157: The main characters

Top floor room of the Tianji Restaurant.

Surrounding a black and white chessboard, two elderly men in black sat opposite each other.

These two people.

They were precisely the two masters of the Tianji Restaurant, the Old Man Tianji, an Immortal King Tenth Level, and the Immortal Master of Demonic Brew, an Immortal Venerable Tenth Level!

"Unexpectedly... things would actually develop like this..."

"A perfectly fine pair of Immortal Court father and son, yet such a sudden change occurred within half a day."

The Old Man Tianji finished placing a black piece, raised his hand to stroke his meticulously groomed white long beard.

A hint of confusion appeared on his ruddy cheeks, with crane-white hair and an immortal countenance.

"Indeed."

The Immortal Master of Demonic Brew opposite him shook his head, a slight smile on his face: "The Immortal Court Immortal Emperor became an Immortal Court Immortal Venerable, the Immortal Court Prince became the son of an old servant... If they hadn't used that Wentian Array, they would still be above others."

"But now, one was forced to seek help from Immortal Emperor Qian Yu, while the other became a prisoner."

"So sometimes, the truth isn't something that absolutely must be sought."

The Old Man Tianji heard the deeper meaning in his words.

Hearing this, he only gave a bitter smile.

"I know you want to stop me from seeking the truth, but... if even our Tianji Restaurant cannot discover the clues, if even we cannot know the truth, then wouldn't the entire world be equivalent to being shrouded under a huge conspiracy?"

"Do you really think there's a pair of hands secretly controlling all of this?" The Immortal Master of Demonic Brew's mind was completely off the chessboard; he asked with a frown.

"Intuition."

The Old Man Tianji stood up, walked to the window with his hands behind his back.

Gazing at the hurried spies outside and listening to people's astonished discussions about the Immortal Court matter, his eyes were deep: "You know, because of the cultivation technique I practice, my sixth sense is extremely accurate."

"From the myriad appearances of heavenly talents to this current Immortal Court matter, I can vaguely sense an invisible hand behind it... I don't know where that invisible hand comes from, nor its purpose..."

"But I can indeed feel that this is real!"

The Immortal Master of Demonic Brew fell silent.

After a long time.

Only then did he ask in a deep voice: "Are you really planning to search? You need to think carefully; even an Immortal Emperor fell in cultivation... Finding it might make you suffer eternal damnation!"

"Sigh—"

The Old Man Tianji let out a long sigh: "I have already prepared myself for sacrifice!"

"That invisible hand can even influence the Immortal Court's destiny; its power is so great that we dare not imagine. If I cannot ascertain the true intentions of the person behind it, I will never be at ease for the rest of my life."

"My mind is made up, don't try to persuade me anymore."

As he finished speaking, he shook his head.

His upright and awe-inspiring back disappeared like a fleeting illusion before the eyes of the Immortal Master of Demonic Brew.

"...Alas."

The latter sighed deeply, looking at the chessboard in front of him and falling into thought.

......

Lin Sheng isn't concerned about Lan Ao's incident right now.

He only cares about the Collapse Value.

Just half an hour later, he completed Lan Ao's incident and gained another 200 points of Collapse Value from it.

After returning to the Ten Thousand Beasts Holy Land.

Looking at the Collapse Value as high as 990, Lin Sheng took a deep breath.

"Only the last 10 points are needed to ascend to Immortal Emperor."

Before transmigrating into the book.

He often read various novels, and he remembered that the protagonists in them would often have their progress suddenly slow down at critical moments.

Getting stuck for a long time at the last 99%.

Lin Sheng didn't know if his current self would follow such a fate, but this 990 Collapse Value still made him feel somewhat anxious.

He couldn't help but open the "Protagonist Watch List" to check the status of each Heavenly Mandated Protagonist.

[No. 1 Chu Tianze (No Cultivation · Wandering Soul)]: Is currently wandering in Nine Nether Hell with Li Changsheng, coveting the latter's body.

[No. 2 Ye Liufeng (Profound Master Level 1)]: Is getting drunk in the Ye Family's annex, making friends with many disreputable people, indulging in debauchery together, and has already begun to decline.

[No. 3 Lan Ao (Shenwang Tenth Level · Wandering Soul)]: Accidentally died in the White Tiger Secret Realm.

Currently wandering in Nine Nether Hell.

[No. 4 Li Fei (God King · Wandering Soul)]: Was attacked and killed by powerful individuals from the populace because his affair with the lizard concubines in the Demon Clan's underground cave was exposed by himself.

Currently wandering in Nine Nether Hell.

[No. 5 Ji Xuantian (Shenwang First Level)]: Was stripped and hung on a stone pillar in the Feng Family's territory for public display.

The Feng Family plans to display him for one more day, then execute him by slow slicing.

[Wandering Soul)]: Wandering in Nine Nether Hell.

[No. 7 Li Changsheng (Celestial Immortal (Level 1) · Wandering Soul)]: Is currently wandering in Nine Nether Hell with Chu Tianze, wanting to escape from the other party.

[No. 8 Duan Wenxian (Celestial Immortal (Level 1))]: Is imprisoned in Hao Tian Immortal Venerable's palm world with his father Duan Tianchou.

8 protagonists, 5 wandering souls.

1 is decadent, 1 is stripped and displayed publicly.

Only the newly appeared No. 8 Heavenly Mandated Protagonist Duan Wenxian is a bit better off, merely being imprisoned.

Then look at himself.

Invincible Immortal Venerable!

And he can break through to Immortal Emperor very soon.

"Now that it has severely deviated from the original plot, where will this world head next?"

Lin Sheng strolled among the vibrant flower bushes on the summit of Tianyun Mountain, feeling the warm sun bathing his body, and felt that the future was bright in his heart.

Right at this moment!

He suddenly felt a very special and unfamiliar aura.

"Hmm? Immortal King...?"

He turned his head to look at the eastern horizon, seeing a streak of light that was hard for others to notice shoot into the grass nearby, followed by faint sounds coming from within.

In his divine sense perception, he had already learned the other party's identity.

"It's actually her..."

"Unexpectedly, she came out so much earlier... Is it because she also received the favor of my phenomenon...?"

The grass in the distance parted, and a woman wearing a black robe with her long hair covering her face poked her head out—she looked like a delicate beggar, with flawless white skin and dark, glossy hair, but she wore only a simple black robe all over her body.

Those sparkling big eyes secretly stared at him, full of curiosity.

When Lin Sheng turned his head to look, the other party quickly disappeared again.

But in his divine sense perception.

He clearly "saw" the other party flash into the grass on the other side, continuing to secretly observe him.

The reason Lin Sheng could instantly determine that the other party was the Goddess of the Underworld River was essentially because he sensed the extremely dense Underworld River death energy on her—this was unique to the Goddess of the Underworld River, there was no mistake.

"Before, I thought I needed to cling to her leg."

"But I didn't expect my breakthrough to be so fast..."

Looking at the Goddess of the Underworld River, Lin Sheng seemed to see his own rapid breakthrough history.

And while he was sighing in a daze, a sound transmission suddenly came from his ear.

"Holy Son, the Zheng Tian Immortal Dynasty has invited us to the Hall of True and Great Brightness, saying they want to discuss important matters. Do you want to come along?"

This was the voice of Sect Leader Wen Aotian.

His tone was very polite and gentle.

"Okay."

Lin Sheng transmitted his voice back.