You, a tyrannical ruler, roam the heavens; you cannot understand my joy.

Chapter 319: Accumulating the power to break through the nine heavens.

The night was as dark as ink, enveloping the city of Nanjing.

The fine snow had stopped sometime ago, leaving only a biting, dry cold. The wind swept across the palace walls and eaves, making a mournful wail, like countless ghosts crying in the dark.

In the quiet room of the Imperial Study, a solitary lamp, small as a bean, stubbornly burned, the only unextinguished light of clarity deep within the imperial city in this dark night.

Lu Zuo had been sitting in meditation on the futon for nearly two hours.

The true energy of the "Imperial Ultimate World-Suppressing Technique" completed another cycle in the broad and resilient meridians, sinking into the dantian like a river flowing into the sea, nourishing and strengthening it. Immediately afterwards, he focused his mind, sinking all his thoughts into the ancestral aperture between his eyebrows, and began to cultivate the "Spiritual Rhinoceros Forging Divine Method".

The mental "spot" in my visualization was slightly clearer and more solid than yesterday, like a flickering candle flame in the wind—weak, yet more stable.

He abandoned all distracting thoughts and, following the instructions of the Dharma, guided this faint spiritual power to slowly outline and rotate in the "void" of the ancestral aperture, forming an extremely small "vortex of divine thought" that contained a certain rhythm.

Each time I concentrate and outline my thoughts, I feel a tingling or even slight pain deep between my eyebrows, as if I am forging an invisible piece of raw iron.

This is the tempering that spiritual power must endure when it is forcibly condensed and purified.

Sweat seeped from his forehead and temples, quickly turning cold.

But his will was as firm as iron, and he remained unmoved.

He could feel that, amidst this pain and focus, his five senses seemed to become more acute.

He could "hear" the slightest friction of the armor plates when the guards changed shifts further outside the palace, he could "smell" the subtle changes in the smell of dust and old wood mixed in the air, and he could even vaguely "perceive" the faint mental fluctuations of Eunuch Liu waiting under the corridor outside the Imperial Study, filled with worry and awe.

Suddenly, an extremely faint yet unusual "fluctuation" was detected by his nascent and still-crude consciousness, like a grain of sand thrown into a still lake.

This fluctuation was neither sound nor smell, but more like a...

The lingering emotions were a mixture of fear, despair, and a hint of inhuman, cold malice.

The source appears to be in the southeast direction of the palace, quite far away, near the boundary between the outer court and the palace wall.

Lu Zuo felt a slight chill in his heart, slowly stopped his practice, and opened his eyes.

His eyes shone with a brilliance that was even more profound than before.

The "Spiritual Rhinoceros Forging Divine Method" was indeed miraculous. On his first formal practice, he gained a perception that surpassed that of ordinary people. Although the range was limited and the perception was vague, it was still extraordinary.

"Southeast direction..."

Lu Zuo got up, walked to the window, and pushed it open a crack.

A biting cold wind rushed in instantly, invigorating him.

In that direction, there are palaces where concubines lived, as well as "servants' quarters" where low-ranking palace maids and eunuchs lived, and passageways leading to royal gardens outside the palace and some idle government offices.

What could that eerie fluctuation filled with negative emotions be?

Demons? Have they already infiltrated so deeply into the palace?

Or... is there something unclean hidden in the palace itself?

Considering the wolf demon's description of the "Queen" possibly residing in the "most central, most prosperous, and also darkest" place, could this imperial palace be...?

He summoned Eunuch Liu.

"Your Majesty, what are your orders?" Eunuch Liu asked cautiously, rubbing his hands, which were red from the cold.

"In the southeast corner, near the abandoned garden and the ice cellar, has anything unusual happened recently? Or... has anyone died?" Lu Zuo asked casually, as if it were just a casual question.

Eunuch Liu was taken aback. After thinking carefully, he said in a low voice, "Your Majesty, this old servant has not heard of anyone dying over there."

