The Emperor's Demise

Qian Tian.

The Imperial Capital of Central China, the Royal Cultivation Tower.

At this moment, outside the cultivation tower, there were dozens of Spirit Refining, Spirit Transformation, and even Primordial Spirit True Lord guarding the area.

The leader was none other than Grand Steward Zhou Ji.

Besides them, there were also two Celestial Person, Duke Qin Yujing and Jiang Yinlong, the leader of the Hidden Dragon Guard, who surrounded the area and did not allow anyone to approach.

Because at the very top of the cultivation tower, the primordial energy of heaven and earth converges, forming a giant furnace in the void. In the center of this furnace, a figure uses the will of all living beings to draw in a large amount of resources to refine himself, thus forging a sacred body.

As a large amount of precious materials were refined, a figure over ten meters tall could be vaguely seen appearing and disappearing.

Only...

This intermittent appearance has lasted for almost half a month, but it still hasn't truly solidified.

Zhou Ji, Jiang Yinlong, Qin Yujing, and the others all had worried expressions on their faces.

Finally...

The primordial energy of heaven and earth in the sky suddenly became violent, and the huge furnace phantom rapidly trembled, exceeding the control of the will of all living beings.

In an instant, the energies of heaven and earth collided continuously, creating lightning, thunder, and torrential rain.

The rolling dark clouds seemed poised to crush the entire cultivation tower.

"This..."

Qin Yujing, Jiang Yinlong, and the others' expressions changed drastically at the same time.

Zhou Ji couldn't help but cry out in despair, "Your Majesty... no! No! People like Your Majesty, who have given everything for the Great Qian and worked diligently, will absolutely be safe before they accomplish their great task, absolutely safe..."

Clearly, they had guessed something from this dramatic change in the celestial phenomena.

The enormous furnace in the void trembled, rapidly refining and crushing the phantom that was over ten meters tall.

Soon, the phantom image, which was over ten meters tall, gradually collapsed.

After the illusory figures collapsed, the turbulent energy in the world gradually dissipated.

Qin Yujing and Jiang Yinlong, two Celestial Person, exchanged a glance and both saw the sorrow in each other's eyes.

"Using the will of all living beings to replace the will of immortality... is ultimately not a viable path."

Qin Yujing said.

"Your Majesty achieved the status of Celestial Person through the power of destiny. The imprint of all living beings on your body is too heavy. It is too difficult for you to fully condense your own undying will."

There was a hint of sadness in Jiang Yinlong's eyes.

After Jiang Tianji took power, he quickly cultivated into Celestial Person by taking advantage of the power of luck. He reached the top of the Celestial Person Being realm in no time. However, he was stuck on the barrier of the Undying Will for decades, most of his life!

It was precisely because he had been stuck for so long, coupled with the increasingly complex and severe situation in the outside world, that he took a risky move, attempting to use the will of all living beings to replace the undying will and condense the body of a saint.

At the moment...

"Duke Zhenguo, Imperial Uncle Jiang, please come inside for a chat. Zhou Ji, please invite the Star King to see me."

A voice came from inside the training tower.

"Yes, Your Majesty."

Zhou Ji responded, his voice trembling.

Qin Yujing and Jiang Yinlong exchanged a glance and quickly rushed towards the location of the cultivation tower.

At the top of the tower, Jiang Tianji appeared before them.

At this moment, his body was covered with visible bloodstains, like a porcelain doll riddled with cracks, ready to shatter at any moment.

If it weren't for the fact that he was drawing upon the will of all living beings to maintain this special state, he would have died the moment he failed to break through to the Saint realm.

"His Majesty..."

Qin Yujing and Jiang Yinlong had grief in their eyes.

"After my death, I entrust the Great Qian to the Duke of Zhenguo, the Imperial Uncle, and General Li. I hope you can assist the Star King..."

Jiang Tianji said.

"Your Majesty... we will find a way, we are sure we can help you recover."

Qin Yujing said.

Jiang Tianji shook his head.

