Jiang Zhaoxue wasn’t surprised by what she heard. She had always known that Ye Tianjiao was hiding something from her, but she also knew that if Ye Tianjiao didn’t speak up, there must be a reason, and forcing the issue wouldn’t yield any answers.

Observing Pei Zichen’s attitude now, she understood that he probably had things figured out. Since he was bringing her along and not planning to hide anything from her, she felt at ease. Watching Pei Zichen pick up the transmission jade token from the ground and hand it to her, she took it and swept her fingers across it, immediately hearing Ye Tianjiao’s voice flood in: “Sister, are you awake?”

“Sister, stop sleeping, there’s a whole pile of things waiting!”

“Sister, these demonic cultivators have already fought their way to the entrance of the great hall!”

“Sister…”

…

Hearing “the demonic cultivators have already fought their way to the entrance of the great hall,” Jiang Zhaoxue couldn’t help but glance at Pei Zichen. Pei Zichen responded casually, “It’s fine, just a small disturbance caused by remnants of Xinluoyi’s faction.”

With that, he nodded and added with particular sincerity, “Ye Tianjiao can handle it. You need to trust him.”

“Haha…”

Jiang Zhaoxue laughed dryly, pretending not to know this was Pei Zichen deliberately making Ye Tianjiao wait. She lowered her head and transmitted to Ye Tianjiao, “Tianjiao, where are you?”

“Sister!!!”

Getting a response, noisy sounds of people came from Ye Tianjiao’s end as he panted, “At the entrance to the great hall. You… you quickly bring Pei Zichen over!”

Then, as if remembering something, Ye Tianjiao sighed, “Actually, forget it. This is almost wrapped up anyway. You two find a place to wait for me. I’ll take a bath and come over. There’s so much blood, it stinks.”

“Alright,” Jiang Zhaoxue heard his tone and knew a great battle had just ended. She replied unhurriedly, “Then Zichen and I will wait for you at the water pavilion.”

After settling things with Ye Tianjiao, Jiang Zhaoxue turned to look at Pei Zichen. Though she had questions, she ultimately said, “Let’s go to the water pavilion to wait for him first.”

Pei Zichen didn’t say much, nodding as he led Jiang Zhaoxue to the water pavilion. After the two sat down, the paper immortals came forward to pour tea and arrange everything.

They hadn’t waited long when Ye Tianjiao rushed over. Seeing the two of them, Ye Tianjiao’s footsteps halted. Pei Zichen’s gaze shifted over, and seeing Ye Tianjiao’s hesitant and uncertain appearance, he said calmly, “Come in and sit.”

“Uh, I…”

“Ye Tianjiao.”

Pei Zichen called out his name. Ye Tianjiao froze, then heard Pei Zichen ask, “Or should I say, Gu Jinglan?”

Hearing that name, Jiang Zhaoxue was instantly shocked, raising her eyes in astonishment toward the person frozen in the courtyard. She finally understood why Ye Tianjiao had been avoiding Pei Zichen all this time!

She remembered the name Gu Jinglan—it was that junior disciple who had died before Pei Zichen when he fell off the cliff.

It was precisely to seek justice for this junior disciple, to clear his junior disciples’ names, that Pei Zichen had risked his life to seize the Su Guangji. With the help of demonic cultivators from the Jiuyou Realm, he obtained the Su Guangji and, together with her, fell into the time and space of a thousand years past.

She had never understood this matter, later assuming it was just Xinluoyi manipulating events to make Pei Zichen obtain the Five Divine Artifacts. She never imagined this matter was actually related to Ye Tianjiao!

Since Pei Zichen knew Ye Tianjiao was Gu Jinglan, given his current temperament—he hated even her to the point of wanting death, let alone Ye Tianjiao, this deceiver!

If this had been a few days ago, Ye Tianjiao showing his face would probably have gotten him killed immediately.

But why would Ye Tianjiao be Gu Jinglan? Was he also helping Pei Zichen obtain the divine artifacts?

Why did they know where the artifacts were?

True Immortal Realm fate masters had never calculated when the divine artifacts would appear. How did they know? Was Pei Zichen obtaining the artifacts something Li Xiuji planned from the very beginning? How exactly did they plan all this?

And how did Pei Zichen know that Ye Tianjiao was Gu Jinglan?

