After the Emperor of the Dead finished speaking, he did not continue. He turned to Lin Feng and observed the surroundings around Lin Feng, Xiao Yan and the rest. His brows ached a little, "Lin Feng, did you find the small world that Wen Chiyang hid himself in in the past?"
Lin Feng revealed a smile and he also sized up the Emperor of the Dead, "That has nothing to do with you. But your sudden appearance does catch me by surprise."
The Emperor of the Dead said, "There's not a place more suitable than here. Regardless whether it's the Supreme Heavenly Mirror or that sword of yours, before they can enter here, they will have to clash with Catastrophe and the entire Netherworld Sea. Regardless whether it's your disciple Xiao Yan or Wu Mengqi, they won't be able to withstand it."
"Catastrophe is a sharp weapon in itself. Even against the stronger Supreme Heavenly Mirror and Heaven-Destroying Sword, it will not choose to submit. It will only react more violently. And mind you, Catastrophe will be able to resist them."
The Emperor of the Dead smiled, "If you bring the Supreme Heavenly Mirror and Heaven-Destroying Sword in, you will only force Catastrophe to my side. I will be happy to see that."
"Moreover, if I'm not wrong, if Mount Yujing wants to descend in this plane of s.p.a.ce, it will also meet with the resistance of the Netherworld Sea too."
Lin Feng said calmly, "Without the Supreme Heavenly Mirror and Heaven-Destroying Sword, do you think that you will still be able to leave so early? Or do you think that I met with the Great Void Sect for this battle with Catastrophe and the Netherworld Sea? Regardless what happens next, we'll be sure to entertain you first."
Yan Nanlai turned to look at the Emperor of the Dead and nodded his head, "Emperor of the Dead, you caused great chaos during the Antiquity Age. Now that you have made a comeback, we'll not tolerate your presence."
The mana behind the Emperor of the Dead in void s.p.a.ce condensed to form a pure-black dragon throne. He sat relaxedly on the dragon throne and turned his head slightly to look at Yan Nanlai and the rest, "Oh? You will not tolerate my presence? Don't make it sound so nice. It's just that all of you don't like what I'm doing."
"Protecting the Divine Lands? All of you are just power-hungry people, that's it." The Emperor of the Dead placed his ten fingers on his lap, "I ascended the throne and I am the ruler of the world. But the Great Void Sect wants to undermine my rule."
"If all of you are like the Great Void Holy Man and Wen Chiyang, trying to resist the demons and don't interfere in the matters of the Divine Lands, then it's fine. But if anyone of you want to be the human emperor of the Divine Lands, I won't allow you to."
The Emperor of the Dead said indifferently, "If you try to force things, it won't work out. This is the nature of how things work."
Yan Nanlai said softly, "Regardless whether it's you or other human emperors, your purpose should be to resist the demons and protect the Divine Lands. It shouldn't be for any selfish purpose. This should be the requirement."
"I have no intention of interfering with the actions of the emperor. But the emperor must be virtuous and caring towards his people."
"Remove internal conflicts and resist the demons so as to protect the Divine Lands. This should be what all emperors should be aiming for."
Lin Feng, Xiao Yan, Zhu Yi and the rest did not speak when they heard his words. After seeing the memories of Wen Chiyang, they already knew that during the Antiquity Age, there had already been an internal conflict within the Great Void Sect over what their direction should be. At that point in time, there was already a segregation of the Conservative and Radical Factions.
But the Conservative and Radical Factions then were different from what they were now.
The Conservative Faction of the Great Void Sect was led by Wen Chiyang, which focused on resisting the demons and protecting the Divine Lands. They did not meddle with the affairs of the human emperor.
Whereas the Radical Faction was greatly inclined towards the human emperor, so as to ensure that the human emperor can align its ideas with the Great Void Sect to resist the demons. The leader of this faction was Wen Chiyang's junior, Yan Xinghe.
The conflict between both parties had already existed even when the Great Void Holy Man was still around. It originated from the first human emperor of the Antiquity Age, Emperor Tai. Although he fought alongside the Great Void Holy Man, he was not close to the Great Void Sect. He was even a slight opposition to them. There were some minor conflicts between the people of Emperor Tai and the Great Void Sect disciples.
Then, when Emperor Ru ascended the throne, the situation got a little better. But when it got to Emperor Chen, the Great Void Sect became unfamiliar with the royalty again. Because of this, the Radical Faction grew bigger and bigger within the Great Void Sect and slowly cemented its place.
The Emperor of the Dead revealed a sarcastic smile on his face, "What a ludicrous viewpoint just like Yan Xinghe. To prevent a human emperor like me, who will oppose all of you, from ascending the throne, an internal conflict arose. The best for all of you is to choose a human emperor that will look after all of you and the Divine Lands?"
"Everything for the Divine Lands. Are the lot of you really so unselfish?" The Emperor of the Dead said quietly. "From what I see, even the Great Void Holy Man won't be like that."
He looked at Yan Nanlai, Qing Yi Holy Woman and the rest, "Did all of you ever wonder why Tai s.h.i.+tian and Tian Chen Daoist have always been at loggerheads with the Great Void Sect? Or why the Ru Lai Daoist have always been so ambivalent towards the Great Void Sect?"
