Immortal of the Ages

Perhaps once, like Wind Fiend, deep in her heart, Gu Suwan too thought Yun Xiao too naive for pursuing meaningless tasks. But now, his honest heart was laid bare for all the world. Who was fit to mock him?

"I was wrong…" Gu Suwan knelt silently on the ground, and as the spring thunder roared, tears streamed down her face like rain, turning her into a figure of pure sorrow.

For she truly regretted it. She regretted that she was not as brave as Cao Shuo, that she allowed herself to be willfully ignorant, turning a blind eye to atrocities being committed as if it were only the natural order of things.

It wasn’t the envy of Cao Shuo that fueled her regret, but a deep, genuine realization of her own misguided and absurd actions, finally admitting that what she had done was wrong...

So, her tears were full of remorse.

"Do I still have a chance to atone...?" Gu Suwan didn't know, but she was constantly in torment.

"Ah." Yue Yin dropped the head of Yu Shiling, patting Gu Suwan’s shoulder. She said nothing. Her heart’s agony mirrored Gu Suwan’s exactly.

"Perhaps, we are lucky, there are so few who can stand by him, we still have a chance to redeem ourselves," Yue Yin consoled.

"Is there still a chance?" Gu Suwan was lost.

"After this battle, he will become a god of the Thunder Department; he is already seeking the support of all the Arbiters in the Thunder Department. We still need to be patient for now. But when he's fully prepared, the moment will come to reveal the true nature of the incense offerings, and that will be the time for the decisive battle," Yue Yin explained.

Hearing this, Gu Suwan was shaken to her core. She was no longer lost! She stood up, grasping Yue Yin excitedly, "At least, we can expose our crimes ourselves, and make everyone believe that everything he says is true!"

"Aren't you afraid of ruining your reputation?" Yue Yin asked with a trembling voice.

"It doesn’t matter anymore." Gu Suwan clenched her fists, her eyes resolute, "I only hope that at the moment of my death, I can be at peace with myself."

"Do you really think that receiving the incense offerings was wrong?" Yue Yin asked, her head lowered, her voice shaking more.

"Could it be right?" Gu Suwan replied.

"..." Yue Yin fell silent. She took a deep breath, shaking her head with a bitter smile. "To see with our own eyes those like us, who lost their souls and became slaves to the All-Life Devouring Gu—those children were once so pure, yet they turned to wood... How could this possibly be right?"

"Yes, it's such a simple matter of right and wrong. Why couldn't we speak up before? Why did we flee and hide?" Gu Suwan said in agony.

Why, indeed? They found themselves unable to continue. Even children knew right from wrong, yet adults could mask the greatest atrocities with flowery words.

To them, Yun Xiao was like one of those children—naive but genuine.

"The heavens have eyes, granting this most genuine child the power to defy the heavens, otherwise no one would stand up to distinguish right from wrong in this world!" Yue Yin said profoundly.

There were many genuine children! But, their fates were often very tragic.

Take Lu An, for example… And those ascenders who came to petition… They all died!

Thousands upon thousands of bones had piled up to create Yun Xiao, and no matter how many called him naive or foolish, his heart never wavered as he unhesitatingly pursued what he saw as justice!

He changed the hearts of Yue Yin and Gu Suwan. They confessed their guilt and expressed their regret! This, truly, was the hardest part...

Suppressing someone was easy. Truly changing a criminal's mind was as difficult as reaching the heavens! Often, they were only frightened, not truly repentant.

That night, Yue Yin and Gu Suwan suffered immensely...

One stood, the other knelt, silently watching the young man clean up the battlefield, reclaiming all that belonged to the Thunder Department, and silently watching him join the crowd of Arbiters, treating each one with sincerity.

The two women watched him laugh, basking in the joy of victory, as if under no pressure at all.

This Thunder Department seemed utterly, entirely his.

"The day the truth is torn apart, will the Thunder Department still belong to him? Will the Arbiters become his warriors?" Gu Suwan said anxiously.

"I think..." Yue Yin took a deep breath, then nodded firmly, "They definitely will!"

"Why?" Yue Yin looked toward the fervent Arbiters in the distance and said, "The Thunder Department is ultimately a place of justice. Every Arbiter who grows up here is raised on the laws of heaven and harbors heroic dreams of defending the Dao. We must believe that darkness only ever covers temporarily, while the greatest part of the human heart is always kindness and responsibility."

"Is that so..."

Having seen much darkness, she now understood how crucial a discerning and kind heart was.

