Throughout those long days, Yuan Ruochen often immersed himself in memories. The times he had spent with Feng Ling and the little Golden Crow were engraved deep in his heart.
However, the memories brought nothing but endless pain and longing, making it impossible for him to extricate himself.
He began to escape reality. Sometimes during cultivation, his energy would even go astray.
His originally full head of black hair had also turned completely white.
Clad in a white robe with a head of white hair, there was no longer any trace of his former high spirits.
Yuan Ruoshen stepped into the palace hall. Looking at the cold, detached, and haggard Yuan Ruochen, his heart filled with deep pain.
“Brother,” he called out softly.
Yuan Ruochen put down his official documents and raised his head slightly. “Ruoshen, why have you come?”
“Is Suijing asleep again?”
Yuan Ruoshen nodded. “The demonic-god soul has had a breakthrough. This time, I am afraid he will sleep for as long as ten thousand years.”
Yuan Ruochen fell silent for a moment before saying, “That Emperor Beiyue who came to the Demon-Demon Realm.”
Yuan Ruoshen said quickly, “He will not do anything.”
Yuan Ruochen said, “I know. I am well aware of what kind of person Emperor Beiyue is. I am merely worried about you.”
Yuan Ruoshen was stunned for a moment and did not speak.
Yuan Ruochen sighed. “The peace between the two realms is currently maintained because Emperor Beiyue is suppressing it. However, a day will come when this balance is broken. No one knows what will happen then, so you must be careful.”
Yuan Ruochen’s gaze grew distant. “My Dao heart is damaged now, so it is already a good thing that my cultivation has not regressed. I only have you left, so you must be careful in everything.”
Yuan Ruoshen could not help but get red-eyed. “I understand, Brother.”
After gathering his emotions, he took out a Golden Crow pendant and hung it around Yuan Ruochen’s neck.
Yuan Ruochen was shocked. “An Innate Supreme Treasure?!”
Yuan Ruoshen lowered his eyes. “I refined this using the fragments of the Chaos Bell. This is a supreme defensive treasure, just right for protecting you.”
Yuan Ruochen found it amusing. “Protecting me, Put it away quickly, your elder brother has the River Map and Inscription of Luo.”
“The River Map and Inscription of Luo do not provide defense,” Yuan Ruoshen pouted.
He brought out the remaining two pendants and shook them. “I still have two more here.”
Yuan Ruochen gasped.
There were only about ten Innate Supreme Treasures in this world, and his River Map and Inscription of Luo accounted for two of them. Yet his younger brother had refined three at once. Yuan Ruochen was envious.
However, once he remembered that the Chaos Bell was of the Chaotic Supreme Treasure level, Yuan Ruochen felt at ease again.
Of course, Yuan Ruochen could absolutely never guess that Yuan Ruoshen had actually refined four pendants instead of three.
Yuan Ruoshen ran off right after delivering the pendant. Yuan Ruochen watched Yuan Ruoshen’s departing back with a tender gaze and touched the pendant around his neck.
Yuan Ruochen lowered his eyes, staring intently at that tiny, delicate miniature Golden Crow pendant as if it were the most precious treasure in the world.
His brows furrowed slightly, and a deep sorrow flowed from his eyes.
After a moment, he sighed softly. That sound was as weak as a flickering candle in the wind, yet it seemed to contain thousands of words.
The sound of the sigh echoed within the empty grand hall, making it appear even more desolate.
Yuan Ruochen slowly let go of the Golden Crow pendant, carefully tucking it into his collar, and then turned his gaze toward the mountain of official documents piled on the desk.
He extended his slightly trembling hands to pick up one of the documents, yet his mind was far from peaceful.
The grand hall was entirely quiet, with only the occasional sound of Yuan Ruochen flipping through the documents.
There was no one else in the hall; there was only his lonely figure, cast against the wall by the candlelight, looking exceptionally bleak.
He was left all alone once more.
Over the next ten thousand years, no major events occurred in the Linxu Realm.
Feng Yuan did not cause any trouble either. This was mainly because he was still recuperating from his injuries, and with Yan Qinyu suppressing things from above, he did not dare to make too large a commotion.
Yan Qinyu spent most of his time in the Demon-Demon Realm, only occasionally returning to the Celestial-Divine Realm.
