Xie Lian clenched his fists, his breathing becoming slightly disordered.

In one sentence, it sounded so incredible, even ridiculous, but he couldn't laugh at all.

The Imperial Master said, "In addition to these monsters, there are also... Your Highness, do you remember how I got scared when you brought the child you rescued from the tower to the Imperial Temple?"

“…”

Xie Lian immediately regained his concentration, quickly glanced at Hua Cheng, and said, “I remember. What happened to that kid? You said he was…”

The national teacher said: "Heaven's evil star!"

He said in a deep voice: "At that time, I just felt that the evil spirit in that child was too strong and too unusual. Later, after checking with the other three people in the copper furnace, I realized that the copper furnace not only produces monsters, but also curses. Just like you can disperse your luck, the copper furnace can also disperse the bad luck it stores, and after dispersing it, they will flow everywhere.

"That kid's birth date was extremely sinister. If it was auspicious, it would break the sky, and if it was unlucky, it would penetrate the earth. I'm afraid that on the day he was born, he absorbed all the scattered bad luck, which is why he became so terrible. When he went up, the entire Taicang Mountain was almost burned down by him!"

Xie Lian was more and more shocked as he listened, and slowly turned his head to look at Hua Cheng. He was clearly talking about his own affairs, but Hua Cheng's expression did not change, and he smiled at him instead.

The Imperial Master continued, "Under normal circumstances, the child would have lost his father and mother at an early age. If he didn't, his father would have hated his mother and abandoned him, and he would have been abused. It would have been worse for him to have lost both his parents. Moreover, he would not have lived past the age of eighteen, and would have caused the people around him to die, disperse, or suffer misfortune, just like a jinx descending on the world. That's why I asked you to drive him away quickly and not to get close to him anymore..."

Xie Lian couldn’t listen any longer and said, “National Master!… Stop talking.”

The Imperial Master nodded and said, "I won't say more. I am just giving you an example to tell you how terrible the copper furnace is."

Xie Lian didn’t know what to say, but Hua Cheng smiled and said, “It may not be that scary, but the Imperial Master’s calculations are quite accurate.”

“…”

When Xie Lian thought that Hua Cheng might not live past the age of 18, his hands trembled slightly. At this moment, a hand reached out from below and gently covered the back of his cold hand.

Both of their hands were equally cold, but when combined, they felt warm.

The national teacher said: "He has been setting questions to test you. The human face plague in Xianle Country is the first question. According to his answer, as long as you chose to launch the human face plague in Yong'an at that time, you would have passed the test. Not only would he not demote you, but he would also help you cover up and make you truly his trusted successor, so that you could ascend to heaven in one step and defy the will of heaven in two steps. But you answered wrong.

"During your first demotion, he probably gave you another question, and you still didn't give him a satisfactory answer, so you ascended, but he immediately knocked you down again."

A pale smiling face appeared in Xie Lian’s mind. He paused and whispered, “Actually, it was my own request.”

Hua Cheng said: "Brother, believe me. Even if you don't ask for it yourself, he has thousands of ways to get you down."

Xie Lian said, “But he was also the one who defeated Bai Wuxiang.”

Hua Cheng said: "But he didn't kill him."

Xie Lian asked, “But why is this necessary?”

The Imperial Master said: "Of course Bai Wuxiang can kill you, but he doesn't want to kill you. In fact, as I said, he likes you very much and he doesn't want you to die at all. He just wants you to become what he wants you to be."

Hua Cheng also said: "Killing you will not achieve this goal. If you die in that state, you will never change again, and he can't stand it. But Bai Wuxiang has no reason to let you go so easily. What better way is there than for the Emperor Shenwu to come down to the human world, drive away the demons, and save you from danger? In this way, you will trust and appreciate him even more. He failed twice, and he must be very unhappy."

The Imperial Master said, "When you were demoted for the second time and lived in the human world, he had countless opportunities to slowly 'teach' you and wait for you to change your mind. From what I observed, he had calmed down. But this calmness was recently broken.

“The opportunity is your third ascension.

"If you were a pile of mud, it would be fine, but you have become like that and you didn't follow his arrangements at all. You can ascend again, and you are still the same as before, without changing at all... I don't know what he will think when he sees you, but I think he will definitely give you another test."

Hua Cheng said: "Just look at what he did afterwards. Brother, think carefully about what has happened since your third ascension."

Xie Lian quickly got into the mood, and after a moment of deep thought, he said, “The first thing was to go to Yujun Mountain. I captured the ghost girl Xuan Ji. I didn’t find the ghost groom at first, but the fetal spirit guided me with a nursery rhyme. I think it was his idea. But I thought it was helping me in that matter.”

Hua Cheng said: "I just helped you complete the task. The direct consequence was to capture the female ghost Xuan Ji, what are the indirect consequences?"

Xie Lian asked tentatively, “…did you stir up a hornet’s nest for General Pei’s ex-lover and cause him some trouble?”

The Imperial Master said, "This can be considered a small question. If you knew that you would offend Pei Ming, would you handle the Ghost Bridegroom mission in another way? For example, you could secretly inform Pei Ming to suppress it, and let Xuan Ji continue to cause trouble in this small area without causing a big fuss."