"But... I overheard some of the underlings gossiping that the old eunuch Chen who guards the abandoned garden has been acting strangely for the past few days. He keeps saying that he hears a woman crying by the abandoned well at night and that he sees a red shadow flickering at the well's opening."

Everyone thought he was senile or trying to shirk his responsibilities; nobody cared.

"Everything is proceeding as usual at the ice cellar; ice is stored in winter and used in summer, according to established procedures."

A dry well? A red shadow? A woman crying?

Lu Zuo's eyes narrowed slightly. How similar this was to the "woman in red" that Old Liu from the mass grave had been muttering about during his madness, as Liu Quan had reported!

Where is Old Eunuch Chen now?

"He should still be on duty at the abandoned garden. That place is remote and no one goes there often. He's the only old man there, just trying to make a living," Eunuch Liu replied.

"Tomorrow, find a pretext to bring him to see me. There's no need to make a fuss," Lu Zuo instructed.

"This old servant understands." Eunuch Liu understood perfectly. Although he didn't understand why His Majesty would suddenly care about an old eunuch who looked after an abandoned garden, he would never ask any further questions.

After Eunuch Liu left, Lu Zuo paced back and forth in his study.

The appearance of a strange figure resembling a "woman in red" within the palace is no coincidence.

If the "Queen" or her henchmen have already extended their reach into the palace...

Do Liu Daoling and Yuwen Qing know about this?

Are they tacitly agreeing, cooperating, or are they also kept in the dark?

"We must figure this out as soon as possible." Lu Zuo felt the time pressure mounting. Passive defense would only allow the enemy to tighten their net.

After sitting back down at his desk, he spread out paper and pen, not to write down his comments on the memorials, but to begin sorting out and deducing their contents.

A known:

Liu Daoling and Yuwen Qing outwardly feud, but in reality, they join forces, intending to use the chaos caused by demons to force out the Black-Clad Guards and seize imperial power. (They possess some of the power to catalyze and guide the demons.)

There exists a mysterious "Demon Queen," and turning the page reveals another world. She may possess a "Bloodline Pact," enabling her to control demons. She is lurking in the capital, her goals unknown. She may not be entirely aligned with Liu and Yuwen, and may even be using or countering their plans.

Anomalies have occurred in several parts of the capital, suspected to be related to the "Queen" or her demons.

The royal family's "Black-Clad Guards" are currently training new blood, a process that will take two years. Their own strength is steadily improving, but it is still insufficient to cope with complex situations.

aims:

He protected himself and eventually eliminated Liu and Yuwen, regaining imperial power.

Investigate and resolve the threat posed by the "Demon Queen".

Ensure the smooth inheritance of the "Ink-Clad Guards" and make them available for our own use.

Current strategy:

Continue to feign being a "tyrant" to lull your opponents into a false sense of security and buy time to develop your strength.

Accelerate the improvement of personal strength ("Huangji Zhenshi Gong" and "Lingxi Duan Shen Fa").

Secretly investigate clues about the "Queen" and the demon's lair.

Try to find potential allies or forces that can be utilized.

"ally……"

Lu Zuo paused, his pen poised. The Demon Suppression Division and the Demon-Pacifying Platform, nominally directly under the Emperor, had long been infiltrated and controlled by Liu Daoling.

However, no institution can be monolithic; there will always be those who are not in power, or those who are truly righteous and loyal to the imperial authority.

How can we identify and contact these people without alerting them?

Perhaps we could start with those generals and sorcerers who were "out of step" in their battles against demons, yet were suppressed.

He recalled the scattered reports from the Demon Suppression Division or the Demon-Pacifying Platform in the original owner's memory, most of which were annotated by Liu Daoling as "impractical," "wasteful of money and grain," and "mishandled."

Among them, one name seems to appear repeatedly, only to be repeatedly rejected or reprimanded—Yan Qingfeng, Deputy Commander of the West City Branch of Jingmotai.

According to the report, this person came from a humble background and was selected to join the Demon Suppression Platform because of his martial arts talent. He was upright and had repeatedly taken the lead in the fight against demons. However, he was also punished many times for "acting on his own" and "disobeying orders". His official rank had not changed for many years.

