When Lu Sheng came to, she realized her vision was blurred.
With a blink, a tear slid down her face, bringing a touch of coldness.
Yet a chill spread from her heart, numbing her entire being.
What Li Zhi just said... If everything he said is true.
It means that it was father who used his desire to manipulate her, making her slaughter in the Six Realms.
Ultimately, father descended during the battle in the Six Realms, personally taking action in the name of justice to kill her?
All because of father’s arrival that day, he was regarded as the true Savior by the Six Realms, admired by them.
From then on, the Six Realms feared father’s power to annihilate her in one blow, no longer daring to covet the Divine Realm’s position among them.
She never blamed her father.
Because even the lowest Divine Envoys in the Divine Realm knew she was the Divine Lord’s most beloved youngest daughter.
The wooden swing that accompanied her since childhood was personally crafted by her father just for her alone. Her father’s favoritism towards her was never hidden; none of the likes of Li Zhi could ever receive such treatment.
When she was still a child, she was very afraid of stormy nights. During lightning and thunder outside, she was so scared she didn’t dare go downstairs to find someone to accompany her, only dared to cuddle a doll alone under the covers.
At such times, there would always be someone who gently held her from outside the blanket, where she was curled up small, frightened inside.
When she cautiously peeked out, she would be embraced into a broad and warm hug, with a low, gentle sigh coming from above her head.
"If you’re afraid of stormy nights, how can you become the strongest God among the Six Realms?"
"The more fearful the thing is, the more you must tread it underfoot. Understand, Chen Yin."
Her father’s large palm fell on top of her head, letting her cling to his neck and lie in his embrace. That was a hug that belonged solely to her father, and also her most cherished childhood memory.
But later, her father appeared before them less and less.
In the end, he directly issued orders that apart from Li Zhi, who managed matters in the Six Realms on his behalf, no one else was allowed to see him.
Since then, she never saw her father again.
At the time, Chen Yin never thought that the next time she would see her father, would be in battle.
She fought against those closest to her, and her father came to end the fight, to personally end her life.
She was the Divine Lord’s most cherished youngest daughter.
Lu Sheng always believed it was her wrongdoing that led to punishment. The grave sin she committed was unforgivable, not even if her soul was shattered.
Her father was extremely disappointed in her, and acted for accountability to the Six Realms.
But if what Li Zhi said is true...
If it was manipulation and control from the start, even the last great battle where she nearly perished was all a play arranged by her father.
Then, what were all the favors she endured from childhood to adulthood?
"Why... Why are you only telling me now, why didn’t you tell me this earlier."
Lu Sheng spoke with difficulty, intense pain almost suffocating her.
"I only speculated this after things happened to you, and then I confronted father,"
Li Zhi sighed lowly, "And father admitted it."
"As for Wu Mian..." Li Zhi glanced at the youth with misty blue curls, "Remember I said, Wu Mian started sleeping a hundred years after you left."
"He heard my conversation with father at that time, your departure was painful enough for him, and the truth made it even harder to bear, so he used sleep to avoid it."
"So Wu Mian, you sleep because of this..." Yu Si looked confused.
He really thought Wu Mian chose sleep just to avoid eating too much. So later he even prepared to join Wu Mian in sleep for a hundred years out of boredom.
"Then, why didn’t you tell me the truth earlier just now?" Lu Sheng looked at Li Zhi.
Li Zhi took a deep breath: "On the one hand, because I know how important father is to you. If I told you this cruel truth, you would be very hurt."
"On the other hand, I was worried you would confront father."
"I feared you might anger father; father... could kill you once back then, he could kill you a second time."
"Moreover, after that strike, father withdrew the supreme desire directed on you back to himself. Meaning, he is now more authoritative and beyond questioning than ever."
Li Zhi’s expression was solemn, "Xiao Yin, if there’s a next time, I’m not sure if I can protect you like Tan Yuan did."
To kill you once means he can kill you a second time.
Indeed, if Tan Yuan hadn’t blocked that strike for her, she would have been shattered on the spot.
Father left her life, perhaps thinking she would never know the truth, would carry the burden of guilt without hating him.
"...I have to go find him." After a while, Lu Sheng raised her head and said.
"Xiao Yin." Li Zhi instinctively frowned. Yu Si and Wu Mian also wanted to intervene.
Lu Sheng said, "I won’t cause a scene with him, I just want to make a deal with him."
"...A deal?" Wu Mian looked over.
Lu Sheng did not speak, only looked at Li Zhi.
Li Zhi knew Lu Sheng had already decided, so he just paused, then said, "Alright."
He’s been watching, knowing his little sister has changed.
She learned to love, having someone she wants to protect. If she said she wouldn’t cause a scene, it meant she’s calm.
Lu Sheng left Li Zhi’s place, Ling Yue who heard everything outside instinctively avoided.
The shock on her face hadn’t dissipated.
Looking at Lu Sheng now, Li Zhi’s words just now overturned all her previous understanding.
No wonder... no wonder last time in the Human Realm, Li Zhi said it wasn’t Chen Yin’s fault.
Li Zhi said Chen Yin wasn’t truly cold and heartless, and things back then weren’t as they seemed.
She thought Li Zhi was just blindly defending Chen Yin, but she never expected... the truth is .
Lu Sheng walked into the elevator alone.
The Light Temple soared into the clouds, from outside it was impossible to see how high the top was.
And as everyone knows, the Divine Lord resides on the topmost floor of the Light Temple, closest to the light.
The elevator has only seven levels, which are the previous residences of Lu Sheng and the six others.
Apart from the seven-floor buttons, there’s only an upward [↑] button.
Lu Sheng hadn’t gone to the top floor in a long time.
She knew that if father wanted to see her, pressing the button would light it up, the elevator would ascend and stop at father’s sleeping quarters.
And if father didn’t want to see her, even if she pressed it, the button’s light wouldn’t turn on, and the elevator wouldn’t move.
Lu Sheng took a deep breath, raised her hand and pressed the button.