Chapter 740 – Meeting the Emperor

　　Yan Zhonghua said lightly, “Dead people can’t reveal any secrets.”

　　Han Su shivered. “If I die, Tu Feng will undoubtedly suspect General Ling. When that happens, he won’t easily let go of those who ridiculed him. I hope everyone will think twice about this!”

　　He thought Ling Chigu had already been poisoned by the evil Gu, but he didn’t expect that Ling Chigu still had such strong self-awareness. How could Han Su not see that Ling Chigu was simply pretending in front of them, beginning to end?

　　Yan Huaizhen thought Ling Chigu listened to his orders alone, while Tu Feng took it for granted that Ling Chigu listened to his orders. Both of them were too confident in themselves and underestimated Ling Chigu too much.

　　But who could’ve thought that Tu Feng’s gu, which had never failed before, would actually have no effect on Ling Chigu!

　　Feng Jingyu glanced at Ling Chigu and asked in surprise, “Your identity hasn’t been exposed yet?”

　　Ling Chigu said smugly, “What a joke. Who am I? All I did was to pull out this opportunist and show him to you. Why would my identity be exposed from merely doing that?”

　　Feng Jingyu: “…”

　　Feng Jingyu narrowed his eyes again at Han Su. He suddenly curled his lips and said, “In that case, I can’t allow you to return alive. If you reveal something you shouldn’t and expose Ah Gu–”

　　“…I have another reason that I will never let Tu Feng know!” Han Su didn’t expect for his words to backfire, so he added hurriedly, “Yan Shuang is still in the northern border, working under Tu Feng. I can never act rashly!”

　　Feng Jingyu naturally knew about Yan Shuang. After all, after Ling Chigu’s death, this little-known boy actually took over Ling Chigu’s position.

　　“What’s your relationship with Yan Shuang?” Feng Jingyu asked.

　　“He is the one I’ve admired since I was a child.” Han Su sighed. Although he was reluctant, he still said, “Our two families are close friends. He was the only person in the Yan family who treated me well. After I came out of the dark abyss, I didn’t actually want to have anything to do with him, but I didn’t think that when I next heard about him, he had already become Yan Huaizhen’s bodyguard.”

　　In desperation, Han Su could only do his best to protect Yan Shuang’s road after he joined the army.

　　Tu Feng was very perceptive and easily saw through his feelings for Yan Shuang. Later, Yan Shuang experienced many promotions and soon took over Ling Chigu’s position of general. However, this meant that Tu Feng also had something he could use against Han Su.

　　“How many soldiers in this city and the entire northern border have been poisoned by gu?” Yan Zhonghua asked.

　　“Actually, there aren’t that many.” Han Su said, “Corpses account for less than 10% of the soldiers in the northern border. But the patrolmen in this city and the guards in the palace are mostly corpses who have been poisoned by evil gu. Although I don’t know how these corpses are refined, I also found that refining living people into evil corpses was simpler than refining dead people into evil corpses.”

　　This implication made everyone’s blood run cold.

　　If so, then those corpses thought to have been dead for a long time were actually first mind-controlled by gu while they were still alive, then had their bodies controlled and gradually became the nesting ground for gu, and finally died without even being aware that they had died?

　　Yan Zhonghua asked, “How many evil gu have he refined?”

　　Han Su shook his head and sighed. “That’s the critical question. Tu Feng didn’t invest a lot in evil gu because it took a lot of effort to refine them. But I guess he stayed in the shadows for so long because he was trying to refine more evil gu. After he has more of them, his power will reach a peak. I’m afraid he will start to stir up the Nine Lands when that happens.”

　　Ling Chigu took advantage of Tu Feng’s secluded cultivation to bring Han Su out. Naturally, he had to return Han Su quickly if he didn’t want to be exposed.

　　Unlike Yan Huaizhen, who had an uneasy and restless temperament, Ling Chigu’s mind had been trained on the battlefield over the years and could be regarded as extremely powerful. Even if Tu Feng directly called him out on his act, Ling Chigu wouldn’t even blink.

