Xu Ping’an had no talent for divination, but the Chaos Golden Eyes allowed him to easily see through falsehoods.
When the Dragon Qi appeared, Xu Ping’an’s Chaos Golden Eyes instantly shrank that colossal thing down to a size he could take in with a single glance.
Then, he sensed that something was wrong.
This Dragon Qi had been entangled by something!
That black line carried traces of Blood Fiend Qi amid bitter resentment, and, most importantly, the faint, lurking, murky aura it exuded made his hair stand on end.
“This thing… how could it appear here?”
Xu Ping’an stared for a long while before suddenly recalling something.
His heart immediately jumped.
Dragon Qi was the vital energy of the Human Tribe—ordinary magical treasures were useless against it, and common methods couldn’t bind it.
But this was different.
Legend said that when Pangu split heaven and earth, one Qi became the Three Pure Ones, his body became all things, and his blood formed the Great Shaman.
This Great Shaman was formed from Pangu’s heart blood, which naturally contained the power to destroy all evil.
And this thing wrapped around the golden dragon’s body clearly bore the aura of the Wu Tribe.
The Wu Tribe had long been wiped out in the Primordial Desolate World, and the few who survived could only eke out an existence under the protection of the Empress of the Earth.
Now, this was no longer the era of Chaos, nor the Mythic Era.
So why would something like this appear here?
“Wu Tribe… Chaos? Could this really be the Primordial Desolate World?”
But that was impossible.
The Primordial Desolate World was boundless—even a Saint could scarcely find its limits—yet this world was obviously divided, and even the sea was not far away.
It absolutely couldn’t be the Primordial Desolate World.
But if not, then where had this Wu Tribe Blood Fiend Qi, entwined around the golden dragon, come from?
Moreover, someone had to be controlling this thing from the shadows.
Otherwise, how could the Wu Tribe, whose fate should have been severed by the Heavenly Dao long ago, have the power to bind the Dragon Qi of the Prosperous Human Tribe?
And another thing… With the Wu Tribe’s appearance, why hadn’t the Heavenly Dao sounded a warning?
By rights, the Heavenly Dao should wholly reject the Wu Tribe and the Yao Clan, both long since dead.
Even if it didn’t reject them, it would never allow Wu Tribe Qi to wrap around the Human Tribe’s Dragon Qi.
From this, it could be deduced… this Wu Tribe aura was surely the work of someone with deliberate intent, someone who had also clouded destiny itself.
Of course, it was also possible that this was not actually Wu Tribe Qi, but something else merely carrying a trace of its aura.
But whatever it was, its existence was at least keeping the Dragon Qi from recovering.
As Dragon Qi wanes, the world falls into chaos; demons and monsters emerge, and all living things weep.
This was absolutely not something the Demonic Sect could conjure up alone—there was surely a conspirator lurking in the shadows.
Xu Ping’an frowned slightly.
He knew many Array Formations, but they were all killing arrays, and even the more powerful ones weren’t designed specifically for Dragon Qi.
Besides, even if he had one, with his current strength, he could never deploy it.
After all, he had not a shred of Spiritual Energy within him and could not manipulate it to run an array.
This was troublesome.
It was absolutely not a problem he could solve in his current state.
After another careful observation, Xu Ping’an couldn’t help but suck in a cold breath.
The decline and entrapment of Dragon Qi was not the main point.
The main point was that, after so many years, the resentment and Blood Fiend Qi of all living beings toward Great Qi had accumulated to a terrifying degree.
Every time the Dragon Qi weakened, that force of resistance surged even more violently.
Even if there were no Blood Fiend Qi binding it, the Dragon Qi was so weak now that it couldn’t suppress that overwhelming evil aura anymore.
This… This was tantamount to a country’s destiny running out—a sign that a change of dynasty was imminent.
Still, it was precisely because of the Blood Fiend Qi’s binding that the Dragon Qi’s decline had accelerated; otherwise, with the thousand-year foundation of Great Qi, its Dragon Qi would not have fallen so quickly.
Each drink and bite is predestined by Heaven.
But this time, it was obvious that someone had intervened to hasten the decline of Great Qi’s Dragon Qi.
At this rate, in at most ten years, Great Qi was sure to fall.
“The situation isn’t looking good…”
Xu Ping’an truly didn’t care about Great Qi.
After all, if this dynasty ended, another would rise in its place. Dynasties came and went without end.
What weighed on his heart was the fate of the countless common people.
Once Great Qi’s Dragon Qi utterly collapsed, as the saying goes, ‘When a nation thrives, the people suffer; when it perishes, the people suffer.’
And there was another saying: ‘Better to be a dog in peacetime than a human in a time of chaos.’
It was easy to imagine the kind of disaster that would befall the people once chaos began.
It would absolutely not be as simple as death.
What was about to happen was bound to be catastrophic.
But the real question now was, since he knew Great Qi’s destiny was to fall, how was he supposed to explain this to Pei Qingxuan?
Not to mention anything else, just the fact that Pei Qingxuan’s bloodline was linked to Great Qi made it hard for Xu Ping’an to speak.
“To prolong Great Qi’s Dragon Qi? I’m afraid it’s nearly impossible. Though that black thread only accelerated its decline, the signs of decay were already present.”
In other words, Great Qi’s fate had run out.
Now, the only thing Xu Ping’an needed to consider was whether or not to tell Pei Qingxuan the whole truth.
If his wife truly wanted to do everything she could to prolong Great Qi’s destiny, what should he do?
Should he persuade her, or help her?
If he tried to persuade her, she might be left with a knot in her heart and regret it in the future.
But if he helped her—
To knowingly attempt the impossible was foolish.
If it were for the sake of all living things, Xu Ping’an would not hesitate to wade into muddy waters and throw himself into the game.
But the problem was, the decline of Dragon Qi was already set by fate. It was Heaven’s will and could not be changed.
Dynastic succession was not something he could interfere with.
What he could do was try his best to protect the people, or perhaps… seek out someone suitable and help him quickly rise to become emperor.
Shaking his head, Xu Ping’an’s mind was a mess at this moment.
“Hoo…”
He returned to Autumn Water Hall.
The three women came out to greet him. Xu Ping’an forced a smile, then went to the lounge chair beneath the Rong Tree, lay down, and closed his eyes to rest.
The three women exchanged glances.
Though they hadn’t known Xu Ping’an for very long, they’d already noticed he liked to show his feelings whenever something was on his mind.
Now, even though he said nothing, his forced smile and silent gaze told them something was wrong.
Among them, Li Yuer was the first to react.
She frowned at Xu Ping’an, lying silent on the chair, hesitated a moment, then raised her hand to summon Xiao Jing’er.
“Xiao Jing’er, I’m stepping out for a bit. Stay here and look after sir.”
“Miss, where are you going?”
Xiao Jing’er looked at Li Yuer in confusion, but saw her shake her head and glance at Xu Ping’an before quietly slipping out of the courtyard.
If it were an ordinary day, with Xu Ping’an in a calm mood, he would have sensed immediately if anyone spoke in the courtyard.
Though he had no cultivation, his five senses were far keener than most.
But today, his heart was filled with anxiety and he hadn’t paid any attention to his surroundings.
As soon as Li Yuer left, she made straight for the Pavilion of Immortal World.
Xu Ping’an had been there several times before; though Li Yuer didn’t know the road well, she at least knew which direction Xu Ping’an had taken.
She followed that path all the way to the five-story Pavilion of Immortal World.
“I trouble you both to deliver a message—tell the Sect Leader that Li Yuer requests an audience.”
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