Now, no one asks Shen Mo if he was ever the emperor of the Southern Kingdom, because his very presence is the answer.
But Qin Moyu's thoughts were—
Wow, except for the lack of black eyeshadow, he looks exactly like a typical villain from TV.
Qin Moyu imagined Shen Mo applying eyeshadow... *cough cough*, forgive him for almost bursting out laughing.
There's no way around it; Shen Mo's appearance is just too aggressive. Even when he smiles, he gives off a "I'm plotting against you" vibe. Not to mention, after dressing up like this, it's practically like he has the word "villain" written on his forehead.
Shen Mo tidied his clothes before coming in, hoping to impress Qin Moyu.
As it turned out, Qin Moyu was indeed attracted to him, but why did he feel that there was something strange about the way Qin Moyu looked at him?
Shen Mo walked to Qin Moyu's side with a heavy heart, and the five-clawed golden dragon on his body seemed to have dimmed considerably.
Qin Moyu coughed lightly, trying to clear his mind of all the jumbled thoughts. Ever since meeting Jiang Hua, he had been frequently traveling back to his past life.
Shen Mo remained outwardly calm, but Qin Moyu could see his disappointment.
So he took Shen Mo's hand and whispered, "It looks great."
Shen Mo didn't say anything, but silently straightened his back even more.
—Mo Yu said it looks good!
With just this one sentence, Shen Mo was completely satisfied.
Although he couldn't figure it out, Master Xuanjing was still completely taken aback by Shen Mo's display of skill. He felt that Shen Mo was indeed unfathomable, otherwise why would he have such a strong urge to beat them up?
A brief interlude eased the tension, but Master Xuanjing still had to say what needed to be said: "However, I must return to Guanlan Sect; you cannot come back with us."
He promised Qin Moyu that he wouldn't go back alone now, but as soon as Shen Sheng figured out the road conditions from Dongzhou to Nanguo, he would rush back immediately.
“I know, and I won’t stop you from going back, but I would like to ask you to be a witness.” Shen Mo naturally knew that he couldn’t stop Xuan Jing Zhenren from going back, and the fact was indeed as Xuan Jing Zhenren said, he could not go back to Dongzhou with them.
Qin Moyu was worried about Xuanjing Zhenren returning injured, and he was equally worried about Qin Moyu leaving his sight.
So, immediately after parting ways with Qin Moyu, he began preparations and arranged everything.
"Witnesses?" Master Xuanjing frowned. "But what?"
"Does the True Immortal know that my claim to the throne is not for unifying the four continents, but for opposing Him?" Shen Mo did not immediately answer his question, but instead asked in return, "Has the True Immortal considered why the Abyss suddenly underwent anomalies?"
"...I don't know." Master Xuanjing had been anxious about the situation at Guanlan Sect these past few days and hadn't thought about why this had happened.
Shen Mo briefly explained the formation of the Abyss Land to Xuan Jing Zhenren, earning a slightly surprised look from Qin Moyu.
Ah, so the Abyss can be explained in such a simple way.
But Shen Mo didn't notice Qin Moyu's gaze, and continued to say to Xuanjing Zhenren: "...So the best way to stop this disaster is to destroy the formation of the Abyss Land and break the seal of the Extreme Cold Land. As long as the Heavenly Dao's plan fails, Fenqi is nothing to fear."
Master Xuanjing still didn't understand what these two things had to do with him going back later.
"The one who controls the formation in the Abyss should be Fen Qi. The Demon Lord told me that she would go to find Fen Qi, and I agreed to break the seal of the Extreme Cold Land. To break the seal of the Extreme Cold Land, I must first become emperor and gather the fortune of the four continents."
Shen Mo looked up at the sky and smiled slightly: "To become emperor, the rules must first be satisfied."
When he was a child, Shen Mo once asked his father, "If being an emperor only requires issuing proclamations, why is it necessary to hold a sacrificial ceremony to heaven? Isn't that redundant?"
