88. Confession
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Central Sky Realm was not new to Calamity, but the previous day's events were chilling, even for age old immortals.
By now, word of Jin Lan's and the Floral Deity's misdeeds had swept through Central Sky Realm and rumours of the Demon King's return were already flying around.
The crystal array surrounding the floating gold and white central city had been reinforced, and Sky soldiers were dispatched in masses around the City, which only heightened the rumours, spreading a mild panic amongst most immortals.
From the previous night, the Sky Emperor, Zhurong Tianlong, had already assigned an ancient immortal, a *Baize, to temporarily take on the mantle of Fate Immortal, and he was instantly tasked to alert the Wulin and every Immortal in the Mortal Realm, urging them to be prepared,
and extra watchful of any Floral Clan members around them.
Next, a set of immortals with Sun Liang leading them, were sent to secretly watch every Floral clan member still within Central Sky Realm, or outside the Floral Realm.
It wouldn't be fair to assume every single one was involved in the treasonous acts, but it would also be foolish to ignore them.
Finally, at dawn's earliest light, Tianlong summoned the War Deity and Sky Generals to the cliff of destruction.
"Hmph. The sun is bound to set, and peaceful times are bound to fade away..." The War Deity mused aloud, as he and the Sky Generals headed for the cliff.
The current War Deity was an old nine-tailed fox, leader of the Fox Clan, and a Grand Immortal feared by many, as he controlled most of Sky Realm's military force with the aid of the three Sky Generals, all High Immortals which comprised an Eagle, a Merman, and another Fox.
"But is this 'Demon King' rumour to be believed? Isn't this just that Floral Deity misbehaved in the mortal realm?" General *Eagle, the youngest, wondered aloud. "She is throwing a tantrum to evade punishment... Why all this fuss?"
(*Can't be bothered with their names! (?^?^?))
"Shut your wide mouth." The War deity spoke calmly, but his voice thundered.
"To be a Sky General, one must recognize the flows and tides of war...
Even if we ignore the Demon King's possible return, haven't you heard that there are suddenly hundreds of thousands of trained members of the Floral clan?
"This means the innocent looking, peace loving floral deity sky Realm has known for almost a millennia was a lie, and she has been secretly raising an army.... That is enough to cause a stir on its own, but when you add that to how poisonous some of the celestial flowers can be,
you wouldn't underestimate the situation." He shook his head.
"In the same line, there are numerous medicinal flowers. If floral deity does something to affect the growth of all flowers outside floral realm, would you still speak so light-heartedly?"
General Eagle could indeed only 'shut his wide mouth'.
If that happened, it would cause an uproar as sick mortals and immortals alike, or their families and loved ones, might shift loyalties to get resources from the floral realm, leading to a scary shift in power.
'I never knew flowers could be so dangerous!' He thought, as they landed on the cliff of destruction...
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The Cliff of Destruction was a vast but plain rocky clearing, and the first things to meet one's eyes upon getting here, were the platforms for imprisoning the worst of criminals.
These platforms were not too wide in diameter- just enough for a single prisoner to sit in the lotus position, and a little extra space around them to avoid touching the edges.
This was because, once activated, these platforms became a cylindrical cage of pure lightning which burned everything on contact or impact, and the lightning was powerful enough to trap even a Grand immortal.
In fact, in Sky Realm's vast history, there was only one record of an immortal ever escaping from within....
During Yin Xiaolong's brief arrest in the past he had somehow destroyed the cell, and this was despite the power-sealing shackles on his wrist and ankles. He hadn't run away, but had comfortably reclined atop one of the nearby rocks...
At present, the War deity shook his head, recalling the memory.
Right now only one platform was activated to his far left, and Jin Lan sat within, a smug smirk on his lips.
Meanwhile, Tianlong stood at the edge of the cliff with his back to them, looking down into the Sea of Fate, and floating beside him was a glowing gold air talisman to capture the event.
The War Deity and Sky Generals instantly knelt, linking their thumbs and bowing their heads.
"Paying respect to the Sky Emperor!" They chorused.
Tianlong turned to them saying, "Rise." ...and then turned back to the Sea of Fate as they rose.
"I summoned you here because we must plan for the possible war, and decide what stance would be best. Do we strike first, or wait for them to strike first?
"But before that..." His hand rose, a finger pointed at Jin Lan's cage. "War deity, you might need to use heart-probing on that low-life over there, so we have more information."
