"Oh... so that's how it is."
At last, Xuan Mingyu understood. The stunned look on his face slowly receded.
He wanted to laugh, and he did laugh, with pure curiosity and a thread of barely restrained delight. "Grand Preceptor, why do you say that?"
"Your Majesty." Grand Preceptor Hong smiled as well. "The Former Emperor died suddenly, the Emperor Court declined, and Prince Jing, who supported you, died at our hands because of the indifference and machinations of us celestial officials, the various Zhen Kings, and the great clans—the Emperor Court's sole chance at revival vanished with Princess Mingjing's departure."
"Though you are Emperor, in truth, you are our puppet."
From the civil imperial throne, he met the Emperor Lord's gaze upon the royal throne. There was no contempt in his eyes. On the contrary, as always, he was utterly serious. "This minister does not wish for this either, but the great tide of heaven and earth drives it onward. Perhaps cause and effect were established the moment the Sacred Ancestor planted the Undying Tree, only to repeatedly go back on it... Destruction will eventually come, and the bloodline of Zhenwu Mountain's Xuan Clan will become the ring in this chain of karma."
Having said this, Grand Preceptor Hong's tone was only natural. "What else could the Heavenly Fate corresponding to Nothingness Born and the Naturalist possibly be?"
"You intended to use An Jing, this Naturalist, and his power to open a new path to oppose the Sacred Ancestor, who usurped the authority of Nothingness Born—to destroy the court and open a new age. We can all see it."
"You have no interest in this throne at all. You even had the ability to leave from the very beginning, yet you did not. You must have been waiting for this