The sky was just lightening.
Outside the Great Capital’s imperial city, teams of people and horses quietly moved, scattering away from various entrances originally only accessible to nobles.
The Spirit People were the first to receive the news; after the three titans including the Saint Tour were completely crushed, the divine generals were systematically eliminated on the battlefield, leading to a rapid decline in the situation.
The Spirit People nobles inside the imperial city were the first to catch wind of the news and quickly fled.
As for the most central royal family, they had long been massacred completely.
Only a few who were outside and hadn’t returned escaped the disaster.
The escape of the Spirit People nobles didn’t have much influence on the entire Great Capital; they abandoned most of their assets under the warning of their divine beings and fled at the first moment.
So as not to cause a bigger commotion.
"Failed!?" Emperor Lingxin sat in the imperial study, his face dark as he looked at the Fire Messenger who came to report.
It wasn’t the first time heaven and earth converged; this was the third time.
He knew well how much it cost to completely abolish this seemingly simple and easy-to-overthrow large-scale ceremony.
Precisely because he was clear, he understood. The possibility of the heaven and earth convergence failing was minimal.
And now, his subordinate came to tell him it failed!?
"I know. You may leave, activate the second contingency plan." Emperor Lingxin quickly regained his composure.
He certainly wouldn’t believe the words of just one person.
Even if that person was the one he trusted most, it was the same.
He waved to let that person exit the room.
Emperor Lingxin thought for a moment, took out a dark golden seal from the drawer, then bit his finger, squeezing out blood to drip onto it.
Instantly, in a plane imperceptible to ordinary people, the seal slowly lit up with a blue-golden glow.
Suddenly, Emperor Lingxin’s face changed, seemingly sensing something, he looked up toward the distant sky.
Whoosh!!
Red light shot from afar, quickly landing over the imperial city, slanting downward to reveal the tall figure of Zhang Rongfang folding his wings.
At this moment, he had re-stitched a blood robe, his long hair hanging loose, face pale and cold.
’Is it here? The place where Spirit Flying Church’s greatest divine power is emitted?’ he asked in his mind.
’It is here, though I am a Residual God, my sensing ability far surpasses mortals.’ White Scale replied.
Zhang Rongfang slightly nodded, raising his eyes to look around.
He landed at the First Layer entrance of the imperial city.
The entire Great Capital imperial city has now been artificially divided into three layers.
Inside, the two layers seemed to have a special maintenance aura slowly drifting.
He initially planned to directly fly to the innermost side, but a faint palpitation made him choose to proceed cautiously.
"Who is it!!?" The patrol guards of the second layer first noticed him, putting down their spears and bows, they loudly shouted at him.
Two experts dressed in eunuch uniforms approached lightly, without saying anything, they attacked Zhang Rongfang.
A total of over ten people, arrows, palm winds, hidden weapons, spears all simultaneously attacked just him.
Zhang Rongfang, without looking, waved his hand.
Massive blood clouds dispersed out, these blood clouds were not the mental force attack of other experts but entities visible to all.
At this moment, the blood clouds charged into the crowd, all sounds rapidly ceased and completely vanished.
The blood clouds split open a path, revealing the gate to the inner city.
Zhang Rongfang rushed forward, swiftly crossing the high wall.
Inside the wall where the royals should live, was cold and deserted now.
’The smell of blood...’ He frowned slightly, perhaps not more sensitive to other auras than others, but familiar to blood like no one else.
’Seems trouble occurred!’ White Scale’s tone turned solemn.
At this point, both the Moon God and Spirit Flying Church have realized that dealing with Zhang Rongfang on the ground is almost impossible. They will likely employ other methods.
Bang!
Before long, Zhang Rongfang smashed the door to the royal study, stepping in.
Inside, it was long empty, leaving only a piece of letter paper placed neatly on the desk.
He walked over to pick it up and look.
’Left by Emperor Lingxin for his confidant. Seems like he was the one with the most concentrated aura of Spirit Flying Heaven you mentioned.’ Zhang Rongfang slightly furrowed his brows.
’Without Spirit Flying Church’s grand formation concealment, all related sleepers in Great Spirit cannot hide, it’s inevitable.’ White Scale said.
’Spirit Flying Church’s biggest hurdle to complete expulsion is the abundance of believers. A solution to this must be found.’
Though Zhang Rongfang internally harbors the idea of purifying divine beings, initiating the implementation directly confronts a major problem.
The existence of divine beings is tied to memory.
The Extreme Realm members of Reverse Time Association reject becoming anchors for divine beings by frequent forgetting.
But ordinary people are different.
’The root is in Taoyuan.’ White Scale said in a deep voice, ’Didn’t you hear what the Moon God said earlier? Spirit Flying Heaven’s headquarters is likely located deep within Taoyuan.’
’Taoyuan.....’
Bang!!
Simultaneously, a window on the opposite side of the imperial study was smashed open with great force.
Several indistinct figures suddenly rushed into the room, landing and standing firm.
The leader, black hair draping down, one eye a violet crystal prosthesis, had a slender and well-proportioned figure that didn’t hint at his earlier explosive speed.
But in Zhang Rongfang’s perception, this person’s Qi and Blood movement was the largest.
He slightly narrowed his eyes, clearly sensing the massive, viscous blood flowing like mercury within this person’s veins.
Each heartbeat resembled a close heavy pounding on a war drum. Heavy and shocking.
