Borderless Heavenly Capital:
The Embroidered Uniform Guard investigated the officials.
A small group of officials felt incredibly terrified and wanted to flee. They even tried to instigate other officials to protest. However, achieving that would depend on when they did it.
If Gu Hai had not returned, they might have succeeded. Now that the emperor had returned, who would fall for it?
Most of the Han Nation officials were merchants who had followed Gu Hai since his time on Nine-Five Island. He had long nurtured an absolute adoration for him in these people. Later on, he recruited more officials; however, these officials had also gone through a lot with him. Any official with any brains would not cause trouble at this juncture.
Some tried to flee or cause trouble earlier, but the Embroidered Uniform Guard quickly caught them.
After rounds of investigation, the Embroidered Uniform Guard locked up a group of officials.
Gu Hai had reprimanded Meng Tai for failing in his duties. Although Gu Hai had not stripped him of his envoy commander position, Meng Tai was still scared witless. Despite severe injuries and his ruined dantian, he endured the pain and continued to oversee the Embroidered Uniform Guard’s investigation.
By dawn, most of the officials had already returned to their residences. Only a few of them remained locked up.
“Alpha Unit, send some men to investigate the families of these suspicious officials. Arrest everyone in their families. Don’t let anyone flee. If even one escapes, just turn in your head!” Meng Tai snarled.
“Yes!” an Embroidered Uniform Guard answered.
Then, that Embroidered Uniform Guard brought many other Embroidered Uniform Guards to search the suspicious officials’ homes.
Meng Tai endured the pain, not even bandaging his wounds. Blood stained his clothes as he carried stacks of documents to seek an audience with Gu Hai. He understood he could not escape blame for this chaos in Borderless Heavenly Capital. All he could do was to make himself appear more miserable, hoping the emperor would sympathize.
In the emperor’s study:
Mo Yike left, carrying the information Chen Tianshan collected. When he exited, he met Meng Tai.
When Meng Tai saw Mo Yike come out of the study, his face sank.
“Lord Mo, I have offended you greatly earlier!” Meng Tai bowed slightly.
“Lord Meng, you have worked hard!” Mo Yike nodded.
The two passed each other.
They had yet to figure out who the spy was among the eight. Before they verified this, they did not dare to walk too closely with each other.
“Oh! That’s right!” Mo Yike suddenly said, turning his head.
Meng Tai stopped and looked at Mo Yike.
“His Reverence is not in the study at the moment. If you are seeking His Reverence to report on the situation, go to the Three Pure Ones Hall. His Reverence should be there,” Mo Yike said before leaving.
Meng Tai felt slightly startled. Then he smiled bitterly, suspecting that Mo Yike was not the assassin he saw yesterday.
After all, Mo Yike is such an intelligent person. If he were attempting an assassination, how could he do it personally? If it was not him, who could it be? Both the crown prince and I clearly saw him.
Meng Tai shook his head and rushed to the Three Pure Ones Hall.
When Gu Hai summoned the Severed Sect’s Sect Master Heavenly Access, he had given the Three Pure Ones Hall to the Severed Sect’s Heavenly Access to stay in.
At this moment, in the Three Pure Ones Hall:
Gu Hai found a diagram on a table in the Three Pure Ones Hall.
The Mosquito Daoist stood behind him.
“Gu Hai, you all went to eight hundred thousand years in the past?” The Mosquito Daoist gazed at Gu Hai with shock in his eyes.
“Oh? Who did you hear it from?” Gu Hai did not turn his head back, studying the diagram in his hand.
“They did not tell me when they returned. I found out from a sect,” the Mosquito Daoist said seriously.
“Since you already know, why ask?” Gu Hai smiled faintly.
“But—”
“Mister Mosquito Daoist, you have kept your promise, accomplishing three requests. I will keep my promise too. When the time comes, I will help you exchange for the Primal Essence Pearl,” Gu Hai said seriously.
The Mosquito Daoist frowned slightly, looking like he had more to say.
