Chapter 2876: This World Is a Chessboard
Complete silence reigned in the area beneath the divine throne in front of the heavenly palace.
Ye Futian looked at the spear in his hand that had pierced through Donghuang the Great’s body, and an extremely shocked expression surfaced in his eyes. He slowly lifted his head to look at Donghuang the Great. “Why?” He asked.
He just could not understand.
“No, don’t!!!” a voice cried out, and a beautiful figure appeared at the side. It was Donghuang Diyuan.
Ye Futian looked toward her. He found the look in Donghuang Diyuan’s eyes to be familiar. It was similar to the sorrowful expression on his face when he was playing the Divine Requiem. All this while, Donghuang Diyuan had been an enigma that he could not fully understand.
At times, she would act haughtily and even go to the extent of purposely humiliating him. Her high and mighty attitude reeked of arrogance. Yet, on a few occasions, he somehow had the feeling that Donghuang Diyuan was harboring a deep secret.
Behind her, the two Great Empresses hovered in the air. Their gazes also fell on Ye Futian and were gentle.
Surprisingly, there were even tears in them.
“Why?” Ye Futian looked toward Donghuang Diyuan and asked. He felt that everyone seemed to know something that only he did not.
Donghuang the Great naturally knew about it, and so did Donghuang Diyuan. Even the Great Empresses at the back knew.
“I heard from Diyuan that when you were 16, you could run about freely in the mountainside. Back then, you were just an innocent young lad, free of any care or worry,” Donghuang the Great suddenly said. His voice was soft, and he was smiling gently at Ye Futian. “After that, you followed Hua Fengliu to Qingzhou and found a teacher at a cottage. You met Little Du, then went to the Eastern Barren Territory and entered the Palace. You went through near-death experiences and many other things before you made it out of the Nine States and met Emperor Xia. It has been hard on you all these years.”
Ye Futian’s heart beat wildly. Was it because he was the descendent of Emperor Ye Qing?
Was Donghuang the Great planning to eradicate all possible future threats to himself just in case?
This was beyond ridiculous.
Donghuang the Great knew about everything after all. He was aware of every single thing that had taken place in those years.
Little Du!? What exactly was Mr. Du’s real identity then?
“Please withdraw the spear,” Donghuang Diyuan pleaded. Her beautiful eyes were also filled with tears as she looked at Ye Futian.
Ye Futian felt numb, and his mind whirled. Suddenly, many memories surfaced in his mind; they were so numerous that he could not place them correctly.
But he still withdrew his spear. The destructive power of his spear had done significant damage to Donghuang the Great after all.
Yet, Donghuang the Great only smiled and turned around to walk back up the flight of stairs. He then merely sat there. At that moment, he did not look like a Great Emperor that oversaw the whole world but more like an ordinary middle-aged man or a benevolent elder.
“I know you probably have many questions. For you to fully understand, we need to go back to when it all started, 500 years ago,” Donghuang the Great said as he gazed at Ye Futian. “In that period, there was hardly any law or order, and as a result, wars and conflicts were never-ending. Things were terrible where the Original Realm was previously located. Countless people died from the wars that broke out year after year, resulting in the destruction of cultivators in the Original Realm. Emperor Qing and I had long desired to end the chaos but were sadly limited by our abilities. We were unable to achieve the outcome we badly wanted until we met her.”
When Donghuang the Great mentioned her, his eyes were filled with absolute gentleness and a quiet sense of admiration.
The ruler of the Divine Prefecture and one of the six Great Emperors was filled with admiration when talking about his wife. One could only imagine how exceptional she must have been.
“There will never be anyone like her in this world anymore.”
Donghuang the Great sighed, and his gentle expression suddenly became solemn. He looked at Ye Futian and continued, “She was the daughter of the Heavenly Emperor. When he died, the Heaven Realm entered an era of darkness. However, the orphan the Heavenly Emperor left behind was the most remarkable lady in all of history. She was born to be the Sovereign Princess and had no equal.”
Ye Futian suddenly felt like his heart had been hit by something and was beating furiously. Supreme Swordlord had said the same sentence before.
She was born to be the Sovereign Princess and had no equal. When she died, the world lost much of its splendor.
Yet now, Donghuang the Great was saying the same thing.
Of course, the two of them were not on the same level. Donghuang the Great was someone who was standing at the top of the world.
“She was an absolute idealist. Even after achieving Emperor-level, she refused to become the Heavenly Emperor but quietly continued cultivating instead. She discovered that the battle of the Old Heavenly Path that had caused the disintegration of the Heavenly Path and the loss of law and order in the world did not make the world a better place. Conversely, after the Path of the Emperors was severed, cultivators started to madly clamor over the cultivation resources in a bid to enter the Emperor plane. The few Great Emperors left in the world chose to hide to protect their interests. They wanted to rule the world by themselves and become the ruler over all things, making it so that the laws in the world would function according to their wishes.
“Thus, she was keen on rebuilding the Heavenly Path and restoring the Path of the Emperors so that all the cultivators in the world would have a chance of becoming an Emperor. She was even willing to help others prove their paths. It was at that time that Emperor Ye Qing and I first met her.”
Ye Futian was taken aback. The Sovereign Princess had wanted to rebuild the Heavenly Path and restore the Path of the Emperors!
What was more, the reason Donghuang the Great and Emperor Ye Qing could become Emperors was related to her. Going by what Donghuang the Great said, it was only with her help that they could ultimately prove their paths and enter the Emperor plane.
In addition, all that Donghuang the Great did for the Divine Prefecture afterward, which included reviving martial arts and allowing all the people in the world to practice cultivation, was likely also in accordance with her will.
Therefore, to Donghuang the Great, she was not merely his wife.
Donghuang the Great resumed speaking. “With her help, Emperor Ye Qing and I conquered and united the Divine Prefecture. We also won the Battle of the Original Realm and attained the authority to rule over the Original Realm. She then sealed off the Original Realm so that it would be isolated from the other realms and protected from intrusions.”
500 years ago, how had Donghuang the Great and Emperor Ye Qing won the Battle of the Original Realm when they had just become Great Emperors?
Now he knew that it was because she was behind them.
Were the Buddhists willing to help him also because of this?
Because of this, the Original Realm was peaceful for hundreds of years.
“Everything was progressing well. She was on her way to achieving her goals. Yet, it also brought on a calamity.” Donghuang the Great’s eyes suddenly turned cold. He continued, “At that time, the Heaven Realm was the strongest out of all the realms in the world, and the Heavenly Emperor was also the most powerful out of all the Great Emperors. Yet, he suddenly passed on. It was only later on, when she continuously tried to rebuild the Heavenly Path that she found out that she wasn’t the only one with the same thought. However, the other party, in reality, had no intention to rebuild it but to replace it instead. He became the ruler of the whole world himself. It was also because of this that the Heavenly Emperor died.
“After she foresaw the dangers that were approaching, she understood that there were some things she was no longer able to complete, so she hoped to find someone who could inherit her will and fulfill it. Sadly, neither Emperor Ye Qing nor I possessed the capabilities to do so, and thus, a new plan was created,” Donghuang the Great said as he looked intently at Ye Futian.
At that moment, Ye Futian’s heart convulsed sharply. His whole mind was blank, and he felt as if he had stopped, frozen in time.
Even the spear in his hands was quivering.
This world was a chessboard, but who were the pawns, and who were the players?
Now, finally, he knew!