Juntian chatted and laughed with ease, but Dragon Ancestor's heart grew colder and colder.
He realized that, without knowing it, he had probably been caught in a net long ago.
The Heavenly Fall back then, ending with him being suppressed... had merely been one interlocking part of that vast net!
He had broken free.
And yet, he had not.
Some people sat in Zixiao Palace, seemingly unable to leave, but had long since prepared their fishing rods, waiting for the willing fish to bite.
"How upright I am!"
Juntian was still rambling. "I became a good Heavenly Dao—a zero-zero-seven—confined in Zixiao Palace every day, handling an endless workload day after day, forever unable to leave my post."
"All those alibis can prove my pure benevolence... the mastermind?"
"It has nothing to do with me!"
He spoke with utter conviction.
"Heh... hahaha..."
Dragon Ancestor tugged at the corners of his mouth and forced out a difficult laugh, seemingly echoing him. Yet there was not the slightest trace of amusement in it. It was dry and hoarse.
"Daoist Friend Hongjun is indeed pure and benevolent, able to make me lose with complete clarity..."
His voice was hoarse. "I never thought you would understand me so thoroughly!"
"Every step I took, at every crucial juncture, I was struck by one of your blows from the shadows!"
Had Juntian said nothing, Dragon Ancestor might have remained merely filled with resentment. Suppressed beneath an era, branded by someone, and even treated as though he could be made into a puppet—what kind of humiliation was that?!
But now that the cards had been laid on the table, an icy chill had been added to his resentment, chilling his very soul.
The Heavenly Dao... was truly terrifying!
"A coincidence! A coincidence!"
Juntian smiled. "I told you, it