But even so, the governor's manor took no action at all, completely ignoring the investigation for the Emperor Pavilion.
Because, there was simply no way to investigate. Governor Xia Hou himself clearly knew who were the ones who did it and the major powers who were the culprits only did so because they received his silent approval. How to investigate? Could he arrest himself?
Naturally, Xia Hou had to find a scapegoat to give an answer to the Emperor Pavilion to smooth the scandalous rumors and allow the Emperor Pavilion to reopen. If he did so, the amount of people cursing him would be lessened and in the future, no one else would dare to deliberately target the Emperor Pavilion or Xia Hou would have no face at all.
But Xia Hou wasn't even willing to do this. The arrogant him wanted the Emperor Pavilion to scram. In fact, he even wanted Di Tian's life.
An initial-stage immortal emperor, even if his dao of formations and weaponsmithing skills are heaven-defying, so what of it? As long as his strength was weak, there was always a way to kill him. At that time, he would be able to depend on these major powers to clean Di Tian up.
Time flowed by, many people were silently musing that this time around, the Emperor Pavilion might truly be finished. The governor's manor was determined to crush the Emperor Pavilion. Seems like Grandmaster Di must really have offended Governor Xia Hou or such a thing wouldn't have happened.
This exact same day two months later, although the Emperor Pavilion closed their auction and transaction grounds, they weren't completely shut down. At this moment, a female immortal emperor came knocking on their doors.
Mo Junyi received her at the entrance. This female immortal emperor had an extraordinary aura and her eyes glowed with spirit. There was even a sense of nobility radiating from her. She looked at Mo Junyi and asked, "Is Grandmaster Di Tian in?"
"Pavilion lord is currently in deep contemplation due to the current worrying circumstances." Mo Junyi smiled.
"I wish to invite Grandmaster Di Tian to forge a divine weapon for me. Can you help me pass the message to him?" That female immortal emperor asked.
"This…" Mo Junyi hesitated before she eventually nodded, "I'll report this to him and see if he is currently busy or not."
"Right." That female immortal emperor nodded. After that, Mo Junyi left and after Di Tian received the news, he extended his immortal sense outwards. When he saw the visitor, his eyes flashed with a bright light and he then smiled at Mo Junyi, "Please invite her in here."
Mo Junyi initially thought Di Tian would reject. She had a look of puzzlement on her face but she nodded her head. A moment later, she brought the female immortal emperor into the courtyard of Di Tian's residence.
"Grandmaster Di." The female immortal emperor nodded her head lightly when she saw Di Tian, she didn't really express her respect and merely exchanged a simple greeting.
"I heard that you are keen for me to forge you a weapon. I wonder what type of weapon do you need?" Di Tian asked.
"Grandmaster Di is proficient in forging emperor-ranked weapons with the sealing attributes. In that case, I want one of them too. Just a mid-grade emperor-ranked weapon would do. I have no particular preference towards the type of weapon." The female immortal emperor replied.
"I have a few already forged emperor-ranked weapons, you can choose one of them." With a wave of his hand, quite a few emperor-ranked weapons appeared. The eyes of the female immortal emperor flashed as she stared at the weapons as she silently mused that the rumors about Grandmaster Di's talent were real. It seemed that it was very simple for him to create emperor-ranked weapons, there would be auctions for his creations every month and a high-grade emperor-ranked weapon every year. It was like as long as he wanted to, he would be able to forge many powerful divine weapons.
The female immortal emperor chose a sword-type weapon. She then asked, "What is the price for this sword?"
"Five hundred high-grade emperor stones." Di Tian replied.
"As expected of a creation from Grandmaster Di. This mid-stage emperor-ranked weapon is actually valued with high-grade emperor stones." The female immortal emperor laughed. After that, she took out the five hundred emperor stones and passed them to Di Tian.
Di Tian bitterly smiled, "The Emperor Pavilion is about to be closed down permanently. In the future, I can only roam about aimlessly and can only depend on forging more divine weapons to earn cultivation resources."
