V2C109

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“But the man was not born from the bloodline of the Ocean Emperor.” Shi Ying shook his head and whispered, “Did I… commit a mistake?”

That one word, “mistake”, seemed to weigh almost a thousand catties on his body, but he finally blurted it out. As a renowned prodigy in the Yunhuang Wasteland, he had never once been wrong in his judgement, as he had been able to grasp the mysteries of the heavens since he was a child – and his twenty years of accumulated victories had gradually built up a character that never allowed others to question his judgement.

For the first time in so long, he personally acknowledged his own fault!

“No, you did no mistake!” The Grand Master grabbed him by the lapels of the coat and stared deathly into his cold ashen eyes as he snapped, “Shi Ying, you must not even remotely consider that you were wrong! Once you lose faith in yourself, you will be truly defeated!”

“But,” murmured Shi Ying bitterly, “a mistake is a mistake.”

He lowered his head and stared at his hands – for the first time in his life, he was actually wrong? He was so determined to sacrifice his own life and even Ah-Yan’s happiness, and his hands became stained with blood. And still, in the end, it turned out he just made a colossal mistake?

How foolish, how ridiculous… He has been faultless throughout his entire life, but got it wrong in the most important thing of all!

A mistake that cannot be undone.

What will Ah-Yan think if she finds out? How will he even have the shame to face her again?

“But even if it’s true that the Sea Emperor is reborn, that person may not be Yuan! What if… what if you are wrong? Once you kill the wrong person, it will be irreversible!”

Back then, she said those words aloud to him.

The look on her face was so desperate and resigned, almost reckless, in order to defend that shark. But what about him? At the time he was only angry that she dared to question him – yes, how could he be wrong? He was a Great Priest who reigned supreme over the Yunhuang Wasteland, who had been watching over heaven and earth and penetrating the depths of the past and present since birth, and had never once been wrong!

However, it was because of this arrogance that he was bent on doing the wrong thing to the point of no return! Shi Ying buried his head deep into his hands, completely unable to say a word.

Watching from the side, the Grand Master gently reached out and patted him on the shoulder. However, in that moment, the Elder noticed that his entire body was trembling slightly and could not help but feel compassion.

“Anyone can make a mistake, even the Gods.” The Grand Master whispered, “You are but a mortal, there is no need to be so harsh on yourself.”

“She returned the Jade Bone… This is good.” Shi Ying desperately struggled to suppress his trembling and remained silent for a long time before whispering, “No wonder Ah Yan refused to forgive me… for the terrible things I did wrong.”

“…” Da Si Ming was dumbstruck and remained speechless for a moment.

Of course, no one better than him knew why that little girl refused to forgive him and why she was so determined to leave. But when he heard that Shi Ying had actually misinterpreted the reason, the old man was perplexed, yet he had no intention of explaining the truth behind such a twist – yes, Shi Ying was such a strict and self-disciplined person, and now that he had planted such a dark shadow into his mind, he would probably feel ashamed of himself for the rest of his life and would never think of approaching that young girl again, wouldn’t it be this just the perfect solution?

The Grand Master sighed and simply commented:

“Don’t worry, she will never learn about this… The shark is dead anyway, so it won’t do any good for her to know.”

Still, Shi Ying did not speak, and the shiver that ran through his body persisted, he just silently struggled to restrain himself.

A hint of apprehension appeared in the eyes of the Grand Master: since his childhood, he had never seen Shi Ying looking like he did at this moment: so desperate and discouraged, as if his entire being had been destroyed from the inside out, no longer the cold, arrogant and commanding appearance of the past. If things continue like this…

“Alright, that’s enough, pull yourself together.” The Grand Master sighed and forced the man who had fallen into a slump to lift his spirits, “Since the bloodline of the Sea Emperor has not been severed, the great tribulation of Kongsang is still not removed – Shi Ying, the heavy burden on your shoulders has not yet been lifted. We need to start everything again from the beginning!”

Hearing these words, Shi Ying shuddered violently, and finally after being silent for a long time under the crescent moon, he nodded.

“The situation in front of us is far more dire than what you anticipated.” The Grand Master looked at him, and his voice went light and cold, speaking one word at a time, “At this point, do you still want to walk away from Yunhuang and wander freely beyond the clouds?”

Shi Ying was slightly stunned and questioned back, “Are you asking me to stay and assist Shi Yu?”

“You are wrong,” the Grand Master examined him, and said in a single sentence, “What I mean is for you to rule over Yunhuang after your father’s death, and to guard the entire world of Kongsang!”

What? Shi Ying couldn’t help but wince, and instantly turned his head to look at the old man. The Grand Master’s eyes were fearsomely bright, staring straight at him without a single hint of hesitation – in a split second, Shi Ying understood that the elder was not joking, and his face instantly turned stern.

“No.” After a brief moment of silence, he spat out that single word.

“You are still unwilling?” The Grand Master frowned, with a tone of dissatisfaction, “Even at this critical point, you still want to stick to your noble attitude of treating the world like dirt?”

