Chapter 755
“Him?”
Xuanding recalled, “Back when the Four Great Immortal Dynasties fell, the Zao Hua Tian Mo was hunted down by the Lei Yin Temple and fled to the sea, only to be caught by my Taishang Dao.”
“Before he fell, he said with his own mouth that he would obey you.”
“The Zao Hua Tian Mo, obeying me?”
The voice of Jiu You Mo Zu was thick with disbelief.
Zheng Fa felt a headache coming on as well.
The Zao Hua Tian Mo was no weakling, that much was clear.
It was one thing for someone to speak recklessly, but to say such a thing right before dying?
Who wouldn’t have doubts?
“He also said,” Xuanding continued, “that you betrayed the Tian He Zun Zhe, and he has already turned to darkness.”
“…”
“Sure enough, not long after, the Tian He Zun Zhe suddenly perished.”
Zheng Fa fell into deep thought.
Now, he certainly wouldn’t doubt Jiu You Mo Zu.
But looking back at that time, things were different:
The Tian He Zun Zhe’s actions against the mountains and temples had already left the Four Sects shaken.
On the other hand, Jiu You Mo Zu, being from the demonic sect, was likely already deemed untrustworthy in the eyes of the Four Sects.
And with the Zao Hua Mo Zu as a “witness”…
To be honest, Zheng Fa felt that even as a member of Taishang Dao, he would have his doubts about both the Tian He Zun Zhe and Jiu You Mo Zu.
So, did Lei Yin Temple and Hao Ri Mountain receive messages from Taishang Dao, leading to this misunderstanding?
Zheng Fa furrowed his brow.
Zao Hua Tian Mo… Hao Ri Mountain… and Lu Yao.
If anyone could create such a misunderstanding, it would only be Lu Yao.
But the problem was, while Lu Yao might command the Mo Zu and Hao Ri Mountain, could it really be said that Taishang Dao had no doubts at all?
That would be foolish.
“Zao Hua Tian Mo said he would obey me, and you all believe it?”
Jiu You Mo Zu turned to the Four Sects Dao Guo and asked.
Zhi Tong spoke up, “Yao Chi sent word that the Tian He Zun Zhe has turned to darkness, wishing to use the Zhu Xian Array to eliminate the Four Sects and unify the Immortal Gate, making himself the sole ruler.”
Jiu You Mo Zu fell silent.
Zheng Fa was also at a loss for words.
So it was true, the matter of the Tian He Zun Zhe turning to darkness was actually confirmed by Yao Chi?
This was likely the root cause of the Tian He chaos.
This great upheaval, to put it plainly, was a confluence of various causes:
The Four Sects’ dissatisfaction with the Tian He Zun Zhe’s actions against the mountains and temples.
Their suspicions of Jiu You Mo Zu.
Their fear of the Zhu Xian Array.
All of these combined ultimately led to the Tian He bloodbath.
“Yao Chi…” Jiu You Mo Zu suddenly spoke, “it really is her.”
Who?
Zheng Fa was bewildered.
“She said that, and of course, you all believed her,” Jiu You Mo Zu continued, “after all, she… is the Dao partner of the Tian He.”
…
Ni Chang Yuan Jun understood as well; someone had revealed Yao Chi’s words. With a sigh, she said, “Ling Xi and the Tian He Zun Zhe were in love, and I, Yao Chi, was happy to see it.”
“Yet one day, she returned to Yao Chi, saying that the Tian He had turned to darkness, wishing to eradicate the Four Sects and unify the Immortal Gate, making herself the sole ruler.”
“Mo Zu, what do you think? Should we believe it?”
Upon hearing this, Zheng Fa began to piece together a narrative:
Before the Tian He Zun Zhe’s demise, the Four Sects and the Tian He Zun Zhe had likely already grown estranged due to the Tian He Law and the Zhu Xian Sword Array.
The Four Sects must have harbored countless grievances and fears.
Two particular matters had sown doubt in the hearts of the Four Sects:
One was the dying words of the Zao Hua Tian Mo.
Of course, the Four Sects didn’t necessarily believe the Mo Zu.
But it was hard not to harbor some resentment.
The other matter that further undermined the Four Sects’ trust was:
That Ling Xi, as Jiu You Mo Zu mentioned, was indeed the Dao partner of the Tian He Zun Zhe and hailed from Yao Chi.
Her credibility was beyond question.
This doubt had never dissipated, and who would have thought that the Tian He Zun Zhe would suddenly perish and pass his position to Jiu You Mo Zu?
The mystery surrounding the Tian He’s death.
Years of accumulated suspicion.
Of course, in Zheng Fa’s view, the main issue was the Four Sects’ fear of the Zhu Xian Sword Array.
Even without all the preceding events, the Four Sects would likely not tolerate Jiu You Mo Zu controlling the Zhu Xian Array.
Zheng Fa could even foresee that even if the Tian He Zun Zhe hadn’t perished, this conflict would have erupted eventually, perhaps even more violently.
