A contest between father and son

Although there was a blurry "barrier" separating them, Xu Qi'an could imagine that the white-robed Warlock's face was gradually becoming serious, ugly, and gloomy.

"Or perhaps I should call you 'Xu Pingfeng,' if that's your real name."

The white-robed Warlock did not answer, and the valley fell silent as the father and son stared at each other in silence.

One was dressed in white, as white as snow; the other was stained with blood.

The wind ruffled the white-robed Warlock's robes, and he sighed wistfully, saying slowly:

How did you find out?

Xu Qi'an grinned, his eyes looking down at him arrogantly. "Guess."

His face was pale and haggard, his tattered clothes soaked with sweat and blood, but after they revealed their identities, the arrogance in his eyes grew stronger.

The white-robed Warlock pondered for a moment and then said, "Through the Heavenly Secrets Technique."

Xu Qi'an sneered:

"Every step leaves a trace. To me, the art of concealing heavenly secrets is not invincible if it has a flaw."

The white-robed Warlock remained silent, manipulating the stone disc to refine the fortune within Xu Qi'an's body using a large array formed by the fusion of one hundred and eight smaller arrays.

Despite being in danger, Xu Qi'an remained calm and said:

"What does it mean to conceal the secrets of heaven? Does it mean to completely erase a person from the world? Obviously not, otherwise no one would know about the first supervisor, and the current supervisor would be seen as the first one in the eyes of the world."

"After learning the truth behind the tax silver case and knowing that you, a formidable enemy, were lurking in the shadows, I have been thinking about how to deal with Warlock, especially the unpredictable art of concealing heavenly secrets. Today, you have concealed me; this is not a situation I have not considered."

"Gradually, I discovered two limitations to the art of concealing celestial secrets."

"First: There are limits to shielding heavenly secrets. These limits can be divided into two aspects: influence and causal relationship."

"The so-called influence is like a stone on the side of the road. No one will notice that it has disappeared. It is as if it has been completely erased from the world because it has almost no inherent influence. It is just a stone that no one cares about."

"But you cannot block out the Golden Palace in the Imperial Palace, because it is too important. Without it, people's understanding would be distorted, their logic would be inconsistent, and the effect of blocking out the secrets of heaven would be negligible."

"Just as the current Censor has shielded the first emperor from everything from five hundred years ago, people still know that Emperor Wuzong plotted a rebellion and usurped the throne because this matter was too big to be compared to a pebble on the roadside."

"Similarly, if you turn objects into people, and you block someone out, then people who have little or no relationship with them will completely forget about them. Because whether this person exists or not does not affect people's lives."

"But with his closest relatives, his closest friends, and his confidantes, the logic doesn't hold true. The reason is simple: even if you block out my parents, I still won't forget them, because everyone has parents; no one can spring from a stone."

"So, in order to 'convince' oneself, and to make the logic consistent, one will deceive oneself, telling oneself that one's parents died when one was born. This is the cause and effect relationship; the deeper the cause and effect, the harder it is to be concealed by the art of divination."

This was actually told to Xu Qi'an by Gongyang Su, the wild Warlock he met in the underground palace of Yongzhou.

That wild Warlock, who inherited the skills from the first supervisor, had already explained the art of concealing celestial secrets very clearly.

The white-robed Warlock sighed, "Impressive. What is the second restriction?"

Xu Qi'an said in a deep voice, "The second restriction is that for high-level martial artists, the shield is only temporary."

Wei Yuan could recall the existence of the first Director of the Imperial Observatory, but only when he deliberately thought about similar information would he suddenly realize from the sense of historical disconnect that the Bureau of Astronomy had a first Director.

The white-robed Warlock nodded. "It also depends on karma. Those of high rank who are not closely related to you will not remember you at all. But those with very deep karmic ties to you will remember you very quickly, and then forget you just as quickly. And so the cycle continues."

"As expected, Luo Yuheng and Zhao Shou remembered you, but they couldn't find this place. Originally, shielding you from the heavenly secrets was simply to create time."