Question after question flashed through Jiang Zhaoxue’s mind. She watched the dazed Ye Tianjiao, seeing him stare blankly at Pei Zichen for a long while before finally smiling bitterly and saying slowly, “Originally I was hoping you might forget what I said back then. I didn’t expect your memory to be this good.”

With that, Ye Tianjiao sighed and stepped into the water pavilion. Pei Zichen proactively stood up and moved to sit beside Jiang Zhaoxue, yielding his seat to Ye Tianjiao.

Ye Tianjiao sat across from Pei Zichen, watching as Pei Zichen calmly poured tea for him. He stole a glance at Jiang Zhaoxue beside him and cleared his throat lightly, “So, being able to talk things through peacefully like this…”

Ye Tianjiao tentatively raised his eyes to look at Pei Zichen, “Why don’t I check your pulse and see how your divine core condensation is progressing?”

“Fine.”

Pei Zichen didn’t push the teacup across to Ye Tianjiao but instead placed his wrist directly in front of him.

Ye Tianjiao brightened up, quickly saying, “I can see you’ve recovered pretty well, trusting me like this…”

Before he could finish speaking, Ye Tianjiao’s smile froze.

Jiang Zhaoxue immediately leaned over, asking nervously, “What’s wrong?”

“The divine core is there,” Ye Tianjiao frowned, “But why isn’t it fully formed?”

As soon as Ye Tianjiao spoke, he immediately provided an answer, saying rather optimistically, “It probably just started forming last night, but given time, it will definitely complete. Then he’ll be able to return to Pei Zichen’s body and become a complete god.”

“This is your plan?”

Pei Zichen spoke abruptly. Ye Tianjiao paused.

Pei Zichen stared at him, his gaze leaving no room for compromise, saying coldly, “This is the purpose behind your deception?”

Ye Tianjiao listened, methodically finished his tea, glanced at Jiang Zhaoxue beside him, then smiled again. He looked up at Pei Zichen, his tone both serious and somewhat joking, “Master, if you want to ask about this matter, naturally I’ll tell you everything I know. But the True Immortal Realm’s Immortal Master is present here—are you sure you want me to speak here?”

“Speak.”

Pei Zichen didn’t hesitate.

“Alright then,” Ye Tianjiao crossed his legs and changed his posture, adopting a stance as if preparing for a long story. After pondering for a moment, he sighed, “Regarding this matter, I’ve generally told Sister about it, and I think Xinluoyi probably told you the general parts too. If she wanted to conceal anything, it should be Li Xiuji’s plan.”

“What was his plan?”

“You should be able to feel now that your body has been constantly suppressed by some force.” Ye Tianjiao examined Pei Zichen, stating with certainty, “This force is the Book of Fate. The Book of Fate can erase anyone whose destiny differs from what it has recorded. The more you deviate and the greater your impact on the world, the stronger the force it can exert on you. Two hundred years ago, Li Xiuji’s semi-divine body was on the verge of collapse. At that time, to survive, he fought desperately, battling at Cangming Sea, hoping to break into the True Immortal Realm and destroy the Book of Fate. However, under the Book of Fate’s suppression, he was still captured by the True Immortal Realm using a God-Slaying Array created by dozens of Great Ascension Stage cultivators. Actually, he was supposed to die then—”

Ye Tianjiao paused, looking up at Jiang Zhaoxue, “But a thousand years ago, you gave her a Qiankun divination stick. That stick blocked the fatal blow from the God-Slaying Array for him, so he didn’t die—he was just sealed in Cangming Sea.”

Listening, Jiang Zhaoxue’s eyes widened in shock, momentarily at a loss.

It was her—

The stick she gave Li Xiuji had saved Li Xiuji.

“And then?” Jiang Zhaoxue immediately asked, “That stick of mine was meant to help him find a way to survive. After I saved him once, he had a path to live?”

