“Cough, cough... Where is the Heavenly Demon Sect?”
The emperor coughed a few more times and asked in a heavy voice.
“We do not know,” the black shadow beside him bowed his head and reported in a low voice.
“What did you say? Cough, cough, cough... Huff, huff...”
Upon hearing this, the emperor could not help but grow agitated, coughing violently as his breathing turned rapid.
“Our men searched the entire Northern Province but could not find the location of the Heavenly Demon Sect.”
The emperor abruptly looked up, his eyes locked onto the black shadow, filled with disbelief. “How could you not find it?”
“I purchased information about the Heavenly Demon Sect from both the Blood Fiend Tower in the Northern Province and the Xiaoyao Sect in the Eastern Province...”
The black shadow paused for a moment before continuing, “According to the intelligence they provided, this sect was only established recently and does not yet have a sect base...”
“They had a temporary base in Black Fiend City, but after the Equality Secret Realm opened, it was abandoned...”
The emperor's face grew even paler, his tone laced with absurdity and worry. “A sect doesn't even have a sect base? Is this so-called Heavenly Demon Sect some kind of scam?”
He had truly never seen any sect establish itself without a proper sect base.
Hearing the emperor's words, the black shadow was also temporarily speechless.
He had never seen such a sect either.
“Could this sect be some reclusive power?” the emperor asked with a glimmer of hope.
The black shadow's next words completely shattered his illusions.
“According to the intelligence we gathered, this Heavenly Demon Sect was only recently established. They apparently have three sect masters, and their highest-cultivation member at the time was only at the Foundation Establishment stage...”
The emperor's eyes went wide. His lips twitched, and for a moment, he didn't know what to say.
Three sect masters?
This was the first time he had ever heard of a sect having three sect masters.
Could that even work? Wouldn't it be completely chaotic?
Most importantly, damn it, you established a sect without even having a sect base? Isn't that a bit too reckless?
Brother, if you really wanted to establish a sect, you could have come to me!
I would have granted you land!
Just then, the black shadow delivered a piece of relatively good news to the emperor:
“Your Majesty, when we purchased intelligence from the Xiaoyao Sect, their assessment of the Heavenly Demon Sect was that they have a promising future and possess decent potential...”
“Really?” the emperor asked, his eyes widening.
“Yes, the person in charge of the Xiaoyao Sect at the time gave a very good assessment of the Heavenly Demon Sect,” the black shadow nodded with certainty.
Hearing this, the emperor felt a wave of relief.
He didn't expect this Heavenly Demon Sect to become immensely wealthy or highly prominent, as long as they didn't get wiped out.
“What is my royal brother's name now?”
“Fu Chen!”
A sharp light flashed in the emperor's eyes. What a coincidence that his surname was still Fu.
Perhaps this was the fated connection of family!
“What does my royal brother look like now?” the emperor asked after calming his emotions.
The black shadow directly took out two portraits from his storage bag.
One depicted a wild, unyielding youth. His brow bone was sharp as if carved by a knife, his eyes were fierce, his heart harbored pride, and his entire body radiated killing intent.
Though still a youth in stature, his shoulders and back were straight, naturally carrying an overbearing edge.
With just a single glance, one could tell he was a fearless soul who feared neither heaven nor earth.
“So alike... He looks so much like her...” Looking at the portrait, the emperor could not help but mutter to himself.
The youth's eyes and brows were a spitting image of his mother empress...
Thinking of his mother empress, the emperor could not help but recall the events of that year.
His mother empress was originally the Empress of this Xinghe Dynasty, possessing a cultivation at the Soul Transformation stage just like his imperial father.
Over a decade ago, he and that eunuch thief Ye Fan had entered the Soul Transformation stage one after another.
The entire Xinghe Dynasty was thriving, waiting for either his imperial father or mother empress to advance to the Unity stage.
Once they did, their Xinghe Dynasty could take a step further and become a first-rate power in the Eastern Province!
