A worthless map

The White Emperor did not answer the Grand Wizard's question immediately, proceeding at his own pace.

"I visited the Gu God, who told me that the Dao Venerable may have already perished."

"I felt this was not in line with Dao Zun's skills and abilities, so I went to Tian Zong. After reading Tian Zong's mental cultivation method, I suddenly realized that Dao Zun might really have perished."

"Like the ancient gods and Gods and Devils, He fell at the final step."

The high wizard remained silent, his expression indifferent and devoid of curiosity.

The white emperor's vertical, azure eyes scrutinized him, and suddenly said:

"You really do know a lot of secrets."

After a pause, Bai Di finally answered the question from before:

"The world is about to change. This is the second time in history that the world has undergone such a transformation."

"The last time the world changed, the era of Gods and Devils ended. Apart from the God of Gu, no god or Gods and Devils born of heaven and earth could survive."

"Dynastic change is both a catastrophe and an opportunity, a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity. But to emerge as the ultimate winner in this catastrophe, we must find the gatekeepers."

Salun Agu frowned:

"The gatekeeper?"

He was completely unfamiliar with the word and did not understand its meaning.

Bai Di nodded:

"That's right, the gatekeeper!"

"In ancient times, I traveled across the land with my father and met a Gods and Devils who was a tortoise and a snake in one body. The snake could see into people's hearts, and the tortoise could divine the secrets of heaven. Heh, your sorcerer's divination techniques are mostly inherited from him."

Of course, this does not mean that the sorcerer is a descendant of Gods and Devils.

In ancient times, humans were originally humble ants. Through tireless research and hard work, they gradually mastered the power of heaven and earth, creating two major systems: martial arts and Daoist School.

In this process, gods and Gods and Devils, who were born with terrifying power, became objects of reference and learning.

For example, according to legend, when the ancient emperor was controlling a great flood, he saw a divine turtle emerge from the water, its back covered with mysterious and unpredictable patterns.

The human emperor, blessed with divine inspiration, created the art of divination for predicting good and bad fortune.

That's how the human race is—learning little by little, researching step by step, until today, various systems coexist in the world.

The sorcerer god established the Sorcerer System, but not all the Law Technique controlled by wizards were created by the sorcerer god. Rather, the sorcerer god made breakthroughs and extensions based on the experience and Law Technique of his predecessors, thus establishing the Sorcerer System.

Just like Dao Zun, who is known in later generations as the founder of the Daoist School system, the Daoist system already existed before Dao Zun, but there had never been a master of it, nor had there ever been a master of it.

"It was already the end of the era of Gods and Devils. That Gods and Devils once said that if this upheaval did not end well, then a gatekeeper would appear for the next 'upheaval.'"

The White Emperor slowly said:

"Find the gatekeeper, kill the gatekeeper, and you'll be a winner in the catastrophe."

At this point, Bai Di stopped and silently gazed at Salun Agu.

The latter pondered for a moment, then sighed and said:

"I've never heard of the gatekeeper's existence, but you're mistaken. The exact time of the 'change of dynasty' was actually twelve hundred years ago."

In Bai Di's azure eyes, the vertical pupils contracted suddenly, like a cat encountering bright light.

"You mean"

Salun Agu nodded:

"The Confucian sage sealed away all the transcendent beings, postponing the 'change of heaven' by twelve hundred years. Surely your so-called gatekeeper shouldn't be a transcendent being who is already dead?"

The White Emperor suddenly realized something:

"After returning to the mainland, what I couldn't understand the most was why the Confucian Sage sealed away the Supreme Grade. Now I understand, and I also understand why the Gu God said that he once thought the Confucian Sage was a gatekeeper."

After a pause, Bai Di continued:

"I've already ruled out the Confucian Sage and the Daoist Venerable. So, among the remaining powerful figures of the Nine Provinces, I already have a judgment in my mind as to who is most likely to become the gatekeeper. But I lack evidence, which is why I came here to find you and tell you so much."

Salun Agu's white eyebrows furrowed slightly:

Speak your mind.

The White Emperor cut to the chase, saying:

"I suspect the gatekeeper is the first supervisor, who is your disciple."

Salun Agu shook his head:

"Like the Confucian sage, he is already a deceased man."

"That's exactly what I've been wondering about. I wanted to investigate the first supervisor, but I found that all his information had been erased by the current supervisor. The only way to solve this mystery is to come to you."

