Guoshi didn’t answer him. He was now completely sunken into the indispelible terror that scene
still brought him.
“Those faces hadn’t seen light in a long time,” He said, “So even the moonlight of the night was
painful to them. When I suddenly removed the mask, it was as if they were shocked, and they
squinted their eyes, their voices stopping. But after a moment, when they saw it was me, they
began… to scream my name.”
I was completely stunned. I’ve said earlier that I’ve never seen anything more horrific than
millions of people falling from the skies and burnt alive in a sea of fire, but the scene before my
eyes then was more horrifying than that by a million fold!”
“My hand that was holding the mask was shaking nonstop, and if it wasn’t for my entire person
already petrified and frozen still, that mask would’ve probably dropped to the ground and wake
His Highness. Meanwhile, those three faces seemed to be anxious to tell me something, the
opening and closing of their mouths became even more erratic, but still they suppressed their
voices, like they were afraid to wake His Highness.”
“When I saw their appearances I was both disgusted and scared, but I still couldn’t help but be
curious to find out what they wanted to tell me, so I bent down, held my breath, and leaned
close to His Highness’ face to listen.”
“Coming so close, I could smell the thick stench of blood and rot that herbs couldn’t conceal. I
heard them say, quick! Run away! His Highness had gone mad!”
“Turns out, after the other three had left, they were still worried so they secretly returned to find
His Highness. Yet unexpectedly, they just happened to run into His Highness taking a large
number of people rushing towards the direction of the Kiln.”
“Only then did they find out that His Highness had never abandoned the idea of sacrificing the
living. In a fit of shock and rage, they went to stop him and started a fight with His Highness. Yet
unexpectedly, His Highness actually bore and killed them, and threw them into the Kiln along
with the other few hundreds of people!”
“The other citizens were of course burnt to dust and ashes after being thrown in, but the three of
them were cultivated, and were also murdered by His Highness, so their resentful attachment
was extremely deep, and their souls actually took his body as host, growing upon his person,
and nagged at him in rage everyday, hoping to prevent him in all of his endeavours.”
“As I listened, I felt horror and confusion, and I didn’t know what to do at all. What was
horrifying? I wasn’t actually clear; was tHis Highness scarier or those three things on his face?!”
“Right then, I felt, a hand rest on my head.”
“I stiffened and slowly looked up, and saw His Highness.”
“I didn’t know when he had woken. He and the three faces on his face, a total of four sets of
eyes, were all staring at me!”
“The expressions on those human faces became even more exaggerated, as they twisted they
tore the gashes on his face, and a lot of blood streamed down.”
“He stared at me for a long, long time, then, he sighed: ‘Haven’t I told you not to come in here?’”
“Suddenly, I understood all the abnormal behaviours of these past few days.”
“When His Highness discovered his face had grown three such creatures, he wasn’t able to
accept it, and he couldn’t tolerate this inhuman, demonic appearance of himself in the mirror, so
he smashed all the mirrors. The bleeding was because he wanted to use a blade to slice them
off; the rotting smell was because the injuries wouldn’t heal, and no matter how many times he
cut them, they would always grow back!”
Guoshi covered half of his face, his pupils violently shrinking.
He said, “I… instantly fell to my knees at his bedside.”
“His Highness slowly sat up on the bed and said, ‘Don’t be afraid. They became like this
because they betrayed me. As long as you don’t do the same, I will still treat you as before. As
long as you are my loyal servant, nothing will change’.”
“But how could I not be afraid?! And how could nothing be changed? Everything had changed!”
“His Highness was very smart. He had never had to watch people’s faces, but after banishment,
he had learned to observe expressions. He had guessed what I was thinking and asked me
slowly: ‘Are you leaving too, then?’”
“To be honest, I didn’t know. If he had only thrown the ‘fiends’ he spoke of into the Kiln, maybe I
could’ve pretended nothing had happened, and I did say I could’ve understood.”
