He suddenly seemed to go mad, laughing and crying at once. Several wardens hurriedly put down their work and rushed over to support Ian Shawking.
Ian Shawking screamed, breaking free from the crowd, his voice piercing: "Fake, you're all fake!"
He wounded several wardens, killed a few, then suddenly froze like a puppet, standing stiffly and staring blankly at his own blood-stained hands.
After a long while, he turned his head with difficulty and asked Quinn Shepherd, "Shepherd Heavenly Venerable, is this real or fake now?"
Quinn Shepherd sighed and said, "Left Adjutant, I'm planning to leave. Aren't you going to see me off?"
Ian Shawking's facial muscles twitched, his expression contorting.
He followed behind Quinn Shepherd, heading outside.
Soon after, he escorted Quinn Shepherd and the others out of the Great Prison. Quinn turned around with a smile and said, "Left Adjutant, you can stop here. No need to see us further."
Ian Shawking bowed, his face blank. "Respectfully sending off the Heavenly Venerable."
Quinn Shepherd smiled and slowly sat down. A cloud of fire rose beneath Dragon-Qilin's feet, carrying him away.
"Shepherd Heavenly Venerable, is this real or fake now?" Ian Shawking's voice came from behind.
Quinn Shepherd patted Dragon-Qilin on the head, and Dragon-Qilin immediately stopped walking.
Quinn Shepherd said with a smile, "When the false is taken for true, the false becomes true; when nothing is treated as something, something returns to nothing. Left Adjutant, you are Heavenly Court's foremost master of divine-sense arts—are truth and falsity, being and non-being, really so important? Please, go back."
Ian Shawking's body trembled slightly, and he looked up at him.
Dragon-Qilin carried Quinn Shepherd away into the distance.
Ian Shawking's eyes twitched as he saw Quinn Shepherd's shadow atop Dragon-Qilin's head writhing and splitting into three distinct shadows!
A roar thundered in his mind. He immediately dashed back into the Great Prison, racing to the cages holding Emperor Evan and the Imperial Preceptor.
He stood there, wooden and stunned. Both cages were empty—Emperor Evan and the Imperial Preceptor were gone!
"So that's it, so that's it..."
Ian Shawking let out a low laugh: "So it was me who taught you how to unlock the cage seals. So this isn't a dream, not a divine-sense illusion... When the false is taken for true, the false becomes true; when nothing is treated as something, something returns to nothing. What a technique, what a technique..."
Suddenly, a warden passed by, saw the cages empty, and let out a shriek, shouting, "The prisoners have escaped!"
Ian Shawking turned to him, smiled, and said, "The prisoners are clearly still in the cages. How could they have escaped?"
The warden was stunned. Looking at the cages again, sure enough, Emperor Evan and White Jasper were both inside.
The warden looked confused. Ian Shawking said, "You're making a fuss over nothing. Go back to your work... Wait a moment, how long did Shepherd Heavenly Venerable's visit last?"
The warden said, "Less than a quarter of an hour."
Less than a quarter of an hour?
Ian Shawking's heart sank; it felt to him as if months had passed. He waved his hand, dismissing the warden.
Ian Shawking slowly walked outside, his hands and feet icy cold. He thought to himself, "You stole away Emperor Evan and White Jasper, and I have no choice but to help you cover it up. With my divine-sense arts, even if the Heavenly Court sends someone to inspect, unless they're Emperor's Throne realm, they won't see that the Emperor Evan and White Jasper in the cages are just my spiritual illusions. You know I won't chase you to recover them, because you know I can't break your arts. Even if I caught up, I'd just fall into your illusion and dream again."
You also know I'll help you cover it up, because I've already been sent to the Execution Platform once. To save my life, I have to help you. You even deliberately left a clue, making your shadow split into three. Those two shadows must be Emperor Evan and White Jasper, right?
Shepherd Heavenly Venerable, oh Shepherd Heavenly Venerable, you've become so terrifying...
He arrived at the Judge's Hall, opened his official documents, and wrote, "Shepherd Heavenly Venerable's inspection, all was as usual." He put down his brush and fell into a silent daze.
