kingnovel Chapter 499: Calamity
Chapter 499: Calamity
Even now, Liu Longyue, though a prisoner, still retains the arrogance of an empress.
Qin Liangyu, for the sake of the child, did not hold it against her and arranged for her to stay near the Empress's palace so that they could meet easily.
After seeing Liu Longyue off, Li Xiuning complained, "Sister Qin, this woman is no good. Is it alright to keep her in the palace?"
"Otherwise, she is, after all, the Ziwei Empress, and has the bloodline of the Holy Emperor. Sending her out of the palace to live would inevitably lead to criticism."
Qin Liangyu would not exclude dissidents for personal reasons. As the empress, she was concerned with international affairs. Of course, if Chen Futu had agreed, she would not have stayed in the palace. She would have led her troops south to Tianhe to guard the city long ago.
"Speaking of fighting, my hands are itching too. Sister Qin, let's apply to go into battle when we fight Nanqian."
Now that Li Xiuning has recovered most of her health and her figure is no longer so plump, she spends all her time practicing martial arts in the palace.
"I knew you were restless."
Just then, Chen Futu returned, and Li Xiuning stuck out her tongue, not daring to bring it up again.
Qin Liangyu said, "Observing the stars is of great merit; Your Majesty should not fail her."
"Don't worry, I am not a heartless person."
Just as Chen Futu was about to ask Guanxing for the treasure he had obtained from the ancestral temple, Guanxing changed her clothes and appeared before him after a short while. She was still as beautiful as ever.
Seeing that Tan Zheng had taken Li Xiuning and the child, Qin Liangyu pulled her away to the Imperial Garden.
Guan Xing joked, "Our Empress is truly dignified and majestic; it's quite intimidating."
"Enough with the nonsense, hand over the stuff."
Chen Futu reached out and asked for it. Guan Xing handed him a strange black metal box. The box had a Bagua (Eight Trigrams) plate on the outside, but Chen Futu couldn't open it by turning the array patterns on it.
Guan Xing chuckled, "If it were so easy to open, it wouldn't be a treasure."
"It seems we have no choice but to turn to Zhuge Liang."
Zhuge Cunfu was skilled in Qimen Dunjia and Bagua, so solving it was not difficult.
When Zhuge Liang received the box as a child, he exclaimed in surprise, "Such exquisite craftsmanship!"
He rotated the array, and with a series of clicks, the Bagua pattern lit up. Once it was fully lit, the box opened.
The three looked inside the box and saw a small black stone, about the size of a baby's fist. They couldn't tell what it was made of, but it felt cool to the touch and seemed to contain some strange power.
"System, what is this thing? Scan it."
The Suppression Stone contains the power of a nation's bloodline. Placing the Suppression Stone at the base of an array can form a large array to suppress the surrounding area.
"You mean, the Zhenshi stone has gathered the bloodline power of the Northern Martial Clan? No wonder they say the bloodline of the Northern Martial Clan cannot be mixed with that of other races, so that idiot Guanxing broke the ancestral temple's great formation."
Yes, the Suppressing Stone is useful to the host. As long as the host absorbs and refines it, their cultivation can break through to a higher realm quickly. It can also merge with the Northern Martial Ancestral Vein, subdue the Northern Martial experts in the Ancestral Temple, and replace Liu Longyue in their hearts.
"Good stuff. With that, there are enough powerful individuals in the south to deal with the ancient temple. So what exactly is being imprisoned beneath the ancestral temple?"
The system doesn't know.
"piss off!"
Chen Futu cursed irritably, saying that the system always messed up at crucial moments.
Even a fool could guess most of it. It's probably because some powerful figure from the past was suppressed under the ancestral temple. It's likely some old codger who escaped this time, and it's estimated that a great calamity is about to occur.
The ancient palace, without uttering a word, plotted and schemed, using Liu Longyue to replace the former princess of Beiwu. Not only did they intend to enslave Beiwu and make them provide for the nation's fortune, but they also wanted to release the old monster beneath the ancestral temple. Their plan was quite clever, but unfortunately, it all fell apart at the last minute. They should be getting desperate now.
Chen Futu took the town stone and then found Liu Longyue.
Liu Longyue chuckled as she looked at the black stone, "Not bad, not bad, the town-suppressing stone has fallen into your hands, so this trip was not in vain."
