Chapter 305: A Glimmer of Fire Cannot Vie with the Sun and Moon

This must have just happened. Otherwise, there was no way Xiao Li wouldn’t have received news.

Xiao Li immediately stood up, about to order someone to bring Song Junzhan back to the capital, but the black consciousness stopped her.

’It’s useless. The one who should go back is you.’

Xiao Li was confused for only a moment before she understood. "You’re trying to force me to go back?"

The black consciousness was exasperated. ’I am protecting you. Otherwise, the one who should be dead is you.’

Xiao Li sneered, "So I should thank you for that, is that it?"

The black consciousness distorted so much it nearly lost its human form. ’So ungrateful.’

’You have angered It.’

’Because I’m hunting down Xu Nianqing?’

Xiao Li asked, "So why have you appeared?"

’To tell me a fact I can do nothing to change?’

The black consciousness asked, ’What do you plan to do next?’

Xiao Li didn’t answer, but It knew anyway. ’You intend to start a war and bring ruin to all living things.’

Many people didn’t understand why Xiao Li had suddenly stationed her forces in Yanping State. Not only was she not attacking Yue Country and Beicang, but she had also begun to vigorously develop and reorganize the area, looking as if she were building a second imperial court.

Xiao Li possessed immense authority. Her courtiers had an almost irrational, blind faith in her. She only needed to give an order, and those under her would execute it without question, never doubting their monarch. As a result, almost no one understood what Xiao Li was truly thinking.

But this could not fool the world consciousness.

Xiao Li was consolidating her armies, waiting for her weapons to be delivered.

This seemingly ordinary banquet was the signal that she was about to make her move.

She was going to crush Yue Country and Beicang, establish Yanping State as her second center of power, and completely turn the two nations into Longsheng territory.

This wouldn’t be like before—attacking, leaving, and then easily losing the territory to a rebellion. This would be total domination: a complete takeover of their culture, economy, politics, and military.

And it wasn’t just Yue Country and Yun Cang. There were other rebel kings and neighboring countries, and she wouldn’t mind giving them all a bloodbath.

Wherever Xu Nianqing went, she would bring slaughter. She’d like to see just how he planned to rebel against her then.

Ordinary people could not see the future, but the world consciousness could.

The apparent calm was the prelude to a coming storm, a sign that mountains were about to crumble.

Now, because the black consciousness was protecting Xiao Li, the gold consciousness couldn’t kill her. It could only use other methods to force her back onto her original path.

The black consciousness said, ’Set out for the capital at once, and I will ensure he does not die.’

It was using Song Junzhan’s life to bargain with her.

"Heh..."

Xiao Li asked with a cold laugh, "So, are you and It enemies, or are you partners?"

The gold consciousness tried to kill someone to make her go back; the black consciousness was saving someone to make her go back.

Both were using the same person as a bargaining chip. Different methods, same goal.

The black consciousness stated, ’You will destroy this world.’

The struggle between the black and gold consciousnesses was intense, but they kept it confined to a very small scope.

Even if imperial power changed hands, not many people actually died. None of it affected the development of human civilization.

Their entire struggle was predicated on the world remaining intact. They were fighting to control the world, not to destroy it.

But Xiao Li was different. She was dragging the entire world onto the battlefield. In Its prophecies, her willingness to do whatever it took meant only one thing: destruction.

But upon hearing this, Xiao Li laughed, a sound of pure delight. "That’s the most wonderful praise I’ve ever heard."

Her eyes curved into crescents, her smile radiant, revealing a deadly beauty amid her madness.

"If I can destroy the world, that means I’ll live long enough to be the final winner. How wonderful is that?"

Since she couldn’t leave this world anyway, she might as well take everyone down with her.

The black consciousness felt she was far more evil than it was. ’Everyone you care about will die. One by one, they will die before your very eyes.’

Xiao Li raised an eyebrow. "Then let them die. Going to hell together... isn’t that its own kind of reunion?"

As an Empress, Xiao Li was both righteous to a fault and evil to the core. She was a good ruler, appointing people based on merit and keeping the court free of corruption. She reduced taxes and opened factories to provide women with a means of livelihood. In doing so, she achieved a level of virtue, wisdom, and benevolence that countless emperors over thousands of years never could.

Yet her goodness didn’t stop her from using any means necessary to achieve her goals. If she decided someone had to die, she would kill them at any cost, even if it meant countless casualties and rivers of blood.

She was willing to be a good monarch, coveting neither luxury nor debauchery.

But when it came to leaving this world, she would sacrifice anything, even her own life.

Power, money, and beauty—the things people in this world found most intoxicating—were all within her grasp, yet they could not sway her will to leave.

This world was originally a battleground for two consciousnesses. Now, Xiao Li had become the third.

The light of a firefly cannot compete with the sun and moon, but she would rather die than be extinguished, forging her own path.

The gold consciousness wanted to kill the black consciousness, which was weaker. Xiao Li was Its key bargaining chip for fighting back against the gold one.

But neither of them dared to kill Xiao Li—not because she was so powerful, but because they feared her death would attract an even stronger world consciousness that would devour them both.

At first glance, it seemed to be a delicate three-way standoff. But Xiao Li didn’t care if a consciousness was gold or black; she wanted them all dead.

The black consciousness was speechless. ’...How did a demon like this end up in our world?’

Song Junzhan was about to die, and Xiao Li was not indifferent. She had just seen him last night, his gentleness and sensitivity, the love that filled his eyes—it had turned her mild sadness into a deep sorrow.

But Xiao Li would not compromise.

Today, she was being threatened with Song Junzhan. Tomorrow, it could be Lou Yan, Rong Qing, or Wang Wanqing, all used as bargaining chips against her.

A mighty monarch should be the most revered person in the world. How could she be threatened with the lives of others?

Even setting aside her status as a monarch, she, Xiao Li, would not be threatened by anyone.

If Song Junzhan died, she would immediately kill Xu Nianqing to make him pay. Again and again, she would eventually succeed in killing him. And if They tried to create some Wang Nianqing or Li Nianqing, it didn’t matter how many They sent—she would kill them all.

It was just a descent into madness. What did she have to fear?

When the time came, she would destroy this world, and it would be game over for everyone.

’Let heaven and earth be buried together! No one gets to live!’

Sensing Xiao Li’s madness, the black consciousness no longer dared to state its conditions.

’Song Junzhan will not die. He absolutely will not.’ No matter what, It had to protect Song Junzhan’s life.

But was Xiao Li someone who could be so easily reasoned with? Since They had threatened her, wouldn’t it be disrespectful not to do something in return?

Her first move was to order the army to assemble.

Atop the city wall, she had someone set up a large amplifying horn to carry her voice far and wide.

Her lazy voice carried a playful, malicious tone. "We have lost a small pet."

"We are not fond of keeping trinkets, but since this little pet was a gift, it became Our property. But now this little thing has run away and gathered a mob of rabble to try and take a bite out of Us. Tell me, should We teach him a lesson?"

The soldiers were baffled, but that didn’t stop them from roaring in agreement, "You should!"

Xiao Li was very satisfied. "That’s more like it."

The next moment, her voice turned sharp and cold. "Where are Our soldiers?"

"We are here!"

Xiao Li commanded, "March on Yue Country at once. Bring Our pet back. And remember... We prefer him alive."

"Yes, Your Majesty!"