Thinking this way, the Tian He Zun Zhe of those years had it rough:
His four disciples betrayed him… or at least, they were all doubting their master.
Even his Dao partner seemed to be questioning him.
A complete loss of trust.
The only one he could rely on was Jiu You Mo Zu?
Unfortunately, Jiu You Mo Zu couldn’t even preserve that legacy.
…
Zhi Tong, the old monk, suddenly spoke again:
“Though Taishang Dao and my Lei Yin Temple have had our grievances, we belong to the same Immortal Gate.”
“We naturally trust their news, especially with the testimony of the Yao Chi Ling Xi Shen Jun.”
“Back then, Taishang Dao led us, with the help of the Four Lineage Ancestors, to breach the Tian He Great Array, suppress the Four Zhu Xian Swords, and restore order.”
“Fearing your powers, we set an ambush, but unexpectedly, you still managed to escape.”
Zheng Fa furrowed his brow.
At this point, he had only one thought:
Everything was just too coincidental.
It felt as if someone was pushing the Tian He Zun Zhe and the Four Sects toward a rupture.
From the Tian He Zun Zhe’s attitude, he seemed to have realized something, losing trust in the Four Sects and having no choice but to turn to Jiu You Mo Zu.
From the perspective of the Four Sects, the Tian He Zun Zhe was drifting further away from them, ultimately choosing Jiu You Mo Zu.
Even from Zhi Tong and the others’ words, it seemed the instigator of the Tian He chaos was Taishang Dao and Yao Chi?
Just then, Xuanding Zhenxian began to speak again: “But we were wrong.”
(End of this chapter)
Chapter 513: The Conclusion of the Story, Words Without Trust
Hearing Xuanding admit fault, Zheng Fa’s heart jolted.
To be fair, at this point in the unfolding events, the Four Sects really didn’t have much to hide:
It wasn’t that the Four Sects hadn’t made mistakes, but everything they did had reasons that didn’t require concealment.
From his perspective, the Four Sects never claimed to be paragons of virtue; sometimes, a mistake was just a mistake, and they were simply domineering.
They didn’t care much about the opinions of the Xuan Wei cultivators.
So why had the Tian He chaos become a taboo in the Xuan Wei realm?
The answer was clear— the Four Sects had done things even more outrageous, things that couldn’t be spoken of.
…
“Wrong?” Jiu You Mo Zu’s voice echoed in the live broadcast.
But Xuanding Zhenxian fell silent again.
He gazed at the white light on the San Sheng Stone, his eyes losing focus.
After a while, he finally spoke: “When we discovered that the Three Mo Zu were also hunting you, we knew we had been deceived.”
Zheng Fa nearly lost his composure.
Jiu You Mo Zu had it rough.
Just when he was about to unify the Xuan Wei realm with his close friend, the Tian He Zun Zhe, and achieve a great legacy…
The Tian He Zun Zhe vanished without a trace.
As the heir of the world’s greatest power, the Tian He Sect, he found himself betrayed by it.
He was hunted by both the righteous and demonic factions, with nowhere to hide in Xuan Wei for nearly a hundred thousand years before daring to show his face.
This experience was truly a rollercoaster, a fall from heaven to hell.
If Zheng Fa were in his shoes, he would have wanted to wipe out the Immortal Gate.
Jiu You Mo Zu remained silent for a long time.
When he spoke again, his tone was like crashing waves, filled with barely contained rage:
“You realized you were wrong, and then what?”
The response to this anger was yet another silence.
After a long while, it was Ni Chang Yuan Jun who spoke:
“Upon realizing something was off, we, the Four Sects, immediately discussed it.”
“It was… Lu Zhenxian from Hao Ri Mountain who said, ‘Given the circumstances…’”
The white light on the San Sheng Stone flickered again, indicating the truth of this statement.
“Lu Yao? Said ‘given the circumstances’?”
Jiu You Mo Zu murmured softly.
This name seemed somewhat unfamiliar to him.
It was clear that in that era, Hao Ri Mountain was not a central figure in Xuan Wei:
After all, on the surface, the founder of Hao Ri Mountain was merely a Zhenxian.
But Zheng Fa furrowed his brow.
The terror of Lu Yao lay in:
In terms of talent, he could rival the Tian He Zun Zhe, and his methods were profound and vast.
In terms of background, Lu Yao could match Jiu You Mo Zu, perhaps even being older than Jiu You Mo Zu.
Yet from Jiu You Mo Zu’s reaction, he seemed to have little impression of Lu Yao.
Perhaps even the Tian He Zun Zhe hadn’t noticed Lu Yao’s uniqueness?
Jiu You Mo Zu continued, “What does ‘given the circumstances’ mean?”
Zhi Tong and the others fell silent at this question, suddenly finding a tacit understanding to keep their mouths shut.
But Jiu You Mo Zu had already understood.
He coldly said:
“Just go along with the mistake?”
“Once you start, you can’t stop?”
“Even join forces with the Mo Zu?”
Zhi Tong and the others fell into silence.
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