Nie Yuan's pupils dilated, his tone fraught with the anger of being deceived, "Are you really going to fall into devilry?"
"Little Third, cough cough..."
Without answering directly, Lv Ji sat in the continuously jolting carriage, looking out at the setting sun's afterglow through the window, "To tell you the truth, I don't feel that anything that happened in the past was wrong.
"I don't understand."
"In this world, other than our fellow disciples and kin, what do the life and death of others have to do with me? Why should I care? Survival of the fittest is the truth of this world."
Nie Yuan, who had always followed his senior, unsheathed his sword upon hearing these words, "Big Brother! If you justify your descent into devilry with this logic, don't blame me for turning against you!"
Lv Ji, as if he heard nothing, continued to speak to himself, "But I respect Master."
"If Master says it's wrong, then it must be wrong."
"I, Lv Ji, can swear that in this life, I will only slay enemies, not take innocent lives, so you can rest assured."
Hearing this, Nie Yuan slowly lowered his sword, warning, "But you also need to understand that the Evil God Path can bewitch people's minds. Recently, I found some texts about the Incense Fire Divine Dao."
"It's clearly written in them."
"Once you practice the Incense Fire Divine Dao to a certain extent, whoever you worship as your 'god,' you must follow that 'god's' path and serve them forever!"
"The reason the Evil God Path is considered 'evil' is that the 'gods' they worship usually crave blood, making the living their sacrifice – this cannot be changed!"
"the Evil God can even directly control your spirit, leaving you no say in the matter!"
"There's still time to turn back. Find a way to acquire the Incense Fire Sacred Object to cleanse your spirit platform and abolish the cultivation of the Evil God Path."
Lv Ji didn't listen any further, "I have my own path to follow, no need for further discussion."
Nie Yuan knew he couldn't persuade him and, with a sigh and a stomp of his foot, turned and left.
The carriage grew quiet, the only sounds were the clatter of horse hooves and the wheels rolling over the muddy ground. The side effects of the Evil God Path came upon him again, Lv Ji's body trembling painfully, but he did not make a sound, simply closing his eyes, focusing inward on his body. Atop his spirit platform, a twisted shrine loomed, hazy, malevolent, seducing the heart.
This time, it took a full half an incense stick's time before everything slowly subsided.
Drenched in cold sweat, Lv Ji suddenly opened his eyes, looking at the distorted visage of the deity before him, his lips twisting into a disdainful snarl.
The Prince Regent, King Qin, sat in the primary seat, relishing the feeling of commanding the court.
A eunuch burst into the hall in a panic.
"Ten days ago! General Lv and Chen Sansi were defeated just outside Liangzhou City, wounded heftily. Left with no choice, the Black Tortoise and the Three Camps had to withdraw from Liangzhou!"
"Now Liang and You states have both fallen into the hands of the White Robe!"
"Is that Ji also useless?!"
Prince Qin roared with thunderous fury, "Haven't they all said that he practices evil techniques? He practices evil techniques, yet he can't even defeat a mere martial artist!"
"Find a way to notify His Majesty who is in seclusion!"
"Only His Majesty can summon the Immortal Master!"
Cave Heaven Blessed Land.
This cave mansion was built against the mountain, hidden behind a waterfall, everything inside carved from the mountain rock.
Yet on the hard stone floor, there grew a small tree sapling, half a person tall and as thick as a woman's white wrist, emitting a dense spiritual energy. However, many of the once-green leaves on its branches were beginning to yellow, showing signs of withering.
At the same time, Capital City was in turmoil.
The news of Ji's defeat and Liangzhou's loss had also reached this cave mansion.
Emperor Longqing, his complexion not looking good due to injuries, had a face as somber as water.
"Your Majesty, your dragon health is of the utmost importance."
The other party said nothing, but Huang Hong could feel an overbearing dragon's rage seething.
In just one short month, first the White Robe rebelled, then King Yan allied with Seeking Immortal Tower to assassinate and overthrow, while Prince Qin and Prince Qi were only concerned with fighting for power and profit, throwing the entire court into chaos and the realm into great disorder – anyone would be furious.
"The failure to teach is the father's fault."
Emperor Longqing, eyes closed, was clearly chastising himself, yet it made everyone within the Cave Heaven Blessed Land feel as if they couldn't breathe: "Over these years, I have focused on cultivation and managing state affairs, completely neglecting to properly nurture the Crown Prince. I have let down my ancestors."
It was one thing for King Yan Cao Zhi to ally with Seeking Immortal Tower.
But what was truly infuriating was the stupidity of Princes Qin and Qi.
Actually believing in slander, they attempted to kill King Jin Cao Huan, forcing King Jin to leave Capital City along with King Yan, stirring up the realm in an uproar, ruining a perfectly good strategy.
"Your Majesty, things have come to this."
Huang Hong, having served intimately for decades, understood his master's heart best: "Your Majesty still needs to continue seclusion, the affairs of the court must now be handled by them. Fortunately, we have the assistance of the Immortal Master from Shengyun Sect; based on the timeline, someone should be arriving soon."
Not long after these words fell.
A voice that penetrated the waterfall outside was heard.
In a short while, three cultivators arrived inside the cave mansion.
"Daoxuan Wanderer, Array Master of Shengyun Sect, pays his respects to Emperor Dasheng."
"Ling Yun from the Ling Family, representative of the Martial Arts of Heavenly Water Continent, has come to meet with Daoist friends."
Was Li He, a cultivator from the Li family, who had already met with the Emperor. He looked at the Old Emperor with a hint of mockery on his face: "If Daoist friend Cao Kai had heeded my words earlier and eliminated the White Robe Chen San, how could there be such chaos today?"
Emperor Longqing was not angered but simply said sheepishly, "Moving forward, I must trouble the Daoist friends to exert themselves in their respective duties and get through the present difficulties. Huang Hong, I will continue seclusion, you arrange the rest."