Just as everything was going splendidly, the Empress of Xinghe became pregnant...
But just as the Empress of Xinghe was about to give birth, disaster struck.
The Xinghe Emperor went out on business and was ambushed, dying of severe injuries...
This shock caused the Empress of Xinghe to go into premature labor.
But when the child was born, a perfectly healthy baby had somehow been swapped for a civet cat.
This incident traumatized the Empress of Xinghe even further.
Incited by certain instigators, the ministers and commoners, who were ignorant of the truth, denounced the Empress of Xinghe, accusing her of betraying the Xinghe Emperor.
The entire Xinghe Dynasty fell into complete chaos.
Right at that moment, a group of Soul Transformation powerhouses suddenly appeared and attacked the imperial palace...
Although the Empress of Xinghe and the Eldest Prince were also at the Soul Transformation stage at the time,
they were no match for so many enemies.
In the end, the Empress of Xinghe used a secret technique to forcefully boost her cultivation to the Unity stage, finally driving the enemies away.
Then, leveraging her Unity stage cultivation, the Empress of Xinghe forcefully installed the Eldest Prince onto the throne as the new emperor—who was now the current Emperor.
Both the Empress of Xinghe and the Eldest Prince were severely injured in that battle.
Ultimately, the Empress of Xinghe passed away due to her severe injuries combined with overwhelming grief.
However, the Eldest Prince, now the Emperor, had never announced his mother empress's death to the public.
He had always claimed to the outside world that the Empress Dowager was in secluded cultivation...
He was the only one who knew the truth.
Before she died, the Empress of Xinghe had given the Emperor her final instructions.
She told him that she had indeed given birth to a child, and it was absolutely not a civet cat.
She urged him to find that child no matter what...
Afterward, the Emperor's secret investigation revealed that someone had indeed swapped the child.
It was done specifically to traumatize his mother empress.
However, just as that person was about to dispose of the child, the enemy invasion happened, and the situation was disrupted.
The little prince was taken out of the palace by someone else and sold amid the chaos.
After years of searching, they finally discovered that the little prince had been sold to an assassin organization.
By the time he located the assassin organization and wiped it out, the little prince was still nowhere to be found.
Through torturing several members of the organization, they learned that the little prince had escaped.
Thus, the Emperor had kept his men searching for the little prince.
He had not expected to finally get news of the little prince when the Equality Secret Realm opened.
Yet, now, he was missing once again...
Recalling the past, the Emperor clenched his fists in frustration.
“Ye Fan, do not think I am unaware that it was you who colluded with outsiders to deal such a vicious blow to my Xinghe Dynasty...”
Hearing the Emperor's words filled with killing intent, the black shadow simply kept his head lowered, remaining silent.
As a member of the Xinghe Shadow Guard of the Xinghe Dynasty, he was well aware of all this.
Currently, Nine Thousand Years held absolute power over the entire Xinghe Dynasty.
He had always wanted to kill the Emperor and ascend the throne himself.
He truly could not comprehend why a eunuch was so obsessed with becoming the emperor.
If not for the other party's wariness of the Empress Dowager, he probably would have made his move long ago...
It took a long time for the Emperor to calm his emotions before he turned a gentle gaze toward the second portrait.
A pale face and dark circles under his eyes. Although his features were obscured, the killing intent in his eyes was still incredibly vivid...
A faint smile tugged at the corners of the Emperor's pale face.
As expected of his brother. This demonic cultivator look with a pale face and dark circles actually looked quite good.
After staring at the two portraits for a long time, the Emperor carefully put them away.
“What has that eunuch thief been up to lately?”
The black shadow bowed. “Ever since he was struck by lightning some time ago, he has been in secluded cultivation...”
At this point, the black shadow glanced at the Emperor and continued, “The commoners are all whispering that he did too many wicked deeds and was punished by heaven.”
The Emperor nodded, pondering for a moment before speaking, “Do you think it is possible that he was severely injured by the lightning?”
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