Chapter 964: Burning Heart with Fire (Part 1)
At the Second Prince of the Western Continent's words, the area around the high platform fell silent for an instant, then erupted into an uproar.
Xiao De stared at his figure, a chill in his eyes. The two other demon clan experts exchanged glances, seeing the shock on each other's faces.
Xuan Yuan Po's mouth hung open, utterly at a loss for what to say.
Only the young man in the bamboo hat remained still, standing quietly in place, his head slightly lowered, hidden in the shadows.
Whether from the rumors or the events that had followed, it was clear that the Empress Dowager intended to have Luo Luo marry the Second Prince of the Western Continent.
In the eyes of Xuan Yuan Po, as well as the human representatives from the Dao Hall and the envoys, he was the most watched and guarded figure.
Yet today, he suddenly announced his withdrawal from the Heavenly Selection Ceremony?
What was going on? Were the rumors false? Were the events that had already happened also false?
Why had the Empress Dowager held this Heavenly Selection Ceremony? What exactly did she plan to do? Who did she truly intend to marry Luo Luo to?
Was it Xiao De, or one of the two equally powerful demon clan experts?
Or was she planning to marry Luo Luo to Xuan Yuan Po, representing... His Holiness the Pope?
Countless gazes fell on the high platform, shifting back and forth between Lady Shepherd and the Second Prince of the Western Continent.
The demon clan elders, ministers, and generals desperately wanted to know what trick this aunt and nephew were playing, and also wanted an explanation from the Second Prince of the Western Continent.
"Yes, I came with the envoy to White Emperor City, indeed intending to marry my cousin, because I love her."
The Second Prince of the Western Continent paused briefly, a faint, bitter smile appearing on his face. He continued, "But since my cousin already has someone she truly loves in her heart, why should I force my way in? I wouldn't want her to resent me for this."
Many eyes turned toward Xuan Yuan Po.
The Second Prince of the Western Continent's cousin was Luo Luo. When he said she had someone she truly loved, it naturally echoed Xuan Yuan Po's words from yesterday.
Before yesterday, not many people knew that Luo Luo loved her teacher, nor would they have believed it. But after Xuan Yuan Po spoke those words, many suddenly realized it was very likely true.
Whether the Second Prince of the Western Continent's words were true or false, using this excuse to withdraw from the Heavenly Selection left no one with grounds to object. Moreover, by revealing his reason for withdrawing, he further fueled the fire of Xuan Yuan Po's statement from yesterday, ensuring that Luo Luo and Chen Changsheng would face even greater pressure.
...
...
Lady Shepherd showed no reaction.
The Second Prince of the Western Continent's withdrawal had been prearranged by her.
His final, scheming remark, though not her arrangement, had been tacitly approved by her.
Now, she was more concerned about one thing—or rather, that was the only thing she cared about.
The morning light grew brighter. No one noticed that she glanced, seemingly casually but with deep intent, in a certain direction.
The young man in the bamboo hat stood in that very spot.
From the very beginning, Lady Shepherd had known who this young man was.
Even she couldn't help but feel a deep shock at the thought that he dared to leave Snow Old City alone and come here.
This was one of the conditions Hei Pao had originally proposed.
Though she had agreed, she didn't believe it was that simple.
Logically, this young man in the bamboo hat could never pass the ancestral spirit's trial. His fate would inevitably be tragic.
Of course, if it were any other young expert, hoping to pass the ancestral spirit's trial and marry Luo Luo, they might risk everything to undergo the purification of the Heavenly Tree's Wildfire, transforming their body and soul to become a true demon clan member.
Everyone wanted to become the next White Emperor—a temptation so great that even Xiao De, a master on the Carefree List, couldn't resist it. The problem was that, given this young man's identity, he could never become the next White Emperor, nor would he be willing.
If there was anyone on this continent who could ignore such temptation, this young man and the young emperor of the Great Zhou were undoubtedly the top two.
So why had Hei Pao proposed this condition? Why had this young man joined the Heavenly Selection, willing to risk entering the Heavenly Tree to undergo the Wildfire's baptism? If the goal was merely to ally with the demon clan against the increasingly powerful humans, there should have been many other ways.