He spent the rest of his time traveling the six realms with Yuan Ruoshen.
The travels of Yuan Ruoshen and Yan Qinyu were quite pleasant. They explored secret realms and rescued weak living beings, thereby accumulating a considerable amount of merit.
Feng Yuan had no idea that Yan Qinyu had been together with Yuan Ruoshen the entire time, otherwise he would have exploded with rage.
Yan Qinyu tried many methods, but in the end, he could not break through the barrier of the Emperor Realm, which caused him great annoyance.
If he broke through to the Emperor Realm, he would not have to worry about whatever trouble Feng Yuan might cause.
But the reality was just that cruel; no matter what he did, he could not break through.
Wanting to attain the Dao was truly far too difficult.
On this day, Yan Qinyu unexpectedly received a communication from Feng Yuan.
It said there were matters to discuss with him.
Yan Qinyu was somewhat surprised. For such a long time, Feng Yuan had never contacted him, so taking the initiative to contact him was a first, and he did not know what matter Feng Yuan had.
Over these ten thousand years, Feng Yuan had been extremely well-behaved. To suddenly look for him now, could he have the intention of provoking a war again?
Yan Qinyu left a message for Yuan Ruoshen, then tore open a spatial tunnel and returned to the Divine Court.
Yan Qinyu found Feng Yuan at the Houchi Palace.
Feng Yuan had arranged a banquet, and the four great divine lords as well as the Left and Right Prime Ministers were all present.
There were also two Daoists whom Yan Qinyu had never seen before. Judging by their attire, they looked like followers of the Western Buddhist Sect.
Yan Qinyu found it strange in his heart. How did Feng Yuan get involved with people from the West?
Although the Linxu Realm appeared to have only six realms on the surface, there were actually other factions on the various continents that connected the six realms. However, these factions kept a very low profile and did not participate in the conflicts among the various races of the six realms.
On the continent connecting the Demon Realm and the Divine Realm, there were four factions: the Western Buddhist Sect, the Blood Sea Asura Sect, the Wuzhuang Daoist Sect, and the Beiming Kun Sect.
These four factions all had Quasi-Emperors presiding over them, but they all cooped up in their own territories and never stirred up trouble.
He had not expected Feng Yuan to invite people from the Buddhist Sect over. What did he want to do?
Yan Qinyu remained impassive, his gaze secretly sizing up those two bald heads, and he could not help but be inwardly startled, they actually possessed Quasi-Emperor cultivations as well!
The two bald heads were also sizing up Yan Qinyu. Seeing Yan Qinyu look over, the two bald heads nodded and smiled at him.
Yan Qinyu paused for a moment, then nodded back to greet them.
Seeing that Yan Qinyu had arrived, Feng Yuan quickly and warmly greeted Yan Qinyu to sit down.
The people were finally all gathered. Feng Yuan smiled and said, “I have called everyone here today to discuss some matters. Please have a drink first.”
An attendant filled Yan Qinyu’s cup to the brim with wine, and Yan Qinyu nodded to express his gratitude.
The people seated all raised their wine cups and drank them down in one gulp.
Yan Qinyu naturally did not spoil the fun and drank the wine as well.
At this moment, Feng Yuan said, “I have recuperated and built up strength for ten thousand years. Now, the Celestial-Divine Realm is full of heroes and talents, so we can well prepare, battle, and plan.”
Yan Qinyu had not expected Feng Yuan to get straight to the point right from the start, and he was momentarily stunned.
The two bald heads from the Buddhist Sect exchanged a glance, and one of them said, “What His Majesty Feng Yuan says is excellent. If we unify the Demon-Demon Realm, it would bring liberation to the common people of the world.”
Yan Qinyu responded, “…?”
Do you want to listen to what you are saying? Do you have no shame at all?
The several individuals spoke one after another, directly deciding on how to attack the Demon-Demon Realm.
From the mouths of those two Buddhist Sect bald heads, Yan Qinyu finally understood why they had become involved with Feng Yuan.
It was for destiny.
How precious and how ethereal destiny was. If one had the blessings of destiny, cultivation would achieve twice the result with half the effort, and one could turn disasters into blessings.
The two brothers Yuan Ruochen and Yuan Ruoshen unified the Demon-Demon Realm and obtained the blessings of destiny.
