The Drumbeat of the Great Trend

The map had been fully unrolled, and the dagger lay revealed.

There were no elders from the previous generation present—and that necessarily included the Prime Minister of Great Yan.

Xu Yinhe did not flare up at this killing intent. Having come this far, he had long since cast life and death aside, but he still slowly voiced his doubt:

"You think Wen Xinyun can kill me?"

After his breakthrough, he knew full well the gap between Saints and those above Saints.

And many clues all pointed to one reality—

that woman who had lived for a thousand years had never truly broken through to the realm above Saint.

As the foremost person of the current age, Xu Yinhe did not believe anyone could defeat him across realms—not even by trading their life for his severe injury.

Li Zhaoyuan was likewise taken aback upon hearing this, but he quickly understood why and said softly:

"It seems Father Emperor's sword truly wounded that 'Heaven' badly."

"..."

Xu Yinhe's deep eyes narrowed slightly.

Li Zhaoyuan reached out, picked up the bloodstained booklet from the stone platform, and tossed it to the elder some distance away.

"I wonder whether you sensed it at the time, Lord Xu. What Father Emperor's sword severed was not a physical entity, but the Soul Trace that exists within all things."

Xu Yinhe silently caught it and swiftly swept through its contents with his Will Soul. Once he had read the densely packed words within, a trace of amazement and regret involuntarily flickered through his otherwise placid eyes—amazement and regret for the talent of his deceased old friend.

Li Zhaoyuan slowly turned his gaze aside, looking through the frost-covered window lattice toward the snowy heavens beyond.

"In that case, we can confirm one thing. That 'Heaven' is merely a