This was already terrifying enough, Xu Qi'an thought to himself, and then said:

"Actually, I have a third guess about the limitation, but I can't be sure. Could you explain it to me?"

He paused, ignoring the white-robed Warlock's attitude, and continued speaking to himself:

"If I were to appear before my relatives or the people of the capital right now, would they remember me? Would the technique to shield me from heavenly secrets automatically fail?"

Is this important?

As the white-robed Warlock spoke, he inscribed a formation in the air. Characters composed of clear light condensed and entered Xu Qi'an's body, accelerating the refining of his fortune.

"It's very important. If my guess is correct, then when you appeared in the skies above the capital, in everyone's sight, the technique to shield the heavens had already failed on its own. My second uncle remembered you, his elder brother."

The white-robed Warlock remained silent for a while, then chuckled, "Anything else?"

Xu Qi'an curled the corners of his mouth. "The Director of the Imperial Observatory has a total of six disciples, but in all the time I've dealt with the Warlock of the Bureau of Astronomy, I've never heard any information about the eldest disciple from them, which is very illogical."

"Thinking back on it, the only explanation is that he blocked himself out."

"But at the time, I didn't realize that the chief disciple of the supervisor, the high-ranking Warlock who appeared in Yunzhou, was the mastermind behind it all. Because I didn't know the connection between first-rank and second-rank Warlock."

If he had known that a second-rank Warlock had to betray his teacher to advance to the first rank, he would have revealed the truth long ago and wouldn't have been so easily fooled by this Xu Household's literary star.

Xu Qi'an spoke eloquently, like a seasoned criminal investigator, and the situation seemed to have reversed. The white-robed Warlock, who had been calm and collected all along, began to listen silently.

Xu Qi'an, now reduced to a fish on a chopping board, recounted his story slowly and calmly.

Now that he already knew of the white-robed Warlock's existence and that his own fortune came from his gift, how could Xu Qi'an possibly let his guard down?

No one would take their own life and safety lightly.

"Originally, if I had continued investigating based on this situation, I would have eventually realized that the enemy I was facing was the chief disciple of the Imperial Censor. But later, I met Ji Qian in Jianzhou and obtained very crucial information from this member of the royal family. I learned about the existence of that lineage from five hundred years ago and that the first Imperial Censor was still alive."

"Everything is reasonable and logical. You used the information gap to make me completely believe that the first supervisor was not dead. Your purpose was to sow discord between me and the supervisor, to make me feel at odds with him, because Ji Qian told me that if I took out the Qi Luck, I might die."

"Then, I definitely have to be wary of the Supervisor forcibly taking away my luck; anyone would be suspicious. But actually, everything Ji Qian said back then was what you wanted me to know. If nothing unexpected happened, you were in Jianzhou at that time."

The white-robed Warlock continued inscribing the array patterns, nodding and saying, "That's true too; I didn't lie to you."

Xu Qi'an squinted, nodded, and agreed with his statement, saying:

"Actually, Ji Qian was someone you deliberately sent for me to kill. Sowing discord between me and the Supervisor was only one of your purposes. The main purpose was to get the Dragon Fang into my hands and use me to destroy the Dragon Vein Spirit."

The white-robed Warlock tacitly agreed, paused, and sighed:

"There's another reason: dying at the hands of the First Generation is better than dying at the hands of my own father. I didn't want you to know this fact. But you still managed to find out my true identity."

Xu Qi'an chuckled and said, "Shouldn't I be thanking you for your unwavering fatherly love?"

He took a deep breath and said:

"To be honest, I only learned of your existence while researching Joan of Arc. The daily records of the 10th and 11th years of the Yuanjing era did not include the name of the Imperial Diarist, which is an almost impossible oversight in the meticulous Hanlin Academy."

"At the time, I thought this was a flaw in Emperor Yuanjing's record. I followed this clue and found that the problem lay with the court official himself. So I checked the imperial examinations of the 10th year of Yuanjing's reign and found that the name of the third-ranked scholar had been erased."