“What’s wrong? Mosquito Daoist, do you have something you want to say?” Gu Hai turned his head and looked at the Mosquito Daoist in bewilderment.
The Mosquito Daoist narrowed his eyes slightly at Gu Hai. “During this time, I finally see that you—Gu Hai—are very good at planning.”
“Oh?”
“You promised to get me the Primal Essence Pearl in fifty years? Hah! Hahahaha! I initially thought that I would get the Primal Essence Pearl after fifty years had passed. Now, it looks like it might not be the case,” the Mosquito Daoist said with narrowed eyes.
“Mosquito Daoist, what do you mean?” Gu Hai asked in bewilderment.
“You are very scheming. To think you are like Long Zhanguo and Old Mister Guan Qi. Fifty years? Heaven will awaken fifty years later. That will be when you point your sword at Heaven? By then, you would not care about the Primal Essence Pearl. If you win, you will become the immortal. If you lose, you will suffer from a tribulation you will never recover from. That’s why you are willing to promise me the Primal Essence Pearl. By then, you would no longer care or can no longer do anything,” the Mosquito Daoist said coldly.
Gu Hai looked at the Mosquito Daoist and smiled faintly. “Point my sword at Heaven? Hah! Mosquito Daoist, you can’t make such wild accusations.”
Gu Hai did not acknowledge it, but his eyes showed no surprise. Clearly, he just did not want word to spread.
“So, you were tricking me previously?” the Mosquito Daoist said coldly.
“Trick? Nope. I was telling the truth. If I have the Primal Essence Pearl fifty years later, I will give it to you,” Gu Hai said.
The Mosquito Daoist raised his eyebrows. Although he got tricked, he did not feel enraged about it.
“My Han Imperial Dynasty will be implicated in many matters, and we have many enemies. Mister Mosquito Daoist, you have already fulfilled your promise. There’s no need to remain in the Han Nation and face danger with me,” Gu Hai said sincerely.
“Danger? Hah! With you around, the Han Nation is indeed in grave danger. Now, the Wu Imperial Dynasty is conspiring with the Spirit Mountain Holy Land and the Myriad Age Daoist Sect to destroy your Han Nation. You are indeed in grave danger. Previously, you even drew Sect Master Heavenly Access over,” the Mosquito Daoist said sullenly.
“That’s right. It is very dangerous, and I don’t want to bring harm to you. After all, you have helped me. Sect Master Heavenly Access will probably come again very soon. He will come in full fury. Mister Mosquito Daoist, you had better hide while it is early,” Gu Hai advised.
“What if… What if I don’t want to hide?” The Mosquito Daoist smiled.
“Oh?” Gu Hai suddenly raised his eyebrows, exposing a trace of shock.
“That’s right. I’m cowardly. I’m used to being carefree and cannot be fettered. However, I suddenly discovered that there is nothing bad about staying in a place when I stayed in Borderless Heavenly Capital over the years,” the Mosquito Daoist explained, smiling.
“Mister Mosquito Daoist, what do you mean by this? Are you willing to join my Han Imperial Dynasty?” Gu Hai asked in surprise.
“Although my mosquito race is cowardly, my mosquito race also understands that we cannot fear being smacked to death if we want to drink blood. If one wants to drink, one has to fly bravely to a person’s body. Now, I want to drink blood!” the Mosquito Daoist said with a determined gaze as he stared at Gu Hai.
“Mister Mosquito Daoist, are you sure I have blood in my body?” Gu Hai smiled.
“I believe it. I’ve also seen it. Not that you have blood in your body, but you can bring others to drink blood. Didn’t that Shangguan Hen get to drink to his fill? Kong Xuan and Ao Shun too. Even Mo Yike had his fill of blood. If I keep hiding, I won’t get to drink any!” the Mosquito Daoist said with certainty.
“What if you get smacked to death before drinking any blood?” Gu Hai asked seriously.
“I will flee! I hope you won’t mind me fleeing!” The Mosquito Daoist stared at Gu Hai.