“I don’t want to become my brother’s enemy.” Shi Ying shook his head and his tone became gloomy, “If I were to return to the Imperial Capital at this moment and compete with Shi Yu for the throne, how would the Green King and Consort Qing be willing to let things slide? With a heavy army at their disposal, they will certainly cause turmoil in the country – in that case, won’t the great tribulation of the seventy years later be brought forward?”

“Do not worry, you do not have to compete with Shi Yu for the Imperial throne.” The Grand Master suddenly grinned, and looking at him, he gently said, “There is no longer any need for that.”

“What?” Shi Ying was stunned for a moment by the sparkle in the old man’s eyes which was shining like a diabolical spirit, and suddenly had an extremely ominous feeling in his heart, blundering, ” Did you… could you possibly…”

“Yes.” The Grand Master suddenly laughed, and that laugh was as deep and icy as a sharp blade flashing its brilliance through the cold night, causing Shi Ying’s heart to shudder.

“Look at this!” The Grand Master lifted his hand from between the sleeves of his robe, holding a jade pendant in his hand, and placed it in front of Shi Ying’s eyes, “You don’t have to fight your brother for the Imperial throne – because, he can’t fight with you for anything anymore.”

The jade pendant that Da Si Ming was clutching in the palm of his hand was actually the one the Crown Prince had always been carrying with him!

Shi Ying’s face turned pale for a moment, and his entire body shook.

“Shi Ying, I have cleared the path for you in advance.” The Grand Master stated indifferently, then with a grind of his fingers, he actually crushed the solid jade stone into powder, in a single motion!

“A dead person cannot come back to fight for the throne.” The Grand Master blasted a breath over his open palm and the jade that had been turned into dust instantly disappeared, “Now, this person Shi Yu, has completely vanished, leaving no trace of whatever in the Six Harmonies.”

Shi Ying was at a loss of words:

“You… What the hell did you do to Shi Yu?”

The Grand Master’s face remained unchanged as he looked at him, “You probably don’t know, do you? Your younger brother, the Crown Prince of Kongsang, Shiyu, died long ago in the midst of that rebellion of the Restoration Army, in an unclear manner, in Yecheng.”

“What?” Shi Ying exclaimed, “Dead?”

“Yes,” the Grand Master, however, looked at him and sneered, “dead long ago.”

“Impossible!” Shi Ying raised his head haughtily to look out of the window into the night sky and pointed at a star, “Shi Yu’s Fate Star is clearly still lit up! He’s clearly still…”

However, before the sentence ended, his voice abruptly trailed off.

As Shi Ying gazed firmly into the night sky at the star of Shi Yu, an expression of doubt appeared on his face followed by a sudden shift into shock – yes! Looking closely, the star, although still in its original position and seemingly unmoving, he could definitely tell, as a Great Priest, that it already turned into a phantom!

The star was already falling and expected to soon disappear across the sky. However, someone with extremely advanced skills has done something to temporarily preserve the remnants of the decaying star, so that the light would still glow in the night sky and not vanish for a while. He was the only one in the entire Yunhuang who could see through such a clever disguise. But…

Shi Ying took a deep breath and stared fiercely at the Grand Master, “Was it you the one who did this?”

A hint of grim satisfaction appeared in the Grand Master’s eyes as he whispered, “Now do you understand the situation?”

Shi Ying stared at the Yunhuang Magic Arts Grandmaster in a daze, his eyes changing from shock to bewilderment, filled with disbelief. “Why?” Calm as he was, he couldn’t help but murmur repeatedly, “You… killed Shi Yu? You actually killed the Crown Prince of Kongsang… you, of all people, you the Divine Commander of Magic Arts!”

This old man, who was the person he was most familiar with in this world, who had cared for him and taught him for over twenty years, who had single-handedly nurtured the lonely child, who had been both a teacher and a friend – only to realize now that he had never really known this person at all!

“So what if I killed the Crown Prince? How can you let a rotten person take on such an important position?” The Grand Master laughed bitterly and glanced at the deeply shocked Shi Ying, “Ying… you are really a kind-hearted child. Although you’ve never met Shi Yu but a couple of times in your life, you actually really consider him as your own younger brother?”

“How could you kill Shi Yu? What did he do wrong?” Shi Ying gripped the Grand Master’s coat by the collar, and his fingers trembled slightly as murderous energy condensed into his eyes, “Why did you have to kill him?!”

“Shi Yu was a carefree and brainless child, of course he did nothing wrong. It’s just that unfortunately for him, he was born from that wench from the Green Clan and stood in your way…” The Grand Master coughed with a meaningful tone, “What, are you going to kill me now because of this?”

With a murderous flare within his eyes, Shi Ying almost crushed the Grand Master’s throat, yet there was no hint of fear in the old man’s eyes, he simply stared at him with a grin and offering no opposition.

In the end, he lingered with his grip, but without tightening it further.

The Grand Master smiled slightly and whispered, “Yes, now that Shi Yu is dead, it won’t do you any good to kill me either, it will only further shake up Kongsang – so why bother?”

Shi Ying didn’t reply, but didn’t retort either.

“Why would you do such a thing?” After a while, he lowered his voice and asked with a hoarse, almost trembling voice, “As a Grand Master and one who is devoted to the gods, you… you were not supposed to do such a foul thing!”

