The fake prince was exposed at the beginning, and I took office as emperor on the spot

Chapter 256 The Grand Trend of the World, Mighty and Unstoppable (Part Two)

Xu Fu's expression turned solemn as he raised his hand and sent the piece of golden thread into the starry river of water and sky.

As the false starry sky slowly moved, it gradually merged completely with the real starry sky.

From bottom to top, all those starlight ripples disappeared into the Milky Way, and in an instant, they all converged, returning to complete tranquility.

"Om-"

When the golden threads melted and became part of the Milky Way, the entire starry sky shone brightly, dazzling and almost blinding.

Within this intense light, the real and the illusory sky merged completely, and in an unstoppable rotation, moved from the Netherworld to the mortal realm.

It was at this moment that Xie Qian's "Eternal Unity of Heaven" formation was activated.

"Boom..."

A deafening roar, like the collapse of heaven and earth, resounded to everyone's ears, causing a tremor throughout the entire world.

Numerous cultivators, regardless of their location, noticed the unusual activity in the sky and began to speculate about it without understanding why.

"what is that?!"

"It looks like a formation... What kind of formation is this that uses the entire sky as its array plate..."

Those who knew some of the inside information immediately turned deathly pale, or became dejected, or collapsed, or bewildered.

The "eternal harmony" in Xie Qian and the Confucian school may be a way of achieving universal harmony, but it is definitely not a scene that people of their time can imagine.

Regardless of what kind of order "eternal unity" will reshape, even just looking at the present, once history is reversed, for people of their time, the future will be a bottomless abyss!
As for the Confucian disciples, almost all of them showed expressions of ecstatic joy, raised their hands, and knelt down towards the sky.

"Hahaha, the sage has succeeded! The 'Eternal Heaven' paradise is about to arrive!"

"May the sage live forever!"

Across hundreds of thousands of miles of land, war raged and people clamored.

The raging fire, accompanied by a cacophony of noise, ignited the entire night.

Being in it is like being a drowning person, with bubbles boiling around your ears, and you are filled with fear and torment.

However, as the smoke rises and drifts into the sky, from a high vantage point, all the noise is completely drowned out by the wind, becoming so faint that it cannot be heard at all.

Xie Qian stood there in the sky.

He stood calmly with his hands behind his back, watching the stars turn, waiting for the ancient Zhou constellation anchor point to fall into its rightful place.

That moment will be the moment when "eternity under the same sky" is truly realized.

As for the voices below, who cares?
Suddenly, Xie Qian had a thought and turned his head to see a white teleportation rift opening on the ground.

A familiar figure emerged from within and looked up at him.

Xie Qian met his gaze, then smiled and said slowly:

"Gu Fangchen, what a pity... you're a little late."

"You won't live to see the fall of the Great Wei Kingdom, nor will you live to see my head roll."

……

Gu Fangchen's expression darkened, and she leaped up to face Xie Qian.

Perhaps because the outcome was already decided, Xie Qian did not stop him and let him fly into the sky.

However, Xuanming, who was following behind him, was stopped on the ground and could not move an inch.

Xuanming's expression changed. He tried to use his spiritual power, but he couldn't move at all. Then he instantly understood.

"That one up there isn't Xie Qian's clone... it's his real body!"

With this thought in mind, Xuanming gave up the idea of ​​following them.

For those at the first-grade Eternal Realm, going up there as second-grade cultivators would only be suicide...

Now that things have come to this, all we can do is hope that Gu Fangchen will succeed.

Gu Fangchen looked at the old man before her, then glanced at Huangtian City, which was engulfed in war, and grinned, saying:
"I don't think it's too late."

"Xiao Sheng is dead, Huangtian City has been breached, and the Eye Heaven Division has long been prepared. As long as Qing Man takes over Huangtian City, severing the nation's destiny is just a matter of a thought."

He glanced again at the swirling stars in the sky.

"And your grand formation will take a while to complete, won't it..."

Xie Qian laughed heartily:

"Gu Fangchen, I must say, if it weren't for the need for Xiao Province as the vessel of the dragon vein, you would be far more suitable to be the emperor than anyone else."

Although he was smiling, his tone was anything but; instead, it was incredibly cold and sarcastic.

"Xiao Yinghao and you share a deep bond, yet you are willing to betray her at this crucial moment in the struggle for the throne, letting all her efforts go to waste..."

"Whoever it is, and whatever their purpose, allows the Qingman to take over Huangtian City, even for a moment, they are the eternal sinners of the Great Wei."

"Whether it's Xiao Yinghao or any other person from the Great Wei, they will not admit that what you did was for the good of the Great Wei."

"Even so, you still insist on going your own way?"

Gu Fangchen shrugged, her gaze icy, and said indifferently:
"so what?"

"Whether they admit it or not, what does it matter to me? Now, most of the Qingman tribe and the remnants of the Demonic Sect are under my control. Xiao Yinghao's White Dragon Army may seem powerful now, but how many cultivators actually submit to her as an empress? It's only because I have half of the Tiger Tally that they are willing to follow her."