"That third-place scholar later formed a powerful faction in the court, and Su Hang, who was executed for embezzlement, was one of its core members. The Duke of Cao's superstitious writings mention a faction with its name erased; unsurprisingly, the erased character should be: the Xu faction!"

He glanced at the white-robed Warlock, and seeing that the other did not refute him, he continued:

"I once thought that the Imperial Censor had erased the existence of that third-ranked scholar, but I later dismissed this guess because there was insufficient motive. The Imperial Censor would not be involved in court struggles; factional strife was just a child's game to him."

"So I changed my perspective. What if the person who erased the existence of that court attendant was actually himself? Wouldn't all of this make sense? But this is hypothetical; there's no evidence. Besides, why would the court attendant erase his own existence, and where is he now?"

"I never understood it until I received a letter from a close female friend."

Xu Qi'an paused for a moment, then changed the subject, saying:

Why is Yunzhou also called Xuzhou?

The white-robed Warlock said calmly:

"The royal family I supported promised to bestow upon my descendants the title of King of the Others. Once the great undertaking is accomplished, Yunzhou will be renamed Xuzhou and belong to the Xu Household. Of course, I don't care about this province. Heh, my descendants are not limited to you."

"It's not surprising that you could guess that I'm the chief disciple of the Imperial Censor, but how did you determine that I'm your father?"

Xu Qi'an sneered:

"As I just said, shielding the heavens will cause confusion in the logic of close relatives. They will self-correct their confused logic and find a reasonable explanation for themselves. For example, my second uncle always believed that the person who took the knife for him in the Battle of Shanhai Pass was his eldest brother."

"For example, that mentally confused elder of the Xu Household is obsessed with the Xu Household's literary star— Xu Household Dalang. But the Xu Household's literary star is Cijiu, and I am just a martial artist. There is a problem with the logic here. Obviously, the Xu Household's Dalang that the elder with a not-so-clear mind is talking about is not me, but you."

"What truly made me realize your identity was the news Erlang sent back from the Northern Frontier. He encountered my uncle's old comrade-in-arms, who angrily denounced my uncle as an inhuman son who was ungrateful."

"Because the person who took the knife for my second uncle that day wasn't you at all, but an old soldier surnamed Zhou. At that moment, all the clues connected, and I finally knew who my enemy was."

At that time, Xu Qi'an sat in the study for a long time, feeling sad and desolate for his second uncle and the original owner of the body.

"However, there are still some things I don't understand. Why would a warlock like you become a third-place Warlock?"

Xu Qi'an couldn't hide his curiosity and asked.

The white-robed Warlock sighed softly:

"This is an experiment. I don't want to be enemies with my teacher unless I'm forced to. My idea back then was the same as yours: to try to support one of the existing princes to ascend the throne. But it was more comprehensive than you think. I not only wanted to support a prince to ascend the throne, but also to make him a cabinet minister, the chief minister, and to take charge of the central government."

"By employing a two-pronged Qi Refinement, I might be able to advance to the first rank and become a chosen one. Thus, the Xu Party came into being."

Xu Qi'an sneered, "But you failed because the supervisor didn't agree?"

The white-robed Warlock shook his head:

"He agreed, but laid down three rules with me: I must not use Warlock as a tool for factional struggles; factional struggles are factional struggles, and whether I can become prime minister depends entirely on my personal abilities."

Xu Qi'an gloated. "So, you lost the power struggle in the court, and thus withdrew from the court to support the lineage from five hundred years ago?"

The white-robed Warlock nodded, then shook his head:

"It's not as simple as you think. Back then, the Xu faction was extremely powerful, just like the Wei faction is now. All factions rose up against them. And the enemies I have to face are not just these, but also Yuan Jing and the former head of the Human Sect."

"How do I put this?" Xu Qi'an frowned.

But then he understood.

The white-robed Warlock sneered:

"The leader of the Human Sect knew at the time that he had no hope of surviving the tribulation, but he had to pave the way for his daughter Luo Yuheng. However, the fortune of a country is limited, and it is unknown whether two people can achieve their destiny at the same time. Even if they can, there is no extra fortune to help Luo Yuheng quell her karmic fire."