Although it was the first meeting, Zhang Rongfang felt as if he was facing Yue Dewen in his prime the moment he saw this man.
Besides this person, there were also two other figures. Both were familiar faces.
An elderly man dressed as a farmer, Fan Heng.
The other was a man draped in a tiger skin, with a bewildered look, Celestial Roc Hunting Tiger.
"When I saw the red light descend earlier, I guessed it might be you. So I decisively came to meet you."
The man with purple eyes had a gentle demeanor, like a refined gentleman, yet his face bore a stiffness akin to the dead.
"Hunting Tiger, Fan Heng, esteemed seniors. And this gentleman is?" Zhang Rongfang looked towards the purple-eyed man in the lead.
He could guess that the person was from the Reverse Time Society, and seeing his leading position, a name flashed through his mind.
"Chairman??" he voiced aloud.
"Truly perceptive," the purple-eyed man laughed. He didn’t know how the other had descended from the sky into the imperial city.
But that didn’t stop him from coming directly to face him.
In essence, the Reverse Time Society had a very close relationship with the Human Immortal Temple. The society once assisted Zhang Rongfang, the Human Immortal Ancestor, several times.
"I am Meng Qian. For our first meeting, you may call me Uncle Meng." The purple-eyed man smiled.
His voice was clearly laced with laughter, yet his rigid face showed no sign of a smile, giving an odd sense of contrast.
"Saint Emperor Meng Qian!?" Zhang Rongfang’s heart tightened.
The legendary First of the Extreme Realm, elusive throughout history.
Unexpected that he was still alive, and the chairman of the Reverse Time Society.
Unexpected yet understandable.
"Since you came directly here, you must know quite a bit of the inside story. It seems our goals are aligned." Meng Qian had long known Rongfang’s blood naturally opposed the Divine Spiritual Line, making him a natural ally against deities.
Thus, there was no need to hide anything.
Their great plan would surely go smoother with Zhang Rongfang’s involvement.
"Uncle Meng’s... purpose is...?" Zhang Rongfang pondered. His main aim here was to retrieve Yue Shi’s personality.
Only then would he purify the world’s gods and return the world to normal order.
"Gods stand high above, many years ago, they were defeated by us Celestial Lighters. So both parties agreed to establish the vast Great Spirit dynasty." Meng Qian said with a sense of longing.
"Later, each generation of Celestial Lighters grew weaker, bloodlines diluted, unable to contend with the increasingly powerful gods or Spirit Flying Heaven.
Only relying on agreements to barely maintain balance.
Eventually, the balance broke; the Spirit Emperor passed away, and now Spirit Flying Heaven is harvesting all spirits, repeating the cycle for the third time."
"Emperor Lingxin’s identity is?" Zhang Rongfang asked deeply.
"Divine son." Meng Qian replied solemnly, "We’ve only just uncovered the truth. Emperor Lingxin is actually Spirit Flying Church’s hidden divine son. Hence, we directly sought Spirit Flying Church’s earthly temple."
’Spirit Flying Church has no earthly temple.’
Suddenly, a deep voice overshadowed the two, slowly streaming in from outside the door.
A large, stout old monk in a black cassock, with intricately armored arms of dark gold, slowly entered.
"I am Damir, greetings Qiankunzi patron."
Zhang Rongfang’s expression remained unchanged, but his heart was once again gripped.
Damir?
Imperial Tutor!?
This seemingly unremarkable old monk before him?
Or perhaps just a name coincidence?
At this pivotal moment of world convergence, such coincidence that so many legendary figures emerged?
He suppressed the doubt in his heart, unclear why these individuals gathered here.
"Patrons, although unaware of the reason, the world’s convergence has failed. Now, the first challenge has been prematurely passed, and the greatest difficulty lies ahead."
Damir’s deep voice conveys rare reliability.
Apart from this, he showed no peculiarity, lacking any masterly aura, outwardly just an ordinary old monk.
"First challenge?" Zhang Rongfang didn’t comprehend.
"Our initial goals align, so no harm in sharing." Meng Qian seemed perfectly normal, his tone amiable.
Showing no signs of being a king of madness.
Damir remained silent.
"Have you heard of the Taoyuan term?"
"You mean, Spirit Flying Heaven’s Void?!" Zhang Rongfang instantly understood the group had long planned to target Spirit Flying Heaven’s Void to eradicate future threats!
"Exactly!" Damir nodded, not expecting Zhang Rongfang to grasp it so quickly.
Their goal was indeed to completely sever Spirit Flying Heaven’s Void from the mortal realm.
All connections.
Meng Qian stood beside, gently clapping his hands.
"Now the divine son is missing, world convergence failed, without opposition, next we simply need to resolve all who have seen or been believers of Spirit Flying Heaven to fulfill our great plan!"
"But their numbers are vast. The most challenging will be facing their counterattacks." Damir nodded.
"How to proceed?!" Zhang Rongfang swiftly asked.
"We’ve long found Spirit Flying Heaven’s Gate of the Profound!" Meng Qian replied.
"Really!?" Zhang Rongfang’s eyes widened.
"Certainly." Meng Qian smiled gently.
He hadn’t expected everything to come with such ease, anticipating strong resistance that didn’t transpire.
Perhaps, from now on, there would never be another convergence!
Perhaps in the future, it truly would be the human era they dreamed of!