Journey of the Fate Destroying Emperor

Chapter 1986: The World's Situation V: The Overlords

"What happened to the Tao Beginning Palace?" Wang Wei asked. As soon as he said this, everyone paused. "What? Were they also destroyed?"

"Not at all," Qiyuan replied, shaking his head.

"Did they fight Buddhism? The Saint wasn't here, so I wouldn't be surprised if they took advantage of the situation."

"That's not it. Their situation is a bit complex. After the Absolute Beginning Emperor left, we thought they'd focus on the next generation. And for a while, it was. With Venerable Spirit Treasure's support, Zhen Biyu gradually gained power. However, at some point, the new primal—Daoist Heavenly Eye–started to fight for power."

"That's normal. After rising to the highest echelon of his faction, it's understandable if his ambition grew."

"That's true, but it's the way he went about it," Wang Chong added.

"What do you mean?"

"He allied with the Qin Court."

Wang Wei frowned. "Ying Zheng always wanted to make both Buddhism and Taoism the national religion of the Qin Court, boosting the dynasty's luck and destiny to another level. Don't tell me he —"

Qiyuan nodded. "Heavenly Eye's attempt at seizing power failed miserably. Zhen Biyu was not easy to deal with. As soon as her enemy started gaining momentum, she convinced the neutral Taoist Three Mind to support her. Then Daoist Heavenly Eye allied with the Qin Court; he gained power and momentum quickly, causing chaos in the palace. At some point, it appeared as if he would regain control."

"Something is not adding up. How can a newly promoted Primal fight Zhen Buyi and two Primals? Even with the Qin Court's support, that shouldn't be the case—especially since they have been weakened by the loss of territory. Wait, could it be that the Daoist Heavenly Eye is related to Supreme Unity?"

"I had the same suspicions, but all my attempts at finding the truth failed."

"You should still kill him," Wang Wei said. "It's better to make a mistake than to allow that bastard to live."

"We tried that," Yan Hai said, sighing. "But we also failed."

"What do you mean?"

"He kept surviving our attempts to kill him. One time, all four of us secretly attacked him, but he still survived."

"More reason to doubt him."

Qiyuan nodded. "True, but he became more careful after each failed attempt. In the end, we had no choice but to support Zhen Biyu in dealing with her internal issue. And she did it. After becoming a Primal, she started eroding all of Daoist Heavenly Eye's power."

"So, what happened to him in the end? Did he run away and hide? Try something extreme?"

"You could say that. He took all his remaining power and joined the Qin Divine Court."

"That would have recuperated some of the destiny they've lost."

"That it did."

"However, if Daoist Heavenly Eye is Supreme Unity or related to him in any form, things will get interesting now that Ying Zheng is back."

"I'm worried that they will work together."

"That is an issue," Wang Wei replied. "Under normal circumstances, their egos would not allow them to work together. But given the current state of the world and their respective situation, they might make it work."

"You're taking this news rather calmly," Li Ming said.

Wang Wei shrugged. "After what I experienced on the expedition, Supreme Unity is a minor character. Without his absolute power, his meager intelligence is nothing to fear." Supreme Unity was a powerful opponent mostly because of his Saint Power; the gap was so wide that, more often than not, Wang Wei's intelligence couldn't make up for it. But now, as he approaches the Quasi-Saint Realm and gains access to more Saint resources, he has plenty of ways to shrink the gap and reduce Supreme Unity's threat level.

"It's good to see the small shadow he left on your mind is gone," Qiyuan commented.

Wang Wei nodded. "Let's stop mentioning him. Maitreya probably wants to deal with him more than me. Tell me what happened to Buddhism."

"Nothing much," Wang Chong stated. "They kept to themselves and supported most of our endeavors in the court."

"They didn't try to fight for power?"

"Not at all."

"They didn't kick Taoism while it was down?"

"Nope."

"How surprising. The Saint might have warned them." Wang Wei didn't believe these monks would behave so well without a stern warning from Maitreya.

"What about the Origin Seal Continent?"

"Nothing major occurred. The twins did a great job of ruling in Wu Hong's absence. The Skill Dao Association had a few conflicts with them, but they resolved most of them peacefully, and we only had to interfere a handful of times."

