The murderous aura wreathing Lang Jiuchuan was thick enough to make Gong Qi’s heart seize with alarm — but what alarmed him even more was what she had said. The formation’s guardian had offered no rebuttal, which confirmed that the true purpose of this grand array was indeed to harvest the meritorious wish-power of the heroic spirits in order to nourish the dragon vein and sustain the nation’s fortune.

The Great Dang Dynasty had stood for two hundred years without its national fortune ever waning — and part of the reason was this?

Gong Qi’s throat went dry, his face burned hot, and his head rang with a dull buzz. The founding ancestors of the Xuan Clans had committed such a deed — one that ran utterly contrary to the Way they claimed to uphold.

Don’t speak of how great undertakings require overlooking small improprieties. This was exploiting people even in death, squeezing out the very last drop of their worth, condemning them to an eternity without passage into Wangsheng. This was no trivial matter — this was the abandonment of the Way.

What, and it was all done for the sake of national fortune?

A dynasty has its own fixed destiny. When the ruler is capable and benevolent, the realm flourishes with talent; when the heir has the ability to carry forward the ambitions of his forebears and governs with wisdom, the national fortune naturally prospers. But to prosper without end forever is impossible — in any world, throughout all of history, there has never been a dynasty that endured without decline.

Therefore, using the wish-power of heroic spirits to nourish the dragon vein and sustain national fortune had no legitimate footing in the Way whatsoever.

But was Lang Jiuchuan’s murderous aura purely the result of discovering this truth?

Lang Jiuchuan fixed her gaze on Zixiao Zi and said, “You have been stationed here guarding this formation the entire time, which means the Tantai imperial family has always known of this array’s existence?”

“Naturally. This old man advises you to behave yourself and leave quietly. Otherwise, once the Xuan Clans pursue the matter, you will not be able to bear the consequences.” Zixiao Zi was uncertain of Lang Jiuchuan’s background, but seeing the murderous aura coiling around her, he feared she might fly into a rage and strike him — so he prudently refrained from provoking her further.

Lang Jiuchuan smiled. “Pursue the matter? Does your master know that you have been secretly siphoning off a portion of this wish-power for yourself?”

Zixiao Zi’s expression shifted, his gaze flickering with unease.

“What a coincidence — he is also of the Xuan Clans.” Lang Jiuchuan clapped Gong Qi on the shoulder. “One of your own people. Tell me — if he were to have the Enforcement Hall drag you away, how do you think they would deal with the matter of you siphoning meritorious wish-power for personal gain?”

What?

Zixiao Zi looked toward Gong Qi, his eyes filling with startled suspicion.

Gong Qi looked back at Lang Jiuchuan with a touch of helplessness. What are you scheming?

Lang Jiuchuan’s expression was cold and remote. She glanced over at him, her eyes utterly devoid of warmth.

Gong Qi produced the identification token that marked his status and said, “I am a disciple of the Gong Family.”

Zixiao Zi naturally recognized the identity tokens of the various clans. Once he had made out the insignia, he said, “We’ve had a misunderstanding between our own people — since we are all of the same house, why not speak plainly?”

“Did the Tantai set this formation with the knowledge of the other clans as well?”

Zixiao Zi regarded Lang Jiuchuan with wariness as he replied, “Naturally they knew.”

“Nonsense — I have never once heard of this.” Gong Qi refuted this with genuine indignation.

Zixiao Zi sat upright, letting out a cold laugh despite the searing pain wracking his body. Forcing it down, he said, “This formation was laid two hundred years ago by the hand of the Venerable Tongda himself — a master of arrays who had already reached Foundation Establishment. Array within array, it sustains the power of the heroic spirits in an unending cycle. At that time, in addition to the Tantai patriarch Tantai Jing, there were also Gong Wuyu of the Gong Family, Feng Changsheng of the Feng Family, and Rong Taisong of the Rong Family — all lent their strength to the endeavor. This is the very origin of the great Xuan Clans’ bond of shared roots and common breath.”

With all the Xuan Clans participating, the underlying logic was also one of mutual restraint and accountability. A secret known collectively could draw them all into a single cord far more effectively.

Gong Qi went white in the face. Every name that had passed through Zixiao Zi’s lips was a founding ancestor of one of the great clans.

He looked toward Lang Jiuchuan, his mouth working in a mumble. “I truly did not know…”

Zixiao Zi said, “Of course you did not know — how old are you? This formation is… not something that ought to be spread freely. Those who know of it are all elders of great age, and it would not easily be spoken of outside that circle.”