The chieftain of the Xiang tribe didn't look at the young man in the bamboo hat, but his attention was always on him.
What Lady Shepherd couldn't understand, he also couldn't understand. And since he didn't know the specifics of the agreement, he was even more worried.
He asked, "Could something go wrong?"
Lady Shepherd replied, "Hei Pao has never miscalculated. It should be fine."
After a brief pause, she said coldly, "If something does happen to him here, I think it would be a good thing."
The chieftain of the Xiang tribe understood her meaning. After a moment of silence, he said, "The Mountain-Breaking Army arrived north of Congzhou last night."
The Mountain-Breaking Army was the demon clan's most powerful force, stationed for tens of thousands of years in the cold north, monitoring the demon race's movements.
Lady Shepherd said, "The Grand Elder's arrangements naturally won't go wrong."
The chieftain of the Xiang tribe finally couldn't help but glance at the young man in the bamboo hat.
If this young man died today during the Heavenly Tree's Wildfire purification... then the demon clan's most powerful army, the Mountain-Breaking Army, would immediately notify the Great Zhou's Congzhou Military Prefecture, then march north... War would begin.
...
...
The Second Prince of the Western Continent withdrew from the Heavenly Selection.
The final five left the high platform, taking different paths toward different mountains.
At the peaks of those five towering mountains grew five colossal trees, so tall that they pierced deep into the sea of clouds. Their tops were invisible, and one could only imagine how far their roots stretched beneath the earth.
The closer one got to these giant trees, the hotter it became. An invisible yet tangible wave of heat rose from the ground, blowing like the stifling wind of midsummer.
These heat waves were the breath of the Heavenly Tree's Wildfire. As the Heavenly Selection Ceremony's rituals progressed, the Wildfire grew more active, spreading an endlessly surging power through heaven and earth. That power seemed inexhaustible, carrying a primal, wild flavor and an incredibly vibrant life force.
The young man in the bamboo hat walked to his designated Heavenly Tree.
At the base of the tree was a hollow, dozens of zhang high and over a hundred zhang wide. It looked more like a naturally formed cave in a mountain, so vast it could have swallowed the entire stone hall of White Emperor City's palace.
What was astonishing was that inside that enormous tree hollow, there really was a stone hall.
The young man's gaze shifted from the tree's upper reaches, lost in the clouds, down to the stone hall within the hollow. He was silent for a moment, then pressed the brim of his bamboo hat lower, stepped into the hollow, and soon disappeared into the stone hall, vanishing from sight.
Xiao De and the other two demon clan experts also entered their respective Heavenly Trees.
The last to enter his tree was Xuan Yuan Po.
His steps were heavy, his movements slow, because his heart was heavy and uneasy.
He was a demon clan youth. He had heard countless legends about the Heavenly Tree's Wildfire and had personally worshipped the ancestral spirits many times.
He feared that the ancestral spirits would see through his true intentions.
He had joined the Heavenly Selection Ceremony not to win final victory, marry Luo Luo, and become the next White Emperor.
He was here to cause trouble.
Would the ancestral spirits forgive his irreverence?
...
...
Walking into the dim stone hall and passing through the long stone corridor, Xuan Yuan Po's unease grew stronger.
By his senses, he was certain he was now walking deep underground, and had already traveled a great distance.
The stone corridor was extremely dry, with no trace of moisture, no water or moss—only hot wind blowing constantly.
The deeper he went, the hotter the wind in the corridor became. As a demon clan member, he could clearly feel the Wildfire's presence growing stronger.
The scorching heat didn't slow his steps, because he didn't find it uncomfortable.
Instead, he felt the energy within his body becoming wilder, and his true essence growing more active.
But he didn't know that beneath his clothes, lines were appearing on his skin.
Those lines were complex, gradually forming patterns, then spreading outward from beneath his clothes until they reached his face.
In the faint red glow of the heat waves, the patterns on his face looked vividly alive—strange, beautiful, and full of power.
The next moment, without any warning, a bloody tint filled his eyes. Countless steel-needle-like bristles burst through his skin. With cracking sounds, his body grew larger, exuding an overwhelming aura of might, even giving off a sense of madness.
He had gone berserk.