Suddenly, he clenched his fist so tightly that his nails pierced his palm, drawing blood. Yet he released it weakly, gave a bitter laugh, and continued with his work.
I lost, but your divine-sense arts aren't invincible. Your cultivation is low, so breaking your art is simple—just have an outsider intervene, and your art will break itself. It can't last more than a quarter of an hour.
Aren't you going to the Heavenly Court? If you use this art there, you'll surely die! But...
He stopped writing, his face filled with fear, shivering repeatedly: "But if you reach the Emperor's Throne realm, combining your divine-sense arts, Boundless Calamity Sutra, and Netherworld Dao, that would be truly terrifying!"
He couldn't imagine how terrifying that scene would be!
He continued writing his official documents, but suddenly his brush stopped, and the corner of his eye twitched.
How do I know that I've truly escaped his illusion and dream?
Ian Shawking's pupils contracted: "What if I'm still in an illusion now? Am I in a dream, or is this reality?"
Despair showed in his eyes: "Could it be, as he said, I must abolish the Divine Bridge Treasury and accept the Everpeace Reform to truly escape his dream? If so, how am I any different from Everpeace's rebels..."
Terror deepened on his face.
Though Quinn Shepherd had already left and his divine arts had ceased, the effects of his god-sense spell lingered like a seed of demonic influence, taking root and sprouting in Ian Shawking's heart.
Ian Shawking knew that he had to break free—he had to abolish his Divine Bridge Treasury, accept the Everpeace Reform, and cultivate the Celestial River Treasury. Otherwise, he would be tormented forever, unable to distinguish dream from reality or illusion, and the flaw in his Dao-heart would prevent him from ever attaining the Emperor's Throne.
Yet Heavenly Court had strictly forbidden the Reform. If he embraced the Celestial River Treasury, he would become a traitor to the old order.
"If I abolish the Divine Bridge Treasury, my Heaven Palace will collapse and I'll die... But White Jasper once told me he invented a method to temporarily seal South Heaven Gate, so I could abolish the Divine Bridge Treasury without dying... Why did he tell me that?"
Suddenly, Ian Shawking understood: "The two of them—senior and junior brothers—set me up! Layer upon layer, a grand trap... I need to learn about the Everpeace Reform, secretly, just to understand—I'm not joining the Reform, just secretly learning..."
This chapter isn't over yet~.~ Click next page to keep reading!
Quinn Shepherd left the prison far behind, had Dragon-Qilin halt, and laughed, "Ian Shawking hasn't chased after us—the jailbreak is a success. You can come out now. Ian's clever; he'll use his god-sense arts to cover for us. No one will know you've escaped."
Three shadows lay at his feet. Two of them writhed and slowly rose, then gradually took the shape of White Jasper and Emperor Evan.
Emperor Evan greedily breathed in the outside air, still in disbelief. He muttered, "I really made it out alive... I thought I'd die in there."
White Jasper bowed to Quinn. "Thank you, senior brother, for saving us!"
Quinn quickly returned the salute, smiling. "If you hadn't passed him the Threefold Undying Mind, I couldn't have so easily found the flaws in his technique and planted a demon-seed in his Dao-heart. To update this emperor-grade art for the new era, we spent countless effort analyzing its weaknesses."
White Jasper replied solemnly, "But pinning him down so thoroughly was no easy feat."
"I used Great Brahma King Buddha's Immeasurable Kalpa Sutra to simulate countless possibilities in a short time, and found the simplest way to counter him. Then, with the Netherworld Dao's heart-devil planting technique, I let the demon-flower bloom in his Dao-heart, trapping him in dreams and illusions."
Quinn said, "My spell invaded his Dao-heart and Divine Treasuries, embedding itself there. Escaping the dreams and illusions I created would be nearly impossible. Every time he tried to break free, he only fell deeper into the dream, repeatedly 'breaking' my god-sense spell but plunging further into the Immeasurable Kalpa, suffering tribulation after tribulation."
Emperor Evan and White Jasper were full of admiration.
The Immeasurable Kalpa Sutra is the emperor-grade scripture of Great Brahma King Buddha; the Threefold Undying Mind is Crimson Emperor's emperor-grade technique; and heart-devil planting is a method from the Woodcutter Sage's Grand Fostering Heavenly Demon Sutra.
