"Oh?"
Shangguan Yu turned around, his eyes like the sun and moon gazing at Ye Tianlan, as if trying to see right through her. Ye Tianlan stood calmly in the air, her expression placid as she met his gaze. After a moment, Shangguan Yu spoke.
"May I ask why the Lady Sect Master says this?"
Ye Tianlan responded indifferently, "You bear the True Mandate, making you the Taiji Human Prodigy. You need only follow that Mandate and fulfill your role as the Taiji Human Prodigy. There is no need for you to come and join in this commotion."
"Commotion?"
Hehe, apologies, Lady Sect Master, but the descent of a Calamity Star is no mere commotion. It is a crisis that threatens all living beings under heaven. As the Taiji Human Prodigy, how could I stand idly by?"
"You meddle too much, and your reach is too wide. The fortunes of the Heavenly Dao have always maintained balance. Since there are those in the Present Era destined to face tribulation, there will be those who are Calamity Stars. There is no need for a True Mandate prodigy like you to interfere."
"Is that so?"
Unfortunately, I have not seen any such tribulation-facing individuals of the Present Era appear. Whether they bear Present Era Edicts or Present Era Heavenly Mandates, I have not seen a single one."
"That is because this matter... they dare not interfere!"
"They dare not interfere, but that does not mean I, Shangguan Yu, dare not."
"I know you dare. I also know you have the qualification to interfere. But that does not necessarily mean you have the capability."
"Capability?"
Hehe."
Shangguan Yu said with a light laugh, "Is the Lady Sect Master worried for my safety?"
"I am indeed quite worried for your safety."
"Has the Lady Sect Master ever heard the saying, 'Edicts cannot be defied, Heavenly Mandates cannot be reversed, and the True Mandate cannot be extinguished'?"
"It is merely 'cannot be extinguished.' Cannot be extinguished does not mean it cannot be extinguished. Especially before him, there has never been any absolute."
"Hehe."
Shangguan Yu had always been gentle and refined, like a modest gentleman, his voice as mild as a spring breeze. He spoke casually, "A mere Gu Tianlang. I, Shangguan Yu, am a Taiji Human Prodigy who bears the True Mandate. I am hardly afraid of a mere sinner!"
"He is more than just a sinner."
"He is nothing more than a bearer of Original Sin. What of it?"
"It seems you know."
"Of course I know."
Shangguan Yu looked at the Lady Sect Master, a trace of a smile playing at the corner of his mouth. "Not only do I know he is a bearer of Original Sin, I also know there is a karmic opportunity upon his person that originally belonged to me."
Hearing this,
Ye Tianlan was slightly taken aback, then shook her head faintly, as if sighing at something.
She had thought Shangguan Yu was merely a pure Taiji Human Prodigy, which was why she had spoken to dissuade him.
Because she did not want a Taiji Human Prodigy to die by Gu Qingfeng's hand.
That would only make the already chaotic situation even more chaotic.
After all, a Taiji Human Prodigy bore the True Mandate.
Edicts bore the Great Dao.
Heavenly Mandates bore the Heavenly Dao.
And the True Mandate bore Fate.
In the current chessboard of the heavens and earth, the Three Thousand Great Daos had already entered the game. Fortunately, Fate had remained aloof. Ye Tianlan did not wish to see a bearer of True Mandate die by Gu Qingfeng's hand, thereby dragging the aloof Fate into this karmic chess game.
That was what she had thought.
Only when she heard Shangguan Yu say that Gu Qingfeng possessed a karmic opportunity that originally belonged to him did Ye Tianlan realize that this Taiji Human Prodigy was not pure.
There was just one point she could not confirm now: Was it that Fate wanted to use the Taiji Human Prodigy to enter the game? Or was Shangguan Yu, this Taiji Human Prodigy bearing the True Mandate, far more complex behind the scenes? Perhaps this Taiji Human Prodigy was merely a facade from the start, and someone behind the scenes wanted to use Shangguan Yu to pull Fate into the game?
She did not know.
Ye Tianlan was also somewhat confused.
She glanced at Qin Yang in the distance. Qin Yang had been standing quietly in the air all along. He replied, "Truth may be false, and falsehood may be truth. Truth and falsehood intertwine; the chaotic game has already begun..."
