Translator: Sparrow Translations Editor: Sparrow Translations
Zhu Yi, many years ago, was able to come up with his own mantra with his understanding of light and darkness. Through cultivation, his understanding of the Heaven and Earth increased non-stop and eventually, he was able to obtain new changes.
Light brought brightness, and darkness brought dimness. The change of light and darkness was a supreme principle that dictated the change in the heaven and earth.
Brightness is visible and clear. It referred to all events and objects that could be known.
Dimness resides in the absence of light, rendering it impossible to see. It referred to everything that could not be understood or felt.
The combination of the two of them referred to the unification of all one knew and one did not know, of everything that could be seen and could not be seen.
Despite the many developments in the cultivation realm till now, there were still many things that no one knew anything about. Learning was boundless and forever. As humans learned, they turned what they did not know into something that they did know. Using various methods, they were able to sense and detect what they could not, and understand principles and objects that they could not understand beforehand. By taking control of what they could master beforehand, humans could continue their progress.
When one gained new knowledge from the unknown, more unknowns would then appear. The two of them would never cease to appear. They were infinite and limitless, as they contained all the knowledge that one must learn.
This is the Way of the Two Elements of Creation, which Zhu Yi would continue to cultivate. At this moment, he had cleared the path before him of fog. Formally stepping on this path was his first footstep to success.
Walking forward with his head held high would fill his future with unbridled potential.
Compared to him resisting the pressure of the Earth Dragon King and the Black Sea, as well as his slaying of the Azure Sky Dragon King, Lin Feng was more heartened by Zhu Yi’s increased understanding of the Dao.
However, right as he felt happy with his disciple, the fate of the Great Qin Empire made Lin Feng sigh.
From a certain perspective, the death of the Qin Emperor Shi Yu, as well as the disappearance of the Immortal Dragon City, were all unnecessary. Under the influence of many factors, this unexpected and unstoppable thing happened.
The fact that Shi Xingyun was the reincarnation of the Celestial Dragon Jin was something that Lin Feng did not expect. Yet, no one expected that Shi Yu would offer her as a sacrifice to the Immortal Dragon City, nor would they expect such a big change to happen because Shi Xingyun had yet to form her Immortal Soul. No one expected all these, not even Shi Yu.
Zhu Yi, with his understanding of the Way of the Two Elements of Creation, was able to make a breakthrough under the pressure from the Earth Dragon King and the other powerful dragons. It was not because he was lucky.
Had the Tiangang Swordmaster reached earlier, Shi Yu would not have been forced to sacrifice the dragon soul, which led to the subsequent developments.
In reality, no one even expected the Tiangang Swordmaster to join in the fray.
Regardless, the Tiangang Swordmaster could not be blamed. That would be unfairly diverting the anger.
However, for the younger cultivators Great Qin Empire, which was facing pressures from all fronts, they could not keep cool and stay rational.
Even Zhu Yi’s sudden improvement and a massive increase in strength would lead to many thinking that he was deliberately conserving his strength and had ulterior motives.
As they were under heavy pressure, they would likely divert the anger elsewhere as this was an easy stress-relief method. However, in reality, this did not help the situation one bit and instead, it would create even more trouble. Yet, some still delighted in doing so.
This was the natural for humans. Lin Feng did not care too much. As for the fate of the Great Qin Empire, he only felt a twinge of regret.
All these years, while the Great Qin Empire and the Celestial Sect of Wonders appeared to be on very close terms, the feelings of the senior echelons of the Great Qin’s leadership had complicated feelings towards him.
On one hand, the two sides were friendly, and they had good ties. Yet, on the other hand, the power of the Celestial Sect of Wonders, coupled with its influence, increased at a pace that left others tongue-tied.
For the Great Qin Empire, the question on defining their relationship with the Celestial Sect of Wonders became an important question. It was also a source of a headache for them.
For the Qin Emperor, Shi Yu, and the Great Qin Empire, they would surely not be willing to submit to someone else.
If Shi Yu were willing to submit to others, then he surely would not have joined the Celestial Sect of Wonders, the Purple Clouds Sect, the Royal House of the Northern Tribes, and the Great Zhou Empire (their rival) to resist the Great Void Sect’s attempts at meddling with their affairs.
The Zhou Emperor, Liang Pan, was a similar character. That was the reason why those things happened so many years ago. However, with the Scramble for the Ying Sea and the Anti-Celestial Sect War, the power dynamics of the Divine Lands shifted and hence, the Great Zhou Empire became marginalized.
While their styles were different, both Shi Yu and Liang Pan were fundamentally the same person.
As Shi Yu joined the alliance against the Great Void Sect, it was natural to assume that he would keep a lookout against the Celestial Sect of Wonders with its non-stop rise. His perception of the Celestial Sect of Wonders would likely become more complicated too. These were all expected.
Increasing the strength of the Great Qin Empire was the aim of Shi Yu and the other leaders of Great Qin.
They must seize the opportunities themselves. At the same time, every opportunity was accompanied by danger. One must be able to make use of it properly.