Quinn fused these three arts, catalyzed by the Everpeace Reform, and managed to trap even a terrifying High Heaven Hall expert—truly a masterful feat.
White Jasper's eyes gleamed. "Ian Shawking may become our ally in the future. I've already pointed him toward a path. Now it's up to him whether he'll walk it."
"Though you're both free now, you can't show your true faces. You'll need to change your appearance." Quinn reminded them.
Emperor Evan and White Jasper nodded. Having mastered the Threefold Undying Mind and Seamless Creation Mystic Canon, the pinnacle of transformation arts, altering their faces or even restructuring their Primordial Spirits was easy for them.
Quinn took out a mirror and handed it to White Jasper. "Inside this mirror is Heavenly Court's research on ancient gods spanning a million years. Dao Ancestor gave it to me, and Heavenly Court used its knowledge to forge Heaven-Guide war-bodies. Study it well."
White Jasper examined it carefully. Within the mirror was a hidden world, filled with countless jade slips imprinted with various runes.
"You're giving us this—what about you?" White Jasper asked.
"I forged the mirror myself. Making more is no problem."
Quinn flipped his hand and produced another mirror, smiling. "If you match two identical mirrors, all the jade slip imprints can be copied into the other. I've got a few more mirrors, so don't worry about me. Farewell to you both!"
He bowed. "I'm heading to Heavenly Court. Who knows when I'll return? I promised Empress Lynn a year—I'll go back to see her within that time. If you return to Everpeace, let her know I'm safe!"
White Jasper asked, "You're not going back? Are you really heading to Heavenly Court?"
Quinn smiled, "I want to see if Heavenly Court has any weaknesses. Know yourself and know your enemy, and you need never fear a hundred battles. If I don't go, I'll never know its true strength or weakness—so I must go!"
Emperor Evan suddenly said, "Did you marry Lynn? Are you her empress now?"
Quinn flushed, waving his hands. "Your Majesty, what are you saying? We're innocent!"
Emperor Evan spat and sneered, "As Lynn's father, I don't want you two to stay 'innocent.' You brat, I'm just worried you can't find a wife—I'm not selling my daughter to you, so why are you so scared? I won't chop your head off! You and White Jasper are both hopeless at finding wives. If I hadn't given White Jasper a bride back then, he'd still be a lonely old bachelor..."
White Jasper coughed, reminding, "Your Majesty, it's time to go."
Emperor Evan sighed. "I'm no longer emperor—Lynn is. You're not Imperial Preceptor anymore, and who knows which rascal took your place."
Quinn reminded him, "That rascal is right in front of you—and he just saved your lives."
Emperor Evan roared with laughter and waved goodbye.
Quinn was full of spirit. "Fat Dragon, let's go!" he called out.
Emperor Evan and White Jasper watched him leave. After a long while, Emperor Evan changed his appearance and said, "Lynn has become empress, and he's Imperial Preceptor. Fate really does play tricks. I once hoped the two of them would end up together."
"Didn't you already foresee this future, Your Majesty?"
White Jasper also changed his face, heading east. "We planned for this long ago. If the Reform failed and we died, someone would need to inherit our cause. The ones you chose were Empress Lynn and Cult Master Quinn."
Emperor Evan followed, silent for a moment. "Back then I was emperor—I didn't think about Lynn's happiness, only about her inheriting our mission. Now I'm just a father, and I don't want her to bear this burden. I only hope she finds a worthy partner and lives safely and happily. Now that she's empress, the chance of her and Quinn being together is almost zero. That kid can't be her empress, and an emperor can't marry out. The two of them..."
He shook his head, leaving the thought unfinished.
White Jasper understood what he meant.
Lynn ascended the throne as Empress, and Quinn became the new Imperial Preceptor. The two of them could never be together again.
When Lynn accepted the throne, she must have realized this outcome, but she still took on the role.
Quinn, when he agreed to become her Imperial Preceptor, also understood—but he still accepted.
Both of them quietly gave up a part of their feelings, yet neither ever spoke of it.