The Jade Emperor smiled faintly, his gaze deep as he looked at Lady Houtu, yet he did not speak immediately.
Lady Houtu sat there, waiting for him to speak.
The silence fell in the bedchamber. Indeed, it was a long time before the voice of the Jade Emperor resonated.
"I’ll tell you my ultimate goal, I am here for the return of the Ancient Gods from beyond the heavens. This is my ultimate goal. As for their annihilation, that is not my purpose. What I want to do is to reign over all Ancient Gods beyond the heavens, and then pull The Three Pure Ones from their high pedestal."
The Jade Emperor’s eyes shimmered with a sharp light as he declared his purpose.
Lady Houtu almost thought she had heard incorrectly.
To reign over all Ancient Gods and pull The Three Pure Ones from their pedestal.
How could that be possible? No matter what, the Jade Emperor could not achieve it.
Any one of these two tasks would be a wild fantasy, even for the Supreme of the Three Realms.
"Have you gone mad? How could this be possible?"
On her incredibly beautiful face, disbelief was etched.
It wasn’t a lack of faith in the Jade Emperor’s strength, it was that both of these goals were impossible to achieve, even if the Jade Emperor possessed the same strength as The Three Pure Ones.
"Since I’ve mentioned it, I am confident that I can accomplish it," said the Jade Emperor.
Lady Houtu stared at the Jade Emperor and asked, "What kind of trump card do you actually have?"
She was well aware that the Jade Emperor’s trump card was his greatest reliance and his biggest secret.
The Jade Emperor was somewhat silent before finally saying after a good while, "I cannot say."
She took a deep look at him, seeing that he indeed did not intend to reveal it, and he appeared quite troubled by it.
Lady Houtu took a deep breath before finally saying, "If that’s the case, I won’t press you to speak further. As long as I know your true intentions, from today onwards, tell me directly what you intend to do, and I will support you with all my might."
The Jade Emperor asked somewhat surprised.
The reason he chose not to tell Lady Houtu was because he worried she might not support him.
After all, his goal seemed incredibly insane to others.
The previous goal of annihilating the Ancient Gods beyond the heavens already seemed crazy to everyone.
There are three Divine Dynasties’ Ancient Gods beyond the heavens. Should they return, the force they could unleash would be unimaginable.
Even if the Jade Emperor were exceptionally powerful, managing to withstand one Supreme would be considered an achievement.
There would still be the other two, plus their powerful subordinates. Even the annihilation of the Three Realms would not be too difficult for them.
Unless The Three Pure Ones intervened, perhaps that would make the others wary, but suppressing them would nearly be impossible.
The Ancient Gods of the three Divine Dynasties are a fearsome force just to think about.
Lady Houtu offered a faint smile and said, "Naturally, it’s true. We are husband and wife. If I do not help you, should I help others instead? Over the years, I’ve always been dissatisfied with you because you have increasingly indulged in pleasures, showing none of the traits you held earlier. It really irked me, which is why I’ve been so dissatisfied with you. Now that you have such ambitions, I couldn’t be happier. Why would I oppose you?"
The Jade Emperor offered a wry smile. Though exceedingly intelligent, he could never quite fathom a woman’s heart.
He had thought that Lady Houtu’s long-standing cold war and her residence in the Netherworld stemmed from her dissatisfaction with his relentless scheming and his profound secretiveness.
Yet he hadn’t realized that what she was actually unhappy about was his pursuit of pleasures.
After he had firmly secured the position of the Great Heavenly Venerate, he indeed seemed very comfortable on the surface.
But who knew the extent of what he had done behind the scenes?
Not to mention the disciples. Just in the open, there were twenty-eight Heavenly Venerates, and he even manipulated the events of Journey to the West.
This just went to show, the Jade Emperor had never been idle.
"You really misunderstood me, but I also misunderstood you. If we had both been clearer, there wouldn’t have been so many misunderstandings," said the Jade Emperor with a bitter smile.
If he had been more forthcoming over the years, with Lady Houtu’s assistance, he could have done more. Perhaps the current situation could have been avoided.
Thinking this, he pondered for a moment, then he said, "There’s another matter I’m unsure whether to tell you. Give me some time to consider it; I will make a choice in due time."
Lady Houtu’s eyes, clear as water, rested on the Jade Emperor, and she nodded gently.
Then she frowned slightly and said, "However, we have a bit of trouble right now. Ziwei’s move was too ruthless, spreading rumors to undermine the reverence the living beings have for us. If the living beings are no longer afraid of us, how can we compete with the Great Emperor Ziwei? Even if you do not wish to reclaim the position of the Great Heavenly Venerate, to stir chaos in the Three Realms and reduce the power of living beings, we still need enough powerful allies."
"There’s no need to worry too much. I have three disciples who are not weaker than the top-level Great Heavenly Venerates, each one stronger than you by a notch," said the Jade Emperor.
This was the first time he disclosed part of his trump card, but definitely not all of it.
Three top-level Great Heavenly Venerate disciples. Even Lady Houtu couldn’t help but be shocked. How had the Jade Emperor cultivated them to be even stronger than her?
Seeing the look of astonishment on Lady Houtu’s face, the Jade Emperor laughed and said, "Actually, we don’t have to worry. Right now, it’s not just us who are in conflict with the Ziwei Heavenly Court. There’s also the Court of Ancient Gods and the Evil Demons from the Demon Realm. Once these break out, they will give Ziwei enough trouble. By then, even if we do not take action, the reverence of the living beings in this world will decrease."
"Well said. Just the Court of Ancient Gods alone is enough to give Ziwei a headache, not to mention the Evil Demons. We don’t need to rush or dispel the rumors. Once the slander passes, those people will come to their senses and return," said Lady Houtu.