Xuandu had said as much, but Chen Zhou simply smiled and shook his head.
“There is no need to wait until the ninth stage.”
Xuandu was stunned. Chen Zhou looked up, meeting the gazes of both Xuandu and Zhaoye, and spoke at a measured pace.
“Seniors, if I could bring someone with the Wenchang destiny here and have them pass the trials of the Xuandu Ghost Mansion, could the mansion be passed on to them instead?”
The hall fell into a heavy silence once more.
Xuandu’s brow slowly furrowed, the lines on his forehead deepening.
“You are setting your sights on my Ghost Mansion?”
His tone was flat, but anyone could hear the icy chill beneath the calm surface.
Chen Zhou’s expression remained unchanged as he nodded frankly. “Yes.”
“How bold,” Xuandu said coldly.
“The Five Direction Ghost Emperor Mansions are each the core of the Great Emperor's Palace. They are not things to be coveted by just anyone. Do you think that because you passed my mansion’s three trials, you are qualified to decide its fate for someone else?”
Nearby, the Seven Evils held their breath.
They had followed Xuandu for hundreds of thousands of years and understood their master’s temperament all too well.
The Xuandu Ghost Emperor was usually cold and taciturn, appearing as if he cared for nothing. However, once a matter of principle was involved, his stubbornness exceeded even that of Zhao Lie.
Years ago, the Zhaoye Ghost Emperor had jokingly asked to borrow two of the talent light orbs from the Xuandu Ghost Mansion for research. Xuandu had ignored him for three hundred years, leaving him standing outside his gates.
Now, a young junior he had known for less than a day actually dared to suggest bringing someone else to inherit his Ghost Mansion to his face?
If this wasn't seeking death, what was?
Zhaoye let out a dry cough from the side, desperately shooting meaningful glances at Chen Zhou.
But Chen Zhou’s tone remained gentle, neither humble nor arrogant. “I am not coveting the legacy of the Great Emperor's Palace. I am serious. I can guarantee that the person I bring will be one of my own, not an outsider.”
Xuandu looked at him coldly, remaining silent.
Chen Zhou did not avoid his gaze, calmly laying out the facts and reasoning. “Senior has likely noticed that my soul age is only one year.”
“Senior also said that a soul age of one year with a cultivation of the seventh-stage fifth symbiosis contract would be considered top-tier even in the ancient era.”
“But has Senior ever wondered why I have had to cultivate so desperately? Why I had to start from zero and fight my way to this realm within a single year?”
Xuandu still did not speak, but his brow twitched slightly.
Chen Zhou continued, “Because I have no time.”
“Senior has been slumbering in the Great Emperor's Palace for an eon and likely knows little of the world outside.”
“The current outer provinces are no longer the flourishing world of the divine path they once were.”
“The provinces are shattered, demons and fiends run rampant, and mortals are treated like blades of grass.”
“The order established by the divine path has vanished, leaving behind only countless factions that attack and devour one another.”
Chen Zhou briefly described the tragedies of Gloomlight Province, Cangzhou, and Tianchi Province—the suffering of the people and the devastation of life.
“When I first established the City of the Wrongfully Dead to take in refugees and expand my influence, it was not because I desired to be a king or a hegemon.”
“It was simply because if I did not protect them, most of them would likely not have survived the winter.”
Xuandu’s expression did not change, but the atmosphere in the hall loosened subtly.
Chen Zhou continued, “Even so, the forces under my command are barely enough for self-preservation. The true threat is far greater than the scattered demons of these outer provinces.”
He briefly explained the situation in Central Province, emphasizing that the realm barrier would shatter within a hundred years, at which point the false gods of Central Province would descend upon the outer provinces.
“My enemies are at least at the ninth stage or higher, perhaps even beyond. At most, I have only a hundred years.”
He stood his ground, his Eternal Calamity Karma-Fire Robe fluttering despite the lack of wind. The dark red calamity patterns flowed slowly across the black fabric.
“A hundred years is likely but a blink of an eye to Senior, but to me, it is everything.”
“I am not afraid to die.”
