Qing Emperor: I Have a Plan

Qin Sheng weighed the three psychic weapons, then returned the dagger to Ye Fan.

"Yezi, take it."

"Thank you, Immortal Qin."

Duan De was stunned. "You two are in this together? You joined forces to scam me?"

"Fellow Daoist, that is not quite right."

Qin Sheng said solemnly, "I truly wanted to avert disaster and misfortune for you. It was for your own good!"

"For my own good, my ass!" Duan De flushed red with rage.

Qin Sheng pointed at Ye Fan. "Do you know who Yezi is? If you dare rob him, a great calamity will surely befall you in the future."

Duan De gave Ye Fan a suspicious look. "What earth-shattering background does this brat have?"

"Heh."

Qin Sheng said, "If I tell you about him, you'll jump out of your skin."

"Yezi possesses the Ancient Desolate Saint Body."

Duan De really was stunned. "That physique still exists? The Ancient Desolate Saint Body?"

His eyes lit up as he studied Ye Fan. A moment later, he cried out in amazement:

"It's actually real."

"The Ancient Desolate Saint Body, once fully developed, can stand shoulder to shoulder with the ancient Great Emperors. By stealing his weapon, aren't you offending a future Great Emperor?"

"By stepping in now and resolving this grudge for you in advance, wouldn't that be wonderful?"

Duan De looked as though he had heard the biggest load of nonsense in the world. "A fully developed Sacred Physique? The Ancient Desolate Saint Body can't cultivate at all anymore."

"That's not right. This brat has already opened up his Sea of Bitterness."

"Exactly." Qin Sheng smiled.

"The Ancient Desolate Saint Body cannot cultivate, yet Yezi has already broken that rule. Do you understand my good intentions now?"

A fully developed Sacred Physique, invincible in heaven and earth—Duan De felt that he truly could not afford to offend such a person.

But he quickly came to his senses and grew indignant.

"You robbed my weapons before I ever met him!"

"I glimpsed a corner of the future from the river of time and knew that you would cross paths with Yezi."

Qin Sheng corrected him, "Also, that was not robbery. I was helping you avert a bloody disaster. Please watch your wording and do not slander my noble character."

Duan De was so furious that his body swelled up. In all his life, he had never met anyone so shameless.

Not counting himself, of course.

Ye Fan, meanwhile, was nearly laughing himself sick.

At that moment, an indescribable aura suddenly erupted from the ancient hall. A beam of light exploded outward, filling heaven and earth.

"It's the Demon Emperor's weapon!"

"Suppress it! We must seize it!"

The five mighty experts went mad and attacked together.

Qin Sheng's blood boiled at the sight. Excellent, very spirited!

"Ah, the Demon Emperor's weapon. It is no less extraordinary than the Eastern Wilderness human race's supreme treasure."

Duan De stared at the glowing mass with longing written all over his face.

"If only I could obtain it."

Qin Sheng tested him. "Daoist, do you not have a weapon of that level?"

Duan De looked at Qin Sheng as though he had gone insane.

"There are only a few such weapons in the entire Eastern Wilderness. How could I possibly own one?"

Then he gritted his teeth. "If I had such a weapon, how could I have been..."

How could I have been robbed by a black-hearted brat like you!

Qin Sheng fell into thought. Duan De had not yet obtained the Swallowing Heaven Devil Canopy?

Then where exactly had he found that half of an Emperor Weapon?

Ah, I have a plan!

"Immortal Qin, Daoist—no, something's wrong! Why does the Demon Emperor's weapon seem to be coming toward us?" Ye Fan cried urgently.

"Go."

Qin Sheng flew away with Ye Fan, while Duan De let out a strange cry and fled as well.

The stone mountain where they had just been standing exploded, and a jade basin appeared, catching the Demon race Emperor Weapon.

This was a trap laid by the Qing Emperor's descendants, who had hidden nearby to draw in the Emperor Weapon.

A peerlessly beautiful woman, stunning enough to eclipse the world, gathered up the Treasure-Gathering Basin and the Demon race Emperor Weapon before swiftly departing.

