Just as Jing Hongchen had expected, the Old Sun Moon Emperor was absolutely furious!
His eyes were bloodshot with rage as he stared fixedly at the Sky Curtain.
"Meng Hongchen, Jing Hongchen, Xiao Hongchen, Ye Yulin, Xuan Ziwen, Zheng Zhan..."
The Old Emperor trembled with anger, practically gnashing his teeth as he rattled off a list of names. "Kong Deming!"
"You traitors!"
"The Sun Moon Empire treated you well! Why did you betray me? Betray the Sun Moon Empire!"
His roar echoed throughout the entire hall.
For a moment, all the guards and attendants lowered their heads, pretending they hadn't heard a thing.
At last, the Old Emperor seemed to have exhausted all his strength and slumped onto the throne.
What could he do in this situation?
Apart from Meng Hongchen and Xiao Hongchen, who were both youngsters, all the others were core figures of the Sun Moon Empire.
Kong Deming in particular was not only Head of the Hall of Enshrinement, but also the Sun Moon Empire's foremost Soul Engineer, hailed as the one closest to becoming a Tenth-level Soul Master.
His standing in the Sun Moon Empire could only be described as pivotal.
Unless the Old Emperor wanted to plunge the Sun Moon Empire into chaos, he couldn't lay a hand on a single one of them.
Even moving against just one would make the others feel threatened. Only Heaven knew what might happen then.
After weighing the pros and cons, the Old Emperor was left with nothing but a deep sense of helplessness.
He realized there was nothing he could do.
All he could do was keep them under guard and eliminate the true culprit.
"Gu Tian, Meng Hongchen!"
At the mention of those two names, the Old Emperor's eyes gleamed with murderous intent.
As long as he got rid of both of them, everything would return to normal.
But things clearly weren't going to be that simple.
Neither of them would be easy to kill.
Gu Tian would certainly be protected by either the Star Luo Empire or Shrek Academy—or perhaps both working together.
As for Meng Hongchen, she was Jing Hongchen's only granddaughter.
If anyone laid a hand on her, Jing Hongchen would fight to the death.
The devastation a Rank 9 Soul Master could cause when fighting for his life was easy to imagine.
Moreover, given the Old Emperor's understanding of that old fox Jing Hongchen, he would most likely stay by his granddaughter's side from now on, to keep anyone with ill intent from making a move against her.
Under the circumstances, even carrying out an assassination would be difficult.
Worse still, the Old Emperor now felt that, apart from Xu Tianyuan—the Titled Douluo born into the Sun Moon Royal Family—none of the other Venerables could be trusted.
It was no wonder he had grown so suspicious and felt so insecure.
After all, even Kong Deming, who had always been loyal to the Sun Moon Royal Family and had one-quarter royal blood, would eventually betray the Sun Moon Empire.
Who could the Old Emperor trust?
"Father, I have a plan that might help solve your troubles!"
Beside him, Xu Tianran, who had remained silent in his wheelchair, finally spoke.
"Let's hear your thoughts." The Old Emperor glanced at Xu Tianran.
Though his Crown Prince was crippled in both legs, he was no simple man when it came to ability and means.
Perhaps this time he really could offer a workable solution.
"We can betroth Meng Hongchen to me."
"If Jing Hongchen accepts, we can all live in peace. It'll be good for you and good for me."
A sinister gleam appeared in Xu Tianran's eyes. "If he refuses, then we'll have every reason to act."
His forces were in need of new recruits. This was the perfect chance to win over the Hongchen Family and turn them into his pawns.
"Brilliant plan!"
At this, the Old Emperor's eyes lit up.
Once Meng Hongchen married his son, surely she wouldn't be able to be with that fellow anymore, would she?
Unfortunately, neither the Old Emperor nor Xu Tianran understood the spirit of Cao Cao or the Wei Wu Legacy.
Otherwise, they would never have entertained such an idea.
And just as Xu Tianran had said, if Jing Hongchen refused and Meng Hongchen adamantly rejected the marriage, the Old Emperor would have every reason to move against them.