“But if I fall, the tens of millions of believers in the City of the Wrongfully Dead, the billions of lives in the outer provinces, and the last hope for this land will be buried with me.”
He looked up, his gaze sincere as he watched Xuandu.
“Therefore, I do not have the luxury of being modest or polite.”
“If there is even a single bit of help I can gain, I will strive for it without hesitation.”
“The Xuandu Ghost Mansion, the Seven Evils, and those talent light orbs—to Senior, these might only be a little extra help, but in my hands, they could buy us another sliver of a chance at victory.”
Xuandu looked at him for a long time before finally speaking.
“What does any of this have to do with me?”
Chen Zhou smiled. “Because Senior is a Ghost Emperor under the Northern Great Emperor.”
“The gods love the world. When the Northern Great Emperor commanded the Underworld, he established reincarnation for all beings, determined good and evil, and judged karma.”
“As one of the Five Direction Ghost Emperors who has guarded the Great Emperor's Palace for hundreds of thousands of years, I assume Senior does not wish to see all beings sink into a sea of suffering on the very land the Emperor once ruled.”
“I do not dare to compare myself to the Great Emperor, but I am willing to do my part. I only ask that Senior gives me a chance.”
Xuandu did not speak for a very long time.
He stood upon the high platform, looking down at Chen Zhou. His long hair reached his waist, and his green vine hair-tie remained perfectly still.
The hall became so quiet that only the faint sound of breathing could be heard.
The Seven Evils watched their master nervously. Having served under Xuandu for hundreds of thousands of years, they knew his personality all too well.
The Xuandu Ghost Emperor was never one to be coerced, nor would he change his principles for a few pretty words.
But this time, Xuandu remained silent for far too long.
Zhaoye stood to the side, his heart pounding as he watched Xuandu’s profile. He knew Xuandu; when this man got stubborn, even the Great Emperor couldn't persuade him.
Now, a junior he’d just met was asking for his Ghost Mansion for someone else right to his face—wasn't that just asking for trouble?
Xuandu still said nothing.
However, within that silence, his thoughts had already surged through countless cycles.
He looked down at the young man at the foot of the stairs.
A soul age of one year.
One year.
He had been shocked by that number from the very beginning, but his shock then had only been at the boy’s talent.
To reach the seventh-stage fifth symbiosis contract in a single year was unheard of.
He admired this talent, recognized it, and was even willing to make an exception to hand over the Xuandu Ghost Decree and the Ghost Mansion.
But that was all.
So, when Chen Zhou spoke of giving the Ghost Mansion to someone else, his first reaction had been disappointment.
A junior who had held the Ghost Decree for less than the time it took for a stick of incense to burn dared to scheme for the Ghost Mansion on behalf of another; it was simply too much, far too presumptuous.
He could offer it, but one could not demand it—that was a matter of principle.
But now, as he looked into Chen Zhou’s eyes and heard him speak those words in such a calm tone, he suddenly felt as though he had misjudged something.
The outer provinces were already shattered to this extent.
Demons ran rampant, mortals were treated like grass, and the divine order was gone. The lives of billions in the outer provinces all rested upon the shoulders of this young man whose soul age was only one year.
One year.
That meant that from the moment he was born, he had been fighting.
Starting from zero, from a tiny territory, he had fought his way to the seventh-stage fifth symbiosis contract, fought his way to becoming the lord of a province, and fought until even the Great Emperor's Palace recognized him.
No one had protected him, no elders had sheltered him from the wind and rain, and no inherited legacy had provided him with resources.
He didn't even have time to stop and catch his breath; he only had a hundred years.
A hundred years was truly just a blink of an eye to Xuandu.
Sometimes Xuandu would take a nap during closed-door cultivation, and thousands of years would have passed when he woke.
What was a hundred years enough for? It was enough for Xuandu to brew a pot of tea, flip through a few pages of a book, or slowly pace back and forth a few times in the corridors of the Great Emperor's Palace.
But for the young man before him, his entire life had only lasted one year.
One year was already gone.
The remaining hundred years were his entire future.
Xuandu suddenly felt somewhat ridiculous.
He had actually spoken such harsh words to a one-year-old new god. I truly am a wretch.
Rate on N.U.
