Zhou Emperor's Visit

"May I ask if Zhang Li is here?"

This was the third person today to ask that question. Yuan Wu Xing was tempted to hang a sign outside saying, "Zhang Li is not here."

"Yes. Are you also here to persuade Senior Zhang to withdraw the petition?"

The visitor wore a cloak that concealed his features. At Yuan Wu Xing's question, a sharp glint flashed through his eyes.

"So many people have come looking for Zhang Li? I had thought Great Zhou was bright and open, that there would not be so much filth and ugliness."

"Yes, you're the twenty-first or twenty-second, I think. I can't remember. Take my advice and give up."

"You are Yuan Wu Xing, the owner of this house, correct? You misunderstand. I am Zhang Li's friend. I heard he had come to Great Zhou, so I came especially to catch up with him."

Just as Yuan Wu Xing was about to say something, Jiang Li called from inside the room, "Wu Xing, let him in. He truly is my friend."

Since Jiang Li had spoken, Yuan Wu Xing naturally invited the cloaked man inside with great courtesy.

"If I hadn't recognized your handwriting on the petition, I would never have known you had come to Great Zhou. Why didn't you tell me? I could have welcomed you."

"I had only intended to return home, take care of some business, and leave. Who knew it would drag out such a long chain of people?"

The visitor removed his cloak, revealing a handsome face with well-defined features. Most striking of all were those Double Pupils.

"Y-Your Majesty!"

Yuan Wu Xing cried out involuntarily, so shocked that his mind went blank.

"You never told him who you were, did you, Jiang Li?" Zhou Emperor Ji Zhi glanced at the stunned Yuan Wu Xing.

"What could I do? The moment we met, he started badmouthing me. If I didn't change identities, how could I learn the truth from him?" Jiang Li shrugged helplessly. His features shifted slightly, returning to their original appearance.

"Y-You, no, Your Excellency... you're Human Emperor Jiang?!"

The instant Jiang Li returned to his original appearance, Yuan Wu Xing's mind became a sheet of blank paper. He completely gave up thinking, and by the time he came back to himself, his face was flushed crimson.

Earlier, he had spoken to Jiang Li with a mysterious air about how "Human Emperor Jiang supported the Infant Theft Case," "Human Emperor Jiang indulged his cousin in cultivating the Demonic Path," and "Human Emperor Jiang cultivated the Demonic Path himself."

Yuan Wu Xing only wanted to find a crack in the ground and crawl into it.

Zhou Emperor Ji Zhi looked at Jiang Li with a smile that was not quite a smile. "If Lao Bai finds out you are the Dao Sect Emissary, he'll be so happy he won't sleep for a year."

"A temporary identity, a temporary identity." Jiang Li felt uncomfortable all over under Zhou Emperor Ji Zhi's gaze, so he hurriedly changed the subject and took out the Image Retention Orb.

With a slight circulation of Mana, Zhou Emperor Ji Zhi saw the contents of the Image Retention Orb.

Jiang Clan Leader and City Lord Zeng attempting to destroy evidence; Jiang Clan Leader and City Lord Zeng conspiring with Prefect Gong; Prefect Gong contacting successive Qing City Lords, pulling strings, and connecting with the Third Prince; and so on.

Jiang Clan Leader and the others thought their actions sufficiently secretive, never realizing that while they acted, a pair of cold eyes had watched them all along and faithfully recorded everything with the Image Retention Orb.

"Hoo—" Zhou Emperor Ji Zhi let out a long breath. "I have troubled Brother Jiang. With this evidence, we can catch all these people in one net. The Qing City Faction's roots are tangled and intertwined. This was my failure in judging and appointing people."

"Jiang Yixing told one lie—that I made him cultivate the Demonic Path—and everyone believed it as truth. They even imagined on their own that my never returning home was merely putting on an image, that I was actually cultivating the Demonic Path in secret, that the Human Emperor was the greatest leader of the Demonic Path, that Faith Power was of vital importance to me, and so on. Yet not a single person thought Jiang Yixing was lying. Not a single person thought I truly never returned home."

