Heavenly Sovereign, Has He Seen Me

Qin Hao opened his mouth, wanting to say something, but he found that he could not utter a single word. What Qin Wuya had just said carried far too much impact for him. The world had been replaced? The enemy was not any form of life?

If it was not a lifeform, then what was it? Some sort of rule? The Heavenly Dao? Fate? Or perhaps something even more fundamental than all of these? Qin Hao did not know, so he offered no opinion.

Just as Qin Hao was pondering Qin Wuya's words, the entire study suddenly trembled violently. Qin Wuya's eyes narrowed. He abruptly stood up, the Nine Tribulations Sword instantly appearing in his hand.

"The Immortal Ancient Battlefield... someone is tampering with the seal there! People from the Foreign Realm! They are coming over!"

Qin Hao's heart sank heavily. People from the Foreign Realm? Had those Foreign Realm cultivators chased them all the way here?

Within the Qin family estate, the various ancestors of the Qin family rushed out from their respective courtyards. Each of them wore a solemn expression, and without exception, they all looked toward the direction of the Immortal Ancient Battlefield.

It was not just the Qin family; at this moment, all the top factions across the Three Realms and Nine Heavens had mobilized.

The First Ancestor of the Qin family flew into the sky, gazing deeply toward the Immortal Ancient Battlefield, leaving behind only one sentence: "Prepare for battle!"

No one asked why, no one asked how they would fight, and no one asked if they had any chance of winning. The Qin family ancestors simply gripped their weapons tightly in silence.

Qin Wuya walked out of the study, holding the Nine Tribulations Sword in his hand. A cold, golden light flowed across the blade.

"Hmph, do they really think we are soft targets to be easily bullied? To dare chase us here... this time, we must make them pay the price!"

Qin Wuya walked up to the First Ancestor, standing shoulder to shoulder with him, and looked up toward the Immortal Ancient Battlefield.

Just as they were preparing for battle on this side, the tremors suddenly stopped. They did not gradually weaken, but rather came to an abrupt halt. Qin Wuya frowned, his gaze locked dead on the Immortal Ancient Battlefield.

"What is going on? Why did those people from the Foreign Realm suddenly stop their attack?"

Just as Qin Wuya was guessing whether the Foreign Realm was brewing an even larger-scale invasion, the void in front of him distorted, and a figure slowly emerged.

It was an old man, a very, very old man. His face was covered in wrinkles, each one looking as though time itself had carved it with a knife, deep to the bone.

His body was hunched over, like an old tree bent under a heavy burden.

The moment he saw the old man, Qin Wuya immediately went up to greet him. "Venerable Tianji, what brings you here?"

Hearing the old man's title, a look of sudden realization appeared on Qin Hao's face. He curiously observed the old man before him, thinking to himself:

"So this is the Venerable Tianji who instigated my father to steal the providence of his descendants?"

Venerable Tianji ignored Qin Wuya. Instead, he turned his head toward Qin Hao. His eyes were closed; it was unknown whether he could not open them or simply did not want to.

"Long time no see."

"Huh?" Qin Hao was stunned. Long time no see? This should be his first time meeting this Venerable Tianji. Where did 'long time no see' come from?

After speaking this abrupt, out-of-context sentence to Qin Hao, Venerable Tianji turned to Qin Wuya and said, "Do not be nervous. This war will not break out. I have already persuaded the Foreign Realm side; they will not launch an attack."

Venerable Tianji's words truly left Qin Wuya somewhat baffled. "Persuaded? You?"

Venerable Tianji smiled. "I may be untalented, but I do have some say over in the Foreign Realm. They wanted to chase after you to replicate the war from the end of the Immortal Ancient Era, but I merely let them know a few truths. Fortunately, they are not stupid, so they stopped."

Qin Wuya furrowed his brows tightly and continued to ask, "What truths?"

Venerable Tianji shrugged. "I learned it from you, actually. Those words left behind by that girl, Miejue. I am active in both the Three Realms and Nine Heavens and the Foreign Realm. The Great Dao here is missing two-thirds, and the Great Dao there is missing one-third. Are you not curious? Added together, they make exactly one whole."

"In truth, we are on the same side. There is no need for internal strife."

As soon as these words were spoken, the Qin family ancestors became displeased. "Are you joking? On the same side? You want us to let go of our hatred with just one phrase about being on the same side? Then did our Old Nine and Old Thirteen die in vain?"

"Old Nine and Old Thirteen died at the hands of the Foreign Realm's Immortal Emperors. Their corpses are not even cold yet, and you are telling me they are on our side? I do not care who they are; we must fight this battle!"

Venerable Tianji swept his gaze over everyone present, then let out a faint sigh. That sigh was clearly very light, yet it fell upon the ears of everyone present as though it carried the weight of a mountain.

"I know you harbor hatred, but the ones you should hate are not the Foreign Realm, but the mastermind pulling the strings behind all this. Wuya, tell me, was it the cultivators of the Foreign Realm who forcibly summoned you to the Foreign Realm?"

Qin Wuya shook his head. "No, it was not. Those Immortal Emperors of the Foreign Realm... hmph, I am confident that in a one-on-one fight, none of them are my match. Even if they joined forces, relying on this Supreme Dao Artifact, I could still hold my ground against them. But that power which dragged me away... it was completely irresistible."

Venerable Tianji nodded. "To you, you are victims, but to the Foreign Realm, they are victims as well. As a middleman, I suggest the leaders of both your factions meet up and properly compare notes."

After saying that, Venerable Tianji clapped his hands. A spatial tunnel appeared in front of Qin Wuya. Venerable Tianji nodded at Qin Wuya, and then Qin Wuya stepped into the spatial tunnel.

Watching Qin Wuya leave, Venerable Tianji smiled and looked toward Qin Hao, though his eyes remained closed.

"Shall we have a chat?"

Qin Hao frowned deeply, then nodded. "Let us chat, then." Qin Hao did not know what this Venerable Tianji could possibly want to talk about with him, but his attitude toward him was somewhat peculiar.

Why was he acting like old friends reuniting? I am clearly meeting him for the very first time.

Venerable Tianji snapped his fingers. The next second, he and Qin Hao vanished from where they stood.

Seeing both Qin Wuya and Qin Hao taken away by Venerable Tianji, the Qin family ancestors looked toward the First Ancestor:

"Ancestor, are we just going to watch him take away the current Patriarch and the Emperor Son? Those two are the hope of our Qin family. What if he is someone from the other side, scheming to frame us..."

The First Ancestor shook his head. "He will not. Do you know who Venerable Tianji is? Our world is called the Three Realms and Nine Heavens."

"Which Three Realms?"

"The Origin Realm, the Immortal Realm, and the Earth Realm. The Immortal Realm contains the Nine Heavens, the Earth Realm is entirely made up of mortals unable to cultivate, and the Origin Realm is where the Gods and Demons exist. And he... is the last God-Demon in today's Origin Realm."

"The survival of Gods and Demons is different from ours. Without believers, they lose their meaning of existence. Harming the Three Realms and Nine Heavens would do him far more harm than good."