Chapter 869: He Chunhua's Fate

He Lingchuan was temporarily safe. The mark in his mind had indeed not been erased, but the god’s avatar couldn’t descend either.

He realized he had been manipulated by He Lingchuan all along! No, not just him! Nai Luotian had also been manipulated by He Lingchuan all along! From start to finish, they had both been led by the nose, unable to escape the elaborate trap He Lingchuan had set.

A chilling realization settled in He Chunhua’s heart. That was definitely not his eldest son, absolutely not! In just one year, Chuan’er couldn’t possibly have grown so cunning, almost to the point of being a demon! Which meant…

He composed himself, taking two deep breaths to calm his mind. It seemed there had to be some connection between He Lingchuan and the Grand Cauldron. Otherwise, how could He Lingchuan be certain that the Grand Cauldron would trap Nai Luotian’s avatar instead of destroying it outright? Two years ago, in the Coiling Dragon Secret Realm, the god’s avatar summoned by Nian Songyu had been swallowed whole by the black dragon. Hmm, could that god’s avatar still be alive, merely trapped within the Grand Cauldron?

Various thoughts swirled in his mind, a tangled mess that even He Chunhua’s astute intellect struggled to unravel.

Nai Luotian noticed his unusual state. "Have you remembered something?" it asked.

He Chunhua immediately cast aside his distracting thoughts, refusing to discuss them with Nai Luotian. Instead, he focused on one thing: "Divine Lord, what about my fate line from now on...?"

"The mists have cleared," Nai Luotian replied. "In your human terms, it now shows the 'Nine-Five position'!"

"The Nine-Five... position?!" He Chunhua swallowed, struggling to believe his ears.

"You... you mean?" he stammered. Was he destined to be an emperor?

Nai Luotian hummed in affirmation, a clear positive response.

Overjoyed, He Chunhua sprang to his feet, but his injuries flared, sending him back down with a wince. "Thank you, Divine Lord! Finally, I've finally waited for this day!" This was the destiny granted to him by the god of fate—no, this was a preordained certainty! He had endured humiliation and shouldered heavy burdens for twenty years! He had protected the borders and defended the nation for twenty years! He knew that Heaven was bestowing a great responsibility upon him! With his ancestors as witnesses, his vows of vengeance and bringing glory to his family were finally about to be realized!

"Don't rejoice too soon!" Nai Luotian poured cold water on his enthusiasm. "Destiny is not set in stone. If you don't cherish it, it will pass to someone else. If you cannot bear this fortune, your entire family will be beheaded!"

He Chunhua's eyes were red, and his ecstatic energy refused to subside. "Divine Lord, please instruct me!"

"You fought well in those campaigns to quell the southern rebellion. But have you thought about what comes next?" Nai Luotian said calmly. "There's a saying among humans: a rotten boat still has three pounds of nails. Lord Yuan won't willingly cede the throne to you."

Does fighting well make one an emperor? Ke Jihai and Zhao Pan were also great generals skilled in warfare. Why didn't they seize the throne? Was it because they didn't want to? The Grand Marshal in the north had been scheming for years; would he simply stand by and let He Chunhua rise to power?

He Chunhua took several deep breaths, trying to suppress his surging emotions. "After quelling the southern rebellion, I do have a few ideas. However, my military strength and forces aren't robust enough, and I don't have sufficient time." He had only been the Governor of Xiazhou for a year and a half. Although he had diligently managed the province, Xiazhou was not a fertile land. During Nian Zanli's rebellion as the Governor of Xunzhou, Xiazhou had to continuously supply Zhao Pan's army at the front lines, which hampered He Chunhua's own rapid growth in power. Despite achieving several successive victories, He Chunhua remained clear-headed, fully aware of his weaknesses. If his current forces were to directly confront the Grand Marshal in the north, they would likely suffer devastating losses. Troops, provisions, and talent—these were his immediate needs. But what he lacked most critically was time. Time to cultivate his forces and grow stronger.

He subconsciously glanced at his shoulder injury, which he had deliberately allowed Zhao Qinghe to inflict upon him in the Coiling Dragon Secret Realm.

Nai Luotian slowly said, "I have a group of followers and some additional power that you can command. These are far more powerful than the forces you currently possess!"

