"One of the Divine Sovereigns screamed out. He was known as the Fate Sovereign. 'It is fate! That being has removed the fate of those corrupted officials and the soldiers... they... they don't exist at all right now!'"
"'They are already dead, and the Heavenly Dao is now erasing them!'"
"As soon as he finished that sentence, everyone saw that the Sovereign was right. Each and every evildoer turned into dust and disappeared completely..."
Wuhe was listening to everything with utmost importance. His heart was getting heavier and heavier. He thought to himself, 'But why did he suddenly go back to Earth after that? How did he get there? And why didn't he come back here after that incident?'
Wu Tianji continued again, "After each and every culprit was erased from existence, that person lowered his sword. The sword disappeared just as suddenly as it had appeared."
"The Divine Sovereigns were ready to take the blame and were waiting for the punishment they would get for the negligence they had shown... but."
"That entity looked toward the empire. Deep inside the castle's secret chamber, your body flew out on its own, toward the person."
"In front of everyone, he came down to the ground. He didn't stop until he was hugging your body tightly. Bloody tears were coming out from behind his mask continuously, turning into mist before they could touch his white robe or the ground."
"His legs were shaky as he held the body. He sat on the ground, looked at the face of the dead, and said, 'I am sorry! I didn't come back in time... I am sorry they even got the chance to touch you...'"
"He saw the countless marks that your cousin had inflicted on you after your death. Your cousin never wanted you to hold that position in the empire, so he had cut your body in many places... A single bloody tear landed on your face... and the surroundings changed instantly."
Wu Tianji smiled for the first time, but Wuhe felt confused. He immediately asked, "What! What happened?"
Wu Tianji said, "That bloody tear was absorbed by your body, and your body started to disappear from his grasp."
"He shouted, 'No! No! Why are you disappearing? Wuhe, are you angry with me...? Don't... don't disappear...'"
"But even after he begged many times, your body completely disappeared in his arms... and a beautiful Golden Lotus, as big as the entire Divine Empire, manifested in the sky."
"That person also stood up from his place and looked toward the sky, and a genuine chuckle escaped his voice. 'You! You are still here...'"
"He had just said that when everyone heard the thumping sound of a heartbeat coming from that lotus."
Wu Tianji looked at Wuhe and said with a smile, "That day we understood, Your Highness! You were waiting for that particular person to show up. And in his presence, you came back as a Golden Lotus."
Tears started falling from Wuhe's face without him realizing it. He looked into Wu Tianji's eyes and asked in a hoarse voice, "What... happened next?"
Wu Tianji sighed and said, "Now, what I'm going to tell you next, my Lord, is something no one expected that day..."
His eyes were sad too as he described what happened. "That entity came before the lotus in an instant. The Golden Lotus turned small, and the moment that person stretched out his hand, the lotus flew into his palm."
"The person chuckled at the lotus and said, 'Thank you... thank you for waiting for me here.' "
"He sighed, looked at the people below, and said, 'People of the Azure Sky! Hear me. From today onwards, I am giving you a gift. Anyone, no matter even if they are mortals... can come to this small empire and gain enlightenment for cultivation.'"
"Everyone cheered at once. The commoners had already taken that entity as their sole protector and savior... while for the Divine Sovereigns, he was a calamity, an unprecedented calamity."
"The person looked at the lotus again and said, 'And for you! I will help you reincarnate again before you disappeared completely... But to do so, my memories may be lost for long long time... but I want you to be safe... Wuhe, until my memories come back, wait for me again... wait for me in your next life too...' He sighed, and then..."
Wuhe asked suddenly, his voice sharp, "Then what! What did he do? He didn't do anything stupid, did he?" Wuhe's hands were already clenched hard into fists.
Wu Tianji said sighing, "My Lord... he hit his own heart with his own hand, and... then the surroundings changed. Terrifying phenomena in the sky howled in sadness. The sky started raining blood. The Heavenly Dao started painting the sky a dark red... and that person died. His body turned into fragments. His soul, his fragments, all began to form a beautiful lotus. It was white as jade, and an ethereal aura was emanating from that lotus... and the white lotus came toward the Golden Lotus."
"We could feel the joy these two lotuses were emanating from meeting each other. The two lotuses started chasing each other in a circular motion... and we saw, we saw two souls merge into one another, and then... then they came out of the lotuses and disappeared into the Heavenly Dao..."
Wuhe thumped down onto the ground. Wu Tianji immediately came toward him, rubbing his back to help him, and he heard Wuhe muttering, "Why? Why did you do it again?... So... so it was you who helped me reincarnate again... that's... that's why your memories are gone..."
