Shenguashi, the spirit created by Master Xiaoshi was, for the first time, utterly content. He had done it! He had found the Emperor! One to carry on Master Xiaoshi’s will, and defend Lady Tianlan! He had all the necessary traits. His intelligence, his conviction, his temperance—he was also mighty! Nearly as mighty as the one called Shen Yu, who had refused Shenguashi! A fine man to become Emperor! …of course he was already also Emperor of the rest of this massive continent. The one Bi De had shown him, the mighty Phoenix. But that did not matter! This was perhaps even better! Now Shenguashi could potentially convince the Emperor to use the rest of his Empire to protect the Azure Hills! How joyous! How amazing! “Hmmm. These memories are interesting. I can see why they were important, but not urgent,” the Emperor said, rubbing his chin. “It appears the scholars were wrong; the Qi Wastes are not naturally occurring parts of our planet, especially if that is what the Azure Mountains used to be like.” Both of the strongest cultivators who had entered Shenguashi’s crystal had been concerned with the same thing; both had expressed shock that the damage the Demons had done to Lady Tianlan had not been something natural—apparently, there were other parts of the world wherein the Earth Spirits had been consumed entirely. His directives urged him to advise the Emperor—just as they suddenly ran into conflict with another directive. (...)