The entire Liang Kingdom was a sacrificial offering in Ji Chengtian's plan!
So this was Ji Chengtian's true goal from the very beginning.
No wonder...
No wonder Ji Chengtian, even under such immense pressure on the northern frontier, still insisted on diverting massive military forces into the war between Zhou and Liang!
Chen Kuang had once found this puzzling, didn't he fear weakening his own national strength, causing a collapse of the northern defensive lines, and ending up trying to steal a chicken only to lose the rice?
Ji Chengtian was not the Crown Prince in his youth, but the second prince. Behind him were as many as eleven royal brothers, all extraordinary, and most of them not the kind to sit quietly.
After the Crown Prince died of illness, the Zhou imperial court was plunged for a long time into a period of turbulent infighting, with factionalism rampant and schemes entangling all.
Ministers took sides, and countless people died in both overt and covert struggles.
According to unofficial historical accounts, the last person the Crown Prince saw before his death was Ji Chengtian.
And the one who ultimately ascended to the throne was Ji Chengtian, while all other princes died one after another around that same period, due to all sorts of so-called "coincidences."
There was no solid evidence directly linking their deaths to Ji Chengtian, but what that meant was self-evident...
It definitely wasn't divine blessing.
To survive such a brutal power struggle and emerge victorious, it was obvious that Ji Chengtian couldn't possibly be a fool. On the contrary, he must have been an ambitious and calculating predator.
Which made this irrational military decision all the more baffling, like he had been momentarily possessed.
But now, Chen Kuang finally understood.
Ji Chengtian didn't even care whether the Elixir of Immortality was real or fake.
All he needed to do was take the entire Liang Kingdom, so long as the people of Liang still stood on that land, he could use the Eternal Life Lock to transform the entire country into nourishment for himself.
The original Eternal Life Lock used a ruler's life force to enrich the nation and its people.
But now, he would use Liang's lands and people to nourish himself instead.
Because in theory, Liang now fell under the administration of Zhou and had become a part of Zhou; by all logic, Ji Chengtian was thus now Liang's ruler.
Chen Kuang took a deep breath.
If Ji Chengtian had chosen to target Yang, Li, or any other random nation, he wouldn't care.
But it had to be Liang.
Whether it was Chen Kuang's past experiences, his lineage, or his memories, it was all tied to the Chen clan of Liang. There was no way he could turn a blind eye.
And more importantly...
A nation and its national destiny are originally one.
At the outset, Ji Chengtian surely hadn't expected that Su Yu would also make use of the Eternal Life Lock, only that Su Yu chose an even more extreme route.
He directly fused himself with the national destiny, then concealed it within the Elixir of Immortality, and finally placed it inside the body of an innocent court musician.
He then sent this seemingly unrelated musician out of Liang, right under everyone's noses.
In other words, a truly bizarre situation had now arisen:
Liang's national destiny had been separated from Liang itself...
Chen Kuang turned to Jiang Wuya and said in a deep voice:
"Even though it's nominally a sacrifice of an entire nation, in essence, whether used forwards or in reverse, the Eternal Life Lock targets the national destiny, not the land or people themselves, doesn't it?"
The mangy-headed old Daoist scratched his pockmarked, thinning scalp and replied:
"Of course."
Chen Kuang let out a cold chuckle and asked again:
"When Ji Chengtian conquered other nations in the past, he never forcibly imposed direct rule. Instead, he always allowed local people who chose to submit to Zhou to govern and re-educate their own populations. One of the goals behind this, I suspect, was precisely to preserve the national destiny of those regions."
"Only if the mandate has not yet expired, and the national destiny remains unbroken, can he lay out the Eternal Life Lock."
This time, Jiang Wuya had clearly come with the intention of being the one to tear open the truth. He answered every one of Chen Kuang's questions, as though he had nothing to hide, and wished to reveal all.
He nodded slightly, clapping his hands in appreciation and saying:
"Exactly right... This poor Daoist hasn't met someone as astute as Mister Chen in quite a while, no wonder the Prince of Jingnan died by your hand."
Chen Kuang did not respond. All he felt now was a long-lost, splitting headache.
Originally, others coveting the Elixir of Immortality was simply a matter of them wanting his life.
He could naturally fight back, after all, a barefoot man doesn't fear one wearing shoes. If someone tried to snatch something from him, he had no reason to hand it over nicely.
Chen Kuang had never feared death.
But now, according to Jiang Wuya, the "ghosts that linger after death" behind him were not just the soul of Su Yu...
But the lives of tens of millions of people in Liang.
Chen Kuang stared straight at Jiang Wuya and asked: "You have a way to strip the national destiny from me?"
Jiang Wuya chuckled, raised his hand, and pointed into the air, aiming at the Glazed Image-Freezing Lamp.
