Chapter 1530: Lingluo
Tianyi said reverently, "Rumors in the palace. I myself have never met the newly-appointed empress."
"Since they are rumors, they should have stopped with you. Why are you raising such groundless rumors from centuries ago?"
"Ah… I apologize!" Divine Lord Tianyi said anxiously when he saw Imperial Preceptor Lingluo fuming.
"Remember to mind your words in the future. The new empress will soon be inheriting the throne. The Great Dao is endless, Her Majesty will be dedicated to pursuing the Martial Dao to eventually attain the Godly Monarch realm. Matters of the heart will only bog Her Majesty down. If Her Majesty were to be engrossed with a man, Her Majesty's Dao heart would be affected! This shall not be tolerated."
Lingluo's tone left no room for doubt. Tianyi hurriedly nodded his head. "I understand."
"Well, get this Yi Yun under control first. Do not let him leave. If he were to spread those groundless rumors, Her Majesty's reputation will be tainted."
"Yes!"
Tianyi said reverently as he took his leave. After he left, a tall man walked out from inside.
He was more than 1.9 meters tall and he had long hair that cascaded down his red robe. He oozed masculinity on the surface.
He laughed out loud as he said, "Lingluo, it appears that news of how matters of the heart weigh down the newly appointed empress have still spread beyond the palace. Her husband is now at our door. How do you plan on dealing with this husband of hers?"
"He cannot be allowed to leave. Let's imprison him for now! After all, Her Majesty is about to be crowned. I do not wish for trouble to brew at this time."
"Imprisoning him, only?" As the man spoke, a deep, meaningful smile flashed in his eyes. "I heard that this Yi Yun has massive treasures on him. During the ancient battlefield's trials, Sacred Horizon Divine Lord and company had headed there when they heard of the anomalies in the ancient battlefield that made precious treasures appear in the Divine Perish Hall."
Upon hearing the man's words, Lingluo fell into a silent thought.
"Why? Is there something holding you back? The cultivation technique which Her Majesty cultivates in is special. She probably has severed her ties to the mortal world and has forgotten Yi Yun. In the future, even if Her Majesty were to learn of this matter, she will likely not feel anything about it. Although this Yi Yun is said to be talented, he did not manage to leave his name on the World Monolith during his expedition to the ancient battlefield, so he's nothing impressive. If he really were to be with Her Majesty, he would only siphon off Her Majesty's cultivation when he dual cultivates with her. He will only be a burden on Her Majesty."
In the martial world, progress was faster when men and women dual cultivated, but that was typically only true when both man and woman were of similar cultivation levels. If the gap was huge, one would end up siphoning from the other. The man knew that Lin Xintong was kind-hearted, so she naturally would not siphon off Yi Yun. Instead, she would work hard to raise Yi Yun's cultivation level.
"If I'm not wrong, he must have pretended to have perished in the Fey God Tomb after obtaining the treasures of the Divine Perish Hall. In fact, he found a place to hide until the ancient battlefield ended. Now, the entire world knows that Yi Yun has treasures on him, so it will be hard for him to survive in the Sinkhole. Therefore, he must be thinking of coming here to win Her Majesty's protection on account of their relationship from back in the mortal world," said the man.
"What you said makes sense. But, before we are certain that Her Majesty has completely severed herself from her mortal feelings, I will not kill Yi Yun. As for the future…"
A cold glint flashed in Lingluo's eyes as she spoke. As the Imperial Preceptor of the White Lunar Divine Empire, she had been in control of the massive White Lunar Divine Empire together with the other two Imperial Preceptors when Bai Yueyin wasn't around. She was naturally not someone who showed mercy. She would not hesitate to kill Yi Yun for the divine empire and for the empress's coronation.
…
After entering the White Lunar Divine Empire's hundred thousand pavilion palaces, even the knowledgeable Yi Yun could not help but marvel at the White Lunar Divine Empire's immense wealth. He was surprised to realize that the entire complex was refined into a massive artifact.
Although the complex was naturally incomparable to the White Jade Phoenix Palace, the White Jade Phoenix Palace was an ancient divine artifact formed naturally by the worldly laws. As for the complex, that was man-made; however, it was filled with thousands of complex array formations, both big and small. Some palaces looked small, but they contained a pocket world inside them. These countless pocket worlds had a myriad of functionalities. Some were used for cultivation, others for living. Refining such a massive artifact would probably require thousands of artifact refiners spending ten thousand years and immense riches to slowly complete it.
The White Lunar Divine Empire had been established for tens of millions of years, while the hundred thousand pavilion palaces were constantly expanded. These array formations and buildings were augmented by generations of experts, and was presently extremely formidable.
"We have arranged for you to stay here for the time being." Tianyi led Yi Yun into a room in the corner of the complex.
The room was not bad, but Yi Yun noticed that security was tight around his room. Furthermore, he had passed through layers of protective array barriers when he entered. Some of them were trapping or killing arrays. Tianyi had used a token to gain entry, and it was obvious that Tianyi had no plans on handing him that token.