The three Generals gasped.
Heart-Probing was a painful and intrusive technique locked within a ring, thankfully only worn by the War deities, and only to be used with the express permission of the Sky Emperor.
Heart-Probing was often referred to as the 'Immortal version' of Soul Searching...
But Heart-Probing was much more advanced and much much worse!
Soul-Searching didn't work on Immortals, and depending on talent, Immortals of all levels could block or blanken their minds against the usual mind reading techniques, sometimes going as far as even manipulating or erasing their own thoughts to hide information.
But with Heart-Probing, one could literally probe in with their aura to read the currents of another's heart and mind, piercing the veil of their intents for information.
And no immortal beneath Grand Immortal could ever evade the Heart-Probing technique.
However, the technique was so strong and powerful that the probing process was excruciatingly painful, and whoever's heart was probed would face such pain for hours, likely never recovering from it afterwards.
In the worst cases, immortals were known to lose their minds completely, lose their entire cultivation, or even become vegetables.
Which was why Jin Lan's smug smirk had vanished, replaced with fear and disbelief.
"Impossible! You can't harm me! Even if you're Sky Emperor, you can't break the law!" Jin Lan spoke with rising panic. "Sky Realm laws state that a Royal can't be harmed without their direct ruler's consent!"
There was indeed such a law, put in place to check and balance the Sky Emperor's power, but...
"Fool." The War deity spoke, and the generals shook their heads. "There's an exception when Sky Realm is under threat. Right now that law can protect your life, but nothing else."
And this point was driven home when Tianlong finished by saying, "Once we're done, you can return him 'alive' to the floral realm."
Jin Lan's face now showed sheer terror.
"Oh? I like your new expression." Tianlong barely turned his head as his irises found the lightning cage. "Since I appeared, I said nothing to you and simply stood here.
"That's because the only words I want to hear from your mouth, are the things we need to know. So you have a choice... Will you speak willingly?"
He turned back to the Sea of Fate. "Or does the war deity need to move...?"
Jin Lan was instantly kneeling and linking his thumbs in a polite bow.
"Please spare me! I'll say everything I know!"
There was a short silence with Jin Lan's heart audibly racing, and Tianlong's silence seemed like he sorely wished Jin Lan would have chosen to suffer.
"Speak." Tianlong finally ordered, and a few minutes passed with Jin Lan confessing in a panicked rush, and as he spoke, Tianlong struggled to maintain his composure each time one of his suspicions were reconfirmed...
"...I don't know who she is, but the floral deity obeys her, so we follow everything she says, and she possesses immense power...!"
It was the cloaked woman who had raised soldiers through the years, even before thirty-thousand years ago, and she had sent the late empress to sow discord between Tianlong and Yin Xiaolong.
But the empress eventually grew defiant which led to her death...
As for Jin Lan, he had light blue hair like Zhurong Fen, and a similar countenance which made it easy for Fei Yun to take him in.
But of course he had been planted in Fate Hall to fuel Fei Yun's hatred, and he had planting the dark-heart flower around Fate Villa- a flower which channeled a person's dream to their deepest grievances, ensuring they never moved past them.
And he was also sent to tamper with the fate mirrors whenever the black dragon was attacking...
"But I don't know why! All I know is that the cloaked woman also vanished around the same time! I don't know anything else!" Jin Lan eventually bowed, touching his forehead to the ground.
"Please spare me! Give me another chance!"
Tianlong somehow found the strength for a calm response.
"Spare you...? Did you spare your own comrades? Even if you had evil intents, those disciples have worked beside you for thousands of years.
"Yet you didn't hesitate to kill them, and you've been hurting your master for so long- a master who took you under his wing, and it's only your own fear that makes you repentant now.
"Your fate was already sealed, whether you spoke or we pried the information out of you."
He turned to the War deity. "Have him lightning-whipped before the families of the lost, then destroy his immortal bones and dump him before the Floral Realm gates. Let them decide his fate."
"Understood." The War deity bowed, and Tianlong turned his gaze on Jin Lan.
"We'll preserve your life, but your confession just betrayed floral realm... I wonder how they will receive you!"
'It's over... It's completely over!' Defeated, Jin Lan sat heavily as the War deity waved a hand, instantly shrouding his cage within a black orb, so he wouldn't see or hear anything of their continued discussion...
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