ah?The palace fighting system can also cultivate immortality

Chapter 248

Just as the Imperial Advisor was about to send a message to the palace, he found that his surroundings had changed.

The sudden change prompted him to immediately activate his protective techniques. The Imperial Advisor drew his usual sword and whip and became alert in all directions.

At that moment, he saw a powerful cultivator in the Integration Stage walk in from the other end of the empty room.

Imperial Advisor: Wait, wait a minute?!

Inside the alchemy furnace, Du Xinghe sat cross-legged. The slight increase in temperature was nothing to her and Ji Wuhuo. After setting up the protective array, Du Xinghe focused on the space created by the "Gu God Technique" and concentrated on dealing with the Imperial Preceptor, using torture to extract a confession.

To her surprise, the Imperial Preceptor's cultivation level was only at the Nascent Soul stage, not even at the Void Refinement stage.

Therefore, the clone of Emperor Yingcang in the Gu God Barrier simply struck out with a palm, and the Imperial Preceptor was slammed against the wall, bleeding from all seven orifices, and even moving a finger was difficult.

Du Xinghe slowly revealed herself. She approached the Imperial Advisor, tapped his face with the tip of her sword, and said with some disdain, "I thought you would fight to the death, is this all?"

Before the Imperial Advisor could speak, she had already found her own answer: "That's right. People like you who follow crooked paths can't endure hardship, nor would they have the determination to sacrifice themselves. If they really had the willpower, why would they choose to go down a crooked path?"

After saying that, Du Xinghe slowly pierced the tip of his sword into the heart of the Grand Preceptor.

The Imperial Advisor let out a silent scream, and Du Xinghe stopped just before the needle pierced his heart.

"Come on, tell me everything I want to know. I have quite a few questions, and I need your detailed answers to each and every one of them."

The icy aura of the sword swiftly froze the blood that was about to spurt from the Grand Preceptor's chest, saving his life by a hair's breadth. Du Xinghe gripped the hilt firmly and asked:
What happened with Consort Ji's pregnancy?

With Du Xinghe's sword pressed against the Grand Preceptor's heart, he dared not breathe too heavily. His dark eyes were now bloodshot with terror, and he naturally told the Xuan Emperor and his entire scheme in detail.

The most fundamental reason was that the loss of the dragon vein triggered a major outburst of anxiety in Emperor Xuan.

With the dragon vein nowhere to be found, Emperor Xuan searched almost the entire mountain and sea but could not locate it. He could only pathologically seek other ways to increase his sense of security.

The Samsara Academy has always used unorthodox methods to refine pills to appease the Xuan Emperor. But the Xuan Emperor still felt it wasn't enough, because in his view, pills refined from children still couldn't help him cross the final step of the Integration Stage.

The imperial advisor, to alleviate his worries, offered an extremely insidious plan:

The reason why the pills being refined so far are not potent enough is that the raw materials used in the alchemy are not good enough.

The Samsara Institute has already tried using cultivators in the Void Refinement stage as medicine. What could be a better raw material than this?

Yes, of course there are.

That was the true imperial lineage, the bloodline of the Xuan Emperor, his own child.

"Actually... His Majesty has wanted to try this method for a long time. He's been raising the Second Prince, keeping him alive, just waiting for the day he can throw him into the alchemy furnace..."

Du Xinghe recalled the somewhat simple-minded child who only wanted to please his father through cultivation, and his anger flared up: "Even tigers don't eat their cubs, how dare you—"

The Imperial Advisor, suppressing his fear, continued, "...But His Majesty did not choose the Second Prince. This is because the Second Prince was born with a flawed soul, making him mentally challenged. This was a warning from Heaven to His Majesty; His Majesty interpreted it as a reminder that the sacrifices were insufficient. Therefore, His Majesty decided to conceive a new child, and the best mother was the Consort of the Ji family, possessing the spiritual root of water and heaven, a superior vessel..."

Du Xinghe asked, "Then why make Consort Ji pregnant with a stillborn child? Wouldn't a living, healthy fetus be better?"

"No!"

The Imperial Advisor used his expertise to refute Du Xinghe's claim: "That's not true at all... We conducted experiments using children in alchemy in the past and discovered that the soul has different effects on the medicinal properties. Some children harbor deep resentment, which can even cause the medicinal properties to dissipate. Therefore, stillborn fetuses without souls are the most stable raw materials. What we need is simply a mass of flesh and blood with His Majesty's bloodline; the soul is completely useless..."

"What about the Heavenly Dao sacrifice? Did you open the Fog Gate just to sacrifice living people to the Heavenly Dao?"

The Imperial Advisor coughed up blood, and in his trembling state, the tip of the sword went in another millimeter, which frightened him so much that he immediately stopped moving.

"That was an accidental discovery we made while refining pills! When we use living people as medicine and roast their souls, a strange smoke is produced. When this smoke gathers in one place, it can vaguely open a door that connects to the Jade Capital. I deduce that after a person dies, their soul returns to heaven and earth, so roasting the soul can communicate with heaven and earth and open the Heavenly Gate."

Du Xinghe felt a chill run down his spine upon hearing this.

What kind of beasts are these, actually thinking of opening the gates of heaven by roasting the souls of living people!
What's even crazier is that their goal goes far beyond that!

"But opening the Heavenly Gate requires an extremely large amount of spiritual power. If Your Majesty wants to ascend, these scattered children's souls are not enough. You need more people and more spiritual power."

Du Xinghe gritted his teeth and asked, "How could it not be enough? They, those people swallowed by the Fog Gate, they—"

"What Your Majesty seeks is not for yourself to ascend to the heavens," the Imperial Advisor said softly. "If only one person ascends to the heavens, how can Your Majesty still be Your Majesty? Even if you go to the Jade Capital, Your Majesty will still be the emperor."

