Wishful Thinking

At this moment, the Third Prince and Fourth Prince stood on the bank of the Time River. The air was saturated with mist condensed from time itself; even with their cultivation, merely standing here was somewhat difficult.

The two walked upstream together. The Time River surged vast and mighty, every droplet representing a stretch of time in a particular region. Finding one specific drop within the Time River was no different from a fool dreaming in broad daylight. Fortunately, they were in Green City, and the regional blessing reduced the difficulty of locating the droplet. In the end, they pinpointed a droplet from ten days ago and saw Jiang Clan Leader and City Lord Zeng conspiring to send people under cover of night to destroy the spacetime node.

They continued upstream and found the time droplet of Jiang Yixing blood-sacrificing children. However, their Mana was limited, and they could see only what had happened three years ago. Any further back was too blurry to make out.

Over those three years, Jiang Yixing had blood-sacrificed children year after year, pushing his cultivation from the Nascent Soul Late Stage to the Nascent Soul Peak. The heaps of bones beside the altar already told the story.

The matter was already plain: Jiang Yixing cultivated the Demonic Path, and after the incident, Jiang Clan Leader and City Lord Zeng had joined forces to conceal the evidence.

From the instant they entered the Time River, time outside had frozen for the two of them. Thus, in everyone's eyes, the two princes reappeared immediately after vanishing, without even the interval of a single breath.

"I have investigated this matter thoroughly. Jiang Yixing did not cultivate the Demonic Path, nor did City Lord Zeng destroy any evidence. Are you two satisfied with this conclusion?" The Third Prince stood in the air, looking down at Jiang Li and Yuan Wu Xing, while the Fourth Prince stood beside him in silence.

As a supervisor, saying nothing meant agreeing with the Third Prince's words.

The moment the Third Prince spoke, Jiang Clan Leader and the others knew the matter was settled. They began calculating how to take revenge on Jiang Li and Yuan Wu Xing. These two had nearly driven them into a dead end; unless they tortured them viciously before killing them, how could they vent the hatred in their hearts?

Jiang Li pointed in a rather relaxed manner at the Black Robe Man, whose body was trembling slightly. "Whether the two of us are satisfied isn't important. But I'm afraid this brother doesn't quite agree with the conclusion you've given."

Seeing signs that the Black Robe Man was about to lose his temper, Yuan Wu Xing hurriedly hid behind Jiang Li.

Clinging to a powerful thigh was nothing shameful.

"You two disgraceful wretches, get down here at once!"

A vast, tyrannical aura swept in all directions with the Black Robe Man at its center. There were no shortage of Spirit Transformation cultivators present, yet none could fathom the depth of this aura's owner.

A familiar voice rang beside the two princes' ears like thunder exploding from level ground. They jolted in fright, nearly losing control of the spiritual energy in their bodies and smashing straight into the ground.

Fortunately, both reacted quickly. They hurriedly descended before the Black Robe Man and dropped cleanly to their knees.

"Your son pays respects to Imperial Father."

Zhou Emperor Ji Zhi sneered as he lifted his hood. "So you still have me, your Imperial Father, in your eyes."

Seeing this, everyone hurriedly knelt as well and shouted wishes of ten thousand years. Yuan Wu Xing hesitated briefly, then knelt too.

Jiang Clan Leader and the others trembled where they knelt, their backs turning cold. Why was The Emperor here? Why was he standing on Zhang Li's side? Why was his tone so hostile? Every sign indicated that things were heading in a direction unfavorable to them.

Other than Zhou Emperor Ji Zhi, only Jiang Li remained standing. Everyone was puzzled, but no one dared speak. Feeling guilty, the Third Prince decided to strike first and divert the Zhou Emperor's attention.

"Bold Zhang Li! You dare refuse to kneel upon seeing Imperial Father!"

"Shut Up! Haven't you embarrassed yourself enough?!" Zhou Emperor Ji Zhi roared. The Third Prince was so frightened that he immediately fell silent. Then Zhou Emperor Ji Zhi turned to the crowd. "Rise."

"I ask you: what exactly did you see in the Time River?" Zhou Emperor Ji Zhi demanded.

