The improved female villains regained their memories.

Xu Weibang frowned slightly: "Who told you to come here?"

The palace maid, expressionless, took out a magical artifact from her bosom and said, "Xu Weibang, the master is looking for you."

The magical artifact emitted a certain light. The palace maid was just a mortal, and what activated it was some more mysterious power.

Ling Tianxin appeared and smiled at Xu Weibang: "Xu Weibang, what are you thinking about?"

"The Heavenly Guardian Sect really has a lot of spies," Xu Weibang thought to himself, while maintaining a respectful demeanor: "So you are an immortal from the Heavenly Guardian Sect. Since you launched an attack from above, what brings you here?"

“I came to find you to put your mind at ease,” Ling Tianxin said. “The Guardian Heaven Sect is the national sect of the Qian Kingdom, and it will always be.”

"Up there."

"I'll help you eliminate a minor threat," Ling Tianxin said. "The villains' influence is in the capital. Our actions have no ill intentions towards the royal family; they are only aimed at the villains."

It's only aimed at the villains.

Xu Weibang didn't reveal any meaning, he just nodded: "Understood, how does the immortal want me to cooperate?"

"Reassure your ministers and have them recall the immortals you've been raising," Ling Tianxin said. "That shouldn't be difficult, should it?"

Xu Weibang shook his head: "It's not difficult. Since the immortal has made a request, I will do it."

He did not refer to himself as "朕" (Zhen, the imperial "I"). To do so in front of an immortal would be far too arrogant.

Ling Tianxin suddenly asked, "In the battle on the grasslands, the villains used two dragon veins. You shouldn't be involved in that, right?"

Xu Weibang calmly replied, "No, the Xu family royal family has absolutely no connection with the villains."

Ling Tianxin nodded: "That's good then."

The image disappeared, and the palace maid bowed her head and withdrew.

Xu Weibang stood there, motionless, the shadow covering him and obscuring the emperor's expression.

"Fang Wu".

"His Majesty."

Fang Wu stepped out from the shadows beside him. It turned out that what had appeared above was only Fang Wu's avatar; his true body had been hidden beside Xu Weibang all along.

"You saw it." Xu Weibang's voice was devoid of emotion: "The Guardian Sect is just putting on an act; their target is still the villain."

"The target is the villains, but we're also part of it," Fang Wu said. "All four of the Fiends have appeared, and they're going all out. I'm afraid the capital's grand formation is doomed."

"If we can't protect them, so be it. I can't even protect my own wife, what's a mere formation?"

"His Majesty......."

A country cannot be without a ruler for a day, and a dragon vein cannot be without a master for a day.

The chaos in the imperial court led to the extinction of the Crown Prince's lineage. The remaining princes were either too young or unable to bear the weight of the imperial lineage.

At that time, the old man of the Heavenly Guardian Sect was still alive, so he personally took charge of this matter. He selected Xu Weibang from the common people and brought him back to the palace.

Xu Weibang was already married at the time, and his wife Xu Zhiruo returned to the palace with him.

Later, Xu Zhiruo died during childbirth, and it was because of her death that the current empress became empress.

People in the palace discussed this matter privately, and everyone lamented that Xu Zhiruo died because she was not destined for wealth and honor. She was alright when she was poor, but when she was about to become empress, her lowly fate could not be suppressed, so she died.

Only Fang Wu knew why.

He watched Xu Weibang's retreating figure. Everyone says that the emperor's heart is as deep as the sea. Having followed Xu Weibang for so many years, he still couldn't see through what this emperor was thinking.

Patience or revenge?

Fang Wu still remembers his anger towards the Fourth Prince and his own involvement with the villains.

But his anger vanished quickly; he hadn't done anything, and the Fourth Prince had only been confined.

Compromise, admit defeat?

He then recalled the scene where Xu Weibang integrated the dragon vein into himself.

Even a true immortal couldn't see through what this emperor was up to.

"Fang Wu".

"His Majesty."

"Are you still in contact with the villain?"

“If Your Majesty requires it, I can make the contact.”

"Then let's make the contact."

Fang Wu was startled and a possibility suddenly occurred to him—all of the previous events were merely Xu Weibang's act of forbearance.

He looked at Xu Weibang again, but the figure was hidden in the shadows and he couldn't see through it no matter how hard he tried.

Is forbearance really just forbearance?

He thought of Xu Zhiruo, the woman whose "lowly life" ended because the emperor refused to help her.

Chapter 475 Yang Pingsheng vs. Xiao Qitian

While the capital was in turmoil, the suburbs were not idle either.

