The Imperial Master did not answer him, having been completely immersed in the lingering horror that the scene had brought him.
He said, "Those human faces hadn't seen the light of day for a long time. Even the moonlight at night couldn't stand them. When I suddenly took off my mask, they seemed startled, squinting their eyes and falling silent. But after a while, when they saw it was me, they started...calling my name."
"I was stunned. As I said before, I've never seen a more horrific sight than tens of thousands of people falling from the sky and burning to death in a sea of fire, but this scene before my eyes was a million times more terrifying than that!
My hand holding the mask was shaking constantly. If I hadn't been completely frozen, the mask would have fallen off and woke His Royal Highness. The three faces seemed eager to say something to me, their mouths opening and closing even more vigorously, but they kept their voices down, as if afraid to wake His Royal Highness.
"I felt sick and scared when I saw their appearance, but I couldn't help but want to know what they wanted to tell me, so I bent down, held my breath, and leaned close to His Royal Highness's face to listen.
"I got too close, and I could smell the stench of blood and decay, overwhelmed by the strong scent of herbs. I heard them say, 'Run! The Crown Prince has gone mad!'
"It turned out that after the other three left, they were still worried and secretly returned to look for His Royal Highness. Unexpectedly, they happened to see His Royal Highness leading a large group of people towards the copper furnace.
"Only then did they realize that His Royal Highness hadn't given up on the human sacrifice plan. Shocked and enraged, they came out to stop him and engaged in a fight with His Royal Highness. Unexpectedly, His Royal Highness went all out, killing them and hundreds of others, throwing them all into the copper furnace!
"Of course, the rest of the people were thrown in and turned to ashes, but these three had cultivation skills and were killed by His Royal Highness the Crown Prince. Their resentment and obsession were so deep that their souls actually parasitized him in this way, and they still angrily chattered at him every day, trying to stop his actions.
"As I listened, I felt terrified and bewildered, completely unsure of what to do. What was terrifying? I couldn't even put my finger on it. Which was scarier, this Crown Prince, or those three things on his face?
"At this moment, I felt a hand placed on my head.
"My scalp went numb, and I slowly looked up and saw His Royal Highness the Crown Prince.
"I don't know when he woke up. He and the three faces on his face, a total of four pairs of eyes, all looking at me!
“The expressions of those faces changed even more, twisting and tearing the wounds on his face, causing a lot of blood to flow.
"He stared at me for a long time, then sighed and said, 'Didn't I tell you not to come in?'
“I suddenly understood what was going on with all the anomalies these days.
"His Highness discovered these three things growing on his face. He couldn't accept it, nor could he tolerate seeing himself in the mirror transformed into this half-human, half-ghost appearance. So he smashed all the mirrors. The blood was because he wanted to cut them off with a knife. The rotting smell was because the wounds were taking too long to heal. But no matter how many times he cut them off, they would grow back again!"
The Imperial Master covered half of his face, his pupils contracting violently.
He said, “I…knelt down beside his bed.
"His Royal Highness slowly sat up from the bed and said, 'Don't be afraid. They became like this because they betrayed me. As long as you don't do this, I will still treat you the same as before. You will still be my most loyal servant, and nothing will change.'
"How could I not be scared?! And how could nothing have changed? Everything had already changed!
"His Royal Highness is very clever. He never used to be able to read people's expressions, but since being demoted, he has learned to read people's expressions. He saw what I was thinking and asked slowly, 'You are leaving too, aren't you?'
"Honestly, I don't know. If he just threw the 'evil people' he called them into the copper furnace, I could pretend nothing happened. I said I really would understand.
"But he personally killed our best friend of all years and threw him in there. We depended on each other for survival! This is truly... insane. I... can't accept it.
"His Royal Highness the Crown Prince said to himself, it doesn't matter, I expected it a long time ago. If I become like this, no one will stay. I can be alone. I understand, I have always been alone!!! I don't need anyone else!!!"
"His face suddenly became extremely ferocious. He grabbed my neck with one hand, stared at me intently, and kept repeating: I can be alone, I can be alone, I am alone, I am alone, I am alone, I am alone, I don't need anyone else, I don't need anyone else, I don't need anyone else...