The Mosquito Daoist meant that he wanted Gu Hai to permit him to flee or defect if he noticed anything wrong.
Raise a double-dealer? If it were someone else, they would not be willing.
However, Gu Hai could not get angry at the Mosquito Daoist. Although the Mosquito Daoist was a vile person, he was a sincere, vile person. Unlike those fake gentlemen, he dared to state his intentions grandly. That made Gu Hai view him in a different light.
“Alright. We permit you to flee. However, before you flee, you had better wipe your eyes clear. Don’t foolishly run away before it is time!” Gu Hai smiled.
“Ah? You are willing?” the Mosquito Daoist said in shock.
“Fleeing when there is a calamity is normal. This is nothing. Furthermore, we believe you will not flee as long as we are around.” Gu Hai smiled.
“You are that confident?” the Mosquito Daoist said, finding this strange.
“Mosquito Daoist!” Gu Hai called out.
The Mosquito Daoist stood stiffly in solemn attention.
“From here forth, we install you as the Han Imperial Dynasty’s Sixth Corps commander. You may form your own army to defend the Han Imperial Dynasty!” Gu Hai said solemnly.
The Mosquito Daoist felt slightly startled. An internal struggle was visible on his face before he bowed gravely. “Yes, Your Reverence!”
After agreeing to Gu Hai, the Mosquito Daoist heaved a sigh of relief as though relieved of some worry in his head.
When the Mosquito Daoist previously came to the Han Imperial Dynasty, he felt aloof. However, Kong Xuan and Shangguan Hen surpassed him. Even Ao Shun surpassed him. He understood that he might have missed a great opportunity. When he spoke earlier, he was also testing Gu Hai. Of course, he also felt jealous of the harvest of Kong Xuan and the others.
Unexpectedly, Gu Hai immediately agreed, despite the rude request.
“Your Reverence, I noticed you were staring at that diagram since you entered this hall. What is it?” the Mosquito Daoist asked out of curiosity.
“It’s the diagram for the Immortal Executioner Sword Ritual Array. We have already finished studying it, but it is not very useful to us. You have entered the Immortal Executioner Sword Ritual Array before. You can borrow it to study for a while.” Gu Hai tossed that diagram to the Mosquito Daoist.
“What? The Immortal Executioner Sword Ritual Array’s diagram?” The Mosquito Daoist was surprised at the answer.
When he looked at the diagram, it felt like an overwhelming number of sword qi rushed out of it. Taken aback, he showed an expression of shock.
Boom!
Just at this moment, a thunderous sound suddenly came from outside. It was like a powerful wind sweeping in and rocking countless buildings in Borderless Heavenly Capital. An intense aura pressed on the city as the wind arrived.
The expression of the Mosquito Daoist, who had been looking at the Immortal Executioner Sword Ritual Array’s diagram, suddenly changed. “This aura?”
“Sect Master Heavenly Access has finally arrived?” Gu Hai revealed a faint sneer.
Gu Hai walked out of the Three Pure Ones Hall.
As he left the Three Pure Ones Hall, a cold shout rang out in the sky.
“Immortal Executioner Sword!”
Shing!
Suddenly, a towering Immortal Executioner Sword stabbed itself to the east of Borderless Heavenly Capital, connecting the sky to the ground.
“Immortal Killer Sword!”
The Immortal Killer Sword stabbed itself into the south of Borderless Heavenly Capital.
“Immortal Trapper Sword! Immortal Ender Sword!”
The Immortal Trapper Sword stabbed itself to the east of Borderless Heavenly Capital, and the Immortal Ender Sword stabbed itself to the north of Borderless Heavenly Capital.
The four swords instantly surrounded Borderless Heavenly Capital.
“Activate!”
Boom!
Billions of sword qi erupted from the four swords, rushing at Borderless Heavenly Capital. Boundless sword qi filled the sky, and an intense aura of death permeated the city.
“The Immortal Executioner Sword Ritual Array?” The Mosquito Daoist’s expression changed after he followed Gu Hai out.