“But, he had personally killed and thrown our bestest friends into the Kiln too. We only had each
other! This really was… madness. I… wasn’t able to accept it.”
“His Highness said to himself, it’s okay, I had expected it, no one would stay after I’ve become
like this. I can go on on my own. I understand now, I’ve always been alone!!! I DON’T NEED
ANYONE!!!”
“His expression suddenly turned savage, and he eyed me unblinkingly as he strangled me with
one hand, repeating nonstop: I can be on my own, all alone, alone, alone alone alone alone
alone, I don’t need anyone, I don’t need anyone I don’t need anyone I don’t need anyone…”
“His Highness’ strength is powerful, and if he really wanted to kill me my neck should’ve been
snapped instantly without making a sound. But I didn’t immediately die, and when he started to
act up, my three friends all started screaming from his face, and, as if they’ve done something to
him, he started yelling with an agonizing headache too, and I was also screaming. The five of us
were all screaming wildly, yelling in madness, like we had all gone crazy. His Highness gripped
his own head with one hand, and the other was strangling me harder. My vision was growing
dark, I couldn’t hold on much longer, but right then… I saw something underneath his pillow.”
“Under his pillow was a sword. It was cushioned underneath when he slept, and it was a habit
he developed after banishment. I caught hold of the hilt and pulled out the sword. The chilling
light shimmered and His Highness laughed heartily, his eyes blood red, asking ‘Are you going to
kill me too? COME! STAB ME, QUICK! STAB ME RIGHT IN THE HEART! YOU CAN ADD TO
THE COUNT! I’VE GOTTA SEE WHO WILL BE THE LAST TO DIE! YOU LOT, OR ME!’”
“Of course I didn’t stab him. I only flashed the sword before him and cried with my everything,
:”Your Highness! Your Highness! Please come back! Look at yourself! LOOK AT WHAT YOU’VE
BECOME!!”
“He had smashed all the mirrors and it had been a long time since he last looked at his own
reflection. The blade of that sword was sharp and bright; it reflected his appearance then, and
he also saw his own face.”
“When he saw himself in the mirror, he suddenly stopped.”
“The strength His Highness used to strangle me did not lessen, but, after who knows how long,
he looked and looked, and suddenly, two lines of tears streamed from his eyes.”
“When I saw his tears, I couldn’t help but cry too. That reflection on the sword, such ugliness!
Even with just a glance I found it disgusting, so why did I make him look at himself like this, to
remind him that he was now such an ugly creature?”
“I still couldn’t bear it, and the sword fell from my hand, dropping to the ground.”
“In the end, His Highness threw me away forcefully and said, scram.”
“I ran away crawling and stumbling.”
Having listened to this point in one go, that breath held in Xie Lian’s throat finally let go some.
Guoshi also lowered his hands, “I’ve run far away, and escaped the Kingdom of WuYong. And it
wasn’t long before the volcano of the Kiln erupted once again.”
“This time, the entire Kingdom of WuYong was completely buried, not a single soul saved. An
entire country, disappeared just like that.”
“I escaped this calamity, but afterwards I’ve never heard any news of His Highness again. It was
as if he was also buried along with the Kingdom of WuYong.”
“I’ve trekked to the heavens before, and I’ve also cultivated on my own, so I’ve a small bit of
achievements. I maintained the state of my body and drifted aimlessly throughout the mortal
realm. I’ve served His Highness since I was young, and now that I didn’t need to serve him any
longer, I actually didn’t know what to do.”
“His Highness was gone, my three friends were also dead. I created three empty shelled fakes,
and made the fakes to speak in their voices to talk to me, and play cards sometimes.”
Having heard ‘Empty-shelled fakes’, Xie Lian’s expression grew solemn. Guoshi continued,
“Later, my magic improved, so I also instilled the skills of my three friends into the fakes.”
Xie Lian asked softly, “Were they the other three Guoshis?”