"His Highness is very strong. If he really wanted to kill me, he would have snapped my neck in an instant, leaving me speechless. But I didn't die immediately. And when he attacked, our three friends all screamed in his face, as if they had done something to him. He also had a headache and was screaming. I was screaming too. The five of us were screaming and shouting like crazy. His Highness held his head with one hand, pinching it harder with the other. My vision went black, and I felt like I was about to die. At that moment... I saw what was under his pillow.
"He had a sword under his pillow, which he used when he slept. This was a habit he had picked up after being demoted. I grabbed the hilt and pulled it out. A flash of cold light flashed, and His Highness laughed heartily, his eyes bloodshot. He said, 'You want to kill me too? Come on! Stab me! Stab me in the heart! You're not the only one! I want to see who will die in the end! Will it be you or me?'
"Of course I didn't stab him. I held the sword in front of him and shouted at the top of my lungs: 'Your Highness! Your Highness! Come back! Look at yourself! Look at what you've become!'"
He had smashed all his mirrors; it had been a long time since he had looked in one. The sharp edge of the sword suddenly reflected his current appearance, and he saw his own face.
“When he saw himself in the mirror, he froze.
"His Highness's grip on me didn't lessen, but after an unknown amount of time, as he watched, tears suddenly flowed from his eyes.
"Seeing his tears, I couldn't help but burst into tears too. The reflection on the sword was so ugly! It made me sick just looking at it. Why should I let him see himself like this, reminding him that he was such an ugly monster now?
“I still couldn’t bear it, and the sword slipped out of my hand and fell to the ground.
"Finally, His Royal Highness the Crown Prince threw me out with all his might and said, 'Get lost.
"I ran away in a hurry."
After hearing this, Xie Lian felt a slight relief.
The Imperial Master also put down his hand and said, "I fled very far, escaped from Wuyong Country. Not long after, the Tonglu Volcano erupted again.
"This time, the entire Wuyong Kingdom was buried, and almost no one was spared. A country disappeared just like that.
“I escaped, but I never heard from His Royal Highness the Crown Prince again. It seems he was buried with the Wuyong Kingdom.
"I've ascended to the heavens and cultivated myself, achieving some success. Maintaining my physical condition, I wander aimlessly through the human world. I've served His Royal Highness the Crown Prince since my youth, but now that I no longer have to serve him, I'm at a loss as to what to do.
"His Highness is gone, and my three friends are dead too. I made three empty dummies, and let them talk to me in their voices, and occasionally play cards with me."
Hearing the phrase "empty shell," Xie Lian's expression darkened slightly. The Imperial Master said, "Later, as my magic skills improved, I instilled the abilities of my three friends into them."
Xie Lian whispered, “Are they the other three Imperial Masters?”
No wonder he always felt a little strange about the other three Imperial Masters. They never acted alone, nor did they communicate with him in private. They were essentially dummies, and would be exposed without the Imperial Master. The Imperial Master said, "It's them. So, in a sense, you can be considered a disciple of my three friends. Unfortunately, I'm not them, and the skills I can impart to these dummies are only a fraction of theirs. I can't teach you much. Those three dummies who accompanied me for so long were long ago destroyed by him."
"After another hundred or two hundred years, the Celestial Realm changed generations, and the original priests all fell, and were gradually replaced by a new group of priests. But none of this mattered to me, so I just lived a life of idleness and waited for death.
"Until one day, in a certain country, there was a Crown Prince who was born on the day when Mars was in the heart.
"That's you, His Royal Highness the Crown Prince of Xianle Kingdom.
It’s finally here. Xie Lian’s hands on his legs tightened slightly.
The Imperial Preceptor sat cross-legged, arms folded, and said, "I think it's a coincidence, a fate. But in fact, Wuyong had been destroyed for many, many years. It's inevitable that you'll encounter it once or twice every few hundred years. It's not a coincidence at all. But for some reason I don't understand, I made up a random name and became the Imperial Preceptor of Xianle."
Xie Lian thought to himself, “I knew the name was just made up…”
The Imperial Preceptor said, "I don't despise you, Xianle, but it's too easy for me to become an Imperial Preceptor there. There's only one problem: people always think that those who are young and have little experience and ability are not reliable, and they will look down on me. If I took the exam with this face, I might not pass. So I changed my face to look ten or twenty years older, and sure enough, I got the job quickly. As an Imperial Preceptor, I have to communicate directly with the priests of the heavens.
