A dozen eunuchs and immortals hurriedly escorted Wu Qi back to the palace. Soon afterward, hundreds of Supreme Towers appeared over the palace, pouring enormous pressure to completely seal off the inside and outside of the palace. Then, all the foreign immortals and itinerant cultivators in the city heard a cold and stern warning at the same time, “Everyone stay where they are and wait for the investigation! If anyone dares to move, they will be killed!”
An elder of an immortal sect who had recently submitted to New Yu grunted angrily and said, “What’s the fuss? We are your Honorable Elders, not some prisoners! What do you want to do?” Despite the warning, the elder flew carelessly from the Temple of Honorable Elders into the sky.
Just as he was flying up, a ball of ghostly fire fell from above and struck him. Even with his cultivation base of a fifteenth-tier Gold Immortal, he could not resist the fire and was burned into a wisp of smoke in seconds. After that, his soul flew straight up into the sky and was sucked away by a strange force.
Everyone in the Temple of Honorable Elders kept their mouths shut and stayed in their residences, not daring to go out anymore. It was only then that they realized how strong New Yu was, and that they would not have been treated as well had they not been ordered by some almighty experts to come here. Now, it was clear that something serious had happened, and with everyone in confusion, their host did not have the mood to maintain the superficial courtesy they had been enjoying so far.
Standing in front of House of Carefree, Wu Qi glanced innocently at the soldiers and generals around him and asked, “What are they doing? What happened? Why are they so nervous? Hey, can someone tell me what’s going on?”
An oracle hurried over. With a solemn expression, he bowed to Wu Qi and said in a deep voice, “Please calm down, Lord Teeth! We’ll give you an account of this matter soon. Someone will come here and ask you a few questions later. Please cooperate with them.”
Wu Qi twitched his mouth and snorted coldly, then bellowed, “You want me to calm down? That I can do, but you have to provide me good wine and meat…and I want beautiful girls! You can’t just leave me here with nothing to do, can you? Heh, you’ve even placed a bunch of men around me…You know I’m not interested in men! Or, do you want me to eat them for food?”
He licked his lips with a look of unrestrained greed in his eyes, then grinned at the soldiers who had surrounded House of Carefree. Frightened by his look, everyone took a few steps back.
Two hours later, several supreme oracles were escorted to House of Carefree by a dozen generals. Wu Qi was enjoying his fine wine and dishes while a group of pretty girls was giggling and wrestling on the side at his request. From time to time, he took out large chunks of jade and gold and threw them to the girls as rewards. It appeared that he was having great fun.
The oracles glanced at the jade and gold that Wu Qi had thrown on the floor. Clearly, the jade had just been dug out of the mines in some mountains, as their stone shells were only roughly brushed away, revealing parts of the glossy jade inside. As for the gold, they were natural nuggets, some of which were still covered with sand and grit. They nodded as they thought of the true form of this Lord Teeth—a Yayu. He would be a little more suspicious if what he took out were beautifully carved jade and refined gold ingots.
Wu Qi, bare-chested, stared at the few oracles with wide eyes and shouted, “What are you doing here?”
When he had finished, he lifted a jar and filled his mouth with wine. Then, he turned his eyes, which were red with alcohol, to the girls wrestling to the side, laughing wildly as his gaze followed their fair and delicate flesh.
The oracles exchanged glances and nodded again. One of them asked softly, “If we may ask, Lord Teeth, where were you around noon today?”
Wu Qi glared at them impatiently and said angrily, “Where can I go? I was out for a walk, accompanied by the men you’ve arranged for me! Well, I did grope a few girls’ butts along the way…Don’t tell me you are going to punish me for that!”
While laughing, he rolled up his sleeves and stood up, squaring his chest as he said, “Come! Let me play with you!”
All the oracles took two steps backward while the dozen generals with the cultivation base of either Eight or Nine Stars realm of Second Pangu Heaven stepped up and stood in front of Wu Qi. The oracle who spoke just now said again in a low voice, “So, Lord Teeth had gone for a walk. Well, if we may ask again…what cultivation technique is my lord practicing?”
Taken aback, Wu Qi squinted at the group of oracles and sneered, “Is this any of your business? Why do you ask?”
For an immortal, his cultivation technique was his greatest secret. No one would divulge any information about it to anyone other than their closest friends and families. The oracle’s question had violated a major taboo of immortals.
While sighing, the oracle explained, “Please forgive us for asking that, my lord. At noon today, His Majesty was assassinated, and even his soul was completely destroyed. Therefore, we have to carry out a thorough inspection of all the honorable elders, itinerant immortals, and cultivators in the city. Please understand our situation and do not harm the harmony between New Yu and my lord.”
