Chapter 468: Chapter 394: Let’s End This Together
Not only the Imperial Court and Longevity Heaven covet the Treasure Pavilion, from major powers to small families, anyone can see the immense potential contained within it.
But not all forces have the capability to act, like the Nanyue Fire Worship Sect, currently deeply mired in internal chaos, unable to spare the manpower, only sending two Foundation Establishments to gather information outside; or the Twelve Dragon Poem Races of West Desert, still caught in endless strife among themselves, able to do no more than sigh wistfully at the tidal wave of the era like the Treasure Pavilion represents.
Not everyone is looking at flowers in the mist, like when the True Man of Locking Dragon saw items like the "Thunder-cutting Flying Knife" and "Thunder Heart Blood," he felt both a relief that he hadn’t rashly stepped into this whirlpool and a subtle, indescribable entanglement within.
However, before the True Man of Locking Dragon, there was someone who knew the intelligence of the Treasure Pavilion Master before everyone else.
Nocturnal Heaven City, Qi Imperial Palace, Changsheng Hall.
Outside, the sun blazed high, yet inside the hall was tightly shut, but not dim. The skylight and over forty-nine mirrors focused the sunlight softly upon the spacious Dragon Throne, resembling a celestial waterfall of light sanctioned by fate itself. Even a beggar sitting upon it would be filled with holiness and majesty, demonstrating the exquisite skill and reverence those palace builders possessed for their Emperor a century ago.
Only with a heart truly seeing another as a deity could they craft a shrine none dared directly gaze upon.
But the beauty upon the Dragon Throne did not appreciate this superfluous design. She curled up asleep in a small area untouched by the sunlight, one foot partially dangling over the throne, toes curling inward slightly, much like a cat nestled in its nook.
"Your Majesty." The hall door was pushed open to a crack as a stoic-faced Palace Attendant came in, kneeling on the stairs below.
"Hmm~"
She stretched and sat up, hair tousled and eyes sleepy, yet her appearance added a relaxed charm. She tilted her head into the light beam, immediately letting out a dissatisfied grunt, her eyes retreating as if scalded.
"These are today’s trading board contents." The Palace Attendant handed over a list, and retreated backward with face toward the Emperor, closing the hall door. Ying Le did not immediately look at it, instead staring at the ceiling, appearing as if she hadn’t fully awoken.
After a while, she wiped the drool from her mouth, took a jug of wine from her Storage Ring and poured it fiercely into her mouth, then spat it onto the Dragon Throne with a puff. Then she continued to curl up at the edge beyond the light’s reach, lazily reviewing the list’s contents.
"Master’s Introduction Manual... Mastery Book... Foundation Establishment Pill... Wow, Fourth Transformation Legendary Token!" Ying Le said with keen interest: "Exchanging for ten gold points, have the young people become so arrogant now? They just take it out to show off... but if it were me, I would do the same. If you don’t let the whole world see the Fourth Transformation Legendary, how will they know to be envious of me?"
"But who is this vain? It can’t be my obedient little niece, Black Wolf is a Zhou person, mostly a boring old stick in the mud, Red Snake is a Liang person, and the Jiangnan Family decimated by Shao Taibai only quietly amasses wealth... the one who would do this seems likely to be Thief Yellow Dog."
"I’d love to meet him again," Ying Le lay on the Dragon Throne, her hands behind her head: "Treasure Pavilion Master, Thief Leader, knowing the secrets of the Demon Gathering Land, killed my three hundred guards, and..."
She touched her cheek, as though recalling the burning pain from days ago, her lips curling into a smile, yet her eyes grew so sharp even the dazzling sunlight lost its warmth: "...still a coward who doesn’t appreciate fragrant jade."
Not long after Yan Qing and they left the Demon Gathering Land, Ying Le knew he was the Treasure Pavilion Master.
It was simple. After Yan Qing entered the Demon Gathering Land, the Treasure Pavilion Master ceased trading; after Yan Qing killed three hundred guards and left the Demon Gathering Land, the Treasure Pavilion Master immediately updated the merchandise, even including some standard tokens of the Baibao Guards... He never attempted to conceal it, it’d be strange if Ying Le couldn’t recognize him.
