Chapter 404: A Loving Father and a Filial Child

Chiyan Imperial Capital.

Inside the General Law Enforcement Bureau, a man in gold-rimmed glasses flipped through various intelligence files, organizing and categorizing them.

The man was Du Jingzhe, the intelligence section chief of the General Law Enforcement Bureau.

As section chief, he had no need to organize files himself. He could have handed such tedious work over to his subordinates, yet he chose to do it personally.

It was not that Du Jingzhe was incredibly dedicated to his duties, but rather that the person inside his body had long since been replaced.

An exquisite Silver Ring sat on the middle finger of his left hand, reflecting a faint glow under the light.

Looking over the intelligence reports from recent years, Du Jingzhe pushed up his glasses, a mysterious smile touching his lips.

"Seven Deadly Sins... Sanctuary... Mad King, what exactly are you plotting?"

With the intelligence firmly committed to memory, he gently slipped the Silver Ring off his finger and tossed it out the window. It traced a perfect arc before vanishing into thin air, its destination unknown.

Inside the Chiyan Imperial Palace, the newly returned King Chi was peacefully recovering from her injuries. Her wounds this time were relatively light, primarily because an extra Gold King had joined the fray, and all Seven Kings had recently made progress, greatly increasing their strength.

Her method of recovery was simple: she poured expensive Healing Potions into steaming hot milk tea, then snacked on potato chips while drinking it. Lying in bed and flipping through magazines to maintain an immensely cheerful mood was very helpful for her injuries.

She piled her pillows and blankets together, leaning back against them in an extremely comfortable posture. Her body weight pressed into the soft blankets, forming a slight indentation that left her comfortably cocooned.

Her long, fair legs were crossed. With a magazine resting on her lap, she flipped the pages with one hand and stuffed potato chips into her mouth with the other.

Crunch, crunch... snap!

The crisp chewing sound abruptly stopped. King Chi's expression hardened, and she instantly sprang up from the bed, looking toward a dark corner of the room untouched by sunlight.

"Who's there! Show yourself before this King!"

Clatter, clatter...

It sounded like something was rolling.

Under King Chi's intense gaze, a perfectly round Silver Ring slowly rolled out from the shadowed corner.

King Chi slightly furrowed her brows. Raising her fair hand, a burst of scorching golden fire appeared in her palm, instantly distorting the surrounding air.

At that moment, the Silver Ring came to a stop. It didn't tip over; instead, it stood perfectly upright on the floor.

A deep, familiar voice rang out. "Mingyue, it is your royal father."

King Chi flew into a rage. "I'm your fucking father!"

She forcefully raised her hand, ready to blast the golden fire at it.

A wisp of white smoke hastily drilled out from the Silver Ring, shifting in the air to form an illusory figure. It was none other than the First Red King—Shangguan Chen.

"Mingyue, so many years have passed. Do you no longer recognize your royal father's voice?"

"Stop playing the ghost! That old bastard died ages ago. Who the hell are you?"

Shangguan Chen: "..."

A daughter truly changed as she grew up. He hadn't expected that after all these years, his own daughter would let herself go to such an extent.

"Mingyue, I really am your royal father. Do you remember when I took you boating on the lake as a child? You saw a fish in the water and insisted on jumping in to catch it. When I wouldn't let you, you kept crying."

Shangguan Chen intended to share some beautiful father-daughter memories to make King Chi believe him.

Who would have expected King Chi to coldly reply, "How old was this King when this supposedly happened?"

Shangguan Chen froze slightly, recalling for a moment. "You would have been one year old."

King Chi instantly grew furious. "You think you could fucking remember things at one year old?"

Shangguan Chen: "..."

He forcefully suppressed the rising anger in his heart and continued earnestly, "Then you must at least remember what happened when you were five, right? That year, you refused to eat proper meals and only ate potato chips every day. Your queen mother gave the order that no more potato chips were allowed in the palace. In the end, you came to me, and I secretly gave you a bag of potato chips. Do you remember?"

"I don't," King Chi said coldly.

Shangguan Chen: "..."

"This King only remembers that when I was ten, that old bastard threw me into a volcano crater, saying that if I couldn't awaken my phoenix bloodline, I should just die in there."

"Even a vicious tiger will not eat its cubs. Back then, I was merely scaring you. I hoped you would awaken your bloodline as early as possible, simply hoping my daughter would become a phoenix."

"Hmph. To say such things without a shred of shame... this King now believes your identity. Old fart, aren't you dead? How did you end up looking like a ghost?"

A surge of murderous intent flashed through Shangguan Chen's heart. If he didn't currently need Shangguan Mingyue, how could he possibly engage in superficial pleasantries with a fake daughter?

"Sigh." Shangguan Chen let out a deep sigh, a hint of desolation appearing on his face. "The reason your father ended up in this state is entirely because of Su Mu."

"Su Mu?" Shangguan Mingyue was taken aback. "What does this have to do with him?"

"I am now left with only a wisp of a remnant soul, and it was Su Mu who killed me! Mingyue, you were deceived by him! Back then, I was hunted down by the Primal Pope and fled to the Abyss. After reaching the Abyss, I barely managed to survive by relying on the power of the Supreme Heaven.

"I had been waiting all along, hoping for a chance to escape the Abyss. But my injuries were too severe, and with the multitude of monsters in the Abyss, my escape was continually delayed. As a result, not long ago, Su Mu entered the Abyss and found me.

"He claimed he was from the Chiyan Empire and had come to save me. I believed him, yet he launched a sneak attack on me. In the end, I died a tragic death, and the Supreme Heaven was also stolen by him."

"Wait a minute!" Shangguan Mingyue spotted a flaw. "You said the Supreme Heaven was stolen by Su Mu? You must be joking. The Supreme Heaven is clearly with Pride."

Shangguan Chen narrowed his eyes slightly. "Have you never suspected... that Su Mu is Pride?"

"How do you know about Pride? You should have been in the Abyss all these years."

"After my body died, only a wisp of a remnant soul remained anchored to the Supreme Heaven. Su Mu took the Supreme Heaven and left the Abyss, and I used that opportunity to escape. Afterward, I went through countless hardships before finally returning to the Chiyan Empire. Although I only have a wisp of a remnant soul left, I was, after all, a Saint Grade in the past, and a remnant soul still possesses a certain degree of might.

"During this time, I possessed ordinary people to learn about the various major events occurring in the Present World. Naturally, I know about the Seven Deadly Sins and Pride.

"That Su Mu and Pride possess the exact same abilities—they can both hide in another dimension where they cannot be attacked. And the Supreme Heaven was most certainly stolen by Su Mu. If, as you say, the Supreme Heaven is in Pride's hands, doesn't that explain everything?"

Shangguan Mingyue furrowed her brows tightly. "What is Saint Grade?"

"Saint Grade is the realm above the Gold King. It is precisely because I reached this realm that I can rely on a wisp of a remnant soul to survive in this world. Mingyue, do you still not believe your royal father?"

"This King still cannot be certain of your true identity."

Shangguan Chen suppressed his surging anger. Enduring with patience, he brought up several more secrets that only Shangguan Mingyue would know. After spending quite some time on it, he finally succeeded in convincing her of his identity.

"Even if you are my royal father, how could Su Mu possibly be Pride? Pride is a God, and he just fought a massive battle with Night Raven not long ago. Yet Su Mu is merely a Silver Transcendent..."

"Have you never suspected that everything is an Illusion Technique, and perhaps there simply never was any..."