If you're made a fake emperor, why did you change the country's name?

On the outskirts of the forest, the makeshift campsite was brightly lit.

Inside the central command tent, the atmosphere was so oppressive that it was hard to breathe.

Clap!

A white jade teacup turned to dust in Zhao Yu's hand, the tea mixed with blood dripping from between his fingers onto the expensive carpet.

Master Hu knelt below, his head pressed tightly against the ground, his body trembling uncontrollably.

Hai Gonggong has just returned to report, having given a detailed account of everything that happened at Yixiantian and the news of Zhao Yu's escape.

"waste!"

Zhao Yu suddenly stood up and kicked over the table in front of him.

"I've given you chances, time and time again, yet you couldn't even catch a beggar!"

His voice was full of violence.

"What use are you!"

Cold sweat beaded on Master Hu's forehead as he kowtowed repeatedly.

"Your Majesty, please calm your anger. It is this old Taoist priest's incompetence, this old Taoist priest's incompetence!"

"Calm down?" Zhao Yu's voice was icy. "I think you're the one who doesn't want your head anymore."

"His Majesty."

Grandpa Hai spoke at the opportune moment, his voice still gentle.

"Although Master Hu has made mistakes, he is, after all, the abbot of Taixu Temple and has a high reputation in the cultivation world."

"This is a time when we need manpower, and if we act rashly, it may cause unnecessary trouble."

Zhao Yu's chest heaved violently, clearly still seething with anger.

At that moment, a charming voice rang out from behind the curtain.

"Why should Your Majesty be angered by such a trivial matter?"

A woman dressed in revealing Japanese clothing from Sakura Province walked out. She had a seductive figure and her chest was largely exposed, but she showed no shame whatsoever.

"I have a little trinket here that can make Master Hu's loyalty to His Majesty unwavering from now on."

She took out a small, completely black porcelain bottle from her bosom and handed it to Zhao Yu.

"This is our Sakura Kingdom's secret 'Heart-Eating Poison'."

"If one takes this poison and there is no specially made antidote on the fifteenth of each month, one will suffer the torment of ten thousand ants gnawing at one's heart, causing one's true energy to flow backward, making one unable to live and unable to die."

"His life will be entirely in His Majesty's hands."

Upon hearing this, Master Hu's face turned deathly pale.

He suddenly looked up at Zhao Yu.

Zhao Yu took the small porcelain bottle, played with it in his hands, and a cruel smile appeared on his face.

He threw the bottle in front of Master Hu.

"Drink it, and I will forgive and forget what happened before."

"If you don't drink, you'll die right now."

Master Hu shuddered, his lips trembling.

"Your Majesty... This old Taoist has followed you since before you ascended the throne. In these three years, for the sake of the Great Liang, for Your Majesty, this old Taoist..."

"Shut up."

Zhao Yu interrupted him.

"I remember all your contributions."

"It is precisely because you remember that you are given this chance to live."

The cold words shattered the last shred of faith in Master Hu's heart.

He looked at the porcelain bottle on the ground, and then at the expressionless Sakura warriors around him.

His face aged more than ten years instantly, and his eyes were filled with a lifeless despair.

"How could it have come to this...?"

With trembling hands, Master Hu picked up the porcelain bottle, uncorked it, closed his eyes, and drank it all in one gulp.

As the venom entered his throat, a chilling aura instantly coursed through his limbs and bones.

The next moment, an indescribable pain erupted from his heart.

"Ugh—!"

Master Hu curled up like a shrimp, writhing on the ground in agony.

He felt his internal energy was like boiling water, rushing and crashing through his meridians, with countless invisible ants gnawing at his internal organs.

Black blood gradually seeped from the seven orifices.

Ahhhhh~

The heart-wrenching screams sent chills down the spines of the guards outside the tent.

The woman from Yingguo covered her mouth and chuckled. She then took out a small white bottle, poured out a pill, flicked it with her finger, and accurately shot it into Hu Tianshi's mouth.