“Correct.” Ye Tianjiao nodded, explaining, “When your stick shattered, he saw the location of the Tianji Lingyu. The Tianji Lingyu is the source of the Five Divine Artifacts. After obtaining the Tianji Lingyu, one can gain the recognition of the Time Mirror and obtain the Su Guangji, which can trace the locations of all divine artifacts. With the artifacts, he would have the possibility of becoming a god and reversing fate. He then transmitted a message to me, saying he would send his soul into reincarnation while having me search for the Tianji Lingyu. When his reincarnation appeared in this world, the Jiuyou Realm would spare no effort to help him find the divine artifacts. The reincarnation who obtained the artifacts, whether or not he returned to the divine shell, would become the Jiuyou Realm’s new Demon Lord. He also told me that if anyone in this world could destroy the Book of Fate, it would definitely be this reincarnation.”

“So you were the one who found the Tianji Lingyu?” Jiang Zhaoxue couldn’t quite understand, “Then back then…”

“It was all arranged.”

Ye Tianjiao smiled bitterly, saying softly, “After receiving Li Xiuji’s orders, I began searching for the Tianji Lingyu, while Xinluoyi went to find Li Xiuji’s reincarnation. We searched for a long time, but we knew the Book of Fate would definitely be more alert than us, so we arranged for people at the Lingjian Immortal Pavilion to investigate every Heaven-Abandoned individual. Two hundred years later, I heard of a Heaven-Abandoned person named Pei Zichen. I immediately rushed over, and when I arrived…”

Ye Tianjiao thought about it and raised an eyebrow, “He had just been saved by you.”

Hearing this, Jiang Zhaoxue knew the timeline and couldn’t help asking, “Then what?”

“The moment I saw him, I realized that my brother Pei Zichen from back then was this child. So I secretly followed him. He was determined to go to the Lingjian Immortal Pavilion, so I escorted him all the way. After he joined the Lingjian Immortal Pavilion, I fabricated the identity of Gu Jinglan and got close to him. Every night, I would secretly take his blood to nurture the Tianji Lingyu. When he was seventeen, the Tianji Lingyu was about to awaken, so I notified Mu Jinyue and had her arrange for Pei Zichen to go to Wuyue Forest. But unexpectedly—”

“Unexpectedly, she used a method that framed me.” Jiang Zhaoxue understood, “She used the Lingmin Powder to frame me. Shen Yuqing would inevitably take his disciples to Wuyue Forest, and Pei Zichen would thus have the opportunity to go to Wuyue Forest.”

“Exactly,” Ye Tianjiao nodded, adding, “The Tianji Lingyu was awakened by his blood. As long as he appeared near the Tianji Lingyu, it would be completely awakened. Once they met, the Tianji Lingyu would inevitably belong to him.”

So at that time, no matter how she tried to seize it, the Tianji Lingyu would curve around and crash into Pei Zichen’s body.

“What about after that?” Jiang Zhaoxue immediately asked, “Were those disciples’ deaths also arranged by you?”

“That really wasn’t us!”

Hearing this, Ye Tianjiao immediately became agitated, waving his hands, “You can’t pin every blame on us. I spent so much time with those brothers, I’m human too!”

Speaking of those events, guilt appeared in Ye Tianjiao’s eyes. He pressed his lips together, “When the Tianji Lingyu appeared, I never expected it would be accidentally swallowed by a snake, and the body of Gu Jinglan wasn’t my true form either. I could barely protect myself, let alone save them. By the time I recovered from my injuries at the foot of the mountain and woke up, you were already on the Fate Judgment Platform. I did want to save you!”

Ye Tianjiao’s eyes showed reluctance, “At that time, I wanted to clear my brothers’ names and save you.”

“But Xinluoyi thought it was a good opportunity.”

However, Pei Zichen already understood, saying calmly, “So she arranged for someone to kill Gu Jinglan in front of me, enraging me and guiding me to seize the Su Guangji. With the Tianji Lingyu, I would gain recognition from all the divine artifacts. You were counting on me to obtain all the divine artifacts under the Su Guangji’s guidance, then become irreconcilable enemies with the True Immortal Realm due to my grievances with the Lingjian Immortal Pavilion.”

Pei Zichen continued, looking up at Ye Tianjiao, “And you—perhaps you wanted to save me at first, but after everything happened, you never thought to come find me and explain.”

“It’s not that I didn’t want to find you and explain.”

Hearing this, Ye Tianjiao’s face showed conflict. He only said, “I just…”

He hesitated for a long time before finally saying in a low voice, “I was just waiting for you.”

