Central State, the Imperial City of the Great Zhou.
The night was as dark as ink, yet within the city, lights shone brightly. Immortal music curled in the air, and spiritual energy was dense and misty.
Although it was not as magnificent and expansive as it once was, the fact that it could be rebuilt to this extent in just a few short months was enough to demonstrate the methods of the Immortals.
Ji Wuque sat high upon the master's seat of the great hall. The gold-threaded jade table before him was laden with delicacies and spirit fruits; the nectar and jade liquid shimmered with a lustrous glow under the reflection of the night-pearls.
Holding a glazed cup in his hand, his gaze swept over the crowd in the hall, where cups and chopsticks clinked amidst the revelry. A faint, enigmatic smile played upon his lips.
Since he declared war on the Lower Realm, he had first trapped Lin Wan, a cultivator at the Realm of the Immortal Venerable, and then advanced all the way, singing triumphantly, sweeping through obstacles with irresistible force.
Now, aside from a few top-tier forces still putting up a stubborn resistance in Central State, the remaining sects and great families had long since bowed their heads and proclaimed themselves vassals, kneeling at his feet.
This scene was very familiar to him.
Tens of thousands of years ago, he had also ruled over the Great Zhou like this, governing Central State.
But back then, he had not dared to completely eradicate the sects and families. He could only allow those forces to parasitize and multiply within the Great Zhou, like a bone-attached abscess that was difficult to uproot.
But this time, having proved the Dao to become an Immortal Venerable and being unrivaled in the Lower Realm, there was no one left to stop him!
He would thoroughly crush the foundations of all sects and families and achieve true unification!
Then, using the Lower Realm as his foundation, he would gradually encroach upon the Upper Realm, eventually becoming the sole Supreme of this heaven and earth!
"Venerable Ji's might covers the world, sweeping through Central State. It is just around the corner!" A family patriarch who had defected to him raised his cup to flatter.
"Indeed, those stubborn old fools putting up resistance are merely mantises trying to stop a chariot!" another person chimed in.
Ji Wuque smiled faintly, taking a light sip of spirit wine, but his gaze looked through the hall doors toward the distant night sky.
He suddenly thought of Lin Wan.
That woman...
If only she were not his enemy, and was willing to become his Dao companion, how wonderful would that be?
He still remembered the momentary wavering in her eyes when they first met in the Upper Realm.
But when they met again in the Lower Realm, her eyes were as cold as a frozen pool, no longer holding the slightest bit of confusion.
Although someone had guaranteed him that the Ruins of Return were enough to trap her for ten thousand years, he still felt a trace of regret.
It was a pity that such a peerlessly elegant woman could not be used by him after all.
Ji Wuque withdrew his gaze and downed the wine in his cup in one gulp.
When he truly ruled over the heavens and the earth, everything in this world would eventually submit to him!
The banquet dispersed, and the clamor gradually faded.
Ji Wuque sat alone in the center of the great hall. The candlelight on the gold-threaded jade table flickered, illuminating his deep-set brows and eyes. He liked moments like this—when the others retreated, and only he remained to drink alone, as if the entire world were within his grasp, silent and majestic.
He reached out for the wine pot, but his fingertips touched nothing but air.
Ji Wuque's pupils suddenly contracted!
In that instant, he slowly raised his head, his gaze passing through the hall doors to look at the moonlight outside the hall.
The moonlight was like water, spilling onto the stone steps before the hall. A clear and incomparably beautiful figure stood quietly there. She wore a plain white long skirt, her sleeves fluttering gently in the night wind, like a banished immortal descending to the mortal dust, untouched by the mundane. And in her hand, she held Ji Wuque's wine pot.
She tilted her head back slightly, tilting the mouth of the pot, allowing the nectar and jade liquid to fall between her lips.
"Good wine." She laughed softly, her voice like a clear spring striking stone, cold and pleasing to the ear.
Ji Wuque let out a long sigh and finally spoke her name—
"Fairy Lin Wan, we meet again."
His voice was low, tinged with complexity.
Under the moonlight, Lin Wan raised her eyes. Her gaze was as cold as frost, yet it held a trace of enigmatic mockery.
Ji Wuque's gaze lingered on Lin Wan for a moment, the corner of his mouth lifting slightly, a smile that was not quite a smile.
He naturally would not mention the matter of the Ruins of Return, acting as if that imprisonment had never happened. He simply and calmly raised his hand, making a gesture of invitation.
"Since Fairy Lin has come, why not sit down and share a drink?" His tone was unhurried, as if the astonishment from moments ago had never existed. "I will say it again: with Fairy Lin's ability, if you are willing to join forces with me, why worry that this world would not belong to you and me?"
Lin Wan shook her head lightly. With a flip of her pale hand, the wine pot vanished into thin air.
When she raised her eyes again, a cold light like a blade flashed within them: "Actually, I am here to kill you."
Ji Wuque gave a low laugh, sounding both regretful and mocking. "Then that is truly a pity."
The night breeze brushed past, causing the candlelight in the hall to flicker as killing intent surged silently.
Lin Wan stood silent for a moment, then suddenly spoke, "Can you answer a question for me?"
Ji Wuque raised an eyebrow. "What question?"
"Who exactly repaired Mount Buzhou?" Her voice was very soft, but every word struck like thunder.
The smile on Ji Wuque's face gradually faded.
He slowly stood up. His movement seemed casual, yet it seemed to stir the very Qi mechanism of the entire heaven and earth.
Deep within his eyes, a point of golden light grew stronger, like the rising sun piercing through the long night.
The pores all over his body dilated, and wisps of Immortal Venerable pressure spread out like a tidal wave. The jade tiles on the ground cracked silently, and fine fissures spread in all directions with him at the center.
The void split apart without a sound, and a blurred phantom of an emperor slowly emerged.
The phantom wore a crown and was draped in stars. Its mere presence caused the entire great hall to begin to tremble, with rubble falling with a rustling sound.
When his momentum climbed to its peak, the ground beneath Ji Wuque's feet actually transformed into a patch of golden Dao earth. Golden lotuses bloomed from the cracks, and in their blooming and withering, they enacted the supreme truth of the cycle of life and death.
Standing there, he was the center of this heaven and earth.
Lin Wan remained motionless. "Is this your answer?"
"Think what you will."
The two of them fell silent for a moment.
"Actually, I just want to know, do you know it yourself?" Lin Wan said.
The momentum around Ji Wuque stalled for a moment, but in an instant, it had recovered as before. He did not speak; only a cold light flickered within his eyes.
Only then did Lin Wan let out a soft sigh. "So, knowing full well that you are a chess piece, you are still risking your life to act as the chess player?"
The moonlight poured down, and the figures of the two stood in silent confrontation within the hall.
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