Unsealing Emptiness

Chapter 419: Virtue or Sin?

"...well do you want to hear a story?" Old Gu chuckled to himself while reminiscing about the old days.

Ignoring Minho’s bewildered face, Old Gu suddenly waved his hand as a gust of wind blew, jolting the whole mountain awake.

"Doesn’t all the realms proclaim that ’He’ taught the Seven Heavenly Virtues?"

Nodding his head, Minho answered, "Yes, but you’ve already told me that you weren’t taught by ’Him’, master." He had heard it many times from his master’s mouth before, so it seemed he was in for another session.

"What I never told you before is that none of the Seven Heavenly Virtues were ’His’ disciples." At this, he received a surprised look from Minho, who previously assumed it was only his master.

"We have received ’His’ help on numerous occasions, but ’He’ never personally taught us."

Minho wouldn’t have been so interested if the topic wasn’t ’He’, the entity equivalent to the concept of God. At least ’He’ was publicly regarded as such. ’He’ was the Heavenly Emperor who acted as the overseer of all realms. But it had been thousands of years since ’He’ had left all the realms to their own devices.

"The Seven Heavenly Virtues all rose to the current power with our own efforts."

Old Gu sounded almost proud of the fact that he didn’t have any debts to pay to The Heavenly Emperor.

"There were two people who did receive ’His’ teachings though. One rose to the title of The Demonic Emperor while the other was publicly acclaimed as the Wise Seer."

His last sentence drained all color from Minho’s face as he stared at his master in half disbelief.

"The Wise Seer, I’ve heard... but The Demonic Emperor?!"

Old Gu sneered and turned around, "What, you think I’m lying?"

Minho hurriedly shook his head before bowing as he spoke earnestly, "Forgive me, master. I didn’t mean to doubt your words."

Old Gu simply nodded his head before continuing, "I know what you must be thinking, but The Demonic Emperor isn’t immortal, and nor is The Heavenly Emperor..."

At this moment, he turned around to once again gaze at the horizon, not minding Minho who had his mouth gaping at the conversation.

"B-but-...Th-that-..."

"Stop blabbering, brat! I will tell you now that if The Heavenly Virtues, me included, ganged up on ’Him’, we can probably take him down."

Minho took a few seconds to digest those words before he nervously looked at the sky and spoke with bated breath, "Then... why haven’t-"

"Because we never felt the need to. The Heavenly Emperor never bound us to anything... Oh well, that is a long conversation and I don’t want to bore our guest with that."

With that, Old Gu smiled as he turned around. Behind Minho now stood a young man donned in bright orange robes. The man’s gaze seemed to hold no regard for anything as he eyed Old Gu.

"Planning to kill my father, are we?" the young man spoke, revealing his identity as the sole descendant of The Heavenly Emperor.

Meanwhile, Minho, who never sensed the man’s presence, jumped in panic and now stood behind Old Gu.

"Hahaha. I was merely enlightening my disciple. You, on the other hand, seem to be actually considering it."

"Shut that mouth of yours! I had made it clear to the other Heavenly Virtues that I merely seek to convince Father!" the young man bellowed in a manner that seemed to shake the mountain.

But Old Gu merely chuckled in response, "I know, but I was just teasing you, young master."

The young man’s eyes darkened as he struggled to calm his nerves, "You were always the most disrespectful, even to my father."

"Heh, what can I do? Even The Heavenly Emperor enjoyed my humor."

Not wasting any more time, the young man spoke in a louder voice, "Four of the Seven Heavenly Virtues have already pledged to support me. I have visited the other two and they are considering it. And despite your disrespectful behavior, I’ve come personally to offer you this choice as well. Join me or stand against me!"

"Heh, every word that comes out of your mouth reeks of arrogance. Why, young master, do you consider yourself so important that you seem to think anyone who isn’t supporting you is conspiring against you? Though I might be... but that’s quite arrogant on your part~"

The young man shook his head with even more fury in his eyes as he turned around.

"O Virtue of Patience, do not test mine. I hope you make the wise decision." As he said those words, the son of The Heavenly Emperor disappeared from his place.