No wonder he always thought the other three Guoshis were rather strange; they never acted on
their own, and they never socialized with him one on one either. So they were fakes, and if they
left Guoshi’s side they would be exposed, Guoshi replied, “It’s them. So, I suppose you are also
the disciple of my three friends. Alas, I’m not them after all, and the most skills I could instill into
the fakes were only twenty or thirty percent of their true strengths, so not much could be taught.
And those three fakes that had kept me company for so long had also been long destroyed by
him too.”
“After another one or two centuries, the heavenly dynasty changed, and the heavenly officials of
the past were all fading away. Gradually, a new batch of heavenly officials had replaced them.
However, none of that was any of my business, and I was also just living shamelessly waiting
for death.”
“Until one day, in some Kingdom, a crown prince was born under the Ominous Star.”
“That was you, the Crown Prince of the Kingdom of XianLe.”
It was here at last. The hands Xie Lian rested on his thighs clenched slightly.
Guoshi sat cross legged, and spoke, hugging his arms, “I thought it was quite coincidental, very
much an affinity. But in truth, by then WuYong had been destroyed for many, many years. Of
course there’d be one or two after some hundreds of years, so it wasn’t really a coincidence at
all. But still, with a feeling even I didn’t understand, I casually made up a name and went and
became the Guoshi of XianLe.”
‘I knew that name was made up…’ Xie Lian thought.
“No offense to your XianLe,” Guoshi said, “But to muddle in and get the Guoshi position was
much too easy for me. There was only one problem, and that was people always thought
“without a beard one is incapable”, those who were young must be inexperienced and
incompetent, and would be looked down upon. If I went to the interview with my current face, I
might not pass, so I changed my face a little, added some ten, twenty years, and sure enough, I
muddled right in. But to be the Guoshi, it meant I had to speak to the heavenly officials of the
heavenly realm directly.”
“Thus, I came to face with Jun Wu.”
“Jun Wu’s appearance and that highness I knew was completely different. Still, I was too familiar
with him after all, so after exchanging words a few times, I’ve already had my suspicions. But
they were still only suspicions.”
“And even if I was suspicious, I didn’t want to expose anything.”
“He had already turned into someone else completely, and the faces on his face had also
vanished. I thought the resentment of my three friends had dispersed, and if that was the case,
then there was no need to bring up any old history and break this peace. So wasn’t it fine if we
both pretended not to have recognized each other?”
“If it was me, I would probably do the same.” Xie Lian said.
“But we still couldn’t pretend to the end.” Guoshi said, “Because we both saw you.”
“Your Highness, you must’ve guessed by now why I had such high hopes for you. You’re very
much like him. So, I had hoped you would become someone or a god he had wanted to
become, and do what he couldn’t do. You could use your perfection to remedy our regrets.”
Hua Cheng however, said flatly, “You’ve been mistaken from the start. They’re not alike at all.”
Guoshi gave him a look and said, “Of course you’d say they aren’t similar now, but back then
they were very much alike. And the bad thing was, they were too much alike.”
He turned to Xie Lian again, “That time with the God-Pleasing ceremony, you saved a small
child fallen from the city wall, and I wasn’t too pleased. It wasn’t just because that incident
stopped the ceremony, it was more so because that incident was too conspicuous. You had
aroused Jun Wu’s attention.”
“Jun Wu started talking to me about you. He was very interested in you, and every time we
spoke of you, I could vaguely tell there was something not right. But I could tell he genuinely
likes you; it was the delight of having found a suitable good sprout, and was thinking of
appointing you up. Only, every time I’d use all sorts of reasons to urge him not to do so.”
Xie Lian also didn’t want to believe that Jun Wu’s attitude towards him was all fake, but when he
heard Guoshi say so, his feelings became complicated, hard to describe.
“The turning point was Yi Nian Bridge.” Guoshi said.
Having heard those three words, Xie Lian snapped back to attention. Guoshi said, “Do you still
remember that ghost at Yi Nian Bridge?”
