The alchemist's opening move: I'll paint a pie in the sky for Qin Shi Huang.

"Your subject understands."

The last glimmer of hope in Meng Xuande's eyes was extinguished, replaced by a calm and resolute demeanor.

Without making a futile struggle, he took another deep breath, then bowed sharply to Zou Yunxing in a standard salute.

"Then I wish you well, Master."

Before he finished speaking, he resolutely turned around and strode towards the door.

"Meng Jun, wait a minute!!!"

Startled, Feng Zhixue jumped up from his seat and cried out urgently, "What can you do all by yourself?!"

Meng Xuande stopped in front of the threshold. He did not turn around, but said in a deep voice.

"Even if it's just one person, I will still meet with His Majesty, remonstrate with him to the death, and eliminate the treacherous!"

A voice as clear as metal echoed in the small room, each word seemingly squeezed out from between teeth.

After saying that, he didn't linger and quickly disappeared outside the door.

"Eh...Meng-kun?!!"

Feng Zhixue called out again in vain to the empty doorway.

Seeing no response, he suddenly turned to look at the expressionless Zou Yun, "Master, please don't be offended, but the Lord is still angry. I'll go and try to persuade him."

After saying that, he hurriedly turned around and quickly chased after her.

However, just as he was about to step out the door...

Feng Zhixue also suddenly stopped. He turned his back to Zou Yun, his shoulders slumped slightly, as if talking to himself.

"Great Master, firstly... from any perspective, I certainly believe you are right, but..."

He paused for a moment, as if organizing his thoughts.

"But I think that the Grand Master in Pingqiu that day was the most remarkable person I have ever met."

This short sentence stirred up invisible ripples in the room.

After saying that, Feng Zhixue did not hesitate any longer, and his figure quickly disappeared outside the door, his footsteps hurriedly following.

"Ha...the most remarkable person."

With two fewer people, the room suddenly felt empty.

Zou Yun murmured, his gaze still fixed on the panel whose numbers were constantly decreasing.

"Great Master, I shall take my leave now."

After a moment of silence, Zheng Ze, who had been sitting upright, finally spoke.

He calmly got up, straightened his robes, then walked to a corner and gently patted Wei Shuqing on the shoulder.

The boy seemed to wake from a dream, and stood up with his head down.

"What? Do you also think I should do something?"

Zou Yun lowered his head, trying not to let anyone see his expression, and pretended to be indifferent.

"No."

Zheng Ze stopped and turned around to face Zou Yun, his tone more solemn than ever before.

"I have always believed in the Great Master. In my heart, no matter what it is, if the Great Master wants it, he will definitely be able to do it."

His words were resolute, as if stating an unquestionable truth.

Zou Yun trembled, but without looking up, he simply repeated dejectedly.

"It's too late...it's already too late..."

His shoulders slumped completely. Zheng Ze's words were like a double-edged sword, bringing a touch of warmth while also piercing him more deeply.

"Then why didn't you prepare sooner, Great Master?"

Just as Zheng Ze and Wei Shuqing were about to step out of the room, the boy's voice rang out from inside.

The sound was not loud, but it was exceptionally clear.

There was neither mockery nor accusation, only a faint sense of bewilderment. He couldn't understand why someone as powerful as the Grand Master wouldn't even grasp such a simple principle.

"certain......"

As if pricked by a needle, Zou Yun suddenly raised his head.

He opened his mouth instinctively, his throat bobbing, as if he wanted to explain something.

However, when those weak and feeble excuses came to his lips, he couldn't utter a single word.

What can he possibly say in his defense?

He was the one who knew all along that Fusu would be forced to commit suicide in the future.

He has always been torn between whether or not to change history.

He has always arrogantly believed that he can control everything and looks down on everyone as an equal.

Is it possible that now, with just a casual remark...

"This isn't my problem; fate is playing tricks on me."

Can he get rid of guilt and regret, exonerate himself, and erase the fact that his friend Fusu may have already died?

Ultimately, isn't all of this the result of his own choices?

Therefore, Zou Yun remained silent.

asphyxia!

A deathly silence permeated and filled the entire room.

Zheng Ze didn't speak; he simply left with Wei Shuqing. The door closed so softly it was almost inaudible, as if bringing the silence to a close.

Only Zou Yun remained in the room.

The lonely tide instantly engulfed him.

Zou Yun remained silent, staring intently at the cultivation points, slowly, bit by bit...

The murderous intent surging within him diminished.

"Bang!"

His clenched fist, filled with anger and resentment, slammed heavily onto the wooden table in front of him.

"Destiny..."

Zou Yun clenched his teeth so tightly they almost bled.

His bloodshot eyes were fixed intently on the panel.

That astrology, now gleaming with a chilling light, seemed utterly ironic.

Astrology: Observe the stars at night to receive unseen revelations about your destiny.

In fact, the moment Zou Yun first learned of Fusu's disappearance, his heart sank into an abyss.

He knew that he would disappear under today's strict regulations.

Fusu, his gentle and refined friend, is probably dead.

Just as Zou Yun's murderous intent surged, and he resolved to kill Zhao Gao and Hu Hai at all costs to avenge his friend!

A sudden change has occurred!

The floating panel suddenly began to throb wildly without warning, and burst forth with an unprecedented pale white light.

Like a silent alarm, flashing and screaming wildly.

In a dimension that Zou Yun could not perceive, the void seemed to be torn apart by an invisible force.

Countless tiny tentacles silently and frantically reached out from the void.

They twisted and writhed, their malice undisguised, as they relentlessly entangled Zou Yun's body and soul.

They tried to drag him into the predetermined torrent of fate.

However, all of this was completely blocked by the light bursting from the panel.

But the price was the loss of Zou Yun's accumulated cultivation points.

Like firewood thrown into a furnace, he began to fall uncontrollably, which also meant that he was one step closer to being captured by those tentacles.

And all of this stems from that so-called divine revelation.

He was convinced that Zhao Gao's envoy would not arrive in Shangjun until late July, leading him to presumptuously choose to depart at the end of June.

They thought they could take advantage of Ying Zheng's serious illness to turn the tide and save Fusu.

The results of it?

Reality slapped him hard across the face!

It was only mid-July, and Fusu's fate was unknown; Meng Tian even died tragically in prison.

All the plans and all the efforts became a huge joke in the face of this so-called destiny.

"Damn it, is this your destiny?!"

The pent-up anger, the humiliation of being fooled, and the grief of losing a close friend erupted like a volcano at this moment.

He was unwilling to accept it! He was furious!

By what right can this "fate" so arbitrarily manipulate all living beings, while not allowing anyone to change it in the slightest?!

But in his anger, Zou Yun sadly discovered that he really couldn't do anything.

A premonition from the depths of his soul told him that once the cultivation points on the panel were completely exhausted, the protective light would disappear.

You will be captured by this invisible destiny in an instant.

To become a puppet, powerless in this grand yet cruel stage play.