The chapter arrangements were clear.
"'The mastermind behind the scenes.'"
Upon hearing those words, Chenling Heavenly King was startled as well.
He had pored over the ancient histories of the Daoist sects and was well versed in many secret historical records. Vaguely, he had also sensed that at intervals, some mysterious force would transform into an invisible hand, manipulating, guiding, and twisting the course of history.
"...Wasn't it the Lord of the Divine Court?"
At first, Chenling Heavenly King had suspected that it was the Lord of the Divine Court's doing.
Yet after reviewing historical materials, classics, and documents, he felt that his conjecture was neither quite right nor quite wrong... He always felt that it differed somewhat from the Lord of the Divine Court's usual methods of plotting.
"It definitely wasn't him."
Zhenyu Heavenly King shook his head.
"You and I both know that bastard's style of doing things. It differs, more or less, from that mastermind behind the scenes."
Zhenyu continued, "At the time, I was in secluded cultivation when, all of a sudden, a black hand appeared in the depths of my mind. That black hand could practically be called invincible. In an instant, it nearly caused my consciousness to sink for all eternity."
"I have to admit, it was truly terrifying. I nearly melted beneath that move of his. I did not truly die, but entered a state of nothingness—neither dead nor alive."
"It was like a Buddhist Arhat entering nirvana without remainder: body reduced to ash, wisdom extinguished, mind and spirit sinking into oblivion, returning to empty stillness as heaven and earth withered away."
With only a few sparse words, he left Chenling Heavenly King utterly shocked.
Zhenyu Heavenly King already possessed the body of a Heavenly King. Even if this was merely a thought-incarnation,