The elixir melts instantly upon entering the mouth.

After a few breaths, the excruciating pain slowly subsided.

Master Hu collapsed to the ground, panting heavily, his body drenched in cold sweat as if he had just been pulled out of the water.

In his eyes, there was only despair.

At that moment, Zhao Yu's face flashed through his mind.

Perhaps I really did miscalculate.

That golden light might not be directed at the person in front of us.

Zhao Yu walked up to him and looked down at him.

"Remember this feeling."

"From now on, only I can give you the antidote."

With snot and tears streaming down his face, Master Hu got up and knelt down on the ground.

"This old Taoist priest... swears to serve His Majesty to the death."

"very good."

Zhao Yu nodded in satisfaction and turned to leave.

Hu Tianshi, left alone in the same spot, wept uncontrollably.

He could no longer tell whether his tears were for miscalculation, misplaced trust, or fear of death...

"Send the order: everyone, enter the forest and search every inch of it!"

"Even if we have to dig three feet into the ground, we must find that beggar who impersonated me!"

"I want to see him alive or dead!"

Zhao Yu revealed a cruel smile, as if he could see Zhao Yu dying in front of him.

"yes!"

Inside the camp, hundreds of experts at the Celestial Realm, along with thousands of elite troops from the Sakura Kingdom, surged into the depths of the dark forest like a tidal wave.

……

at the same time.

Inside a hidden cave deep in the forest.

Zhao Yu handed over the corpse of the Xuan Yin Frost Bat, the inner core of the Blood Python, and the Earth Dragon's Reverse Scale that he had just acquired to Shen Miaochu.

"The three main offerings are complete."

Shen Miaochu took the items.

Zhao Yu said, "If the altar must be built in Lianghe, it will take at least an hour to get there from here."

"And there are pursuers on the way. Here's what we'll do: you hide here for half an hour while I lure them away, then you can go out."

Shen Miaochu didn't say much, but silently put away the three offerings.

"If you want to use the water god's phenomenon to counteract the solar eclipse, the best time is at dawn, when the rising sun appears and the solar eclipse phenomenon is at its most unstable."

"Yes. I will arrive at dawn."

Zhao Yu's plan was both simple and audacious.

Since the other party is going to use celestial phenomena, then he will use another celestial phenomenon to counteract it!

The water god's sacrifice, if it can bring about the extraordinary phenomenon of half of the gods and Buddhas paying homage, will definitely be able to counteract this extraordinary phenomenon of the celestial dog eating the sun.

Auspicious omens counteract inauspicious ones.

Zhao Yu straightened his clothes. "You go first, I'll be there soon."

Shen Miaochu glanced at him and finally said, "You must be careful."

Zhao Yu turned around with a smile, lightly punching her chest with her right fist: "Don't worry, your husband wants to enjoy our love for a while longer."

brush!

Shen Miaochu's face immediately turned red. Just as she was about to reprimand him, she looked up and found that the cave entrance was empty.

Shen Miaochu could only pray silently, "It must...it must succeed!"

Zhao Yu went to the opposite direction of Lianghe.

He looked up at the sky; the night was deep.

The pursuers should be arriving soon.

Instead of fleeing, he walked deeper into the forest.

Fifteen minutes later, he stopped in a woodland with a thick layer of dead leaves.

The dry climate here makes it the perfect ignition point.

He activated the "Burning Body Technique" within his body, and a wisp of crimson true energy shot out from his fingertip, landing on the pile of withered leaves.

boom!

The flames ignited instantly and, carried by the night wind, quickly spread in all directions.

Flames shot into the sky, turning half the night sky red.

The birds and beasts roosting in the forest were startled, letting out terrified cries as they scattered and fled.

After doing all this, Zhao Yu didn't linger. He turned and ran in another direction, exposing his presence to the night without any attempt to conceal it.

This fire was both a signal and the beginning of chaos.