She looked at the princess, whose every glance held a thousand charms, and especially at the Dragon-Patterned Black Gold hairpin in Yan Ruyu's hair. Dao dragon patterns intertwined across it, shining with dazzling brilliance.
Qin Yao could not help covering a smile. "It seems His Highness dotes on the princess very much!"
Inside the magnificent palace, the glow of jade and the beauty of the women shone together, while melodious music and the radiance of Immortal Gold appeared side by side, forming an incomparably beautiful picture.
Another maid chimed in. Her name was Chu Yue, and her looks had their own merits alongside Qin Yao's. She too was a striking beauty.
Yan Ruyu set aside the questions in her heart for the moment. Her beautiful eyes glanced at the two women, but she said nothing.
Although last night had been sweet and heartwarming, she still harbored countless questions.
The connection between Su Yu and the Heavenly Emperor's Son.
And when the two of them had dual cultivated, both she and Su Yu had sunk into their divine consciousness, and a primal Chaos origin had emerged from Su Yu's body.
Yet during their usual intimate moments, that noble Immortal Phoenix origin had never appeared. He did not seem to be a true member of the Demon Clan, but rather...
With Yan Ruyu's intelligence, she had long since formed a guess, but she did not care. She belonged entirely to Su Yu now, and the entire Green Lotus Clan had also established ties with the Divine Phoenix Clan...
The two sides now shared glory and ruin alike, and she had also entrusted everything to Su Yu.
Inside the Dragon-Patterned Black Gold hairpin in her hair, divine light shone brilliantly. Three pieces of Divine Source were piled together with a great quantity of variant Sources.
Under his many assaults, this divine maiden had long since fallen, and now Yan Ruyu's whole heart was bound to Su Yu.
Though this relationship had begun in mutual interest, it had ultimately won her true affection.
Outside the hall, a refreshed Su Yu wore white robes embroidered with nine Divine Phoenixes, wondrous beyond compare. His hair hung loose, and his face was like polished jade: he was a flawless man.
The Green Lotus King rejoiced inwardly when he saw Su Yu's expression. This concerned the Green Lotus Clan's future standing.
Su Yu greeted him. "Green Lotus King!"
The Green Lotus King hurriedly replied, "How would I dare accept such courtesy from Your Highness? If Your Highness does not mind, simply call me Yan Li. How would I dare display a title like Green Lotus King before Your Highness?"
Seeing that the Green Lotus King knew his place so well, Su Yu nodded and walked toward the main palace with an easy expression. The Green Lotus King and the Azure Flood Dragon King attended him, with a retinue of maids following behind.
Flowers bloomed like brocade all along the way, petals drifted even in the clear pools of running water, and clouds and mist billowed beneath their feet.
Su Yu savored the moment somewhat, his whole being becoming incomparably ethereal. A refreshing coolness rushed into his Immortal Platform from outside his body.
The sensation was wondrous. It was as though he could see through this whole world. His mind was exceptionally clear, and all the laws of the Dao appeared plainly before his eyes.
The Ghost-Face Jade Jue in his Immortal Platform also emitted wisps of purple light. Unlike its usual ordinary appearance, it was now incomparably wondrous. Su Yu once again sent his divine consciousness into the jade jue to reflect himself.
This time, the result was heartening.
His Chaotic Blood had grown ever purer and was approaching completion. He had devoured a Sacred Body and an Immortal Spirit Body, and now he had obtained Yi Wood Green Lotus Qi as well.
"Yi Wood Green Lotus Qi-is it because of Yu'er? According to what happened in the original story, Yu'er eventually cultivated to the ninth heaven of the Quasi-Emperor realm too!"
Su Yu had some guesses about this. Perhaps it was something special about the Green Lotus Clan. At the thought, his mind turned to last night's journey of dual cultivation, and thinking of his Yu'er put him in an even better mood.
Last night, his soul had undergone a baptism and transformation, and his divine consciousness had grown stronger. The true blood and primal yin of the Green Lotus's daughter had benefited him greatly.
His heart stirred. If Green Lotus primal yin had brought him such changes, what about an Innate Dao Embryo born for the resonance of the Dao?