“So, I faced Jun Wu.
"Jun Wu's appearance is completely different from the Crown Prince I'm familiar with. However, I'm too familiar with him after all. After a few conversations, I'm a little suspicious. But it's just a suspicion.
"And even if I have doubts, I don't want to say anything.
"He's become a completely different person, and the human aspect of his face has vanished. I thought the resentment between my three friends had dissipated, but if that's the case, there's no need to bring up the past and disrupt the peace. It would be fine if we all just pretended not to recognize each other."
Xie Lian said, “If it were me, I would probably do the same.”
The Imperial Master said, "But we still couldn't pretend to the end. Because we all saw you.
"Your Highness, you should have guessed why I have such high hopes for you. You are very much like him. Therefore, I hope you can become the person or god he wants to be. You can do what he couldn't do. You can use your perfection to make up for the regrets of him and me."
Hua Cheng said calmly, "You were wrong from the beginning. They don't look alike at all."
The Imperial Master glanced at him and said, "Of course you can say they don't look alike now. But they did look alike in the past. And the bad thing was, they looked too alike."
He turned back to Xie Lian and said, "When you saved the child who fell from the city wall during the Prince's Pleasure of the Goddess, I wasn't very happy. Not only because that incident stopped the ceremony, but also because what you did was too conspicuous. You caught Jun Wu's attention."
"Jun Wu started talking about you to me. He's very fond of you, and every time we talked about you, I felt something was wrong. But I could tell that he really liked you, and he was happy to have found a very suitable candidate, and he really wanted to recommend you, but I always persuaded him with various reasons."
Xie Lian was also reluctant to believe that Jun Wu’s attitude towards him was all fake, but after hearing what the Imperial Master said, he felt a complex and indescribable emotion.
The Imperial Master said, "The turning point lies in the bridge of one thought."
Hearing these three words, Xie Lian came back to his senses. The Imperial Master asked, "Do you remember the ghost at Yi Nian Bridge?"
Xie Lian said solemnly, “That was the opportunity for my ascension, so I naturally remember it.”
The Imperial Master said, "When you encountered that ghost, I sensed something was amiss. This ghost haunted the broken bridge in the wilderness, clad in tattered armor, treading on infernal flames, covered in blood and the skewering of swords and spears. Every step he took left a trail of blood and fire behind him. And the three questions he asked you—all of them concerned me deeply, making me uneasy, but I couldn't quite put my finger on what was wrong. Furthermore, after defeating the bridge ghost, you ascended so quickly that I had no time to figure it out."
"Fortunately, after you ascended, Jun Wu treated you as kindly as always, showing great favor and respect, as if nothing had changed. I also told myself not to overthink it.
"Then there was the Xianle drought and the Yong'an rebellion. And then there was the appearance of that thing, Bai Wuxiang."
Xie Lian held his breath, concentrating. The Imperial Master said, "I've said before, at first I had no idea what it was. Even when the Human Face Plague emerged, I was only skeptical. But parasitic spirits aren't uncommon, it's just never spread so widely. Plus, I have some resentment towards the so-called Heavenly Way, so I initially thought Bai Wuxiang might be a natural creation, a punishment from Heaven.
"But as you come into contact with that thing more and more, the human face epidemic becomes more and more rampant, and many things happen, I have to think of the worst possible scenario."
Xie Lian asked, “Many, many things. What exactly do you mean? For example?”
The Imperial Master said, "The family of three who fell to their death at the gate of Xianle Imperial City."
Xie Lian choked and said, “So… is…?”
The Imperial Master said, "Later, I examined the bodies of the three men and discovered that they were not three men at all, but three empty shells."
Xie Lian asked, “But a hollow man is hollow, has no internal organs, and can’t bleed?!”
The Imperial Master said, "You don't need the internal organs at all. After falling from such a height, the internal organs would have been shattered long ago. All we need to do is stuff a mass of rotten meat and fill it with blood plasma inside the hollow shell. Among my three friends, one was the best at making these strange things. He was the first to create the hollow shell mannequin. He only taught us, and at that time, the method of making hollow shell mannequins was not as widespread as it is now. Now that they are dead, who else can make a hollow shell mannequin, and make it so realistic, besides me?"
