A Frank Confession

Everyone instinctively overlooked the two people standing beneath the tree at that moment, Han Fei included-

It was as though heaven and earth had fallen silent for the two of them, and that was indeed the case.

Because...

Liu Ji, who looked like a carefree mortal, had a trace of nostalgia in his eyes. Then he made the first move.

Not a physical move, but a Divine Ability.

To everyone else, nothing in the world seemed to have changed, nor had anything appeared that lay beyond their understanding.

Only Lü Yuan, standing before Liu Ji, could see it-

A ray of heavenly light fell from the sun.

The heavens cleared, and all things stood revealed.

The true form of a Dharma manifestation, towering between heaven and earth, slowly emerged behind Liu Ji. It radiated a divine brilliance like the newborn sun, illuminating everything around it.

A streak of crimson gold came from the edge of the sky and fell into the hand of the sun-like Dharma manifestation that reached the heavens, transforming into an ancient Crimson Firmament Sword.

Blazing like fire, it lit up the mountains and rivers.

Liu Ji himself still looked like an ordinary wandering swordsman, but his Dharma manifestation was utterly unlike his freewheeling image.

Like a king, like a marquis; like a general, like a minister-

No, even that was inaccurate, for the Dharma manifestation was noble beyond words.

If he had to put a name to it...

Emperor. The word came to Lü Yuan.

Its oppressive might was too great, strong beyond description. Thirty-six layers of solar halos overlapped behind the Dharma manifestation.

Like the sun traversing the heavens, its divine light was boundless-

Each light reflected another, layer upon endless layer!!

Wherever its light shone, no darkness remained across eight hundred li of wilderness.

Wherever its power reached, every inch of heaven and earth was cast into eternal day.

And all this came merely from the Dharma manifestation appearing and gazing on in peace, without the slightest hostility.

If the person before him harbored any malicious intent...

It could be said that, without the Immortal Book protecting him, a single ray of that light could have killed Lü Yuan, whose cultivation was only at Embryonic Breathing.

And what deserves the most attention is that there's still more to this Dharma manifestation-

As the Immortal Book protected him of its own accord, blocking all the heavenly light from the thirty-six solar halos and keeping it from coming a fraction closer,

Lü Yuan could see even more through the Immortal Book.

He could see what seemed to be a companion sun beside the sun in the sky, enveloped in that endless heavenly light.

And it seemed that, as long as Liu Ji wished it, this eager companion sun would welcome him to the seat of supremacy in an instant.

I can be certain now. The person before me really is a Golden Core True Lord, and his lineage is connected to the sun-

What can I even say?

Punk Lü Yuan only has a Purple Mansion cultivator of uncertain intentions to deal with, and I get a Golden Core cultivator blocking my door right from the start...

When I tell him later, I imagine his resentment will lessen quite a bit.

Lü Yuan fell into thought, wondering how he should speak at a time like this.

With the Immortal Book protecting him, and given what Liu Ji had said earlier about mistaking him for a True Lord,

if he did not reveal who he was, perhaps Liu Ji would invent a plausible explanation on his own.

Seen that way, pretending to be more profound and unfathomable seemed like a good approach.

But...

Was that really the first choice in the current situation?

Lü Yuan did not think so. Though he did not overthink things the way Punk Lü Yuan did, that did not mean he had no brains.

If he did that, he would have to fill the gaps in that story with countless more lies later.

Moreover, since he currently knew next to nothing about the ancient cultivation world, he would be exposed after only a few sentences if they really started talking.

And could he avoid talking to the other man?

No, he could not, because Lü Yuan was almost certain.

The person before him was the one the Immortal Book had told him to wait for, the one who could help him save these people.

And if he chose the approach above,

leaving aside how he would explain away his ignorance of what to do and why things had come to this,

the hardest part was, how would he get help from the man?

Saving people had been his goal from the beginning, and that would not change now. If he went against it, why go to all this futile trouble?

So, after thinking all of that through, Lü Yuan had made up his mind.

In this situation, rather than pretending to be profound and unfathomable and using lies to make the other man fill in the blanks, when even a moment's carelessness could turn him against Lü Yuan,

he might as well show his sincerity-instead of revealing the Immortal Book, of course, he would explain his situation by saying that a certain great personage had shown him favor.

The advantage was that they would not have to beat around the bush and sound each other out, leaving each other trapped in mutual suspicion.

