Transmission for the Third Lecture

Chapter Thirty-Six: Transmission for the Third Lecture

Morning light from the Sun Palace filtered through the carved window lattice, casting mottled shadows across the Warm Jade bed.

Taiyi slowly exhaled a breath of stale air and opened his eyes. The lingering haze in the depths of his golden pupils had vanished, replaced by their usual sharpness, though an unmistakable weariness now colored them.

Twenty-seven days had passed since he crushed the jade tablet.

He sat up. His left shoulder still felt slightly stiff when he moved it—the shattered shoulder blade had been reforged, but the newly grown tissue where his meridians connected had yet to fully adapt to the tyranny of the True Sun Fire. He loosely clenched his right hand, and a wisp of golden-red flame rose from his palm. Its purity was around ninety percent. The flame was stable, but it lacked the effortless liveliness it possessed at his peak.

He silently assessed his condition. His foundation at the peak of the Great Luo realm remained, but the combat power he could truly wield was likely only seventy percent of his prime. Although the corrosion of the Blood Fiend Power had been expelled, it had left behind an indescribable "mark" deep within his meridians, like cracks in a dried riverbed. It was harmless under normal circumstances, but it could become a hidden danger the moment he unleashed his full strength.

"Eastern Emperor Your Majesty." A maid's gentle voice sounded from outside the hall. "Mister Bai Ze is waiting in the side hall."

"Let him in."

Taiyi put on his everyday robes and slowly walked out of the bedchamber. His steps were still somewhat unsteady, but he no longer needed anyone to support him.

In the side hall, Bai Ze stood before a jade wall bearing a Star Chart, gazing up at the trajectories of the All-Encompassing Stars flowing across its surface. Hearing the footsteps, he turned around. His gaze rested on Taiyi for a moment before he nodded slightly. "It seems Your Majesty has recovered faster than expected."

"I won't die." Taiyi sat down behind the jade desk and gestured for Bai Ze to take a seat. "You have been running about these past few days. Did you find anything?"

Bai Ze took a green jade slip from his sleeve. Rather than handing it over directly, he placed it on the desk and tapped it lightly with a fingertip. A faint glow spread across its surface, projecting several lines of moving text:

"The identities of the three ambushers have been confirmed. Panshi, Great Witch of Di Jiang's Mountain Department; Cangji, Great Witch of Gou Mang's Green Wood Department; and Lanbo, Great Witch of Gonggong's Black Water Department. Of them, Lanbo died three days ago during an internal conflict within the Witch Race. His death was suspicious, and he is suspected to have been silenced."

Taiyi's gaze sharpened. "Lanbo was the one skilled in tracking secret arts?"

"Exactly." Bai Ze nodded. "Lanbo's bloodline inherited the Water Mirror Tracing Shadow divine ability from Gonggong's lineage. If he were alive, he might truly have been able to trace some clues from the Blood Sea's teleportation formation."

"What about the other two?"

"Panshi is in seclusion with severe injuries, while Cangji has been transferred to guard the depths of Buzhou Mountain, making him inaccessible for now." Bai Ze paused. "However, through the spies the Demon Race has planted, I learned that the Houtu Tribe explicitly opposed this ambush. Xuan Ming's stance was ambiguous, while Di Jiang suppressed every objection."

Taiyi's fingers unconsciously tapped the edge of the jade desk. The Witch Race was not a monolith. That was something he could exploit. But the more pressing matter was—

"What about the Blood Sea?"

"Completely sealed off." Bai Ze's tone was grave. "After Your Majesty left, Styx sealed the Blood Sea on the grounds of 'entering seclusion to contemplate enlightenment.' The Asura Race has withdrawn all external passages. I attempted to investigate through several hidden channels, but every attempt was blocked. However..."

He tapped the jade slip again, and it projected a second piece of information. "According to the Heavenly Court's records monitoring spatial nodes throughout the Great Wilderness, the ancient teleportation formation at the edge of the Blood Sea experienced three abnormal energy fluctuations in the three days before Your Majesty was attacked. The fluctuations differed from normal maintenance. They were more like... someone was adjusting the formation, or temporarily 'adding something' to it."

Taiyi's pupils constricted slightly.

The events of that day replayed rapidly in his mind: stepping onto the teleportation formation, channeling in his magic power, the formation lines lighting up, space beginning to twist... The entire process had appeared normal, yet there had indeed been a half-breath delay at the moment of activation. The spatial fluctuations during teleportation had also carried a faintly chaotic rhythm.

At the time, he had assumed the formation had fallen into disrepair from age. But now that he thought about it—

"Someone temporarily overlaid a tracking mark at the instant the formation activated," Taiyi said slowly. "It was not arranged beforehand. They calculated when I would step into the formation and acted in sync with the moment I activated it. That allowed the mark to fully merge with the teleportation light, making it extremely difficult to detect."