Xie Lian lowered his head, his pupils constricted.
The family of three fell to their deaths at the gate of Xianle Imperial City, directly triggering the war. However, those lives were completely fake, it was a trap!
Xie Lian asked, “Then… why didn’t you tell me then?”
The Imperial Master said, "I wouldn't dare. If it really was him, and I told you, given your temper at the time, wouldn't you have rushed over to settle the score with him? That wouldn't have saved you and the Xianle Kingdom at all, it would have only accelerated your demise. Moreover, even without those three empty shells, sooner or later..."
Sooner or later, something else will ignite the flames of war. Just like the missing dog in the Imperial City of Xianle.
"Later, you were defeated, and Xianle was defeated too.
"I really couldn't bear it any longer, so I first dismissed everyone in Huangji Temple, asked him to descend in the Shenwu Temple, and then directly tore off his identity."
This was what Jun Wu had said, the meeting they had had eight hundred years ago. The Imperial Master said, "I questioned him about many things, but he neither admitted nor denied them. Finally, I asked him, 'Your Highness, what do you really want?'
"He finally answered. He said he wanted you to be his most perfect successor.
"If there's one person in the world who can completely understand him, it's you. As long as you succeed, you will never betray him!
"I understood what he meant. In the heat of the argument, we started fighting again. I couldn't fight back at all. I would definitely die. He could crush me to death without lifting a finger. But at this moment, his face suddenly changed drastically and he covered his face.
“I was shocked and realized that those three faces appeared on his face again!
"It turns out they didn't disappear at all. He just kept suppressing them with his magic! And now, I don't know if it's because of their excitement or because of me, they've come out again!
"So, my three friends came out to cause trouble, which gave him a splitting headache and a terrible expression, and I took the opportunity to escape.
"I began to wander the human world once again, this time hiding from place to place. I wondered what had become of the former Wuyong Kingdom. So, I went back to take a look.
“What I didn’t expect was that when I went back that time, I made another big discovery.
"For some reason, the land of Wuyong was completely sealed off, cut off from the outside world. I walked there for a long time and met my three friends again.
Xie Lian asked, “Are those the three mountain monsters, old, sick, and dead?”
The Imperial Master said, “That’s right.
"The copper furnace devoured their bodies. Their nearly incinerated ashes mixed with volcanic ash and erupted. Over time, the sediment accumulated, and after thousands of years, it finally turned into three mountains, housing parts of their souls."
“It took me a long time to find a way to communicate with them after they transformed into mountain monsters, but after I succeeded, I learned a lot.
"It turns out that the previous generation of priests didn't die naturally, but were slowly killed off one by one by him. He... slaughtered the entire Heavenly Court, leaving not a single one alive!
After slaughtering the Celestial Realm, he returned to the human world and patiently waited for a while, inventing a new name and fabricating a new identity. As a 'human,' he ascended once more. All the previous priests in the Celestial Realm had perished, leaving no one to know who he truly was, or what he had been like in the past. The stories now circulating in the human world about the 'Divine Martial Emperor'—his origins, anecdotes, appearance, and personality—were all false, elaborate lies woven by him!
"This Immortal Capital is the new heaven he built, completely under his control. The bodies and ashes of past priests are all mixed in the soil of this Immortal Capital's foundation, trampled under his feet every day. Right now, you might be stepping on someone's ashes."
“…”
The Imperial Master continued, "He is now the Supreme Martial God of the Heavens, appearing glorious and resplendent. But within him, a boundless darkness is suppressed. Resentment, pain, anger, hatred... these things need to be released. Only in this way can he maintain his balance and continue to rule the Three Realms as the Supreme Martial God, rather than engaging in a bloodbath."
"The former Wuyong Kingdom has become a hell. He fed the copper furnace countless living people and three quasi-priests, and it has recognized him as its master. He regularly releases these dark emotions into the copper furnace, using the millions of Wuyong people's souls as support, igniting the karmic fire and refining many evil things.
Xie Lian asked, “The methods for refining these things are different from those for Jue, right?”