Most recently, it seems that he had a conflict with his superior while investigating a missing persons case in the old town area, and was temporarily suspended from his job to "reflect" at home.

"Yan Qingfeng... Old Workshop..."

A glint flashed in Lu Zuo's eyes.

This person has been suspended from his duties and is currently near the old neighborhood. He's also obsessed with matters of demons and monsters; perhaps…

It is a potential breakthrough point to test.

Even if we can't subdue them directly, we might be able to get some more specific and inside information about the demons of the old workshop from him.

"Liu Banban," Lu Zuo called again.

"This old servant is here."

"Tomorrow, besides bringing Eunuch Chen here, you must find a way to obtain for me, without leaving a trace, all the copies of the files concerning Yan Qingfeng, the deputy commander of the Jingmotai West City Branch, who has been rejected for his merits and reprimanded and punished in the past three months."

"Also, find out where he lives now and what his family situation is like."

This time, Eunuch Liu was truly shocked.

Why is Your Majesty suddenly so concerned about a mere deputy commander of the Jingmo Terrace who has been suspended from his post?

Do we still need to look at those refuted case files?

This...this is completely unlike His Majesty's usual style!

But he dared not ask any further questions and could only reply, "Yes, this old servant... will do his best to handle it, but these files are archived at the Jingmotai and the Ministry of War, and accessing them requires procedures, I'm afraid..."

"I don't want the official documents," Lu Zuo interrupted him, his gaze calm yet imposing. "I only need copies, or excerpts. You've been in this palace for forty years; you must have some old connections and back channels. Money is not an issue. I only want the result; I don't care about the process."

Eunuch Liu felt a chill run down his spine, knowing that this matter was extremely difficult and dangerous, but seeing the Emperor's unquestionable gaze, he could only grit his teeth and agree: "This old servant... understands. I will certainly find a way to accomplish it."

"Go, but be careful. Better to be slow than to make a mistake, and even more importantly, to avoid any oversights." Lu Zuo waved his hand.

Liu Gonggong bowed and withdrew, only to find his back soaked with cold sweat.

Your Majesty... is becoming increasingly unfathomable.

He had a vague feeling that this long-peaceful palace was about to be thrown into turmoil.

Unbeknownst to him, he had been bound to His Majesty's seemingly dilapidated but secretly skeletal ship.

Lu Zuo sat alone under the lamp, holding the paper covered in writing close to the candlelight, watching it slowly curl, char, and turn to ash. Some plans could only be kept in his heart.

He walked to the window and gazed southeast at the palace grounds shrouded in darkness. The eerie fluctuations never reappeared, as if they were merely an illusion. But he knew they weren't.

"The woman in red... the abandoned garden and the dry well... the 'Queen'..."

Lu Zuo repeated in a low voice, his eyes growing colder.

"Whether you are a demon or a monster, if you dare to extend your claws into my palace, you must be prepared to be chopped off at the root."

He turned around, without hesitation, and walked towards the quiet room. Time, every minute and every second, was incredibly precious.

He must race against time and possess the power to cleave through the storm before it fully arrives.

The Imperial Supreme World-Suppressing Technique and the Spiritual Rhinoceros Divine Forging Method are once again operating simultaneously.

True energy flows freely, and divine consciousness is concentrated.

In the still of the night, the young emperor, like a dormant dragon, quietly sharpened his claws and teeth in the shadows, gathering the strength to break through the heavens.

Outside the palace walls, throughout the capital, the howls of demons, the whispers of powerful ministers, and the watchful gazes from the deepest darkness are gradually pushing this long, cold winter night toward an unknown and dangerous dawn.

Don't miss out: Chapter 319, "Accumulating the Power to Break Through the Nine Heavens," is available in its entirety. Click here.

There exists a mysterious "Demon Queen" who may possess a "Bloodline Pact" and be able to control demons. She is lurking in the capital with unknown objectives and may not be entirely aligned with Liu and Yuwen. She may even be using or countering their plans.