Zhaohui’s question hung in the cool night air, sharp and demanding. Her eyes, usually so assured, now held a raw uncertainty that Jianli had rarely seen in anyone, let alone a captain of the Empyrean Guard. He met her gaze, his own unwavering. “The truth,” he echoed, his voice low, a contrast to the frantic bellows of Jiao Lei still echoing faintly in the distance. “The truth is more tangled than you can imagine. And it will shatter everything you believe.” He reached out, his hand hovering near her forehead. A faint azure glow emanated from his palm, a subtle resonance of the transcendent core he had just reclaimed. Zhaohui flinched, but held her ground, a mixture of fear and desperate hope warring in her expression. “My words alone will not suffice,” Jianli continued, his gaze piercing. “You need to see it. Understand it. Are you ready to witness the fall of a god?” She hesitated for a beat, her ribs aching from their escape, then nodded, setting her jaw firm. “Show me.” Jianli pressed his palm gently against her brow. A surge of spiritual energy, ancient and vast, flowed from him. It wasn’t an attack, but an invitation, a doorway into a mind that had transcended mortal understanding. Zhaohui gasped, a silent sound, as her world dissolved into a blinding torrent of azure light. Suddenly, she wasn't in a ruined shrine in the city’s back alleys. She stood on the precipice of an exalted peak, bathed in the iridescent glow of nine suns. Below, an ocean of clouds stretched to an infinite horizon. Above, the astral ether swirled, pregnant with primal energies. A figure stood before her, not Jianli as she knew him, but a being of unparalleled grace and power. His robes, woven from starlight, rippled around him. His aura was so profound it resonated with the very fabric of existence. This was the Veridian Sage, Jianli in his past life, on the cusp of ascension. Then, the purity of the scene fractured. Shadows detached from the swirling astral energy, coalescing into spectral forms. They weren't mere phantoms; they were projections, vivid and real. Zhaohui recognized them. Her breath caught. There was Grand Elder Ren, patriarch of the Azure River Clan, his usually benevolent face twisted by a greedy sneer. Beside him, Minister Hu Yan, chief strategist of the Empyrean Throne, his eyes cold and calculating. Then came Grand Commander Ruan Lie, her direct superior, the unyielding marshal she had served without question. Blood chilled in her throat at the sight. His expression was not one of hatred, but of desperate, fearful ambition. They stood in a circle, their hands raised. Chains of shimmering dark Qi, thicker than mountains, erupted from their palms, not targeting the ascending Sage, but the astral energies he was drawing. They sought not to strike him dead on the spot, but to sever his tether to the heavens, siphoning the raw power of his breakthrough. Zhaohui saw the Veridian Sage’s reaction. Not rage, but a chilling clarity. He understood their betrayal instantly. He tried to resist, to push past the encroaching darkness, but the combined might of such powerful figures, all working in concert, was overwhelming. The golden gates, moments from opening, flickered and began to recede. The nine suns dimmed. Then, the scene shifted, becoming a vision within a vision. Zhaohui was pulled back, seeing the conspirators from a different angle, hearing their thoughts, their fears. Their voices, though ethereal, were chillingly clear. “He ascends too fast! His purity will expose us!” Ren snarled, his spiritual voice echoing through the mental projection. “The centuries of veiled corruption, the hidden dealings with the Obsidian Dominion… all laid bare by his light!” “Worse,” Hu Yan added, his mental voice a serpent’s hiss. “His enlightened sight could uncover the sacred relic’s location. Our plans for true dominion would be ruined.” The sacred relic. Zhaohui stiffened, horrified. It was a forbidden artifact, rumored to lie buried beneath the Imperial Throne itself, a stone that legends claimed could reshape the mortal realm. No one was supposed to even know of its existence, let alone contemplate controlling it. Grand Commander Ruan Lie’s mental voice cut through the others, heavy with a twisted sense of righteousness. “His climb would be wasted. His power, combined with the relic, could bring true order to Tianxia. An order *we* control. This is not sabotage; it is a re-allocation of heaven's mandate.” Zhaohui watched, helpless, as the Veridian Sage’s breakthrough faltered, then collapsed. The astral energies, instead of forming a bridge to the heavens, imploded, searing him and splintering his inner core into dust. But the conspirators were ready. They cast a complex array, drawing in the raw, unrefined energy of the implosion, directing it downwards, deep beneath the mountain root, straight toward the vault where the relic slept. The vision dissolved, the azure light receding. Zhaohui found herself back in the ruined shrine, gasping for breath, the stench of dust and decay filling her nostrils. Her knees buckled, and she fell to the ground, hands pressed to her temples. Her mind reeled under the shock of ancient betrayal and monstrous ambition. “Ruan Lie…” she whispered, her voice raw, choked with disbelief. “My commander… the relic… It’s all a lie. Everything is a lie.” Jianli stood over her, his expression impassive, but his eyes held a profound weariness. “The Imperial Throne, Zhaohui, is built upon a foundation of rot. They feared my apotheosis because it would expose the corruption they had woven into the very fabric of Tianxia. But that was merely a secondary concern.” He knelt, his gaze level with hers. “Their true objective was not just to stop me, but to harness the raw power of a shattered breakthrough. To feed it to the relic, preparing it for their ultimate scheme.” He paused, allowing the gravity of his words to sink in. Zhaohui stared at him, her face pale, her world utterly shattered. The righteous path she had walked, the justice she had pursued, all tainted, all a farce orchestrated by the very individuals she swore to protect. “They will attempt to activate the artifact during tomorrow’s planetary convergence. We have one day.”

The Veridian Sage's Memory