He flipped his palm and began forming a strange incantation gesture, muttering mystically:
"Though this poor Daoist is a mere mortal, fortune-telling is my specialty."
"Previously, I divined that this Glazed Image-Freezing Lamp was a signal from the heavens indicating a turning point, and thus specifically delivered it to you."
Chen Kuang's face didn't change:
"So I should thank you?"
Jiang Wuya responded bashfully:
"No need to be so polite."
Chen Kuang: "...Keep talking."
This Glazed Image-Freezing Lamp truly was no ordinary artifact.
Not just because of the Divine Ability capable of immobilizing even a Saint, but because it had shown him his own shadow in a way no other light could.
Jiang Wuya said smugly:
"This lamp is a relic from ancient times, what's more, it is a 'Heaven-Hunting Tool' once left behind by the Human Emperor!"
Chen Kuang's pupils contracted sharply.
The Human Emperor?
The one who led the War to Hunt the Heavens, the sovereign of men in ancient times!
Chen Kuang had heard the stories of that grand and tragic war from Qi Sibai. He knew it had ended in failure, and that its scale had triggered an era-defining turning point.
But he had never expected that this glazed lamp in his hand would be tied to that cataclysmic event.
Jiang Wuya said:
"The details are beyond this poor Daoist's ability to divine, but vaguely, I know that this lamp may have been used to contain something called 'Heaven's Fate'."
War to Hunt the Heavens.
What the Human Emperor hunted... was Heaven's Fate.
Or, according to the terminology of the Heavenly Observatory Division, it was Heaven's Mandate!
If that were the case... and this Glazed Image-Freezing Lamp could reveal two shadows behind Chen Kuang...
His thoughts came to an abrupt halt, cut off before a blank void, unable to continue.
His temples throbbed violently, and a sharp pain pierced his skull. He quickly stopped thinking further, exhaled slowly, and was overcome by a chilling premonition.
Goosebumps rose across his arms.
That premonition was so terrifying he didn't even dare to voice it.
It felt as though if he said it aloud, it would trigger something beyond comprehension, something he could not endure.
In that moment, Chen Kuang vaguely understood:
This was the legendary "Heaven's Secrets Must Not Be Revealed."
He muttered to himself that perhaps those fortune-tellers hadn't been bluffing, this eerie sensation really existed.
Enough... best to focus on the matter at hand.
He looked at the lamp in his hand and asked:
"So this lamp can absorb the national destiny?"
Su Huaiying suddenly glanced at the emperor's silhouette swaying in the firelight and asked:
"You two are just going to say all this out loud, aren't you afraid he'll hear you?"
Jiang Wuya shook his head:
"No need to fear, no need to fear. The Elixir of Immortality now coexists with Mister Chen, and Liang's national destiny has already decayed, Su Yu's consciousness won't awaken for the time being."
"In other words, only when the national destiny of the Liang Kingdom flourishes, or when Mister Chen dies, will our Late Emperor, His Majesty return with a 'whoosh', like a bolt of lightning."
He grinned, revealing a mouth full of yellow teeth.
Su Huaiying fell silent.
There were now several additional layers of scheming within this matter...
If Chen Kuang had failed to escape from the Liang Kingdom at the time, then Su Yu would have resurrected directly.
If Su Huaiying had gone to great lengths to help the Liang Kingdom restore its country, to bring about its revival, then Su Yu would likewise have resurrected.
It was as if every possible scenario had been calculated down to the finest detail.
This was becoming ever more distant from the image of her father in Su Huaiying's memories. He was no longer that person, but an emperor of deeply hidden schemes.
Jiang Wuya glanced at Chen Kuang again and said, "However, the national destiny, the Elixir of Immortality, and Su Yu, these now form a trinity. Since the national destiny and Su Yu are both suppressed by this Glazed Image-Freezing Lamp, then the Elixir of Immortality will likewise lose its effect."
His tone carried a certain tempting quality, like some ghost or demonic spirit: "This allure of Immortality, are you truly willing to give it up?"
"The Elixir of Immortality, to me, is not only useless, it's a source of disaster. Better to be rid of it."
Chen Kuang shrugged. "One must understand: what is fated to come, will come; what is not fated, must not be forced."
In truth, given how precarious his life was, whether he had longevity or not didn't really matter. After all, it was only longevity, not true immortality.
Who knew, maybe in a few months, he'd get slapped to death by some Saint who popped up from nowhere.
So long as he retained the passive ability brought by the Elixir of Immortality, that was enough...
If losing the Elixir of Immortality allowed him to gain a new, powerful passive ability, all the better!
"What is fated to come, will come; what is not fated, must not be forced..."
Jiang Wuya froze, fell silent for a long time, then murmured the line back to himself.
He burst out laughing: "Good, good, very good! I didn't expect Mister Chen to have such philosophical insight, it truly puts this poor Daoist to shame."