Jiang Li sighed. "We strive to make the world peaceful and beautiful, yet there are always people who believe the world is dark. Still, I bear some responsibility in this matter. As one of the strongest, I focused only on my own cultivation and overlooked the possibility that someone might use my name to swagger like a fox borrowing a tiger's might—even if that person was a relative I had not met in five hundred years."

Zhou Emperor Ji Zhi sighed as well. "Indeed. Great Zhou National Fortune is closely tied to Legal Justice, yet there are always people who think that as long as they find the right connections, they can bend the law for personal gain and escape legal punishment. Some even dare not punish people from other Imperial Dynasties, believing it to be diplomatic politics beyond the law's jurisdiction. They even smugly think themselves considerate of the imperial will and devoted to the nation. It is exhausting being an emperor."

Jiang Li and Zhou Emperor Ji Zhi looked at each other and sighed in unison. "People turn a blind eye to what is right before them and always love to let their imaginations run wild!"

The corner of Yuan Wu Xing's eye twitched. Watching these two great figures sigh at each other, he felt as though their images were collapsing.

Though he was also one of those who had "let their imaginations run wild."

"But this matter is understandable as well. As the Human Emperor, how many people would dare question you? Yuan Wu Xing, was it? Great Zhou is fortunate to have cultivators like you who uphold justice!" Zhou Emperor Ji Zhi patted Yuan Wu Xing forcefully on the shoulder in encouragement.

Yuan Wu Xing hurriedly stood straight and shouted, "Yes!"

Near the Space Node outside Green City, people packed together like a sea of heads. Residents from around Green City had all rushed over to see what Trace Time looked like. This was a spell involving the Time Dao, something exceedingly rare.

A major reason Jiang Clan Leader and the others had not anticipated that Jiang Li would apply for Trace Time was that cases of Trace Time were simply too scarce. One might not encounter one even once in ten years.

Quite a few parents whose children had gone missing had also hurried over from other cities, wanting to see whether their children had truly been stolen by Jiang Yixing.

The Third Prince and Fourth Prince stood shoulder to shoulder in the air, their eyes half-closed, hands clasped behind their backs, yellow robes fluttering.

Jiang Clan Leader and City Lord Zeng stood together without the slightest nervousness. They even felt like laughing.

The two princes had reached an agreement and would join forces to conceal the truth. Did they really think Jiang Li and Yuan Wu Xing could still turn the tables? Unless the Zhou Emperor came personally or the Human Emperor questioned the result, there was no possibility of a reversal. Even if Sect Leaders from other Imperial Dynasties and great sects came, it would be useless! But would the Zhou Emperor and Human Emperor come here?

What a joke. How could that be possible?

They looked toward Jiang Li and discovered that beside Jiang Li and Yuan Wu Xing stood a hooded man in black robes. Sneaking around like a rat, he was clearly no good person.

"The time has come. Prepare to conduct Time Rewind." The Third Prince and Fourth Prince opened their eyes and swept their gazes across the surroundings.

Countless people looked up, their eyes fixed upon the Third Prince and Fourth Prince.

The two princes' hand seals changed at blinding speed, even leaving behind layer upon layer of afterimages that drew gasps of amazement.

As they silently recited the incantation, their voices as faint as mosquitoes, everyone felt as though a lifetime had passed. They felt themselves growing farther and farther from the two princes. This sense of distance was not one of space, but of time. The princes' forms gradually faded until they vanished completely, leaving this time-space.

Some cultivators tried to seize the opportunity to comprehend the Time Dao, only to accidentally fall into the Time Heart Demon. Had their companions not noticed in time and awakened them, when they woke again, more than a hundred years might have passed—though to those cultivators, it would have been no more than a single thought.

When the Great Zhou Royal Family cultivated the Time Dao, they required someone to stand guard as a Guardian.

"These two nephews are quite skilled. At their level of cultivation, their seal-forming speed is already fairly good," Jiang Li commented on the two princes.

"Hmph. Brother Jiang need not save face for me. These two brats are clearly showing off more than anything. If they needed so many steps in battle, they would have been beaten to death long ago." Zhou Emperor Ji Zhi snorted, dissatisfied with his two sons. "After this is over, I will make them properly prepare for real combat."

Standing beside the two great figures, Yuan Wu Xing trembled like a leaf and did not dare interrupt.