　　After returning to the Northern Liang Palace with Han Su, Ling Chigu saw Yan Huaizhen, who still looked alive. Although he would still talk to Ling Chigu and give him instructions, Ling Chigu was well aware that the current Yan Huaizhen was nothing more than a corpse controlled by evil gu.

　　Yan Huaizhen couldn’t remember that he was already dead, and he couldn’t remember all the things Tu Feng didn’t want him to remember. There were countless gu in his body. As long as Tu Feng gave an order, Yan Huaizhen would completely become a corpse.

　　……..

　　Yan Tianhen soon received the news from Yan Zhonghua.

　　Yan Zhonghua asked them to return to the Purple Emperor’s Heavenly Capital immediately and gave a general description of the current situation. He asked Reincarnation Palace to help the Qianyuan Dynasty gather all the large and small sects and families in the Nine Lands by sending invitations and jointly plan ahead to discuss how to eliminate evil spirits.

　　Lin Xuanzhi immediately sent a letter to three of the four envoys in Reincarnation Palace — with the exception of Yin Chongyue — and asked them to prepare this matter immediately.

　　On the way back to the Purple Emperor’s Heavenly Capital, Yan Tianhen said worriedly, “Dage, if we make such a big movement, won’t it cause Tu Feng to counterattack in advance?”

　　Lin Xuanzhi said lightly, “Tu Feng is obviously planning a big move and is waiting for the time to come. Ten thousand years ago, we were passively reacting to everything from beginning to end. We only tried to fix the situation after the disaster had already happened, but now we have to take the initiative to kill any schemes before it can happen again.”

　　Yan Tianhen thought for a moment, “Dage is right. If we wait until the enemy attacks first, it will be too late. But I’m afraid that we’re the only ones who currently know that the evil Qi cultivator who needs to be killed is the northern border’s Tu Feng, not Cangdi Fenglang.”

　　Lin Xuanzhi said, “But we probably won’t be able to fool Tu Feng.”

　　Yan Tianhen lowered his eyes, “Yan Huaizhen was too impatient and messed up a major event.”

　　Lin Xuanzhi said in a low voice, “The person I’m most worried about now isn’t Tu Feng — it’s you.”

　　Yan Tianhen was stunned. “Me? Why do you say that?”

　　Lin Xuanzhi hugged Yan Tianhen from behind. “But it doesn’t matter. I’ll do my best to protect you.”

　　Some people were deliberately spreading rumors all over the Nine Lands that Yan Tianhen was an evil Qi cultivator. Although most of these rumors had been secretly suppressed by Reincarnation Palace, they hadn’t actually found the source of the rumors yet. The speed at which the rumors spread was definitely much faster than the speed at which they were suppressing the rumors.

　　If it went on like this, it would be extremely unfavorable to Yan Tianhen.

　　The East Land wasn’t far from the Royal Heavenly Capital. It wasn’t long before they arrived at the power center of the Ninth Lands.

　　The Purple Emperor’s Heavenly Capital was surrounded by mountains. Viewed from a high place, it was spectacular. The imperial city was shrouded in an aura full of auspicious spiritual Qi. The other eight Lands had to pay a tribute of sparrow spirits every year, so this place naturally had the thickest spiritual Qi.

　　As soon as Yan Tianhen returned to the Purple Emperor Heavenly Capital, he ran to King Ye’s Palace.

　　Yan Zhonghua and You Ming had also arrived at King Ye’s Palace, so the four gathered there.

　　Yan Zhonghua asked, “Have you informed each sect?”

　　Lin Xuanzhi nodded. “The eighteen major sects and the sixty-four minor sects of the Nine Lands have been informed, and the time has also been announced. It will take place 20 days later, on the eight day of next month.”

　　This time was decided by Lin Xuanzhi and Yan Zhonghua after much discussion.

　　After all, from far to near, they should give everyone a chance to get here.

