Everlasting Immortal Firmament

Sima Changkong’s residence:

“Milord, it’s bad! It is bad!” An official suddenly rushed over to Sima Changkong.

“What’s wrong?” Sima Changkong frowned.

“Ao Shun might be exposed!” that official said with an unsightly expression.

“What? Only two hours have passed. How did he get exposed?” Sima Changkong glared.

“I’m not sure. Our spy in the city said there was no other word after Ao Shun entered the palace. Two hours later, Ao Shun suddenly soared into the sky with horror on his face, looking like he was fleeing. The Mosquito Daoist happened to be waiting in the sky. Before Ao Shun recovered his wits, the Mosquito Daoist sent him flying back to the palace with a palm strike,” that official said.

Sima Changkong’s expression changed. “Then? What happened next? Was there any sound or anything?”

“Nothing. It was all silent; there was no more sound,” that official said bitterly.

Sima Changkong paced around as his eyelids twitched wildly.

“That should not be the case! That should not be the case! Two hours? Gu Hai found him in a mere two hours? This…” Sima Changkong showed an extremely unsightly expression.

“The palace is tightly guarded. We have no way of investigating further. Milord, will Ao Shun…,” that official said worriedly.

Sima Changkong continued pacing and stopped only after some time. He revealed a faint wry smile. “Gu Hai is indeed the most dangerous enemy. Two hours? In a mere two hours? How did he do it?”

------

Ao Shun rushed out of the Soaring Palace Hall.

The instant he came out, his expression changed, as everything seemed to be the same as before, except it was midday.

The blessings cloud sea had not grown or shrunk, and the surrounding guards were the same ones as when he entered the Three Pure Ones Hall. There was not a single change.

The city looked exactly the same. There was a large shop in the city with a large banner announcing “Clearance sale, last day!”

Isn’t that the shop I saw when I came over?

Also, there are many more things that did not change.

Most of them look identical. A few months have not passed; it is simply the same day!

“This is impossible!” Ao Shun’s expression changed.

Boom!

A loud sound rang out. The Mosquito Daoist had appeared in front at some point and thrown a palm strike.

Ao Shun countered in a rush, but the Mosquito Daoist was stronger than him. Furthermore, he had been caught off-guard. Hence, he flew back to the Three Pure Ones Hall like a fired cannonball.

Boom!

Ao Shun crashed into the Three Pure Ones Hall.

Kong Xuan and Shangguan Hen immediately rushed over.

“Gu Hai, you tricked me! You tricked me! It has not been nine months outside. It has not been nine months at all! It was just half a day? Why did only half a day pass outside?” Ao Shun roared.

In the palace hall:

Everyone felt slightly startled. However, Kong Xuan and Shangguan Hen did not care, immediately rushing over.

Boom!

The three started fighting, and powerful shock waves surged into the surroundings.

Creak!

Gu Hai waved his hand, and the Three Pure Ones Hall’s doors closed.

The shock waves from the three’s battle swept through the palace hall. If it were before, the Three Pure Ones Hall would have exploded; however, it did not explode now. Instead, the space within it seemed to increase by ten thousand times.

Countless stars appeared overhead, slowly revolving.

Boom!

A loud sound rang out as Kong Xuan and Shangguan Hen restrained Ao Shun.

Kong Xuan pressed his hand on Ao Shun, sealing Ao Shun’s cultivation.

“You lied to me!” Ao Shun glared at Gu Hai.

However, Gu Hai looked coldly at Ao Shun with some confusion flashing in his eyes. Ao Shun betrayed me? Why?

Kong Xuan looked at the stars above. His expression changed. “This is the Gu’s Immortal Firmament?”

Kong Xuan had entered the Gu’s Immortal Firmament before. Now, there was an incredibly vast space within the palace hall, very similar to the Gu’s Immortal Firmament.

A ritual array could create such an effect. However, it could not make time flow differently.

Gu Hai’s Gu’s Immortal Firmament could do that. He had refined it in the eighteen layers of hell, which allowed the time in his Gu’s Immortal Firmament to move faster than the world outside.

One day outside would be ten years inside.

While everyone had remained in it for nine months, only two hours had passed outside.

Shangguan Hen and Kong Xuan restrained Ao Shun after sealing his cultivation. Now, Ao Shun was incensed.

“I truly did not expect it to be Ao Shun.” Mo Yike frowned heavily.

Mo Yike now understood the trick. Finding the spy had been difficult, but Gu Hai made it seem simple. However, it was extremely effective because it was simple.

First, Gu Hai censured everyone. Those with a clear conscience would not feel disturbed by it; at worst, they would be slightly uncomfortable. Once the truth came out, they could feel proud and satisfied.

However, it would be different for the guilty. Those with a guilty conscience could pretend to know nothing, but Gu Hai’s censure would make them tense. This placed those with a guilty conscience in a different state from the start. If the group communicated, this tension would slowly relax. However, no one spoke, making the atmosphere feel oppressive. As time passed, they would become tenser and more restless.

Nine months were sufficient to stretch one’s nerves to the limits. When Sima Changkong appeared and looked like he would expose the spy, Ao Shun snapped.

Ao Shun instantly fled, but Gu Hai immediately caught him, well prepared for this.

Everyone felt elated, but Ao Shun turned ferocious.

“Sima Changkong? How do you know Sima Changkong?” Ao Shun said ferociously.

Buzz!

Sima Changkong suddenly turned into a puff of white mist and scattered.

He disappeared?

“A Go Dao ritual array manifesting a cloud beast?” Gu Qin’s eyes lit up as he looked at the stars in the sky.