He paused for a moment, then went on, “Please demonstrate the divine abilities and mystic arts my lord are practicing, so that we may see the essence of my lord’s magic power with divine sense. As long as we are certain that my lord has nothing to do with His Majesty’s death, we will offer my lord a gift as an atonement.”
Wu Qi rolled his eyes and cocked his head, staring at the oracles for a long time before he slowly nodded and said, “Heh, I will do what you ask, only because you made me do it. So, you better remember this…Well, if you can fill this storage ring with supreme-grade immortal stones and give me ten thousand beautiful girls, I will forgive what you’ve done to me today!”
After fumbling in his sleeve for a while, Wu Qi handed one of the oracles a storage ring with an inner space of thirty miles around. To fill such a large storage ring with supreme-grade immortal stones was nothing short of extortion.
But, the oracles agreed without hesitation, and then they all fixed their eyes on Wu Qi, waiting for him to reveal his cultivation technique.
Wu Qi cleared his throat and transformed back into his true form of a Yayu. His body was filled with the dark, evil inferno hell energy, and the ominous fiend aura emanated from him made the oracles frown. Their divine sense penetrated his body, and after carefully searching for a quarter of an hour, they nodded in satisfaction and retracted their divine sense.
At noon, after stealthily attacking the black-clad daoist with Ecstasy Incense, Wu Qi had purposely left a very faint trace of immortal energy in the emperor’s bedchamber, which belonged to the Dao League and could only be detected by those with mighty divine abilities. But, what Lord Teeth was demonstrating now was the Inferno Hell Fiend Scripture, and his whole body was wrapped in strong fiend energy that could never be related to that immortal energy.
For the next seven days and seven nights, the subjects and officials of New Yu worked in a chaotic situation, putting more than two thousand unlucky people in prison and interrogating them with tortures. These itinerant immortals and cultivators suffered unexpected calamities simply because the aura of their magic power was somewhat similar to the trace of immortal energy Wu Qi had left behind. Whether they would get out of prison alive or not was none of Wu Qi’s business.
Seven days later, all the officials and common people in New Yu received a piece of shocking news: their emperor had died of vomiting blood after worrying about state affairs and reading official documents for days. The emperor’s eldest son—Ji Fa—would succeed the throne, and his enthronement ceremony would be held after his father’s funeral.
Meanwhile, the funeral began to take place in a very grand way.
According to Great Yu’s custom, all people were buried directly in the earth after they died, even the Human Emperor. This carried the meaning that since heaven and earth made men, they must be returned to the heaven and earth when they died. However, today’s New Yu had been influenced by outsiders. Its courtiers had collected a heap of the emperor’s ashes and placed them into a lavish coffin, while countless subjects and members of the imperial clan mourned in the palace. The sound of sad music spread almost all over the capital.
As the chief honorable elder who was cleared of suspicion, Wu Qi naturally had a seat at the emperor’s funeral.
It was the first time New Yu seriously held the funeral of an important person, so everything was in a mess. In the spacious hall, countless members of the imperial clan and courtiers kowtowed to the emperor’s coffin; in the square outside of the hall, 4,900 monks were chanting Rebirth In Pureland Mantra on the left, and 4,900 daoists were dancing and singing ritualistic songs on the right. Both sides were working hard to expiate the sins of the dead. It was complete pandemonium.
Standing at the entrance to the great hall, Wu Qi exchanged glances in silence with a group of itinerant immortals who possessed profound cultivation base. He wondered whose soul the monks and daoists were expiating from the sins, when the emperor’s soul was already sucked clean by those Rakshasa?
The invasion of the human race by Heaven and Buddhist League was omni-directional, and the influence of culture and customs was a very important part of it. Perhaps, the emperor’s funeral was the beginning of the shift in New Yu. Everything here would shift itself toward those mortal kingdoms in outer heavenly realms, and eventually to the extent that satisfied those almighty experts of both superpowers.
Wu Qi sighed faintly and shook his head, then turned his eyes to those members of the imperial clan burning paper money and crying in the hall.
On the list he obtained from Liangzhu, there were 13,947 members of Great Yu’s imperial clan who had defected with King Xinshan and fled to the southern region. Among them, about 9,800 were in the hall right now, while the rest—who were either stationed in various provinces and counties or were fighting Great Yu with armies out there—were on their way back to the capital at Ji Fa’s behest to mourn the deceased emperor.
Wu Qi was waiting for the moment when all these members of the imperial clan who had betrayed Great Yu came together, as he planned to kill them all at once.
He wanted to weed out the roots and see how Heaven and Buddhist League could control New Yu without Great Yu’s imperial clan. He wanted to see what other means they had, when they no longer had the legitimate bloodline.
Three days later, all the members of New Yu’s imperial clan and dignitaries from all the great clans gathered in the hall.
Escorted by a group of monks and daoists, the black-clad daoist also came to the hall with a grim look on her face.
