Only Yang Jian and the Jade Emperor remained inside the vast Lingxiao Treasure Hall.
The atmosphere was utterly silent. The Jade Emperor's face had grown dark and chilling, his eyes narrowed as he stared at Yang Jian.
"Yang Jian, my dear nephew, you truly have surprised me."
"I originally thought that, with your intelligence, you would at most be a pawn exploited by the Buddhist School, doing nothing more than revising those so-called new heavenly rules of yours."
"But I never imagined you could pull off something like Heaven-Slaying, or even cultivate into a Daluo Golden Immortal yourself."
"You really have caught me off guard!"
Yet after hearing the Jade Emperor's words, Yang Jian froze, his mind going completely blank.
Clearly, he had never imagined that the Jade Emperor had known about this all along.
For a moment, he truly did not know what to say.
At that thought, Yang Jian could not help asking, "Jade Emperor, you actually knew I once planned to revise the heavenly rules?"
"Tch, did you think I was just sitting here eating my fill and doing nothing?" the Jade Emperor said disdainfully. "I foresaw this from the very day the Buddhist School sent Yu Ding Zhenren to approach you and take you as his disciple."
"To be honest, I never cared about revising the heavenly rules."
"The only thing I truly failed to anticipate was that a little fellow like you could become a Daluo Golden Immortal outright, leaping from a mere chess piece to a place above the board."
"It seems I really did underestimate you!"
After hearing those words, however, Yang Jian felt his scalp prickle and a terrifying chill spread through his body.
At that moment, he felt as though he had never understood the Jade Emperor before him at all.