But with just this simple movement, another crack appeared on his body.

"Among Wang Yizhi, Zhang Hanhai, Long Yuantu, Qian Huashan, and Zhao Riyue, Wang Yizhi and Long Yuantu are still trustworthy and reliable. However, Zhang Hanhai is too scheming and only thinks about his own interests. Qian Huashan and Zhao Riyue are even more interested in colluding with the Sanqing Palace. The Duke of Zhenguo and the Imperial Uncle must keep a close eye on them..."

Jiang Tianji paused slightly at this point, then said, "When necessary, we can use others to eliminate them to ensure the legitimacy of the Star King's succession."

"Others?"

Qin Yujing quickly realized something. "Your Majesty, are you referring to Xuan Tianzun?"

"Xuantian Venerable..."

A flicker of pain flashed in Jiang Tianji's eyes, his emotions surged, and the cracks on his body rapidly increased again.

"The biggest mistake of my life was cooperating with Xuan Tianzun... I knew perfectly well that he was the chosen master of the Heavenly Sword, and that the future would inevitably lead to chaos—the opposition to order—yet I still..."

"His Majesty..."

Jiang Yinlong exclaimed in surprise.

"It's the King of Tiannan!"

As if realizing he could no longer hold on, Jiang Tianji quickly said, "Summon the King of Tiannan to the north! Appoint him as the Grand General of the Nation... Only he has the ability to assist the Star King and sweep away the demons and monsters..."

"The King of Tiannan!?"

Qin Yujing and Jiang Yinlong exchanged a glance.

Jiang Yinlong had recently visited the Tiannan region, but according to Xin Tianqi and others, the Tiannan King had gone to the Aries Star Palace more than half a year ago to receive the inheritance of the Aries Star Lord.

According to their investigation, the process of Aries Star Lord's succession is quite dangerous. Throughout history, there have been many Heavenly Lords who have received the succession, but without exception, they all ended in failure.

Considering that the Prince of Tiannan has been gone for more than half a year, it is highly likely that he is in grave danger.

"Has something happened to the Prince of Tiannan?"

Jiang Tianji quickly realized something. "Who is it? Blood Demon Emperor Luo? Or the Three Pure Ones Palace? Or perhaps Xuan Tianzun? Or even that Abyss Lord Lin Yuan?"

"It is the ruler of Aries."

Jiang Yinlong said in a low voice, "The King of Tiannan went to receive the inheritance of the Aries Star Lord ten months ago and has not returned yet."

"The legacy of the Aries Star Lord..."

Jiang Tianji also understood something.

Tiannan King was someone Jiang Tianji intentionally allowed to grow, as a way to assist Xingwang in fighting against Qianhua Mountain and Zhao Riyue, or rather, against Wuzhong and Wunian of the Sanqing Palace. Without his help, Li Xingdou, Qin Yujing, Jiang Yinlong and the others would have been in serious trouble.

"Click".

Overwhelmed with emotion, the cracks on Jiang Tianji's body could no longer be contained.

Feeling his own state, he sighed.

They looked up, gazing towards the horizon, as if wanting to take one last look at the magnificent landscape that belonged to their Great Qian Dynasty.

"Heavens! Heavens!"

Final...

As cracks spread, his body shattered completely, like porcelain struck by a hammer.

"His Majesty!"

Emperor Qian passed away.

The Star King ascended to the throne and changed his title to Star Emperor.

In the same month, Xuan Tianzun conquered the Green State and seized four densely populated and resource-rich areas: Sun State, Green State, Orange State, and Green State.

At the same time, Zhao Riyue and Qianhuashan wrote a letter to vindicate the True Person Wushi.

It proclaims the great achievements of the Beginningless True Person in protecting the Heavenly Realm for a hundred years, while also recounting the ten major crimes of the Mysterious Heavenly Venerable, and requests the Star Emperor to rally the forces of the world to jointly attack the Mysterious Heavenly Venerable in order to avoid the chaos caused by the Heavenly Extreme Emperor a hundred years ago.

