Chapter 1634: Wandering Thoughts and Embers
Legante’s reaction to the clandestine meeting between the Imperial Heirs and the former Hearth Tender had made Zhen Liu realize that the plot of the assassination was much more complicated than before.
If people other than the aforementioned royal spawn knew about this meeting, then it was very possible for an enemy of the crown, or would-be successors to the throne, to plan something out in order to make use of this moment of vulnerability on both sides. Then again, the presence of that weird lantern made it also possible that the weird offshoot flame managed to influence people outside of the theocracy to do its bidding.
Hell, the False Guard invaders had old ass Erupting Dawn Empire uniforms, so it wouldn’t be a massive stretch to assume the worst.
As Zhen Liu thought about all of these possibilities, he kind of wished that he had taken up smoking as a form of recreational consumption.
"I feel like blowing a puff of smoke out with my thoughts would be incredibly appropriate right about now..." Zhen Liu muttered to the air.
Eventually, though, Zhen Liu realized that huffing and puffing wasn’t going to do anything productive.
’But how the hell do I go about this?’ Zhen Liu asked himself. ’Actually, better question, how do I coordinate the kaijin on this?’
Technically speaking, Zhen Liu could just continue pursuing all four possible paths until they finally came to a collision point, thanks to the kaijin, but what that collision point looked like... Zhen Liu didn’t know.
This hypothetical collision point would probably be at some dumbass moment where they all attack each other at the same time.
Or it could be some peace summit that would inevitably lead to someone getting poisoned or stabbed, or some dumb motherfucker attacks the conference while shouting some stupid pseudo-patriot shit.
Either way, his plan involving them basically boiled down to having Nepherage, Springerdermain, and Blazejudicator act like old testament dealmaking demons up until the final act. At which point, he would make the big reveal and have them betray their respective target...or continue assisting them, depending on the way the wind was blowing.
’Wait...what if I betray everybody and go scorched earth?’
The nuclear option, the option that Zhen Liu sees being used quite regularly in works of cultivation-based fiction, was to simply fuck over everyone and take what he wanted while laughing like a loon at the wasted efforts they had put into it.
That, or he could wait until everyone else was in the middle of fighting each other and then wipe everyone out. Either way, the end result was that he could get basically all of the loot and not have to deal with any possible revenge or double dealing since...everyone else was dead.
’Wait, didn’t I already determine that that isn’t my style? Oh for the love of fuck, I’ve been thinking about this so hard that I am basically thinking in circles now. Great...’
Realizing that he had once again been overthinking his life choices, Zhen Liu got up from his desk and was about to make his way back to Emberona so that he could just spend time with Jinju Ren and the others. However, as he got up, he realized that he had barely looked over those files he had received in regard to the trio of aether treasures in his pocket, the [Hearth Tender’s Trio].
’Hold on...’
A trio of aether treasures, which, if Zhen Liu remembered correctly, was technically the main point of conflict between the original [Sacred Flame] and its offshoot.
Staring at the items altogether, Zhen Liu started thinking once again.
"I give it to Serena; this whole conflict could come to an end with the Sacred Flame being reawakened, and whatever machinations the offshoot flame and its cronies have cooked up would burn into ashes...alternatively, it could force them into taking drastic action and...fuck, I’m overthinking again," Zhen Liu said aloud in order to get his brain to focus. "And if I give it to the offshoot guys, it could very much lead to a horrific revolution...or vicious infighting that ends with everyone dying...fuck a duck, I hate all of this."
As the frustration of not knowing what to do began to bubble and boil in his brain, Zhen Liu did one thing he could control at this moment...and slammed his face into the table before him.
He had hoped a sudden jolt of pain would shake him out of his mental funk and help him figure out what to do next. Unfortunately, his skin proved to be tough.
"Fuck..."
Although he did come to one realization after doing this.
"Am I seriously this fucking slow to act because I’m afraid of the karmic void?" Zhen Liu asked himself.
Ignorance is bliss, or so they said, and Zhen Liu wished he were ignorant right now.
If he hadn’t learned about the fact that his actions had a chance of disproportionately backlashing or benefiting him, he wouldn’t be this indecisive or hesitant.
’I really, really don’t want to make more enemies that will come back to...huh.’
Now that it had popped into his head, Zhen Liu had realized that none of these old enemies appeared to have made an appearance in Emberona yet.
There was no rogue kaijin; there wasn’t any jilted weird [Fate] bitch, and there wasn’t any Grafted fuckwad or loose god fragment that had yet to make an appearance. Hell, none of the zakos or kaijin he had sent out had noticed anything in that regard.
"Does...does this mean this new situation isn’t affected by my current karmic void, or does this mean I won’t suffer any consequences this time around?" Zhen Liu asked aloud.
Alas, the curators were too busy to answer him... and Zhen Liu really needed some fucking answers.
"Ugh...forget it. I’m just going to head back to Emberona and figure out what to do from there."
Realizing that just dwelling on the problem was probably going to be a pain in the ass, Zhen Liu decided to just mentally shelve the problem until later.
’Maybe helping my friends and family with their cultivation might help me figure out my own stuff?’
...Meanwhile [Note that the following can be applied to two very different people for the same reason]...
’No, no, no! Why did I say that? Why the fuck did I tell that thing everything?!’
In the safety of his office, he began to pace and panic over the fact that he just shared with some unknown monstrosity from some unknown corner of the universe some dark and terrible secrets that he was hoping to keep secret from not just his rival but also the Holy Fire that had chosen him to be their bearer.
’Thankfully we’re out of range for it to...wait...what if those End Ballad warriors are actually a test?!’
He had first learned of this offshoot flame from a historical recording, detailing how the [Sacred Flame] had once been partially stolen by an ancient enemy. The original flame recovered, but the stolen portion had developed its own sense of being and began to grow and change in the hands of this ancient foe.
This fire made the enemy powerful, but it soon grew out of their control and consumed them, body and soul.
That offshoot flame would later go on to take on a new identity: The Tyrannical Rage Flame, a powerful aether flame that can reportedly cause even the buddha to lose their shit and become the incarnation of evil and desire.
This offshoot flame, in its current state, would simply transform into a slightly different, and definitively inferior, version of the current [Sacred Flame], even with the power of the lost Hearth Tender Trio.
However, if someone were to wield these treasures and channel their own power into the offshoot flame, then it was possible for the wielder’s influence to change the flame on a fundamental level and create their own, personalized [Sacred Flame], something that they could then use to guide all who saw them into a glorious future where they ruled.
But such a thing could only be done if the offshoot flame were unaware of such machinations.
In the past, there were Hearth Tenders who attempted to actively abuse the [Sacred Flame] in ways it was never meant to be used, and they all ended in tragedy.
’But it’s still too early to make my move now! My rival still lives and the Erupting Dawn Empire is still...still...wait.’
In that moment, he remembered that he wasn’t alone when it came to this situation involving the offshoot.
He wasn’t sure how they did it, but the offshoot flame had somehow managed to get a high-ranking member of the Erupting Dawn Empire’s monarchy to come and work with it. This deal, whatever it was, was actually the main reason why the offshoot was able to create and maintain not only the False Guards but also the fake invaders that helped to regularly train and coordinate the various sects.
’I just need to make contact with them and we can figure out a plan...I just need to make sure to beat the other guy first...’