Xie Lian blushed and said, “This… To be honest, I only found out it was related to General Pei very later. At the time, the female ghost was seeking my life, and there were so many people present that I had to shoot the arrow on the string. I didn’t have time to think about whether I would offend anyone.”

Hua Cheng smiled slightly and said, "Brother, you have already made your choice."

He continued to sort out the matter, saying, "The second thing is that a Taoist with an empty shell came to Puqi Temple and led you to Banyue Pass. Let's not talk about who sent that shell, what are the consequences of this matter."

Xie Lian said, “He kicked Little General Pei away and broke General Pei’s arm.”

Hua Cheng said: "Brother, look, after these two incidents, you helped him greatly weaken Pei Ming's strength, and you also completely offended Pei Ming. He didn't show up at all, and the hatred was all yours, and you are still grateful to him."

“…”

Hua Cheng continued, "If I'm not mistaken, he has been keeping an eye on you for the past eight hundred years. Brother, you were the Imperial Master in Yong'an and taught Lang Qianqiu. He probably knows that. But he still sent Lang Qianqiu to travel with you. In my opinion, this is purely out of ill intention."

The Imperial Master was startled: "Wait? Your Highness, you went to Yong'an to be an Imperial Master? Have you taught Lang Qianqiu?"

Xie Lian said: “Hmm…”

The national teacher said: "You are the national teacher of Fangxin???"

Xie Lian: “Hmm…what happened?” He briefly explained. The Imperial Master said: “If he knew about this, he would definitely be very angry with you.”

Hua Cheng continued, "Brother, you originally planned not to intervene in the matter of Baihua Zhenxian, but you were eventually involved, fortunately not too deeply. The hundreds of fishermen in the South China Sea who were dragged into the Tribulation Domain were not caused by Black Water or Shi Wudu. Apart from them, who else is the most capable person who can do it?"

After reviewing everything, Xie Lian realized that every step he took after returning was probably under Jun Wu’s close attention and encouragement.

Hua Cheng crossed his arms and said, "I guess, on the one hand, he did this out of a weird mentality, constantly throwing questions to you, testing your choices and paths, expecting you to follow the path he laid out for you; on the other hand, it's probably because he wants to use you as a sword to weaken the power of these priests.

"The priests of the previous generation must have left a deep shadow on him. He is extremely vigilant and demands absolute control over everything. He does not allow anyone to threaten his power and status, and he cannot let other priests catch up with him. Moreover, I think..."

Xie Lian happened to be thinking as well, and asked, “What?”

Hua Cheng said: "Shi Wudu exchanged his life for Shi Qingxuan, and Heishui sneaked into the Heavenly Palace to investigate. Could it be that he really didn't know anything?"

This is what Xie Lian was thinking.

Could it be that Jun Wu, who was sitting at the highest point, really knew nothing about this? It was unlikely.

He has direct access to all files handled by the Lingwen Palace. If there is any falsification, would he really not be able to detect it?

The navy master committed such a serious crime, but he almost concealed it and was safe and sound for many years. It was only after he started to act arrogantly in the upper heaven that his true identity was exposed. Hua Cheng said: "Maybe he was aware of it at the beginning, but the position of the navy master did not threaten him at that time, so the matter was not exposed. If it was exposed earlier, it might not be good. If Shi Wudu was demoted, a new navy master would come up, and the new navy master might not have such a big handle and disaster for him to catch."

He continued, "If I were Jun Wu, I would be very unhappy to see Shi Wudu. But if I want to get rid of Shui Shi, I don't need to do it myself. I just need to watch him stir up trouble and become more and more unscrupulous. When I don't want to tolerate him anymore, I will directly reveal the information about the life exchange to Heishui."

Heishui will naturally avenge himself and his dead relatives.

Hua Cheng said: "As for the fact that he gathered all the ghosts in the copper furnace and wanted to refine them to be born, it might be because..."

Xie Lian said, “Checks and balances.”

Hua Cheng said: "Yes. On the one hand, he would probably be happy to see Evil Jue come into the world and bring disaster to the world; on the other hand, as long as something brings disaster to the world, there will be people praying for it."

And as long as believers pray, God's power will become stronger!

The Imperial Master sighed and said, "Every time the copper furnace opens, the four of us will go to stop it, but we can't always succeed. This time... it's too big.

"He killed a small number of the Wuyong ghosts that spewed out of the copper furnace, used the Earth-Shrinking Technique to send most of them away, and sent the rest away. He stayed behind to check and destroy some things. He guessed that I would come to you, so he rushed over after dealing with the Copper Furnace Mountain, and he really caught me.

"I think we can't go on like this. Wuyong Country has surfaced. With its alertness, it is likely to replace the heaven again. If you continue to act without any suspicion or awareness, you will be buried under the foundation of Xianjing sooner or later. It just so happened that Feng Xin brought the red mirror, so we tried to fight to the death. Originally, his magic power was getting stronger and stronger, and the red mirror could no longer reflect what was on his face, but because he had fought with the three mountain monsters not long ago, the human face was activated again.

