Saints Gather in Luoyang City

"Which Great Emperor was Li Shiyi, exactly?"

The old man's sudden question caught both the middle-aged man and Gu Baishui off guard. In the corner of the room, the Divine Sense crouched against the wall and quietly shrank back a little.

Even so, the two Saints in the room seemed completely unaware.

Ji Clan Head, the middle-aged man, fell silent for a while. Listening to the wind and rain outside the window, he slowly narrowed his eyes. "Over the years, I've investigated ancient texts and clues about many Human Race Great Emperors. Most of them left traces in their later years. It seems they all chose to sleep forever in the Great Emperor's Tomb guarded by Great Emperor Changsheng."

"Emperor after emperor sleeps side by side, jointly guarding the fortune of the entire Human Race."

"But three Great Emperors vanished from the world without a sound, leaving no trace behind. Their tombs alone are missing from the Emperor's Tomb Forbidden Zone, and no one knows where they went."

Ji Clan Head's eyelid twitched. "One Great Emperor was called Immortal Emperor Bailuo, another was Azure Emperor Lord, and the last one... was called Decaying."

"Decaying?"

The Old Holy Lord's pupils contracted sharply. The name seemed to strike a particularly sensitive nerve.

Ji Clan Head nodded quietly. "The Decaying Great Emperor, also called the Great Emperor of Ominousness. I've searched countless ancient ruins and secret realms, but still haven't found any trace of him in history."

Yaoguang Old Holy Lord knew Ji Changsheng very well. He was the only person in the history of the Ji Clan to rise to power from a collateral branch, and also the youngest Saint from an Aristocratic Clan in recent generations.

In the eyes of outsiders, Ji Changsheng was a refined, easygoing, and mild-mannered clan head. It was under his leadership that the Ji Clan had gone from a period of decline to steadily flourishing as the most powerful imperial clan in the Central Continent.

But only those who truly knew Ji Changsheng understood that this seemingly debonair Ji Clan Head had never been any kind of mild-mannered conservative.

Quite the opposite, in fact. This middle-aged clan head who had led the Ji Clan's revival was one of the most daring adventurers on the entire continent.

He had overruled everyone's objections and sent the Ji Clan's most gifted little princess into that lightless, forbidden tomb.

He was also the one who spent years traveling alone, roaming mountains and secret realms in search of every ancient secret buried on the continent.

Still, Yaoguang Old Holy Lord couldn't quite understand. "If you haven't found any clues about the Decaying Great Emperor, where did you learn that person's title?"

Ji Changsheng gazed at the candle flame flickering by the table and gave a strange, wordless smile.

"Actually, I learned it from the Great Emperor's Forbidden Zone."

The Divine Sense stirred slightly, and the candle flame froze.

The Old Holy Lord opened his mouth in astonishment. "You mean that girl in your family?"

"I went to such lengths to send her into the Great Emperor's Forbidden Zone. I naturally didn't do it just to get her the title of Emperor's Disciple Mister."

Ji Changsheng said expressionlessly, "The Great Emperor's Forbidden Zone holds the secrets of the entire Human Race, but aside from the Gravekeeper Lineage, no one is qualified to enter. After Great Emperor Changsheng passed away, only his four disciples could come and go freely from the Emperor's Tomb."

The Old Holy Lord looked uncertain as he asked Ji Changsheng, "Are you trying to lay claim to the Emperor's Tomb?"

To his surprise, the middle-aged man calmly shook his head. "Great Emperor Changsheng had four disciples. First Mister is unfathomable, and Second Mister is eccentric and unpredictable. I don't think Xu'er has much chance of surpassing them and taking control of the Great Emperor's Forbidden Zone."

"What's more, there's also a Third Mister hidden in the Great Emperor's Forbidden Zone, someone who has never shown his face."

"Third Mister."

Yaoguang Old Holy Lord raised his brows, seeming curious as well. "What sort of person is this Forbidden Zone Third Mister?"

"I don't know."

Ji Changsheng furrowed his brows, looking puzzled. "Xu'er never talks to me about her Third Senior Brother. When I ask what he's like, she only says that her Third Senior Brother is a good person."

"A good person?" The Old Holy Lord paused, then chuckled. "That's not exactly a good sign. Good people don't live long."

Ji Changsheng thought it over, then said calmly, "I trust Xu'er's judgment. Maybe her Third Senior Brother really is a good person, and maybe... he really won't live long."