"I'm here to meet Lin Xintong," said Yi Yun. He could sense that the White Lunar Divine Empire did not intend for him to meet Lin Xintong, and it was a possibility he was cognizant of before coming.
Tianyi said coldly, "I have already reported the matter of your arrival to Her Majesty. Her Majesty is currently preparing for the coronation, so she doesn't have time to meet you. So just stay here for the time being."
"Oh? Have you really reported this to your empress? Did she arrange for me to stay here temporarily?"
Yi Yun emphasized the word 'temporarily,' since he could sense that he was likely being placed under house arrest in here.
However, Yi Yun did not think worry too much over it. He now possessed sufficient strength, or he would not have come seeking Lin Xintong. He just did not wish to lose decorum with the White Lunar Divine Empire since it was established by Bai Yueyin and she had once saved him. Besides, Bai Yueyin was one of the eight ancient Godly Monarchs that fought the Ancestor Gods hundreds of millions of years ago, thus saving the world.
Yi Yun planned on being fair before resorting to force on account of Bai Yueyin.
Upon hearing Yi Yun's tone, Tianyi sneered and said, "Young man, are you doubting me? Her Majesty is dedicated to pursuing the Great Dao and has severed herself from her mortal pining. I urge you to give up as you'll be better off that way. If not, you will pay a terrible price. Taking ten thousand steps back, even if Her Majesty still has an impression of you, you were just her husband in the mortal world, and you should know that Her Majesty's name was carved above the clouds on the ancient battlefield's World Monolith. Each word was as large as a palace. If you were able to write your name beside Her Majesty's, no matter how small it was, you might barely make the cut. Yet you failed to leave your name on the World Monolith. Do you think you deserve Her Majesty?"
After Tianyi said that, his body dissipated into streams of light and vanished.
Yi Yun's eyes watched Tianyi disappear with coldness. From the looks of it, there was no way of making this happen in a way where everyone was happy; however, he did not plan on taking action immediately. After all, Lin Xintong's coronation was at hand. Yi Yun guessed that Bai Yueyin might have been Lin Xintong's benefactor, but he was unsure if Lin Xintong wished to be empress of the White Lunar Divine Empire. If she did, he did not wish to mess up the coronation.
Yi Yun planned to take action only during the coronation, but it was at that moment when Yi Yun felt a gust of wind blow at him. An azure-clothed girl appeared like a wisp of smoke inside his yard.
"Are you Young Master Yi? My master wishes to meet you. He invites you to join him at his place."
Oh?
Yi Yun's heart stirred. He was surprised to discover that the azure-clothed girl was young, even younger than him, but she was already at the early stages of the Supremacy realm. She was a genius among geniuses in the Sinkhole. Great pains would be spared to nurture her in any faction, but now, she was addressing someone else as her master. She was willing to be a servant?
"Who is your master?" Yi Yun's brows pricked up. After all, once the coronation was over, he would forcibly seek out Lin Xintong. He did not mind meeting people now.
The girl covered her mouth and laughed before saying, "Young Master Yi, you will know when you get there."
"Lead the way."
The girl possessed a token, so when the yard's guards saw the token, they did not stop her from taking Yi Yun away despite having nasty expressions.
The hundred thousand pavilion palaces spanned a large area and it banned flight. The girl was like an azure butterfly fluttering through the flowers as she darted forward extremely quickly with nimble footsteps.
Minutes later, she led Yi Yun to a seclusive garden. The garden was planted with various flowers; it was not large, but what astonished Yi Yun were the plants which could be seen everywhere in the mortal world. They were in different flowering phases, contending in looks and beauty. In a warrior's world, even the smallest or poorest sects would plant some low-grade spirit vegetation. They were beautiful and could also add some Spirit Qi to the area. But this was the White Lunar Divine Empire, and the planting of such mortal vegetation in the hundred thousand pavilion palaces surprised Yi Yun.
In the middle of the garden was a clear pond which had a serpentine stone bridge built on it. The stone was of ordinary grade, but each individual stone was polished to look as beautiful as jade.
In a pavilion in the middle of the lake was a table that exuded antiquity. On it was a musical instrument known as the guqin. A long-haired man dressed in white was playing it, producing tunes that sounded like heavenly music. They lingered on in one's ears as the flowers and grass in the garden gently swayed with the music, like they were being nourished by raindrops.
Yi Yun did not disturb the white-dressed man as he listened silently. Only when the tune was over did the man stand up and look at Yi Yun with a smile. "I'm Bai Shanhe. I've long heard of you, Young Master Yi."
Bai Shanhe!
Yi Yun's brows pricked up. Back in the Myriad God Ridge, Yi Yun had heard the unlucky personal disciple of Myriad God Patriarch mention Bai Shanhe when he talked about Lin Xintong.
He was Bai Yueyin's adopted son!
And on the Ancient Ruins world's World Monolith, Yi Yun had once seen Bai Shanhe's name. His name was similarly engraved in the clouds, each word as large as a wall.