"His Majesty wants to ascend to heaven with the entire Xuandu, including the dragon vein, the entire palace, and all his servants."

This is insane. Du Xinghe's facial muscles twitched slightly; she found herself too exhausted to even comment on Emperor Xuan's mad plan.

Clearly, this man is a top-tier villain, rotten to the core, and everything he does is for his own benefit.

The Imperial Advisor was already engrossed in his plan and continued speaking unaffected: "The amount of spiritual energy required for Xuan Du to ascend is unknown, so... I conducted an experiment."

Du Xinghe repeated: "...Experiment?"

"Yes, the fog gate in the Immortal Alliance Grand Competition was an experiment."

As the Grand Preceptor spoke, a look of madness and excitement appeared on his face: "The Fog Gate has devoured many cultivators. How long can the spiritual power of these cultivators sustain the Fog Gate's opening? How many people need to be devoured to support the ascension of the entire Xuandu? How can we lure more cultivators into the Fog Gate? Although it did not devour you and Ji Wuhuo, the data obtained is enough for me to calculate."

Du Xinghe suppressed the urge to stab the Imperial Advisor to death with his sword and asked, "What is the result of the calculation?"

“One fog gate is far from enough; it wouldn’t even be enough to swallow up the ten continents, let alone succeed before the Immortal Alliance can react,” the Grand Preceptor said. “Therefore, we have set up an array, laying down ten thousand fog gates throughout the continent.”

Ten thousand fans.

The Xuan Emperor intended to use the entire continent to elevate him to the White Jade Capital, where he would continue to reign supreme and prosper for eternity.

"When does he plan to open the fog gate?" Du Xinghe asked.

"It's not decided yet. His Majesty wants to wait until the Imperial Concubine gives birth. Once that child is born, we'll immediately start the furnace and test the medicinal properties of this one. If the medicinal properties are sufficient, then all the other women in the harem can—uh! Ah! Ahh ...

The Imperial Advisor's arm fell to the ground with a "thud," and he let out an extremely shrill scream.

Du Xinghe placed the sword against his neck and asked sharply, "How do you close the fog gate?"

"I, I don't know..."

"Then go tell me in hell!"

The Imperial Advisor's voice became shrill and distorted: "No, we can't close it! We can only wait until the spiritual energy absorbed by the Fog Gate is exhausted, or the burning souls completely dissipate. There is currently no way to forcibly close the Fog Gate!"

Du Xinghe slowly exhaled a breath of turbid air, then flicked out her scorpion tail and plunged it fiercely into the Imperial Preceptor without hesitation, signing a chain contract with him.

A purple chain was attached to the Grand Preceptor's neck. Du Xinghe yanked the chain hard, pulling the Grand Preceptor down to his knees.

"Once we get back, find me the map of the Fog Gate Formation," she said coldly. "If you disobey my orders, I can obliterate your soul with a single thought."

As the Gu God's barrier gradually dissipated, Du Xinghe, who was cultivating in the underwater abyss, sensed something.

Du Xinghe, in her dragon form, received the memories and messages from the Xuan Kingdom. After digesting them for a while, almost as soon as she finished, several incredibly violent sword energies shot out from her body, carving deep marks on the walls of the underground cave with a "boom".

Emperor Ying Cang opened his eyes and could clearly sense the emotional turmoil of Du Xinghe. However, he was somewhat bewildered and did not know what Du Xinghe was angry about.

Is it because you've encountered a bottleneck in your cultivation?

Or did she feel she was getting too close and that she was in the way?
But he carefully maintained the safe distance that a man and a woman should have, and didn't get too close to her...

Emperor Ying Cang was caught in a cycle of internal strife and self-reflection. Du Xinghe ignored his inner turmoil, stretched his body, and prepared to bid farewell to Qinglong.

"Has something happened in Xuan Kingdom?"

Azure Dragon surfaced in surprise. After a moment of focused perception, her massive head turned towards Du Xinghe, her expression grave. "The black aura has been hanging over the Xuan Dynasty for a long time. I can't sense exactly what's happening, as it's just a matter of more or less dark clouds. Since you say the Xuan Emperor intends to defy the heavens and sacrifice all living beings, it's best to stop him now. I will inform the other divine beasts; if the great calamity truly arrives, we will all do our part."

Du Xinghe bowed solemnly to the Dragon Lord: "Thank you. Your Majesty and I must hurry to the Immortal Alliance to deliver the message, so we will not stay any longer."

Azure Dragon gazed intently at the aura of Crossing the Star River and reminded him, "A great calamity is approaching. You bear the dragon vein and have the responsibility to protect all living beings. When seeking a way to avert this calamity, remember to uphold your own path and do not let right and wrong cloud your judgment."

Du Xinghe nodded: "I've got it."

She and Emperor Yingcang rose into the air and sped towards the location of the Immortal Alliance.

"Your Majesty, my other self is still imprisoned at the headquarters of the Samsara Academy. Didn't you say you left a clone in the Xuan Kingdom? Could you send that clone to help me?"

Emperor Ying Cang did not hesitate at all: "Alright."

"The Xuan Emperor wants to open ten thousand fog gates. If he succeeds, the world will surely be plunged into chaos." Du Xinghe gritted his teeth. "We can't clear all the fog gates with just the strength of a few of us. We must tell the Immortal Alliance about this and let cultivators from all over the world find a way to break the curse."

If all else fails, evacuate as many people as possible to places that the fog gate cannot reach!