The stars were arranged in the Thirty-Three Line-Pair World Go Puzzle, which had manifested a fake Sima Changkong. This was too easy.

“Hah? Hahahahahaha! So, you made me scare myself for the past nine months?” Ao Shun said ferociously.

“Do you remember our question for you?” Gu Hai asked.

Gu Hai had asked who Ao Shun cared about the most. Ao Shun had said his younger brother, Ao Sheng.

Then, Gu Hai had asked who Ao Sheng hated the most, and Ao Shun had said himself.

“His Reverence used Ao Sheng to threaten him and make him repent early?” Shangguan Hen wondered aloud.

“No, I suspect someone is using Ao Sheng to threaten him, making him betray the Han Nation.” Kong Xuan frowned.

Ao Shun looked at Gu Hai coldly, suddenly sensing that Gu Hai knew what was going on.

However, Gu Hai said coldly, “You were almost right. Ao Shun does care about Ao Sheng the most, even if he pretends not to. However, there was a problem with the second answer. Ao Sheng does not hate Ao Shun the most but his father, Ao Tianhuang.”

“Huh?” Everyone felt startled.

“It is useless to try and hide it. We know, and Ao Shun knows. Otherwise, Ao Sheng would not have dug up the ancestral graves. That was just overwhelming resentment towards his father, Ao Tianhuang. Why did his father not treat him well? Hah! You intentionally hid it, thinking that this was Ao Shun’s opinion. However, you did not know that you appeared even more guilty this way,” Gu Hai said coldly.

“Huh?” Everyone felt slightly startled.

Why do His Reverence’s words sound somewhat messy?

“What are you saying? I don’t understand!” Ao Shun said coldly.

“You don’t understand? If you were Ao Shun, you would have understood long ago. You don’t understand because you aren’t Ao Shun,” Gu Hai said with a sullen expression.

“Hahaha! I am not Ao Shun? Which eye of yours sees that I’m not Ao Shun?” Ao Shun roared while glaring.

Although Ao Shun’s cultivation was sealed, black-and-white Divine Energy came out of his body.

“There’s no need to keep pretending before us, Crown Prince Ao Sheng,” Gu Hai said coldly.

“Ao Sheng?” The expression of everyone in the palace hall changed.

Kong Xuan placed his hand on Ao Shun’s back to check carefully.

As he checked, he grew more confused. This is clearly Ao Shun. Why does His Reverence say he is Ao Sheng?

“I don’t know what you are talking about. Humph! Kill me if you want to!” Ao Shun said coldly.

“Kill you? Humph! Then what about the prime of the Han Nation’s dragons? What did you do to Ao Shun?” Gu Hai said frostily.

“Hah! What a joke! What nonsense! I’m Ao Shun!” Ao Shun retorted coldly.

Gu Hai smiled coldly. “Never mind. We won’t play along with you. Someone else will take his time doing that with you.”

“Huh?” Ao Shun’s face sank.

“Meng Tai!” Gu Hai called out.

“This official is present!” Meng Tai immediately answered.

“You are better at interrogation and torture. I’ll leave him to you. Bring him to the Embroidered Uniform Guard’s headquarters and get everything out of him!” Gu Hai said coldly.

“Yes!” Meng Tai answered excitedly.

Gu Hai’s order sounded even better than celestial music to Meng Tai. It meant that Gu Hai trusted him again. Interrogating criminals was his forte.

“Quickly, go!” Gu Hai said.

“Yes!” Meng Tai grabbed Ao Shun and dragged him along as he opened the Three Pure Ones Hall’s doors and walked out.

After Meng Tai left to interrogate Ao Shun, Gu Hai looked at the remaining six, whom he had censured earlier.

Gu Hai suddenly bowed deeply to them.

“Your Reverence, you can’t!” The six quickly dodged the bow.

“The situation was urgent, so I came out with this plan. I wronged my beloved officials earlier,” Gu Hai said gravely.

A sovereign bowing to his officials.

The six felt touched at this moment. All their earlier resentment dissipated.

“Your Reverence, there is no need for this. We did not expect it to be Ao Shun. He had already caused a lot of damage previously. If he managed to stab us in the back in the future, we wouldn’t even have the chance to regret!” Gao Xianzhi shook his head.

“Indeed. If I were caught off-guard, even I would not survive if Ao Shun attacked me from behind, given his strength!” Kong Xuan said with an unsightly expression.

Everyone nodded.

The earlier wrong was nothing much. It was better than dying in the future.

“Ao Shun? No. He is not Ao Shun. Just wait. Meng Tai will have news soon. Ao Sheng? Haha! That should not be the case. Ah! It’s like Ao Shun’s body but Ao Sheng’s soul,” Gu Hai said sullenly.

“A soul exchange?” Shangguan Hen’s face sank.

“Oh? Shangguan Hen, do you know something?” Gu Hai asked with misgivings.

“My black tortoise deity has a memory of it. Old Mister Guan Qi mentioned it before. The Music Dao delved most thoroughly into the soul. A music Dao grandmaster can create souls. Those fairies in the past, does Your Reverence remember them?” Shangguan Hen asked.

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“That’s right. Back then, Teacher Yinyue created Ensnaring Performance, including the soul.” Gu Hai nodded.

“That’s right. Old Mister Guan Qi said that at the music Dao’s peak, one could exchange souls,” Shangguan Hen said with a frown.

“Oh?” Gu Hai suddenly raised his eyebrows.

“Teacher Yinyue, the founder of the Silver Moon Mountain Manor, could do that,” Shangguan Hen said gravely.

“Teacher Yinyue?”