Whether he wanted to ask for help or inquire about the ancient cultivation world, he could get straight to the point.

Whether the man was willing was another matter.

Of course, there were drawbacks too. Given his circumstances, even vaguely attributing them to a great personage's favor would make people realize that he carried a precious treasure.

Otherwise, how could someone at Embryonic Breathing withstand a True Lord?

But recalling how the Immortal Book had recently rated him as "Timid," Lü Yuan found himself less worried about that.

The Immortal Book already said I was too cowardly. That means it thinks that, as long as I have it with me, I don't need to worry about this or that.

If the person before me really has any ill intentions, at worst I can just take the Immortal Book and fight him-

Wasn't that possibility in my plans from the very beginning?

In fact, Lü Yuan was even a little eager to try.

He really did want to see just how much he could do with the Immortal Book protecting him.

Could he defeat the "True Lord" before him?

After Lü Yuan made his decision and weighed the gains and losses-

while Liu Ji was still wondering in surprise why King Zheng of Qin had neither remembered him because of this nor responded using the path of the [Sun]...

he spoke first.

"Although I don't know what you've misunderstood, I'm not the great personage you think I am, True Lord, and I shouldn't match your guess either."

Beneath Fusang, Lü Yuan said calmly, "Whether it was your inability to see through me that led you to misjudge me, or my ability to withstand the Divine Ability you unleashed..."

"It was all because a great personage showed me favor not long ago."

"I only began cultivating because of that personage, and my own cultivation is merely at Embryonic Breathing."

Liu Ji stared at Lü Yuan as he said this, utterly astonished. For a moment, he could not tell whether it was a confession or a lie.

In fact, before Lü Yuan spoke, he had already dismissed the idea that the person before him was King Zheng of Qin.

After all, although the earlier signs matched, whatever had blocked his Purple Mansion Dharma manifestation afterward could not possibly have had anything to do with King Zheng of Qin.

I was even hoping to compete and see whose remaining place in the [Sun] was superior-

But he had only assumed this was some Golden Core True Lord who paid no heed to worldly affairs.

Otherwise, how could he have been unable to see through him, and how could his probing with the Dharma manifestation have been blocked?

Yet this answer had caught him completely off guard...

A lie?

It really did not seem to be one.

After recovering his senses, Liu Ji looked thoughtfully at the Embryonic Breathing Law Artifact and sensed the traces of Southern Dipper Embryonic Breathing lingering on the refugees...

Taking Lü Yuan's words into account as well, he was almost certain the man had not lied.

"Interesting. Such honesty is truly rare in the world as it is today, but this isn't a good choice..."

Liu Ji sighed softly and rubbed his chin, pondering which great personage's favor could allow Lü Yuan, a mere Embryonic Breathing cultivator, to do this much.

As for doubting him?

What was there to doubt? If not for a great personage's favor, could it be that he could fight a Golden Core cultivator with his own Embryonic Breathing cultivation?

Southern Dipper Life Breath...

Did that number one manifest immortal under heaven find a moment to spare and glance this way, choosing him for some reason?

Given everything he's shown so far, could he have a [Southern Dipper Law Treasure] on him?

But what's so special about him? Why did that great personage choose him?

And looking at things now, it probably wasn't Han Fei who drew me here, but the person in front of me.

Why did he stir a premonition in me?

Was that also the great personage's doing-

But if so, why didn't They tell me directly?

This string of questions he could not answer gave Liu Ji a headache, so he took them lightly and chose to set them aside for the time being-

For now, he would just assume that everything was the work of that great hand from the Southern Dipper Palace.

With that thought, he became quite interested in Lü Yuan, who had treated him sincerely from the very beginning, and wanted to find the answers through him.

Liu Ji's gaze slowly settled on Lü Yuan's masked face.

He himself looked nothing like a True Lord of the past, with not the slightest trace of a superior cultivator looking down from on high.

Instead, with a mischievous desire to frighten him, he asked softly, "Kid, you laid everything bare right from the start."

"Aren't you afraid I'll disregard the great personage behind you and covet that so-called 'favor' you carry?"

Lü Yuan shook his head, his voice without the slightest fluctuation. "No."

Liu Ji found him interesting. Leaving aside the sincerity that had already made Liu Ji see him in a different light, his courage alone made Liu Ji find him somewhat pleasing. "Why not?"

Lü Yuan raised his head and met his gaze through the mask. "I'm not afraid, that's all."