“Fragments?” Feng Miao Jun asked without hesitation, “The sacred relic of the Yao Kingdom is a fragment of the Boundary God’s altar?”

Yun Ya nodded, “The ancestors of the Yao Kingdom once served in the royal court and knew this was a divine object capable of bearing a nation’s fortune, so they quietly took it when their country fell.”

“How many of these fragments exist in total?”

“The original altar shattered into more than ten pieces of various sizes,” Yun Ya said softly. “All these years, I’ve been searching for their whereabouts. Each time I get close to obtaining one, someone intervenes to stop me.” He stopped here and sighed.

Feng Miao Jun gave him a sidelong glance, “Perhaps it’s heaven’s will—the divine powers don’t want you wreaking havoc in the world.”

“It’s not heaven’s will,” Yun Ya replied with rare seriousness.

“The Yao Kingdom used it as their sacred relic,” Feng Miao Jun murmured when suddenly a flash of insight struck her. “Wait! My former kingdom was conquered by Wei, so could it be that An Xia’s sacred relic was also…?” An Xia had existed for three hundred years, and she had been too young when it fell to pay attention to what constituted its sacred relic.

Yun Ya nodded, “It was also one of the altar fragments.”

She pressed her hands against the table and took a deep breath, “Did you become the State Preceptor of Wei Kingdom just for these fragments?”

Yun Ya tilted his head slightly, “You could say that.”

Her mind suddenly cleared, “Have you located the positions of the remaining fragments?”

“I’ve collected most of them, with only a few pieces left,” Yun Ya smiled bitterly. “These few, however, are not easy to obtain.”

Because they weren’t easy to obtain, he needed to leverage the power of a nation to acquire them. Feng Miao Jun understood, “Which other countries have used them as sacred relics?” She believed that fragments scattered elsewhere would be obtainable with Yun Ya’s abilities. But if these objects were serving as sacred relics, they would be bound to a nation’s fortune, controlled only by the State Preceptor, and would return to their foundation stone even after the State Preceptor’s death—making them impossible to intercept.

The only way for Yun Ya to obtain them would be to destroy the nations that possessed them. Only then would the sacred relics revert to their original state and become ownerless objects.

So, was he stirring up trouble across the continent just to gather all the fragments of the Boundary God’s altar?

“Besides Wei, Yao, and An Xia, only the Xi Kingdom and Yan Kingdom remain,” Yun Ya continued now that he had started the conversation. “The Yan King hasn’t been idle either. By my calculations, he should also possess more than one piece.”

Feng Miao Jun frowned, “Does he also know the origin of this object?” As soon as the words left her mouth, she realized she had asked a foolish question. The Yan King was no ordinary person—when it came to ancient secrets, his knowledge surpassed that of ordinary people.

“Of course,” Yun Ya didn’t seem to mind her question. “Otherwise, the Pu Kingdom and Taoyuan Territory are closer to Yan and have abundant resources. Why would he ignore these two places and only attack the Xi Kingdom? It’s because he saw that Wei first destroyed An Xia and then invaded Yao too quickly, and he couldn’t sit still any longer.”

Feng Miao Jun suddenly understood, finally solving another puzzle. So those two places, though seemingly prosperous, didn’t possess the altar fragments the Yan King needed, and thus weren’t primary targets for Yan’s aggression.

“What’s the purpose of gathering all the altar fragments?” Feng Miao Jun was filled with curiosity. “Is it to summon the Boundary God again?” A treasure contested by Yun Ya and the Yan King, the two greatest masters of the current age, must surely have earth-shattering effects, right?

“Exactly,” Yun Ya moved closer to her. “The Heavenly Ladder to the upper realm is closed, and the world’s spiritual energy is diminishing. If this continues, there may no longer be any cultivators in this world. When that time comes—”

He said gravely, “It will be the end for both you and me.”

If this world had no spiritual energy, cultivators would cease to exist, and it would thoroughly become a world of ordinary people. Having experienced the convenience of divine powers, the wonders of magical arts, and witnessed the infinite splendor and magnificence of this world, how could cultivators be content to return to the perspective of ordinary people? How could they be willing to live out their lives in mediocrity?

Feng Miao Jun was unwilling as well.

“If spiritual energy is completely depleted, this world will eventually perish. You know it still hasn’t recovered from the great war of ancient times. Like a severely wounded patient, without proper treatment, death is inevitable,” Yun Ya raised his hand and brushed a strand of hair from her temple to behind her ear. “Now that you know its purpose, are you willing to give it to me?”

If what he said was true, keeping just one piece with her would indeed be useless, and it would be better to send it to either Yun Ya or the Yan King to complete the set.

But was everything exactly as he claimed? Feng Miao Jun narrowed her eyes, “I have one more question. If you and the Yan King share the same goal, why not join forces?”

If the two powers united, they would surely achieve their objective more quickly. But the current situation was that the two were struggling against each other, competing for the few remaining altar fragments, and Feng Miao Jun did not doubt that a battle between them was inevitable.

“The person who welcomes back the Boundary God will have the merit of renewing the world, their name glorified for eternity, and heaven will bestow the richest rewards,” Yun Ya smiled lightly. “If it were you, would you willingly give up such an opportunity? Besides—”

“Who said the Yan King and I share the same goal? My purpose in collecting the altar fragments is to summon back the Boundary God and reopen the Heavenly Ladder,” Yun Ya’s gaze deepened. “But the Yan King may have different intentions. As far as I know, he has had multiple contacts with the Celestial Demon over the past hundred years and has been searching for the Celestial Demon’s whereabouts in recent years. Given the grievance between the Celestial Demon and the Boundary God, his reason for seizing the altar fragments is questionable. Perhaps he intends to hinder us.” He paused, “You might as well entrust the relic fragment to my safekeeping. At least I can let the Yan King know that the Yao Kingdom’s relic fragment is in my possession, sparing you this trouble.”

He had not wanted to speak of these old matters, but now that Feng Miao Jun was here and already involved in the dispute between him and the Yan King, he had to clarify the stakes. If he didn’t explain the dangers clearly, she wouldn’t know what she was facing and couldn’t prepare in advance.

After listening, Feng Miao Jun moved even further away from him, “What about you? Have you dealt with the Celestial Demon?”

No wonder he was so detailed in his explanation; his intentions were profound.

Yun Ya pressed his lips together.

Feng Miao Jun pressed further, and he finally replied slowly, “I have.”

“How many times?”

“Too many to count,” his brows furrowed, his handsome face showing some displeasure. “It has always tried every means to obstruct me.”

“Then aren’t you also having multiple contacts with the Celestial Demon and searching for its whereabouts in recent years? How is that different from the Yan King?” Feng Miao Jun smiled, “I’m sorry, but I’ll keep the altar fragment myself.”

“Keeping it serves no purpose and only invites trouble,” Yun Ya stared at her without blinking. “I told you this object is also sought by the Yan King. The sacred relic used in establishing the New Xia Kingdom was a spiral crab, not an altar fragment, so it wouldn’t have been Yan’s primary target for attack. By bringing this object back, you may be bringing back an enormous problem!”

“If that’s the case, Wei Kingdom should be even happier. New Xia will be forced to stand alongside Wei to confront Yan. Besides, how do you know it won’t become a bargaining chip in my negotiations with the Yan King?”