The White Emperor said in a deep voice:

"The Warlock System originated from the wizarding system, and in some ways, it even counters the wizarding system. The First Warlock was your disciple; what is your assessment of him?"

Salun Agu gazed into the distance, his face showing a hint of melancholy.

"He's a genius, but his ability to create Warlock System truly exceeded my expectations. I was puzzled for many years."

Baidi nodded as he listened.

"In your opinion, talent is not enough to establish a school of thought and create Warlock System. Of course, talent does not represent everything. A person's achievements are greatly related to their experiences after birth."

Xu Pingfeng said that he once led the sorcerers of the Witch God Cult to compete with the founding emperor of the Great Feng Dynasty for control of the Central Plains.

Salun Agu nodded:

"Back then, my wicked disciple met that boy in the Central Plains and they were on good terms. Later, that boy wanted to contend for the world, suffered a defeat, and almost didn't make it. So he came to my door through my wicked disciple, saying that as long as the Witch God Sect helped him overthrow the Great Zhou and dominate the Central Plains, he would establish the Witch God Sect as the state religion."

"Rain Master Nalan and I did have that thought at the time: to let the Witch God Cult monopolize the destiny of the Central Plains, so we granted his wish."

"When he conquered the world and established the Great Feng Dynasty, I wanted him to fulfill his promise and establish the Witch God Religion as the state religion. He sternly refused and even wrote me three letters, scolding me for being shameless."

"He said he was a proud man from the Central Plains, how could he make such a shameful deal with a foreign tribe? I was furious and wrote a letter reprimanding the young man for his lack of martial virtue. He replied, telling me to be careful."

The White Emperor asked, "And then what happened?"

"Later, I led 200,000 elite troops to the border, intending to push all the way to the Great Feng, but I was stopped by that wicked disciple. At that time, he had already entered the first rank and created the Warlock System. Within the Central Plains, even I was no match for him."

Looking back on the past, six hundred years later, Salen Agu had long lost his hostility and only felt a sense of melancholy and amusement:

"The overall situation is settled. The Witch God Cult has suffered a loss in silence, and this is the only way it can go."

The White Emperor pondered for a moment and said:

"Before this, you were completely unaware that he pioneered the Warlock System? When he was fighting alongside Emperor Gaozu of the Great Feng, did he exhibit any unusual behavior?"

Salun Agu was lost in a long recollection. Six hundred years had passed in a flash, and the details were difficult to recall immediately, even for someone of the highest rank, unless they deliberately tried to remember them.

"In the third year of his campaign, he wrote to me and asked some strange questions. One of them surprised me greatly at the time. He said, 'All the emperors of the Central Plains throughout history have been blessed with good fortune, but has anyone ever embodied the fate of the nation in their own body?'"

Salun Agu said in a deep voice:

"The practice of the Witch God Cult has nothing to do with destiny, so he shouldn't have this question. I wrote to him asking why he said that, and he said that he had a deep conversation with a great Confucian School scholar, which led him to express his feelings. To this day, I don't know if what he said is true or false. However, that should have been his first encounter with issues related to destiny."

"After I came back, I heard that he had created his own weapon-forging technique. At the time, I didn't think too much about it. With his talent, it wouldn't be difficult for him to make some groundbreaking achievements."

The White Emperor said:

"That art of weapon crafting is what Alchemist are today. Back then, he was already pioneering the Warlock System."

Salun Agu nodded silently:

"This is what has puzzled me for many years; his changes are just too rapid, so rapid that they defy logic."

Bai Di became even more certain:

"Therefore, I guessed that he was the gatekeeper, favored by the heavens, which is why he was able to create the Warlock System and rise to the first rank in just over ten years. Every time the Great Feng Emperor conquered a territory, his strength increased by one point."

"If he is the gatekeeper, then everything makes sense. Since the Daoist Master disappeared, countless outstanding individuals have emerged, with extraordinary masters changing generation after generation, but the first gatekeeper is the most unusual of all."

A look of realization flashed across Salun Agu's grey-brown eyes, then he shook his head:

"But you can't explain why he died. He is indeed dead, that's for sure."

The White Emperor gazed at him and said:

"I think you've got your answer."

Salun Agu sighed:

You've cleared up a question that's been bothering me for years.

The White Emperor's voice was deep. "The same is true for me."

It nodded slightly to Salun Agu, then transformed into daylight, soared into the sky, and disappeared into the sea of clouds.

