Chapter 220 – Dynasty Secrets, Ageless Emperor, Wine Worm or Nine Worms?

Using a Heretical Avatar to control a Gu Cultivator, then leveraging them to infiltrate the Huaiyang Prefecture Demon Suppression Division’s prison.

This was the first step of Lu Chen’s “Heaven-Stealing Sun-Replacing” plan.

As for the second step—what he was currently doing—it involved gathering as much intelligence as possible about the Demon Suppression Division’s prison.

This included the prison’s layout and the types of demons and evil path practitioners imprisoned here.

Only by doing so could they smoothly replace these individuals in the future.

Lu Chen had now reached an extremely high Realm in controlling his Heretical Avatar.

Ordinary Restrictions were practically useless against him.

Had he not worried that directly controlling a prison guard might alert the Demon Suppression Division prematurely, Lu Chen could have easily taken over the guard who escorted him earlier.

As Lu Chen stepped out of his cell, the Huaiyang Prefecture Demon Suppression Division prison quickly came into view.

The entire underground prison was divided into four levels, labeled Cell Blocks A, B, C, and D.

The first two levels held only ordinary evil demons—mostly those with some cultivation but mediocre strength.

The real dangerous characters were imprisoned in the latter two levels.

For instance, Cell Block B, where Lu Chen was currently held, detained second-Realm Cultivators.

As for Cell Block A, its significance went without saying.

It was specially designed for third-Realm prisoners.

Though Cell Block A housed the fewest inmates, it occupied two-thirds of the entire underground prison.

This clearly demonstrated the importance the Demon Suppression Division placed on Cell Block A.

There were only five such prisons throughout the Great Ying Dynasty.

One in each of the four cardinal directions, and one in the Central Imperial Palace.

The Imperial Palace’s Demon Suppression Division prison was the largest, containing the greatest number of powerful demons and Devil Heads.

Though the Huaiyang Prefecture Demon Suppression Division also imprisoned many significant demons and Devil Heads, it paled in comparison to the imperial prison in both quantity and quality.

Walking through the underground prison, Lu Chen observed numerous demons and demonic Cultivators confined in Cell Block B.

Similar to the demons and demonic Cultivators in the Central Province, these Cell Block B prisoners were all plagued by Karma Entanglement.

Clearly, they had much blood on their hands.

“Diting, have you located the Formations here?”

The crouching Diting pressed his ear to the ground and replied, “Found them. But Brother Lu, there seems to be a big fish hidden deep underground here. That one doesn’t look easy to deal with.”

“No matter. This is within my expectations. Just identify what Restrictions are present.”

“Alright.”

Soon after, Diting stood up.

“All set, Brother Lu. Aside from that big fish deep down, I’ve identified most of the Restrictions here.”

Lu Chen nodded, then led Diting back to his original cell.

He had already sensed someone approaching the Cell Block B level.

It wasn’t yet time to reveal themselves.

Shortly after, a middle-aged man wearing a gold token at his waist passed by Lu Chen’s cell.

He was accompanied by two silver-token Heavenly Masters from the Demon Suppression Division.

The three traversed the Cell Block B level and headed straight toward the deeper Cell Block A level.After the three individuals had departed, Lu Chen once again released Diting.

Thanks to the arrangements Diting had just made, he could now evade most of the restrictions in this place.

Coupled with his exceptional hearing, Diting was currently capable of monitoring most areas within this prison.

Although Lu Chen did not know who the three people who had just passed by were, he had roughly deduced their identities based on their attire.

Without a doubt, this person was the current authority of the Demon Suppression Division in Huainan Prefecture—the Three Realms Gu Cultivator, Yuwen Hongguang.

‘With the current turbulent situation in the Great Ying Dynasty, a Three Realms Gu Cultivator would not move around casually unless there was an urgent matter. It seems something important must be hidden within this Demon Suppression Division prison.’

Thinking this, Lu Chen immediately patted Diting’s head, instructing him to carefully listen to what Yuwen Hongguang had come to the underground prison to do.

Demon Suppression Division, Third Underground Level, Cell Block A.

Yuwen Hongguang walked into Cell Block A, where there were only six cells in total, along with a special prison separate from the block.

This time, his destination was Cell Five within Cell Block A.

“Patrol Envoy, Your Excellency.”

Seeing Yuwen Hongguang’s arrival, the jailer guarding Cell Block A immediately stepped forward and bowed respectfully.

“Open Cell Five.”

“Yes.”

The jailer approached Cell Five, and a special jade talisman suddenly appeared in his hand.

As the jade talisman fitted into the groove on the cell door, countless formation lights emerged on the surface of the door.

Before long, the tightly shut cell door slowly opened.

Inside the cell, Yue Ziqi, with disheveled hair, lifted his head and soon saw his former colleague.

Yuwen Hongguang looked at him calmly and said, “Still unwilling to talk?”

Yue Ziqi lowered his head and replied in a hoarse voice, “If you are determined to accuse me, why worry about lacking excuses?”

“Hah.”

Yuwen Hongguang sneered coldly, then walked up to Yue Ziqi.

“Ziqi, don’t think that just because you refuse to speak, we won’t be able to uncover the person behind you.”

“To be honest with you, it wasn’t my decision to move against you—I don’t have that much authority. It was a direct order from the Emperor himself.”