A dozen eunuchs and immortals hurriedly escorted Wu Qi back to the palace. Soon afterward, hundreds of Supreme Towers appeared over the palace, pouring enormous pressure to completely seal off the inside and outside of the palace. Then, all the foreign immortals and itinerant cultivators in the city heard a cold and stern warning at the same time, “Everyone stay where they are and wait for the investigation! If anyone dares to move, they will be killed!”
An elder of an immortal sect who had recently submitted to New Yu grunted angrily and said, “What’s the fuss? We are your Honorable Elders, not some prisoners! What do you want to do?” Despite the warning, the elder flew carelessly from the Temple of Honorable Elders into the sky.
Just as he was flying up, a ball of ghostly fire fell from above and struck him. Even with his cultivation base of a fifteenth-tier Gold Immortal, he could not resist the fire and was burned into a wisp of smoke in seconds. After that, his soul flew straight up into the sky and was sucked away by a strange force.
Everyone in the Temple of Honorable Elders kept their mouths shut and stayed in their residences, not daring to go out anymore. It was only then that they realized how strong New Yu was, and that they would not have been treated as well had they not been ordered by some almighty experts to come here. Now, it was clear that something serious had happened, and with everyone in confusion, their host did not have the mood to maintain the superficial courtesy they had been enjoying so far.
Standing in front of House of Carefree, Wu Qi glanced innocently at the soldiers and generals around him and asked, “What are they doing? What happened? Why are they so nervous? Hey, can someone tell me what’s going on?”
An oracle hurried over. With a solemn expression, he bowed to Wu Qi and said in a deep voice, “Please calm down, Lord Teeth! We’ll give you an account of this matter soon. Someone will come here and ask you a few questions later. Please cooperate with them.”
Wu Qi twitched his mouth and snorted coldly, then bellowed, “You want me to calm down? That I can do, but you have to provide me good wine and meat…and I want beautiful girls! You can’t just leave me here with nothing to do, can you? Heh, you’ve even placed a bunch of men around me…You know I’m not interested in men! Or, do you want me to eat them for food?”
He licked his lips with a look of unrestrained greed in his eyes, then grinned at the soldiers who had surrounded House of Carefree. Frightened by his look, everyone took a few steps back.
Two hours later, several supreme oracles were escorted to House of Carefree by a dozen generals. Wu Qi was enjoying his fine wine and dishes while a group of pretty girls was giggling and wrestling on the side at his request. From time to time, he took out large chunks of jade and gold and threw them to the girls as rewards. It appeared that he was having great fun.
The oracles glanced at the jade and gold that Wu Qi had thrown on the floor. Clearly, the jade had just been dug out of the mines in some mountains, as their stone shells were only roughly brushed away, revealing parts of the glossy jade inside. As for the gold, they were natural nuggets, some of which were still covered with sand and grit. They nodded as they thought of the true form of this Lord Teeth—a Yayu. He would be a little more suspicious if what he took out were beautifully carved jade and refined gold ingots.
Wu Qi, bare-chested, stared at the few oracles with wide eyes and shouted, “What are you doing here?”
When he had finished, he lifted a jar and filled his mouth with wine. Then, he turned his eyes, which were red with alcohol, to the girls wrestling to the side, laughing wildly as his gaze followed their fair and delicate flesh.
The oracles exchanged glances and nodded again. One of them asked softly, “If we may ask, Lord Teeth, where were you around noon today?”
Wu Qi glared at them impatiently and said angrily, “Where can I go? I was out for a walk, accompanied by the men you’ve arranged for me! Well, I did grope a few girls’ butts along the way…Don’t tell me you are going to punish me for that!”
While laughing, he rolled up his sleeves and stood up, squaring his chest as he said, “Come! Let me play with you!”
All the oracles took two steps backward while the dozen generals with the cultivation base of either Eight or Nine Stars realm of Second Pangu Heaven stepped up and stood in front of Wu Qi. The oracle who spoke just now said again in a low voice, “So, Lord Teeth had gone for a walk. Well, if we may ask again…what cultivation technique is my lord practicing?”
Taken aback, Wu Qi squinted at the group of oracles and sneered, “Is this any of your business? Why do you ask?”
For an immortal, his cultivation technique was his greatest secret. No one would divulge any information about it to anyone other than their closest friends and families. The oracle’s question had violated a major taboo of immortals.
While sighing, the oracle explained, “Please forgive us for asking that, my lord. At noon today, His Majesty was assassinated, and even his soul was completely destroyed. Therefore, we have to carry out a thorough inspection of all the honorable elders, itinerant immortals, and cultivators in the city. Please understand our situation and do not harm the harmony between New Yu and my lord.”