The Purple Mansion Holy Land's holy maiden... the Innate Dao Embryo... the Jade Lake holy maiden, the Yaoguang holy maiden...
One piece of information after another linked together, and a bold idea came to him in an instant.
I wonder what special physiques the other holy maidens have? Jiang Tingting hasn't met Ye Fan yet. The Taiyin Physique needs an Earth Life Fruit to reach completion, or she will die young. That won't be much of a problem for me!
And another thing: is gaining great advances in cultivation through dual cultivation a special property of the Indestructible Heavenly Art, or of my physique?
At that thought, his restless mood instantly subsided. This method of seizing the Dao through primal yin did not exist in the world of Shrouding the Heavens.
The primordial Dao of yin and yang, the secret of yin and yang...
And I can also transform to manifest the origin of those I devour. That isn't a profound principle of the Indestructible Heavenly Art!
He had noticed this from the moment he devoured that Sacred Body. Even so, when he transformed into a Sacred Body, it could not compare to a real one, so he had not paid this peculiarity much attention.
Before he could make sense of it, they had reached the main palace. The Peacock King, Jiang Yi, the ninth of the Northern Region's Great Bandits, and Liu Feng, the sixth, were waiting for him in the hall.
Su Yu strode inside, with the Green Lotus King and the Azure Flood Dragon King following one step behind.
"Peacock King, fellow Daoist Liu Feng, fellow Daoist Jiang Yi!"
"Your Highness, Heavenly Emperor's Son!"
After the exchange of courtesies, Su Yu took his seat. The Peacock King looked rather calm, while Jiang Yi and Liu Feng continued to maintain their silence. What they were discussing today was extremely important to the two of them.
Chapter 63: Chaos Palace
Su Yu fixed his gaze on the Peacock King. In all fairness, he admired him. Among the Demon Clan's great demons, this was the only one capable of bearing a great responsibility.
Several of Yan Ruyu's maids came from the Peacock King's clan and were Golden-Silk Peacocks. A thousand years ago, the Peacock King had been acquainted with the Demon Emperor's lineage, and thus had given them considerable protection.
"Peacock King, what have you decided about the matter from a few days ago?" The Azure Flood Dragon King spoke first. What they were discussing might shatter the fragile balance in the Northern Region and shake the entire Eastern Wasteland. Even though the Azure Flood Dragon King had already refined an intact Saint Weapon, he was still somewhat excited.
"Fourth Brother, I agree to this!"
The Peacock King nodded slightly, his handsome face as tranquil as an ancient well. Though he was doing it for the path of Immortal Three, if the Kong of eight hundred years ago had encountered such a matter, he would have refused without hesitation. How could he have allowed himself to be bound by worldly affairs?
But times had changed. After eight hundred years in seclusion without breaking through, the path to Immortal Three had proved as hard as ascending to heaven. Dust had settled on his Dao heart, and he needed to find another way.
The Peacock King of old had been much like the Golden-Winged Little Peng King, regarding the heroes of the Eastern Wasteland as nothing, believing he could forge ahead against the torrent, fight all under heaven, and carve out an emperor's path of his own.
Only now did he understand what "Extreme Dao" meant: it could truly crush the firmament through the ages, and was not something he could hope to reach. In this age of Dharma Ending, even Severing the Dao was like an impassable chasm. His bold declarations of the past had turned to empty talk, leaving him deeply rueful...
"With my worthy brother's help, what have we to fear from the holy lands of the Eastern Wasteland?" The Azure Flood Dragon King laughed heartily. His affection for the Peacock King was genuine, and he truly hoped his good friend could advance another step.
Su Yu sat upright and needed only to release a slight trace of Extreme Dao presence. The Peacock King's decision was within his expectations. He had come this time mainly for the Peacock King; Jiang Yi and Liu Feng had not entered his considerations.
Unite some of the Demon Clan in the Southern Region and establish a Demon Court in the Northern Region of the Eastern Wilderness!
On the surface, it was a gathering of demons, a force formed by the Demon Clan of the Eastern Wasteland to command the world in the Green Lotus's name and stand against the Extreme Dao powers. In reality, it was a force subordinate to a Primordial Imperial Clan, attached to the Undying Immortal Phoenix Clan, with a Saint and an Ancient Emperor Weapon as its foundation—that was the part known to the Peacock King, Jiang Yi, Liu Feng, and the others.
