Ye Motes of Dust, How Dare Ye Gaze Upon the Heavens

Inside Drunken Immortal Residence.

Su Ji’s temporary hideout.

“If you ask me, we should first—”

Su Ji had only gotten halfway through his sentence when a sharp pain suddenly ripped through his mind, as if a red-hot iron rod had been violently driven into his skull.

A faint aura tinged with decaying death energy leaked uncontrollably from the depths of his sea of consciousness.

Su Ji’s vision went black, and he nearly toppled from his chair.

He forcibly steadied his mind and began cursing the Old Emperor inside his sea of consciousness.

“Old Fossil, what the hell are you doing?! Didn’t we agree that you wouldn’t come wandering out for no reason?”

“Shut up!” the Old Emperor snapped, his voice both furious and weak. “You think I wanted this? I just devoured that False Immortal King. Who would’ve thought he’d be so useless? His energy was far too insubstantial, and I couldn’t keep my aura suppressed…”

Su Ji: “…”

You call that “a little insubstantial”?

Unfortunately, it was already too late.

The instant that wisp of aura escaped, several powerful divine senses erupted from different directions throughout Heavenly Water City. Like sharks that had caught the scent of blood, they instantly locked onto Drunken Immortal Residence.

In the eastern part of the city, a middle-aged man from the Puppet Heaven Sacred Land sat in an inconspicuous teahouse with his eyes closed, a massive wooden box strapped to his back. His eyes suddenly snapped open.

In the western part of the city, inside a hidden underground chamber, a figure shrouded in black mist let out a sinister cackle.

In the northern part of the city, deep within the Shu Estate, Shu Wanjuan was plotting something when the jade cup in his hand shattered with a crisp snap.

But the most intense reaction came from Fang Zheng in the rear hall of the City Lord’s Residence.

He raised his head and looked toward the southern part of the city. For the first time, a look of uncertainty and shock appeared in those normally placid eyes.

…

At the same time, at least seven or eight similarly formidable divine senses rose from every corner of Heavenly Water City. They formed an invisible net that began to descend over the inn where Su Ji was staying.

Every one of those divine senses represented a powerful cultivator at the very least in the Mahayana Realm—or even higher.

Su Jiu’s little face instantly turned deathly pale. She felt like a tiny boat caught in a raging sea, liable to be torn apart by that terrifying pressure at any moment.

“Senior Brother…” She instinctively grabbed Su Ji’s hand.

Su Ji clasped hers in return. His palm remained warm.

Not the slightest trace of panic could be seen on his face.

Inside his sea of consciousness, however, he asked the Old Emperor in an almost eerily calm voice:

“Old Fossil, you’re not about to die, are you?”

“Don’t die inside my sea of consciousness. It would bring bad luck.”

“Get lost!” The Old Emperor’s voice was weak, but it still carried plenty of force. “I survived being surrounded and attacked by those despicable cowards back then. You think I’ll be scared to death by the divine senses of a few ants?”

Even so, Su Ji could sense that the Old Emperor’s condition had never been worse.

That wisp of aura he had released was like a crack in a dam. Though tiny, it was enough to trigger a chain reaction that could bring the whole structure crashing down.

“Brat, open your mind and lend me a sliver of your strength.” The Old Emperor’s voice turned solemn.

Su Ji: “???”

I barely have any strength myself, and you want to borrow it?

Shouldn’t you be lending me yours?

What kind of upside-down nonsense is this?!

The next moment…

Though he was complaining inwardly, Su Ji knew this was no time to quibble.

If those divine senses managed to scan him, they would be in serious trouble.

In the next instant, “Su Ji” slowly raised his head.

Those eyes pierced through the inn, through layer upon layer of space, and met the probing divine senses in the void.

The masters of those divine senses were struck as if by lightning at the same time.

Inside the teahouse, the middle-aged man from the Puppet Heaven Sacred Land let out a muffled groan, a trace of blood trickling from the corner of his mouth.

In the underground chamber, the black mist churned violently, releasing a sharp cry of shock and uncertainty.

Shu Wanjuan fell straight out of his chair, his face as pale as paper.

But Fang Zheng suffered the worst.

His divine sense had been at the very forefront, so the backlash he received was the most severe. He felt as if his soul were on the verge of shattering. In the midst of the excruciating pain, his vision went black, and he spat out a mouthful of blood.

At the same time, a cold voice exploded inside the minds of every watcher.

“You specks of dust—how dare you pry into the heavens?”

“Where I stand, even a mere wisp of my presence contains a truth none of you can bear!”

As the voice fell, every probing divine sense retreated like a receding tide, not daring to linger for even an instant.

The entire Heavenly Water City sank into an eerie silence.

“Haah… haah…”

Inside Su Ji’s sea of consciousness, the Old Emperor’s voice came between ragged breaths. Clearly, that brief confrontation had drained him tremendously.

“How is it, Old Fossil? Can you still hold on?”

“I won’t die.” The Old Emperor finally steadied his breathing.

“Then what exactly is going on with you now?” Su Ji asked.

The Old Emperor sighed, his voice carrying a hint of desolation and helplessness.

“Brat, you may have heard of demonic cultivators seizing other bodies and living out a second life.”

“I won’t deny that such a thing does exist.”

“But it doesn’t work for me.”

Su Ji’s heart stirred. “Why not?”

“Because…” The Old Emperor’s voice grew low.

“I’m too powerful.”

“The stronger one is, the heavier the shackles.”

“This world has rules of its own. There is a limit to how powerful a remnant soul can be. Once you exceed that limit, you are no longer a ‘person,’ but a ‘calamity.’ The heavens will instinctively reject and suppress you until you are completely worn away.”

“The reason I was invincible for an entire era was that I bore the Imperial Throne. I had the blessing of the world’s fortune, and the laws made way for me.”

“But now, I am merely a remnant soul without a throne or master. To this world, I am the greatest ‘anomaly.’”

There was a trace of self-mockery in the Old Emperor’s voice.

“I told you before: even if I possessed the body of an Immortal Venerable, it could withstand the erosion of my soul for no more than three years. Eventually, it would collapse from the inside out and turn to ash.”

“And the moment the body collapsed, this remnant soul of mine would also be completely erased by the heavens.”

Su Ji felt a chill run through his heart.

“So…” The Old Emperor’s voice grew weaker still. “I can’t choose a strong body. I can only choose a weak one.”

“Only a ‘vessel’ as weak as you—so weak that the laws of heaven and earth can practically ignore you—can give my remnant soul a place to cling to while I bide my time and slowly make my plans.”

“Do you understand now, brat?”

Su Ji fell silent.

He lifted his teacup and drained the dregs within.

Looking out the window at the night, now even more turbulent beneath the surface after being stirred into action, he suddenly smiled.

“Old Fossil.”

“You should’ve said so sooner.”

“So, in other words, doesn’t that mean I’m…”

“Using the emperor to command the feudal lords?”