The words of the Great Western Continent's Second Prince caused the audience to fall silent for a moment, then into an uproar.
Xiaode gazed at his figure, his eyes chilling. The other two demi-human experts glanced at each other, seeing the shock on each other's faces.
Xuanyuan Po's mouth was open, but he had no idea what to say.
Only the young man in the bamboo hat quietly stood at his original position, his head slightly lowered as he remained hidden in the shadows.
Whether it was the rumors or the subsequent events, they all indicated that the Empress was prepared to marry Princess Luoluo to the Great Western Continent's Second Prince.
In the eyes of Xuanyuan Po and the representatives of the Daoist churches and emissaries, he was the person they were most wary of.
But today, he had suddenly announced that he would withdraw from the Heavenly Selection ceremony?
Just what was going on here? Were the rumors false? Were the events that had already occurred also false?
Why had the Empress held this Heavenly Selection ceremony? Just what was she preparing to do? Just who did she want to marry Princess Luoluo to?
Xiaode or those two demi-human experts with similarly powerful backgrounds?
Could she be preparing to marry Princess Luoluo to the person Xuanyuan Po represented … the Pope?
Countless gazes fell on the high platform, shifting between Madam Mu and the Great Western Continent's Second Prince.
The demi-human elders, ministers, and generals all wanted to know just what sort of mystery this aunt and nephew was playing, and also wanted to know what sort of explanation the Great Western Continent's Second Prince had.
"Correct, I came with the diplomatic mission to White Emperor City to marry Cousin, because I like her."
The Great Western Continent's Second Prince paused, a bitter smile appearing on his face. "But since Cousin already has someone she truly loves, why should I stick a knife in the middle? I don't want her to hold a grudge against me for this matter. "
Many gazes turned to Xuanyuan Po.
The Great Western Continent's Second Prince's cousin was Luoluo. When he said that Cousin had someone she truly loved, he was naturally responding to Xuanyuan Po's words from yesterday.
Before yesterday, not many people knew that Princess Luoluo loved her teacher, nor would they have believed it. But when Xuanyuan Po said those words, many people suddenly realized that it was highly likely to be true.
Regardless of whether the Great Western Continent's Second Prince was speaking the truth or not, he had used this excuse to withdraw from the Heavenly Selection, so no one could say anything. Moreover, by pointing out his reason for withdrawing from the Heavenly Selection, he was adding fuel to the fire. Luoluo and Chen Changsheng were assuredly under even more pressure.
… …
… …
Madam Mu showed no reaction.
The withdrawal of the Great Western Continent's Second Prince had been part of her plan.
Although his last words were not arranged by her, they had been tacitly approved by her.
She was more concerned about one thing, or rather, that was the only thing she was concerned about.
The morning light gradually became brighter. No one noticed that she seemed to be unintentionally looking in a certain direction, but in fact, it was a very profound look.
The young man in the bamboo hat was standing there.
From the very start, Madam Mu had known who this young man was.
Every time she thought about how this person dared to leave Xuelao City alone and come here, even she couldn't help but be deeply shocked.
This was one of Black Robe's conditions.
Although she agreed, she didn't believe it was that simple.
Logically speaking, this young man in the bamboo hat should have been incapable of passing the trial of the ancestral spirits, so his fate was assuredly miserable.
Of course, if it were any other young expert, in order to pass the ancestral spirit's test and marry Luoluo, they might really take a huge risk and accept the baptism of the Wildfire of the Celestial Tree to reconstruct their body and soul, becoming a true member of the Yao Clan.
Everyone wanted to become the next White Emperor. This was the greatest temptation that not even an expert of the Proclamation of Liberation like Xiaode could resist. The problem was that given this young man's status, he could never become the next White Emperor, and he would not be willing.
If there were people on the continent that could resist this temptation, this young man and the young Emperor of the Great Zhou were unquestionably the top two.
So why had Black Robe proposed this condition? Why had this young man participated in the Heavenly Selection and was willing to take the risk of entering the Celestial Tree to accept the baptism of the Wildfire? If it was just to form an alliance with the Demi-human race and resist the increasingly powerful Human race, there were many other methods.
The Xiang clan leader did not look at the young man in the bamboo hat, but his attention had always been on him.
What Madam Mu could not understand, he also could not understand. Moreover, he did not know the specifics of the agreement, so he was even more worried.
