It turns out, they were the main characters.

"Do you know something?" Yao Meng asked softly when Mu Zhian remained silent.

Mu Zhian shook his head slightly as if lost in thought: "It's not that I know, but that I can now be certain of certain things."

His deduction, which he made after talking with Lan Shih-huai on that ancient ship, was correct.

This world has undergone more than one reboot, but the Forbidden Lord seems to know nothing about it.

Because someone has obscured the secrets of heaven, the memories of the Lord of Forbidden Things have become 'worn out' over time.

And it all started because of that woman.

But what exactly does she want to do...?

"By the way, after you left, Miss Wei remembered some things."

At this moment, Yao Meng suddenly said, "She said that her misfortune was not offset by great fortune, but was transferred to another person."

Yao Meng's words interrupted Mu Zhian's thoughts, and he stared blankly at Yao Meng's stunningly beautiful face.

Her words were like a ray of light cleaving through the darkness, and in Mu Zhian's mind, certain clues from the past seemed to connect at this moment.

Why is Shang Yanfei able to use the Primordial Witch's spiritual consciousness? Why do the Forbidden Lords mistake the Primordial Witch and Shang Yanfei for the same person?

And... the meaning of Wei Mengrou's existence.

Mu Zhian suddenly looked up in the direction of the Liangyi Sect and muttered to himself, "...I think I know the sect leader's identity now."

Chapter 630 Ascension to Immortality

The Two Elements Sect.

A graceful woman, dressed in elegant black robes and with a face as beautiful as snow, strolled alone through the snow-covered Liangyi Sect, holding an oil-paper umbrella.

A cold wind swept by, causing her long, flowing black hair to fly, perfectly outlining her figure.

She left behind only a slender, beautiful silhouette.

The bronze-colored buildings were covered in snow, a silver-white world. During the winter, sect disciples rarely went out, and most stayed in the sect for secluded cultivation.

The few disciples who occasionally passed by did not recognize that this mature woman was the sect leader.

Even within the Liangyi Sect, very few people have ever seen Consort Shang Yan.

Even if I had seen her before, I couldn't remember her face, as if she had never belonged to this world.

"I remember when I first came here, demons were rampant, and creatures from forbidden lands, demon cultivators from the demon realm, and evil gods from the Southern Wilderness were everywhere."

"I never expected that after that you would establish the Liangyi Sect here, eliminate the taboo, plot to send away the first Demon Emperor, and in the end even the once powerful Three Pillar Gods of the Southern Wilderness died."

At this moment, a cold voice rang out, and not far from Shang Yanfei, a woman dressed in a light blue dress appeared silently in the midst of the heavy snow.

Lan Shihuai.

Shang Yanfei looked up at the snow-covered landscape and smiled faintly: "The one who sent away the first Demon Emperor was the Azure Emperor. She suppressed the first Demon Emperor at the cost of her own true form. You probably didn't see the grand scene of all races in the Eastern Continent celebrating together back then."

"The Three Pillar Gods didn't die at my hands; I merely witnessed their deaths."

Lan Shihua sighed again: "At this point, apart from the forbidden lands, there are no other cultivators who are related to the Heavenly Dao. The Heavenly Dao must be extremely weak. You should have achieved your goal."

The purpose of concealing the secrets of Heaven is to deceive the Heavenly Dao, so that, without its knowledge, the Heavenly Dao's henchmen can be completely eliminated one by one.

Of the nine forbidden lands, six remain that submit to the Way of Heaven, and in the Western Regions, only Manjushri Bodhisattva remains who has merged with the Way of Heaven.

Looking across the entire Nine Provinces, it seems that the Heavenly Dao has lost the hearts of the people.

Seeing that Shang Yanfei remained silent, Lan Shihuai said with a complicated expression, "Since you have been deceiving the secrets of the Nine Provinces for so long, why did you have to remind me of some forgotten things from the past at this time?"

Why do you think I'm deliberately reminding you of those forgotten things?

Shang Yanfei chuckled softly, her gaze lingering on the swirling snowflakes: "I deduce the secrets of heaven and observe the myriad aspects of the world, yet I also know that the will of heaven cannot be defied. I merely listen to the will of heaven with this mortal body and temporarily take charge of the Nine Provinces on its behalf."

"But in the end, everything must be returned to Him."

Lan Shih-huai's eyes flickered slightly, and he said softly, "Is the Heavenly Dao truly about to revive?"

The Heavenly Dao has descended several times in the past, but each time it was not its true form that manifested, but only a wisp of its avatar.

This time, however, it seems that the hidden secrets of heaven are waning, and the Heavenly Dao has sensed something, so it can no longer hold back.

The Heavenly Way, possessing human nature, would exhibit the seven emotions and six desires unique to humans, and naturally, it would not allow a 'mortal' to rule the Nine Provinces on its behalf.

Lan Shihuai wanted to say something more, but at this moment, Shang Yanfei looked up in the direction of the Holy Temple and said in a low voice, "You and Mu Lian should go back first. I have to see someone later."

……

Nalanda Temple in the Western Regions.

Mu Zhian gazed in the direction of the Liangyi Sect.

At that moment, a thoughtful look appeared in his eyes.

There has always been a mysterious aura surrounding Shang Yanfei.

From his past in Tianxuan City, where he secretly arranged for Mu Zhian to be a 'supporting character' to cover up the Heavenly Dao's attention, to his later encounters with the Azure Emperor and a series of other events, it seems that there was a guiding hand behind every single thing.

If Sister Mengrou's intuition is correct, then it means that her misfortune was not actually erased by the great fortune of the chosen one; rather, the misfortune was simply transferred to another person.

