Gu Sijun had received an initial education, but due to his young age and early departure from home, he hadn't read much. He didn't understand his mother's analogy of "fish at the bottom of the pot."
He shook his head in dejection.
She patted him comfortingly. "Then I'll teach you. Today's Rongcheng is just like that."
For years, they had relied on the power of immortal artifacts, forgetting that wolves remain wolves. Their peace was bound to become a deadly poison that lulled them into complacency. They believed that by guarding the immortal artifacts, they would be safe. However, using artifacts to control people meant they themselves were always in a dangerous position, close to enemy territory. Once a weakness was found, there would be no escape from a complete downfall.
"Remember, never place yourself beneath a crumbling wall, unless your entire purpose in doing so is to demolish it completely."
"Mother means that Rongcheng has always been beneath a crumbling wall without realizing it..." Gu Sijun grasped the meaning, half understanding and half confused.
It wasn't ignorance.
It was their naivety that led them to believe they could continue in peace. The three cities had always been unable to deal with Fengdu. This was related to the innate Daoist principles of respecting virtue, achieving harmony with nature, and cherishing life to aid the world, which fostered a passive mindset. They would not commit acts of barbarity, such as the complete extermination of ghost cultivators and the inhabitants of Fengdu.
They had always suppressed Fengdu solely by relying on immortal artifacts. However, there was no absolute balance in the world, only relative balance. Once one side became slightly stronger, the balance would be broken. The people of Fengdu Ghost City harbored few compassionate thoughts, so the three cities would become sacrifices in this loss of balance.
Fengdu Ghost City had not launched a sudden uprising against the three cities; it was a long-planned endeavor. Would they not know the weaknesses of these spiritual cultivators? Would they not devise a strategy before launching an attack?
These ghost cultivators were all cunning and insidious. The characteristic of ghost cultivators was to develop stealthily, but once they seized an opportunity, they would become outrageously wicked to an unbelievable degree.
Furthermore... there had always been a hidden manipulator behind this.
For years, Gu Junshi had been secretly investigating the identity of those sinister red eyes, and recently, she felt increasingly close to uncovering the truth.
Even the truth of this world, this realm, why no one had been able to ascend to immortality for a thousand years, and the Heavenly Dao and the 'Dragon King' Long Ao Tian... she believed she would soon understand all of it.
"No, then Mother, you're only concerned about Rongcheng's immortal artifact. What if Flower City's immortal artifact falls into the hands of Fengdu Ghost City?" Sijun suddenly thought of this.
Gu Junshi glanced at him faintly. In the silence, the depth in her eyes stunned Gu Sijun.
In an instant, he seemed to understand. "Mother, Mother, did you already send someone to intercept..."
"The Human Emperor went."
"Did he not come along this time because he is so clingy to Mother?" Gu Sijun realized belatedly.
After a while, Gu Junshi said, "Sijun, do you know why I brought you here and told you these things?"
Gu Sijun froze.
This time, he tried hard to think. After much contemplation, he finally understood.
"Mother, you want to tell Sijun that you are not on either side."
"What else?"
"You have other plans."
"What else?"
What else?
What else could there be?
He thought and thought, then suddenly remembered his mother's analogy of the "fish at the bottom of the pot" and not standing beneath a crumbling wall, and then recalled her words: unless—unless your entire purpose in doing so is to demolish it completely!
Could his mother be planning to single-handedly ignite the hatred of both the righteous and the evil factions?!
And Father, his mother seemed to have some past grievances with his father. Could she also be planning to...?!
"Mother, what, what will you do to Father?" he asked fearfully.
Gu Junshi knew that Gu Sijun was not an ordinary child. Perhaps children in the cultivation world naturally understood things earlier than children in the mortal world, so she taught him with a sense of equality.
She knew he could gradually understand her meaning, but she hadn't expected him to think of the father he "disliked" and "abandoned."
Perhaps it was human nature. Despite his anger, when faced with trouble, a child would instinctively protect his father.
"Sijun, what do you think would happen if I abducted your father when everyone was watching?" she said playfully.
Gu Sijun blinked his eyes and asked cautiously, "Why would you abduct him, Mother?"
Was she planning to use his father as a hostage to threaten the cultivation sects?
"That year, he sealed my powers and imprisoned me on the tower for seven days. It's a rather special experience, and I think it's time he experienced something similar."
Gu Sijun was stunned for a moment after hearing this: "..."
He secretly exhaled a sigh of relief.
Father, it seems Mother doesn't plan to do anything more extreme to you. If she just captures you and locks you up for a bit, then... well, you'll have to fend for yourself.
Perhaps when you're abducted, facing the threat of an evil force, you should resist more. See if you can move her to a little compassion and prevent you from losing so much face in public.
—
Rongcheng was being held back by the Yu Yi Ghost King at the city gates, while the ghost realm belonging to Fengdu gradually spread towards this area. When ghost qi permeated this world and spiritual energy withered, the spiritual cultivators would be devoured by the continuously growing ghost cultivators.
Gu Junshi saw the ghost qi of Fengdu spread out like overturned ink, surging and winding like wild horses, covering the sky and the earth. Everything in the distance was eerily silent, as if darkness was about to devour everything.
"Flower City's immortal artifact... obtained."
In the wind, her unique, light, and ethereal voice rang out.
Outside the city, the City Lord of Rongcheng, Yu Shicheng, Abbess Huiming, Yan Tianjiao, and other cultivators from the cultivation sects were locked in fierce battle with ghost cultivators. Suddenly, they felt a change in the world, and their hearts pounded heavily, as if something ominous was about to happen.
"Hahahaha..." A arrogant and triumphant laugh erupted from the Yu Yi Ghost King.
He spread his arms, threw his head back, and laughed, his cape billowing.
"What do you have to stop us?! What does it matter how many more people come? This is Fengdu, the Ghost City. Now only Rongcheng has one immortal artifact. Can you defend it?"
Although the ghost cultivators below suffered heavy casualties, they still used their blood-stained, evil faces, spewing abuse at the fighting cultivators, just like the Yu Yi Ghost King.
"Look at the faces of these cultivators now, why are they so pale, hahaha, it's hilarious, are they afraid of death? Don't worry, after we refine you into ghosts, you will live forever."
"Before, you treated the people of Fengdu like cattle and sheep being raised, not allowing us to walk freely in the twenty-eight heavens. Later, when we go out, we will kill whoever we want, do whatever we want, and no one will be able to control us again!"
Only one immortal artifact left?!
Could it be that Flower City's immortal artifact... ultimately could not be defended?