"Thank you, seniors, for your assistance. Otherwise, even a descendant of the Demon Emperor would have found it difficult to retrieve the Emperor Weapon."

"I've seen her before. Pang Bo was with her!" Ye Fan said.

"The Demon Emperor's descendant hid with the Treasure-Gathering Basin and reaped the benefits without lifting a finger. Damn it, why wasn't that person me?" Duan De's eyes turned red with envy.

Qin Sheng shook his head. The Qing Emperor's lineage had truly declined. Yan Ruyu, a descendant of the Qing Emperor, understood virtually nothing about Emperor Weapons.

In this era, unless another Emperor Weapon was there to suppress it, no one could stop an Emperor Weapon that wished to leave.

The Treasure-Gathering Basin was indeed extraordinary if it could take away the Qing Emperor's weapon, but her presence as a descendant of the Qing Emperor was also part of the reason.

Qin Sheng truly could not understand it.

Only ten thousand years had passed since the Qing Emperor. How had this lineage collapsed so catastrophically?

When the Qing Emperor "passed away," he had still been in his prime, and his forces could not possibly have been weak. There had definitely been quasi-emperors among them.

Who could have slaughtered a Great Emperor's lineage at the height of its glory into such a state?

While a Great Emperor was alive and for the ten or twenty thousand years after his death, their lineage should, in theory, have been at its strongest, enough to rule the world.

The Qing Emperor's lineage...

Forget the cosmos and starry skies—even among the demon race of the Eastern Wilderness, they had become minor players. It was truly lamentable.

The appearance of the Treasure-Gathering Basin drew in a great number of psychic weapons all at once. Duan De rushed out in a frenzy to fight for them.

"As expected of the Demon Emperor's Tomb. There are so many treasures." Ye Fan's face was full of admiration.

"...These treasures are, at most, Four Extremes-level artifacts. They are valuable to us, but they are nothing to the Demon Emperor."

More than nothing. A single spit from the Qing Emperor would have been worth countless times more than these weapons.

"Ah?"

Ye Fan was surprised. "Then why are they inside the Demon Emperor's Tomb?"

"That ancient hall is not the Demon Emperor's Tomb." Qin Sheng shook his head.

"Perhaps it was where some people connected to the Qing Emperor once lived?"

"I see." Ye Fan nodded vaguely, only half understanding.

Qin Sheng told Ye Fan to remain there while he too went to compete for the weapons.

Though they were not truly relics left behind by the Qing Emperor, they still had value and could be exchanged for some Source.

One weapon after another went into Qin Sheng's possession. As for Ye Fan... how should one put it? There was definitely something strange about that kid.

The green copper fragment that Qin Sheng had never managed to find fell from the sky right in front of Ye Fan.

If one called it luck, it was hard to understand. If one said someone had arranged it, there was no trace of such a hand.

Ye Fan actually looked somewhat like Emperor Lord as well.

The green copper fragment squeezed into Ye Fan's Sea of Bitterness and suppressed its center.

"That is a treasure, something capable of shaking heaven and earth. If word gets out, it will be enough to stir up the entire Eastern Wilderness. Do not tell anyone else," Qin Sheng warned.

Unlike the Bodhi Seed, which helped Ye Fan cultivate, the green copper fragment had helped him survive many crises.

It was a fragment of the Immortal Cauldron. But since it had already fallen into Ye Fan's hands, Qin Sheng had no intention of taking it.

The divine medicine he had eaten earlier had been thanks to Ye Fan's luck, after all.

"I didn't get to touch the Demon Emperor's weapon. Why is there no sign of the Eastern Wilderness human race's supreme treasure either?"

Duan De was deeply frustrated, feeling that he had been particularly unlucky this time.

"The Eastern Wilderness human race's supreme treasure? What is that?"

"It is the Desolate Pagoda," Qin Sheng answered.

"Yes." Duan De nodded along.

"The nine-story Desolate Pagoda is invincible beneath heaven. It has existed longer than the human race of the Eastern Wilderness itself, and legends say it once suppressed an immortal to death!"

Ye Fan was shaken. "Aren't immortals merely mythical legends?"

