I am a living immortal.

Chapter 527: The Brilliance of Hope

All sides engaged in calculations and counter-calculations, conspiracies and overt plots. If the court were a scene of old foxes playing out in Strange Stories from a Chinese Studio, then these veterans, having lived for tens of millions of years, while not utterly brilliant, had seen enough. What kind of schemes hadn't they encountered? Their minds would understand them with a single thought. Ultimately, strength was the key.

In the face of strength, schemes and scheming are not useless, but they also don't have the same impact as imagined. Just like plotting against the Sage King, in the end, strength is the deciding factor. Without strength, even if you're given an opportunity, you won't be able to seize it.

The Sage Monarch, having grasped the situation, stood up. The Heavenly Emperor asked him if he wanted to be a pawn or a player, and the Sage Monarch, of course, chose both. Who said a player couldn't play the game himself? He wanted to be able to play the game, yet still be able to escape the game at the crucial moment.

"Greedy," the Emperor of Heaven said, then began to laugh. Across from him, Emperor Jun listened to the conversation, his eyes filled with disgust. He looked at the Sage King as if he were watching a chess player who, while still using tricks to manipulate the world, had no moral integrity.

The Saint Lord looked back. What was wrong with him giving instructions? What was wrong with him wanting to take action? You invited me here, and now you regret it? It's too late. How could I put it? There was a hint of a sinister eagerness on the Saint Lord's cold face, a fact that even Su Mu probably didn't notice. Actually, there was a slight resemblance between him and Su Mu, worthy of being Su Mu's incarnation.

The Emperor laughed even louder. But even though he laughed, his moves were still ruthless. The two of them appeared friendly on the surface, but secretly they wished to kill each other. Unfortunately, both sides had to consider their own concerns to maintain composure.

After the Emperor had laughed enough, he said, "Since that's the case, please join us."

The Holy Lord held the seal in one hand, the other on the hilt of his sword, his waist erect. His dark robes fluttered, and dots of divine light gathered into rings behind him. The hint of playfulness on his face vanished without a trace, his brows lowered. His body seemed to rise infinitely taller.

Above time, the sound of chanting could be heard faintly, approaching from afar: "Praise be to the Holy Lord of the Way, who relieves all calamities and brings all blessings."

The Heavenly Emperor's eyes were filled with admiration at this scene, and Di Jun also looked squarely at the fellow Daoist before him. While the Xiantian Gods viewed the common people as mere ants, they would not ignore a being of equal status. That wasn't humiliating others, but humiliating themselves. The Sage Sovereign had already reached the pinnacle of the Half-Step Realm, and with his unique status, he deserved respect.

"My two comrades, please give me some advice."

With that, he transformed into a streak of golden light and descended into the chessboard. The chessboard looked ordinary, but when truly immersed in it, one could sense its vastness. With the world as the chessboard and all beings as the pieces, each move opened up a new battle. These branching battles stretched across the entirety of time and space, crisscrossing and interweaving.

The divine light that pierced through the past and present fell from the sky. When the Sage Monarch opened his eyes again, he found himself in a strange world. He looked up, and the stars in the sky were no longer in their original positions. The stars had shifted, the constellations had shifted. If this starry sky were real, then he was now three hundred years in the future.

The world of this tributary is very real, without the illusion of other tributaries. The future of the world also has probabilities. The greater the probability, the stronger the tributary. This tributary is very close to the front and is the key to the battle between the two Heavenly Emperors.

It was night, yet his arrival still attracted some unnecessary attention. He didn't know where this tributary turned, nor did he know what the world would look like after that point.

He was standing on a small hill, and at the foot of it lay a small town. A raging fire burned, emitting a sickening, burning smell. Was the cause of the fire in this small town a demonic beast?

His arrival did not attract the attention of the demonic beast. It sat in the raging fire, the scorching flames not harming it in the slightest. Its steady breathing fanned the flames around it, and it sat there without hesitation.

The Sage King frowned. This tributary looked bleak. There were no City Gods or land gods, no day or night patrols, and even the underworld had ceased to exist. He could hear the clacking, laborious workings of the Wheel of Reincarnation. This was perhaps the only good news; otherwise, the people of this town might never again be reincarnated.

The town's fire, the people consumed by it, the survivors lingering, afraid to make a sound. He saw, in the shadow of the collapsed wall, a young man, his companions covering his mouth with cotton. One of his legs seemed to have been crushed by a heavy stone, and a cold sweat covered his forehead. His companions, though reluctant, held his mouth tightly, preventing him from making any sound, tears welling in their eyes. Not far away, or perhaps just across the wall, was a pool of blood. Judging by the dripping marks, it was from above, either a parent or a sibling.

In a trance, the Saint King saw the sharp claws piercing the flesh and being eaten away... He roughly understood what was happening now, and he saw the details.

At this moment, a wisp of faith drifted from the town, from the two young men. It was golden, dazzling in the firelight. It was thin but pure, as if it had sensed the Saint Sovereign's presence. That aimless strand of faith seemed to have found its way, reaching him and soon merging into the Saint Sovereign's body.

The Holy Lord stroked the hilt of the sword, his lips curled up slightly: "I have received your prayer."

Perhaps it was the monster's instinct or something else, but the previously slumbering monster suddenly awoke. Its eyes widened, and its six sturdy legs tensed instantly. The two teenagers tensed the moment the monster woke up. They had barely escaped, but the monster had already spotted them and, having devoured thousands of them, was using them as food reserves.

However, the sudden awakening of the monster at this moment made the two men's hearts rise to their throats. They even forgot the severe pain, and were left with only fear and despair.

However, what happened next was beyond their imagination. The demonic beast paid them no mind. A dazzling golden light descended like a curtain, enveloping the demonic beast. Beneath the radiant brilliance were tiny, drifting particles of light, the light that shattered the prison of despair.

This sword, like a new dawn, pierced the dark starry sky. The demonic beast, before even a moment to repent, was reduced to ash beneath this radiant light. The two young men stared at the scene, stunned. A gust of wind swept past, lifting their hair and robes, while their eyes were filled with this radiance. They didn't understand what this light was, but they knew only that in that moment, immense courage welled up within them.

It was not until many years later that they realized that this light was called hope.