Chapter 406: Chapter 336: 8 Personal Disciples, 8 Vassal Kings, 8 Inheritors (Part 2)

What followed was a series of security checks.

Eventually, they arrived before the doors of the Imperial Study.

Xu Qing and the others waited there.

「A few minutes later.」

"Everyone, please come in!"

CREAK!

The doors to the Imperial Study opened, and Cao Zhengchun appeared with a smile. "His Majesty invites you."

"Very well."

Xu Qing and the others exchanged a look before walking into the Imperial Study. Once inside, they saw the current Emperor of the Supreme Dynasty, Liu Bang, busy writing.

He was a middle-aged man, dressed in a golden, Seven-Clawed Dragon Robe. As if not noticing their arrival, wisps of Emperor Dragon Qi flowed around his body.

"Hah..."

Xu Qing took a deep breath. The moment he stepped into the Imperial Study, he felt the terrifying and powerful pressure of the Emperor Dragon Qi.

Of course,

this pressure was nothing compared to the might of Li Haotian, but it was still incredibly powerful. Xu Qing could feel his own strength being noticeably suppressed.

It was safe to say,

for anyone who hadn’t reached the Sixth Realm, the suppression from the Emperor Dragon Qi was impossible to ignore.

"Gentlemen."

Liu Bang stopped what he was doing and looked up. His gaze swept over Xu Qing and the others before he said thoughtfully, "We are greatly relieved that you have returned safely."

"Your Majesty."

Zhang Ling clasped his hands and said, "We set out to rendezvous with Fellow Daoist Xu Qing, the Sect Leader of Shu Mountain’s Direct Disciple. However, before we even arrived, Fellow Daoist Xu Qing had already personally eliminated all the formidable foes."

"That’s right."

"Fellow Daoist Xu Qing is incredibly powerful."

Zhao Gongming and the others quickly chimed in.

「Time passed.」

Xu Qing had now seen the current Emperor of the Supreme Dynasty, Liu Bang, with his own eyes. His first impression was that this was indeed a Human Race Emperor of great ambition and talent.

In addition,

from his conversation with Liu Bang, Zhang Ling, and the others, Xu Qing slowly began to understand the full extent of the Supreme Dynasty’s current predicament.

As things stood,

the situation in the Supreme Dynasty was far from optimistic.

"Xu Qing,"

Zhang Ling explained, "before the Ancient Text Incident occurred, the entire Supreme Spirit Realm was under the control of the Supreme Dynasty. As an Upper-Grade Human Race Dynasty, its foundation was profound. It ruled over an entire Spirit Realm and had even dispatched the Supreme Army to battle the All Heavens and Myriad Races."

"However,"

"after the Ancient Text Incident, the Supreme Dynasty inexplicably descended into internal strife. The complete inheritance from the Ancient Texts was split into nine, and subsequently obtained by nine Inheritors."

"I have one of those parts right here."

VMM!

With a wave of his right hand, Xu Qing produced a box. "When I arrived in the Supreme Spirit Realm, I was pulled directly into the Underworld of one of the Inheritors. We fought. I annihilated him completely, destroyed his incomplete Underworld, and obtained ’one-ninth’ of the inheritance."

SWISH!

The purple box opened, and the fragmented book within slowly floated into the air. It emanated a strange, bewitching power, causing everyone present to hold their breath.

"This..."

HISS...

"As expected of Master Xu!"

"I’d heard the rumors. Master Xu is the sole survivor of numerous Ancient Text Incidents. He even handled the Ancient Text Incident in the Chiyun Dynasty and successfully recovered their ’Ancient Text’."

"It seems the rumors were true!"

"Incredible! Truly incredible!"

"We’ve been in the Supreme Dynasty for over a month, expending immense effort and mental energy, and we’ve even fought several large-scale wars. Yet we haven’t managed to kill a single Inheritor or retrieve any part of the ’Ancient Texts’. To think that Master Xu would kill an Inheritor and recover one-ninth of the Ancient Texts right after arriving."

"Excellent, excellent."

Astonishment and delight appeared on the faces of Zhang Ling and the others.

"May We have a look?"

Liu Bang asked.

"No."