The Third Prince hesitated and said nothing. The Fourth Prince felt somewhat less afraid and answered, "Imperial Father, there are too many eyes and ears here. May this son report to you after we return?"

"There is nothing shameful that cannot be seen by others. Say it here, say it before everyone! You speak in riddles and hide things behind veils every day. I don't recall teaching you like that!"

After hesitating, the Fourth Prince said, "Third Brother and I saw Jiang Yixing blood-sacrificing children to cultivate the Demonic Path. Jiang Clan Leader and City Lord Zeng were birds of a feather, covering up the evidence."

"Why did you lie? Do you know that once Jiang Yixing is released, these two will suffer endless retaliation? By then, they may not even leave behind their bones!" Zhou Emperor Ji Zhi pointed at the kneeling Yuan Wu Xing and Jiang Li, who was watching the show, treating Jiang Li as though he truly possessed only Nascent Soul Realm cultivation.

"This son feared that this matter would implicate Human Emperor Jiang, to the detriment of the nation and Human Emperor Jiang himself. For the sake of the greater picture, this son chose to conceal it."

"What a fine 'for the sake of the greater picture.' I never knew Fourth Son's grasp of the greater picture had surpassed my own." Zhou Emperor Ji Zhi sneered. "Tell me, then. What sort of greater picture made you choose to harm the nation's fortune?"

The Fourth Prince revealed everything he knew, as well as every speculation he had made.

"The Human Emperor cultivated the Demonic Path, and that was the thing you deduced? You imagined Human Emperor Jiang's conduct out of thin air, only for it to run south while the truth went north."

The Fourth Prince had already decided to smash the jar and scatter the pieces. He said something he would never ordinarily dare say. "Imperial Father, why are you so certain that Human Emperor Jiang did not cultivate the Demonic Path?"

Having falsified Trace Time, the Third Prince knew that from this day onward, the throne was beyond his reach. He followed up as well. "Jiang Yixing is the Human Emperor's cousin. Without the Human Emperor's permission, would Jiang Yixing dare cultivate the Demonic Path?"

"Why can I be certain? Because Human Emperor Jiang personally captured Jiang Yixing and sent him to us for judgment!" Zhou Emperor Ji Zhi was so angered by his two foolish sons that he laughed.

They only needed to ask him, and the truth would have become clear. Yet his two foolish sons insisted on making reckless decisions in a field they did not understand.

"Human Emperor Jiang believed Great Zhou to be a nation ruled by law, where every crime could receive a fair trial. But what did you do? You deceived those above and concealed matters from those below, formed factions, and stopped at nothing to bury Jiang Yixing's case. Do you know that Human Emperor Jiang watched our Great Zhou's monkey show for a full ten days?!"

Zhou Emperor Ji Zhi nearly roared his final words. The Immortal Beast Xie Zhi condensed from national fortune flickered in and out of view, silently roaring. Never before had the Third Prince and Fourth Prince seen their Imperial Father so enraged.

Wait, Human Emperor Jiang had captured Jiang Yixing?

The crowd suddenly realized that the Zhou Emperor's words seemed to contain an enormous amount of hidden information.

"Brother Ji, calm your anger. The events of these past days are indeed worth reflecting upon; I did not regard them as a show. If the person applying for time reversal had not been me, but an ordinary person, would they have received such treatment? Brother Ji, there is still a long road ahead for governing a nation through law." Jiang Li sighed.

He revealed his true appearance, and cries of shock immediately rose one after another.

People feared Zhou Emperor Ji Zhi, but they respected Human Emperor Jiang Li.

The people of Green City knew this face all too well. The moment one entered the city, one could see its Bronze Statue.

The Third Prince froze where he stood. All the arguments in his belly against his Imperial Father's words turned into running water, gone forever.

With Yuan Wu Xing's abilities, he could never have discovered Jiang Yixing. Jiang Li had captured Jiang Yixing and sent him to the authorities; that alone proved that Jiang Li had never known of this matter before and had never cultivated the Demonic Path.

So keeping Human Emperor Jiang's secret had been nothing more than his own wishful thinking.