"Behave yourself and tell me, what exactly is under the ancestral temple?"
Chen Futu asked seriously.
"What else could it be? Just some old fogies who still want to see the sunlight. They took the Zhen Stone from the stars and gave His Majesty a great opportunity, while also helping the Ancient Palace fulfill a long-cherished wish. Next, they will take action against the Northern Martial's homeland outside the pass. Just wait and see, the North will surely face a calamity."
Liu Longyue was now completely in a "watching the show" mood. Whether it was Beiwu or Gudian, she was going to watch them fight it out and make a fool of themselves.
As Liu Longyue had predicted, about ten days later, the Embroidered Uniform Guard sent a secret report that the Northern Martial Imperial Court outside Longcheng Pass had been utterly destroyed. Fortunately, most of the civilians had crossed the sea to the south, and not many had died. However, dark clouds loomed over the ancestral temple, suggesting the emergence of a great demon. Some Embroidered Uniform Guards were killed, and those who survived evacuated.
Upon hearing the secret report, Chen Futu felt a sense of urgency and entrusted all government affairs to his trusted ministers, then went into seclusion to absorb and refine the Zhenshi stone.
News of the destruction of the Northern Martial Imperial Court spread throughout the land. Some powerful figures sensed that something was amiss and sought to avoid trouble, either joining the new capital or fleeing to the territory of the Great Xia to lie low. The entire southern part of the Central Plains was filled with a sense of impending doom.
Chen Futu was cultivating, and the system, having swallowed the key, also began to upgrade.
Half a month later, the voice of a powerful figure from the ancient temple resounded throughout the entire south.
"From this day forward, the Ancient Palace is officially established. Great Xia Holy Emperor, listen up! You are to submit to our Palace before the end of the year, or your kingdom will be destroyed and not a single one of you will be spared!"
The mighty voice resounded throughout the land, and the people were filled with fear.
In the new capital, Chen Futu, in his avatar clad in a black and gold dragon robe, stood high in the sky and responded, "You dare to destroy my dynasty? You ancient palace rat, if you have the guts, come and fight!"
Even if it wasn't Chen Futu himself, his personality was just as domineering; surrender was out of the question, and he was always ready to fight if he wanted to.
"How dare a mere avatar make such a racket?"
The laughter of the mysterious powerful figure was deafening, and the rolling sound waves even spread to the Great Western Regions.
In the ancestral land of the Great Western Regions, Zhang Sanfeng was discussing the Dao with two Xuanyuan Ancestors when he heard the commotion and couldn't help but frown.
An old man in white robes lamented, "The evil spirits of the ancestral temple have emerged; the world is about to descend into chaos."
Zhang Sanfeng asked, "Who is he?"
“Brother, you may not know this, but he is an unparalleled demon, and he is not from the Central Plains. He seems to have come from the Central Plains. Back then, the blood calamity swept through the entire Li Continent, and countless people spent their efforts to subdue him. Who would have thought that at the crucial moment of suppressing the trachoma, he would break free from his seal.”
“Yes, our clan has just separated. If we all rise up together and fail to subdue him, Lizhou will be destroyed.”
"Another old man in black robes said."
Zhang Sanfeng pondered for a moment and muttered, "The Holy Emperor should have a way to deal with him."
"The Holy Emperor achieved fame at a young age, but unfortunately, his cultivation time is still short. How can he deal with the Ancient Palace? If all else fails, my brother and I will go there ourselves, and the younger brother will take charge of the overall situation in the Sand Sea."
The two Xuanyuan Ancestors had a strong fighting spirit in their eyes. They had been silent for too long and forgotten by time. For figures like them to simply pass away peacefully would be too tragic. It would be better to use their final years to achieve the ultimate sublimation and fight that monster, at least to buy time for the Great Xia and the Sand Sea.
Zhang Sanfeng did not object; he tacitly approved of their decision.
The strongest fighters around the Holy Emperor are the unsealed Xiao Bai and Li Yuanba. Unfortunately, those two children have great potential but not a solid foundation. They are not strong enough to deal with such beings and need more time to grow.
When the two elders saw that Zhang Sanfeng had no objections, they were overjoyed. "We can finally leave the trachoma. We are willing to die for a glorious life."