"Has Fate already entered the game?"
Qin Yang pondered for a moment. "It's unlikely that Fate has entered the game. In my opinion, someone wants to use Shangguan Yu to forcibly drag Fate into the game."
Ye Tianlan nodded. She also felt this possibility was greater.
But who would want to drag Fate into the game?
The Heavenly Dao?
No!
Unlikely. The more stable the current situation, the more advantageous it was for the Heavenly Dao. If that were not the case, over a decade ago, after Gu Qingfeng publicly executed a Present Era Heavenly Mandate, the Heavenly Dao would not have chosen silence. Because the Heavenly Dao did not want the situation to become chaotic. The more chaotic the situation, the more dangerous it was for the Heavenly Dao as the dominant power, and the more likely other Daos would exploit its weaknesses.
Who most desired a chaotic situation?
The answer was certain.
The Immortal Dao.
The Immortal Dao had always coveted the position of leader among the Great Daos. Since the opening of the Present Era, it had sought to seize the position of leader amidst the chaotic situation. And to compete for that leadership, the Immortal Dao had been working behind the scenes on various schemes, trying every means to make the situation chaotic.
Over a decade ago, it had tried to use a Present Era Heavenly Mandate to pit Gu Qingfeng against the Heavenly Dao, thereby creating chaos.
Could it be that the Immortal Dao, its nature unchanged, now wanted to use Shangguan Yu, this True Mandate prodigy, to pit Gu Qingfeng against Fate?
Thus making the situation even more chaotic?
This was highly possible.
At the very least, based on Ye Tianlan's understanding of the Immortal Dao, she believed the Immortal Dao was absolutely capable of such a thing.
There was just one point she still did not understand: how could a prodigy bearing the True Mandate be so easily used by the Immortal Dao?
Could it be that Shangguan Yu did not know he was being used?
No.
Since Shangguan Yu was a True Mandate prodigy, he was undoubtedly a dragon among men, peerless in both aptitude and comprehension. He could not possibly be unaware that the Immortal Dao was using him. But if he knew, why would he still do this?
Suddenly.
Ye Tianlan thought of that karmic opportunity upon Gu Qingfeng's person: the 'All Beings Pay Homage, Myriad Phenomena Bow in Worship.'
"That 'All Beings Pay Homage, Myriad Phenomena Bow in Worship' upon his person is enough to make anyone lose their mind, let alone someone who is a Taiji Human Prodigy bearing the True Mandate!"
Qin Yang's voice came through. Ye Tianlan sighed sorrowfully, shook her head, feeling utterly helpless.
Suddenly.
A fierce shout exploded in the air, shaking the ominous, blood-sea-like clouds into a churning roll, making nature itself crackle and pop, and even causing the space of the world to tremble.
"All of you, get out of my way!"
This roar was earth-shattering, containing a vast, mighty, and domineering power. The cultivators gathered within the Shangqing Sect were all shaken by this shout, plummeting from the sky. Even those Immortals were stunned and dizzy. Though they did not fall from the sky, they had no choice but to retreat and avoid its edge.
Because they all knew who had arrived.
This was someone none of them dared to provoke, and none could afford to provoke.
As the voice faded, a tiger's roar resounded, deafening the ears. A colossal creature was seen galloping through the void.
This behemoth was like a mountain peak, immensely fierce. Its body was reddish-white, shimmering with white light. It resembled both a tiger and a lion, extremely ferocious. As it charged forth, it shook the very earth.
And standing upon the head of this ferocious lion-tiger beast was a person. This person did not look old, seeming around eighteen or nineteen. He wore a dragon robe and a golden crown, his countenance cold and stern, draped in ten thousand zhang of golden light, like a domineering sun, majestic and awe-inspiring, as if capable of swallowing mountains and rivers, and shaking heaven and earth.
Seeing this ferocious lion-tiger, and especially seeing that dragon-robed youth, the leaders of the various great sects paled as if they had seen ghosts or gods. Not daring to delay in the slightest, they retreated at once.
The newcomer was none other than Shi Tian—possessing an indestructible Vajra body and immense strength of the Pure Yang Overlord Physique, bearing an Ancient Era Throne Heavenly Mandate and three Present Era Constellation Heavenly Mandates, hailed as the Little Overlord of the World.