"You're nothing but an idiot."

Ninghai Zen curled the corner of his mouth and scolded mercilessly:

"In life, the rare value lies in feigned ignorance! Why can't you understand!

Lao Qiu, you Feng Shui Daoists always like to delve into the changes of the heavens and earth, continuously pondering countless questions, seeking answers.

The pursuit of knowledge has a good ring to it, but have you ever thought, what if there is no water to quench your thirst, then what?"

Qiu Changtian bowed his head and said:

"Nothing more than to die of thirst."

Yet, he remained unmoved, calmly spreading out his hand, examining the intersecting palm lines of fate.

This infamous Plague Deity of Yihai Prefecture put away his usual frivolousness and showed a serious expression:

"Brother Ning, even if one drowns in the pursuit of the Dao, it is better than being blindly ignorant.

Moreover, if you never seek to understand things thoroughly, how did you break through the Fourth Qi Cultivation Barrier?"

Ninghai Zen raised an eyebrow and replied with a smile:

"Naturally, by sheer invincibility of mind, immense wisdom, the right timing, and a single perfect leap.

No one ever breaks through and then spends ten or eight years in bitter cultivation and closed-door training, do they?"

Qiu Changtian's facial muscles twitched, his teeth clenched, wishing he could drown Ninghai Zen's face, thick as a city wall, in spit.

Who boasts so shamelessly?

Such audacity!

"Enough, you walk your path, I'll travel mine. No matter who goes first, remember to light a stick of incense on my death anniversary."

Ninghai Zen took the initiative to end this unpleasant topic, as he never liked pointing fingers at others.

Today was an exception, given his acquaintance with Qiu Changtian.

The Observatory Tower holds a complete path to achieving Ghost Immortal, cutting life short, thriving and declining, knowing fortunes and misfortunes, its ties with the Dragon Court are quite close.

One could say it's the most court-affiliated force within the five Taoist Sects.

The intertwined and complex causations within cannot be easily cast aside as Qiu Changtian suggests.

Back then, the backlash from the heaven's secrets, and later the fateful prediction for Prince Sui, were but a form of helplessness.

"Can the Turbid Tide that stretches for three thousand years truly calm after the Dao perishes? Lao Qiu, is your calculation accurate?"

Seeing Ninghai Zen's skepticism, Qiu Changtian puffed up like a cat stepped on its tail:

"What nonsense are you spouting! I am a true disciple of the Taoist Sect! That Daoist of the Observatory Tower still calls me senior brother!

If it weren't for the failure of the Golden Talisman Grand Sacrifice, resulting in a near-fatal backlash from heaven's secrets, within twenty years, I would at least be an Elder of the Taoist Sect!"

Ninghai Zen coughed lightly, knowing he inadvertently struck Qiu Changtian's sore spot, and quickly changed the subject:

"Tell me more about the two large stars falling to the Red County Divine Land."

He knew well that in this lifetime, Lao Qiu most detested anyone saying his divinations were inaccurate.

In his youth, Qiu Changtian prided himself on flawless calculations and divine ingenuity.

Yet during the Observatory Tower's "Dragon Gate Gathering," held every six years, he lost a divination to a woman.

Hence, later, out of a moment's hubris, he dared perform rituals, set up grand formations, to question the heavens and divine changes.

"The ancient scriptures before the Dao perished stated, there is a constellation whose light shines across the universe, surpassing the celestial sphere.

Appearing at dawn as 'Then Light' and manifesting at night as 'Long Restore.'

Many Feng Shui Daoists often use states like 'the sky is about to brighten' or 'the long night is hard to end' to divine fortunes and misfortunes."

Qiu Changtian slightly furrowed his brows and said solemnly:

"Once this star appears, wars will break out, an ominous sign indeed."

Ninghai Zen seemed unconcerned:

"The Dragon Court has ruled for hundreds of years, yet never has it seen a prosperous, peaceful scene of harmony, an era of abundance.

Commanding all realms' vital energy, then dividing into ranks, some are born as lords in prefectures, others as livestock in impoverished lands.

Are you worried about such troubles for them? Why, are you the Supreme Emperor's illegitimate child, hoping to inherit the Dragon Court?"

Qiu Changtian's mouth slightly twitched, helplessly saying:

"Just for these words, if spoken in Divine Capital Prefecture, you'd surely be convicted of great disrespect.

It's been years, yet Ninghai Zen, you haven't changed one bit. If you were given a piece of Profound Mysterious Divine Soldiers, the heavens might be pierced with a great hole."

Ninghai Zen let out a cold laugh:

"I just think this world... perhaps it has always been like this, never truly changing. Good and bad, all revolving within a circle.

The Dragon Court tells the world that congregating the realm's vital energy serves to ease the calamities of the Turbid Tide.

Yet the 'Golden Villa' where the Supreme Emperor retired to secluded training, is rumored to contain seas-worth of vast vital energy, nurturing a small world akin to a surmounting Grotto Heaven Blessed Land, used for... longevity?

He lived for four hundred years, the vital energy consumed each hour is enough for three hundred cultivators to breathe and cultivate.

The fishermen of Black River County struggle to reach forty, while the elderly of Yihai Prefecture consider seventy or eighty a full lifespan, nobles in Prefecture City live finely, even without practicing martial arts or cultivating Tao skills, they can live to one hundred and thirty.

Yet that Supreme Emperor dwelled in the world for four hundred years, is this not drawing the blood of commoners to sustain his own longevity?"

Lao Dao beside him nodded repeatedly, itching to shout, to charge into the Divine Capital, and seize the throne!

"Just say less, exalted as a supreme being, enjoying more vital energy... even if it's wrong, what can you do?

Ninghai Zen, no matter how skilled you are, you're not a Divine Power Giant who projects authority over a prefecture, even if you succeed, you can't control the Dragon Court."

Qiu Changtian sighed, accepting the tea offered by Lao Dao, taking a light sip, it was indeed coarse and bitter.

"Lao Dao, we share a deep friendship and this is how you treat a guest? The once gallant and unconstrained Red Eyebrow Leader, how did he become so stingy?"

Lao Dao's face was like cast iron, his cold gaze glanced up and down, as though considering where might be fit for bloodletting and meat carving: 𝕗𝕣𝐞𝐞𝘄𝐞𝚋𝚗𝗼𝘃𝗲𝗹.𝚌𝕠𝚖

"Where's my treasured saber? Where have you hidden it?"

The title "Heaven-defying Saber" for the Red Eyebrow Leader was certainly not without reason.