Caution, a Crushing Counter, and Two Formation Tools

Zhang Xuezhou's attempts to sow discord are reminiscent of a fox borrowing the tiger's power to jump around.

Emperor Jing's tolerance of Zhang Xuezhou stemmed not only from their current cooperation, but also from the fact that Zhang Xuezhou was a subject of the Great Han Dynasty and that Zhang's son had promised to help him practice magic.

More importantly, with the addition of Zhang Xuezhou, the other side might suffer Emperor Qin's repercussions for their antics, thus changing the antagonistic situation between them.

Are you willing to gamble?

The voice from within the black mist remained steady and unchanged as it calmly addressed Emperor Jing.

Emperor Jing did not reply, but Zhang Xuezhou shouted.

"His fortunes have collapsed, causing the Qin Dynasty to perish after only two generations, and his sons and grandsons to all die. His physical strength is limited," Zhang Xuezhou exclaimed. "He made you gamble because he was guilty; he panicked, and his mind is in turmoil!"

"Snort!"

A cold, low hum echoed Emperor Qin's attitude; the other party was clearly unwilling to lower himself to pay attention to such a nobody as him, and only now did he respond to Zhang Xuezhou's words.

"Listen to that, he's broken down, he couldn't hold back anymore!"

Zhang Xuezhou's incessant chatter sounded just like a mosquito, which even made Emperor Jing feel somewhat uncomfortable.

But suddenly, Emperor Jing's mind sharpened.

A heavy claw lashed out, followed by a muffled groan from the shadows.

The dragonfish vanished in an instant, but Emperor Jing also assessed the opponent's condition.

"You are indeed severely injured," Emperor Jing said in a deep voice. "My Great Han Kingdom a sword that, if used to consecrate that sword, could potentially kill you completely!"

What sword?

"Red Sky!"

Emperor Jing whispered.

He stared at the previously chilling black light, and for the first time felt that tearing off all pretenses wasn't so bad.

Without the Red Empyrean Sword, he would be helpless against his opponent, and his opponent would not be able to kill him easily either. They might even pay an unbearable price for the endless struggle. The previous threat now seems more like a joke.

What kind of sword is Chixiao?

"The Crimson Sky is a red sword. When it's drawn, it's a streak of red light. Its blade is incredibly sharp and fast; before you can react, you're struck!"

A voice from within the black light asked a question, but before Emperor Jing could answer, the noisy voice rang out again, and a dragonfish reappeared.

"So that was the location of your true form?"

The voice from within the black light asked again, but this time it didn't use any force and responded in a more normal tone.

Zhang Xuezhou explained it very clearly, and the Emperor Qin had also seen that sword not long ago.

Zhang Xuezhou was right; he had suffered a severe injury, and this injury stemmed from the Red Empyrean Sword.

The emperors of the Great Han Dynasty were not as powerful as him, but with the Red Empyrean Sword, he narrowed the gap. He could kill his opponents, but his opponents also had the ability to kill him.

This is a sword that should not exist; it is the nemesis of all cultivators of magical arts. Whoever wields this sword will be the emperor among magical arts practitioners, and even the Emperor Qin would have to bow down to him.

"My location is meaningless. You should know that you are countered by the Bloodline. No matter how much you scheme, how strong your power, or how many puppet troops you have, once you threaten the Great Han Dynasty, the current emperor will attack you one after another until you are killed. By the way, let me tell you, the current emperor held a sacrifice at Mount Tai a few days ago, led his ministers to practice the art of luck, and helped dozens of people to condense their luck bodies. There are far more opponents delaying you than you can imagine!"

Zhang Xuezhou felt a little regretful.

He used the phantom of the dragon fish to take the hit, and surprisingly, Emperor Jing did not fight with Emperor Qin, but only exchanged a few blows.

Emperor Jing was indeed a step behind; even knowing that the Emperor Qin had been injured, he still prioritized protecting himself.

