Ao Cunxin's expression involuntarily froze.
The Heavenly Mandate.
Those words were like an invisible sword, piercing precisely into the softest part of her heart.
She could face Zhunti without fear, face a Sage without fear, even face any powerful enemy without fear. She dared to confront Zhunti, dared to meet him with a cold, defiant glare, dared to declare as the leader of the Dragon Race, "No outsider may set foot here."
But she dared not take the words "Heavenly Mandate" lightly.
This was not a question of strength, but of understanding.
Throughout her cultivation, from a princess of the Dragon Race to Gu Changqing's disciple, from an unknown nobody to the ruler of the Four Seas, every legacy she had received, every lesson, every understanding had told her the same thing-the Heavenly Mandate could not be defied, and the tide of destiny could not be reversed.
It was the course ordained since Pangu's Heaven-Opening, the fundamental law governing the Heavenly Dao, a supreme existence that even Sages dared not speak lightly of defying.
She could defeat enemies, break through bottlenecks, and command the Dragon Race. But she could not defeat the beliefs rooted deep within herself.
And so, she hesitated.
Watching hesitation surface on Ao Cunxin's striking, heroic face, Zhunti's lips curled slightly upward, and a trace of triumph flashed through his eyes.
He had seen through her.
This disciple of Gu Changqing possessed considerable cultivation and no lack of presence, and she even dared to confront a Sage. But in the end, she was not Gu Changqing.
She could not disregard the Heavenly Mandate or defy it. She could not treat it as child's play and trample the Heavenly Dao beneath her feet as her lunatic Master did.
"Ao Cunxin."
Zhunti spoke again, his voice calm, yet carrying