The figure on the throne opened his eyes. A dark gleam flashed and vanished.
He had once been human, but the rules of the divine path had twisted him into a three-headed black snake like obsidian. Yet there was nothing jarring about him. He seemed perfectly at ease, unlike any other human being.
"Is the fortune of the Human Path warning him?"
"Again. How dull and tedious."
King Zheng's voice was cold and hoarse, like a snake flicking its tongue, accompanied by a hiss. "How many years has it been? Nothing ever changes. Again and again."
"Can you handle it?"
His voice turned colder.
"This subordinate can handle it, Your Majesty."
The half-human, half-eagle woman shuddered. "We have agents planted throughout the Datu Dynasty. We can control the entire realm. King Tu won't be able to turn the heavens upside down."
"Please give us a little more time, Your Majesty."
"When the fortune of the Human Path reaches its peak, we will present it to you without fail. We will turn that fortune into crystal, into a treasure for Your Majesty's collection."
"Do not make a mistake."
King Zheng's voice was low.
The price of a mistake was death.
The Dao Court had countless gods. Apart from the Divine Path Supreme, not one of them was indispensable. All were merely pieces and puppets of the divine path. No mistakes were permitted, because a mistake meant a piece was unfit and had to be replaced with a worthy one.
The true core of its power had never been those gods, but the divine talismans conferred by the Dao Court.
"Yes,"
"Your Majesty!"
The eagle-winged woman dropped to the floor in a respectful bow, then backed toward the palace doors.
The palace fell once more into a silence that seemed almost eternal.