Several hours later, in Qingzhou, at the rebel army camp.

Xu Pingfeng, who was looking down at the map of the Central Plains with Qi Guangbo, seemed to sense something and took out a white scale from his sleeve.

The scales are shield-shaped, with a metallic sheen, sturdy and indestructible, emitting a faint white light that flickers between light and dark.

Xu Pingfeng spread the scales in his palm and said:

What is it?

The white light on the scales rose and fell, accompanied by the deep voice of the White Emperor:

I agree to your request.

After speaking, the scales lost their luster, becoming plain and unadorned.

Xu Pingfeng carefully put away the scale he had obtained from the Baidi Temple in Yunzhou years ago, turned to look at Qi Guangbo, and smiled:

The time has come!

Qi Guangbo smiled, showing neither surprise nor disbelief, as if everything was under control.

Xu Qi'an steered the small boat across the vast ocean, while Mu Nanzhi sat at the bow, her skirt blooming like a flower.

He rested his chin on his hands, frowning as he said:

"A bit boring."

You can't fish forever; you'll get tired of it eventually.

"Then you should play chess with Shirohime."

Xu Qi'an held the fragment of the Earth Book in his hand, flirting with Li Miaozhen while comforting Mu Nanzhi.

Mu Nanzhi said angrily:

"What I mean is, can you hurry up? You can fly, why aren't you flying?"

Xu Qi'an glanced at her side; several tender shoots had sprouted from the wooden boat.

"So bored you've even sprouted?"

The goddess of flowers rolled her eyes in annoyance, her coquettish demeanor surpassing any beautiful scene in the world.

"The world is so chaotic, and it's finally quiet down. I want to think carefully about whether we should live in the capital or find a secluded paradise to live a simple life."

Mu Nanzhi blushed slightly and quickly spat out a "pui!" as if feigning anger.

Who wants to live a simple life with you?

At this moment, Xu Qi'an suddenly sat up, his face looking rather unpleasant.

Mu Nanzhi was startled. "What, what are you doing?"

Xu Qi'an waved his hand:

"Don't speak yet."

He wrote the words with a serious expression:

[Miaozhen, you really can't understand those patterns I told you about?]

What Xu Qi'an described to her was the map belonging to the Chai family.

[Two: Why should I understand this? It's so inexplicable. Li Lingsu #2, where are you? Why haven't you returned to the capital to marry Princess Lin'an yet?]

Xu Qi'an ignored her and hung up the private chat immediately.

He then initiated a private chat with Li Lingsu. Li Lingsu hesitated and was initially reluctant, but probably because her head was buzzing from being knocked on, she reluctantly answered.

[Seven: What is it!]

The Holy Son looked like a wronged little wife, and was unhappy about chatting with him privately.

[Three: Do you understand ley lines?]

[Seven: I have some knowledge of it; the Heavenly Sect has relevant records, but when it comes to earth veins, the Earth Sect knows the most.]

Li Lingsu's knowledge was slightly better than Li Miaozhen's. When Xu Qi'an collected the dragon veins, the Holy Son was very surprised because he knew what dragon veins were.

[Three: Jinlian, that cat thing, has been in seclusion for so long without making a sound, so I had no choice but to turn to you.]

As he spoke, he carefully described the appearance of the Chai family's map to Li Lingsu, and even drew a few strokes in the map.

[Seven: This is a mountain range and ley lines? Uh, if you don't explain, this holy son really won't understand.]

Xu Qi'an silently ended the private chat.

Even the Crouching Dragon and Phoenix Chick of the Heavenly Sect couldn't recognize it. How could the former leader of the Corpse Gu Clan guess that these lines symbolized mountains and earth veins? Xu Qi'an pinched the bridge of his nose.

Xu Pingfeng had been to the Gu Clan and had seen the half-rolled map in the hands of the Corpse Gu Tribe.

Xu Qi'an immediately made a deduction, based on the relationship between the Heavenly Gu Elder and Xu Pingfeng.

Given his relationship with the Heavenly Gu Elder, would the former leader of the Corpse Gu Clan refuse his request to borrow the map and take a look?

Based on the timeline, Xu Pingfeng must have looked at the map of the Corpse Gu Clan before going to the Chai family to find that map scroll.

Damn! This half-roll of map is worthless.

P. S.: The plot is about to enter the first climax of this volume, and I'm a little hesitant and nervous, unsure of how to begin writing.