"Hold on, everyone! His Majesty will be here to help us soon!" Ying telepathically communicated with the remaining Zodiac members while fending off Zhiyuan's attacks.

He barely managed to hold off Zhiyuan's attack by relying on the power of the Shadow Empire, but the latter's methods were unpredictable, and he was about to be overwhelmed.

Xiao Qitian and the others from the Heroes Alliance have already retreated. If they were here, the city would probably have fallen even faster.

Boom boom boom!

Blood Pigeon unleashed its demonic energy, continuously bombarding the area with secret techniques.

The collision of spiritual energy and demonic energy is like a fireworks explosion, bursting with vibrant colors.

Not all twelve zodiac animals are combatants. The two strongest, Xiaozhu and Xiaohua, were killed in a sneak attack, and the others are unlikely to play a significant role.

Just as they were getting anxious, a ball of fire rushed towards them from afar; it was Xu Anlu, now one with the other.

"Your Majesty, you've arrived!" Ying was overjoyed.

"Go away!"

The terrifying heat evaporated everything, and the dry air made everyone's throats feel congested. The immortal killing move, empowered by the Great Dao Mark, immediately displayed its terrifying power, restricting the members of the Hero Alliance.

Zhiyuan looked up and saw that it was Xu Anlu. He snorted coldly and immediately launched a killing move.

A black light, like a starry sky, covered the ground, and countless stars slowly rose from it. The temperature dropped the moment they appeared.

Zhiyuan waved his hand, and the countless star-like points flew straight towards Xu Anlu.

Xu Anlu dared not be careless and quickly cast several commonly used defensive immortal techniques on herself before retreating repeatedly.

But these stars seemed to have eyes, and they directly possessed Xu Anlu.

Zhiyuan laughed loudly, "Your Highness has great ambition. You actually hid such a large force right under the nose of the capital. It's just a pity that I discovered it."

With a wave of his hand, Xu Anlu felt as if she weighed ten thousand pounds and fell directly from the sky.

boom!

She crashed heavily to the ground, and the black light went straight up to her, threatening to engulf her.

What kind of spiritual root does this old scoundrel have? Xu Anlu gritted her teeth, unleashing a frenzied burst of power from the Great Dao, and broke free from the ground.

"Xiao Yin!"

"Okay lady."

A fiery red soul appeared behind him and used a soul-type immortal technique on Zhiyuan.

Zhiyuan felt as if his brain had been hit by something, and it was throbbing with pain.

"untie!"

However, he lightly tapped his temple, thus breaking the attack.

Boom!

Dark clouds gathered, thunder roared, and a bolt of lightning descended from the sky, suddenly appearing behind Zhiyuan, about to deliver a fatal blow.

A spatial portal suddenly appeared behind Zhiyuan, and Luo Benmo, caught off guard, rushed straight in.

The portal closed the next second, and Luo Benmo disappeared without a trace.

"You've devised a great tactic. First, you make a grand entrance, then let Fairy Luo launch a surprise attack from behind. Tsk tsk." Zhiyuan laughed from afar. "Unfortunately, you've been disappointed. Fairy Luo has been banished to Taixu by this old man and I'm afraid she won't be coming back."

At this time, Taixu was fraught with danger. Even Jiang Mochang could hardly protect himself, let alone Luo Benmo.

With a single move, Zhiyuan caused the villains' situation to take a sharp turn for the worse.

The moment Ling Feizi saw Luo Benmo, she seemed lost in thought, while Xue Ge looked away.

When it arrived, it knew it might be facing Luo Benmo. Now, before it could even process its emotions, seeing Luo Benmo exiled only complicated its feelings.

"If there's only one person..." Zhiyuan looked at Xu Anlu not far away, pondering in his mind, and quickly unleashed a new killing move.

Xu Anlu refused to be outdone and gritted her teeth, her anger flaring up once more.

The two sides clashed, and the battle was fierce.

-------------

Not far from the capital, Zhiyuan and Qiongqi's clones still stood there.

“I have done as you said, exiling Luo Benmo to keep Xu Anlu in check,” Zhiyuan said. “My sincerity has been expressed; what about yours?”

"This formation is ever-changing, and my men are still trying to break it," Qiongqi said.

Zhiyuan smiled and pointed to the spiritual light above, saying, "It's just an old formation. With your abilities, you can't even break it?"

Qiongqi glanced at him.

The formation was varied and ingenious, but in the eyes of Qiongqi, an old monster who had lived for countless years, it was somewhat inadequate.

If they really wanted to break it, they would have done so long ago. Why bother bringing so many people here to put on a show?

Qiongqi spoke up: "Once this formation is broken, our cooperation will begin."

Zhiyuan nodded: "Of course."