“I only saw a brief mention in an ancient text called ‘Records of the Vast Sea’ in the Yanhai Tower, stating that after the deities left this place, they went to another world called the Heaven Beyond Heaven. But it offered no description about this ‘Heaven Beyond Heaven.'”

She sighed softly: “If the deities had remained in this world a little longer, perhaps the later Celestial Demon disaster wouldn’t have happened.”

Hearing her speculation, Yun Ya remarkably praised her: “Very good.” Then he asked, “Who do you think erased these historical facts?”

This was a question Feng Miaojun had pondered many times, and she answered without hesitation: “Generally speaking, it would be those who came after.” Later generations rewriting history was an inescapable fate in any world. “Perhaps it was…” she hesitated slightly.

“Go on,” Yun Ya didn’t even notice the encouragement in his voice.

“The Haoli Empire?” She softly whistled. “If it happened within the last three hundred years, then books from three hundred years ago should have records of it. And with the world in chaos for many years, who would have had the leisure to control public opinion? Calculating from the source, only the Haoli Empire, established over six hundred years ago, could have managed it.”

Feng Miaojun shrugged: “I just don’t understand why. I’ve heard the Haoli Empire was established bathed in divine light.” This meant the divine right of kings, instantly providing legitimacy and justification. This was also why she lacked confidence in her inference: why would the Haoli Empire, blessed by the deities, later erase their existence?

“Why?” Yun Ya laughed softly. “Of course, for Elemental Power!”

“Elemental Power?” She chewed on these two words, and a flash of insight illuminated her mind as if a completely new door had suddenly opened.

“Elemental Power was originally Will Power exclusively enjoyed by deities. After the world’s dramatic change, human kingdoms discovered they could use it for themselves. By then, the deities had already disappeared.” Yun Ya’s voice carried a faint mockery. “Guess what the Haoli Empire would do?”

Feng Miaojun drew in a light breath of cold air, an instinctive reaction when people learn of shocking secrets.

“Suppression!”

Since the Haoli Empire viewed Elemental Power as a national treasure, they wouldn’t allow the already-disappeared deities to divert the mortal world’s Elemental Power. Honestly, making people forget the existence of deities was quite easy—just destroy the divine shrines, alter or delete the sections about deities in historical books, and guide citizens to worship the emperor instead.

This was certainly a major undertaking, but not difficult for the Haoli Empire; it just required more patience.

Humans are forgetful and short-lived creatures, with an average lifespan of around fifty years. After several decades, the first generation with genuine memories of deities died out, and divine legends could only survive through word of mouth. If the Haoli Empire strictly controlled this and was vigilant about extinguishing such tales, then within a century, the mortal world would forget the deities.

In other words, the Haoli Empire suppressed the deities.

“This move of cutting off resources at the source is truly formidable,” she clicked her tongue. “The Haoli Empire turned their backs on those who helped them.”

“Weren’t the deities the same?” Yun Ya said indifferently. “Since they chose to abandon this world, they shouldn’t continue to enjoy mortal worship. The Haoli Empire merely inherited their legacy.”

Feng Miaojun felt something was wrong, but couldn’t pinpoint what. Finally, she abandoned this thought and asked: “Why could the power originally belonging to deities later be used by the State Preceptor?”

“It must be due to changes in the world’s rules.”

She thought for a moment, but still couldn’t help asking: “Master, do you have any clues? About our…”

Besides cultivation, she had been constantly thinking about breaking the curse between them these days. Yun Ya’s abilities were far greater than hers; perhaps he could find a solution even without complete information.

But before the word “curse” could leave her lips, Yun Ya suddenly placed a finger to his lips and softly shushed her.

By now they had left the beach and entered a small grove. He suddenly moved with silent steps, his movements quick and light.

Feng Miaojun instinctively fell silent, even holding her breath, and closely followed him.

Yun Ya advanced about a hundred paces before suddenly stopping, standing in the shadow of a large locust tree. Clouds drifted across the bright moon, making the surroundings very dark. If he remained silent and still, even Feng Miaojun would have difficulty noticing someone was there.

She quickly caught up and stood behind him, finding a good position before focusing her gaze, and was slightly startled:

In the small clearing ahead where the sky was obscured, there were two people—one lying, one sitting.

At first, she thought they were a couple since people in love often develop hidden tendencies to sneak around. But looking carefully, she discovered both were women, and they looked somewhat alike.

The one lying on the ground had her eyes tightly closed; judging from her breathing, she was unconscious. From her clothing and hairstyle, she appeared to be a maid. The one sitting was looking into a mirror while touching her face.

The crystal-clear mirror was made of polished glass, a quality not available in ordinary markets. As her fingers moved gently, the muscles of her face were changing shape.

That face was becoming increasingly similar to the woman lying down.

Feng Miaojun was shocked. Looking more closely, her heart sank.

What this woman was doing, Feng Miaojun knew very well, because she had done it herself before:

She was disguising herself through reflection, using a shape-shifting gu worm.

For beginners, using shape-shifting gu worms had some difficulty. Especially when transforming one’s face to look like someone else’s, the first attempt usually required various adjustments in front of a mirror; it couldn’t be accomplished in one go. But obviously, this woman was in a hurry, and her facial adjustments weren’t very meticulous.

These creatures were exceptionally rare and difficult to cultivate. She had only seen them with Mo Tizhun and Yun Ya, and even the few that Mo Tizhun had were specially allocated to him by the Jin King. In the small town of Qingyuan, besides her and Yun Ya, who else could possess shape-shifting gu worms?

It had to be Princess Hanyue or Mo Tizhun.

If that wasn’t enough to precisely identify her, Feng Miaojun recognized the earrings worn by the sitting woman—just an hour or so ago, Princess Hanyue had been wearing these ruby earrings while sitting across from her, although she had now changed into a light purple jacket and skirt.

In the wilderness by the lake, Princess Hanyue was disguising herself as someone else. Feng Miaojun could guess the reason and purpose.

She wanted to break off the engagement; she wanted to escape.

Due to the gathering of delegations, Qingyuan Town was unprecedentedly busy, with guests from all directions. Princess Hanyue had a shape-shifting gu worm. If she successfully disguised herself as this maid and slipped back into her delegation, Mo Tizhun would likely be unable to find the princess—unless he thoroughly searched every delegation in town.

This was unlikely. Whether Mo Tizhun could manage it was beside the point; if word spread that he was “searching for a runaway bride in town,” it would announce to the world that Princess Hanyue wanted to break off the engagement.

How would the Yao Kingdom react, and how would they handle their relationship with the Jin Kingdom?