But what if she did recognize him? No one knows his real identity. His only appearance record is the Demon Gathering Land; at other times, he can live freely hidden in the Thief’s House.
The Treasure Pavilion Master of the Thief’s House, truly a perfect match, not to mention he seemingly possesses the ability to create avatars, using them to destroy Secret Realms to harvest Celestial Calamity Karmic Force... The more Ying Le thought, the more she felt Yellow Dog was still too conservative. If she had these abilities, she’d have long dared to gallivant in the Outer Domain Four Desolates, wrestling arms with Immortal Monarchs.
Ying Le did not intend to disclose this great secret. Unlike treasures, the fewer who know a secret, the more valuable it is. By recognizing and preserving the secrets of this group of children, it’s as if she too becomes younger, and she also wants to see how far her little niece and these friends, bonding over mischief, can go.
But now it seems, she probably won’t see their future.
"In such a hurry to establish their foundation..." Ying Le said softly: "The next case, the target must be me, right? Directly abandoning the idea of theft, only thinking of forcibly taking it? I’ve truly been underestimated."
Although there was no evidence, Ying Le was very certain she was indeed the target of Thief’s House’s next case. Her[Universal Heart]was not a Life Divine Technique, her Dao Foundation held no trace of fate’s mystique... but certain things need no evidence. If you must say, this should be destiny.
Destiny, such an exalted word. In her youth, Ying Le hated it; grown up, she got used to it; and now, she cannot do without it.
Everything is destiny, Ying Le thought. The sun rising and setting is destiny; the cycle of life and death is destiny; people dying is destiny; my killing is destiny; my brother being killed by my niece is destiny.
And ultimately, I must battle the only family member I have left, is also destiny.
She took a cigarette from the Demon Gathering Land out of her Storage Ring, used the list paper’s fire to light it, and half-lying on the Dragon Throne, slowly puffed smoke, watching the ethereal mist in the light beam. Ying Le suddenly grew irritable, pressing out the cigarette with her fingers.
"Why is it so quiet?"
She walked barefoot on the marble floor, wandering the empty dimly lit hall, as if a child abandoned by all beings.
"Shouldn’t you be loudly mocking me now?"
"You like suddenly lighting fire basins, wearing a sullen face and laughing heartily in the flames, don’t you?"
"Or crawling like reptiles on the pillars, hundreds of mouths issuing noisy and piercing laughter?"
"Wouldn’t the wood grain on the ceiling twist into your disgusting smiles, making people want to punch through the roof?"
"Come out! Why aren’t you coming out!? Father, Mother, Uncle, Third Uncle, Cousin, Cousin Brother... Yuan Shizhou, Yang Feng, Chen Yuan, Gao Long... Don’t you have many things to say to me? Come, why don’t you speak, why haven’t you appeared?"
"Are you pitying me!?" Ying Le suddenly roared with anger: "I am the youngest Foundation Establishment in the Central Plains! I am the person who killed you! I am... Ying Le!"
Ying Le abruptly turned her head, in the shadowy corners, figures seemed to be congregating.
"You finally came... hmm?" Ying Le was taken aback, her crazed expression frozen, eyes showing disbelief: "Even you came? No wonder I’ve been sleeping so well lately, it turned out... ancestral spirits bless me."
"Actually, when I was a child, I did admire you... Divine Martial Yinghuan."
Unknown how much time had passed, the unrivaled beauty returned to her Dragon Throne once more. Her face showed neither joy nor sorrow; despite her messy temples and thin garment, it did not detract from her emperor’s majesty over the world the slightest.
Her eyes were a pure blood red, with golden vertical pupils, like a demon or god, neither ghostly nor Buddha-like.
"This is the story I started," she crossed her hands resting them on her lap, sitting with poise, voice gentle, her face appearing sacred and compassionate in the light beam, "let us conclude it together."
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