"A few others also tried to take advantage of the continent, thinking they were weak now that Wu Hong was gone, but the twins solved the issue with ease," Wang Chong added.

Wang Wei smiled. It was a good thing the twins were capable even without Wu Hong's presence. "Speaking of the association, what have they been up to?"

"These people have been moving a bit snake-like," Yan Hao commented.

"Oh?"

"After we monopolized all of the world's resources, the association benefitted the most. Then, when I was negotiating for the Heavenly Emperor Position, I returned the Dao Path Tablet to them."

"Did we copy it? Oh, right, we did," Wang Wei said as he suddenly remembered.

"Not long after that, Tong Ruobing ascended to the realm of Primal. Then they began to act aggressively: they tried to gain more resources from the monopoly, control the small crumbs we left to the loose cultivators, gain more power in the court, and even suppress the Origin Seal Continent's rune business. For a while, their entire mode of operation involved amassing as many resources as possible."

"That's odd. Tong Ruobing was never the greedy type — ambitious, but never greedy."

"It wasn't for her."

"You mean, Mu Lei? She was gathering resources for him?"

"To be precise, for the Primeval Body Mansion."

"Do they even need our meager resources? Wait, unless —"

Qiyuan sighed. "One of the foreign factions that has entered our world is the Primeval Body Mansion, and they've set up base directly in the association's territory. As far as we are aware, they have been closed and may have even formed an official alliance."

"That's bad news, but what about Su Dandan? Didn't she report anything about their movements?"

"It's because of her information that we were able to suspect an official alliance. However, we didn't want her to investigate further," Li Ming explained, and Wang Wei understood. Su Dandan's existence is a backup plan for the Dao Opening Sect in case things go awry in the Eternal Ascension World, so no one wanted her to do anything that jeopardized her situation in the Primeval Body Mansion.

"Do you think the mansion is here for one of the [Seven Positions]?"

"Most likely."

"Has anyone figured out their purpose yet?"

"Unfortunately," Qiyuan replied. "Grand Dao has been keeping a tight lid on this secret."

"There must be a way to find some information," Wang Wei muttered to himself as he suddenly remembered something: Old Man Tianji was dead; he was part of the expedition and didn't make it out alive. Without wasting a moment, he cast his gaze into the lower dimension.

"Hmm?"

"What is it?" Qiyuan asked.

"Didn't Hong'er say she would protect information from the lower dimension? Why isn't there anything?" When his main body talked with Wu Hong, she told him she planned to hide the fact that the lower dimension can help people train their Dao Quintessence.

"There is nothing to protect," Yan Hai said. "Grand Dao has already taken care of it."

"Oh?" Wang Wei checked but couldn't detect anything. "What about the people who ascended? They should be a liability."

"They're not. They are under a powerful spiritual hint not to talk about their experience. More importantly, causality has been rewritten. All records or words spoken about the lower dimension will only reveal that there is a new trend in which Emperors like to leave secret realms for future descendants as part of their legacy."

"So, only a few people might be able to deduce that these secret realms are Minor Constructs," Wang Wei uttered. "I'm guessing the people who know also cannot easily tell this secret?"

"You'd be correct."

"I'm relieved now. But sooner or later, the information will spread." Grand Dao might be able to influence and limit all [Immortals], but the same doesn't hold for Saints—and that's true even for Primordial Chaos Saints.

"As long as it buys us time to grow," Qiyuan said.

"True."

"What's with your sudden interest in the lower dimension?" Yan Hai asked.

"Old Man Tianji is dead."

"So?"

"One of the people karmically connected to him is in the lower dimension, fused with the Myriad Emperor Realm's Heavenly Dao. I was thinking we could control him and send him to the Star-Gazing Pavilion to gain control."

Qiyuan frowned. "A lot of people have the name Old Man Tianji, so the competition will be fierce. That one is only a Great Emperor; I don't think he has a chance."

"We only need to raise him to the Primal Stage, and we'll have the opportunity to compete for a Saint Lineage. I think such an investment is worth it even if we fail."

Wang Wei doesn't mind failure; in fact, he only cares about Old Man Tianji's Saint Art and his Divination Saint Artifact. But even if he doesn't get any of these things, he'll benefit as long as he can get a piece of the pie from the Star Gazing Pavilion.