He asked, "Will something happen?"
Madam Mu replied, "Black Robe has always taken every possibility into account. Nothing should happen."
After a pause, she indifferently added, "If something happens to him here, I believe that it will also be a good thing."
The Xiang clan leader understood her meaning. After a moment of silence, he said, "The Mountain-Cleaving Army reached the north of Cong Province last night."
The Mountain-Cleaving Army was the strongest army of the Demi-human race. For tens of thousands of years, it had been stationed in the frigid north, keeping an eye on the movements of the demons.
Madam Mu replied, "Chief Elder's arrangements naturally cannot be wrong."
The Xiang clan leader finally couldn't help but glance at the young man in the bamboo hat.
If today, this young man died in the baptism of the Wildfire of the Celestial Trees, then … the strongest army of the Demi-human race, the Mountain-Cleaving Army, would notify the Great Zhou's Cong Province Army headquarters in the shortest time possible and then head north … the war would begin.
… …
… …
The Second Prince of the Great Western Continent withdrew from the Heavenly Selection.
The final five people left the high platform and followed different paths to different mountains.
On the peaks of the five mountains, there were five incomparably huge trees. Nobody could tell how many feet tall these trees were, and they pierced deep into the sea of clouds. It was impossible to see the tops of the trees, and it was impossible to imagine how many miles the roots of these trees extended underground.
The closer one got to the giant trees, the hotter it became. Invisible but incomparably real waves of heat rose up from the earth, blowing everywhere like the sultry winds of midsummer.
These waves of heat were the Qi of the Wildfire of the Celestial Trees. As the Heavenly Selection ceremony progressed, the Wildfire of the Celestial Trees grew even more active, sending surging energy into the world. This energy seemed endless, but it also had a unique savagery to it, a feeling of exuberant life.
The young man in the bamboo hat walked up to his Celestial Tree.
At the base of the Celestial Tree was a tree hole. This tree hole was several dozen zhang high and a hundred-some zhang wide. It looked like a naturally formed cave in the mountains, so massive that it seemed like the entire stone hall of White Emperor City's Imperial Palace could be placed inside.
What made one speechless was that there really was a stone hall in this massive tree hole.
The young man's gaze moved from the upper part of the Celestial Tree, which was submerged in the clouds, to the stone hall within the tree hole. After a moment of silence, he pressed the front of his bamboo hat even lower and walked into the tree hole. His figure quickly vanished from the stone hall, his whereabouts unknown.
Xiaode and the other two demi-human experts also entered their Celestial Trees.
The last to enter the Celestial Tree was Xuanyuan Po.
His footsteps were rather heavy, his movements rather slow, because his mood was rather heavy and uneasy.
He was a demi-human descendant. He had heard countless legends about the Wildfire of the Celestial Trees and had personally offered sacrifices to the ancestral spirits countless times.
He was worried that his true intentions would be seen through by the ancestral spirits.
He had not participated in the Heavenly Selection ceremony to obtain the final victory, marry Princess Luoluo, and become the next White Emperor.
He had come to make trouble.
Would the ancestral spirits forgive his disrespect?
… …
… …
As he walked into the gloomy stone hall and through the long stone path, the unease in Xuanyuan Po's heart intensified.
Through his senses, he was certain that he was walking underground, and that he had already gone very far.
The stone path was extremely dry, devoid of moisture, and there was no sign of water or moss. There was only the incessant blowing of the hot wind.
The deeper he went, the hotter the wind became. As a demi-human descendant, he could clearly sense that the Qi of the Wildfire was getting stronger and stronger.
The blazing waves of heat did not slow his footsteps, because he did not feel any discomfort.
He sensed that the Qi in his body was getting wilder and wilder, that his true essence was getting more and more active.
But he had no idea that many lines had appeared on the surface of his body beneath his clothes.
These lines were very complex, gradually forming a design that extended from his clothes to his face.
In the faint red light emitted by the waves of heat, the design on his face seemed abnormally alive, strange and beautiful, and also brimming with strength.
In the next moment, while he was completely unprepared, a smear of blood covered his eyes, and countless needle-like hairs pierced through his skin. Accompanied by cracking sounds, his body grew taller, and he seemed to be filled with boundless might, even giving off a feeling of madness.
He had gone berserk.
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