Even if he couldn't wipe out the Hongchen Family entirely, there shouldn't be much difficulty in imprisoning them.
By then, no one would have anything to say.
It was a perfect scheme with no way out.
As for Meng Hongchen being only six years old, they simply ignored it.
After all, both the Old Emperor and Xu Tianran saw Meng Hongchen as nothing more than a tool—or, to put it plainly, an object.
Somewhere in a rear courtyard of the Star Luo Empire's palace.
Watching the Sky Curtain's assessment of Meng Hongchen, Gu Tian rubbed his eyes, wondering if he'd seen it wrong.
Was Meng Hongchen really so talented with Soul Tools?
If Gu Tian remembered correctly, Meng Hongchen hadn't shown any talent related to Soul Tools in the Original Work.
During the tournament, Meng Hongchen had favored her martial soul and soul skills rather than relying directly on Soul Tools.
That made it clear that she was better at winning through her martial soul's abilities and tactical control.
As far as Soul Tool talent went, Gu Tian figured Meng Hongchen couldn't even compare to her elder brother, Xiao Hongchen.
Among the younger generation in the Original Work, apart from Huo Yuhao, the one with the greatest talent for Soul Tools was undoubtedly Xiao Hongchen.
Of course, Xu Tianran didn't count.
"Could something have changed?"
A thoughtful look crossed Gu Tian's eyes. "Or maybe she never fully developed her talent for Soul Tools in the Original Work."
"Forget it. I'll find out when I meet her. There's no point in speculating now."
After a while, Gu Tian shrugged.
He didn't really care about the uncertain future.
After all, fate was fickle, and the future could change at any moment.
Take Gu Tian himself, for example!
Now that he knew what lay ahead, he obviously wouldn't just follow the original course of events.
Then again, even if Gu Tian had wanted to follow that course, the others clearly wouldn't let him do so now that he knew the future.
If even Gu Tian, a protagonist who could be called a winner in life, was in this situation, there was even less need to mention everyone else.
Unless they had given up on life, no one would simply accept their fate when they knew they were certain to die.
Gu Tian could already imagine that the Sun Moon Empire, the Holy Spirit Cult, and even the gods of the Divine Realm—especially that arrogant Tang San—would try every means to eliminate him.
Gu Tian wasn't afraid of the Sun Moon Empire or the Holy Spirit Cult.
After all, both were already beset with problems of their own.
And Gu Tian had the Star Luo Empire backing him. As long as he didn't foolishly venture into the Sun Moon Empire, he had nothing to fear.
The real trouble was the gods above, in the Divine Realm.
Although the Divine Realm explicitly forbade gods from directly interfering in the affairs of the mortal world, in practice the restriction only bound the Five Great God Kings among themselves.
Hadn't the Original Work shown that after ascending to godhood, Tang San didn't dare openly interfere in Douluo Continent's affairs, but still pulled all sorts of strings behind the scenes?
At Jialing Pass, Tang San, who had already inherited the Sea God Position, was killed by Bibi Dong after she became the Rakshasa God.
The previous Asura God then sought out the Nine-Colored Goddess and God of Food, who used a resurrection Divine Skill to bring Tang San back to life.
Did that not violate the rules of the Divine Realm?
Now that the Sky Curtain had exposed everything, setting aside the First-Class and Second-Class Gods, at least three of the Five Great God Kings would want to eliminate Gu Tian, whom they saw as a menace. The other two had yet to show their hands.
If the gods really descended to the mortal world, Gu Tian wasn't afraid. If all else failed, he could just call in the Heaven's Dao Substitute.
The ones who would truly suffer were the Human Race and the Soul Beasts.
After all, the Human Race now was not the same as the one shown on the Sky Curtain.
Against gods, enemies on an entirely different level, they would be utterly powerless to fight back.
At that moment, Gu Tian had no idea that because of the Sky Curtain above, the Divine Realm had already lost contact with Douluo Continent.
Otherwise, he wouldn't have been so worried.
Before you continue