Then let them offer their loyalty!

Page 1149

Zhao Ji looked at Jasmine and said in a calm tone,

"It is not common knowledge that God-King Lu Yao possesses the divine skill to see through life energy."

"At least... Qiu Tu couldn't possibly know."

"So, if I'm not mistaken, after my advancement, to ensure my safety, he risked his life and secretly infiltrated the perilous 'Royal Court of Destruction.'"

"The purpose is simple: to gather intelligence on the tyrant's plans to prevent any unforeseen events from happening to me."

"As it turned out, who knew. The Destruction Tyrant didn't take any action against me, but he inadvertently learned that the God-King Lu Yao was going to expose my location to the Destruction Tyrant."

"So... he risked exposing his identity, risked being discovered by the Destroyer Tyrant and the Radiant Princess, and tried every means to pass this message to you and the people around you, so that you would help me."

"After all, he knows that given the relationship between you and me, he would never confirm that something has happened to me."

"And having you take action is the only way he can save me."

At this point, Zeji gave Jasmine another cold look.

Jasmine, who was initially a little agitated, gradually calmed down as Zeji recounted her story.

Zhao Ji withdrew her gaze and continued calmly, "In fact, when he made this choice, he had already violated his principles."

"Because he knows that although you and I are quite close, you really dislike him."

"You may save me, but you might also betray him."

"This will not only ruin all his previous plans, but also cause him to make a wrong move that could lead to utter ruin."

"So... at the moment he made this choice, in his heart, my position had actually surpassed his own safety."

At this point, a hint of sarcasm crept into Zhao Ji's tone.

"And you certainly didn't disappoint him."

"After successfully taking away God King Lu Yao, you also took advantage of the situation and spread Lu Yao's abilities and what he wanted to do as quickly as possible."

"As a result, the situation began to spiral out of control and eventually evolved into the chaotic state we see today."

"Although I don't know how Qiu Tu finally escaped this predicament, if I'm not mistaken, if he had been a little slower, he could still have been tricked by you."

As Zehime spoke, Jasmine's expression gradually turned ugly.

She discovered that Zhao Ji had seen through all her plans, schemes, and ulterior motives in this matter.

This not only prevented her from refuting Zhao Ji, but also prevented her from speaking ill of Qiu Tu.

And so... she fell silent.

But Zhao Ji did not stop there.

She looked at the silent Jasmine, her voice still calm, but beneath that calmness lay confidence and certainty in her judgment.

She said calmly, "If Qiu Tu did other things for me before, only after he was sure he was completely safe, then that doesn't really prove anything."

“Those can all be interpreted as ‘performance’, as ‘deception’.”

"But this time..."

Zhao Ji's gaze flickered slightly, revealing a hint of tenderness.

"This time, for my sake, he voluntarily stepped into the most dangerous situation; for my sake, he placed himself in the eye of the storm; for my sake, he disregarded his own safety and did not hesitate to stir up chaos and disrupt his plans."

"All of this is enough to show my place in his heart."

“So…” Zhao Ji took a deep breath, as if making a final conclusion, “that’s why, after understanding my own heart, I decided… to accept him.”

As soon as he finished speaking, the hall fell into a deathly silence once again.

This time, it's a true silence.

Jasmine opened her mouth several times, as if she wanted to say something in rebuttal.

She wanted to say that Qiu Tu might just be more calculating, and that all of this might be part of his plan. He might have really calculated that he wouldn't get into trouble.

She wanted to say that this might just be a coincidence, an accidental development of the situation.

She even thought that even if Qiu Tu really did so much for Zhao Ji, it might just be because Zhao Ji's value to him was so great that it was worth the huge investment.

But... all the words that came to his lips turned into a silent sigh.

Because she knew that all these rebuttals seemed so pale and powerless in the face of Zhao Ji's clear logic and Qiu Tu's selfless sacrifice...

.....

When the heavy palace doors opened again, the light from outside flooded in, dispelling the darkness inside.

Jasmine and Zeki came out one after the other.

On the long corridor outside the hall, Qiu Tu was standing side by side with a stunningly beautiful figure dressed in a black python robe, talking in hushed tones.

That figure was none other than Princess Huiming, who had come to meet Qiu Tu after receiving his invitation.

Upon seeing the two emerge, Qiu Tu and Hui ordered the princess to cease her conversation and simultaneously turned their gazes toward them.

Qiu Tu's gaze immediately fell on Zhao Ji, with a hint of inquiry.

He was completely relieved after seeing that Zhao Ji remained calm and even gave him a barely perceptible nod.

Princess Huiming's gaze swept over Jasmine before finally settling on Princess Zhao.

She remained extremely curious about this woman, whom she had tried to recruit several times, but whose strength had now surpassed hers and who had even saved her life.

However, Zhao Ji's aloof personality clearly meant she had little interest in social interaction. So, after noticing her gaze, she simply glanced at her indifferently and then nodded politely as a greeting.

Just as the group was sizing each other up, Qiu Tu spoke up.

He looked at Jasmine, then smiled and said, "It seems... you two have finished talking."

"So... Jasmine, shouldn't the God-King Lu Yao be handed over?"

Although Jasmine had just been persuaded by Lady Zhao in the main hall.

But when she saw Qiu Tu, this pig who had gotten away with this, she still pouted and showed a hint of displeasure on her face.

However, being a master of manipulation, she certainly wouldn't oppose Qiu Tu in front of Zhao Ji.

Her beautiful almond-shaped eyes darted around, and then she said with a grin, "No problem, no problem."

"I always keep my word."

