Tome of Troubled Times

Chapter 625: Xia Longyuan's Reflections

No matter what, the Wang Clan was destined to rebel.

Zhao Changhe looked down at Wang Daoning’s corpse and murmured, “When he couldn’t curb his greed—when he knowingly absorbed the sea mud tainted with the Sea Tribe’s yin qi—this outcome was sealed. The Sea Emperor’s power was inherently incompatible with his own. Once he wielded it, he was forced to rebel, becoming a pawn in the struggle between Xia Longyuan and the Sea Emperor. Once that step was taken, there was no turning back. Either he destroyed his opponent, or he was destroyed. In a way... Hai Pinglan set up Old Wang.”

Xia Chichi nodded.

Indeed, Hai Pinglan had orchestrated this conflict perfectly, pitting the tiger against the wolf. By exploiting the Sea Emperor’s desire for more subjects, he lured him onto land to provoke Xia Longyuan—thus setting in motion the corruption of the Wang Clan.

But regardless of who had manipulated the Wang Clan, Xia Chichi’s expression was now visibly lighter.

Her emotions had been too tangled, seeking an outlet. With Wang Daoning dead, it felt as though a weight had been lifted from her heart. A sense of relief washed over her.

“How ironic. The Heavenly Sea-Suppressing Palm neither swept away the heavens nor suppressed the seas—it was devoured by the very sea it sought to master.” She chuckled, her tone tinged with humor. “Hey, didn’t you learn a bit of that technique? Just the basics... Do you think it’s unlucky? Want to forget it?”

Zhao Changhe smiled and said, “It depends on who wields it. The technique itself isn’t bad. Its raw, overwhelming aggression actually suits the Wang Clan’s temperament.”

Xia Chichi raised a brow. “Suits them? With their scheming and pettiness, how does that fit the Heavenly Sea-Suppressing Palm?”

“Wang Daoning might be the least dignified of the Ranking of Heaven, but he was also the boldest gambler. Whether it was seeking Profound Control Realm power through dangerous deals or this final, desperate dragon-slaying attempt, he threw everything on the line. There was a kind of reckless determination in him. If he’d won his bet, he would have seemed less like a typical noble and more like a sea-born marauder.”

“There are no ifs in this world,” said Vermillion Bird calmly. “Don’t glorify the Ranking of Heaven. With talent and resources, anyone can break into Profound Mysteries if they find the right path. Your Vicious Blood Art is a supposed demonic cultivation technique. It requires only tenacity, not virtue. It’s the practitioner, not the technique, that defines it.”

With that, she turned and descended into the sanctuary below.

She had been holding herself together, standing off to the side, her composure strained. Seeing that the others seemed focused elsewhere, she quietly exhaled. Apparently, no one paid attention to the remarks Wang Daoning had made. Her pride remained intact, and she resumed the aloof demeanor of a venerable.

Zhao Changhe watched her retreating figure, his eyes glimmering with thought.

It was not what Wang Daoning had said that mattered—it was the way Vermillion Bird had risked herself to protect him.

That act of selflessness... That figure walking away...

He hesitated, then cautiously said, “My thanks for your help earlier, Venerable...”

Vermillion Bird’s footsteps faltered briefly. She waved a hand dismissively and continued forward. “You are the Fire Pig of Shi of our holy cult. Why should protecting you be unusual? As long as you remain loyal to the cult, you will not have betrayed my intentions.”

Zhao Changhe’s expression turned complicated, but he said no more.

What if I’ve got it wrong? Better ask Lady Three later...

Now was not the time for such thoughts. Xia Longyuan’s body still sat quietly atop the high platform. Vermillion Bird was approaching him, and Zhao Changhe worried she might harbor thoughts of desecration. He swiftly descended, positioning himself discreetly between her and the corpse. Feigning nonchalance, he reached toward Xia Longyuan’s robes. “Old Xia left me something. Let me check...”

Vermillion Bird’s voice came from behind, cool and measured. “No need to shield him deliberately. Though I despised him, I wouldn’t stoop that low. If nothing else, out of respect for Chichi, I wouldn’t do such a thing. What do you take me for?”

Zhao Changhe exhaled silently in relief.

Inside Xia Longyuan’s robes were two pages. One was clearly a page of the Heavenly Tome, though Zhao Changhe wasn’t exactly sure of its domain. The other...

Zhao Changhe pulled it out and paused, perplexed.

It was a page resembling a personal note, seemingly attached to the Heavenly Tome. Mysteriously, it fused with the tome and appeared directly within his soul sea.

It felt as though Xia Longyuan’s lingering spirit was speaking to him. In reality, it was likely a pre-set message designed to bypass the blind woman’s scrutiny.

The first line was chilling.

“This world is, in fact, a game.”

Zhao Changhe’s eyes narrowed.

