It took quite a while for the Chixiao members present to recover from their profound shock and agitation. Black Buddha Lord Dong Laohu was the first to ask, "How do you know?"
Knowing that Old Mei was proficient in unorthodox and left-hand methods, he followed up, "Did you divine it?"
"The Monarch's return was indeed divined by someone, but that person was not me. As for who it was, don't ask. In short, compared to that person's divination skills, I am not even one ten-thousandth as capable. If he divined that the Monarch would return, then the Monarch will certainly return!"
"This..." Heishui, Black Buddha, and the other Chixiao members found it somewhat hard to believe. They had all witnessed Old Mei's divination skills—they were incredibly divine, as accurate as could be. If he wasn't even one ten-thousandth as capable, what kind of divine being was this mysterious figure he spoke of?
They didn't know.
Nor could they imagine it. At the same time, they didn't press further.
Because they all trusted Old Mei's words.
"Old Mei, why have I never heard you mention this before?"
The speaker was Lord Heishui. Since the modern era began, he had been stationed in the Great Northwest, and Old Mei had also been in seclusion there. The two were very familiar with each other. However, as he said, he had never heard Old Mei mention this matter.
"In recent years, you've been solely focused on chasing down that fraud who impersonated the Monarch's heir back then. How could I tell you? Moreover, if I had told you the Monarch would return, given your temperament, wouldn't you have searched the entire world for him?"
"But you still shouldn't have kept it from me!"
Heishui was a man of fiery and impatient temperament, but facing Old Mei's presence, he could neither get truly angry nor truly anxious. At most, he dared to grumble a few words. As he spoke, he remembered something and quickly asked, "Wait, are you implying that the person who recently emerged in Yanluo claiming to be the Monarch is actually..." Lord Heishui had already heard, after arriving in Yanluo Country a few days ago, that a Chixiao Monarch had recently emerged there again. He also knew that this Monarch was the Chiyan Young Master Gu Qingfeng, who nine years ago in the Great Northwest had claimed to have fused with a remnant wisp of the Monarch's consciousness. For this reason, he had specially gone to Yunxia Sect, only to find that Yunxia Sect was long gone, and Old Master Huode had already left to travel the world.
As for whether Gu Qingfeng had truly fused with a remnant wisp of the Monarch's consciousness or something else, Heishui dared not make a casual judgment.
"I haven't met this Chiyan Young Master yet, and I dare not determine whether he is true or false. However..." Old Mei pondered, "If I can meet him, if he is false, I may not dare to be one hundred percent certain, but if he is false, I will definitely be able to tell!"
What did he mean by 'if he is false, I will definitely be able to tell'?
If he is true, he wouldn't dare to be certain.
If he can identify a fake, why can't he confirm the real one?
If it's not true, it's false; if it's not false, it's true. Could there be any other possibility?
Could it be half true and half false?
Regarding this, Old Mei also appeared rather helpless, explaining, "For others, perhaps it's either true or false, but the Monarch's existence... is far too mysterious and inconceivable. We simply cannot use any common sense we know to judge its authenticity."
At this point, Lord Black Buddha stepped forward, patting his chest as if very certain, and said, "No matter. Leave this matter to me. If that so-called Chiyan Young Master Gu Qingfeng is truly the Monarch, I have a way to determine it."
"I say, Dong Laohu, what nonsense are you spouting? Even Old Mei has no way to determine the truth. What makes you think you can?"
Heishui mocked Dong Laohu, saying, "Is it because you're fatter than others? Eat more? Or because you've got money?"
"Get lost!"
Black Buddha unceremoniously rolled his eyes at Heishui, then said with a rather mysterious air, "I may not be able to determine the truth, but there is definitely one person who can."
"Who?"
Dong Laohu chuckled, a profound and unfathomable smile curling at the corner of his mouth. "Buddhist teachings say it cannot be spoken, cannot be spoken..."
"What time is it for you to still be keeping us in suspense?"
"I have no choice. I promised someone I wouldn't say, otherwise, my little life would be gone."
"Alright, alright. It's getting late, let's hurry up the mountain."
Thus.
Heishui, Black Buddha, Old Mei, Senior Huang Yuan, Yu Heng, Feng Xu, and over three hundred other Chixiao members marched grandly toward the Imperial Mausoleum on Panlong Mountain.
At the same time.
At the Yanluo Imperial Mausoleum.
The leaders of the Four Great Families and Seven Great Sects, including Taiji and Nandou, were paying respects to the founding ancestors of their respective sects.
After all, this was the Yanluo Imperial Mausoleum. Besides the memorial tablets of the founding ancestors of the Four Great Families and Seven Great Sects, and the tombstone of the Chixiao Monarch, most of the tombstones belonged to the successive ancestors of the Yanluo Royal Family.
The Yanluo Royal Family's ancestral worship ceremony was relatively grand and elaborate. Therefore, members of the Yanluo Royal Family had already entered the mausoleum before dawn.
The Yanluo Royal Family had been passed down for tens of thousands of years.
Their descendants were too numerous to count.
In earlier years, the royal descendants could still produce a few outstanding dragons and phoenixes among men. However, in recent generations, for some unknown reason, no influential outstanding figures had emerged. Forget outstanding dragons and phoenixes; even prodigies blessed by fate were few and far between. It could truly be said that each generation was inferior to the last.
Of course.
This did not mean the Yanluo Royal Family lacked powerful experts.
On the contrary.
The number of powerful experts the Yanluo Royal Family brought today not only exceeded those of the Four Great Families and Seven Great Sects but also surpassed the hundred Wandering Immortals and eight hundred Ancient Earth Immortals under Zhou Taihe's command.
After all, this was the royal family ruling over Yanluo Country. Whether in terms of resources or other aspects, they were far beyond what the so-called Four Great Families and Seven Great Sects could compare to. Countless large and small families throughout Yanluo Country had always been loyal to the Yanluo Royal Family. Their power and influence might not match those of the Four Great Families and Seven Great Sects, but they were absolutely not to be underestimated.
Whether it was court ministers or generals and commanders.
Among them were no lack of Wandering Immortal experts.
Moreover.
Yanluo Country also had an Inner Council. Within the Inner Council were also the royal family's own ancestors. Besides the Inner Council, there was also an Inner Hall. The Inner Hall had always enshrined various Wandering Immortal experts, numbering as many as four to five hundred—truly astonishing. Why had the Yanluo Royal Family been enshrining so many Wandering Immortal experts?
Wasn't it precisely so that if Yanluo ever faced calamity one day, these Wandering Immortal experts could step forward to protect Yanluo?
With four to five hundred Wandering Immortals protecting Yanluo, Tang Yunqi, as the Emperor of Yanluo, should have nothing to fear.
Not to mention other things, suppressing the Four Great Families and Seven Great Sects would absolutely not be a problem.
But that was only suppressing the Four Great Families and Seven Great Sects.
Facing the Immortal Dynasty that ruled this world, the four to five hundred Wandering Immortals enshrined over the years were completely useless. Leaving aside whether they were a match for those sent by the Immortal Dynasty, they didn't even have the courage to oppose the Immortal Dynasty.
Now that the Immortal Dynasty intended to deal with the Yanluo Royal Family, although these four to five hundred Wandering Immortals had agreed to show up and lend support to the royal family, they were only there for show. If the Immortal Dynasty truly moved against the Yanluo Royal Family, they would absolutely dare not protect Yanluo.