175: Shen Lian in his early days

Within the ethereal universe, a shocking pavilion stood tall.

Inside the pavilion, a beautiful figure sat alone on the Moon Essence Wheel, gently tucking her hair.

The woman was beautiful, so beautiful that it was simply indescribable with words.

She was none other than the Heavenly Dao, Yun Shang, who had reached an agreement with Shen Lian.

"The Daughter of the Heavenly Dao's Luck is stable, and she has initially shaken off the entanglement of misfortune. It seems that cooperating with the Human Emperor was truly the most correct choice."

Yun Shang toyed with a cluster of colorful spiritual charm in her hand, a rare, imperceptible smile appearing on her cold, aloof face.

Suddenly, a majestic force of Dao Rhyme swept in from outside, breaking the silent atmosphere.

Yun Shang put away the colorful spiritual charm and closed her jade-like eyes slightly.

The next moment, a questioning voice came from the Void Realm.

"Yun Shang, what exactly are you doing? You must give me a reasonable explanation today."

Yun Shang gently swung her jade-white legs, and the wind chimes wrapped around her ankles emitted a pleasant sound, dispelling the booming interrogation.

"Yuan Nian, you entered the Realm Boundary I govern without my permission. Shouldn't it be you who gives me an explanation?"

"Hmph!"

With a cold snort, a wisp of Dao light descended from the Void Realm, emitting a dazzling radiance within the pavilion.

However, Yun Shang did not even open her eyes, quietly tucking her hair that fell onto her shoulders.

When the Dao radiance dissipated, an unparalleled figure dressed in black, with gray hair, appeared before Yun Shang.

"Yun Shang, why do you want to cooperate with Shen Lian? Don't you know that for us, the Heavenly Dao, Shen Lian is an unspeakable disgrace?"

Yun Shang maintained her noble and cold expression, not even lifting her eyes: "Since we have been unable to do anything about Shen Lian for ninety-nine lifetimes, why would I follow the same path as you and stubbornly continue down that road of humiliation?"

Yuan Nian clenched his fists, and in just a single breath, he released a power capable of destroying heaven and earth.

"Yun Shang, you have betrayed the Heavenly Dao and chosen to submit to Shen Lian. Do you know what this means for the Heavenly Dao?"

Yun Shang lightly swayed her jade toes, and that earth-shattering Dao Rhyme instantly vanished into nothingness.

"Yuan Nian, this is the Primordial Continent. I am the Heavenly Dao of this world. Do I need to explain my actions to you?"

Yuan Nian: "You should intervene and find an opportunity to suppress and kill him completely before he grows again."

Yun Shang: "Haven't you all tried the same approach? What was the result? It was nothing more than being humiliated and mocked time and time again, and it even caused the Son of Destiny to have his Heart-Nature drastically changed one by one, becoming a laughingstock."

"Hmph, precisely because of that, you must not let him be, nor should you cooperate with such a person."

"If I don't cooperate, should I learn from you and watch helplessly as the Mandate of Heaven and the Son of Destiny are slaughtered by him, and then forcibly find some riffraff to act as the Son of Destiny?"

"Yun Shang, you..."

Yuan Nian seemed to have been stung in a sore spot by Yun Shang's words, and an extremely terrifying power surged from his body.

"Do you want to fight?"

Yun Shang slowly opened her eyes and looked quietly at Yuan Nian.

"I advise you to calm down. Although we are both Heavenly Dao, this is my Realm Boundary. If you really want to fight, what are your chances of winning? Are you not afraid of being devoured and extinguished by the power of the Great Dao?"

"Hmph!"

Yuan Nian then withdrew his surging Aura.

"I can understand you wanting the Son of Destiny to return to his original fate trajectory, but why did you tell him the whereabouts of his past life's life-bound Dao Source? Do you know how terrifying those powers are!"

Yun Shang: "If I didn't say it, do you think Shen Lian would be willing to cooperate with me? Even if I take a step back, even if I really didn't say it, wouldn't he be able to find it himself?"