With that, he lowered his eyes to the teacup before him, saying softly, “My name is Gu Jinglan. That is my explanation. When you came out of the Time Mirror, you should have known who I was.”

Pei Zichen listened without speaking. In their silence, Jiang Zhaoxue glanced at the two young men looking in different directions. After thinking for a long time, she cleared her throat lightly, “So, that’s all there is to it?”

The two turned to look at her, and Jiang Zhaoxue summarized, “Tianjiao didn’t dare see Pei Zichen because he was afraid Pei Zichen would blame him for deceiving him? The thing you never wanted to tell me was that the Wuyue Forest incident was orchestrated by you, and that all the events along Pei Zichen’s journey to find the Five Divine Artifacts were planned by Li Xiuji?”

“Yes.”

Ye Tianjiao collected his emotions and nodded, “I was afraid you’d both blame me, and also afraid you’d resent him.”

“What would I resent him for?”

Jiang Zhaoxue asked curiously. Ye Tianjiao paused. Jiang Zhaoxue thought for a moment and came to a realization, “I’m part of Li Xiuji’s plan?”

At these words, both Pei Zichen and Ye Tianjiao froze.

Pei Zichen seemed somewhat at a loss, but Jiang Zhaoxue smiled and looked at Ye Tianjiao, pressing on, “My becoming a Seventh Realm fate master, forming the Soul-Locking Array with Pei Zichen, searching for divine artifacts for him all along the way—was this all within Li Xiuji’s plan?”

“I…”

Hearing this, Ye Tianjiao said vaguely, “I’m not clear…”

“Not clear?” Jiang Zhaoxue was puzzled, “How can you not be clear? Don’t you know if I’m part of your plan or not?”

“I can’t be certain about that.” Ye Tianjiao seemed troubled as well, “Li Xiuji never told me you were part of the plan. According to our plan, it should have been Xinluoyi tricking Shen Yuqing into entering the Su Guangji with her to help Pei Zichen obtain the artifacts. After collecting all the artifacts, Pei Zichen would have blood feuds with the True Immortal Realm and could only return to Jiuyou with us. After that, if Xinluoyi could continue being a spy, she’d continue staying there, making it convenient for us to attack the True Immortal Realm in one fell swoop.”

“What a coincidence.” A’Nan immediately said, “Isn’t this exactly the plot in the book?”

“But I went with Pei Zichen.” Jiang Zhaoxue listened, “Was my going within your expectations or not?”

“Actually, it was also within expectations,” Ye Tianjiao sighed, “After all, we had all met you in the past and knew you would go. But Xinluoyi always held onto a bit of hope, wondering if she could change the outcome. I guess she originally wanted to use the Lingmin Powder incident to destroy your spiritual roots and settle everything once and for all. But she still couldn’t stop you. After you went into the Su Guangji, Xinluoyi cursed you for three days. Her subordinates said she was so angry she didn’t cultivate for days.”

“Oh,” hearing that Xinluoyi was unhappy immediately made the corners of Jiang Zhaoxue’s mouth turn up. Suppressing her amusement, she said, “Since it was all outside your expectations, why do you say you’re not clear if I’m part of the plan or not?”

“Because although Li Xiuji didn’t ultimately arrange for you to be involved, many years ago, he asked me about the Soul-Locking Array. He also instructed me that if you didn’t know the Soul-Locking Array, I should remember to teach it to you.”

Ye Tianjiao’s voice grew smaller and smaller, “But later I saw that you didn’t seem not to know it…”

“So you knew from the very beginning that I had placed a Soul-Locking Array on him?”

“Only me.” Ye Tianjiao shook his head, saying earnestly, “But since he didn’t arrange for me to do anything else, I didn’t interfere. I completed the tasks he assigned me and just waited for the final result.”

As he spoke, Ye Tianjiao frowned, seeming to think, “Actually, according to our imagination, when you came back from the Su Guangji, Pei Zichen should have obtained all the divine artifacts and returned to the divine shell. But unexpectedly, he didn’t receive the artifacts’ recognition. He couldn’t return to the divine shell and insisted on staying in the True Immortal Realm. At that time, I even thought it was fine if he stayed—what need was there to return to this Jiuyou Realm? So I didn’t interfere much. But in the end, after he severed his karma thread and his soul left his body, he actually came back.”