Da Si Ming took a deep breath and asked rhetorically, “Would you believe me if I said I was doing it for the sake of Yunhuang?”

“…” Shi Ying fell silent for a moment and surprisingly let go of his hands.

The Grand Master stepped back in dismay, panting violently, and looked at Shi Ying who nodded slowly, and said a simple remark: “I knew that even if everyone in the world would misunderstand my intentions, you would surely understand my bitterness – and you would surely know that never in my life have I done a single act for my own selfish benefit.”

“But under no circumstances should you have done such a thing to Shi Yu!” Shi Ying gritted his teeth, and his eyes were filled with anger, “If I had known about this earlier, I would definitely stop you at all costs!”

“Hah… just like that little girl who stopped you from killing that shark at any cost?” The Grand Master suddenly sneered coldly and looked at him with a meaningful glance, “Shi Ying, while you thought that little girl was being short-sighted, why do I think you are not looking far enough ahead? You really think that the return of evil is the cause of all calamities? What about the Star of Enlightenment that is located a little further from the return of evil, have you not seen the connection?”

Hearing these words, Shi Ying shuddered sharply and twisted his head to look out of the window, his face gradually turning pale.

“You mean…” he looked at the old man, then at the night sky, and muttered, somewhat in a daze, “that there are other forces affecting the fate of Kongsang besides the Return of Evil?”

“Aye. There are thousands of stars in the heavenly vault, affecting each other, one single alteration to one particular area will not change the overall outcome.” The Grand Master looked at the starry sky and spoke in a serious tone, “Even without the Return of Evil, the Star of the Emperor in Kongsang has been dimmed and the fortunes of the kingdom have declined. It is not wrong for you to want to eliminate the Return of Evil, which is the cause of all calamities – but the threads of destiny are many and intertwined, and this is not the only one that leads to the end of the destruction of Kongsang! Even if you do cut off the bloodline of the Sea Emperor and eliminate the evil, the Yunhuang may still not be safe after seven decades has passed.”

“…” Shi Ying silently watched the celestial signs as his hands spasmodically gripped the windowsill, only to hear a soft click and the hardwood on the ledge shattered under his grasp in response!

“You have said: as a Divine High Priest, we are destined to do something.” The Grand Master of the Divine Order turned back to look at Shi Ying with shining eyes, “And what I am going to do is to make you the Supreme sovereign of the Yunhuang Wastelands!”

Shi Ying looked at him incredulously and murmured, “Why?”

Da Si Ming simply replied, “Because the stars are constantly changing and are unfathomable, it is impossible to deal with them. Only by changing ourselves is the ultimate way – I believe that with your ability, once you sit on the throne, you will be able to pull Kongsang across the Great Tribulation safely! You are the only one who can change the future of Yunhuang!”

As if struck by such a statement, Shi Ying fell silent for a moment and failed to reply.

“Shi Ying, apart from the magic spells, I have been teaching you the Imperial Path since you were a child, just for this day.” The Grand Master looked at him, and his voice was cold and determined, “I have been arranging all this for a very long time – and with the recent great transformations in the astral field through the power of the Star Soul Blood Oath, it is just the right time for us to make our return to the Imperial Capital!”

Hearing such astonishing words, Shi Ying finally spoke up, “So, you are considering me as your pawn?”

The Grand Master paused for a moment and arched his long white eyebrows to look at the young man he personally raised, as if to gain insight: “What makes you so reluctant, Shi Ying?”

Shi Ying shook his head, “And if I refuse?”

“The question is, why should you refuse? Again, you have exhausted yourself trying to save Kongsang, but you have failed miserably in your attempts, and now, you can only try reluctantly to follow my own methods.” The Grand Master gazed at his expression and shook his head, “You grew up as a man with a big heart for the kingdom, compassionate for the safety of the people of the world, and you even sacrificed yourself in doing so – right now, you are the only remaining heir to the throne across the entire Kongsang. If you refuse to succeed to the throne, then I’m afraid that the turmoil in Yunhuang is really going to happen right away! Why are you still unwilling?”

Shi Ying pursed his lips and his brows furrowed, but he remained silent.

“Shi Ying, think about the situation in Kongsang right now! The Ten Wizards have just penetrated deep into the mainland and set off on their way!” The Grand Master spoke one word at a time, looking at the expression on his face, “With the emperor’s throne vacant, the Yunhuang Wasteland in turmoil, and the foreigners invading… are all these things something you are willing to stand by and watch happen?”

“…” Shi Ying remained silent for a long time, looking at the Divine Leader. In turn, the elder was also staring at him.

The two men faced each other for an unknown amount of time, until the stars shifted and the firmament outside the window changed. The light of the breaking dawn came in, reflecting on the pale, handsome profile of the Great Priest, ice-cold as a statue.

His eyes, however, were already quietly changing.

Catching the shifting of his mind, the Grand Master reached out his hand to him within the morning haze and whispered, “Well? Have you made up your mind? Come back with me to the Imperial Capital… The White King and the Red King, both are waiting in anticipation of your arrival.”

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