"Speaking of which, I feel really curious. Right now, rumors are all around Lifire City. Grandmaster Di, how did you offend Governor Xia Hou? Is there no chance of the situation reversing?" The female immortal emperor asked with a smile.
"If there's a sliver of chance, I wouldn't have temporarily closed my Emperor Pavilion's auctions and transaction grounds. I feel there's no hope at all." Di Tian sighed as he shook his head. "I didn't merely offend Governor Xia Hou alone."
"Ah, what do you mean?" The female immortal emperor asked.
"Forget it, it's better not to say anything or there might be trouble." Di Tian waved his hands in dismissal.
"Grandmaster Di, I'm really curious after hearing all this. Please tell me why, I guarantee that I won't spread this around." The female immortal emperor urged.
"Sigh, since I'm someone that's about to leave, I guess there's no harm that I tell you this. It's the empyrean. I've offended him, how could I still have any chance to reverse the situation?" Di Tian's revealed eyes flickered with a desolate look.
"The Lifire Empyrean has always been in the Lifire Palace, it's very rare for outsiders to interact with him. How could Grandmaster Di have offended him?" The female immortal emperor felt even more curious as she continued to ask.
"The ignorant man is not guilty, but a person's talent might invoke envy in others. The Lifire Empyrean felt that my skills in forging weapons should be used solely by him. Hence, he got Governor Xia Hou to threaten me, telling me to join him as a vice governor and my creations will be gifted as contributions to the central governor's manor and the Lifire Palace in the future. If I don't agree, I should be prepared for my Emperor Pavilion to close down. Although I, Di, am not really that talented, I still have a streak of pride in me. How can I endure such coercion? I rejected Governor Xia Hou and as expected, I must have offended the Empyrean by doing so. As for the end result...you can already see it yourself."
Di Tian sighed with sorrow, appearing even more desolate.
"Given the sort of supreme character the Lifire Empyrean is, how could he be bothered by this with regards to you? Maybe everything is a misunderstanding?" The female immortal emperor frowned, but it only served to add to her beauty.
Di Tian stared at her appearance as he marveled silently in his heart. As expected of a woman by the side of the Lifire Empyrean, she truly has an extraordinary aura. In addition, the judgement of the Lifire Empyrean is truly not bad, he was able to nurture such a serving lady to wait on himself.
So it turned out that this female immortal emperor was none other than one of the two serving ladies of the Lifire Empyrean. Qin Wentian had met them several times, so how could Di Tian not recognize her?
But of course, he pretended to know nothing about her. He continued to sigh, "I initially also thought this way, how can a supreme character like the empyrean hold it against a minor character like me? But you have also seen reality. If it wasn't for the Lifire Empyrean expressing his will, how would Governor Xia Hou act so audaciously? He completely ignored the scandalous rumors and wishes for the Emperor Pavilion to close down completely. Why would he push me so far? I don't have any death grudge with Governor Xia Hou."
"The human heart is unfathomable. Di Tian doesn't know what the future will hold. It's best that I don't guess at things randomly or I may accidentally slander the Empyrean." The eyes of the female immortal emperor flickered with a faint arrogance when she heard that. Di Tian's eyes flashed, he stared at the female immortal emperor and asked, "Who are you exactly?"
"Grandmaster Di, do your best. Farewell." The female immortal emperor turned and directly soared through the air. Mo Junyi's beautiful eyes flashed, she was somewhat unhappy with that female immortal emperor's attitude and wanted to speak up many times earlier but was stopped by a voice transmission from Di Tian. This caused her to be extremely bewildered.
"This female immortal emperor is so proud of herself." Mo Junyi softly spoke.
"She's a woman of the Lifire Empyrean, how can she not be proud of herself?" Di Tian laughed. Mo Junyi froze as she stared puzzledly at Di Tian.
That female immortal emperor was actually the Lifire Empyrean's woman who came here for an anonymous visit? It seems that Di Tian must have purposely said those things to her.
It's just that Mo Junyi felt very curious. Why would a woman of the Lifire Empyrean come here to settle stuff? She must definitely not be the official wife and should be someone that's frequently around the empyrean instead. In that case, not many people would know of her identity or she wouldn't have strolled up to their entrance and entered the Emperor Pavilion so openly.
