As Tathagata spoke, his eyes began flickering incessantly.
Clearly, his mind was racing, constantly searching for a way out-or perhaps something else.
With that in mind, Tathagata fell silent for a moment. Then, as though something had suddenly occurred to him, his expression shifted before he abruptly spoke.
"Actually, there's something I've never understood. Yang Jian, you should have worked with me. Why did you choose to cooperate with a demon like Wutian?"
"But after thinking about it for a long time, I finally managed to make some sense of it. I suppose you figured Wutian would be easy to control?"
"I have to admit, Yang Jian, you really are impressive. You approach things from a very cunning angle."
"You knew you were no match for me when it came to intrigue and political maneuvering, so you chose Wutian here, who would be easier to control."
"Because Wutian is stupid enough, isn't he?"
At this point, Tathagata could not help bursting into laughter.
His face was full of sorrow and helplessness, as though he could not bear such a defeat-or as though he had fallen into utter despair.
He seemed to have given up on everything.
He looked at Yang Jian, then glanced at Wutian, before shaking his head with a bitter smile.
"I have to say, I truly underestimated you. You're the truly formidable one, Yang Jian!"
"You knew you were no match for me at political maneuvering. If things dragged on long enough, even with you as Lord of the Heavenly Court, the entire Heavenly Court would slowly be swallowed up by my Buddhist School."
"Then you happened to learn about the Buddhist Tribulation, and you went straight to Wutian."
"You decided Wutian was an idiot with no real ambition, a fool you could easily control. Am I