"At that time, if I speak up, who can object? With the three kingdoms surrounding us, the tide is in my hands. At worst, I can abandon this legitimacy and ascend the throne myself. That would not be a bad path."

"As for Xiao Yinghao... out of consideration for our past relationship, I spared her life."

Xie Qian glanced at him a couple more times, his smile vanished, and he said in a deep voice:

"Alright, alright... I misjudged him."

When he said he admired Gu Fangchen at the Ziji Hall that day, it wasn't just an excuse.

He did see the literary talent in Gu Fangchen, and because of her actions against the Demonic Sect, he believed that Gu Fangchen was righteous, at least more so than Gu Yuye and Gu Yuandao.

But now, Gu Fangchen tells him personally that he is wrong.

Xie Qian did indeed use the Demonic Sect for the sake of "eternal harmony," but this was not collusion. He still adhered to his own beliefs, and good and evil, right and wrong, were clearly distinguished in his eyes.

Gu Fangchen's current actions are even more vile and shameless than those of the Demonic Sect.

Moreover, there was no room for lying—Gu Fangchen's goal was to sever the nation's destiny in order to kill Xie Qian. And to sever the destiny of a nation, simply replacing the princess with another to inherit the throne was simply not possible.

Only by allowing foreign invaders to seize power can the fate of the nation be severed.

Even if Gu Fangchen corrects things later, this is all he can do at this moment.

Moreover, as he himself said, he already had the upper hand, and Xie Qian couldn't imagine why he would return the Great Wei to the Xiao family.

In other words, supporting Xiao Yinghao was merely a stepping stone for him to leverage his power!

At this point, everything that could be used had become Gu Fangchen's possession.

Compared to him, Gu Yuye was like a green recruit...

Gu Fangchen chuckled:
"Thank you for the compliment. In terms of these achievements, you are the senior."

Xie Qian shook his head. After realizing that Gu Fangchen was completely hopeless, he gave up on trying to "reason" with her anymore.

He said coldly:

"'Eternal Unity of Heaven' is for the sake of universal harmony. How can you possibly understand my good intentions and ideals?"

"As long as the vision of 'eternal unity' is realized, everything can be transcended."

"What are these sacrifices now? They are merely necessary steps."

"However, it's a pity that there's probably no place for you in this utopian world..."

Gu Fangchen sneered:
"You make it sound so noble, but I'm afraid you just want revenge for your eldest disciple who was killed in action, right?"

Xie Qian looked at him expressionlessly, raised his head, and slowly said:

"Gu Fangchen, there's no need to delay any longer. The stars have already returned to their places, and you have no chance left."

He raised his hand, fingers spread wide.

"Buzz! Buzz! Buzz!..."

In the Milky Way, several beams of light suddenly shone, exceptionally bright among the vast starry sky, radiating ripples of light that instantly covered the entire sky, and then the earth. "Boom..."

At the far end of the sky, a dark rift appeared between the sky and the earth.

Gu Fangchen also raised her head and squinted her eyes.

The starry sky above was enveloped in the spiritual patterns, and it had indeed reached the appropriate position.

He looked down again and saw the Qingman army, which had arrived late, stop at the gate of Huangtian City. It was only a step away, but it seemed like an insurmountable chasm!

The Qingman tribes didn't have time to enter Huangtian City, so they couldn't sever the nation's fate and therefore couldn't kill Xie Qian.

Gu Fangchen, as if resigned to her fate, gazed down at the mortal realm below and sighed softly.
“I knew from the start that I couldn’t kill you.”

The rift between heaven and earth began to widen, separating heaven and earth. Then, the whole world began to bend and roll back.

Like a tidal wave, the spiritual patterns swept across everything in the world!

The cause and effect of the entire world must be connected from beginning to end!

This "Eternal Unity" formation is meant to pack up the entire world at this moment and throw it into the beginning of the ancient Zhou Dynasty.

In this process, the chaotic spacetime will inevitably tear everything apart and reconstruct it.

Xie Qian's expression did not change when he heard this.

After all, it was a foregone conclusion that Gu Fangchen couldn't kill him. It was nothing more than the loser making some unwilling sighs, so what was there to care about?

But after a few breaths, the old man suddenly paused, then realized what was happening, and abruptly lowered his head to look at Gu Fangchen.

Surprisingly, Gu Fangchen's face did not show the frustration, ferocity, or resentment of a loser.

On the contrary, he had a bright smile on his face.

Seeing Xie Qian looking at him, he blinked and asked in confusion:

"what happened?"

Xie Qian's sense of foreboding reached its peak. He stared intently at Gu Fangchen, almost gritting his teeth, and said, word by word:
"You knew from the start that you couldn't kill me."

Gu Fangchen nodded, spread her hands, and shrugged:

"correct."

He laughed:
"So... what concept of replacing national destiny, or even destroying national destiny—"

"I didn't do any of them!"