Feng Yuan and Feng Ling unified the Celestial-Divine Realm and also obtained the blessings of destiny.
But after Feng Ling died, the destiny belonging to her celestial realm was superimposed onto Feng Yuan.
If Feng Yuan unified the Demon-Demon Realm as well, that destiny would become even more powerful, and perhaps his realm’s boundary would loosen.
The Buddhist Sect came to cooperate with Feng Yuan because they also fancied this power of destiny.
If they assisted Feng Yuan in unifying the realms, they would naturally receive the blessings of destiny as well, sharing a portion of Feng Yuan’s destiny.
Of course, by doing this, they broke the balance and actively entered the tribulation. There were deadly perils as well as opportunities, but the people of the Buddhist Sect were very clever.
Ten thousand years ago, Feng Yuan had established a karmic cause with them. Later, he went to invite them three times before they put on a reluctant display, stating that they would not actively intervene but would only lend a hand to help him once when Feng Yuan was in trouble, solely to resolve the karmic connection.
No one could say anything about this approach either, since they were merely doing it to settle a past favor.
This move was exceptionally brilliant. They risked losing nothing, and if it succeeded, they could even share in the destiny, which was highly cost-effective.
Having reasoned through everything, Yan Qinyu had to admire Feng Yuan’s excellent scheming.
He had actually managed to invite the Buddhist Sect to come and support him.
However, if the Buddhist Sect had not owed Feng Yuan a favor ten thousand years ago, they would not have come to wade into these muddy waters either.
This was the cycle of cause and effect.
After contemplating for a brief moment, Yan Qinyu said, “Over these past ten thousand years, the Linxu Realm has been peaceful and tranquil. For what reason must we stir up the flames of war again?”
“If you want to gather destiny through unification, the major factions will not sit idly by either. If they combine their forces to exert pressure on the Celestial-Divine Realm, would that not be counterproductive?”
If it were in the past, the words of Yan Qinyu, the Emperor Beiyue, would certainly have held them in check. But now, two partners at the late stage of the Quasi-Emperor Realm had arrived.
Everyone felt disdainful in their hearts. We have more people on our side, while you only have one on yours. Although you still have the support of the Right Prime Minister, can the two of you defeat so many of us?
Furthermore, once the destiny is gathered and unification is achieved, we will break through. Will we still fear those people then?
These individuals thought very beautifully, but they completely failed to connect with reality. Thus, it shows that one cannot be too confident; when one is overly confident, one no longer knows the heights of the heavens or the depths of the earth.
Of course, there was no lack of clever people present who thought more deeply, so they did not speak and chose to continue observing.
Feng Yuan’s smile faded slightly. “Yan Qinyu, must you absolutely oppose me?”
Yan Qinyu said, “I dare not. It is just that I cannot bear to see living beings affected by war and left homeless. As the Divine Emperor, Your Majesty should not merely satisfy your own selfish desires. As a deity, you ought to consider the living beings and common people below.”
Yan Qinyu spoke these words without showing any mercy. He was truly furious. If various circumstances did not forbid it, he would have slapped Feng Yuan aside long ago.
If the Demon-Demon Realm had provoked trouble first, it would be fine, and Yan Qinyu would have helped without needing to be asked. But it was completely otherwise; it had always been Feng Yuan who was attempting to provoke a war.
Feng Yuan was also infuriated by Yan Qinyu’s words. “Yan Qinyu! It is not your place to control what I want to do!”
It would be a lie to say that Yan Qinyu did not feel sad in his heart. It turned out that ambition and power could truly alter a person beyond recognition.
Just as the atmosphere grew tense and confrontational, the Right Prime Minister, who had remained silent all along, suddenly spoke up, “Your Majesty, what Emperor Beiyue says is not without reason. Rashly starting a war now, putting aside the reactions of other factions, the mere outbreak of this war will cause lives to be lost, and I fear it might trigger a great tribulation of heaven and earth.”
Feng Yuan’s face grew increasingly dark as he glared at the Right Prime Minister and said, “You are helping him speak as well?”
The Right Prime Minister bowed with his hands clasped and said, “I dare not, I am merely considering the big picture. If we can achieve unification through a peaceful method, would that not be the best of both worlds?”