At His Wits' End

"You're so unhelpful!"

"We old folks are outdated; this era belongs to you!"

The darkness shattered, and the familiar scenes of the secret realm returned.

Zhang Xuezhou grumbled, implying that Emperor Jing preferred to watch him slowly devour the headless black dragon without offering any help, while Emperor Jing couldn't help but sigh.

Looking at Zhang Xuezhou, he felt that Zhang Xuezhou was a capable minister by the emperor's side, who had almost defused the threat of the Emperor Qin with just a few words.

Emperor Jing was unaware of the Emperor Qin's strength or how much Emperor Qin was hiding, but he knew very well that as long as he played it safe, the Emperor Qin's threat would be greatly reduced.

With the Red Empyrean Sword hanging overhead, the Emperor Qin could not afford to lose; the more the opponent demanded, the less he dared to act rashly.

This is a divine sword that no emperor of any dynasty has ever been able to wield. Emperor Jing found it increasingly difficult to use the Red Empyrean Sword Sky Sword, and he felt that its power was not as strong as he had imagined. He couldn't help but wonder why Zhang Xuezhou was able to make the Emperor Qin wary of him with the Red Empyrean Sword.

"Have you ever seen anyone wield the Red Empyrean Sword to strike the Emperor Qin?" Emperor Jing asked.

"Your great-grandfather!"

"If you don't want to talk, then don't. Don't get angry and yell at me!"

"I said your great-grandfather fought him!"

"When did my great-grandfather, our ancestor Emperor, ever fight against him?"

Emperor Jing couldn't figure it out, and Zhang Xuezhou was also reluctant to mention the Emperor Gaozu who almost killed him. After all, the Emperor Qin hadn't killed the Emperor Gaozu, so he had benefited from the situation. If you were to nitpick, he could be considered Emperor Jing's enemy.

Pointing to the Tai-rank Six Talismans held in Emperor Jing's hand, Emperor Jing was terrified and quickly threw the Tai-rank Six Talismans at Zhang Xuezhou.

"The fifth talisman actually contained half of Qin Er Shi's body. Could it be that Qin Er Shi's head is hidden in the sixth talisman?"

Zhang Xuezhou looked at the Tai-rank six-talisman in his hand, then glanced at the new black circle on his finger.

The black circle represents Qin Er Shi's curse, and the curse's image closely resembles a ring.

This kind of curse has little offensive power; its main purpose is to leave a trace, similar to Ning Que's tracking technique, so that the powerful backers behind him can help with revenge.

Although the power of the curse was used to leave a mark, making the Incantation Technique's target extremely obvious, Zhang Xuezhou had mastered the Incantation Avoidance Formula, so he still had to be careful that the curse's power might dissipate due to its weakness.

The Tai-level Six Talismans were not as useful as Zhang Xuezhou had imagined, and the array artifacts of the Yin-Yang Secret Land were in the hands of the Emperor Qin, which made him ponder back and forth.

I feel like I have a special connection with your family!

Having repeatedly collided with Emperor Qin and Ying Fusu, and now even possessing the remains of Qin Er Shi, Zhang Xuezhou felt a deep connection with the entire Emperor Qin.

But this family is no ordinary family; a slight misstep could lead to death at their hands.

"If we were to go and meet with the Emperor Qin, we would probably need to take Liu Xuan as a hostage!"

The image of Emperor Qin that Zhang Xuezhou had seen flashed through his mind. He pondered the various aspects of emperors and even put himself in Emperor Qin's shoes.

Even though there was a rule that envoys should not be killed when two countries clash, the Emperor Qin was not one to abide by old rules.

Emperor Jing would follow the rules, but the rules were just a piece of paper to Emperor Qin, which he could tear up at will.

While Emperor Qin Shi Huang's words might be considered absolute truth when dealing with his own people, Emperor Qin credibility would be extremely low when dealing with his enemies.

To be honest, Zhang Xuezhou was quite curious to see just how good the strongest secret realm in the Southern Jambudvipa Continent would be, and whether it would meet his needs when he eventually entered the True Self Realm.

As the place where he imitated the Hunyuan Wuji Formation of the Hundred Thousand Great Mountains, Zhang Xuezhou still cared a lot about the secret place of Mount Tai. If he could not get what he needed from the three secret places of the Northern Kuru Continent, this place was his alternative.

At this point, he was simply focused on making preparations in advance to avoid having to make unnecessary trips when needed in the future.

How did you know about my great-grandfather?

Emperor Jing, who was standing to the side, wanted to keep asking questions, but Zhang Xuezhou shook his head, signaling the other to follow.

