Accusing and Consulting

For the Lord of the Divine Realm, the Divine Realm is the place where one proves their Dao, of immense significance. It also serves as a retreat after setbacks in the Immortal Realm, acting as a secondary trump card.

He truly hadn't expected Chen Xia to dare invade his Divine Realm, spouting nonsense in his sanctum of Dao.

The Four-Dao Great Emperor stood respectfully at the foot of the mountain, awaiting the Lord of the Divine Realm's command.

After a cold huff, the Lord of the Divine Realm remained silent, stretching his hand forward to grasp at the void. A scene naturally unfolded, with images of time rippling, showing Chen Xia and the Inner Demon invading the Divine Realm.

Chen Xia held a celestial sword, smiling faintly as he spoke.

"I come to borrow a piece of sky from the Divine Realm."

Following this, the scene turned to a fierce battle. The Lord of the Divine Realm watched calmly, his expression becoming slightly calmer, his brow faintly furrowed. He confirmed with the Four-Dao Great Emperor,

"He truly didn’t kill a single Great Emperor?"

"Only injured them, no Great Emperors were slain," the Four-Dao Great Emperor replied truthfully.

"Yes." The Lord of the Divine Realm nodded lightly, feeling somewhat enlightened. Since no one was killed, Chen Xia's intentions likely weren't to form an irreconcilable enmity with him.

Was it purely to vent his anger?

That didn’t seem right either.

The Lord of the Divine Realm pondered briefly, his gaze flickering as he decided he needed to head to East Jia State to confront Chen Xia face to face.

He waved a hand at the Four-Dao Great Emperor, nodding, "You may return to the Divine Realm. This matter is of no concern."

"Very well." The Four-Dao Great Emperor responded and did not linger, vanishing from the mountain foot and returning to the Divine Realm.

"Huh." The Lord of the Divine Realm exhaled a grizzled breath, his body rising like a weathered tree, shedding glittering specks of light. His clouded eyes revealed a scene.

It was Heaven Pill Gate.

With a single step, he truly arrived at Heaven Pill Gate. With hands behind his back, his expression filled with fury, he bellowed into the depths,

"Medicine Ancestor!"

No response, only silence.

The Lord of the Divine Realm directly stepped into the mountain gate, this time directly calling out the name, shouting,

"Chen Xia!"

A tranquil wind blew, swaying the grasses by the wall, moving the clouds gently, and tilting the sunlight slightly.

"Here I come, here I come." Chen Xia's voice replied, his figure running out from within the mountain gate, curiously looking at the furious Lord of the Divine Realm, asking,

"What's the matter, so urgent?"

"Hmph, the Medicine Ancestor is quite forgetful, aren't you? The acts you committed in my Divine Realm, have you already forgotten them?" The Lord of the Divine Realm sneered.

"Ah, what?" Chen Xia looked bewildered, not admitting to anything at all.

The Lord of the Divine Realm's expression grew increasingly cold. His left hand, previously behind his back, extended, fingers spread before him. Stars twisted and shone in his palm as he coldly declared,

"Filthy deeds, done but not owned. Is this all the responsibility your title of Medicine Ancestor entails? Truly laughable. Today, whether you admit it or not, you must give me an explanation, or Heaven Pill Gate will cease to exist in East Jia State."

Chen Xia rubbed his nose, about to reply, when another voice came from within.

"What's going on, what's going on?"

The Inner Demon ran out, puzzled, seeing the Lord of the Divine Realm and questioning,

"Why is this old man here again? What's the meaning of this?"

"I don't know." Chen Xia spread his hands, looking clueless.

Acting, purely acting, playing the part of innocence.

The Lord of the Divine Realm's expression grew so dark it seemed ready to drip water. The stars in his hand shone even brighter, containing boundless light, increasingly terrifying. He continued,

"Your denial doesn't matter. My technique will still descend. When it does, Heaven Pill Gate will cease to exist, and your sect will perish alongside my Divine Realm!"

The Lord of the Divine Realm's expression had become somewhat frenzied. His technique grew more potent, shockingly powerful, on the verge of descending.

"Patience, friend." A stiff voice came from within Heaven Pill Gate, continuing,

"You have no intention of causing trouble, so why feign madness? Let us discuss this inside."

The Lord of the Divine Realm's frenzied expression instantly calmed. He clenched his hand, extinguishing the stars, then chuckled,

"You provoked me specifically to watch me go mad, didn’t you? Now that I’ve done so, why are you not pleased?"

Chen Xia's expression also turned calm, his hands responding, smiling, "Just putting on a show, knowing you'd figure it out."

The Inner Demon leaned against the wall, shaking his head slightly, evaluating, "Besides, you didn’t act well, old man. You came ready to fight and kill, not like your usual behavior."

"Guess my acting skills are still lacking." The Lord of the Divine Realm chuckled, then continued, "Now that the truth is out, let's talk inside. I want to hear your intentions for disrupting my Divine Realm."

A puppet body slowly emerged, joints creaking as it raised an arm, its palm facing the entire sky, lightly pinching.

The world closed.

"This way, no one can eavesdrop." The puppet body lightly chuckled.

The Lord of the Divine Realm's clouded eyes darkened, instantly recognizing the puppet body, exclaiming in surprise, "Daoist Suppressing Heaven!"

"Recognizing me is good. This time, setting the trap specifically for you was to gauge your worth," the puppet body stiffly declared, then examined the Lord of the Divine Realm, its stiff fingers pointing at his forehead, continuing,

"If you fell for the provocation and came to Heaven Pill Gate to seek justice, you'd be in the lower category. I would exploit your mindset to wreak havoc in East Jia State, disturbing the Immortal Realm's plans."

"If you came to negotiate, as you are now, you'd be in the middle category. We can discuss cooperation."

"As for the upper category, I won’t mention it; it would only annoy you."

"Cooperation?" The Lord of the Divine Realm mused, glancing at the puppet body, questioning,

"Aren't you afraid I'll go back and inform the Martial Emperor? You know he's currently hunting you down to kill your true body!"

He then looked at Chen Xia and the Inner Demon, asking,

"And you two, colluding with Daoist Suppressing Heaven, aren't you afraid the Martial Emperor will also kill you?"

"Afraid? Hell no! My motto is: the bold thrive, the timid starve. And again, you'd rather be a full corpse than a starving one. Don't you trust those ancient sayings?"

Chen Xia raised an eyebrow, replying disdainfully. To rope in the Lord of the Divine Realm, he couldn’t appear too timid. He had to bolster this man's courage first.

The Inner Demon also nodded, "Fear is useless. We're all gonna die anyway, so why not gamble?"

The Lord of the Divine Realm wasn't swayed by their rhetoric. His clouded eyes gleamed with mystery, his aged body straightening with an aura of great resolve. He asked the puppet body,

"Why should I cooperate with you? What benefits are there, and what necessity?"

The puppet body's empty eyes ignited with a strange fire, its stiff voice responding,

"The benefit is you can attain the highest pinnacle. The necessity is, if you don't cooperate, you'll die."

"Just with this puppet body and the two of them?" The Lord of the Divine Realm questioned, clearly unconvinced.

The fire in the puppet body's eyes grew brighter, its stiff voice suddenly becoming lively, like a heavenly echo, resounding down, countering,

"What if it's not a puppet body?"