Xie Lian replied quietly, “That was my chance at ascension, of course i remember.”
“I already sensed something was wrong when you ran into that ghost.” Guoshi said. “This ghost
haunted upon the broken bridge in the barren wild, was donned in broken armours, the flames
of karma beneath its feet, and blood and sharp weapons covered its body, leaving footprints of
blood and flames behind with every step, and those three questions it asked you – all of that
made me very concerned, worried even, and I couldn’t quite put my fingers on what was wrong.
And after defeating that ghost at the bridge, you ascended so quickly, I didn’t have the chance
to figure things out.”
“Thankfully, after you ascended Jun Wu’s attitude towards you was good as always, granting
you favours, thinking very highly of you, like nothing had changed, and so I also told myself not
to think too much.”
“And then, it was the great drought of XianLe, the rebellion of YongAn, and – the appearance of
that creature, White No-Face.”
Xie Lian held his breath and was hanging on to every word. Guoshi said, “I’ve said so before,
but at first I didn’t know what that creature was at all. And even if the Human Face Disease had
manifested, I only had suspicions, since parasitic resentful spirits wasn’t anything new, it’s just
never so widely spread before. Plus, I was fairly resentful towards fate, so in the beginning, I
thought White No-Face was borne of nature, that it was the heavens that wanted to punish you.”
“But as you came more and more in contact with that creature, and the Human Face Disease
was going more and more out of control, plus many, many other things on top of that, all of it
was forcing me to think in the worst case scenario.”
“Many, many other things?” Xie Lian asked, “What do you mean? Such as?”
“That family of three who fell to their deaths at the gates of the royal capital of XianLe.” Guoshi
replied.
Xie Lian stopped breathing, “That… was…?”
“Afterwards, I examined the corpses of those three people.” Guoshi said, “And I discovered they
weren’t human at all, but three empty shells.”
Xie Lian exclaimed, “But empty shells are hollow, they don’t have organs and they can’t
bleed??”
“There wasn’t any need for organs.” Guoshi said, “Falling from such a height, the innards would
of course be damaged. Just stuff some mushed flesh in the belly of empty shells and pour in
some bloody fluids would’ve been fine. Among my three friends, there was one who was an
expert in creating such crafty things, and something like empty shelled fakes was his creation
from the start. He had only taught the skill to us, and the method in creating empty shelled fakes
wasn’t as widespread then, so since they were all dead, who do you think could make such
realistic empty shelled fakes other than me?”
Xie Lian hung his head, his pupils shrunken.
That family of three who fell to their deaths before the gates of the royal capital of XianLe was
the direct catalyst of war. And, those lives weren’t real at all, they were a trap!
“Then why… Didn’t you tell me at the time?” Xie Lian questioned.
“I didn’t dare to at all.” Guoshi said, “If it really was him and I told you, then with your personality
back then, wouldn’t you have charged right up for vengeance? That wouldn’t have saved you or
XianLe at all, and would only hasten your annihilation. Besides, even without those three empty
shells, there would sooner or later be…”
There would sooner or later be some other incidents that’d spark war. Just like that missing dog
inside the capital.
“Later, you were defeated. Xian Le was also defeated.”
“I really couldn’t hold back any longer, thus, I first sent away everyone at the Holy Royal
Pavilion, then requested for his grace inside the Great Martial Temple. Then, I unmasked him
directly.”
This was what Jun Wu had mentioned their meeting of eight hundred years ago. Guoshi said, “I
questioned him on a lot of things, but he wouldn’t admit nor deny anything. Finally, I asked him:
‘Your Highness, just what exactly do you want?’”
“He finally answered. He said, he wants you to become his perfect heir.”
“If there was anyone in the world who could understand him completely, it was you. Once he
succeeded, then you would never betray him!”