"That is why I said it was a legend."

Duan De said matter-of-factly, "I could also say that this Daoist Lord suppressed a Great Emperor to death in my previous life."

Qin Sheng patted Duan De on the shoulder. "It might actually be true. The first time I saw you, Fellow Daoist, I felt supreme aura shooting into the heavens from above your head. Your brow was distinguished, and your bearing was incomparably noble."

Duan De was so angry he laughed. That was not what you said when you robbed me just now!

"What line of work are you in, Fellow Daoist?" Qin Sheng asked.

"I excavate underground structures, preserve ancient objects, bring lost history back into the world, and allow every person to learn the truths buried beneath the earth."

Duan De wore an expression of lofty righteousness.

"Isn't that just tomb raiding?" Ye Fan blurted out.

"What nonsense are you talking about? Archaeology. It is archaeology."

Duan De said, "This Daoist Lord is no thief."

"Archaeology is good. Archaeology is worth studying." Qin Sheng nodded.

"So where do you plan to strike it rich next, Fellow Daoist?"

"You're interested too?" Duan De's eyes lit up. Had he met a fellow practitioner?

"No, no, I'm just asking."

I am an upright disciple of Shaking Light. How could I possibly stoop to your level!

"I don't have any particular destination. I'll go wherever my feet take me."

Translated: he would rob tombs wherever he went. There was nowhere he would not dare to raid.

Duan De looked around and said, "There is also something strange about this Demon Emperor's Tomb..."

He began investigating, searching everywhere, and eventually led Qin Sheng and Ye Fan to a pool.

The water was dark and unfathomable, with cold air spreading from it until even the air froze.

"This is the Yin Tomb, corresponding to the Yang Tomb outside," Qin Sheng said.

"One yin and one yang, embracing the Supreme Ultimate. The Demon Emperor's heart guards the Yang Tomb, while this Yin Tomb..."

Qin Sheng looked at Duan De, whose expression had turned grave.

"You truly are an expert as well. The Demon Emperor's corpse should be buried in the Yin Tomb."

"Immortal Qin, how do you think this Yin Tomb can be broken?" Duan De began addressing him as Ye Fan did.

"It cannot be broken."

Qin Sheng said, "Can you deal with the Demon Emperor, or can I? You know how terrifying an Emperor's corpse is."

The Desolate Pagoda was within the Yin Tomb, while the Qing Emperor's Primordial Spirit was hidden inside the Desolate Pagoda. He had even dismembered his own body.

With such an arrangement, who in the world could break it?

Unless Ruthless awakened and left the Desolate Forbidden Land, even an ordinary forbidden zone supreme being would only be walking into death here.

As he gazed at the Yin Tomb and thought of the Qing Emperor's experiences, Qin Sheng found the matter hard to put into words.

As the Great Emperor closest in time to the opening of the Immortal Path, the Qing Emperor could have easily lived until that day with his lifespan.

As one who had transformed from an Immortal Elixir and attained the Dao, perhaps no Great Emperor had ever possessed a longer lifespan than him.

At that time, with peak Heavenly Emperor-level combat power, who could have stopped him?

Even if he did not wish to enter the Immortal Domain through the Immortal Path, given the Qing Emperor's talent and foundation, he had an immense chance of walking the Red Dust Immortal Path.

It could be said that the Qing Emperor had possessed every possible advantage when he attained the Dao. Throughout all ages, there had never been another Great Emperor like him, able to freely choose among so many methods of "becoming immortal."

How absurdly wealthy a position was that?

Yet while still in his prime, the Qing Emperor suddenly had an idea: he wanted to evolve an Immortal Domain through his own power and become immortal that way.

I have a plan.jpg

If an Immortal King formed from a Chaos Azure Lotus were doing this, there would be no problem. But a human-path Great Emperor...

Could he really evolve one?

He simply did not have the ability, you know.

Thinking of the Qing Emperor currently sitting inside the Desolate Pagoda, handcrafting the Immortal Domain of his dreams, Qin Sheng could not help humming softly.

The Qing Emperor truly was the king of ideas in Shrouding the Heavens.

(End of Chapter)