"You tyrant, what are you doing? Why can't I control my body for so long!"

Emperor Jing pestered Zhang Xuezhou, while Shi Wudao pestered Emperor Jing, mentioning that he had been unable to move at all for a long time, with only his thoughts functioning normally. This situation of being trapped in a body made Shi Wudao somewhat dissatisfied and somewhat panicked, and for the first time felt that Emperor Jing had a greater influence in controlling the body.

"How long is the duration?"

Zhang Xuezhou didn't want to ramble on about the Gaozu Emperor, so he casually asked Shi Wudao about it.

"Five... what are five fingers? Five hours? Five quarters? It can't be five breaths, can it?"

The petty-minded Shi Wudao immediately gave Zhang Xuezhou five fingers. Zhang Xuezhou cooperated and asked several times before finally hearing Shi Wudao give his affirmative answer.

"It actually took five days!"

Destroying the remains of Qin Er Shi using the dragonfish method would take a long time, and Zhang Xuezhou had no other choice. He would not casually reveal his trump card of technique to Emperor Jing and Emperor Qin, otherwise he might become the one targeted.

As long as his physical form is that of a dragon-fish, he will be a loyal minister of the Great Han.

However, if his physical abilities exceed the norm, or even surpass Emperor Jing's, Zhang Xuezhou will be the prime suspect in usurping the Han throne, and how could he possibly maintain a harmonious relationship with Emperor Jing at this time?

As for Emperor Qin, let's not even mention him. After he truly demonstrates his abilities, he might discover that Zhang Xuezhou.

In this situation, Zhang Xuezhou is essentially walking a tightrope, and no amount of caution is excessive.

It was inevitable that time would be spent, but the fact that it took five days was something Zhang Xuezhou hadn't expected.

However, Shi Wudao's counting in the secret place was inaccurate, and the estimated time was probably conservative; the actual time spent may have been longer.

"Hurry up and come out! I'm going back to Chang'an City. You all follow my cousin!"

Zhang Xuezhou, holding the Taijie Six Talismans, ran ahead, took a step forward towards the broad-minded man, and then reached out to urge him on repeatedly.

"This is the exit, so why are you making us drill back and forth in the geomagnetic field?!"

Shi Wudao mumbled something, but Emperor Jing remained silent.

Clearly, Zhang Xuezhou was hiding many things.

The other party knew that Emperor Gaozu had fought against Emperor Qin, that they already knew how to enter and exit the Yin-Yang Secret Land, and that they had gained Liu Che's trust and were keeping the Red Empyrean Sword of the Great Han Dynasty. All of these things had exceeded Emperor Jing's expectations.

If this had happened during the reign of Emperor Jing, someone like Zhang Xuezhou would have been suspected of having connections to the Immortal Court, and would have been alienated and isolated, or even put to death under certain circumstances.

He pondered for a moment, then heard Shi Wudao babbling on the other end, revealing most of what he was thinking in his words.

"The tyrant is starting to become suspicious again, Dong boy, you better be prepared. This guy has always been paranoid and has never done anything good in his life. Who knows, he might be targeting you!" Shi Wudao shouted. "I want to declare in advance that I am innocent. If he messes with you, you'd better spare my life!"

"You damned leader of the Corpse-like creatures, you should be buried in a coffin and then struck to death with twelve Soul-Suppressing Nails, never to be resurrected!"

When Emperor Jing were exposed, he was furious and cursed Shi Wudao, which in turn provoked Shi Wudao, who had also been exposed, to hurl insults back.

Zhang Xuezhou didn't care how much Emperor Jing suspected him. He stood there and let Emperor Jing kill him; Emperor Jing lacked the ability to kill him anyway.

If the two were to compete in strategy, Emperor Jing would be the perfect candidate.

When his abilities far surpassed those of his opponent, Zhang Xuezhou didn't care at all what Emperor Jing thought, and his opponent couldn't cause any trouble.

"His Majesty needs me, the Empress Dowager needs me, and Emperor Jing won't do anything to me," Zhang Xuezhou turned around and smiled. "If Emperor Jing achieves success in his cultivation, perhaps I can even play matchmaker for you and the Empress Dowager in the future. Just a friendly word to Emperor Jing: the Empress Dowager is very unhappy that you left a will for Dou Ying, and your marriage is almost on the verge of collapse!"

Zhang Xuezhou replied, and Fei Jiang's expression turned strange.

This is roughly how a human expression can change from pale to green in an instant; Emperor Jing's paranoia kicked in, and he had no choice but to suppress it.

Moreover, he felt he had forgotten many things, such as the imperial edict, his former empress, the new emperor's appearance, and even his former supreme power.