“I understood his intention. In the heat of argument, we started fighting with our fists. I can’t fight
at all, and if I should then I would die without a doubt. He could kill me without moving a single
finger. But right then, his expression suddenly changed and he covered his face.”
“I was startled, and only then did I notice that upon his face, those three faces surfaced again!”
“Turns out they didn’t vanish at all, and he had been suppressing them with his spiritual powers!
And now, for some reason, perhaps it was because of his high emotions or because of me, they
had come out again!”
“And just like that, my three friends came out to stir up a riot, causing him agonizing headaches,
his expression terrifying, and I once again used that chance to run away.”
“I started drifting in the mortal realm once again, and this time I had to hide all over the place
too. I wondered, just how were things at the Kingdom of WuYong of back then? Thus, I returned
to look.”
“What I hadn’t imagined was this time when I returned, I made great discoveries.”
“For some reason, the land that belonged to the past Kingdom of WuYong was sealed
completely, isolated from the outside world. I walked for a long time in that land, and ran into my
three friends again.”
“Were they those three mountain spirits, Old Age, Sickness, and Death?” Xie Lian asked.
“Correct.” Guoshi replied.
“The Kiln devoured their bodies and the ashes of their bones that were burnt to nothingness
mixed with the ashes of the volcano, and was then blown out. Along with time, more and more
residues layered, and after a thousand years, they transformed into three large mountains in the
end with parts of their souls resting within.”
“Finding ways to communicate with the them who had become mountain spirits took me a long
time, but after I succeeded, I learned many things.”
“Turns out, the previous dynasty of heavenly officials didn’t fade away naturally. Instead, they
were killed slowly, one by one, by him. He… slaughtered the entire Heavenly Court, leaving no
one behind!”
“And after awashing the heavenly realm with blood, he returned to the mortal realm once again,
and patiently waited for a time, changed to a new name, forged a new identity, became ‘a mortal
man’, then ‘ascended’. All of the heavenly officials of the entire heavenly realm were dead, no
one knew who exactly he was, and no one knew who he looked like before. The widespread
backstory of ‘The Heavenly Martial Emperor’ in the mortal realm, his background, his literary
references, his interesting hearsays, appearance, character… it’s all fake. They’re all intricate
lies he fabricated!”
“This Heavenly Capital is the new heavenly realm he single-handedly created that’s completely
under his control. As for the corpses and ashes of the heavenly officials of the previous dynasty,
they’re all mixed in the soil of the foundation of this Heavenly Capital, trampled and stepped on
by him each and everyday. Right now, perhaps there’s also someone beneath your feet.”
“…”
Guoshi continued, “The him now is the number one martial god of the heavenly realm, looking
glorious and scintillating on the surface. However, in his heart, an infinite darkness is
suppressed deep within. Resentment, pain, anger, hatred… those things needed release. Only
then could he maintain balance within himself and continue to be the number one martial god
who ruled all three realms without murdering everything.”
“The once Kingdom of WuYong had been turned into hell, and the Kiln was fed countless
number of the living and three former heavenly officials, so it already recognized him as the
master. Thus, he would regularly release those dark emotions within the Kiln, using the millions
of deceased souls of WuYong as kindle to start the flames of karma, and forged many malicious
things.”
“The method in forging those malicious things is different than creating a ‘Supreme’, right?” Xie
Lian asked.
“Indeed.” Guoshi replied, “‘Supremes’ were something that came later, since he… changed the
refining method.”
“What do you mean by that?” Xie Lian asked.
“The ‘Quality’ and ‘Quantity’.” Guoshi said.
He gave Hua Cheng another look, “You both must know already that a Supreme is only born
once every hundred years, several hundred years even, so they are extremely rare, and the
difficulty in their creation is also immense. And, the past life of the Supreme is an independent
existence. The Kiln only provided an environment to increase the process of their explosive
birth. Those who can become Supremes can become Supremes anywhere, and would become
Supremes sooner or later.”