Xie Qian's pupils contracted, he took a deep breath, and questioned sharply:
"Then what did you do? What else could you do?! Answer me, besides killing me, what else could you do to stop me?"

He didn't believe that Gu Fangchen would just sit and wait for her death without doing anything.

That was clearly the most reasonable and promising way to stop him, so how could Gu Fangchen not do it?
Gu Fangchen did not answer him, but looked at the sweeping spiritual patterns and the entire world, and whispered:

"coming."

Xie Qian looked into the distance and saw that the sky, swept by the spiritual patterns, was layered, with some of the hazy starlight erased.

Xie Qian was startled and looked up at the stars that had lit up and almost formed pillars of light.

Amidst the tremors that shook the entire world, the protective array covering it finally succumbed to the pressure and gradually dissipated.

Xie Qian then realized that the star that was emitting amazing light had been completely misaligned!
The stars that returned to their places were not the ones expected.

Someone... moved the positions of the stars!
The anchor points have all been messed up. The destination that "Eternal Same Sky" wants to reach is no longer the ancient Zhou Dynasty, but another unfamiliar point in time.

"No...no, no, no!"

Xie Qian muttered to himself, then his face suddenly turned ferocious as he stared intently at Gu Fangchen:
"You changed the constellations?"

Gu Fangchen nodded calmly:
"Yes."

Xie Qian then asked:
"Using this celestial configuration as coordinates, I activated the 'Eternal Unity of Heaven' grand formation?"

Gu Fangchen nodded again:

"Yes."

Xie Qian looked at the composed Gu Fangchen, his expression gradually cracking, and then he almost collapsed, pointing at him with a trembling voice:

Do you know what you've done?!

"know."

"No! You don't know!"

Xie Qian was trembling with anger; even a thousand years of self-control were no match for him at this moment.

It was as if the toy he had painstakingly assembled was suddenly knocked down by a mischievous child, shattering into pieces on the ground.

And this brat was still standing there, looking completely justified!
"'Eternal Unity' will bring the entire world to this coordinate, causing the river of time to reverse. Once activated, the world's affairs will be unstoppable, even I cannot stop them. Chaos will ensue, chaos will ensue, everything will be in chaos!"

Xie Qian raised his hands and shouted uncontrollably in a fit of rage.

Then, as if remembering something, he looked at Gu Fangchen and asked, almost in shock:
"When did you change it to coordinates?!"

If we take any point in time between the five dynasties from the ancient Zhou to the Great Wei as a coordinate, things were not actually beyond redemption.

However, the time frame is insufficient and the historical record is incomplete, which may lead to some biases in people's understanding.

It can still be saved.

More importantly, only within this range can we guarantee that only his path exists!

However, the ominous feeling in Xie Qian's heart was confirmed the next moment—

Gu Fangchen grinned and uttered two words:
"'Heavenly Gate'."

Xie Qian exhaled a trembling breath:

"Little beast!"

Gu Fangchen sighed, showing no fear whatsoever. She stepped forward, patted Xie Qian on the shoulder, grinned, and said kindly:

"Now, you only have two choices."

"Or, we can all go into the 'Heavenly Gate' together."

"Either... you can apply the brakes now and still protect the basics."

Upon hearing this, Xie Qian sneered:

"Didn't you understand what I said? Once 'Eternal Unity' is activated, I can't stop it, unless..."

"Unless, it is given another cause and effect that is as important as the world."

Gu Fangchen said slowly.

Xie Qian was stunned, his pupils contracted, and he immediately realized what was happening:

"That's your real purpose!"

Gu Fangchen remained noncommittal, only gazing at the inverted world in the distance, a slight smile playing on her lips:

"It's almost time."

Xie Qian closed his eyes briefly, then took a step back, pointed to the starry sky above, and said coldly:

"If you want to die, I certainly won't stop you."

What happened after "Tianmen" would drive an ordinary person crazy at first glance, so how could Gu Fangchen be spared?

Even he didn't dare to pry into her; in his eyes, Gu Fangchen was just another madwoman.

Xie Qian stood still, smiled at the young man, and then charged towards the array in the sky, disappearing into it in the blink of an eye.

Xie Qian sensed that the "Eternal Unity of Heaven" formation had stagnated, and the reversed world had returned to normal, so he breathed a sigh of relief.

Suddenly, he narrowed his eyes, his expression momentarily stunned.

As night fell, the brilliant stars still shone, and in the distance, they vaguely formed a shape that resembled a blue dragon!

Sigrún has taught at the Iceland University of the Arts as a part-time lecturer since and was Dean of the Department of Fine Art from -. In – she held a research position at Reykjavík Art Museum focusing on the role of women in Icelandic art. She studied fine art at the Icelandic College of Arts and Crafts and at Pratt Institute, New York, and holds BA and MA degrees in art history and philosophy from the University of Iceland. Sigrún lives and works in Iceland.

(End of Volume 3 [The Rise of the Azure Dragon])

(Final Volume [The Heavenly Drum])
(End of this chapter)