That understanding was not exactly wrong.
After all, the Immortal Phoenix origin Su Yu transformed to manifest was real. No one below the Saint realm could see through it.
As for the descendants of the Eight Divine Generals in Purple Mountain, only a few Ancestor Kings remained, and in Su Yu's eyes, they were all his subordinates.
Su Yu's gaze was deep. He paid no attention to the people in the hall; he was merely going through the motions this time.
A bold idea was brewing in his mind: the Undying Daoist, suppressed by Great Emperor Wushi within Saint Cliff in the Undying Mountain.
He was a true sovereign of the imperial Dao, the Faith Body of the Undying Heavenly Emperor from the primordial era. He knew all the Undying Heavenly Emperor's secret arts and emperor scriptures, and had even mastered all of the Nine Secrets.
Originally, Su Yu had not dared provoke that existence. If a counterfeit Divine Phoenix like him appeared before a pure-blooded Immortal Phoenix, wouldn't he be courting death?
For now, the assets he had could still be put on display during the early and middle stages of Shrouding the Heavens. A single move from him shook the Eastern Wasteland; when he stayed at home, the world fell quiet.
Even the Jade Lake Sacred Land, with its Western Emperor Pagoda, could be toyed with in his eyes. He had seized the Stone King given to the Jade Lake Sacred Land by the Fifth Generation Source Heavenly Master, acting with unrestrained arrogance and paying no heed to the dignity of an Extreme Dao holy land.
All of this was due to the point in time. In the early stages, Extreme Dao holy lands would almost always yield when faced with a Saint.
Once the Primordial Myriad Races awakened, Ancestor Kings appeared in droves, and Great Saints and Quasi-Emperors emerged one after another. In the end, even Ye Fan, at the sixth heaven of the Quasi-Emperor realm, was forced to disband his forces and push himself to reach full mastery as soon as possible.
Each of those Extreme Dao powers on the Big Dipper had Great Saints sealed in Divine Source. Once the foundations of those Extreme Dao holy lands emerged, a Great Saint wielding an Emperor Weapon would be enough to look down upon the starry sky.
This was the most suitable period for Su Yu. There were still several hundred years before the Road to Immortality opened, the foundations of the various Extreme Dao powers had yet to emerge, and the situation was peaceful. He had ample time to develop.
Recently, while studying the Immortal Phoenix origin, Su Yu had recalled that Ye Fan and his companions had encountered an avatar of the Undying Daoist before following the Old Madman into Saint Cliff. He did not dare provoke a true sovereign of the imperial Dao, but an avatar equivalent to a Saint tempted him. After all, that was a boundless treasure trove.
If the other party could not see through him, he only needed to shed a few tears and call him "false father" a couple of times to obtain several of the Nine Secrets. It would be another windfall of riches that reached the heavens.
That Faith Body seemed quite easy to talk to, unlike the merciless Undying Heavenly Emperor!
In the original story, the Undying Heavenly Empress had been emotionally unfaithful, which in this world was unquestionably a desecration of the Undying Heavenly Emperor. After the remnant soul formed from Ning Fei rescued the Undying Heavenly Empress, she used the blood essence left by the Undying Heavenly Emperor to summon a remnant soul of the Faith Body. The Undying Daoist had actually remained unmoved, ignoring the fact that he had been cheated on. He had even found a way for the Undying Heavenly Empress to summon the Undying Heavenly Blade.
If it had been the true body, he would definitely have sent the Heavenly Empress to keep Ning Fei company on the spot...
"Perhaps it's possible..."
Su Yu's eyes flickered. He was truly tempted: the complete Nine Secrets and many scriptures of the imperial Dao, all for a very small price.
But everything had to be planned out slowly. He only needed to go before Ye Fan and his companions ascended Saint Cliff. The stronger his cultivation, the more real the Immortal Phoenix origin he transformed to manifest would be.
When the time came, the journey to Saint Cliff would definitely be a great opportunity for him. Even after Ye Fan became a Heavenly Emperor, it had taken him over a hundred thousand years to gather all of the Nine Secrets. At present, apart from the Ruthless One's many secret arts, Su Yu had only the Nine Secrets: Dou.