“In fact, the word ‘Supreme’ was extracted from the meaning of ‘Peerless’ and ‘Top’. It doesn’t
have much connection with whether if one was trained inside the Kiln. Still, to be able to endure
the quenching of the Kiln would certainly make one such an entity, since there aren’t that many
who could suffer through in the first place. Up until now, aren’t there only three?”
Xie Lian glanced at Hua Cheng who was right next to him, and it just so happened Hua Cheng
was also looking at him. Although he didn’t know why Xie Lian looked over, he still smiled.
Guoshi continued, “However, the earlier productions of the Kiln weren’t like this. In the early
days, there’d be a session once every few years, and each time the results would be different,
as batches and batches poured out. Perhaps this had something to do with his unstable
emotions. Everything produced were monsters forged by his hatred and resentment, and there
are probably a few familiar names among them. For example – the Reverend of Empty Words.”
“The Reverend of Empty Words is also something born of the Kiln?!” Xie Lian exclaimed.
“Correct.” Guoshi replied. “Those creatures, some have their own consciousness and broke
away from him; some don’t, and they could be considered as his clones. The Reverend of
Empty Words had its own consciousness, and after it left, it’d even divided itself into many
smaller clones. My three friends guarded within the borders of the Kingdom of WuYong to
prevent those things from leaving the ward, while I spent my years in the outside world
searching for those creatures, trying to fix the situation.”
Xie Lian suddenly recalled the strange attitude Guoshi had when he saw Shi Qing Xuan,
“Master! Lord Wind Master… the skilled fortune telling master who told Shi Qing Xuan’s fortune
back then, the one who told his family not to host feasts, was that you?”
“Duh.” Guoshi said, “Other than your master, me, which other skilled fortune telling master could
be this accurate? Which fortune telling master would be so free? That a bowl of porridge could
pay for a session?”
“…”
“That Reverend of Empty Words had wanted to try and devour the young Shi Wu Du at first,”
Guoshi said, “But Shi Wu Du that little bastard was too vicious, difficult to deal with even at such
a young age. Nothing could get to him, and he was afraid of nothing, his fate so tyrannical it
couldn’t be swallowed, and if it tried to bite forcibly it might just crack all of its teeth in a bloody
mess, so it could only turn to his common little brother with a fate of wealth. Although it still
didn’t manage to bite, but it caused so much grief the two brothers couldn’t live in peace, plus it
bit one who originally had the fate to ascend, so it wasn’t aggrieved. That I didn’t kill that thing
dead really gets to me.”
“It’s already been killed dead.” Hua Cheng said.
“Devoured by He Xuan, right?” Guoshi said, “I’ve heard. I was going to watch over the Shi
brothers until everything blew over, but at the time the Kiln was about to open its gates, so I
couldn’t follow them closely before I had to return to the Kiln. And by the time I came back,
things were already a mess. Shi Wu Du turned to wickedness and caused a huge havoc,
completely out of hand! It gave me such a headache, even if I wanted to care I couldn’t at that
point.”
It really did turn into something that couldn’t be minded even if he wanted to. Guoshi added,
“But truth to be told, the Reverend of Empty Words wasn’t even considered anything powerful
among those monsters, it just likes to go out to stir up trouble. Strictly speaking, it could only be
considered a defective product, not even rankable. There were more, such as…”
Xie Lian said quietly, “Such as… the soul of the dead who died in battle at Yi Nian Bridge?”
Guoshi sucked in a breath, “…It’s him.”
“Otherwise why did you think I’d say everything started because of your one phrase? That ghost
at the bridge was a black clone he forged out of the Kiln, and every so many years it had to
come out to haunt and kill to vent its hatred. But, you just had to defeat that monster!”
“He could sense that ghost at the bridge was killed by someone, so he descended immediately
to see, and he saw you. And you. You just had to say that phrase to his face – ‘Body in abyss;
heart in paradise’. This was a mad jab at him, a fatal blow…”
“This, was the turning point of everything.”
————