Xu Qing shook his head. With a wave of his right hand, the box snapped shut, and he carefully put it away. "The ’Ancient Texts’ are no small matter. The slightest carelessness could lead to falling under their influence. Therefore, the ’Ancient Texts’ can only remain in my possession. Not even Your Majesty can be allowed to read them directly."

"What audacity!"

Cao Zhengchun snapped. "Master Xu, how dare you distrust His Majesty!"

"It’s not that I don’t trust His Majesty. It’s that there’s no need to take such a risk,"

Xu Qing said.

"Enough."

Liu Bang interjected quickly. "Master Xu makes a valid point. As long as we can recover all the Ancient Texts and resolve this ’Ancient Text Incident’, our Supreme Dynasty will cooperate fully with all of you."

"Mm."

Xu Qing gave a slight nod and said no more.

"It is wonderful that Your Majesty is willing to do so."

"Indeed."

"Only by working together can we properly handle this Ancient Text Incident and prevent a tragedy. If something were to truly happen to the Supreme Dynasty, it would be an unbearable loss for our Human Race."

Zhang Ling and the others said one after another.

Currently,

the Supreme Dynasty’s Eight Great Vassal Kings had each carved out their own territory. Behind every Vassal King was an Inheritor of the Ancient Texts. These Inheritors had each obtained one-ninth of the Ancient Text’s inheritance, allowing them to establish incomplete Underworlds and wield an incredible, terrifying power to bewitch the hearts of men.

The Eight Great Vassal Kings.

They were: Liu Chun, Liu Li, Liu Wu, Liu Jiao, Liu Yan Nian, Liu Dao, Liu Ke, and Liu Wenbin. All of them were imperial relatives of the Supreme Dynasty, all of them were Princes, and more specifically, Princes who held their own fiefdoms.

Besides the Eight Great Vassal Kings, there were other Vassal Kings, but they had not been bewitched by the Ancient Texts and thus stood with the Supreme Dynasty.

However,

the territories carved out by the Eight Great Vassal Kings already occupied a full third of the Supreme Dynasty’s lands. This naturally had massive and destructive consequences for the Dynasty.

Most importantly,

the territories they controlled were gradually falling under the influence of the incomplete Underworlds. If this wasn’t resolved quickly, it would lead to untold death and suffering.

’Eight Great Vassal Kings, eight Inheritors, incomplete Underworlds.’

Xu Qing murmured to himself, already lost in thought.

"Xu Qing."

Zhang Ling and the others exchanged a glance, then said in a low voice, "In the past month or so, we’ve basically figured out the specific situation with the Eight Great Vassal Kings and the eight Inheritors. The reason we held back was that we hadn’t been able to locate the ninth Inheritor."

"Now,"

"with your arrival and the death of the ninth Inheritor, our biggest worry has been resolved. Therefore, we will proceed according to plan. With the help of the Supreme Dynasty’s power, we will crush the Eight Great Vassal Kings one by one, kill all the Inheritors, and recover the sundered inheritance of the Ancient Texts."

"Oh?"

Xu Qing raised an eyebrow and asked, "When do you plan to make your move?"

"One month from now,"

Zhang Ling and the others replied gravely.

"One month."

Xu Qing’s expression was pensive.

"Don’t worry,"

Zhang Ling said. "Although the Eight Great Vassal Kings are powerful, the Supreme Dynasty’s foundation is even more profound. With our help on top of that, we will certainly be able to defeat them one by one."

Xu Qing took a deep breath and asked, "Aren’t you afraid that the Eight Great Vassal Kings will join forces? Besides, if a war breaks out, countless beings will die. After they die, won’t their souls be pulled into the incomplete Underworlds?"

"Have you considered what the effects of the Ancient Texts’ Secret Techniques truly are?"

"This..."

"Master Xu, do you have a better way?"

Zhang Ling and the others all looked at Xu Qing.

"..."

Xu Qing shrugged. "I don’t."

"Hmph!"

Zhao Gongming snorted coldly. "Master Xu, since you don’t have a better idea either, let’s just stick to our plan."

"I’m just giving you a reminder. These Ancient Text Incidents are clearly not as easy to resolve as you imagine. If they were really that simple, then in all these years, I wouldn’t be the only one to have successfully handled one while all the others ended in failure,"

Xu Qing said.