And the secret art formed by uniting the Nine Secrets was used even by Ye Fan and the Undying Heavenly Emperor after they had entered the realm of Mortal World Immortal.
At that thought, Su Yu sighed softly. If one knew the course of events, the Heavenly Emperor's Son was definitely an excellent hand, even better than Wang Teng's.
A perfect appearance, imperial blood, the strongest physique of the golden age, several Saint subordinates, and good relations with several Great Saints of the Ancient Clans. Unfortunately, he had not known of the Undying Daoist's existence, and had no Ancient Emperor Weapon to protect himself. He had provoked Ye Fan, and in the end seemed to have been roasted and eaten.
That was what came of opposing the protagonist: a tragic end. If the Yaoguang Holy Son could have befriended Ye Fan and obtained the Heavenly Emperor's Son's corpse, his Chaos Body might very well have reached completion.
By contrast, a fourth-rate prodigy like Ji Haoyue, simply because he had a good younger sister and received a brother-in-law's treatment, eventually became an Extreme Dao Supreme as well.
As Su Yu's thoughts came to an end, the Azure Flood Dragon King, the Peacock King, Jiang Yi, and Liu Feng had also finished settling matters in the palace. Jiang Yi and Liu Feng both agreed to join the Chaos Palace.
Their present situation was not very good. Old Undying, the first of the Great Bandits, was only a Half-Saint and had just one Saint Weapon in his possession. After hearing that every force which had produced a Great Emperor had Saints sealed in Divine Source, they had been left with almost no way out.
The next day, the Azure Flood Dragon King announced the establishment of the Chaos Palace. Xu Tianxiong, the third of the Northern Region's Thirteen Great Bandits, Jiang Yi, the ninth, and Liu Feng, the sixth, as well as the Peacock King and the Green Lotus King of the Southern Region's Demon Clan, announced that they were joining the Chaos Palace as grand elders.
The Northern Region was shaken!
A force established by six Great Powers, with an intact Great Saint weapon holding the fort: its very appearance alarmed the various sects of the Eastern Wasteland.
Even the entire Big Dipper was discussing it. Some of the great sects and holy lands of the Northern Region were especially apprehensive. They had taken part in the Yaoguang Holy Land's earlier campaign against the Thirteen Great Bandits, and now that the situation had reversed, they did not know how the Chaos Palace would treat them.
Some time later, the newly established Demon Clan force sent people to invite the holy lords of the Northern Region's major holy lands to discuss the division of territory together.
Every envoy carried a jade book with a wisp of Extreme Dao presence flowing over it. This gave the Extreme Dao powers some understanding, especially since news of the Primordial Race had come from the Jade Lake Sacred Land some time before.
"I never expected those members of the Demon Clan in the Southern Region to join up with the Ancient Clans..." A grand elder of the Jiang Family gazed at the jade book, his pitch-black eyes sharp.
Even the matter at the Jade Lake Sacred Land could not be concealed. The divine might of the Extreme Dao at the time had alarmed the entire Northern Region of the Eastern Wilderness. The Desolate Ancient Jiang Family knew the matter well, and other forces also had intelligence from within the Jade Lake Sacred Land: a Great Saint of a Primordial Imperial Clan had threatened the Jade Lake Sacred Land and forced it to hand over the Stone King, and that Great Saint also possessed an Ancient Emperor Weapon.
The news was chilling. As ancient holy lands and families, they knew the mighty power of a Great Saint. Only a Great Saint could fully activate an Extreme Dao Emperor Weapon.
Now, a Primordial Imperial Clan was very likely standing behind the Chaos Palace... With this jade book delivered in person, their guess was almost certain.
This brute is powerful and must not be offended!
With that shared understanding, the leaders of the Eastern Wasteland's Extreme Dao powers tacitly chose to yield, giving up many mining districts. They even ceded mining districts on the outskirts of the Primordial Ancient Mine. This was a major sacrifice: the major Extreme Dao powers had always monopolized the Primordial Ancient Mine, valued it highly, and never yielded an inch.
The other great sects and powers had little say. Seeing that even the Desolate Ancient Families and Extreme Dao holy lands had given way, they dared challenge the Chaos Palace even less.