"I should have realized it long ago. The sect leader's backlash might not just be due to shielding or deducing heavenly secrets. Perhaps it's because every time I bestowed great fortune upon Sister Mengrou, the misfortune was transferred to the sect leader."

There is a close relationship between the sect leader and Wei Mengrou.

The link between the two is the Primal Witch.

"Can you take me back to my sect?"

Mu Zhian quickly collected his thoughts and looked up at Yao Mengdao.

"That's exactly what I was thinking too."

Yao Meng smiled and raised her hand, tearing open a spatial rift out of thin air.

"Let's go. I also want to know who Wei Mengrou's misfortune ultimately landed on."

She turned to look at the maid in the yellow dress not far away and smiled, "Miss Wei probably also wants to go with us, right?"

Mu Zhian then realized that Wei Mengrou had appeared beside them at some point.

Today, having merged with the spiritual consciousness of the three primordial witches, she no longer appears as powerful as she did at the beginning; instead, she is quite reserved and exudes a mysterious aura.

Wei Mengrou nodded gently: "I'll go back with you."

……

The Two Elements Sect.

Yesterday, a heavy snow fell in the northern part of Dongzhou. When Mu Zhian stepped into the sect, he saw the sect covered in snow and the ground paved with bluestone slabs.

However, when Mu Zhian and the others arrived at Liangyi Peak, they were told that the sect leader had left Liangyi Peak not long ago.

"Could it be that they knew we were coming, so they were hiding from us...?" Mu Zhian wondered to himself.

Regardless, since the sect leader is not here, we can only return to Tianhe Garden for now and wait for the sect leader to return before making any further decisions.

"Don't you also feel that my misfortune has been transferred to the sect leader?"

As she stepped into the gate of Tianhe Garden, Wei Mengrou suddenly walked to Mu Zhian's side and asked softly.

"It's not just a feeling, it's almost certain."

Mu Zhian turned to look at the cold and beautiful maid in front of him and said softly, "The fact that the sect leader was able to use the Primordial Witch's spiritual consciousness to suppress the forbidden land means that there must be some kind of connection between her and the Primordial Witch."

The sect leader transferred all of Wei Mengrou's misfortunes onto himself, and also completely handed over the Primordial Witch's spiritual consciousness to Wei Mengrou... Isn't this paving the way for him and Wei Mengrou?

The fact that the sect leader would pave the way for him could be attributed to the fact that they might have known each other before.

But why would she help Wei Mengrou, even at the cost of sacrificing herself?

Mu Zhian had some vague guesses, but he wasn't sure yet.

He needs to see Consort Shang Yan first.

Not long after returning to Tianhe Garden, Mu Zhian stood in front of his study, gazing at the vast expanse of white sky and earth. Then, as if struck by a thought, he took out several letters from his storage ring.

These are letters he left behind when he was operating in a dual-threaded manner. Some were written to his senior sister, and some were written to Shang Yanfei.

Looking at the last letter he wrote to Consort Shang Yan, a thought suddenly struck him. He put all the letters back into his storage ring, then left Tianhe Garden with his umbrella.

Unbeknownst to him, Mu Zhian had arrived at the Pilgrimage Hall.

It was winter, and the entire pilgrimage temple was covered in snow. Even the peach blossoms that bloom all year round were turned white by the snow.

He walked along a path leading into the pilgrimage temple and came to a peach grove.

Deep within the peach grove, one can see a woman dressed in magnificent black robes, holding a jet-black oil-paper umbrella. Her skin is as white as snow, and her silhouette is breathtakingly beautiful.

She doesn't look like a young girl, nor a beautiful woman, but rather a woman in between. Time hasn't left any marks on her; instead, it has given her a mysterious aura. Compared to a pure and innocent girl, she has a more mature charm.

Shang Yanfei looked up at the peach grove covered in snow, her voice crisp and melodious: "It seems we are truly of one mind, that we would both come to the same place to relax."

"After returning to Tianhe Garden, I suddenly remembered that when I first joined the sect, I seemed to have made a promise with the sect leader to appreciate flowers together, so I suddenly wanted to come and see."

Mu Zhian walked to her side and said.

Shang Yanfei was taken aback for a moment, then couldn't help but glance at the young man and chuckled, "You actually still remember."

"I thought you were just saying that you kept so many fish to make up an excuse."

Even with his thick skin, Mu Zhian couldn't hold back when the truth about his initial desire to raise the sect leader, the great white shark, was suddenly exposed.

He coughed lightly and said, "Back then, I was too young and ignorant, but my feelings for the fishpond... I was sincere towards every girl."

He paused, gazing at the sect leader's stunning face. Today, she was like a plum blossom blooming in the snow, exuding a dignified beauty.

"I'm sincere towards you too," Mu Zhian said.

Shang Yanfei smiled, then rested her head on his shoulder and said softly, "Don't move, stay with me and watch the snow for a while."

After she finished speaking, she closed her eyes slightly, her long, curled eyelashes trembling gently in the cold wind.

Thankfully, I'm an enlightened cultivator who can ward off the cold; otherwise, trying to enjoy the scenery in this freezing weather would have been fatal...

However, on the other hand, the sect leader is acting strangely today, he seems to be acting a bit coquettish... Mu Zhian thought to himself.

He was used to the sect leader who always had everything under control, but the woman's coquettishness at this moment was really hard for Mu Zhi'an to handle.

He tilted his head slightly to look at the woman beside him, and suddenly realized that he seemed to have never truly looked at this woman.