"Therefore, the former leader of the Human Sect regards me as an enemy. As for Yuan Jing—no, Zhen De—you know what he's secretly plotting. He wants to dissipate the Qi Luck; how could he possibly tolerate the birth of another Heavenly Mandate?"

"In such a situation, how could I possibly win? I was almost in dire straits, and my teacher remained aloof, neither intervening nor offering support."

Xu Qi'an couldn't help but recall the story in Fuxiang's letter: the fledgling eagle was bullied, but the old eagle watched coldly. In a fit of anger, the fledgling eagle flapped its wings and flew into the blue sky, never to return.

Oh, I see.

"In my predicament, I suddenly thought of why I could follow my teacher's example and help a branch of the family rise to power, just like Emperor Wuzong purged the court of corrupt officials. Once this thought arose, it was hard to suppress."

"All my subsequent plans and schemes were aimed at this goal. Why do you think Joan of Arc would cooperate with the Witch God Cult? Why did I hand the Dragon Fang to you? How did I know he wanted to extract the Dragon Vein Spirit?"

The white-robed Warlock smiled in a way that was neither a smile nor a frown.

All of this stemmed from a casual conversation years ago that was driven by ulterior motives.

He played a crucial role in facilitating all of Joan of Arc's current schemes.

Damn. Xu Qi'an's expression changed slightly. Now that he thought about it, how could Joan of Arc possibly have thought of such an operation related to destiny, which involved sacrificing the spirit of the dragon vein to turn the Central Plains into a vassal state of the Witch God Cult, imitating Salen Agu to become a first-rank official with endless lifespan and dominate the Central Plains? At least, the Joan of Arc back then could not have thought of it at all.

However, if it is a professional Warlock, then it makes perfect sense.

The Great Feng has reached this point is because of the head of the Earth Sect and Xu Household Dalang, who have been in charge of this situation for more than forty years.

"Later, I resigned from my official post and withdrew from the court. I conspired with the Heavenly Gu Elder to orchestrate the Battle of Shanhai Pass. During the process, I concealed myself and made Xu Household Dalang disappear from the capital. Of course, this involved some human intervention, such as adding names that had disappeared from the family genealogy and building a tombstone for myself."

"The memories of the Xu Lineage members are equally chaotic and cannot withstand scrutiny, but as long as no one deliberately points them out, they will deceive themselves. If you inquire carefully about the past, you will find that Erlang went crazy for a period of time. Of course, these things are not honorable, and no one will mention them voluntarily."

"My former political enemies won't remember me. In their eyes, I'm just a thing of the past. According to the principle of shielding heavenly secrets, when I left the court, the karma between me and them was already cleared. Without any deep entanglements, they won't care about me."

Xu Qi'an fell silent for a few seconds, then said:

"No wonder you used the tax silver case to get me out of the capital in a legitimate way. Although my luck was hidden by the Heavenly Gu Elder in some way before I woke up, I am still your son, and the eyes of the Supervisor are more or less on me."

"If you forcibly abduct me using unreasonable means, the Superintendent will react quickly. But why don't you just take me away directly, instead of leaving me in the capital?"

The white-robed Warlock's voice changed slightly, revealing a tone of disappointment and frustration:

"You're only half right. The tax silver case was indeed designed to allow you to leave the capital legitimately, but the reason you stayed in the capital and were raised by Erlang wasn't due to some kind of strategic maneuvering; it was purely because of an accident back then."

"Accident?"

Xu Qi'an frowned and asked in return.

The white-robed Warlock nodded, his tone returning to calm, and smiled:

"There's something I haven't told you: not everyone can bear the weight of destiny. You are the best vessel, not only because you are of my bloodline, but also because you are of the Great Feng royal family."

???

Despite having laid everything bare today and learning many crucial secrets, Xu Qi'an was still completely stunned, as if struck by lightning.