The Venerable True Person and Venerable True Person of the Sanqing Hall responded immediately.

Suddenly, a storm brewed.

The turmoil lasted for half a month, and then suddenly news came that Tiannan Wang Gu Jinlai had failed to receive the inheritance of the Aries Star Lord and died in the Aries Star Palace.

Immediately afterwards, news came that the supreme divine weapon, the World Sword, had appeared in Tiannan.

Perhaps it is because the southern region has lost the presence of this terrifying being who Gu Jinlai, possessed the power to kill three great demon emperors with a single blow.

Or perhaps the supreme divine weapon, the World Sword, has appeared.

It's also possible that someone was greedy for the vastness and wealth of the southern region.

The attention of all the major powers in Qiantian was focused on the southern region.

Countless spies flocked in, with the Sanqing Hall being the most prominent among them.

Holy land.

A mountain range 18,000 miles from Zilei City.

Gu Jinlai, Xuanzhou, and Zhan Tianpeng, a Celestial Person being skilled in surveying and vein exploration, all appeared at the same time.

During this time, a demon king-level bird smelled the human presence and roared as it charged towards them. However, before it could even get within ten miles of the two, it was blasted into charred remains by a flash of lightning and fell to the ground.

"This is Black Flame Mountain, which is occupied by the Black Flame Demon Emperor."

Xuanzhou addressed Gu Jinlai and Zhan Tianpeng.

Looking down, he saw a number of Demonic Beasts surging about, having heard the news, and added, "I'll go and wipe out these Demonic Beasts so they don't interfere with Minister Zhan's detection of the Thunder Magnetic Gold Mine."

Gu Jinlai, and he brought Xuanzhou, the Martial Saint, along to handle some minor matters.

The martial saints kill enemies with their own physical strength, and their endurance is far superior to Divine Ability of Celestial Person and saints.

Of course, if facing a Demon Emperor-level being, a Martial Saint is clearly inferior to a Saint.

However, based on observations over this period, Gu Jinlai has been confirmed that the Demonic Beasts have indeed retreated significantly.

Even now, he is already 18,000 miles away from Liuhuo City, but he has not encountered a single Demon Emperor along the way.

The number of demon kings encountered is quite small.

Upon receiving the order, Zhan Tianpeng quickly headed down to search the mountain range below.

Gu Jinlai, he has continued to stand in the void, and through the profound nature of the Child of the Stars, powerful life forms within a radius of hundreds of miles are almost all within his perception.

Unless there are exceptionally skilled individuals adept at concealment, any demon king that ventures into a radius of hundreds of miles will immediately be detected by his senses.

"To mine in the Blackfire Demon Emperor's territory, the Blackfire Demon Emperor is an unavoidable obstacle, and to deal with the Blackfire Demon Emperor, the Xuan Yang Demon God behind him must also be encountered."

Gu Jinlai, people have devoted a portion of their attention to the spiritual world.

Recently, he has thoroughly cleaned up Liuhuo City and Fengyu City.

Even...

Not just Flowing Fire City and Wind and Rain City.

When he realized that the harvest in Flowing Fire City was not satisfactory, he also had some of the people of Flowing Fire City "escape" to the surrounding cities.

Then, under the pretext of being the worst fugitive from Liuhuo City, he also took a trip to the surrounding cities.

Even so, the accumulated amount of Qingguang was less than four hundred.

Neither the Spiritual Art nor the Creator's Legacy can be perfected.

"Perhaps I should have been more assertive back then and brought Purple Thunder City under my rule as well."

Gu Jinlai have pondered this.

However, at that time, his Chaotic Star Body was not yet perfected. If he crossed the Holy Dynasty's bottom line and truly forced out the Holy Dynasty's peerless Void Immortal, it could lead to a complete defeat.

"Then, the only way is to start with the areas occupied by Demonic Beasts. Many powerful demon emperors and demon gods keep a lot of humans under their control..."

Thinking of this, Gu Jinlai looked again in the direction where the Xuan Yang Demon God was.