The phantom of the black book appeared behind Su Mo, wreathed in black smoke that carried wafts of incense.
The words "Book of Life and Death" looked especially eerie on the black book.
Su Mo looked at the Confucian Sage Palace ahead and slowly walked toward it in silence.
The palace gates opened, offering no obstruction!
Su Mo walked through the gates. The space before the hall was empty.
In Su Mo's memory, a Flower of the Other Shore should have been growing there...
But when Su Mo looked there, his heart seemed to plunge into an icy cavern...
There was no Flower of the Other Shore...
There really was no Flower of the Other Shore!
Su Mo raised his head toward the enormous statue of the Confucian Sage and said nothing.
An empty palace, an enormous statue of the Confucian Sage, Su Mo with his white robes and white hair, and the Book of Life and Death hovering high behind him.
The Confucian Sage Palace was utterly silent...
Suddenly, amid that silence, Su Mo addressed the entire Confucian Sage Palace:
"Didn't you want to lure me here? Now that I'm here, why won't you appear?"
Scene after scene from before and after entering the Divine Realm surfaced in Su Mo's mind.
All those scenes linked together into yet another game of chess...
The Great Calamity had said that nowhere in life was free of chess games...
"I originally thought the emperor was the one luring me into the Divine Realm. I thought he wanted to seize my Dao Foundation here!"
"I never imagined that you, the Divine Realm itself, were the one luring me in!"
"You knew about my relationship with Girl. You knew Girl didn't have long to live. You also knew Girl and that..." Su Mo paused.