In the War of the Two Worlds, there were undoubtedly many of these opportunities. With the Great Void Sect fighting the dragons, Lin Feng blockading the Lingyuan Mountains, the Great Qin Empire were an unstoppable force in the Barren Expanses. Indeed, they benefitted much from it.
Everything appeared to be going in the way they wanted. Yet, in the next instant, everything went downhill.
Lin Feng could more or less guess what was going on in the minds of Shi Yu and the rest. What they were thinking were no doubt natural. Yet, in his perspective, the Great Qin Empire and the Shi Yu were too hasty in this War of the two Worlds. While they did not place all their stakes in a single gamble like the Golden Roc Grand Sage, their actions were still uncharacteristic for Shi Yu.
He could fully feel the cruelty of the War of the Two Worlds. A single misstep and one would plummet into a boundless ravine. Right now, the Great Qin Empire was already one foot off the ravine.
The fall of the Shi Yu and the loss of the Immortal Dragon City, coupled with serious injuries incurred by Shi Zongmao, as well as the deaths of Shi Zongyue and Shi Zonglin, meant that many of the Great Qin’s powerful cultivators were all gone.
The power of the Great Qin Empire was not even half of what it was at the start of the war. All that was left of its elites was Prince Nanming, Shi Zongtang.
After Shi Yu’s death, the crown would fall on Crown Prince Shi Chongyun, but he was only in his Advanced Nascent Soul Stage. He had yet to form his Immortal Soul. Normally, that would be fine. However, in the context of the War of the Two Worlds, it was impossible for him to shoulder such huge responsibilities.
No one knew what the Great Qin Empire would do next.
While Zhu Yi and the Tiangang Swordmaster continued to guard the inter-world passage in the Southern Wilderness and they managed to hold off the Earth Dragon King’s replacement, the Shen Dragon King, the Great Qin Empire was still not free from its troubles. The Hades Tribe had returned to the Divine Lands and their target was naturally Mount Baiyun. However, the other human cultivators could not be careless too.
Under this situation, everyone paid special attention to the Great Zhou Empire.
While the Great Zhou Empire was unlikely to attack the Great Qin Empire at its moment of weakness, they could use other, gentler methods if they had something like that in mind.
They could target the Draconic Energy in the Divine Lands!
4000 years ago, in the last War of the Two Worlds, the Great Zhou Empire had yet to rise and was nothing more than a small state by the Great Qin Empire’s border. Then, the Great Qin Empire ruled over half of the land in the Divine Lands, and all the Draconic Energy in the Divine Lands was congregated in Xiling City. In battle, they played a huge role.
After the War of the Two Worlds, the Great Qin Empire started to regress, and the Great Zhou Empire started to rise. During Liang Pan’s reign, the Great Zhou Empire’s powers increased exponentially and became equal to the Great Qin Empire. For a period of time, they even dominated the Great Qin Empire.
During this process, Tianjing and the Great Zhou Empire were able to forcibly snatch some of the Draconic Energy from the Great Qin Empire.
In the past few years, the situation changed once more. The Great Zhou Empire started to grow weak and the Great Qin Empire now had the advantage. Hence, the Great Qin Empire now sought to retrieve the Draconic Energy from the Great Zhou Empire.
Right now, the Great Qin Empire could no longer carry out their plans as planned. However, the change in power dynamics meant that the Great Zhou Empire was probably going to be after the Great Qin’s Draconic Energy.
Now that the Great Qin Empire had lost its emperor and the Immortal Dragon City, they could crown a new emperor to inherit the Draconic Energy, but they would still need some time to regain their full potential.
From a neutral perspective, after the loss of the Immortal Dragon City, the most powerful cultivator of the Great Qin Emperor was Shi Zongtang, who had the same mastery level as Shi Yu. However, he would be less apt at wielding the draconic energy compared to Liang Pan, who had the Imperial Palace of Emperor Tai.
This was if the Great Zhou Empire only took the Great Qin’s Draconic Energy. If they were able to control the Draconic Energy of both empires, then they would naturally be much stronger.
Today, with the Hades Tribe in the Divine Lands, the Divine Lands was in deep trouble.
However, danger and opportunities existed together. For Liang Pan, the danger before them was naturally a huge opportunity.
Under the backdrop of the War of the Two Worlds, the internal conflicts among humans would naturally be diminished. At the same time, it could also be the most suitable sign for any actions.
They could say that they had to borrow it temporarily, but they may never return it.
Right now, from the Great Qin Empire’s perspective, the only good piece of news was that the Hades Tribe did not bear much resentment against them despite their participation in the last War of the Two Worlds.
To be precise, the Great Qin Empire suffered greatly at the hands of the dragons and the Hades Tribe. They were only able to experience some sort of renaissance recently.
In terms of resentment, the Great Qin Empire surely bore much against the Hades Tribe.
However, at this moment, they would surely not provoke the Hades Tribe. They are currently in a phase of extreme weakness, and the first target of the Hades Tribe was Mount Baiyun.
Lin Feng sat on Mount Yujing and flew through void space as he pondered the situation at hand.