Chapter 1329: Su Fengchen’s Honesty

Chapter 1329: Chapter 1329: Su Fengchen’s Honesty

"This ability may be due to your luck, but I believe you won’t be lucky forever," Su Fengchen remarked calmly, neither angry nor pleased by Pei Yan’s slight pride.

The conversation had reached this point, and no one had further questions to ask. If they continued, it would involve many details Su Fengchen wouldn’t divulge. Everyone’s gaze turned to Lin Ruxue, who, since the beginning of the questioning, had been sitting with her back turned, resting with her eyes closed at the edge of the pavilion. They were awaiting her final judgment on Su Fengchen.

"Are all the questions done?" Lin Ruxue suddenly murmured as if awakening from a dream. Everyone respectfully withdrew to the sides, waiting for her to speak since no one answered. Lin Ruxue sighed and continued, "Now that the questions are finished, I’ll ask one. Is it worth the immense life risk to work for that guy?"

"Hahaha... Cough, cough!" Su Fengchen was surprised by Lin Ruxue’s question, expecting something different. He laughed as if he had heard a hilarious joke, laughed until tears came to his eyes and he coughed dryly, saying, "Worth it? Haha! I don’t know if it’s worth it. I only know, do I have another choice? Just like today, no matter how I tampered with the assassination of Pei Yan’s retainers, I’d have room to defend myself if discovered. But once my former identity with the Garden of the Immortals is exposed, then I know everything is finished!"

"That’s what we call original sin back home: working with the Spirit Emperor might not guarantee survival, but showing any flaws leads to death. Anyway, living in constant fear to gamble against the Candle Dragon might turn a bike into a motorcycle." Pei Yan couldn’t help but nod repeatedly, commenting caustically.

"Cough! Hmm!" Standing behind Pei Yan, Lin Daozi cleared his throat, using his thumb to prod Pei Yan’s back.

"What? I’m speaking honestly! Isn’t this about analyzing Su Fengchen’s path to betrayal?" Pei Yan, knowing Lin Daozi’s meaning, played dumb and sincerely replied.

"Heh! Betrayal? How can one be betrayed if they never pledged loyalty? Pei Yan, you said a word well earlier—original sin! Yes, we from the Garden of the Immortals were born into original sin. But back then, what mistakes did we make, huh?" Su Fengchen stared into the eyes of everyone present, finally resting his gaze on Lin Ruxue, demanding, "Back then, in choosing to infiltrate the Foundational Plane, we were indeed instigators and vanguards. But without your acquiescence, could we have broken through the impenetrable space barrier so massively? Wasn’t it because the Four Masters of Origin reached their limits, wanting to explore higher possibilities, even knowing that forcefully breaking the barrier might trigger adverse reactions? Thus, when it was evident the Foundational Plane might collapse, panic ensued, and mitigations were made. When the time passed, all responsibility was shifted to subordinates. Is that all our fault?"

With that, Su Fengchen disdainfully scanned the crowd, mocking, "After this war, if the outcome is unfavorable, I wonder if you all will face the same fate? After all, your successors have emerged. Whether in defeat or victory, your ends will be worse than ours."

"Su Fengchen, don’t spread your wicked words here; no one believes you anymore." Now was as good a time as any to show loyalty. Mo Baiqi stepped forward to rebuke, with everyone hastily echoing his sentiments.

"You’re partly right; I was indeed quite impulsive back then." Lin Ruxue’s unexpected words halted the pavilion’s disputes, calming the scene once more as she continued, "The destruction of the Garden of the Immortals wasn’t just because of the infiltration failure of the Foundational Plane; I vented anger on you. Besides, what your ancestors did back then is something you should also be familiar with—arbitrarily exterminating sects that opposed you, indiscriminately capturing the Heaven and Earth Spirit Beasts until entire races migrated, slaughtering mortals, privately practicing forbidden arts—was I the one instructing them? I wasn’t the one who incited them; they relied on the authority I granted, acted recklessly under my banner, deceiving above and below. Eventually, they grew so bold as to believe they could control me, capturing me during the weakened period after I repaired the space barrier. If they succeeded, Immortal Palace wouldn’t be in its current form today!"

"Oh! So there was this secret history. If they had succeeded, the narrative today would be about former evildoers rampaging due to unchecked ambition, attacking the Foundational Plane, leading the Daoist Plane into crisis, and Garden of the Immortals stepping in to save the day by repairing the plane and imprisoning the evildoers." Pei Yan, hearing this hidden past for the first time, realized no Master of Origin trusted their subordinates entirely. Power and authority inevitably swell ambitions, provoking challenges against seemingly invincible gods. Isn’t he the same?

"Hence, I could only preemptively strike. You suffered the collective assault due to your overflow of sins, triggering backlash. I implemented the Sword Discussion Conference every 500 years when establishing the Immortal Palace to avoid repeating the occurrences like the Garden of the Immortals. Furthermore, I devised new rules among Daoist Plane sects, ensuring each sect had relatively fair growth opportunities, maintaining the Plane’s balance over millennia. The Embroidered Robe Envoys I cultivate are ways to constrain and contain the Immortal Palace from following the old path of the Garden of the Immortals, rather than seeking outright replacement."

Lin Ruxue understood the group’s concerns, choosing to lay everything bare, sighing at last, "The problems with the Garden of the Immortals back then are partly due to my negligence. I lacked experience managing an entire plane, hence indulged you only to later eliminate you rashly. Such actions were inappropriate, but it’s done. Although the situation is irreversible, what I can do is reduce the relentless pursuit toward the Underworld’s Eighteen Institutes, unlike before. Otherwise, how else do you think you’d survive so long in the Daoist Plane without my tacit approval?"

"What’s the point of saying these things now? Will you spare my life? Will you spare the disciples of the White Deer Institute? If I were to turn against you again, perhaps it’d be rewarded with such leniency, but I’ve stopped wanting that! Unlike those self-righteous fellows at the Peach Blossom Spring, only a handful were tempted by the power and conditions the Candle Dragon offered, choosing betrayal. When he approached, revealing our true identity and demonstrating his full power, I fully sided with him! In my view, betting on that man is far better than betting on you." Su Fengchen finally picked up the wine flask on the table, drinking deeply from it, then tossed it aside as it shattered with a crack, indifferently saying, "Go ahead!"