But how did Di Tian know of her? Mo Junyi was now extremely curious about Di Tian's true identity.
...
The serving lady of the Lifire Empyrean flew straight towards the central governor's manor after leaving the Emperor Pavilion.
Xia Hou naturally personally received her. He felt somewhat puzzled as he asked, "Fairy Purple Moon, why are you so free as to visit my governor's manor?"
"Why? Can't I come here?" There was a cold expression on the Purple Moon Immortal Emperor's face as she spoke to Xia Hou.
"I didn't mean it this way. It's just that Fairy Purple Moon would frequently accompany palace lord, this is the reason why I felt puzzled." Xia Hou shook his head. "Please, come in."
Although Xia Hou was one of the five governors, but this Purple Moon Immortal Emperor was the woman of the Lifire Empyrean. He, as a subordinate, although he has vast authority, how would he dare show disrespect to the Purple Moon Immortal Emperor? If he did so, wouldn't that be smacking the Lifire Empyrean's face?
"No need. I will leave after saying a few things." The Purple Moon Immortal Emperor coldly continued, "Are you involved in the Emperor Pavilion's troubles?"
Xia Hou's eyes flashed, he didn't understand the Purple Moon Immortal Emperor's meaning. Would such an incident startle the Lifire Palace?
"Xia Hou is frightened. Does the palace lord have any orders?" Xia Hou asked.
"The palace lord doesn't have any direct commands but you actually misspoke his intentions and used his name to do whatever you want, serving your own purpose?" The Purple Moon Immortal Emperor coldly snorted, causing Xia Hou to bow hurriedly. "Xia Hou doesn't dare to."
"You really don't dare to?" The Purple Moon Immortal Emperor coldly stared at Xia Hou. She then asked, "You best honestly answer my questions or be prepared to bear the consequences. Firstly, are you involved with the Emperor Pavilion's current troubles?"
Xia Hou's back instantly pesperied cold sweat. He didn't really care for the Purple Moon Immortal Emperor but her words might represent the Lifire Empyrean's will. He couldn't help but to take this seriously. He then asked, "I obeyed palace lord's command and went to invite Di Tian but that fellow was extremely arrogant and didn't even want to give the palace lord any face. He was simply way too brazen. As for this matter, I'm not involved in it, I only close one eye, wanting to give Di Tian some punishment."
"Let me ask you another question. When you went to recruit Di Tian, did you follow the palace lord's will? Did you tell him that should he agree, the Lifire Empyrean would give him a position equal to the five governors. You best answer me honestly." The voice of the Purple Moon Immortal Emperor turned serious. Although her cultivation base was inferior to Xia Hou, her aura was naturally extraordinary from spending time around the Lifire Empyrean.
She wasn't a fool and wouldn't believe Di Tian so simply just from what she heard. This was why she came here to question Xia Hou. As long as she compared their version of the story, she would be able to judge who was speaking the truth.
"Or more accurately, did you only tell Di Tian that he can be your subordinate? A vice governor?" The Purple Moon Immortal Emperor continued to probe upon seeing Xia Hou not answering the question. Xia Hou's expression kept changing and at this moment, the Purple Moon Immortal Emperor finally understood the truth. Seems like this Xia Hou has been too used to having power and felt that he is a lofty existence. Di Tian must have offended him before and he wanted to use this chance to deal with Di Tian. Seems like he really was paying lip service to the empyrean.
"My lady, please spare me. Xia Hou was only too keen on helping the Lifire Palace gain a valuable subordinate. I intended to accept him under me so as to properly groom him so that he could put all his efforts in the future to aiding our Lifire Palace in forging divine weapons." Xia Hou bent his waist, feeling some terror.
"What a great governor Xia Hou." The Purple Moon Immortal Emperor icily spoke. "You better settle this matter cleanly. The palace lord doesn't wish to hear any more gossips or scandalous rumors about the central governor's manor."
After speaking, she directly flicked her sleeves and left. Governor Xia Hou's face was extremely ugly to behold. Even now, he was still sweating cold sweat.