Wu Tianji sighed, "Your Highness!"
Wuhe looked at the person beside him. Wu Tianji said, "You know what? We also thought that what His Highness did back then was not good... but then, the Azure Cloud Sovereign said something. She looked toward everyone who was mourning for that person and said, 'You all think what His Highness did was wrong? Now tell me, if you had a chance to save someone dear to your heart, wouldn't you do the same...? Maybe it was the only way to save him, and His Highness did exactly that.'"
Wu Tianji continued, "The sky was still mourning for that person. The phenomenon was still there, and everyone felt a deep sadness in their heart."
"That's when the Nirvana Fire Lord, who had been silent until now, spoke. 'You all don't know what he just did... he performed the ancient forbidden technique, the 'Sacrificial Nirvana Lotus Technique.'"
"Hearing that name, each and every Divine Sovereign froze. For them, it was an unprecedented technique."
"The Fate Sovereign sighed and said, 'Yes, Nirvana is right. I also saw the fate he tampered with just now. He changed that person's fate using his own... and to do that, he needed to sacrifice his current body... that's why he did that.'"
"The Divine Realm mourned for a complete year. After that year, those two lotuses in the sky stopped chasing each other in a circle and landed on the Golden Lotus Empire, floating just a little above the ground."
"The Sovereigns declared that from then on, the land would be a forbidden ground to all. Only once a year would anyone be allowed to enter this land to gain enlightenment from those flowers... one with the Golden Law, and the other with the Nirvana Law..."
Wuhe now knew everything. He was continuously asking in his heart, 'Even after my death, you never left me... so that was the reason you didn't come back, even when your own sect was invaded by those filthy Nether Races...'
An notification immediately rang in his mind.
[Ding!]
[Congratulations, Host, for unraveling the secrets after your death...]
[Mission Completion: 100%]
[Warning! Warning! Warning!]
[These secrets must be hidden from His Highness Huai until he learns about himself from his own memories... Host, please do not reveal them to him.]
[Completion reward for the mission has already been sent to your system space.]
Wuhe stood up from his place slowly, then sighed deeply. He had just wanted to ask Wu Tianji what happened to that small empire he had created back then, but he never expected that Huai had done everything for him, even without his knowledge...
He dusted off his own robe and said to Wu Tianji, "But you still didn't say why you were targeted by the powerhouses..."
Wu Tianji sighed. "Actually, thousands of years ago, I was at the Golden Lotus Empire, and during my enlightenment, I unconsciously made a prophecy..."
Wuhe nodded and looked at him, waiting to hear the prophecy, when Tianji said again, "I prophesied, 'The person with the silver mask will return to the world, and the Divine Realm will be doomed..."
"Black clouds will cover the whole realm, when the calamity returns...'"
Wuhe frowned. Tianji said, "They didn't let me finish describing the prophecy at all... they thought I was just spreading nonsense... until the Fate Sovereign made the same prophecy. One of the Saint-level forces sought me out, but I refused... and then it all happened..."
Wuhe frowned hearing that prophecy. If he remembered correctly, whenever Huai took on that calamity form, he sacrificed himself. This time, he wouldn't let it happen. He clenched his fists until they started to bleed.
Wuhe said to Tianji, giving him a proper salute, "Thank you! Thank you for telling me everything..."
Tianji immediately caught Wuhe before he could finish saluting. "No, no, Your Highness. I just told you something from history that we all know. The moment you go back to the Divine Realm, you'll know it naturally..."
Wuhe nodded and turned to go back to Huai, when... Tianji called out from behind.
"Your Highness!"
Wuhe turned back from where he was to look at the curious eyes of Wu Tianji. Wu Tianji smiled at him and asked...
"Your Highness! That day when that incident happened, I was there in the Divine Realm. I saw that person, his aura, and even his demeanor..."
Wuhe frowned. He didn't understand what Tianji was trying to say, but he still nodded his head.
He continued, "I saw the Calamity with my own eyes, and today... I have seen His Highness Huai..."
Wuhe's frown deepened. Now he understood where Tianji was getting at... Before he could say anything, Wu Tianji asked with a sigh,
"Can you tell me... is His Highness Huai the Calamity himself?"
Wuhe slowly nodded his head at Wu Tianji. Tianji felt a chill run down his spine.
Wuhe said again, his voice low, "Don't reveal it to anyone. And what you just told me... don't reveal it to him either. His memories are gone."
Tianji nodded immediately. He remembered it clearly now. Maybe it was because of that forbidden technique that Senior Huai had lost his memories...