<b>Chapter 1020: Secret Of The Past</b>
Li Qiye watched the princess who was very agitated at this moment. The lotus flower pulsed uncontrollably, causing the entire silver river to tremble.
He took a deep breath and looked her in the eyes to say: “Back then, I was completely wrong. It is all my fault. I came today to sincerely apologize.”
The princess sat there in silence with an icy demeanor. Who knew what she was thinking.
“Hah.” Eventually, she sneered: “Chu Yuntian, I suppose it doesn't matter if you are called Chu Yuntian, Dark Crow, or even Li Qiye! However, I will never believe you, got it?”
Li Qiye stayed silent since he didn't have an answer. This misunderstanding couldn't be resolved with a few words. Otherwise, it wouldn't have lasted for millions of years.
“Sincerity?” The princess laughed: “Back then, who was the one who left the dynasty in secrecy?! I know now that it was because I simply didn't know where this silver river was hidden. To you, I no longer had any value, so you disappeared without a word, leaving behind a girl painfully waiting.”
“Unfortunately, this dumb girl still thought that the man named Chu Yuntian would eventually return!” The princess couldn't laugh sarcastically any longer at this point. Her expression was full of unspoken love and hatred.
“There's nothing I can do if you think so.” Li Qiye said: “When I left back then, it really was because I couldn't find it. I understood that it was not hidden in your dynasty. Also, it was no longer safe to stay in the dynasty because Tian Tu had started to sharpen his blades against your dynasty.”
“Yes, our great teacher of Immortal Emperors has always been correct. No matter the occasion, he would always have very good reasons.” The princess mocked sarcastically.
Li Qiye shook his head: “I can only say that you don't know me at all. If I really wanted to disappear, you would never have been able to find me, just like Chu Yuntian. I have always been concerned about your safety. Otherwise, I wouldn't have let someone risk their life to send that message to you so that you would leave the Middle Continent Kingdom!”
The princess' cold eyes lit up after hearing this. She was especially beautiful as she murmured: “That's right, I received a message… to meet at the Plum Blossom Dock!” However, having said that, her expression turned cold again as she glared at him: “But Chu Yuntian never appeared at the dock! Haha, it was just another trick; only a woman named Bu Lianxiang would be dumb enough to believe it!”
“I have no defense against not going.” Li Qiye said: “Yes, I was at the Heaven Spirit World at that time. I sent a confidant to message you to meet at Plum Blossom in order to get you far away from the dynasty. The drums of war had sounded by then, a supreme battle was slowly coming. Later on, even if Tian Tu didn't destroy your dynasty, I would have led an army to do so myself.”
The princess sneered: “Right, you are the savior, the saint of the nine worlds, saving all of—”
“That's not important.” Li Qiye shook his head: “Regardless of how you see me, my bottom line will never change. I will make the Ancient Ming disappear from the nine worlds and destroy anyone who works together with them. Nothing will be able to bar my path. If you think that I would not destroy the dynasty because of you, then you are completely mistaken. I will not make compromises when it comes to my bottom line!” Li Qiye freely said while looking at the princess: “You can view me as a liar, a mass-murderer, or even a savior. You can mock me with disdain, it is all fine. I just want you to know that I can't change my creed for you!”
The princess didn't say anything in response and only sat there with a cold demeanor.
“I didn't care about them, the dynasty or the Ancient Ming!” She became absent-minded and murmured with her head down: “I didn't care to find out about the war!”
With that, she looked up at Li Qiye with a chilling smile: “But you still lied to me in the end, hahaha… There was a message that Chu Yuntian was dead… It was only a message. I didn't see his corpse or any of his belongings. I never even saw his shadow, yet I was so foolish as to search for him for the rest of my life. I wanted to find out where he died, where he was buried, who killed him. I even wanted to avenge him…”
With that, her eyes became wet, but she maintained her strong tone: “Only a foolish girl would believe in someone who doesn't exist. Because of this scam, she entered the Heavenly Corpse Burial Ground to become an Earth Immortal! She simply wished for the day that she could find Chu Yuntian's remains!” A teardrop finally dripped down from the corner of her eyes.