He Chunhua rejoiced, "Thank you, Divine Lord!" A god would not help him without reason. Especially after his significant setback in the Coiling Dragon Ruins, and after he caused Nai Luotian to lose an avatar, Nai Luotian not only didn't punish him but actually increased its assistance. This was definitely not normal, even after his destiny supposedly revealed the "emperor's appearance." Could a god truly value a human emperor? What had prompted Nai Luotian's change in attitude? Was it related to the "extremely important ability" it had lost? Or had something happened in the divine realm that made it rely more on the human world? There must be some hidden reason he wasn't aware of! Regardless, knowing that Nai Luotian still needed him, He Chunhua felt greatly reassured. For now, he only needed to be overjoyed.

"If I ascend to the throne, you shall be the chief god worshipped by my nation!"

Nai Luotian would not be fooled by such a distant promise. "After you return to Yazhou, you must make a covenant with the god Kunsui and be marked by him!"

God Kunsui? He Chunhua seemed to have heard the name somewhere. There were countless gods in the heavens, and ordinary people might not know the less prominent ones. But the words "be marked" made his heart pound. "Divine Lord, what does that mean?"

"You know perfectly well," Nai Luotian sneered. "Kunsui is a subordinate god under me. Whatever covenant He Lingchuan signed, you will sign the same with Kunsui!"

Nai Luotian wanted him to voluntarily become a vessel for the god Kunsui? He Chunhua's expression changed. "Divine Lord, I know nothing about the god Kunsui..."

Currently, he and Nai Luotian had a cooperative relationship, but once this covenant was signed, it would become a master-subordinate relationship. If the god wanted him dead, he would die, utterly powerless to resist. For a man like him, having his life and death in another's hands was truly more painful than anything. This was how it was over twenty years ago, and now it was like this again over twenty years later?

"It is utterly loyal to me, far more loyal than you, at least. Dedicating your life to it means dedicating your life to me," Nai Luotian said slowly. "What, are you unwilling?" This cunning human surely didn't think all the help it provided came without a price, did he?

He Chunhua swallowed. "How could I be, it's just..."

Nai Luotian interrupted him. "For your victory, the divine power I expend from now on will be at least ten times what it was before! Not just you, even I must win; there can be no defeat, or else we face eternal damnation! If you cannot do this, I can only bestow my blessings upon someone else."

He Chunhua's thoughts raced. Even with his decisive nature, he couldn't answer immediately. What joy could there be in being a monarch if his life and fate were still in someone else's hands? How could he be considered supreme?

Nai Luotian softened its tone. "Do you think you are nobler than the vassal demon kings of Beijia?"

He Chunhua was greatly surprised. "They also sign such covenants?"

"The lives and deaths of the vassal demon kings are directly controlled by the gods of Lingxu!" Nai Luotian scoffed. "Otherwise, how could Lingxu City consistently control the various demon vassal states? In Beijia's six hundred years of history, rebellions by vassal demon states have been few and far between, and even then, they occurred during transitions of power. A crucial internal reason is that every vassal demon king must sign a covenant under the watchful eyes of the gods of Lingxu!" As for the specific contents of the covenant, it did not mention them. He Chunhua suspected that it might not even know everything.

"So that's it! So that's it!" He Chunhua had heard this question debated by scholars and notables more than once. Some had even speculated that the demon vassal states must have some vital element controlled by Lingxu City. Though not entirely accurate, it wasn't far off. The mystery that had baffled the world for centuries was, in fact, this simple? Once revealed, it seemed trivial. Yet he also understood that to control people for extended periods, the simpler and more straightforward the method, the better.

He Chunhua couldn't help but ask, "But the vassal demon kings seem to... always act as they please?" The relationship between the demon vassal states and Lingxu City was considered a model of the era; the former maintained considerable autonomy and were not entirely subservient to the latter. This delicate art had captivated countless political theorists in other regions.

"That is because the covenant contains detailed provisions preventing gods from arbitrarily taking the lives of vassal demon kings; it's a binding agreement for both parties. Furthermore, gods rarely concern themselves with internal conflicts within human nations," Nai Luotian explained. "The covenant you will sign with the god Kunsui is precisely this type of agreement. As for the terms, you can review them then."

He Chunhua nodded. "I understand." What he was thinking, however, was why Nai Luotian didn't sign the covenant with him directly. Was it unwilling, or unable? Wouldn't it be more reassuring to have a person like He Chunhua directly under its control? Indeed, indeed, the information he had secretly gathered—that a god could only send one avatar to the human world—seemed to be true!