"I'm almost done. Do you have anything else to ask, Your Highness?"

While Xie Lian was deep in thought, Hua Cheng said, "I have. Imperial Master, do you still remember your Wu Yong language?

The national teacher said: "The Wuyong Kingdom has disappeared, and no one uses its writing and language anymore, so we learned new ones a long time ago. But we still remember the original ones, but we rarely use them." He said frankly, "I don't really want to use them."

Xie Lian recalled that, when the Imperial Master told the mountain monster that “His Royal Highness the Crown Prince is beyond saving” and “He will soon awaken”, he was not referring to him, but to Bai Wuxiang, who was possessed by Lang Ying, killing people as he walked, absorbing strength to recover.

There were also those corpse-eating rats that spoke human language. At that time, because Xie Lian understood the Wuyong language they spoke, Hua Cheng thought that someone had instilled relevant memories in him. Of the several possible candidates listed, two of them were indeed right: Jun Wu and Bai Wuxiang.

It was not difficult for Bai Wuxiang to make fake skins of Feng Xin and Mu Qing in the Cave of Ten Thousand Gods, because Jun Wu knew them very well!

Xie Lian said, “He…seems to have been trying to lead me to believe that I am Prince Wuyong himself, or a part of his soul.”

The Imperial Master said, "Of course he wants to. Since the existence of Wuyong State can no longer be concealed, anyone who sees Prince Xianle and Prince Wuyong will think that they are very similar, and it would be the best to lead them to you. Moreover, as long as you begin to doubt yourself, doubt your original intention, behavior and purpose, and have the idea of ​​'I am Prince Wuyong', you are more likely to repeat his fate.

"He took the initiative to guide you, wanting you to walk the same path he walked, not that your paths were somehow similar. He... couldn't tolerate that you were so similar but walked different paths."

After a long while, Hua Cheng said, "I've already said it, it doesn't look like them at all."

The Imperial Master seemed to finally be unable to bear it any longer and turned to him and asked, "Young man, what's wrong with you?"

Huacheng: “?”

Xie Lian was startled, thinking, “What’s going on?”

The Imperial Master rolled up his sleeves and said to Hua Cheng earnestly, "I have wanted to say this for a long time. Young man, why is your smile not sincere at all? Don't think you can be rude to me just because you are the Ghost King of Despair. Ghost Kings of Despair are very rare, but do you know how old I am? Of course, elders of my age are more rare!"

“…”

Hua Cheng raised an eyebrow.

Xie Lian rubbed his brows and said, "Master, San Lang is not impolite, he is just..." He is just used to fake smiles to others. The Imperial Master gestured to Hua Cheng, asking him not to come over, and pulled Xie Lian aside, saying seriously, "Your Highness, I saw it."

Xie Lian asked, “Ah? What did you see?”

The Imperial Master said, "On top of that giant statue."

That giant statue? What happened to it? Xie Lian thought for a while, and suddenly, his head buzzed.

Borrowing magic power!

Xie Lian kept coughing and said, “No… that’s just borrowing mana… No, actually it’s more than just borrowing mana, anyway…”

The Imperial Master spoke more earnestly: "Your Highness, what's wrong with you? Could it be that because I was too strict and you've been practicing Taoism for too long and haven't been close to women, you've changed...???"

“…”

Xie Lian waved his hands frantically: “That’s not the reason!”

The Imperial Master asked suspiciously, "Then... is it... innate? This... I've never noticed. Well... well, then you are indeed unlike him in this respect..."

Xie Lian: “??? Wait? Not really!”

The Imperial Master sighed and said, "Don't be afraid, Your Highness. I'm not going to say anything to you. I won't teach you anything I'm not good at. Besides, you've been through everything, so why do you care about this? It doesn't matter if you're a man or a woman, as long as you're happy."

Xie Lian rubbed his brows until they turned red, and whispered, “Well… I’m very happy.”

The Imperial Master said in a depressed tone, "...But you have been searching for eight hundred years, how come you only found a desperate ghost king?"

Xie Lian was stunned. The Imperial Master said, “I’m not saying that you have bad taste. It’s quite good. Young girls and young ladies will definitely like this style. But the Desperate Ghost Kings are very fierce. Your Highness, you should think clearly. Once you get attached to this kind of person, you will never be able to get rid of him.”

"Uh, Master, please wait a moment..."

"Absolutely. I tell you, as soon as I saw this Blood Rain Scholar, I knew that his fate must be extremely cruel. There is always someone better than you, and the evil aura is overwhelming and suffocating. It's simply..."

Hua Cheng was behind them, and said slowly: "It's simply, a star of misfortune, right?"

Xie Lian had tried hard to stop the Imperial Master from continuing, but failed. He covered his face and quietly moved back behind Hua Cheng.

Hua Cheng embraced him with a smile, raised his eyebrows, and said: "My smile is indeed very insincere. However, it is not appropriate to say in front of him that he is a star of misfortune, a star of disaster, a jinx, his parents are dead, and he will not live past the age of 18, right?"

"?"

The Imperial Master's eyes gradually widened: "...You, are you?"