He paused for a moment, then went on, “Please demonstrate the divine abilities and mystic arts my lord are practicing, so that we may see the essence of my lord’s magic power with divine sense. As long as we are certain that my lord has nothing to do with His Majesty’s death, we will offer my lord a gift as an atonement.”
Wu Qi rolled his eyes and cocked his head, staring at the oracles for a long time before he slowly nodded and said, “Heh, I will do what you ask, only because you made me do it. So, you better remember this…Well, if you can fill this storage ring with supreme-grade immortal stones and give me ten thousand beautiful girls, I will forgive what you’ve done to me today!”
After fumbling in his sleeve for a while, Wu Qi handed one of the oracles a storage ring with an inner space of thirty miles around. To fill such a large storage ring with supreme-grade immortal stones was nothing short of extortion.
But, the oracles agreed without hesitation, and then they all fixed their eyes on Wu Qi, waiting for him to reveal his cultivation technique.
Wu Qi cleared his throat and transformed back into his true form of a Yayu. His body was filled with the dark, evil inferno hell energy, and the ominous fiend aura emanated from him made the oracles frown. Their divine sense penetrated his body, and after carefully searching for a quarter of an hour, they nodded in satisfaction and retracted their divine sense.
At noon, after stealthily attacking the black-clad daoist with Ecstasy Incense, Wu Qi had purposely left a very faint trace of immortal energy in the emperor’s bedchamber, which belonged to the Dao League and could only be detected by those with mighty divine abilities. But, what Lord Teeth was demonstrating now was the Inferno Hell Fiend Scripture, and his whole body was wrapped in strong fiend energy that could never be related to that immortal energy.
For the next seven days and seven nights, the subjects and officials of New Yu worked in a chaotic situation, putting more than two thousand unlucky people in prison and interrogating them with tortures. These itinerant immortals and cultivators suffered unexpected calamities simply because the aura of their magic power was somewhat similar to the trace of immortal energy Wu Qi had left behind. Whether they would get out of prison alive or not was none of Wu Qi’s business.
Seven days later, all the officials and common people in New Yu received a piece of shocking news: their emperor had died of vomiting blood after worrying about state affairs and reading official documents for days. The emperor’s eldest son—Ji Fa—would succeed the throne, and his enthronement ceremony would be held after his father’s funeral.
Meanwhile, the funeral began to take place in a very grand way.
According to Great Yu’s custom, all people were buried directly in the earth after they died, even the Human Emperor. This carried the meaning that since heaven and earth made men, they must be returned to the heaven and earth when they died. However, today’s New Yu had been influenced by outsiders. Its courtiers had collected a heap of the emperor’s ashes and placed them into a lavish coffin, while countless subjects and members of the imperial clan mourned in the palace. The sound of sad music spread almost all over the capital.
As the chief honorable elder who was cleared of suspicion, Wu Qi naturally had a seat at the emperor’s funeral.
It was the first time New Yu seriously held the funeral of an important person, so everything was in a mess. In the spacious hall, countless members of the imperial clan and courtiers kowtowed to the emperor’s coffin; in the square outside of the hall, 4,900 monks were chanting Rebirth In Pureland Mantra on the left, and 4,900 daoists were dancing and singing ritualistic songs on the right. Both sides were working hard to expiate the sins of the dead. It was complete pandemonium.
Standing at the entrance to the great hall, Wu Qi exchanged glances in silence with a group of itinerant immortals who possessed profound cultivation base. He wondered whose soul the monks and daoists were expiating from the sins, when the emperor’s soul was already sucked clean by those Rakshasa?
The invasion of the human race by Heaven and Buddhist League was omni-directional, and the influence of culture and customs was a very important part of it. Perhaps, the emperor’s funeral was the beginning of the shift in New Yu. Everything here would shift itself toward those mortal kingdoms in outer heavenly realms, and eventually to the extent that satisfied those almighty experts of both superpowers.
Wu Qi sighed faintly and shook his head, then turned his eyes to those members of the imperial clan burning paper money and crying in the hall.
On the list he obtained from Liangzhu, there were 13,947 members of Great Yu’s imperial clan who had defected with King Xinshan and fled to the southern region. Among them, about 9,800 were in the hall right now, while the rest—who were either stationed in various provinces and counties or were fighting Great Yu with armies out there—were on their way back to the capital at Ji Fa’s behest to mourn the deceased emperor.
Wu Qi was waiting for the moment when all these members of the imperial clan who had betrayed Great Yu came together, as he planned to kill them all at once.
He wanted to weed out the roots and see how Heaven and Buddhist League could control New Yu without Great Yu’s imperial clan. He wanted to see what other means they had, when they no longer had the legitimate bloodline.
Three days later, all the members of New Yu’s imperial clan and dignitaries from all the great clans gathered in the hall.
Escorted by a group of monks and daoists, the black-clad daoist also came to the hall with a grim look on her face.
