Chapter 2580: The Truth

Even Zu An was dumbstruck, let alone the others.

Huh? Wasn’t I the one who shot down the nine Golden Crows?

The Goddess of Wu Mountain stared at Xihe weirdly.

Could she have fallen in love with Zu An, so she’s subconsciously trying to find an excuse to absolve him of blame?

Emperor Jun

was probably the one who instigated the simultaneous appearance of the ten suns to activate his vile formations, so it wouldn’t be a stretch to say that he’s played a part in the ten suns’ deaths.

Still, should I say that Xihe is blinded by love, or that Zu An is too charming? To think that she would overlook even her sons’ murderer...

Emperor Jun was infuriated. While glaring at Xihe, he pointed at Zu An and roared, “Xihe, are you out of your mind? Anyone with eyes can tell that he killed our sons! Are you so infatuated with him that you would go this far to defend him?”

You have successfully trolled Emperor Jun for +811... +811... +811...

Those words pricked Emperor Jun’s heart as well. Even though he was a philanderer, and the women around him often expressed dissatisfaction about it, he would console them by saying that he was just fulfilling his physical needs, and that his heart was still with them.

He hadn't realized it would hurt this much when he was on the receiving side.

Donghuang Taiyi interjected, “Indeed, sister-in-law. Your misunderstandings with my big brother can be resolved in private. It isn’t appropriate to thrash them out in front of outsiders.”

He couldn’t understand why Xihe was siding with that man.

Did he thoroughly conquer her?

That thought made his complexion turn awful.

You have successfully trolled Donghuang Taiyi for +911... +911... +911...

Gonggong looked at Zu An with eyes of admiration, wondering how the latter pulled it off. Moments ago, he had still been viewing Zu An as a junior, but now, he was thinking that he should call him ‘senior’ instead.

Xihe glared at Emperor Jun with eyes brimming with hatred and tears. “I’m defending him? Isn’t it because you have long since killed my sons?”

“What?!” Everyone was stunned to hear that.

Most people thought Xihe had gone crazy, but some fell into contemplation.

Emperor Jun frowned. “You woman! How can you slander me with such nonsense to defend your lover?”

Xihe glared at him. “You thought you had fooled everyone, but your Ten Suns Apocalypse Formation requires the ten Golden Crows’ powerful souls as formation cores. To keep others from realizing what you have done, you severed fragments of your soul and possessed their bodies. You had them travel around to create a false impression that they were still alive.”

“Ten Suns Apocalypse Formation!” Gonggong was startled.

Zu An and the Goddess of Wu Mountain exchanged looks and saw the shock in each other’s eyes. This was aligned with the intel they had gathered thus far.

Emperor Jun’s face darkened. “I don’t know where you heard these rumors from, but they are utterly ridiculous! I am the Celestial Emperor; all living beings are my subjects. What reason do I have to do this?”

The Kaiming Six Shamans nodded. Despite being enemies, they couldn’t understand Emperor Jun’s motive for doing this.

“You’re seeking to eradicate the Shaman races so that the Fiend races will be the sole ruler of the world. You hope that this accomplishment can prop you up to Sainthood,” Xihe replied coldly, her words echoing loudly in the world.

Gonggong cursed in anger, “I’ve always thought this fellow was a dirtbag, but he’s worse than I thought!”

Emperor Jun’s cheeks twitched. He could already sense several unique divine senses paying attention to the situation here. He took a deep breath and replied, “What a load of nonsense! I am the Celestial Emperor, and I am a mere step away from Sainthood. I have no need to take such a risk to do something this depraved.

“Besides, the Shaman races are no weaker than our Fiend races. I would have to be out of my mind to oppose them single-handedly! Not to mention that I would lose my place in the Celestial Court too.”

His explanation had many powerhouses nodding in agreement. The logic behind Xihe’s accusations didn’t check out.

Is she saying this because she fell in love with another man?

Zu An spoke up as well. “It goes without saying that you couldn’t deal with the Shaman races alone, so you had to incite conflict between the races to spark a war.”

Emperor Jun’s eyes widened. “I haven’t settled the score with you yet. How dare you make such slanderous remarks about me?”

He was about to make a move when he was interrupted by a water arrow from the side. It was Gonggong. “Let him speak his piece.”

Donghuang Taiyi’s eyebrows shot up. The drama had been so exciting that their fight stalled to a halt. That gave Gonggong the opportunity to interfere with the situation on that side.

Zu An took this opportunity to speak up. “You exploited Gu’s swelling ambitions and had him goad Er Fu into killing Yayu. The Celestial Court was bound to punish Er Fu after he committed such a grievous crime. All you had to do then was to stoke public opinion. If the Celestial Court sentenced Er Fu to death, Zhulong and the Shaman races would resent the incumbent Celestial Emperor. With that, the seeds of hatred would be planted.

“Given Zhulong’s standing, there was a good chance he could obtain an immortal medicine to revive Yayu. That would create a chance for Gu to obtain the immortal medicine. But as long as Gu killed Celestial Bao Jiang, whether out of his greed or your incitement, the Celestial Court would have to sentence him to death as an example to the others.

“No matter how things went, Ancestral Shaman Zhulong would lose at least two of his sons. That's not a grudge that could be overlooked that easily. Even though Zhulong chose to stay put, Gu’s mother, Nuba, challenged the Celestial Court’s authority. There were also several individuals stirring the Shaman races’ emotions to rile them up. I bet you planted those people on Zhong Mountain beforehand to control the narrative.”

Emperor Jun coldly harrumphed. “A load of nonsense!”

Zu An didn’t bother arguing with him and continued, “But you didn’t expect the incumbent Celestial Emperor to resolve this conflict by severing heaven from earth. The sacrifice of his most talented grandson appeased the Shaman races.

“Of course, you wouldn’t give up just like that. You intentionally leaked the news that you were responsible for her son’s death to Nuba, prompting her to go around cursing you out. It wasn’t convenient for you to confront her, so you had the Golden Crow Princes deal with her instead. Even if the Golden Crow Princes went overboard, the Celestial Court would show them leniency on the grounds that they were doing it out of filial piety. Some in the Celestial Court might be disgruntled, but they wouldn’t be able to say anything about it.

“But the Shaman races wouldn’t take it lying down. Renowned shamans like Kuafu and Xingtian confronted the Golden Crow Princes for an explanation, but the former was burned to death, whereas the latter had his head lopped off by you.” Zu An briefly paused as he wondered whether to mention that Emperor Jun had killed Yi too, but he held back since he had now become Yi.

“I just exacted vengeance for Kuafu by killing nine of the Golden Crows. That gave you the perfect excuse to step forward and kill me.”

“The Shaman races are hot-tempered. Given the conflicts between the races over the years, and the recent deaths of so many important shamans, the Shaman races were bound to come after you for vengeance. Gonggong is an example of that.”

Gonggong puffed up his chest. That was indeed something he would do.

Zu An sharply eyed Emperor Jun. “The Celestial Court wouldn’t know that you were behind this, so they wouldn’t sit still as the Shaman races sought to kill their next Celestial Emperor. An all-out war would ensue, and both sides would fight to the bitter end. When the fight heated up, you could bring out the Apocalypse Formation to massacre the Shaman races. Not only would the Celestial Court not blame you for it, they would even be thankful to you for your ample preparations. With that, you would have secured yourself a huge accomplishment. Am I right, future Celestial Emperor?”