Gu Shiyi's talk of conscience, chivalry, and standing up against injustice was something Ji Xuanzhen did not believe a single word of. It was not merely that he did not trust Gu Shiyi—he fundamentally did not believe in such things. Who had reached this day without weathering countless storms? How could anyone remain so naïve?
In this world, only profit was eternal. Every choice and sacrifice in life was a matter of weighing gains against losses.
But the dusk flowing from Gu Shiyi's palm was something he had no choice but to witness.
"Eternal Dusk—you actually stole the Heavenly God Lord's inheritance—" The instant he saw the dusk in that palm, Ji Xuanzhen thought of many things. "So it was you, the one who walked upon Pegasus Plateau! So you are the true King Zhao!"
In the past, Wind Empress, one of the Eight Worthy Ministers, had stood alone against the Demon Race's army on a side battlefield for the Human Race's ultimate victory, dying while embracing a tree. Though her body perished, her integrity endured forever.
Generation after generation, the Human Race sang her name and praised her spirit.
The Integrity-Embracing Tree so beloved by poets and scholars had been named in her memory.
Later, a wisp of remnant soul awakened from this "integrity." After hundreds of thousands of years, amid the thoughts of the surging masses, it descended as a god, then attained Transcendence once more, taking the title of Heavenly God Lord. The hardships involved needed no elaboration; such a great undertaking was without equal throughout the ages. Yet in the end, even the Heavenly God Lord fell.
The Original Heavenly God had willingly played the dog, guarding the side of Heavenly Horse Plateau day after day for tens of thousands of years, all for the inheritance