Li Qiye stared at the horizon for a while before answering the monarch’s question: “His dao heart is not firm.”

“Not firm?” The monarch couldn’t believe it: “That’s impossible. I heard Ancestor Shan and the others said that perseverance is his strong point.” 

“That’s two different things.” Li Qiye shook his head: “You think that it’s only about wavering before difficulties? No, temptation is another test.”

“Gu Zun is a very patient person. In order to reach his goal, he can endure everything! However, his dao heart has two flaws. First, greed, second, treachery.” Li Qiye’s eyes turned profound.

“Greed and treachery?” She murmured.

“Ambition is good but when it becomes greed, that’s no longer the case.” Li Qiye explained: “Gu Zun has a greedy nature and wants everything, like an ant wanting to swallow a big cake but not one crumb at a time. Instead, he wants it all with one bite. The world isn’t that easy though.” Li Qiye smiled and said.

“What about treachery?” She asked. After all, Gu Zun was still her ancestor. The word “treachery” was quite harsh.

“In order to obtain his goal, Gu Zun could sell everything! He didn’t mind betraying everything, including the Black Dragon King!” He stared straight at her and said.

“That’s impossible!” She shouted. The king was their progenitor and pride. In their eyes, Gu Zun wouldn’t betray him no matter how evil he was.

“Really now?” Li Qiye smiled: “What kind of person do you think Gu Zun is? He’s not the Black Dragon King’s disciple or child. His status is on the same level as Lu Zhangsun; as one of the ten eonic geniuses with an amazing cultivation, why didn’t the king give him the successor role? Why did he take away all of Gu Zun’s position, leaving him with no responsibility? If you are the Black Dragon King, would you waste such a talent? The king was already merciful enough by not killing him!” 

The monarch shuddered after hearing this. She has thought about this issue before too but didn’t dare to pry further. Ancestor Shan’s group didn’t wish to talk about it either.

Just think about it, their ancestor was an exceptional candidate so why didn’t he receive the great responsibility? Why did he need to wait till Lu Zhangsun died before seizing power? Someone as insightful as the Black Dragon King wouldn’t bury a talent for no reason!

Gu Zun would be highly valued and utilized in any lineage but the Black Dragon King went as far as removing all of his roles. Lu Zhangsun himself had always been vigilant of Gu Zun as well!

This meant that Gu Zun had committed an unforgivable mistake back then! But the Black Dragon King was a benevolent person. What kind of mistake was unforgivable?

Then she thought about what Li Qiye has just said and come out with a shocking answer - betrayal!

The monarch became suffocated. Though in this internal vie for power, Gu Zun was Elder Zhangsun’s opponent, he was still their ancestor. No one was right or wrong in wanting power. However, betraying the Black Dragon King was a scary matter.

If the disciples were to find out that Gu Zun had betrayed their progenitor before, they would never forgive him!

“Immortal Emperors have certain standards.” Li Qiye said flatly: “There is one more crucial requirement outside of the dao heart, an imperial ethics.”

“Imperial ethics?” She became attentive right away since this was her first time hearing the term.

“It’s a very vague concept but if I were to be more specific, betrayal is not one of them. An emperor can slaughter millions and wipe out clans, but not betrayal.”

“Why is that?” She asked.

Li Qiye continued on: “Emperors can be merciless but they must have their own rules. For example, the emperors from the Ancient Ming Race, they massacred so many, including their own, as their darkness engulfed the nine worlds. However, they will not betray the Ancient Ming Race and their soul as its member!”

“This betrayal will forever haunt an emperor. As for those who have yet to ascend, this will become an inner demon that might swallow them.” He said seriously.

“I, I heard that Immortal Emperor Ye Ti has massacred many people. His sword is always stained with blood.” She couldn’t help but bring up a different story.

“Immortal Emperor Ye Ti.” Li Qiye smiled in response: “Before becoming an emperor, he really killed many people, even those close to him. However, betrayal never happened, only cruelty. After becoming emperor, he committed even more atrocities but strictly speaking, they weren’t betrayal either. He didn’t betray his heart but simply severed it.”

He stared at the monarch and revealed: “But there’s something you don’t know. He paid a very price for his actions! He might be the emperor that had suffered the most miserable death!”

“Most miserable death? Even emperors would die so pitifully?” She became startled.

Keep in mind that even Immortal Emperor Ta Kong’s death couldn’t be described with these words.

“It’s indeed hard for emperors to suffer this type of death but Immortal Emperor Ye Ti met a very tragic end, a fate worse than death! For an emperor, nothing could be more miserable than his end.”

“A fate worse than death.” The monarch shuddered. It was understandable for ordinary people to be victims of this fate but for an emperor? How terrible was it?

She simply couldn’t imagine it at all!

“That’s why emperors must adhere to certain rules or they’ll pay a heavy price for their actions one day. The villainous heaven might not kill anyone. However, the judgment of the world has never spared anyone!”

She was stupefied before finally commenting a while later: “Even an emperor can’t do whatever they want.”

“That’s how it is, even the villainous heaven is subjected to this. That’s what a rule is. Even if you can surpass the high heaven, you will still need certain rules and guidelines or that height is impossible to reach.”

“Gu Zun is very talented with a patient dao heart but he doesn’t follow the rules necessary to become an emperor.” Li Qiye said slowly: “Even though the Black Dragon King favored him, he still couldn’t become one! In the end, the Black Dragon King personally cut off his fortune.”

Hearing this secret left the monarch stunned. She didn’t know what Gu Zun did back then but to earn such distrust from their progenitor meant that the sin was beyond salvation.

“Okay, no need to talk about old stories. Let’s go to the twelve scales.” Li Qiye smiled and said.

The monarch hurriedly followed him. Nevertheless, she still couldn’t calm down since Li Qiye had revealed too many things to her.

***

The twelve scales weren’t just twelve steps. To be more precise, it was a fair-sized mountain.

It was located inside Discover with surrounding mist and clouds. A stream came from the summit and flowed around the mountain to eventually form a lake.

There were many hills in the vicinity with pavilions and corridors built next to them.

It was a very popular place in Discover. Visitors would come and visit at least once to test their own future. This was not a natural mountain. Rumor has it that it only showed up at Discover during Immortal Emperor Yin Tian’s generation. Another tale told that Matriarch Yu and the Black Dragon Legion used a supreme method to move the scales into this city.

Some believed that before it became a property of the city, it used to be a divine mountain for a godly race and served as its barrier!

Hey guys,

The girlfriend's situation is going well. I ended up staying at her house in order to meet her parents for three days. They were nice and courteous. We went to the beach on Sunday. All in all, she was exactly the same as when we were chatting online. My family members are still extremely skeptical and I can understand their worries. I'll be taking her to see them in the incoming weeks. 

My stomach is being annihilated by Vietnamese food. Maybe I'm just weak now and can't handle street foods. It does make the trip a lot less enjoyable.