245: Chapter 240 A Turning Point!

Wang Ming, the Great Grandmaster who was once high-spirited and hailed as the number one person in Huangzhou, now exuded a thick, inescapable air of senescence and dejection. He leaned against a broken stone pillar, an empty wine flask in hand, staring blankly at the increasingly hideous blood-red crack in the sky, a self-deprecating bitter smile hanging on the corner of his mouth.

For half a month, he had sat here day after day, numbing his Divine Soul with strong liquor, trying to forget the cruel truth that was enough to crush the entire world.

However, the more he tried to forget, the eight words "Livestock in a cage, medicinal herbs in a cauldron" became like the most vicious brand, deeply etched into his Soul, scorching all his pride and dignity.

Resist? With what?

When your enemy is the god who created you, all struggles are but the futile dance of a plaything in one's palm, only inviting laughter from a higher dimension.

Just as Wang Ming raised the wine flask again only to find it empty and prepared to look for more wine, a familiar and steady figure silently appeared before him.

"Young Friend Chen?"

A flicker of surprise flashed in Wang Ming's clouded eyes, only to be replaced by deep bitterness. He stood up unsteadily and laughed self-deprecatingly, "What, has Young Friend Chen also come to his senses? Are you planning to find an auspicious site here in the ruins of my Zetian Sect to share a final drink of doomsday wine?"

His tone was filled with cynical despair; clearly, he had completely given up all hope.

Chen Zhiwen ignored his teasing and just looked at him quietly. The Wang Ming before him was a completely different person from the number one person in Huangzhou who, though silent, still stood with a straight back half a month ago.

Now, he was unshaven and disheveled, his entire body reeking of a decaying scent—a mix of alcohol and listlessness.

"Senior Wang, I didn't come to drink with you." Chen Zhiwen's voice was calm and powerful, like a clear spring pouring into these deathly silent ruins. "I came to tell you that things... might still have a turning point."

"A turning point?" Wang Ming acted as if he had heard the funniest joke in the world and couldn't help but laugh loudly, his laughter filled with sorrow and madness. "Young Friend Chen, stop making such jokes.

We are the fish, and they are the fishermen. The only turning point is to pray that when he strikes with the knife, he'll be quick about it so we can die painlessly, isn't it?"

"No," Chen Zhiwen shook his head, his gaze sharp as a sword, piercing straight into Wang Ming's heart. "What if this fisherman himself is heavily injured? What if he's so weak he can't even cast his net and can only slowly drain the water from the shore, trying to thirst the entire pond of fish to death?

Then wouldn't we fish have a chance to leap out of the water and bite him back?"

This metaphor caused Wang Ming's wild laughter to come to an abrupt halt.

The mockery and madness on his face slowly faded, and his clouded eyes, numbed by alcohol, finally refocused, revealing a look of uncertainty and alarm.

"You... what do you mean by this?"

Chen Zhiwen did not keep him in suspense any longer. He recounted Chief Eunuch's shocking deduction, from Daoist Xuanji not daring to take action to erase him, this "variable," to the helpless move of choosing to use Void Realm cracks to slowly refine Huangzhou...

...and finally to that crazy plan of "Possession of the Heavenly Dao to take its place." He told Wang Ming everything in great detail, point by point.

As Chen Zhiwen spoke, the expression on Wang Ming's face underwent an earth-shattering change.

From initial suspicion to shock, then to unbelievable absurdity... Finally, when he heard the four words "Possession of the Heavenly Dao," he was struck as if by lightning and froze in place!

The cold wind in the courtyard still howled, but it could no longer disperse the fire that had suddenly ignited in his heart!

In his deathly still eyes, a tiny glint of light quietly lit up.

That glint, after a brief struggle and reflection, quickly expanded and rose, finally turning into two raging flames!

Hope!

It was that most dazzling and most irrational light of hope in the midst of a desperate situation!

"Right... that's right! Why didn't I think of that!" Wang Ming slapped his thigh hard, his voice turning hoarse from extreme excitement. "That old geezer, if he really had the strength to crush everything, why bother talking nonsense with us! He could have just descended upon Huangzhou and slapped all living beings to death to refine them. Why would he need those damn Void Realm cracks!"

"Strong on the outside but weak on the inside! He must be strong on the outside but weak on the inside!"

Wang Ming paced back and forth, the more he thought about it, the more he felt Chief Eunuch's guess was reasonable, and the more he felt this was the only truth!

All those previously unexplainable details were linked together at this moment!

The clouds of despair that had troubled him for half a month, making his will wither and his life worse than death, were completely torn to shreds at this moment by this sunlight called "hope"!

His hunched back straightened once more at this moment! The spirit that had dissipated returned to his body!

The elegance of the number one person in Huangzhou seemed to have returned in an instant!

"Good! Well played, Bai Zhancheng! What a brilliant plan to draw the rug from under him!" Wang Ming roared toward the sky, the stagnant air in his chest swept away. "Possession of the Heavenly Dao! Hahaha! This idea is truly... truly damn satisfying!"

However, after the wild joy, the excitement on Wang Ming's face quickly cooled down.

His brow furrowed again. "But the Law of the Heavenly Dao is ethereal and elusive. Where could Daoist Xuanji have hidden it? In the vastness of Huangzhou, trying to find it is no different from looking for a needle in a haystack..."

At this point, Wang Ming's voice suddenly stopped.

He seemed to realize something and was momentarily stunned. Then, with a look of extreme surprise, even carrying a hint of horror, he stared fixedly at Chen Zhiwen.

"Young Friend Chen... You... coming to my Zetian Sect at this time, could it be that you think... that Daoist Xuanji hid the Origin of Huangzhou's Heavenly Dao Law... here?!"

Meeting his shocked gaze, Chen Zhiwen slowly and solemnly nodded.

"Boom!"

In Wang Ming's mind, it was as if billions of thunderclaps exploded simultaneously!

He suddenly looked up, his gaze instantly passing over the ruined halls of the Sect.

He looked toward that towering divine mountain that had stood quietly behind the Zetian Sect since the beginning of the world, shrouded in endless mist and mysterious Restrictions!

Qinghua Mountain!

This mountain, hailed as the number one divine mountain in Huangzhou and the Holy Land guarded by the Zetian Sect for generations!

A possibility that had been ignored by everyone—the most incredible yet most logical one—instantly surged into his heart!

Indeed! What other place could be more suitable as a vessel for the Law of the Heavenly Dao than this divine mountain, which spanned tens of thousands of years of Huangzhou's history and was itself filled with countless mysteries and legends?

The Zetian Sect, named "Zetian"—could it be that what they were guarding was exactly the Origin of this "Heaven"?!

Having figured this out, Wang Ming felt a chill rush from the soles of his feet straight to the top of his head!

For generations, their Zetian Sect thought they were the guardians of the divine mountain, not knowing that what they were guarding was actually the core of the cage imprisoning everyone! What irony, what sorrow!

"I understand..." Wang Ming murmured to himself, his expression becoming incredibly complex.