At that time, Shen Mo's father just chuckled softly, put little Shen Mo in his arms, pointed to the starry sky and said, "Because everything has its rules. The ruler of a country is not only about wealth and honor, but also about responsibility. If you don't tell it, how can it gather the fortune of the country on you? Throughout history, many people have tried to steal the fortune of the country, but they have all failed in the end, because the fortune of the country is never taken by people, but given to you by it."
At that time, Shen Mo did not understand who "it" was or why his father needed its recognition to become emperor, but he understood later.
It is neither human nor demon; it is simply the rule that keeps the world running, invisible and intangible, yet present everywhere.
Even the Heavenly Dao is bound by this rule and cannot act recklessly; otherwise, it would not have needed to secretly plot for so many years.
He refined the world not only to satisfy his own desires, but also to escape this bondage.
All ceremonies and sacrifices are merely to inform it.
Since it is a ceremony and sacrifice, there must be guests. What could better inform a power of its "imperial status" than a sacrifice attended by representatives of various continental powers?
What Shen Mo is thinking now is to have Xuanjing Zhenren act as a witness for the Guanlan Sect.
Chapter 82. The Star Gazing Pavilion, with the world as its guide, concludes...
The decision to have Master Xuanjing as a witness was based on two considerations. Firstly, since the Guanlan Sect needed to send someone to observe the ceremony anyway, it was reasonable to have Master Xuanjing, who could directly represent the Guanlan Sect, come instead, thus avoiding the danger of traveling. Secondly, it would give Master Xuanjing more time to recover from his injuries, and it wouldn't be too dangerous for him to return after the situation stabilized. Moreover, once the ceremony was completed, Shen Mo would immediately take Qin Moyu to the extreme cold region.
"Wait a minute." Xuanjing Zhenren frowned immediately after hearing Shen Mo's explanation. He looked at Shen Mo warily. "Why take Mo Yu to the extreme cold? Going to the extreme cold without the strength of the Tribulation Transcending stage is simply sending lambs to the slaughter."
This is different from the previous search for the inheritance. The extreme cold is fraught with danger, and no one knows if the Heavenly Dao has any other tricks up its sleeve. Even Shen Mo couldn't say he could return unscathed, let alone with Qin Moyu in tow.
Therefore, Master Xuanjing strongly suspected that Shen Mo was acting too emotionally, insisting on taking Qin Moyu to the extremely cold place.
“If I could, I wouldn’t want to either.” Shen Mo’s expression darkened slightly. He naturally knew the dangers of the extreme cold land, but he had a reason to take Qin Moyu there. “However, to break the seal on the extreme cold land, I’m afraid even I would be powerless without Moyu’s help.”
Every formation has a base, and the base of the formation in the extreme cold land is the tribulation-transcending beings who voluntarily sacrificed themselves. Because the Heavenly Dao tricked them, their souls merged with the formation, which is why they were able to use the Crimson Lotus Karmic Fire.
Shen Mo had always thought that by gathering the fortune of the four continents, he could forcefully break through the formation of the extreme cold land. He had just separated from Qin Moyu to attend that simple abdication ceremony—because he had already ascended the throne once before, so ascending the throne again did not require too complicated a ceremony—when the fortune of the Southern Kingdom returned to him, he keenly realized that his initial plan seemed to be too idealistic.
Admittedly, the fortune of the four continents is enormous, but after carefully studying the formation of the extreme cold land with Jiang Hua's inheritance, Shen Mo had to admit that the fortune temporarily gathered by the four continents seemed insufficient to break the formation. To truly unravel the formation of the extreme cold land, one must start with the formation's foundation.
If we compare the Frigid Lands to a lock with its keyhole blocked, then the fortune of the Four Continents is what unlocks the keyhole, and the Crimson Lotus Karmic Fire on Qin Moyu's body, which shares the same origin as the Frigid Lands' formation, is the most crucial key.