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The Immortal Emperor cried out, "I don't know either, but I do know that the outer city is connected to the Celestial Palace, supported by the Celestial Essence. If you flatten the Celestial Palace, the outer city cannot exist independently. The Restrictions have been broken, and from now on, this place will become a sea of sand just like the Northern Immortal Palace!"
Li Hong was thinking about Chu Xi when he heard this and turned his attention to Xi Che and Yuan Xiaotian, asking, "Could it be that you were also responsible for breaking the Northern Immortal Palace?"
Xi Che looked at Yuan Xiaotian, and the two silently nodded.
"How long ago was that?"
Xi Che did not answer but instead asked Xiao Yaozi, "You said you were forced; who exactly was forcing you?"
"This is a long story..." the Immortal Emperor replied.
Hearing this, Heavenly Torch became furious. "Just make it clear to me! Otherwise, if I get angry, I'll chop you—no, your head—into a hundred thousand pieces and feed them to the Azure Wind Antelope!"
The Immortal Emperor blinked rapidly and stammered, "This goes back twenty thousand years. Back then, like both of you, I thought the Immortal Realm was incredibly beautiful. On the day of my ascension, I was truly excited; everything was just like your situation—coming out from the Ascension Pool—and then I met the previous Immortal Emperor."
"The previous Immortal Emperor?" Li Hong Tian Zhu asked in unison.
"Yes, at that time, the Celestial Palace of Leisure already had an Immortal Emperor. I ascended and was brought before the previous Immortal Emperor. He ordered me to rest and gave me a small position. I was very happy and excited, and then I spent some leisurely days. Suddenly one day, everyone was summoned to the Lingxiao Treasure Hall. However, I did not see the Immortal Emperor; instead, I saw Xiao Da! He stood beneath the throne and announced that the Immortal Emperor was dead and that only I had the qualifications to become the Immortal Emperor. I was completely stunned at that moment, speechless in shock. I was pushed onto the throne by Xiao Da and accepted worship; inexplicably, I took charge of the Celestial Palace of Leisure and the Celestial Seal and became the Immortal Emperor. After that, I entered the Inner Chamber where a mysterious voice kept telling me how to act. If I did not comply, the previous Immortal Emperor would serve as my example. That’s when I realized there was a master behind the scenes in this Immortal Realm who monitored everything happening in it. Those immortals under Xiao Da were truly native immortals of this realm; I was merely a puppet who sometimes even had to watch Xiao Da's expression."
Li Hong pondered this. In such a situation, Xiao Yaozi should not be lying. Moreover, Li Hong now recalled why "Xiao Yaozi" sounded so familiar; he indeed was an Ancestor of the Immortal Sect and one of its prominent figures! This timeline matched up; he ascended around the time when the Immortal Sect was established—almost twenty thousand years ago—while the existence of the Immortal Realm certainly predates that. Thus, the claim about the previous Immortal Emperor held water. Furthermore, those people under Xiao Da were indeed quite arrogant; what was most peculiar was their similar appearances. Li Hong had suspected back then that these immortals were mass-produced. If there were dark hands manipulating things behind the scenes and Xiao Da's group were actually his people, everything would make sense.
The mastermind controlling the Immortal Realm must be incredibly formidable.
So who could it possibly be?
Li Hong thought of the Evil Dragon in the Underground of the Demon Slayer Palace. Could it be it?
After pondering for a moment, Li Hong shook his head again. It couldn't be; if it were truly that, he definitely wouldn't have been able to kill it with just one sword strike.
It seemed there were still many secrets in the Immortal Realm.
However, he absolutely could not be deceived by Xiao Yaozi's words; he was sure there were important matters that had not been disclosed.
Li Hong shouted sternly, "Xiao Yaozi, I ask you! Is it the mastermind behind the scenes who ordered the killing of the immortals who ascended over these twenty thousand years? I think not! It is clearly your own initiative!"
Heavenly Torch sneered, "Exactly. The moment we ascended, we were summoned and treated to a banquet. At that time, I didn't hear any mysterious voice at all! Everything was your own idea!"
The Immortal Emperor's eyelids twitched rapidly, clearly guilty, and he fell silent.
"I know about this matter." The speaker was Xi Che, who cast a piercing glance at Xiao Yaozi and said lightly, "Xiao Yaozi took action while the newly ascended immortals had just arrived in the Immortal Realm and everything was unexamined. On one hand, it was to stabilize his position, fearing someone would follow in the footsteps of the previous Immortal Emperor and kill him to seize his title. On the other hand, hmph! It was actually to save his own life!"
Upon hearing this, Li Hong immediately scrutinized the Immortal Emperor's expression. He indeed looked more anxious and didn't dare to raise his eyelids.
Xi Che continued, "In fact, it is said that long ago, the Blood Sea in the center of the Immortal Realm did not exist. Later, for some unknown reason, Spiritual Energy became increasingly scarce, so much so that vast stretches of the Immortal Realm turned into a Desert, and the situation worsened. Chu Hongzi, you know how terrifying it is for immortals when Spiritual Energy is lacking. Without replenishment of Spiritual Energy, their cultivation would continuously regress until they had no choice but to disperse their power or even face annihilation. Therefore, previous generations of Immortal Emperors went to great lengths to set up Restrictions outside the Four Directions Immortal Palaces to prevent Celestial Essence from leaking out. Even so, the Spiritual Energy in the entire Immortal Realm continues to diminish day by day. Thus, they have an unwritten rule to specifically kill newly ascended immortals from the lower realms to absorb their cultivation and preserve their own lives!" At this point, Xi Che sneered and asked, "Xiao Yaozi, am I right?"
