Mutated Tao

Even after he flipped through all of the books, Li Huowang had no idea if the owner of the jade hand belonged to the army of the Unspeakable or the so-called grandchildren.

He even asked Bai Lingmiao to go and question all of the elders of the White Lotus Sect, but they came up empty-handed. It had been a very long time. The White Lotus Sect had been hiding for so long that they had no idea how many generations had passed on the surface.

As for their memories of the Heavenly Mater and the Void Home, they were looking through it with a filter of their belief. To them, the stories were just legends or myths that had no substance.

Still, their method of questioning them was ultimately correct. Li Huowang compiled the information they had obtained and finally understood why he was the one being ambushed instead,

The Tianchen Kingdom was none other than the Void Home. The Heavenly Mater had once controlled that particular branch of history.

However, after the betrayal of the army of the Unspeakable and the grandchildren, they stripped away the Heavenly Dao of the Heavenly Mater and took it as their own.

After everything was taken away from her, the Heavenly Mater had no choice but to find a way to revive and somehow ended up in the Liang Kingdom.

The Heavenly Mater influenced the regular people here, and the influence of the White Lotus Sect slowly spread to find a way to revive herself. Unfortunately, there wasn’t a spare Heavenly Dao around, so the White Lotus Sect could not be revived.

Finally, the Heavenly Mater found a chance and obtained a Twisted One after going through various issues. At the same time, the Heavenly Mater obtained both the Heavenly Dao of Death and Heavenly Dao of Kindness. That was how she returned to her throne.

They would never let the Heavenly Mater become stronger—they knew for certain that the she would take revenge on them after they had betrayed her and even taken her Heavenly Dao.

They wanted to pass through the Qi Kingdom to enter the Liang Kingdom. Their goal was to kill the Twisted One of the Heavenly Mater before she became powerful. They planned to destroy the White Lotus Sect from the root.

There was even a possibility that they would take it a step further by once again stripping both the Heavenly Daos from the Heavenly Mater.

Li Huowang was coincidentally the one saving the Qi Kingdom and interfering with their plan. That was why they wanted to take away the spine sword, which allowed for traversal between the Qi Kingdom and the Liang Kingdom.

After seeing that Li Huowang was not an easy foe, they sent Po Daer to forge an alliance with him. The only flaw in their plan was that the Saintess of the White Lotus Sect was Li Huowang’s wife.

Li Huowang couldn't wait for the Heavenly Mater to grow strong enough to take revenge on her grandchildren or the army of the Unspeakable.

Li Huowang would never let his wife face an entire army from an alternate history on her own. In this situation, negotiations were completely out of the question.

After hearing Li Huowang’s explanation, both Li Sui and Bai Lingmiao were worried. The Liang Kingdom had just been freed from the threat of the Dharma Sect, and now another war was looming just over the horizon.

“The Void Home is another alternate history?” Bai Lingmiao frowned. “Senior Li, maybe you’re wrong. Perhaps it isn’t another history but the real Void Home.” Bai Lingmiao’s hands were trembling. “Yes, that’s right! It’s the real Void Home, but it's being occupied by someone else! We just need to help the Heavenly Mater to take it back. That’s right. It must be like that.”

Li Huowang was about to argue, but Li Sui called out to him, prompting him to turn around.

“Father, if it’s as you say, then we can ask the Heavenly Mater directly. Maybe we can get more clues.”

“That’s right!” Li Huowang perked up. The Heavenly Mater would certainly remember who had betrayed her and left her in the dust to rot.

“Miaomiao, can you tell your men to find the Heavenly Mater and find out what happened?”

Bai Lingmiao took a few panicked breaths before finally calming down. “No, I can’t do that. I’ve been trying to contact her ever since Death returned, but the Heavenly Mater still appears to be dead. She hasn’t reacted to my voice at all…”

Li Huowang sighed and couldn’t even get angry. Someone was knocking on their door, yet the Heavenly Mater was still playing dead!

It wasn’t just Ji Zai. The Heavenly Mater wasn’t being useful either. Li Huowang lamented how all of the Simings by his side were practically useless.

“Nevermind. Let’s not place our hopes on them. We have to rely on ourselves.”

Li Huowang scratched the back of his head while pacing around, deep in thought as he tried to come up with a plan. He suddenly stopped. “Suisui, you can head back first and let Gao Zhijian know what’s happening. Let him and the other emperors prepare.”

Li Sui was about to say something when Li Huowang said, “Actually, you don’t have to go. I’ll go ahead and inform them. You can contact the other Surveillance Bureaus—I’m not familiar with them. If the people from the Tianchen Kingdom do come, it will be a disaster far greater than a Natural Disaster.”

Li Huowang looked at Bai Lingmiao. “Miaomiao, just let the Heavenly Mater know what’s going on, even if she’s pretending to be dead.”

Li Huowang paused and said seriously, “Tell her that whether I can help or not depends on the decision of the Saintess. Let her know that it was Ji Zai who said that!”

If the Tianchen Kingdom was aiming for the Saintess of the White Lotus Sect, then Bai Lingmiao was in danger. He needed to find a way to protect her.

He hoped that even if they failed, the worst-case scenario would be the death of the Heavenly Mater rather than Bai Lingmiao.

Li Huowang nodded at Bai Lingmiao before leaving. As he was running towards the palace, Li Sui caught up to him and said, “Father, did you overhear the conversation between me and Mother? Are you killing two birds in one stone?”

“I’m not deaf. Of course I heard it.”

“Mother might not understand your intentions. Maybe you don't know this, but I’ve seen that the White Lotus Sect has become a big obsession and responsibility for her. She poured her heart into it and would never let go of it. If she didn’t have the White Lotus Sect, she would be left with nothing.”

“Why would she be left with nothing? She still has me.”

“Father, you are really clueless. Mother never let the past go—she’s just trying to escape it by using the Void Home as an excuse. I’ve tried to figure things out for you two, but I can’t find a good solution. After all, you’re the person who killed her entire family.

"I think that if being together causes suffering for both of you, it would be better if you were separated."