The young Water Monarch from Qing River Water Mansion had already departed, leaving the grand hall so empty and still.
Long River Dragon Lord sat quietly. His features could not be seen, nor could his expression.
There should not be many in this world who knew that Zhuang Gaoxian and Jiang Wang were fated to decide life and death between them.
Yet Ao Shuyi was precisely one of them.
Though he had long since surrendered authority over the Long River's waters, and had never truly ruled the waterways of the world—unable to perceive all beneath heaven as clearly as the lines on his palm—he was not even in a position to keep abreast of intelligence along the Long River itself.
But when Kujue had blocked Zhuang Gaoxian at the Long River, when two Current Era True Lords had fought to bar the river, how could it possibly have failed to alarm Long River Dragon Palace?
Though he presided over the Dragon Palace and often did not move a step for centuries or millennia at a time, he was not a prisoner.
At that time, Zhuang Gaoxian had been pursuing a youth named Jiang Wang. He knew that. Or rather, he had known of Jiang Wang even before Zhuang Gaoxian had.
Later, upon River Viewing Terrace, he had personally witnessed Jiang Wang seize the championship, and had also witnessed how Lin Zhengren, fearing death, had not dared take the stage. The conflict between Jiang Wang and Zhuang Kingdom had practically been laid bare upon the table.
Anyone who became enemies with a peerless prodigy like Jiang Wang, so long as they were not fools, would certainly choose to snuff him out ahead of time and sever the future at its root.
Zhuang Gaoxian had always done exactly that.
Du Ruhui had