"Yes," Xiao Yaozi replied in a very low voice.
Li Hong and Heavenly Torch exchanged glances and suddenly understood. No wonder Xi Che firmly asserted that Xiao Yaozi summoned them with ill intentions and repeatedly warned them to be cautious; he clearly knew the inside story. At the same time, Li Hong recalled the White Jade Wall filled with empty spaces. It seemed that the original cultivation essence of those ascended immortals had been condensed into pearls like dragon balls and placed in those spaces for the Immortal Emperor to absorb slowly to ensure his strength. However, over these twenty thousand years, there had not been many immortals ascending; after three thousand years without anyone ascending from below, and since the Immortal Emperor did not dare directly absorb Celestial Essence from within the palace, he could only absorb those essence pearls one by one until they were completely depleted.
He must have gone a long time without a significant boost, which is why he is so concerned about himself and Heavenly Torch, trying every possible way to coax and deceive in order to absorb their powers. This also explains why the Immortal Emperor's cultivation is so weak; after all, when Li Hong easily captured him back then, there was a hint of doubt in his mind.
Now, Li Hong couldn't imagine what would have happened if he hadn't encountered Xi Che in the Desert first, who reminded him that he and Heavenly Torch would have become two essence beads placed in the White Jade Wall, slowly being absorbed by Xiao Yaozi.
At this moment, Heavenly Torch said dejectedly, "So what if we know all this? Those mortals are still going to die. No way, this old man must be hiding something! I’ll ask you again, do you really know what’s going on with that big river? Damn it! I don’t believe in any Restrictions; it must be your doing!"
This statement was somewhat unreasonable, causing Xi Che and Yuan Xiaotian to exchange wry smiles.
Li Hong said solemnly, "I think we should order a retreat. Xi Che, can your Xu Yang Immortal Palace accept these mortals? If not, hmph, I wouldn’t mind killing another Immortal Emperor!"
Xi Che and Yuan Xiaotian exchanged glances and nodded simultaneously.
Xi Che said seriously, "Immortal Brother, we’re not going to hide it from you anymore. Actually, when you asked if the Northern Immortal Palace was our doing, I should have told you back then..."
Before he could finish his sentence, Li Hong interrupted him firmly, saying, "Xi Che, no matter what your identity is, I’ve decided to be friends with you! If I hadn’t run into you in the Blood Sea, I might have fallen for this old man’s tricks by now. So for you, I have no reservations or doubts. If you have your reasons, there’s no need to rush to tell me. Because now we are friends or rather allies. I’ve decided to join your Rebels; from now on, my brother Heavenly Torch and I will also be part of the Rebels! We will fight to the end against that behind-the-scenes mastermind!"
"Right!" Heavenly Torch shouted loudly. "To the end! We must break this rotten Immortal Realm! Let all those rules roll away!"
Xi Che was extremely moved and exclaimed loudly, "Good! We accept your joining the Rebels. However, before that, we need to do one thing."
His gaze turned towards Xiao Yaozi's head on the ground. "I need to kill him first!"
Xiao Yaozi cried out in terror, "No..."
A flash of Azure Light passed by, and Li Hong felt as if he heard a few melodious notes beside his ear, though it might have been an illusion. The next moment, he discovered that the head of Xiao Yaozi on the ground had turned into a powder so fine it was almost indistinguishable.
Sound attack? Li Hong was taken aback; this was a long-lost extraordinary skill from the Cultivation World. Suddenly, he recalled the first time he met Xi Che, when he had no cultivation but was still able to deceive the ears of the Xu Yang Immortal Palace's immortal with a special musical technique. A thought surged in his mind.
At that moment, Xi Che said, "I have killed Xiao Yaozi; please set a fire, Chu Hongzi."
Li Hong nodded, flicking his fingers as a spark of True Fire flew out, instantly making the powder vanish.
Before Xi Che could speak, Li Hong calmly looked at him and slowly said, "Your true name is not Xi Che; you must be a renowned master known throughout the mortal realm. If I am not mistaken, you should be Taihao Fuxi. Am I right?"
"Good! Chu Hongzi is indeed quick-witted! Yes, I am Fuxi. But what of it? For tens of thousands of years, we have only been able to seal our cultivation and hide deeply among mortals, constantly thinking about escaping. This immortal realm is not the legendary paradise but a hell set by demons, with the purpose of trapping us cultivators!"
Xi Che pointed at Yuan Xiaotian and said, "You probably guessed that he is not an ordinary person either."
Li Hong truly had not guessed this. Yuan Xiaotian appeared plain and ordinary, the type of person who could blend into a crowd and disappear instantly. Moreover, like Xi Che, even if they were to unseal their powers at this moment, they would only be at the Early Stage of Nascent Soul cultivation. Furthermore, if it weren't for those faint musical notes that suddenly reminded Li Hong of Fuxi, the ancestor of music, and if Xi Che's surname didn't happen to contain the character 'Xi', he wouldn't have guessed so easily.
Seeing Li Hong shake his head, Yuan Xiaotian smiled and said, "I am actually a junior of Fuxi; my name is Gongsun Xuanyuan from the Xuanyuan Clan."
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