Heavenly Treasures Belong to the Virtuous

In all honesty, it was truly a splendid dog-eat-dog spectacle. Watching the remnants and relics left behind by the erstwhile Eternal Empire tear into each other in a life-and-death struggle right before his eyes was truly a delightful sight, utterly exhilarating. This trip had certainly not been in vain! The greatest beauty of drama lay neither in its story nor in whether it reached some wonderful happy ending or plunged into horrific butchery. Its finest aspect was that none of it had anything to do with oneself. Be it an epoch-shattering romance or an irreconcilable blood feud, those were other people's tales, completely divorced from oneself. There was no need to worry about how the protagonist would avenge a sea of blood, nor whether the prince and princess would need an apartment in a good school district after they wed. You could pick the best seat below the stage, smiling as the winds howled and the clouds surged in mortal combat, without ever worrying that the blood and tears on stage might splash upon you. Yet the moment you voluntarily leapt onto that stage, everything ceased to be quite so beautiful. It was even worse when you realized that beneath the stage, an unknown number of onlookers were peering in and watching. Ji Jue had not wanted to show his face in the slightest. In his original plans, the best outcome would have been having nothing to do with the whole affair from start to finish. He would quietly sit in the prime vantage point he had prepared, watch the play to its end, wait for the true protagonist to make an entrance, and then grab his gear and blow the bastard's head off! To hell with the Imperial Seal of the Realm! He didn't give a damn. That is, until Ji Jue sat in his custom-made prime viewing spot, watching Duke Wuyou backstab Duke Changle and lift the casket— The casket was indeed extraordinary: sealed with meticulous precision, crafted with rigorous discipline, and resonating in lockstep with the entire sacrificial temple. Interior and exterior formed a single whole; the slightest tampering would inevitably trigger backlash and suppression from the entire Border Realm. Unless opened through specific means, it would remain sealed for eternity, severed from the world outside. It was indeed a marvelous item. Too marvelous, in fact. Without it, Ji Jue wouldn't even have gotten to enjoy such a fine performance. His appreciation lasted right up until he suddenly realized something was amiss—on this exquisite, solemn casket of master craftsmanship, there seemed, appeared, perhaps, to be a trace that shouldn't be there. At that instant, Ji Jue's brow furrowed, and he leaned in instinctively. He could sense that amid the intricate Law of Tianyuan, the tangled spiritus circuits where touching a single strand swayed the whole, and the near-flawless sequences, there lingered a scratch so faint it was virtually nonexistent. Like the minute scratches left behind after picking a lock. He could almost picture how the culprit, utilizing peerless skill and tools, had deceived the inspections of the sacrificial temple and the authentications upon the casket—taking the contents as if reaching through thin air without triggering any backlash from the temple. And in the end, flicking their sleeves and drifting away without ever looking back. Smooth as flowing clouds and moving water, devoid of the slightest impediment. Truth be told, without Ji Jue's prior knowledge, even he would have found it difficult to notice that minute mark; even placed under a magnifying glass, it would likely be indistinguishable. Because what the person had used was a technique that, strictly speaking, in the entire world today only two people knew, two people understood, and two people had completely mastered to its very essence... The Dissociation Art! Thus, the moment the casket opened, Ji Jue acted without a second thought! He could no longer care about catalysis, no longer care about spectating. To hell with casting a long line to catch a big fish; to hell with baiting the waters. At this moment, aside from bewilderment, shock, and stupefaction, his mind held only the near-instinctive, fluid execution of an ambush! He should have thought of it long ago! The Swordsmith's Authority was supreme, yet it did not originate from himself. The Mirror of Contained Forms allowed free passage, yet the Mirror of Contained Forms had never belonged to him alone. Which meant that if he could enter, someone else could certainly enter as well—and they would only have entered earlier, faster, and more conveniently! What was more, beneath the sacrificial temple, upon the giant serpent's skull, was that slash left behind by the Ye clan ancestor. The moment the trace of the Dissociation Art on the box locked into the puzzle like the final piece and yielded the conclusion, he discarded all caution and erupted! He could not let that old bastard Wuyou cry out. He could not leave any clues behind, nor let anyone know what had actually occurred! The Imperial Seal of the Realm had to be in the casket! In that casket, there had to be the Imperial Seal of the Realm! He could never leave behind any clues or risks! Otherwise... Crack! Without hesitation, Ji Jue pierced Duke Wuyou's back and crushed his heart. Immediately following that, amidst the shocked and astounded gazes from inside and outside the Border Realm, he snatched the empty jade casket with a swift hand. The ferocious demon cloaked in flame threw its head back and laughed. Duke Wuyou's body abruptly blew apart. Like liquefied darkness, it squirmed in terror, retreating and reforming into that twisted, horrified face. But the gaping hole in his chest could not be mended at all. The clean puncture right through him still remained. Turning back now, he saw that bizarre figure cloaked in flames. An inexplicable familiarity struck him, yet he could not name it. Too many shifts, too many surprises—such that amid the relentless upheaval, he was on the verge of slipping into utter madness. "Wh-wh-who on earth are—" Deaf to his words, Ji Jue merely cast his eyes down at the casket in his hand and sighed with heartfelt sentiment. "What a splendid show indeed." The Border Realm fell into total silence. Inside and outside the sacrificial temple, countless gazes peered forward in bewilderment, watching the developments and the figure walking out step by