　　Yan Zhonghua said, “I’ve already sent invitations to all the aristocratic families in my name, and I’ve received replies.”

　　You Ming raised his eyebrows. “Before I came here, I went to the Demon Realm in passing and also informed the other two Demon Venerables about evil Qi cultivators, but they don’t plan to intervene. As for the Cangdi Fenglang you mentioned, I haven’t found him, nor have the other demons seen him. Nobody knows where he’s hiding.”

　　Although Yan Tianhen was disappointed, he didn’t insist. He said, “Even if I don’t look for him, he’ll come to me sooner or later, so there’s no hurry”

　　At this time, the servant came to the hall. “Lord, Consort, and Prince. His Majesty has just left closed-door cultivation and has sent someone to invite you to speak with His Majesty.”

　　Yan Zhonghua first paused slightly, then replied, “Inform the messenger that this King will go right away.”

　　After the servant left, You Ming frowned. “When we asked the Royal Heavenly Capital before we arrived, didn’t they say that he’s still at a critical point during his secluded cultivation and can’t be interrupted? Why did he leave closed-door cultivation so fast?”

　　Yan Zhonghua shook his head. “We’ll find out when we see him.”

　　He looked at Lin Xuanzhi. “Come with us.”

　　Lin Xuanzhi: “Okay.”

　　After all, Liu Xuanzhi was already a Grandmaster powerhouse, so his words also carried weight.

　　Yan Zhonghua also invited the aristocratic families from all over the world to come to the Royal Heavenly Capital. Due to force majeure, he did not get the emperor’s consent. If the emperor asked about the situation, Lin Xuanzhi could also speak up for him.

　　The four of them put on their formal clothes and went straight to the palace.

　　They hadn’t seen him for a long time, but the Emperor’s complexion looked very good.

　　Yan Zhonghua and his family made secular greetings, while Lin Xuanzhi just made a Daoist greeting to the Emperor.

　　The Emperor looked at Lin Xuanzhi. “During this time, what I heard most was the glorious deeds of Huarong Sword Venerable. He has already become a Grandmaster at such a young age. Such a young and promising talent is truly rare in this world.”

　　Lin Xuanzhi’s response was neither humble nor arrogant, “Thank you for your praise. Huarong is indeed more lucky than ordinary people in the path of cultivation.”

　　The Emperor smiled. “Not just more lucky, but much luckier. However, what is the relationship between you and Yan Tianhen?”

　　Yan Zhonghua’s heart jumped and he looked up at the Emperor.

　　Lin Xuanzhi looked at Yan Tianhen, then raised his head. “Ah Hen and I are Dao companions who love each other.”

　　“You sure have guts.” The Emperor chuckled. He narrowed his eyes and stared at Lin Xuanzhi. “Everyone calls you the Light of Daoism and the future of the orthodox Dao. Everyone says that you can establish a sect and break through the shackles of Nine Lands, open the passage to the upper realm, and ascend. If you ascend in the future, what will happen to Ah Hen?”

　　Lin Xuanzhi: “if I ascend, I will ascend together with Ah Hen, otherwise I might as well not ascend.”

　　The Emperor replied, “Anyone can say such words.”

　　Lin Xuanzhi looked at the Emperor, “I can swear a vow.”

　　The Emperor waved his hand. “I’ve never believed in vows. I’ll ask you again. If one day, Ah Hen dies, what will you do?”

　　Lin Xuanzhi’s complexion sank. After a while, he said, “I will naturally seek justice for him. Whoever dares to wrong him, I will make them all regret it.”

　　Yan Tianhen’s eyelids twitched and he hurriedly said, “Grandpa Emperor, I haven’t seen you for so long. How can you talk like I’m not here as soon as we meet again? Grandpa Emperor has been in seclusion for several years. Have you experienced any breakthroughs?”

　　Yan Zhonghua also said, “Father, this child also has important matters to discuss.”

　　The Emperor said: “I just asked a few questions, but you’re so overprotective. It’s as if this Emperor is making things difficult for Huarong.”