Chapter 294: Twilight Reappears
As Yu Ke read out the Mortal Emperor's edict, numerous divine lights, like towering pillars that upheld the heavens, crashed down upon Shen Yuan, trapping him within the Human Path Array that enveloped this realm.
It felt as though the immense weight of ancient divine mountains bore down upon him, the vast tide of humanity fate washing over to suppress all things: flesh, mana, true spirit, spirit soul. Nearly every inch of his body was thoroughly restrained by the Mortal Path Array.
The Capital City of the Great Yin Imperial Dynasty was already the place where the humanity fate was most flourishing, and the Human Path Array within the boundaries of the Imperial City was at its peak condition.
If the Mortal Emperor himself were to arrive, holding the Mortal Path Treasure, even a Heavenly Immortal descending to earth within the Imperial City could be suppressed.
The current edict issued by the Mortal Emperor might not mobilize its full strength, yet it retained one-thousandth of its might.
In the face of the Human Path Array that has protected the Great Yin Imperial Dynasty for tens of thousands of years, even Shen Yuan, equipped with numerous Heavenly General and Earthly Destroyer divine powers, found it difficult to contend against.
In the Luotian Tao Hall, all forces present were in an uproar, their expressions filled with shock.
Even though Shen Yuan had successively slain two Void Refining True Monarchs with extraordinary battle achievements, in the end, he was considered only a powerful expert among the younger generation. The struggles he could incite should also have been confined to the younger generation, which was the consensus among all forces.
Yet now, the Great Yin's Mortal Emperor had personally decreed suppression, a treatment not even the Taoist Doyens of various grotto heavens and blessed lands had received.
The first to react was the Great Yin 3rd Prince, Ji Zhaoyang, who quickly looked towards the Taixu Ship above. With a cupped hand salute towards Yu Ke and Massacre True Monarch, he asked anxiously,
"Falling Clouds Taoist is a guest I invited, and my father was also informed in advance about him joining the All-Worlds Luotian Convention."
"Why would such an edict be suddenly issued now? Is there some kind of misunderstanding?"
As the messenger, Yu Ke looked down indifferently at the 3rd Prince before him, his heart could not help but sigh.
During the trials in the Ingenious Tiny World, he still saw Ji Zhaoyang as an equal.
As the pillars of his clan and his Void Refining True Monarch grandfather were slain by Shen Yuan, Ji Zhaoyang's standing rose swiftly, favored by the humanity fate and acquiring the qualifications to compete for being heir to the throne, and the gap between him and this Great Yin 3rd Prince grew much wider.
Thereafter, although he thought memories of the future would allow him to catch up, he never expected that during an encounter at the Treasure Drop Pavilion, Shen Yuan would take the Dragon Gate Secret Order from him. Not even Crown Prince Ji Xuanyi would give him another chance after that.
Faced with no other choice, he had to bet everything on the memories of his future.
This time he guessed correctly, but in a sense, he also failed.
The ancient bronze cauldron bought at the Treasure Drop Pavilion contained a potentially Highest Heaven Realm level terrifying countermeasure which successfully corrupted the ailing Mortal Emperor of Great Yin.
Using the ancient bronze cauldron as a medium, the sinister cultivators from the Dusk Realm took over the Great Yin Imperial Palace.
They hid within the Imperial Palace, using the corrupted Mortal Emperor to elude the scrutiny of the humanity fate.
Yu Ke intended to take refuge with the Great Yin Mortal Emperor, relying on his future memories, but unexpectedly stumbled into a nest of Dusk Realm cultivators and was noticed by them for bearing traces from the future.
Yu Ke was greatly alarmed; it was only then that he realized the future he knew might not be correct.
Once deprived of his status as a reserve Sacred Sage and merely an external sect elder of Little Clarity Void heavens during the Great Schism, he had seen only the tip of the iceberg of the future, limited by his own status.
The truth hidden beneath the surface of the sea was a future he had never witnessed.
When the Dusk Realm cultivators pressured Yu Ke for information about the future, and learned that the future Great Yin Mortal Emperor would sever the ties with the realm, they were greatly shocked.
Fearing resistance from the Mortal Emperor, they forcefully obliterated part of his true spirit, plunging the Mortal Emperor into a near-death state, facilitating their control over the lord of the Human Path and preventing his escape from corruption.
Thereafter, the Dusk Realm cultivators told Yu Ke that the Dusk Realm possessed means to replenish lifespan and vitality, promising that if Yu Ke obeyed their orders, he could restore his years and even advance further to Tao Harmony or ascend to the Immortal Realm.
And if he refused, there would be only death.
Under the Dusk Realm cultivators' threat and inducement, Yu Ke willingly submitted to the Dusk Realm.
The first order given by those Dusk Realm cultivators in control of the Great Yin Mortal Emperor was to prune away the upcoming century's individuals who could stir the world's major trends in the Primal Chaos Realm.
Such individuals, to a certain extent, carried the humanity fate. If they were to be slain, it would disrupt the trajectory of human fortune, consequently offering more convenience for the Dusk Realm's surreptitious inflow.
Yu Ke, having already chosen to side with the Dusk Realm, unhesitatingly named Fallen Clouds Taoist.
Following that, Yu Ke received an edict personally penned by the corrupted Great Yin Mortal Emperor, commanding Massacre True Monarch to execute Falling Clouds Taoist.
His mind swiftly processed the chain of causes and effects, and then he looked at the desperate 3rd Prince Ji Zhaoyang before him, Yu Ke couldn't help but feel a surge of satisfaction.
"This is an edict from the Mortal Emperor, how could it possibly be false?"
Ji Zhaoyang was still unwilling to believe it and could only turn his gaze towards the towering figure on the Taixu Ship covered in armor,
"Massacre True Monarch!"
The figure beneath the armor, Massacre True Monarch, was silent for a long while, and then responded with a deep voice,
"This indeed is an edict handwritten by His Majesty."
Ji Zhaoyang felt despair.
Crown Prince Ji Xuanyi, who was next to him, quickly recovered from his previous fear, and, pointing at Ji Zhaoyang, burst into maniacal laughter.
"That so-called Falling Clouds Taoist has incurred Father's displeasure and is being ordered to be executed, how could you, Ji Zhaoyang, you fool, escape the blame?"