A strange light flickered across his eyes, and he fixed his gaze on Lang Jiuchuan. “You have questioned me with such precision and perceived the subtle workings of this array — what are you intending? If you mean to destroy it, I counsel you to abandon that delusion. This concerns the national fortune — you cannot bear the consequences of a dynasty in decline.”

Gong Qi thought: This is going badly.

The foolish old man is trying to play the fearsome deity before a tiger.

Sure enough, no sooner had the words left his mouth than Lang Jiuchuan smiled — a smile that never reached her eyes. “National decline? What does that have to do with me? This nation is neither mine to govern nor mine to throw into chaos. If it declines, it will be because its ruler is incompetent, the court does nothing of worth, its officials occupy their posts without fulfilling their duties, and the government itself has rotted through. The existence of this array only proves that the Xuan Clans have strayed from the Way and lost it entirely — it is you who have imprisoned the heroic spirits, defied the harmony of Heaven, and thus invited the retribution of cause and effect. Even killing you outright, I would be acting on Heaven’s behalf.”

As she spoke, she sent another toll of the bell-ring whipping toward him.

Zixiao Zi let out another wretched howl as his vital energy grew even more feeble. “You — you dare—”

Lang Jiuchuan still moved to press forward. Gong Qi reached out and blocked her path. “Don’t act rashly.”

Lang Jiuchuan’s gaze, brimming with killing intent, turned on him. “You want to protect him?” She scoffed. “Right — I suppose he is one of your own after all.”

Gong Qi said in a low, firm voice, “He is only the formation’s guardian. If he dies suddenly at your hands, trouble will come for you — and perhaps for the Lang Family as well.”

Lang Jiuchuan’s expression turned ice-cold.

The two of them locked eyes, sparks practically crackling between them.

Zixiao Zi seized the opening to attempt an escape. Before he had taken so much as a step, both of them seemed to have eyes in every direction — one sent the soul-binding chain swinging toward him, the other hurled a talisman his way.

Boom.

Zixiao Zi was blasted clean into unconsciousness.

Gong Qi stared in speechless silence.

Seeing that Zixiao Zi was now barely a hair’s breadth from death, he said, “What is it you’re actually furious about? Is it resentment over what the Xuan Clans have done — or is it something else?”

Lang Jiuchuan cast a cold sideways glance at him, then turned to look at the dragon vein. She said nothing.

She couldn’t even explain it to herself — what the grief and fury roiling inside her truly stemmed from. She knew it was not only because of this formation keeping the heroic spirits from passing on into Wangsheng. There was a greater cause, but she didn’t know what it was.

That missing soul and those two lost spirit-shards — her lost memories must reside within them.

Who she was, what she had lived through — all of it lay within that missing soul and those two spirit-shards.

The more she didn’t know, the more she seethed. The heavier her malevolent energy grew.

Jiangche had held his tongue for a long while before finally murmuring, “Gong Qi also has a point. This matter is thorny — please don’t act impulsively. You’d already resolved it yourself: until you understood the reason for the spirits being imprisoned, you absolutely would not make a move. Don’t let a moment of fury drive you to recklessness and implicate the people back home.”

“Silence!” Lang Jiuchuan snapped, frayed with irritation.

Jiangche did not dare utter another sound.

Lang Jiuchuan was hardly unaware that the situation had grown complicated — even constraining. But those three thousand heroic spirits, she was determined to escort them on their way. Especially now that she understood the reason for their imprisonment.

She watched the streams of meritorious wish-power drifting toward the dragon vein, and her eyes stung with a burning ache. Two hundred years — they had already been drained down to almost nothing.

One need only look at how Fuyi’s divine soul had begun to grow translucent and faint to understand.

Even if she did nothing, they could not hold on much longer.

That’s right.

Whether she acted or not, they would eventually vanish from this formation. It was only a matter of time. If that was the case — why wait until the very last moment?

And the fact that Fuyi had broken free of the array to seek her out — that was a path of survival granted to them by the Way of Heaven. It was Heaven’s will. Whatever she chose to do would only be in accordance with that will.

Did the so-called Xuan Clans dare to fight against Heaven?

Lang Jiuchuan’s eyes brightened with crystalline clarity. She turned, spared a glance at Zixiao Zi, then looked at Gong Qi. “Since he belongs to your people, I return him to you. Take him back and hand him over to the young master of the Gong Family — let’s see what he has to say.”

Gong Qi was speechless.

She was dumping her mess on someone else?