Chapter 289: The “Dispute” Between the Two Emperors

“Besides, when was the last time I became a Great Demon? It’s been ages!”

“That so-called demon clan’s destiny, is it never going to flourish again?”

“If you claim it won’t, then how did you, in just a mere thousand years, step into the realm of a Great Demon?”

As the saying goes, old ginger is spicier than young ginger. Although the much older Void Emperor might not be significantly stronger than the Flood Dragon Emperor, his verbal skills were undoubtedly superior.

Every time the Flood Dragon Emperor came looking for him, it always started with him making a strong statement, only to be utterly shut down by the Void Emperor’s endless barrage of twisted logic and nonsense.

“Khak! Khak!” In his rising anger, the Flood Dragon Emperor, who had already suffered a backlash earlier, suddenly coughed violently. He spat out a mouthful of fresh blood, his face twisted in pain and fury.

“Damn it! You’re injured!” The Void Emperor hurriedly stepped forward, a look of concern on his face. “Who did this? Ling Xuan or Ling Xi?”

“It must be Ling Xuan! Ling Xi is somehow suffering from the Five Decays of Heaven and Man, so she couldn’t have hurt you. But Ling Xuan… don’t tell me you fell into some ambush?”

“Shut up!” The Flood Dragon Emperor sneered. “It wasn’t them! It was some unknown true immortal who popped up out of nowhere.”

“I got hurt when I used my Soul Restraining Technique—it backfired!”

Gulp.

The Void Emperor took a few steps back and swallowed hard. “Damn! Why didn’t you say so earlier? Get lost! Don’t you dare stay here!”

“You pissed off someone that powerful, and now you come running to me?”

“You bastard, I knew you were up to no good!”

“Trying to shift the disaster onto me, huh?”

The Void Emperor’s words made the Flood Dragon Emperor’s face turn from blue to purple in sheer rage. Suppressing his fury, he pulled out a white feather and said, “That person imbued just this one ordinary feather with a powerful wisp of divine sense.”

“Without using my blood essence, I couldn’t even budge his divine sense.”

“It wasn’t until I burned my blood essence to power my Soul Restraining Technique that I finally located his true form. But just as I locked onto his soul, he vanished without a trace.”

“Not only that, but he redirected my technique onto the heavens and earth!”

“My injuries came from trying to bind the heavens and the backlash that followed!”

“His cultivation level might not be much higher than mine, but that redirection technique of his completely counters my Soul Restraining Technique.”

“That’s why I came looking for you. This time, you have to join forces with me. Before he left, he said he would come looking for you personally.”

Knowing that the Flood Dragon Emperor would never make something like this up just to scare him, the Void Emperor shuddered. “Flood Dragon brat, do you know this true immortal’s name? What does he look like?”

“His surname is Gu. He wears white robes and has the aura of a scholar.”

As soon as the Flood Dragon Emperor finished speaking, the Void Emperor instantly transformed into a cloud of black-blue mist and darted back into his statue.

“Leave now. I’m going to sleep.”

“Don’t come looking for me again!”

Seeing this abrupt change in attitude, the Flood Dragon Emperor furrowed his brows. “You know this person?”

The statue flickered slightly. “Nope. Never heard of him.”

The Flood Dragon Emperor gritted his teeth. “So, you’re just planning to keep hiding?”

“Hah! You don’t understand, and you never will!”

“The only reason I’ve lived this long is because I have a cautious Dao heart!”

The Flood Dragon Emperor let out a furious, mocking laugh. “Fine! You bastard! When that guy comes for you, even if you kneel and beg me, I won’t lift a finger to help!”

“You think I need you to deal with him?”

The Void Emperor sneered. “Hah! Let’s see if you can even outlive me first… Oh, by the way, since you’re still young, let me give you some advice: from this moment on, no matter what chaos brews outside, don’t get involved. Just find a place to hide…”

“If you can endure without seeing, hearing, or thinking, you might just survive this ordeal.”

“Nonsense!” Flood Dragon Emperor said coldly. “To be named alongside a coward like you as the Two Emperors of Northern Sky is the greatest shame of my life!”

Void Emperor replied indifferently, “There’s an old saying: ‘If you ignore the words of the old, you will suffer the consequences.’ I’ve said all I need to say—take care of yourself.”

“Worthless coward!” Flood Dragon Emperor cursed before vanishing from Eternal Slumber City in a flash.

Shortly after his departure, the half-opened single eye on the Void Emperor’s statue slowly opened fully. A strange black light flickered briefly within its eerie gaze before the eye gradually closed again.

A long sigh echoed within the temple.

“Little flood dragon, this world has never lacked geniuses and prodigies. Reaching the Great Demon Realm in just a thousand years is truly impressive, but so-called Great Demons and True Immortals… in that era, they were hardly worth mentioning…”

“Bah, bah, bah!”

“See nothing, hear nothing, think nothing~ See nothing, hear nothing, think nothing~”

…

Beneath the moonlight, Tianshui County seemed to be draped in a soft silver veil, tranquil and mysterious.

Inside an inn, moonlight streamed through an open window, quietly spilling into the room.

Gu Ning’an sat by the window, his figure appearing otherworldly and ethereal beneath the silvery glow. His fingers rested lightly on the window lattice, and as the night breeze swept past, the wooden frame let out a faint creaking sound.

A gentle wind stirred, lifting a white feather between his fingers and sending it fluttering away.

Gu Ning’an watched as the feather drifted into the distance, his mind recalling the sensation when Flood Dragon Emperor had cast his technique upon him.

The soul consists of the three essences—Heaven, Earth, and Man. Mysterious and intangible, it is the deepest secret of one’s being.

When Flood Dragon Emperor used his spell on him today, Gu Ning’an had made no deliberate effort to resist. Yet, the great net woven by that spell collapsed on its own the moment it enveloped his soul.

For an instant, he had glimpsed the feeling of “returning to silence”—an all-encompassing force capable of devouring everything within sight.

Before he could fully grasp that state, Flood Dragon Emperor’s technique had already shattered under its own strain.

Judging by how the emperor had coughed up blood afterward, it was clear that he had tried his utmost to bind and seal Gu Ning’an’s soul…

At this thought, Gu Ning’an retrieved a slightly worn book from his sleeve—Path of Dao.

As his fingertips brushed against its cover, his thoughts drifted back decades, to the moments when he first arrived in this world. The desire to unravel the secrets of the Path of Dao surged even stronger within him.

After an unknown length of time, Gu Ning’an suppressed the urge to read further, tucked the book away, and walked to his bed.

Without another thought, he lay down and drifted into sleep…