Wenzhong Returns to Court

As Xuanxiao set out for the void sea of the Origin Realm to investigate the truth, undercurrents had already surged like raging tides through the Shang Dynasty of the Primordial Wilderness's Human Realm, drenched in blood.

Time turned back to the day Bi Gan met his tragic death.

Senior Grandee Xia Zhao and Prime Minister Bi Gan had been close friends for many years.

That day, in Morning Song's bustling marketplace, Bi Gan was brutally killed. Xia Zhao happened to be at the scene and witnessed his dear friend perish with grievances unavenged, his blood staining the long street.

After the crowd dispersed, he suppressed his grief and collected Bi Gan's remains, only to discover that his chest cavity was empty—the Seven-Aperture Exquisite Heart had vanished without a trace.

After making inquiries, the cruel truth came crashing down upon him.

To win Daji's favor, Di Xin had actually forced his own uncle to cut out his heart as an offering. Such absurd brutality was intolerable to heaven and reason alike.

How could Xia Zhao endure the senseless death of a loyal and worthy minister, such a befuddled and tyrannical atrocity?

After hastily settling his friend's remains, his heart blazing with loyalty and indignation, he rushed alone to Deer Terrace, determined to remonstrate with the tyrant even at the cost of his life.

Yet the sight that greeted him the instant he ascended Deer Terrace tore his heart and entrails apart.

The wronged souls of the marketplace had yet to disperse, and the bloodshed of court had yet to fade, yet Di Xin still held Daji in his arms, drowning in a paradise of tenderness amid lavish feasts and revelry, without the slightest guilt or remorse.

Xia Zhao's hair stood on end in fury as he cried out sharply, "Your Majesty!