Yuan Nian: "No, in any case, Shen Lian must not be allowed to obtain the power of the Origin. This is the bottom line."

Yun Shang: "Actually, from the very beginning, I have had a question that I still cannot figure out: Why must we target Shen Lian?"

Yuan Nian: "Because he has the Dao Lineage attached to him. The Dao Lineage is the nightmare of all Heavenly Dao!"

Yun Shang: "Then just target the Dao Lineage directly. Why must you force Shen Lian to this extent?"

Yuan Nian: "You should know how serious Shen Lian's deviance is. The original layout of the ninety-nine worlds has been shattered because of his existence. The Heavenly Dao absolutely does not allow his existence, and the Great Dao does not allow it either. His destiny is to perish at the beginning of every lifetime!"

Upon hearing this, Yun Shang's Moon Essence Wheel slowly descended.

Until it descended to the clouds, she slowly stood up and walked to a distance of five steps in front of Yuan Nian, raising her hand to conjure a crystal-clear mirror.

Yuan Nian frowned: "It's the hui guang mirror. What are you going to do?"

"Do you want to know what the past Shen Lian was like?"

Without waiting for Yuan Nian to speak, the hui guang mirror flashed instantly.

In just a moment, it brought the two of them to the front of a Lonely City.

"Hmm? This is..."

"Familiar, isn't it? This is Shen Lian's third lifetime, and it is also the true starting point where his personality became completely frenzied."

"What is the use of showing me these?"

"The Heavenly Dao has controlled a Realm Boundary for too long, so long that it has forgotten right from wrong and only acts arbitrarily, so long that it no longer has the courage to look back at the past."

"What have we done to cause such a tragedy? Take one look and it will be clear."

Yuan Nian fell silent upon hearing this.

Instantly, the space where the two were located shifted.

They arrived inside the Lonely City.

What came into view were all the commoners, heavy with Death Qi, with numbness in everyone's eyes, unable to see a glimmer of hope for life.

"Hero Shen is handing out baked cakes!"

Suddenly, a loud shout rang out, and all the commoners, heavy with Death Qi, immediately swarmed up, surrounding the donkey cart that had just been pushed over.

"Don't fight over them, ten cakes for each person, everyone will have a share, don't fight!"

The soldiers on the donkey cart immediately distributed bags of flour cakes into everyone's hands.

Yuan Nian watched the scene before him, hands behind his back, remaining silent for a long time.

Yun Shang said: "You should still remember who it was that guarded this Lonely City and prevented the Northern Barbarians from invading, right?"

Yuan Nian still did not speak, but the slightly throbbing veins on his forehead betrayed the fact that he actually knew the truth in his heart.

The scene shifted again, and the two arrived on the city walls.

A military general clad in tattered armor, holding a long spear, stood proudly on the city wall, gazing forward.

"General Shen, here."

A soldier behind him handed over a cake.

Shen Lian shook his head indifferently and asked: "Have the cakes all been distributed?"

Soldier: "They have all been distributed. These cakes are enough for the one hundred thousand commoners in the city to last another ten days."

Shen Lian nodded: "Is there any news from the Seven Great Sects?"

Upon hearing this, the soldier shook his head silently.

Shen Lian gave a miserable smile and pushed the cake toward the soldier: "You haven't eaten for two days either. Eat a little to fill your stomach. My cultivation allows me to go a month without eating, but you cannot."

Without waiting for the soldier to respond, Shen Lian turned and left the city tower.

Yun Shang: "In the century-old Lonely City, Shen Lang, with one man and one spear, guarded this city for a full sixty years. He could have chosen not to care about these things, yet he resolutely stayed behind and used the few Spirit Treasures he had to trade for the life-saving rations for three generations of the one hundred thousand commoners in the city. Do you think such a person is worse than those Sons of Destiny, or is he that kind of heinous Devil Head?"

Yuan Nian remained silent, but his fists tightened slightly.

At least at that time, Shen Lian still had the warmth that humanity should have on his face.