“Yes, it was just a plan.” Li Qiye helplessly said: “Back then, in order to find Chu Yuntian, you chased my generals all over the world! In order to end this needless search, I had to make Chu Yuntian disappear. However, I didn't expect that you would still want to find where he was buried!”
“Chu Yuntian, no, Dark Crow, or should I call you Li Qiye now… You have always been a liar!” The princess sneered: “If you weren't one, you should have just told me the truth!”
Li Qiye stayed quiet for a long time before looking at her and nodded his head: “Yes, I am a liar. All of the fault lies with me, so I came to resolve this today.”
“Haha, what now? Even the great teacher doesn't know how to defend himself?” The princess coldly laughed.
Li Qiye stared at her in a serious manner and calmly said: “There's no need since there is no reason to be defensive. I am here right now.”
She fiercely stared at him for a long time: “Aren't you always good at twisting the truth? Don't you always scheme and plan? Well, I want to hear your defense, give me an excuse right now!”
Li Qiye looked at her and paused for a bit. Eventually, he softly sighed and answered: “After your Middle Continent Kingdom was destroyed, there was no one else to keep Tian Tu in check. He wanted to capture me alive since he was aware of my secrets and wanted to take the items in my memories…”
“… So, I could only hide behind the scenes. I made my legions disappear from the nine worlds. I was biding my time to deliver a fatal blow to the Ancient Ming. Thus, I had to disappear during that period. The moment I showed myself, Tian Tu would have come killing and annihilated us.” Li Qiye sighed again at this point.
In fact, this was not just a justification. At that time, the situation really was as he described. He ordered several attacks against Immortal Emperor Tian Tu, but they were all unsuccessful and his generals suffered major losses. The most regrettable part to him was that if the Middle Continent Kingdom stood by his side at the beginning of that generation, or if Immortal Emperor Tian Tu didn't exist in this world, the Ancient Ming wouldn't have been powerful enough to rule the nine worlds and flourish for many generations.
“Haha, even our unbeatable great teacher had to hide at times?” She mocked.
To which he responded: “I have not always been unbeatable. The Ancient Ming was indeed very powerful. Tian Tu himself was an incredible Immortal Emperor. In that generation, I had no way of destroying the Ancient Ming and killing Tian Tu. I can only say that I wasn't strong enough then.”
“No matter what, as long as I can live on, I will be able to get through tough times. Perseverance will yield victory eventually.” Li Qiye slowly said.
Back when the Ancient Ming was at its most powerful state under Tian Tu, it was not an easy time for the nine worlds, the human race, and even him who would eventually become the teacher of Immortal Emperors. The enemy was simply too strong!
The princess thought quietly about that time. She was someone who had lived through that era and knew of its darkness, that it wasn't an easy period.
“It must have been very hard.” Just thinking about the nine worlds under the Ancient Ming's rule and the incomparable Immortal Emperor Tian Tu, the princess suddenly became absent-minded and actually blurted out such gentle words.
Looking back over the years, Li Qiye softly sighed: “It was bearable. I let my legions hide in the most dangerous locations. There had been tougher times before Tian Tu, so we were used to it, it didn't matter too much.”
Eventually, the princess looked up and exclaimed: “Anyway, no matter what kind of excuses you have, this doesn't change the fact that you are still a liar!”
“I know that I am a liar in your mind.” Li Qiye nodded solemnly: “Since I was in the wrong, I wanted to resolve this issue.” He continued on while looking into her eyes: “I have obtained my true body in this generation and I want to fight to the very end, so I must finish my unresolved business. Why did I come to the Heavenly Corpse Burial Ground to find you? Was it just for the Yin Yang Immortal Mirror? The truth is that I could have traded other people for imperial weapons at that place.”
“I looked for you specifically since I wanted you to know the truth!” He stared deeply into her eyes.