The heavy atmosphere also disappeared but Minho didn’t relax yet as he was still in the presence of his master.

"That... was the son of The Heavenly Emperor?" he couldn’t help but mutter unconsciously, burning the image of that man in his mind. Until today, he had only heard about him, but today he realized why people were so fearful of that man.

Old Gu clicked his tongue in annoyance as the air around him seemed to solidify. The coldness in his gaze surpassed that of the young man’s.

"The young master seems to forget that the Heavenly Virtues also have the title of Deadly Sins."

Minho shuddered involuntarily as Old Gu spoke those words. He knew firsthand what his master was capable of.

He wasn’t just the Virtue of Patience but also the Sin of Wrath.

. . .

Meanwhile, back in the lower region of the continent, many gates were discovered by the authorities and were being monopolized.

Most of them weren’t aware of what all of it was about, but there was a general agreement that there must be some treasures and relics.

In a small forest amidst the remains of the Blue Lion Kingdom was yet another gate concealed by a thicket of towering trees, their thick foliage forming a natural shield of secrecy.

Most of the gates were hidden in discrete areas like this, only a few were out in the open.

This particular gate was discovered by Ember’s people and now was approached by Ozul and the trio along with Ember.

The Spiritual Essence was still swirling around and had yet to open the gate, but they stayed there while only staring at it.

"How long will it take?" Zier couldn’t help but mutter as sitting on the forest bed wasn’t comfortable at all.

Everyone ignored him as they waited for the gate to open.

To Ozul’s delight, it didn’t take even an hour when the swirling Spiritual Essence came to a halt and flashed with blinding light.

As the light receded, the purple entrance to what seemed like stars painted on a black canvas with a blurred frame came into their view.

Ember took a deep breath. "That’s it. The gate has been established."

Ozul stood up and walked toward the gate but had a sudden thought. With that, he paused and turned toward Ember, "What if it’s a graveyard and there are many corpses there? How will I recognize the man with this Mind’s Eye."

Cutting open thousands of dead bodies and looking for a small bead felt like too much work.

Ember merely chuckled. Shaking her head, she replied, "That man’s corpse will naturally be different from others... given that there really are more corpses. Don’t worry, you will know what I’m talking about."

Motioning with her hands, she urged them to enter the gate.

Sighing once again, Ozul walked toward the gate followed by the trio.

The pain had already subsided and the hole in his chest had also miraculously healed completely.

He, however, still had The Purity bandaged on his chest simply for show.

Ember was already too interested in him and showing his healing capabilities would attract her more. If she were to regain her powers, she could have a change of heart and even imprison him for all he knew.

It wasn’t just her that he didn’t trust but anyone with enough power to do so.

If his father could do it right after his birth, he didn’t trust anyone else to reign in their greed either.

For now, he didn’t sense any malice from Ember’s emotions, but it didn’t take long for people to change. So, he had to be extra cautious.

Stepping into the gate, they disappeared one by one.

As each of them entered, there was once again a blinding light that forced them all to squint their eyes shut.

But when they opened their eyes, the scenery before them had completely changed.

They emerged onto a vibrant plateau suspended in the air, surrounded by wispy clouds that added an air of enchantment to the setting. The ground beneath their feet was adorned with lush, emerald-green grass that swayed gently in an unseen breeze. Exotic flowers of vibrant hues dotted the landscape, releasing intoxicating fragrances that permeated the air.

Taken aback by the sudden transformation of their surroundings, the group stood still for a few moments, contemplating if it was all real.

"We’re in a different space," Ozul tried to spread his senses, but they seemed to hit a wall in the sky.

The sky was a mesmerizing canvas, painted in hues of orange, pink, and purple.

"It’s an illusion," he commented as the trio turned their heads. Zier bent down and pulled the enchanted grass out of the ground and in front of their eyes, it morphed into dead weed.

It wasn’t that this place just felt unreal. Not only was this space isolated, but was also adorned with a sweeping illusion, enchanting and beguiling all who ventured within.