Bai Ze's expression turned solemn. "To accomplish that, one would not only need an intimate understanding of the ancient teleportation formation's structure, but also mastery over the laws of space to the point of moving them as easily as one's own arm. Across the Great Wilderness, fewer than ten people possess such attainments. Of those near the Blood Sea who could have acted at precisely that time..."

The two exchanged a glance. The answer was obvious.

"Styx." Taiyi spoke the name calmly, but a flash of cold light passed through his eyes.

He leaned back in his chair and closed his eyes. In his mind, he began reconstructing every detail of that day: every word Styx had said in the Blood Sea palace, every expression he had worn, the rhythm of the Blood Sea's energy flow... and most importantly, the location of that teleportation formation.

That ancient teleportation formation stood at the edge of the Blood Sea's sphere of influence. It was nominally a public node, but the Asura Race had guarded and maintained it for hundreds of thousands of years. If Styx wanted to tamper with it, he had had countless opportunities and all the time in the world.

More importantly—

"He did not need to act personally." Taiyi suddenly opened his eyes. "As long as he left a 'back door' in the formation core ahead of time, the moment I activated the formation, the back door would trigger automatically and overlay the mark. He would not even need to spare it any attention."

Bai Ze pondered this. "Then Styx had anticipated Your Majesty's movements long ago?"

"Perhaps he did not anticipate them. Perhaps he was waiting." Taiyi shook his head. "His waiting for me in the Blood Sea was itself a test. He was testing why I had come, testing my condition, and testing... which route I would choose when I left."

He paused, continuing his deduction. "There are many routes out of the Blood Sea, but the best option for leaving quickly without leaving obvious traces was that ancient teleportation formation. Styx only needed to prepare every possible route. One of them would eventually be chosen. And in truth, I did choose the teleportation formation."

Bai Ze's expression grew increasingly grave. "Such calculations... Styx's ambitions are likely far from small."

"His ambitions have never been small." Taiyi said blandly. "As long as the Blood Sea does not dry up, Styx will not die. He has all the time he needs to make arrangements and wait for the right moment. This ambush may have been the first piece he placed on the board."

As they spoke—

"Dong—"

A bell rang without warning.

It did not travel through the air. Instead, it rang directly within the depths of their Primordial Spirits. Ancient and distant, it carried a majesty that pierced every barrier. It came from the depths of chaos beyond the Thirty-Three Heavens and instantly spread to every corner of the Great Wilderness.

Taiyi and Bai Ze rose at the same time.

The bell rang nine times in succession, each peal carrying a deeper and more profound Dao rhythm. When the lingering echo of the ninth ring slowly faded from their sea of consciousness, a clear message naturally surfaced:

In thirty-three days, Zixiao Palace would open to expound the path of the Quasi-Saint. All those with affinity could come and listen.

"The third sermon." Bai Ze drew a deep breath and looked at Taiyi. "Your Majesty, the time..."

"Thirty-three days is enough." Taiyi cut him off, a complicated glint flashing deep in his golden eyes.

Almost at the exact moment the bell sounded, his sea of consciousness shook violently—not with a system notification, but with a deeper sensation, as though some sleeping taboo had been awakened by the heavenly bell. Immediately afterward, fragmented images, chaotic thoughts, and a broken "memory" surged into his mind.

They were scenes related to Zixiao Palace: six prayer mats arranged in a row, Hongyun standing to offer his seat, Zhunti weeping and pleading for a place... In those images, Karma Threads tangled like a chaotic mass. At a crucial point, all it would take was the slightest push—

[...The karma of the prayer mats... at its most intense... an opening to exploit...]

The intermittent thoughts flowed through his consciousness. Taiyi steadied himself and rapidly organized the fragments. This was not the system issuing a mission. It was more like some kind of "foresight" or "deduction" ability carried within the source of the Forbidden Sign-in System, passively triggered by the heavenly bell.

He closed his eyes and quickly absorbed the information.

Zixiao Palace, the sermon, prayer mats, karma... A bold thought, nearly mad in its audacity, began to take shape in his mind.

"Your Majesty?" Bai Ze noticed Taiyi's unusual reaction.

Taiyi opened his eyes, his expression already calm again. "I am fine. The bell merely stirred my old injuries. A short period of meditation will settle it."

He sat back down, his fingertips lightly tracing patterns across the jade desk. He was unconsciously sketching the deduction paths that had naturally emerged in his mind as he sorted through those fragmented impressions.

"I must attend this sermon," Taiyi said slowly, his tone leaving no room for doubt. "Not only must I attend, I must sit openly in the front row."

Bai Ze frowned. "But Your Majesty's injuries, and Styx, and the Witch Race..."