step. Shock, confusion, suspicion, stupefaction—sheer disbelief. Who in the world was that? In that brief silence, Ji Jue said nothing, only spreading his hands once more. Behind him, darkness rose from the earth. The fractured tower was rapidly reviving and growing. Faces weeping tears of blood emerged anew upon the black tower, as if reborn. Revived once more! Endless black threads surged outward, blanketing everything once again and turning the vault of heaven into an iron curtain. Ripples visible to the naked eye expanded to envelop the sacrificial temple, causing countless broken bricks and shattered tiles to rise into the air and restore themselves to their original form. In the blink of an eye, everything that had fallen to pieces came back together. Right within the grasp of that burning silhouette! Immediately after, black threads interwove, draping across him to form a somber, majestic robe. Upon that robe, the emblem of the Evil Transmutation Cult resurfaced, gazing down indifferently upon all creation. "Sinecured parasites, old corpse-guarding dogs. "Petty clowns usurping princely ranks. "And to top it off, an incompetent good-for-nothing like you..." Ji Jue surveyed his surroundings, glancing at the wreckage of warships and fragments of puppets, before finally looking at the dazed Duke Wuyou. "It is rare for friends from all quarters to gather for such a grand occasion, and I, Lu, traveled thousands of miles to join. Regrettably, among the leftover dregs of the erstwhile Eternal Empire, only such farces remain. Truly... a profound disappointment!" "Insolence!" Duke Wuyou was beside himself with fury. The Seed of the Tiger Tally shuddered violently, and darkness erupted, surging forth like a storm. Yet in an instant, it was suppressed by the dark tower with effortless ease, stalling midair as though frozen solid. "Did I give you permission to speak?" Ji Jue cast his gaze down and flicked a finger contemptuously. Instantly, Duke Wuyou flew backward. He crashed through countless walls, pavilions, and towers, carving a deep furrow across the earth before slamming into the ruins, vomiting blood. He looked up in shock, pupils contracting. Before he could speak, he saw the figure shrouded in bizarre flames reach out toward him and make a grasping motion. Boom! An unmatched force manifested once more, seizing him by the neck and dragging him back! That familiar rhythm, the power that resonated with the Border Realm and even shook the Shadow of the Tower in the heavens—just what... what was... His pupils contracted rapidly to pinpricks. Unbelieving, he looked toward the trembling box in Ji Jue's hand. Unable to endure it any longer, drenched in cold sweat, he shrieked: "Im—impossible! I... I saw with my own eyes... How could you—" In that instant, the shrieking cut off abruptly. Right before his eyes, the casket opened once more. Blazing light erupted forth! As Ji Jue reached inside, Non-Offensive operated in a flash, ruthlessly scraping away a thin layer from within the casket. Gathering, recreating, and reconstructing out of nothingness, it formed the shape of an ancient imperial seal. Appearing directly before Duke Wuyou. Threads of phantom light swirled and rose into the sky, once again forming the identical illusory glow as before: "Eternally Securing Heaven's Mandate, Constant Across Ten Thousand Generations"! This was none other than the singular, supreme Sovereign Authority! Driven by the Swordsmith's Authority and the clearance of the Imperial Sovereign's Hand, the Border Realm hummed, the sacrificial temple quaked, and countless Laws of Tianyuan shifted and reconstructed in an instant. Even the Shadow of the Tower in the sky seemed to tremble once more. In merely a momentary flash, an ancient, vast aura of majesty surged outward, enveloping Ji Jue like a divine halo. All creation submitted, prostrating in devout veneration! Without question, that was the Imperial Seal of the Realm! A true vessel of Supreme Virtue and Great Sin. The manifestation on earth of Tianyuan's gravity and the Tower's brutality! Yet immediately after, under the scrutiny of countless burning gazes, Ji Jue slowly raised that cluster of phantom light, opened his mouth, and effortlessly swallowed it whole into his belly! And that casket was tossed to the ground, its seams cracking apart, stripped of all sacred mystique. Every trace left by the Dissociation Art was erased, and no one cared about it any longer... No one would ever doubt again. At this moment, every pair of eyes saw it with absolute clarity and certainty. The Imperial Seal of the Realm was right here! From this day forth, it was the possession of the Sacrificial Lord and Saint of the Evil Transmutation Cult, the generation's Mortal Sin who reshaped Quancheng—Lu Changsheng! Only Duke Wuyou remained frozen in place, his eyes bloodshot to the point of tearing at the corners. He simply could not believe what had just transpired. There had clearly been nothing inside the casket! He had seen it clearly! Yet now, even he began to doubt himself. Had his eyes truly played tricks on him? Otherwise, how could the Imperial Seal of the Realm have vanished into thin air? Surely the casket couldn't really have been empty, right? "As the saying goes, heavenly treasures belong to the virtuous. Why must you force the issue, Duke Wuyou?" Ji Jue threw his head back and laughed heartily, standing with his hands behind his back. "Since the Imperial Seal of the Realm has recognized me as its master, it is clear that Heaven's Mandate belongs to me—belongs to our Evil Transmutation Cult, no, our Evil Transmutation Holy Dynasty! "Heaven itself aids me to turn evil into righteousness! "I have a question for you—" The demon in the flames grinned and looked down, asking: "Having met the Supreme Sovereign, why do you not bow?" Crack! A sound of shattering rang out. Accompanied by Ji Jue's words, the dark tower roared and shuddered violently. Infinite gravity manifested in an instant, crashing down upon Duke Wuyou. Crushing his legs, bending his spine, grinding his nerves to dust, and suppressing his soul. Causing him to twitch in futile struggle. Yet his body bowed lower inch by inch, and amidst his shrieks and curses, his knees gradually struck the ground. As if performing the grandest imperial homage. Kowtowing with devout reverence. Prostrating before the throne, casting himself upon the earth to pay homage to the Emperor!