Rain poured outside the window. No one noticed the strand of Divine Sense tucked away in the corner.

The two Saints in the room returned to talking about the affairs of Luoyang City.

"Do you think Li Shiyi was the later Decaying Great Emperor?" the Yaoguang Old Holy Lord asked.

Ji Changsheng nodded. "At the very least, it's the answer that seems closest to the truth to me."

The Yaoguang Old Holy Lord's eyelid twitched. He asked again, "Then do you think Li Shiyi's tomb was actually buried in Luoyang City?"

Ji Changsheng didn't answer directly. After a quiet pause, he gave a meaningful chuckle.

"The only Emperor's Tomb buried outside the Great Emperor's Forbidden Zone. If not for that, why would so many of us old bones sneak all the way to this old city?"

"Does anyone really think that person matters enough for half the Saints of the Human Race to come personally and see her off?"

"Once she dies, the only Emperor's Tomb outside the Forbidden Zone will rise to the surface."

Ji Changsheng looked up and said calmly, "Gravekeeper First Mister is far away in Jade Lake, Second Mister is held up in the Myriad Poison Domain, and the Gravekeeper's two other disciples are still inside the Forbidden Zone."

"Since none of them are in Luoyang, then whether we can enter the tomb and claim Li Shiyi's legacy will come down to each of our own abilities."

The Old Holy Lord understood the middle-aged man's intentions and asked, "So that's why you brought that boy Lu Ziyou to Luoyang City?"

"Yeah. After all, when it comes to entering tombs, he has more experience than us old fellows. And he said he knows people like Li Shiyi very well."

"People like her? What kind of people?"

"Those strange people from history, I suppose."

A strand of Divine Sense quietly slipped out of the room, but didn't go far.

It merged with the wind and rain, melted into the night, drew near the tavern next door, then slipped into another room.

A young, disheveled Ranger lived in this room. He had one foot propped on a Wood Chair, a chicken leg in his left hand, and an Illustrated Album spread across the table in his right.

The Illustrated Album was filled with Female Cultivator Fairies in fluttering sleeves, each with exquisite, breathtaking features. Some were aloof, haughty heroines, while others were bewitching witches.

The carefree Ranger gazed at them with relish, smacking the grease on his hands now and then, looking both pleased and rather lecherous.

Gu Baishui's strand of Divine Sense hid among the rafters. He watched the Ranger below and pondered for a long while before he could barely make out the man's identity.

Han Feicheng, the former chief disciple of Jade Purity Sect, one of the Three Great Leaders of the Righteous Path, and a peerless prodigy once known as the Righteous Path's First Crown Prince.

He was usually serious and unsmiling, always acting like a righteous gentleman, and was highly esteemed by the Righteous Path.

Yet who could have known that this Righteous Path's First Crown Prince would hide in a small inn, judging and discussing the famous fairies and beauties of the continent?

It was truly eye-opening and hard to imagine.

Gu Baishui quietly left the room, drifting toward other taverns like a wisp of mist in the night rain.

Jiang Yuncheng, the newly risen Saint of the Central Continent Jiang Clan Imperial Family;

Mu Xishan, the Second Supreme Elder of Yin-Yang Holy Land;

Daoist Duobao, the lord of a blessed cave-heaven in the Eastern Divine Continent;

the old Saint of the Imperial Court, the Deputy Palace Master of the Immortal Palace, the Grain Field Valley Master...

One after another, old Saints who had vanished from the continent, along with those young Saints who had recently risen, gathered in this old city.

They kept their distance from one another, maintaining a subtle understanding, like hunters hiding in the dark and patiently waiting for the right moment.

This city, shrouded in torrential rain, was packed with Saints of one terrifying generation after another.

The Saints had come with the wind and rain, gathering in Luoyang City.

Only now did Gu Baishui realize that he had become a speck of dust caught among countless giant Buddhas.

With the Bronze Mirror in hand, he had once been able to go anywhere in the vast world. But now, surrounded by one Saint after another, he had become a plump, tempting prey that had walked straight into the net.

Fortunately, no one had discovered him, and no one knew his identity yet.

But even if he took the worst-case scenario into account and the Saints in the city dragged him out, they wouldn't be able to slap him to death in full view of everyone.

After all, he was the Third Disciple of Great Emperor Changsheng, no matter how you looked at it. At worst, they would secretly kill him and seize his treasure.

...Probably.