The Imperial Master said, "Indeed, they are different. 'Jue' was created later, because he...changed the method of refining it."
Xie Lian asked, “What do you mean by a method of refining?”
The Imperial Master said, "'Quality' and 'Quantity'."
He glanced at Huacheng again and said, "You all know that Jue is born only once every hundred or even several hundred years. Only one can be achieved at a time, so it is extremely rare and extremely difficult to achieve. Moreover, the predecessor of Jue is an independent existence. The copper furnace merely provides an environment, accelerating the process of their explosion. Those who can achieve Jue can achieve Jue anywhere, and they will all achieve Jue sooner or later.
"Actually, the word 'jue' means 'unrivaled' or 'the best'. It has little to do with whether or not one has been tempered in the copper furnace. However, those who can endure the tempering of the copper furnace are indeed worthy of the title. Because there are very few who can make it. Aren't there only three so far?"
Xie Lian glanced at Hua Cheng, who was standing beside him. Coincidentally, Hua Cheng was looking back at him. Although he didn't know why he was looking at him, he still smiled slightly.
The Imperial Master continued, "However, the copper furnace's early output wasn't like this. In the early years, it would only come out once every few years, with hundreds or even dozens of creatures at a time. This was likely due to his emotional instability at the time. The creatures produced were all monsters formed from his hatred and resentment, and there are probably some familiar creatures among them. For example, the Baihua Zhenxian."
Xie Lian asked, “The True Immortal Baihua was also born from a copper furnace?!”
The Imperial Master said, "That's right. Some of these things have their own consciousness and are no longer connected to him; others don't, and can be considered his clones. The True Immortal Baihua has his own consciousness, and after leaving, he created many smaller clones. My three friends stayed within the borders of Wuyong to prevent these monsters from leaving, while I spent years searching for these things in the outside world and trying to find a way to remedy them."
Xie Lian suddenly remembered the strange attitude the Imperial Preceptor had shown Master Qingxuan before he came up here. He asked, “Master! Master Feng… the expert who read Qingxuan’s fortune and advised his family not to hold a grand wedding, weren’t you?”
The Imperial Master said, "Nonsense. Apart from me, your master, which expert can calculate so accurately? Which expert has so much free time? You'll calculate for just a bowl of porridge?"
“…”
The Imperial Preceptor said, "That True Immortal Baihua originally wanted to try to devour the then-young Shi Wudu, but that brat was too ruthless. Even at such a young age, he was already difficult to deal with. He was invulnerable to swords and spears, and he was so unlucky that he couldn't bite him. If he tried to bite him, he would probably break his teeth and have a mouth full of blood. So he had no choice but to turn to his brother, who was destined to be mediocre and wealthy. Although he still didn't bite him, he caused unrest among the two brothers, and he also bit someone who was destined to ascend to heaven. It was not a loss in any way. I really can't be satisfied if I didn't kill this thing."
Hua Chengdao: "He has been killed."
The Imperial Preceptor said, "They were swallowed by He Xuan, right? I've heard that too. I was going to keep an eye on the Shi brothers until I was sure they were alright, but then Tonglu was about to open its doors, so I couldn't keep up, so I went to Tonglu first. When I came back, things had become a complete mess. Shi Wudu had some evil intentions and created a huge mess that was completely out of control! It gave me a terrible headache, and I couldn't do anything about it even if I wanted to."
Even if he really wanted to, he couldn't. The Imperial Master continued, "But honestly, Baihua Zhenxian isn't one of the strongest out there. He just loves to cause trouble. Strictly speaking, he's just a substandard item, not even worth mentioning. And, for example..."
Xie Lian whispered, “Or… at the bridgehead, fighting the dead soul?”
The Imperial Master took a breath and said, “…It’s him.
"Why else do you think I said it all happened because of your words? Because that bridge ghost is a dark clone he forged in the copper furnace. Every few years, it would come out to wreak havoc and kill people to vent its hatred. But, you, of all people, defeated that monster!
"He sensed the bridge ghost had been killed, and immediately went down to investigate, where he saw you. And you, right in front of him, uttered those words—'My body is in hell, my heart is in paradise.' This was a mad mockery of his, and it touched his sore spot...
"This is the turning point of everything."
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