Yan Nanlai and the rest creased their brows. Tai s.h.i.+tian was the actual name of Emperor Tai, while the Tian Chen Daoist was the Daoist name of Emperor Chen before he ascended the throne. The Ru Lai Daoist and the Buddha are also the terms used to address Emperor Ru after he became a Buddhist.
The Emperor of the Dead pressed on his head slightly, "Great virtue. But by studying history, do you know what I see?"
"What I see is both the Great Void Holy Man and Tai s.h.i.+tian who were close rivals during the end of the Primordial Age. But after entering the Antiquity Age and obtaining the Supreme Heavenly Mirror, the Great Void Holy Man started to emerge victorious over Tai s.h.i.+tian."
"What I see is that after the battle with s.h.i.+ Longjue, the person who is dead is Tai s.h.i.+tian and the person who is alive is the Great Void Holy Man."
"What I see is during the War of the Two Worlds, the Tian Chen Daoist who became the human emperor die, and after the Great Void Holy Man and Ru Lai Daoist went to the Dead Sea, the Supreme Heavenly Mirror saved Yan Xinghe's life."
The Emperor of the Dead said logically, "The Great Void Holy Man and Tai s.h.i.+tian watched as the Supreme Heavenly Mirror was birthed. With Tai s.h.i.+tian's character, I don't think he's one will give way."
Emperor Tai was someone who was very domineering and this was something everyone knew.
"How the Great Void Holy Man obtained the Supreme Heavenly Mirror, I don't know. And I'm also not interested in knowing. Whatever it is, I can say that he's capable to have obtained it." The Emperor of the Dead said, "But by looking at history, I learnt that absolute power is everything."
"If the Supreme Heavenly Mirror is not there to support the Great Void Sect generation after generations, the fortune of the Great Void Sect will not be much better than the Heaven's Gate, Ancient Satanic Sect or the Great Thunderclap Temple."
As the Emperor of the Dead spoke, he looked at Lin Feng and smiled, "If Master Lin's Heaven-Destroying Sword is not there, I'm afraid that the Great Void Sect won't be able to tolerate his presence, am I right?"
Yan Nanlai, the Qing Yi Holy Woman, Qing Ning Holy Man and Wu Mengqi all furrowed their brows. As Lin Feng heard this, he laughed gently and did not add on anything.
The Emperor of the Dead continued saying, "If not for the Supreme Heavenly Mirror, I'm not sure in whose hands will Mount Baiyun land up in. Mount Baiyun of the past is different from now. It was the center where all the spiritual energy in the Divine Lands gathered. Only at the end of the Antiquity Age did the movement of spiritual energy decline due to changes in the Greater World."
"While the Starry Sea is good, it can't be compared to Mount Baiyun in terms of cultivation."
The Emperor of the Dead shook his head repeatedly, "The best magic treasure is not in your hands and the best ground to cultivate is also not under you. At times, you will also wonder if you are the best in the Divine Lands. For such a human emperor, what's the point?"
"I ascended the throne as an emperor, but I don't wish to live in the shadows of others."
Yan Nanlai said gently, "A person with darkness in his heart views the world as one with no light. No matter how much you say, you can't change the fact that you got your position through dark methods. It's not that we want to force you out of your throne, but that the entire Divine Lands cannot tolerate your behavior."
"Whatever you said just now are all words of denial."
The Emperor of the Dead was not vexed even as he heard Yan Nanlai. He even smiled, "Oh, is that so? Xia Fangyu is an emperor that satisfies you?"
Yan Nanlai replied, "Although I had my doubts, with the re-appearance of the Crucible of the Divine Lands, I can confirm that these are all sins that you have committed."
The Emperor of the Dead replied, "Sins? From what I see, in the entire Great Void Sect from the past till now, there's only one person who is capable of walking his talk."
He pointed to the ground, "It has to be Wen Chiyang."
"He won't be the human emperor or the leader of the Great Void Sect. He didn't even want to control the Supreme Heavenly Mirror." The Emperor of the Dead said, "But the demons that he killed were probably more than the total demons killed by the Tian Chen Daoist, Xia Fangyu and Yan Xinghe combined."
"He has powers beyond Yan Xinghe, but to prevent an internal conflict in the Great Void Sect, he decided to leave. He is indeed a person who walks his talk, but what happened to him eventually? He couldn't even protect his beloved wife."
The face of the Emperor of the Dead was filled with sarcasm, "That's right. I killed Xia Fangyu. But before that, what did he do? After Wen Chiyang and Shen Yuan were gravely hurt, and after Wen Chiyang had perished, he went to kill the wife of Wen Chiyang to avenge his son."
"In order to protect the pregnant cloud demon, Wen Chiyang left a protective spell on her. Even after Wen Chiyang perished, it did not do what it was supposed to."
"Eventually, after the war, the plane of s.p.a.ce that Wen Chiyang and his wife hid in was destroyed. Xia Fangyu killed the cloud demon and was hurt by the protective spell himself." The Emperor of the Dead looked up and laughed, "It's a pity that the cloud demon had the chance to escape because of a protective spell, but who knew that she had to give birth prematurely. Eventually, she used the remaining powers of the spell to send her child away and was killed by Xia Fangyu."
"What a joke. Wen Chiyang sacrificed his life but his wife died in the hands of his own clan. His son also missing. No one knows if he's still alive or dead."
In the red, chaotic void s.p.a.ce, the laughter of the Emperor of the Dead filled the place, leaving everyone petrified.