Xuandu immediately understood what Houtu meant.
Unravel the Heavenly Dao's restrictions.
This was no small matter.
It was enough to alarm the Heavenly Dao and draw the gaze of Dao Ancestor Hongjun.
Houtu had been trapped in the Netherworld Underworld for countless eons, unable to take a single step beyond it because of the Heavenly Dao's suppression.
Now that the Earth Dao was complete, she could finally break free of those shackles.
But the moment she did, the Heavenly Dao would sense it.
Dao Ancestor Hongjun would surely turn his gaze toward her.
What would he see then?
He would see the Earth Dao completed.
He would see Houtu break free.
He would see the root of it all: the Earth Book returned to its rightful place.
And how had the Earth Book returned?
Because Zhen Yuanzi had offered it up.
Why had Zhen Yuanzi offered it up?
Because of Xuandu.
If Dao Ancestor Hongjun learned that Xuandu had been behind all of this...
Xuandu drew a deep breath and looked up at the goose-yellow figure.
Houtu was gazing at him. Her eyes were calm, yet held a concern he could not quite put into words.
She was trying to keep him out of the storm.
The Earth Dao was complete. The Heavenly Dao was shaken. Hongjun's gaze had descended.
None of it had anything to do with Xuandu.
He was merely the Jie Sect Vice Sect Master who had returned the Qiankun Cauldron after Mending the Heavens, then gone back to Golden Ao Island to meditate in seclusion.
That was all.
"Empress..."
Xuandu began, his voice low.
Houtu raised a hand, cutting him off.
"Say no more."
Her voice was calm, yet carried an unquestionable authority.
"I will remember what you have done for the Human Dao."
"Today, consider