“It’s clearly a constructed, closed-off world, like those fragmented worlds, pocket dimensions, or cave realms you’d see in web novels. In this enclosed environment, the sky is artificial—you can reach the world’s end, but there’s no exit. The ground is fake, too. It’s not a sphere with life on the other side. Since it’s an artificial world, treating it as a game world isn’t unreasonable.”

Zhao Changhe looked up, considering the statement. He was not sure what to make of it.

A closed world was one thing, but whether that equated to a fake world was another matter entirely. Yet he could not dismiss Xia Longyuan’s perspective entirely. In any case, this was just a recorded message; arguing with it was pointless. He listened in silence.

“If this is a world in a book, then the book itself is the Heavenly Tome. It was likely a powerful artifact once held by an extraordinary deity or immortal. But when its wielder died, even the artifact was shattered. That’s what they mean by ‘the Heavenly Dao is dead and the era has collapsed.’ Humanity’s so-called rise from the ruins? Most of the world’s peak powers either perished or barely survived. How did ordinary people survive? Simple—the Heavenly Tome’s world was destroyed and then reborn, repopulating itself with new life.”

“The more I think about it, the more it feels like a game. Even when everyone dies, they respawn. Aren’t they just NPCs?”

“That blind woman wants me to gather the Heavenly Tome? She’s dreaming.” Xia Longyuan’s tone dripped with disdain. “There are countless gods and demons lurking in the shadows, all of them coveting the Heavenly Tome, believing that collecting it will allow them to replace the Heavenly Dao. All I need to do is keep one page for myself to ensure no one ever completes the set. Let them tear each other apart.”

“Even that blind woman who thinks she sees all will eventually join the fray. Sooner or later, she’ll descend from her lofty perch and into the pit with the rest of the vermin. I’m looking forward to the day she gets torn to shreds.”

“As for the goal of replacing the Heavenly Dao, she assumes everyone shares her obsession. But I don’t. How many gamers want to become the game master? She understands nothing. Just because she spent a few days in the real world, she thinks she knows people? What I really want is to destroy the Heavenly Tome. But it can’t be destroyed... I know that. It’s the embodiment of the Heavenly Dao. If I could destroy it, I could destroy the world itself. Or perhaps the reverse—if the world ends, the tome might be destroyed too. Maybe one day that’ll be possible. For now, I’ll leave the possibility open.”

“Simply completing the Heavenly Tome means setting the stage for her victory. But just when she thinks she can replace the Heavenly Dao, she’ll realize she’s just another pawn.”

“If there’s any benefit to gathering the Heavenly Tome, it’s the opportunity to fight gods and demons along the way. That’s something I’d enjoy—hunting them one by one, leveling up with each kill. But knowing she’s watching, I don’t feel like playing her game. I have other ways to find these hidden rats. From the sanctuary beneath the Imperial Ancestral Temple, I crafted my own heavens and rivers. I can observe any place and descend wherever I choose.”

“The page at the Ancient Sword Lake is the core directive, the most fundamental tome. Tempting, isn’t it? I knew of it long ago but deliberately left it there, hoping to bait the gods and demons into revealing themselves so I could destroy them. But the blind woman concealed the tome’s aura and even changed its form, so only the aristocratic clans and cults kept searching for the sword. I lost that round of our game. Still, whether it ends up with my daughter or my son-in-law, she hasn’t won yet.”

“I don’t expect to die... but if this page ends up in someone’s hands, it’s likely to be that son-in-law. I’ll attach this note here. If someone else gets it, that’s fine, as long as it frustrates the blind woman. Whether you choose to be her pawn is up to you.”

“As for the Maitreya Cult, I originally thought they possessed a page or were targeting one. I waited, letting them poison Jiangnan, uninterested in intervening, just to see which god or demon would show itself. Tang Wanzhuang and Changhe meddled too much, but surprisingly, Changhe managed to rally his friends and actually took out the god behind Maitreya. These rats in the shadows are pathetic.”

“The barbarian god is a bit more formidable. He constantly tries to pin me down. When Changhe first met me, I smashed the heavens with one strike because the barbarian god thought that once I left my sanctuary, I’d be weaker. I sent him crawling back. But truthfully, I am constrained. If I leave the capital and someone seizes it, I’ll be in serious trouble.”

“I faintly sense it... Losing my foundation might disrupt my cultivation. The path of unifying the world I once chose might have been a mistake. It’s become a shackle. My son-in-law warned me that if I were to fall, it would be because of this.”

“I didn’t want to believe it. My goal is to fight gods and demons. How could I fall to mere slimes? The game is only fun because of its constraints. Ideally, I’d remain here, watching over everything, while my son-in-law grows stronger and leads the battles.”

“He’s a decent lad, if a bit of a fool and too much of a womanizer. He’s never seen a main character worth his time. My daughter’s at least half-human. Couldn’t he focus on her alone? The real issue is he’s starting to think of himself as an NPC... With that mindset, one day, he’s bound to fall into the blind woman’s trap.”