She paused, then drew out her words, her eyes gleaming with mischief, and said, "However..."

"I can entrust Lu Yao to you. But... I can't guarantee whether she can complete your task."

As she spoke, she casually made a grabbing motion in the air.

The next second, the space in front of her rippled like the surface of water.

Immediately afterwards, Lu Yao, the God-King, who was bound tightly by countless chaotic chains of law, his body tattered and bloodstained, and who looked like he was breathing more than he was breathing and had already fainted, was forcibly dragged out of the void and thrown to the ground.

Seeing the miserable state of the God-King Lu Yao, Princess Huiming and Zhao Ji visibly frowned.

Before Zhao Ji could speak, Hui Ming had already squatted down and placed his hand on Lu Yao God King's head to sense him.

After a moment, her brows furrowed even deeper as she squatted down. Then she looked up at Qiu Tu and said, "His soul is damaged, his body is broken. More importantly... his consciousness may have fallen into a coma."

"Even with her advanced God-King recovery ability, plus the healing power of her Noble Phantasm, it will probably take her about half a month to gradually wake up."

Upon hearing Princess Huiming's words, Jasmine, who already knew this outcome, put her hands in her pockets, looked up at the sky, and whistled, with an expression that said, "This has nothing to do with me."

As a result, she had barely blew a couple of notes when she received a glare from Zhao Ji.

Seeing this, Jasmine couldn't continue gloating. However, she still shrugged and explained in a rather annoyed manner,

“Even if Lu Yao is weak, she is still a genuine high-level God-King. Moreover, she was near the Destruction Court at the time, so I couldn’t hold back.”

"I didn't know you'd need her again..."

"So...it's not my fault."

Although she explained it to Qiu Tu, Jasmine clearly had a bit of a "let's watch the show" mentality. After explaining, she even looked at Qiu Tu, wanting to see how furious he would be.

As it turned out, she didn't see any change in Qiu Tu's expression, and even... neither Zhao Ji nor Princess Huiming showed any disappointment.

This made Jasmine blink, and she immediately felt that something was not right.

Before she could figure out what was going on, Qiu Tu had already revealed the answer. Qiu Tu smiled and said, "It's alright. Because... I didn't need her to say anything anyway."

At this point, Qiu Tu gestured with his hand.

The next second, in Jasmine's sight, the God King Lu Yao simply vanished into thin air before her eyes.

Immediately afterwards, Qiu Tu's figure slowly changed, becoming shorter, thinner, and more slender...

When Jasmine came to her senses, a god-king who looked exactly like Lu Yao stood in front of her.

When Jasmine first saw Qiu Tu's amazing ability, she was completely stunned.

Then, disregarding politeness or misunderstandings, she focused her divine sense directly on Qiu Tu and began to examine him.

As it turned out, it was fine until she checked, but once she did, her brows furrowed.

Whether it's physique, path, strength, aura, or even... soul fluctuations, they are exactly the same as those of God King Lu Yao!

'What kind of disguise technique is this? It even fooled me?'

Just as Jasmine was surprised, Qiu Tu, who had transformed into the God King Lu Yao, had his eyes flash with a green light.

The next second, Qiu Tu pointed northwest and said, "The Destruction Tyrant is hiding in a small world in that direction. Let's go!"

Upon hearing Qiu Tu's words, Jasmine was startled once again!

'Not only can it perfectly disguise itself? And... it can also use the opponent's divine skills?'

'Is this fake?'

Thinking this, Jasmine couldn't help but look at Princess Zephyr and Princess Kaguya.

As a result, she discovered that neither Zhao Ji nor Princess Huiming were surprised at all by Qiu Tu's divine skill and the abilities he displayed.

Clearly... they already knew that Qiu Tu had this terrifying trump card.

'Damn it....'

She looked up at the expressionless Zhao Ji, then at Princess Hui Ming, and was so angry she wanted to bite her teeth.

'Why do I feel like... I'm being excluded?'

'I was the one who assembled this team!'

Moreover... through this incident, Jasmine thought about things more deeply.

Qiu Tu's amazing skill is clearly his most important and also his most sensitive trump card.

As a result, he simply displayed himself without any hesitation. Clearly... he had grown strong enough that he no longer needed to hide.

However, now that we think about the factions that belong to or are close to Qiu Tu: Zhao Ji, Qiu Tu, Hui Ming, Lillard, and Yan Hao. Among the more than 20 high-level god-kings in the entire ancient continent, Qiu Tu's faction already occupies 5 of them.

Moreover, among them are powerful figures like Zhao Ji who have embarked on the path to the highest realm.

All things considered, Qiu Tu's power is indeed among the top. Therefore, it's reasonable that he stopped hiding his abilities and began to unleash his full potential.

Even... this might be a deliberate display for oneself, a show of defiance.

Just as Jasmine was lost in thought, Qiu Tu, who had transformed into the God King Lu Yao, raised his hand and gently made a slash in the void.

"Shoot-"

Space was torn apart like a piece of cloth, and a dark, deep rift with chaotic spacetime currents flowing along its edges appeared out of thin air.

On the other side of the crack, there emanated a chilling aura of pure stillness and annihilation.

"Let's go."

Qiu Tu took the lead and stepped into the spatial rift.

Without the slightest hesitation, Princess Zhao followed closely behind. Princess Huiming glanced at Jasmine and then stepped inside.

After the three of them left, Jasmine's expression kept changing, as if she was hesitating about something.

In the end, she still followed them into the spatial rift...

As the four figures disappeared, the spatial rift slowly closed, as if it had never existed.

The long corridors of Aria's castle have returned to their usual silence...

.....