Chen Kuang said, "Now can you tell me, this lamp, how exactly is it used?"
Jiang Wuya said, "If this poor Daoist is not mistaken, the lotus petals on this Glazed Lamp represent the number of 'Heavenly Fates.'"
Chen Kuang lowered his head and counted.
The Glazed Image-Freezing Lamp bore nine jade-carved lotus petals in total.
Jiang Wuya continued with certainty: "All that's needed is to find the remaining 'Heavenly Fates,' and one should be able to activate this lamp."
Chen Kuang felt an odd sensation in his heart, why did this feel like accepting a quest in a game?
If he were inside a game right now, the status panel beside him would probably refresh with a line like this:
[Quest Accepted: Main Quest: Seek out the 'Heavenly Fates' and activate the Glazed Image-Freezing Lamp (2/9)]
No way... has he only now triggered the main storyline since transmigrating here?
But where were these "Heavenly Fates"? And how could one determine what counted as a "Heavenly Fate"? These were all major questions.
Could it be that Jiang Wuya knew all of them?
But then again, everything he had said so far was couched in terms like "guessing," "fortune-telling."
Was that truly reliable?
As he thought of this, Chen Kuang suddenly felt a vague sense of foreboding:
"So how am I supposed to go about finding them?"
"Uh..." Jiang Wuya suddenly spread his hands. "This poor Daoist doesn't know."
Chen Kuang was silent for a while.
Then he said, "Are you messing with me?"
Jiang Wuya said, "Ah, this poor Daoist is just a mortal. Being able to divine even this much is already impressive, there's no need to push too far."
Chen Kuang almost laughed out of sheer frustration. "So after all that, it was all empty talk. And you speak of helping me slay monsters and spirits?"
Jiang Wuya frowned in distress and wandered around in front of the fire, rubbing his hands together. He looked as if he were in quite a bind.
No one knew how many circles he paced before he suddenly clasped his hands behind his back, turned his head, clapped his hands, and said in sudden realization:
"What's so hard about it? You're one of the 'Heavenly Fates' yourself. What is fated to come, will come. What is not fated, must not be forced. You'll encounter them sooner or later."
"..."
That was the truth.
It seemed Jiang Wuya really didn't have any other method...
Chen Kuang sighed inwardly. It couldn't be helped. The information gained from this conversation was already more than enough for him to digest.
At this moment, Su Huaiying suddenly looked toward Jiang Wuya and said, "Speaking of which, when I was a child, I once met you, National Preceptor. Do you remember that?"
Su Huaiying asked, "Back then, I think you even read my fate."
Jiang Wuya scratched his scalp. "Eh? That happened?"
Su Huaiying frowned and said, "I remember it very clearly. I couldn't be mistaken. Please, National Preceptor, don't pretend to be confused."
She spoke solemnly: "I hope you can tell me, back then, what exactly did you say to my father?"
Jiang Wuya laughed heartily. "Such a long time ago, how could I possibly remember?"
Su Huaiying gave a soft "Oh," and sighed inwardly. Perhaps it was better not to know... She was a little afraid that she, too, had been just one of the pawns calculated by her own father..
Chen Kuang froze. That... was also the truth?
His expression suddenly changed.
Impossible!
There was absolutely no way Jiang Wuya had forgotten something from not even four or five years ago. He was clearly lying, yet his passive had determined it to be the truth!
No... something was wrong!
His passive had failed!
From just a moment ago, every line spoken by Jiang Wuya had been judged true by it..
This had never happened before... There was something wrong with Jiang Wuya.
Had he used some kind of Divine Ability?
Or rather...
Was he not Jiang Wuya at all?!
Chen Kuang's brow twitched, and his heartbeat nearly quickened in response.
But by this point, he rarely lost his composure, after all, he had already faced Saints twice, whether avatars or true bodies.
And the "Calm Aura" passive didn't seem to have deactivated.
So, Chen Kuang was still able to maintain his composure.
He took a deep breath, stood up, and walked over to Jiang Wuya's side.
In a low voice, he said, "I've been troubled by questions for a long time. This time, I must thank the National Preceptor for dispelling them."
"Past grievances, I suppose I've misunderstood the Preceptor in many ways. Now I can understand a little. If there was any disrespect, I hope you won't hold it against me."
Jiang Wuya laughed heartily. "What's this? It's only natural!"
Chen Kuang said, "In that case, I'd like the Preceptor to help me answer one more question-"
"Gladly, gladly..."
"Are you really... Jiang Wuya?!"
Chen Kuang suddenly reached out and struck with a fierce palm!
"Bang!!"
Jiang Wuya was struck by Chen Kuang's palm and sent flying backward, crashing through the dilapidated temple.
But the next moment, Chen Kuang felt the world spin..
"Chen Kuang! Chen Kuang! Your Highness! Your Highness! Wake up! Why are you two asleep here?!"