"Yes, the Thunder Department enforces the will of heaven, and each Arbiter guards their duty, everyone driven by such dreams to become an Arbiter."

Gu Suwan was one among them.

She too had a fiery youth, until her parents took her to the mortal realm, repeatedly threatening and brainwashing her, telling her it was time to grow up and accept reality...

Looking back, who wasn't naive in their youth?

"To remain naive forever is the greatest blessing one can have in life," Yue Yin declared.

"Yes..." Gu Suwan thought of Cao Shuo.

Only now did she realize that this little sister-in-law, whom she had once found so annoying, was truly deserving of her admiration.

A woman scorned and desired by men, infamous yet guarding a fiercely honest light within...

Their thoughts were abundant.

"Um..."

Suddenly, a timid voice sounded behind them.

Yue Yin and Gu Suwan turned around.

There stood a little girl in a maid outfit with twin ponytails and white socks, holding two green, suction-cup-covered tentacles, and she asked, "Aunties, would you like some octopus tentacles?"

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That night in the Thunder Department was dazzling.

It was as if the dark skies had never descended.

The young man, with his own light, illuminated this corner of the world, making it a place nearly devoid of sin in the entire Great Dao Celestial Realm.

Only two sinners remained, and they too had confessed.

Above in the Celestial Court, there was no cleaner place than this.

Such a radiant, intense, majestic, youthful, and fervent place... surely, it would make many people, and certain beings, uncomfortable!

High above, within the floating palace, three figures observed the scene below in silence—the Crown Prince, the Northstar Sword Devil, and the Dragon Tiger Sovereign.

Yun Xiao, that night, had said nothing at all. Yet, his unity with the millions of Arbiters in the Thunder Department had spoken volumes. The cheers rising from below were so piercingly loud!

It wasn't until the cheering subsided that the Crown Prince's expression warped slightly, then he suddenly laughed, "It's too noisy, someone might think the boy is the Emperor of the Celestial Court."

The Northstar Sword Devil and Dragon Tiger Sovereign exchanged a cool glance.

"With this atmosphere, without the Nine Thunders Sovereign, the Thunder Department might as well be considered in revolt against the Celestial Court," the Northstar Sword Devil said coldly.

"It does have that kind of atmosphere," the Dragon Tiger Sovereign remarked, stroking his beard. "But it's futile. The lower and middle ranked Immortals naturally fall in line; Yun Xiao can't shake the Nine Thunders Sovereign's position in the Thunder Department. Should a conflict arise, all Yun Xiao's efforts will be in vain."

"Crown Prince, how do you see everything tonight?" The Northstar Sword Devil shifted the conversation to the regal figure.

"Do you mean the corpse demon, Yun Xiao's proven control over the Thunder Immortal Formation, and his incredible defiance of fate?" the Crown Prince asked evenly.

"Yes." The Northstar Sword Devil nodded.

"For now, it's a good thing," the Crown Prince's lips curled slightly. "He's too young, too thin on allies. To go head-to-head against us and Lu Fan, he's too inexperienced. But now, seeing he's stronger than we thought, the clash between him and Sovereign Lu will be quite the spectacle."

"They are both dangerous characters," the Dragon Tiger Sovereign agreed.

"Tonight, by making an enemy of Lu Fan and fostering intolerable hatred with the Great Mother with his nurturing of a corpse demon... Do you think there's still room for reconciliation between him and Sovereign Lu?" the Crown Prince asked with a smirk.

"Both see themselves as destined heroes, the main characters of all creation. Now, as the saying goes, 'Two tigers cannot share one mountain.' Of course, they'd rather remove the other swiftly," the Northstar Sword Devil sneered.

"Especially Sovereign Lu, who rose as a monstrous genius. Now facing Yun Xiao, a bigger monster, he must be more anxious than anyone," the Dragon Tiger Sovereign added solemnly.

"Let them fight," the Crown Prince stood and waved his hand. "Let's return to the Heavenly Palace, retract completely, not involve ourselves in anything, and even stop the incense offerings for now."

"Understood."

"Crown Prince," the Dragon Tiger Sovereign hesitated, then spoke, "There's one more thing."

"Speak." The Crown Prince turned back.

The Dragon Tiger Sovereign frowned. "Lu Fan is greedy, cunning, unprincipled. But Yun Xiao, his intentions are the ones that could truly undermine the foundations of the Celestial Court. We must prepare for him to defeat Lu Fan, ready our trump card early."

"Great minds think alike." The Northstar Sword Devil grinned.

The Crown Prince smiled too. "Fine, then I'll tighten my grip on the mortal realm a bit more."