Zhang Xuezhou's personal involvement was of little use. Emperor Jing was the leader of the peace-seeking and conservative factions in the court. The other side was very conservative in its thinking and extremely cautious in taking any risky actions.

Unless the Emperor Qin was half-dead in front of them, or the Emperor Qin was about to kill Emperor Jing, the other party would most likely not risk a fight.

This forced Zhang Xuezhou, who had figured out all the connections, to give a lengthy explanation. He not only mentioned the Red Empyrean Sword, but also the various advantages of the Emperor Qin.

A thousand troops are no match for capturing the king first. Zhang Xuezhou envisioned that the Great Han Dynasty would not engage in direct confrontation, but would instead use the Red Empyrean Sword to assassinate the Emperor Qin through strategic maneuvering.

This is a hypothesis, and also the best way to resist the Great Qin Dynasty.

As long as the Red Empyrean Sword exists, the Emperor Qin will be restrained.

No matter how many generals Emperor Qin possessed, and how many generals he had far surpassed those of the Great Han Dynasty, everything would fall into chaos once Emperor Qin died, let alone the achievement of Emperor Qin goals.

Zhang Xuezhou spoke eloquently, and the Emperor Qin did not respond again. The black light that had been entangled on the headless dragon's body gradually faded.

"Bring me the array artifacts of the Mountain and River Array, and I will give you the array artifacts of that secret realm, thus allowing you to truly possess the best secret realm in the Southern Jambudvipa Continent!"

As the black light gradually dissipated, Emperor Qin's voice came, indicating that the other half of the key to the Yin-Yang School's secret realm was in his hands.

"If you are a descendant of the Yin-Yang School, I will return Zou Ji's head to you!"

"His Majesty the Emperor Jing has ordered you to defeat this headless black dragon!"

Zhang Xuezhou was clearly unwilling to be tainted by the Curse of the headless black dragon. He urged Emperor Jing, Emperor Jing shook his head repeatedly.

"He's calling for you, so go ahead and defeat the Black Dragon without worry," Emperor Jing said. "You won't incur any enmity, and killing you will bring him no benefit!"

"You won't cause any trouble," Zhang Xuezhou said.

"I'm bound to incur his wrath," Emperor Jing sighed. "If that remains ever become involved with me, he'll try to obtain the Red Empyrean Sword through me. He's capable of that!"

"You're just overthinking things and being too conservative!"

Zhang Xuezhou scoffed, but he also knew that Emperor Jing had a point.

Soldiers against soldiers, generals against generals; he was now the messenger in this battle between generals. While Emperor Jing's personal involvement was risky, his risk was not so high.

As Tai Jie Liu Fu guessed, there were indeed two control methods in the Yin-Yang School's secret land: one was the outer Mountain and River Eternal Stability Array, and the other was the internal setup. Both sides in the struggle had their own advantages in these two.

The Yin-Yang School fought desperately and obtained the array artifact for the Everlasting Mountains and Rivers Array, while the Emperor Qin obtained the array artifact for the Yin-Yang Secret Realm. In the end, neither side gained anything.

The situation of the Yin-Yang Secret Land is not an isolated case. The Shanglin Garden Secret Land was also bound by the outer formation. If it weren't for a chance encounter, these secret lands selected by the Great Qin Dynasty would almost never have seen the light of day again.

Zhang Xuezhou believed there must be other secret locations with similar situations.

This method of directly sealing off secret locations may be profitable, or it may be the most thorough way to exterminate many schools of thought, thus leaving them with no more hidden secret locations to occupy.

The Northern Kuru Continent has many Sacred Land and secret sites, the Western Continent of Niuhe has sacred mountains, while the Southern Jambudvipa Continent lacks such sites, and even the rulers of dynasties lack training grounds.

The Great Qin Dynasty had indeed exploited them too thoroughly; Zhang Xuezhou still remembered the new emperor's excitement after acquiring the Shanglin Garden secret realm.

He pondered this over and over, and finally conjured hundreds of dragonfish that rushed toward the dazed, headless black dragon.