"That is exactly why I must go." Taiyi looked up, a resolute light burning in his golden eyes. "The Eastern Emperor of the Demon Race was ambushed and gravely wounded. If I do not even dare show my face at Zixiao Palace, what will the beings of the Great Wilderness think? How will those wavering forces choose? And how much further will Di Jiang and Styx press their advantage?"

He paused, and his voice turned cold. "I will let everyone see that Eastern Emperor Taiyi is still alive—and that I will walk before Dao Ancestor Hongjun and listen to him explain the path of the Quasi-Saint."

Bai Ze remained silent for a long time before finally bowing. "I understand. I will arrange the most suitable guards and contact Fellow Daoists Fuxi and Nuwa in advance, ensuring that we can look after one another during the sermon."

"Thank you."

Bai Ze took his leave. Silence returned to the side hall.

Taiyi sat alone behind the jade desk, his gaze falling on the patterns he had unconsciously drawn—those lines were chaotic and disorderly, but upon close inspection, one could vaguely make out six points and the endlessly entangled karmic paths connecting them.

He extended a finger and lightly touched one of the Karma Threads.

Within his sea of consciousness, those fragmented pieces of "foresight" surged again, confirming one another against his deductions. Gradually, a vague plan of action took shape in his mind: the timing, the position, the method, the chain reactions it might trigger...

But that was not enough. Zixiao Palace was within the core radiation zone of the Heavenly Dao. Dao Ancestor Hongjun sat upon the high platform, while candidates for sainthood gathered in one place. To do anything in such an environment without being suppressed on the spot required more meticulous preparation, as well as an "item" capable of temporarily distorting appearances under the pressure of the Heavenly Dao.

He thought of the taboo items in the system's exchange list, but immediately dismissed the idea—if those things were used in Zixiao Palace, the Heavenly Dao would likely notice at once. What he needed was a more concealed, more "legitimate" method.

Taiyi closed his eyes and began searching the memory treasury that belonged to Eastern Emperor Taiyi. The Great Dao of True Sun Fire, the mysteries of the Chaos Bell, the secret inheritances of the Demon Race... Suddenly, a sealed memory surfaced.

It was from long ago, before he and Di Jun had established the Heavenly Court. While traveling the Great Wilderness, they had discovered half a broken stele amid ancient ruins. The inscription recorded a secret art that distorted perception and muddled heavenly secrets. Its principle was to use one's own Dao rhythm as a guide, temporarily imitating the "disordered state of the Heavenly Dao." At the time, he had found the art strange and of little practical value, so he had merely memorized it without studying it deeply.

Now that he considered it—

Taiyi suddenly opened his eyes. True Sun Fire flowed from his fingertips, tracing the secret runes recorded on that broken stele through the air. The patterns formed by the golden-red flames flickered in midair, emitting a chaotic rhythm utterly incompatible with the Heavenly Dao of the Great Wilderness.

"This is it," he murmured.

The secret art itself was not powerful. It could even be called useless—it could only distort perception within three feet around him, and it had limited effect against true great powers. Yet within the special environment of Zixiao Palace, at the moment when the karma surrounding the prayer mats was most violently entangled, that insignificant distortion might become the fulcrum that shifted the entire situation.

Over the next twenty-five days, he needed to accomplish three things: recover more than ninety percent of his injuries; completely master this secret art of distorted perception; and deduce every detail of his actions at Zixiao Palace, including every possible variable and response plan.

Taiyi took a deep breath, rose to his feet, and returned to the bedchamber.

He sat cross-legged on the Warm Jade bed, but did not immediately begin healing himself. Instead, he closed his eyes and repeatedly simulated the entire plan in his mind: from the instant he entered Zixiao Palace, every step he would take, every choice of timing, every possible accident...

Outside the window, the sun slowly shifted, stretching his shadow long.

The hall was silent. Only countless possibilities collided, evolved, and were sifted through within his sea of consciousness. Lin Yuan's modern logical thinking and Eastern Emperor Taiyi's profound understanding of the laws of the Great Wilderness fused perfectly at that moment, together building a precise scheme aimed at the fixed destiny of the Heavenly Dao.

Three hours later, Taiyi opened his eyes. A hint of exhaustion flickered in their depths, but far more evident was the calm confidence of someone who had everything under control.

The plan had taken its initial shape. All that remained was to refine it to perfection over the next twenty-five days and restore his body to a condition capable of carrying it out.

He raised his head toward the window, his gaze seeming to pierce through layers of palace halls and reach the chaos beyond the Thirty-Three Heavens.

Zixiao Palace, Hongjun, candidates for sainthood, the fixed destiny of the Heavenly Dao...

"This time," Taiyi murmured, the corners of his mouth curving into an almost crazed smile, "let's play a different game."

Outside the hall, the sea of True Sun Fire churned without end. Within those eternally burning flames, it seemed to sense the coming storm as well.