The celestial war in the Nine Heavens gradually subsided. After both the immortal and the demon sides sounded the gongs to withdraw troops, the heavenly soldiers in white armor began searching everywhere.

Zhu Yan stood beside Li Ye, watching him calmly sit down before the Heavenly Diviner, then observing as he unhurriedly poured a cup of tea for Taihe.

The scent of blood still lingered in the surroundings, hardly making it an ideal place for tea appreciation. Yet he appeared completely at ease. With a graceful movement of his sleeve, he filled the teacup to the brim—one more drop would cause it to overflow.

He looked up and spoke with perfect composure: “Please, Diviner.”

The Heavenly Diviner’s hands were bound tightly like zongzi dumplings, making it impossible for him to hold the teacup. If he used immortal power, the tea would inevitably spill from the jostling. He suspected Li Ye was doing this deliberately. After scrutinizing him for a moment, he forced a smile and said: “Thank you, but I’m not feeling thirsty. Since we have some leisure time now, perhaps the Supreme God would like to hear Taihe speak a bit more.”

After a pause, he added: “In any case, the person won’t be found immediately.”

The Nine Heavens were vast—even the fastest cloud-walking would take over a month to traverse entirely. With the chaos of war, unless Er’er the immortal came of her own accord, finding her would require significant effort.

Li Ye remained patient. The person was already in custody, and given the Heavenly Way’s self-preserving nature, he certainly wouldn’t want to sacrifice himself for a minor immortal. So Li Ye was content to wait.

However…

“I have no desire to hear Master Taihe waste more breath,” he looked up. “Since you’ve mentioned that Ke Ji was connected to a high-ranking being in the Nine Heavens, let’s first bring that person here for a confrontation.”

At these words, the Heavenly Diviner froze in place.

Taihe, who had lost one of his souls and was somewhat weakened, couldn’t help but curl his lips slightly upon hearing this: “It seems the Supreme God has truly been absorbed in secluded cultivation in the Nine Heavens, detached from worldly affairs.”

Years ago, when the Heavenly Diviner developed mortal feelings, it caused such an uproar that every Supreme God knew about it. Although everyone tacitly agreed never to mention it again, how could the Heavenly Diviner respond now that Li Ye had brought it up?

Glancing sideways, he saw the Heavenly Diviner’s face darken like the bottom of a wok as he stood rigidly silent.

Li Ye understood and clapped his hands in sudden realization: “The Diviner is indeed the ruler of the Nine Heavens—decisive in killing, resolute in severing emotions. But what evidence is there that the woman was the Ke Ji mentioned later?”

“This old one also wishes to ask the Supreme God one question: what evidence proves that your birth mother was killed by the Diviner?” Taihe asked in confusion.

Li Ye flipped his hand, producing the Mirror of Flowery Illusion, and asked: “Does Master remember this object?”

“Of course I remember it,” Taihe nodded. “This treasure guarded the Heavenly Gate tens of thousands of years ago. Later, I heard it became part of the Western Sea Princess’s dowry.”

“That settles it then,” Li Ye said, lowering his eyes. “I thought of Ke Ji and sought the truth within this mirror, and thus discovered the scene from that year.”

The Mirror of Flowery Illusion fell to the ground, transforming into a water screen. The scene of Ke Ji being personally executed by the Heavenly Diviner appeared clearly before everyone.

The Heavenly Diviner closed his eyes, his fingertips finally trembling slightly.

This was something he did not want to remember.

Everyone in the Nine Heavens believed that from the moment his hand fell and her life ended, he had already let go—that a mortal woman was merely a speck of dust after a hundred years, unworthy of his heart, and he had only been momentarily bewitched.

But only the Heavenly Diviner himself knew that he never dared recall that day or think of this person.

As long as he didn’t remember, he could pretend nothing had happened—no regrets, no heartache. But… now, actually seeing this scene again, he discovered that his heart still ached just as it had seventy thousand years ago.

“She is not your birth mother,” the Heavenly Diviner wanted to state this fact calmly, yet the words that came out were so hoarse they were barely intelligible, startling even himself.

Silence fell around them. Everyone was looking at him—at this usually steady and gentle ruler of the Nine Heavens now in a state of awkward distress, at the crimson color rising in his typically unfathomable eyes.

He should have been angry, but he wasn’t. After a moment, he cleared his throat and continued: “She was Yu Huai, an ordinary mortal woman. If you look closely, you’ll see she doesn’t possess your Fire Dao immortal energy.”

The scene recorded in the Mirror of Flowery Illusion wasn’t perfectly clear. Based on this scene alone, Li Ye couldn’t draw a definitive conclusion.

He raised his chin, and the Mirror of Flowery Illusion displayed the next scene.

Seven flames spiraled outside the Heavenly Gate, being collected one by one into a Soul-Shattering Formation. As the last ember was about to vanish, a voice softly murmured: “Take care of my son, Li Ye.”

Then, it returned to the cosmos.

This should be the scene of Ke Ji’s divine soul being destroyed.

Li Ye looked up and asked the Heavenly Diviner: “Your mortal woman had no Fire Dao immortal energy, yet possessed a Fire Dao divine soul?”

The Heavenly Way was stunned. Perplexed, he watched this scene two or three times, then turned to ask Taihe: “When did this happen?”

Taihe frowned and shook his head, and the other gods nearby were equally confused.

No one had seen such a scene before. If a divine soul had been destroyed outside the Heavenly Gate, it should have been a major event, certainly recorded in the historical archives.

A minor immortal quickly consulted the archives, and after searching for quite some time, spoke with cold sweat beading on his forehead: “In reply to the Diviner, there is no record.”

The light in Li Ye’s eyes dimmed slightly. He pressed his lips together and gently tapped the table with his curved finger.

The teacup filled with tea suddenly overflowed—just a single drop sliding down the cup’s side, splashing into the silent killing intent surrounding them.

“It’s impossible that so many people would collectively deceive you,” Taihe sighed. “Supreme God, please calm your anger first. This matter is quite peculiar; there must be someone behind this mischief.”

Li Ye sneered. Such an obvious attempt at misdirection certainly wouldn’t fool him.

He stood up and asked, still relatively civilly: “Has the person been found yet?”

Qian Tian reluctantly stepped forward, cupped his hands, and said: “Still no news; we may need to search further.”

She had been in the Thorny Forest just now, taken away by these people, yet now they claimed to have no news? Li Ye half-closed his eyes, finally losing his patience.

“My disciple has always been mischievous,” seeing his expression change, Taihe said anxiously. “Perhaps the Supreme God could wait a bit longer?”

“Mischievous?” Turning to look at him, Li Ye’s gaze was penetrating. “If you hadn’t fallen into their hands, she would never have left my side. The battle outside has ceased; she wouldn’t have run out of the Thorny Forest. We’ve waited so long without finding her—instead of asking what the person beside you has done, you only call her mischievous?”

Taihe was startled, finally growing anxious himself. He turned to look at the Heavenly Diviner: “At this critical moment, surely the Diviner wouldn’t hold a grudge against a minor immortal?”

“As you said, I wouldn’t,” the Heavenly Diviner frowned. “I desperately want her to appear right now.”

Taihe was bewildered, clutching his whisk, not knowing whom to believe.

“Supreme God,” Zhu Yan suddenly transmitted a soul message. “Zhen Huan Gong has led people in a sneak attack on the Bell Constellation.”

Wasn’t the agreement to cease fighting and search for the person? Li Ye narrowed his eyes, and a stream of immortal energy flew across the table. With a crack, the teacup finally shattered, tea water spilling across the entire table.