’s doing!
Hearing this, Li Guanyan was about to speak when he suddenly frowned, feeling something was off. Upon careful reflection, everything seemed normal, just an illusion.
Meng Qingzhou stood quietly, listening to their argument, with no intention of intervening.
Since breaking through to the late Morning Glow Realm, his control over the Dao of Space-Time had reached a new level.
By interfering with fate and causality through the Dao of Space-Time, he could trace back the past and future, thus penetrating Li Guanyan’s life river.
Of course, [Time and Space. Reversing Time] had its limitations. Any cultivator who touched even a trace of the essence of the Sky-Reaching Realm could not be interfered with, their fate and causality lines could not be manipulated, and their life river could not be penetrated or traced back.
Perhaps, only by truly breaking through to the Sky-Reaching Realm could one manipulate and control cultivators below the early Sky-Reaching Realm.
As Meng Qingzhou began his journey to pursue the Sky-Reaching Realm, he had a vague feeling that if he could break through to the Sky-Reaching Realm, he might even be able to navigate the river of time and space to some extent, though not freely.
“To truly control the river of time and space, one must break through to the realm above the Sky-Reaching Realm, the legendary—Heavenly Qu Realm.”
Meng Qingzhou thought to himself, and when he came back to his senses, the negotiation between Li Guanyan and Wang Xianjia had completely collapsed, and the two were silent.
Li Guanyan hesitated for a long time, ultimately unable to bear the thought of his old friend dying, and heavily kowtowed to the ground, pleading:
“Master, please forgive Wang Xianjia’s death sentence. He was just unaware, not knowing the master’s true identity.”
Seeing this, Wang Xianjia’s eyes turned red, unable to suppress his killing intent.
“Damn you, Meng Qingzhou, no matter what you did to Old Li, as long as I kill you, Old Li will surely regain his senses.”
“So, you must die!”
Over a dozen half-step Sky-Reaching Realm shadows moved, attacking Meng Qingzhou from all directions.
Black thunder blades shot up from the ground with a whoosh.
Meng Qingzhou stood quietly, making no move.
Li Guanyan, who had been prostrating on the ground, suddenly stood up, his hair standing on end, and drew his blade to shield Meng Qingzhou:
“Old Wang, how dare you! You’re forcing me!”
“No need, for your sake, Wang Xianjia’s death sentence can be spared, but he cannot escape punishment.” Meng Qingzhou patted Li Guanyan’s shoulder.
As his words fell.
Meng Qingzhou vanished into thin air. In an instant, streams of the river of time and space condensed into sword embryos, over a hundred in total, swirling within the Curtain of Heaven.
The dozen or so half-step Sky-Reaching Realm shadows were shredded to pieces, and countless black thunder blades were broken.
This scene was a visual feast, an unstoppable crushing.
Wang Xianjia, hiding in the cocoon, looked out in disbelief, muttering:
“How is this possible, a mere late Morning Glow Realm, so powerful.”
Wang Xianjia forced himself to remain calm, forcing a smile, “But it doesn’t matter, the strongest aspect of the Shadow Path is not killing, but hiding and defense. You can’t find me, nor break the cocoon’s defense.”
The black cocoon merged into the ground and disappeared, leaving only a faintly confident laugh echoing within the Curtain of Heaven.
At this moment.
A voice sounded in Wang Xianjia’s ear, “Oh? Really.”
As if it was right beside him, before Wang Xianjia could react, Meng Qingzhou’s fist shattered the Curtain of Heaven, then reached into the sticky black liquid, grabbed the cocoon, and yanked it out.
Splat!
Sword Sense swept through, shattering the supposedly invincible cocoon, revealing Wang Xianjia’s half-naked, terrified form.
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