"No —" The Demon Emperor of the Burning Sun spoke without hesitation.
"Yes, open the Holy Sanctum. Whatever lies inside, Young Lord Li may take one item as he wishes."
Li Qiye smiled slightly.
"A wise man. Prepare yourselves and send for me when you're ready. I'll return for now."
With that, he turned and left the Heavenly Hall.
The Emperor gestured for Yu He to escort Li Qiye back to his residence.
### After the Audience
When Li Qiye departed, the hall fell into uneasy silence.
Finally, one elder could not help but speak:
"Your Majesty, is this not too reckless— to allow a stranger to open the Holy Sanctum?"
"Perhaps not," the Emperor answered slowly. "Since the founding of the Nine Saint Demon Gate, who has ever opened it?
For millennia it has remained shut, its seals unyielding. Maybe this is our chance — and it matches the prophecy left by the Founder himself."
The Grand Elder nodded solemnly.
"Indeed. Since the decision is made, let him try."
Another elder frowned.
"Your Majesty, the Guardian Gods — why have we never heard of them before? What are they, truly? Beasts of Heaven or Spirits of Longevity?"
The Emperor shook his head.
"Even I do not know. Records of them are few and fragmented. The Founder wrote only this: 'Only when the Nine Saint faces annihilation will the Guardians reveal their divine power.' That secret text is for the Sect Master alone."
"Yet they have appeared now — without doom or calamity," an elder whispered.
"That is what confounds me," the Emperor sighed. "Their choice must bear meaning."
"The boy is unnatural," muttered the Grand Elder Yun. "By Yu He's account, he passed through the Heart‑Disrupting Forest twice as though it were nothing — an impossibility. Now even the Guardians shield him. Preposterous."
No one spoke. They knew the Forest's fourteen levels to be fatal to saints and legends alike.
"He is unnatural," another elder agreed. "In our thriving sect, none of the young compare to the Crown Princess or Elder Leng's disciple in talent.
Yet the Guardians ignored all of them, and chose a mortal with no wheel, no life, no law. A waste!"
Resentment flickered in their eyes, but the Emperor spoke quietly:
"The ways of eternity are beyond our grasp. Even I cannot fathom this day."
"But if he really opens the Sanctum," an elder pressed, "shall we truly let him take what he pleases?"
"They say an Immortal Emperor's treasure lies within!" another blurted out, face tight with resentment.
The Emperor's voice remained calm:
"If he can truly open the Sanctum, then it is Heaven's will. Sword Elder once said — in this era, no one alive could open it. Perhaps Li is the miracle we waited for. Since we cannot, why not let him try?"
At the mention of SwordElder, all others fell silent, for none in Nine Saint commanded greater reverence.
"Send word through the sect," the Emperor decreed, his tone iron.
"No disciple shall utter a word of today's affairs. Betrayal will be punished by death."
On the matter of the Guardian Gods, they would not risk a whisper.
### Return to the Guest Halls
When Li Qiye returned, he found his lodgings moved to the palace reserved for foreign sovereigns and ancient monarchs — honor unheard of for an outsider.
For Mo the Protector and Nan Huairen, it was overwhelming.
Not even a patriarch of the Washing‑Dust Ancient Sect would receive such luxury in Nine Saint.
It was obvious why — because of Li Qiye.
When Yu He delivered him back, Mo and Nan could only stare wordlessly.
Even Mo did not dare ask what had transpired in the Heavenly Hall; such matters were far beyond their reach.
For days they remained speechless.
Li Qiye's words had been too wild — to slay Du Yuang‑guang, to crush Xu Hui, to threaten the Nine Saint itself.
More than once Mo had thought the boy mad with arrogance.
But cold reflection brought only awe. Everything he said had been true.
Nan Huairen's mind reeled: he still could not grasp how Li had walked through the Fourteen Levels of the Forest, nor why the stone guardians had obeyed him.
Only now did he realize that when Li absently rested upon that colossal statue's shoulder, it had not been childish whim — it had been forethought.
He felt ashamed of his own short‑sightedness.
### Idle Conversation
"Say it plainly," Li Qiye smiled as he sat casually at the top seat, unceremonious as ever. "You both have something in your hearts."
Mo the Protector opened his mouth, then closed it again and sat in silence.
Nan Huairen, less cautious, fumbled for words several times before blurting out:
"D… did it work?"
"Did what work?" Li Qiye blinked.
"The marriage— with Princess Li."
Li Qiye laughed faintly.
"Ah, Li Shuangyan. Didn't ask, and don't care to. A woman is just a woman."
Nan Huairen fell utterly silent. He knew what the Princess was — heir of Nine Saint and princess of the Ancient Ox Kingdom, blessed with imperial body, wheel, and saintly life. Men from the Central Domain to the Far Steppes coveted her hand.
And yet Li Qiye dismissed her as nothing. Unthinkable.
But his awe had long supplanted doubt. Whatever Li Qiye said now simply felt right. The events of the day had reshaped his understanding of possibility.
### A Stick and a Lesson
Unable to resist, Nan Huairen's eyes drifted to the ordinary‑looking stick in Li Qiye's hands — the same stick that had beaten a True Life cultivator bloody.
"If you want to look, take it," Li Qiye said off‑handedly, tossing him the snake‑beating stick.
Nan hurried to receive it with both hands. He and Mo examined it over and over — the texture of plain wood, no glow, no aura, nothing.
"Is this really the fire‑poker from the ancestral hall?" Nan asked incredulously.
"It is," replied Li Qiye lightly.
Nan gulped. > "Brother, can I try wielding it once?"
"Look at you — so timid." Li Qiye grinned. "Go on then."
Nan stepped out and swung it a few times as Mo watched intently. But in his hands, it remained mere wood — no light, no weight, no power.
"Why does it work only for you?" Nan asked, scratching his head.
Li Qiye looked at him quietly.
"True power answers to a sincere heart."
He offered no more. The stick's real nature was his own secret — a relic fused with the soul of the Ghostwood Forest, responsive only to its true master.