With that, Ye Tianjiao looked at Pei Zichen curiously, “How did you come back?”

“The Tianji Lingyu and the God-Slaying Sword helped me.”

Pei Zichen answered honestly. Ye Tianjiao was somewhat surprised, “You gained the divine artifacts’ recognition?”

“Yes.”

Pei Zichen nodded, then added, “But they cannot be used by a body condensed from resentment, so now they’re dormant. I can’t contact them.”

“No wonder.” Hearing this, Jiang Zhaoxue immediately said, “I can’t contact Yuan Luo either.”

“If you can’t contact them, you can’t truly become a god,” Ye Tianjiao sighed, “Without becoming a god, you won’t be able to sustain this body for long.”

“Then how can we eliminate the resentment from his body and awaken the artifact spirits?” Jiang Zhaoxue immediately grasped the key point.

“Just wait.”

Ye Tianjiao was straightforward, gesturing at Pei Zichen, “The resentment on his body exists because he has no body—he needs sufficient power to construct a shell to house his body. As long as he has a divine core, maintains kind thoughts, and absorbs the spiritual energy of heaven and earth, filling the divine shell with natural forces, the resentment will naturally be pushed out. Now his divine core has already taken embryonic form. You two work hard, put in effort, and help him transform the power in this body into spiritual energy and that’s it.”

“So I can’t kill the Book of Fate right now?”

Pei Zichen spoke abruptly. Ye Tianjiao was somewhat surprised, “Why do you want to kill it now?”

“It’s watching the Female Lord.”

At these words, everyone present was somewhat taken aback. Pei Zichen glanced at Jiang Zhaoxue, saying calmly, “The reason I agreed to come to the Jiuyou Realm with the Female Lord was because I detected its aura around her.”

“Wait!”

Hearing this, Jiang Zhaoxue finally reacted to something. She said incredulously, “After all this talk, are you saying that the Book of Fate still exists in this world?”

“Correct.”

Pei Zichen nodded, his eyes showing concern, “I sense its presence.”

As a semi-divine spirit, he was far more sensitive than anyone else.

Jiang Zhaoxue couldn’t understand. She couldn’t help saying, “But didn’t you destroy it? You personally used the God-Slaying Sword to sever the karma thread connecting to it. Its power leaked out at that time, and its main body was in my hands. I personally examined it, but at that time it already had no life force, no spiritual energy flowing through it. Yet now you say it still exists—how did it manage that?”

When the main body of a divine artifact is damaged, logically it should perish.

If the Book of Fate no longer had any spiritual energy flowing through it, what exactly was Pei Zichen sensing?

“Perhaps…” Ye Tianjiao, listening on the side, tentatively offered an explanation, “The book you examined was a fake?”

“Impossible.” Jiang Zhaoxue was adamant, “I personally verified it at that time. It was definitely the Book of Fate.”

“Then there’s only one possibility.”

After thinking for a long time, Pei Zichen spoke gravely.

Jiang Zhaoxue looked over, but both sides already had an answer.

Pei Zichen stated with certainty, “The Book of Fate’s artifact spirit has found another vessel.”

For divine artifacts with artifact spirits, the core power resides within the spirit. As long as the spirit finds another host, it will continue to exist.

But an artifact spirit is a spiritual entity—it cannot be separated from its main body for too long, unless there’s something else to carry it.

What could carry an artifact spirit?

At that moment, one person appeared in everyone’s minds.

“Void Body…”

Jiang Zhaoxue murmured, recalling the fanatical look in Song Wulan’s eyes during the ancestral worship at the altar that year.

She suddenly understood who he had been promising when he said “I promise you.”

“Song Wulan!”

All three spoke at once, their faces showing astonishment.

At that moment, in the blood pool, Xinluoyi slowly emerged from the blood water, seeing the young man sitting on a rock to the side, twirling his fan.

“It’s been a while,” the young man tilted his head and smiled, “Xinluoyi.”

“Song Wulan…”

Xinluoyi spoke hoarsely, tilting her head in confusion, “You didn’t die?”

“With the Heavenly Dao above, how could I die?”

Song Wulan laughed aloud, leaning close to her, “I have a great gift. Do you want it or not?”

“What?”

“Would you like to become a god?”