“If you tell us what you know now, His Majesty might grant you a swift end in recognition of your past contributions.”

“But if you remain silent, what awaits you next are the old monsters in the Imperial Prison.”

“Speak. Where is Empress Xiao? And where is the Crown Prince?”

“Tell us, and you can at least preserve some dignity.”

Hearing this, Yue Ziqi seemed to recall something and slowly raised his head.

Although he appeared completely devoid of the former prestige of a Three Realms Golden Order, as his limbs were bound by Demon Suppression Nails, his eyes showed no trace of despair—they remained full of spirit.

While Yuwen Hongguang admired this, he also felt deeply displeased, believing his authority was being challenged.

Yue Ziqi looked at Yuwen Hongguang calmly and said, “Hongguang, how old is the current Emperor?”

Hearing this, Yuwen Hongguang narrowed his eyes and replied darkly, “Five hundred and six.”

“Yes, over five hundred years old. But after five centuries, has the current Emperor produced any offspring?””Ziqi, I know what you wish to say, but what has any of that to do with me? I am merely a Golden Order official. My duty is to assist Your Majesty and the Imperial Court in suppressing the demons and monsters causing chaos within our dynasty’s borders. Other matters hold no concern for me.”

Yue Ziqi didn’t seem surprised by this response.

He gazed at Yuwen Hongguang and continued speaking as if to himself: “Over five hundred years, yet not only has Your Majesty changed empresses seven times, but none have successfully borne him an heir.”

“Even though Your Majesty possesses the highest cultivation among all emperors in our dynasty’s history, this lifespan undoubtedly exceeds the normal limits achievable by third-realm cultivation.”

“Perhaps it’s not that His Majesty never fathered children before, but rather…”

“Silence!”

Before Yue Ziqi could finish, Yuwen Hongguang cut him off abruptly.

After all, some truths – the more one knows, the quicker one meets death.

The present Great Ying Dynasty was not what it used to be.

Five centuries ago, though the emperors possessed cultivation, they typically lived short lives with modest cultivation levels.

Thus they relied on third-realm Cultivators within the realm to help consolidate their rule.

But times had changed. The current emperor Zhao Zhongming was not only the strongest sovereign in the Great Ying Dynasty’s history, but also the longest-lived.

Through these five hundred years, Zhao Zhongming’s control over the Great Ying Dynasty had reached nearly obsessive levels.

The former Four Great Clans had completely become vassals of the dynasty through Zhao Zhongming’s overt and covert manipulations, existing solely to serve his will.

One could say the current Great Ying Dynasty was Zhao Zhongming’s personal domain.

Whatever he commanded his subordinates to do, they must comply without question.

Under such circumstances, the Great Ying Dynasty’s national power had achieved unprecedented growth over these five centuries.

Reaching the zenith of the dynasty’s five-thousand-year history.

It could be said that Zhao Zhongming himself was arguably the most talented emperor in statecraft to appear since the Great Ying’s founding.

Yet such a seemingly flawless emperor now possessed one fatal weakness.

Throughout his reign, he had failed to produce a single heir.

His only child was the Crown Prince Zhao Weiyang, born in the Imperial Palace fifteen years ago.

But a decade ago, a great fire swept through the Imperial Palace.

The Empress and Crown Prince vanished during that conflagration.

Though Zhao Zhongming publicly declared both Empress Xiao and Zhao Weiyang perished in the flames,

a select few knew that Empress Xiao and Zhao Weiyang had actually survived.

With certain individuals’ assistance, they had escaped the Imperial Palace.

Over the past decade, countless people had lost their lives in Emperor Zhao Zhongming’s investigation of this matter.

Yue Ziqi’s imprisonment by Yuwen Hongguang was connected to this affair.

After all, he had been childhood friends with Empress Xiao,

giving him ample motive to assist her.

But as a third-realm Cultivator and a Disciple of one of the Four Great Clans,

even Zhao Zhongming couldn’t move against him easily.

The Great Ying Dynasty wasn’t Zhao Zhongming’s personal property.

If he acted against a third-realm Cultivator without justification, it would undoubtedly provoke rebellion among other Cultivator families.

Were it not for the emergence of the Sky Demons, which demanded all clans’ full attention,

Zhao Zhongming wouldn’t have found it so simple to imprison Yue Ziqi.Faced with the stubborn Yue Ziqi, Yuwen Hongguang, whether out of past affection or other reasons, ultimately chose not to press further and silently departed.

Demon Suppression Division, Cell Block D.

‘The Ageless Emperor, no heirs…’

After hearing the intelligence Diting had eavesdropped, Lu Chen immediately fell into deep thought.

He felt as though he had grasped something, yet it remained just out of reach.

After all, everything Lu Chen had done ultimately boiled down to searching for the legendary ‘Wine Worm.’

But whether it was the books in Cui Chengyun’s possession or those of other Gu Cultivators, or even the Gu Cultivators they later captured for interrogation, none had ever heard of anything called a Wine Worm.

It was as if this Wine Worm simply didn’t exist in the Great Ying Dynasty.

This could mean either that the Wine Worm’s existence was so extraordinary that ordinary people couldn’t possibly come into contact with it,

or that this type of Gu Insect didn’t exist at all, and Gu Yue True Immortal was merely toying with them.

Lu Chen personally leaned toward the former.

Considering the distinction between ‘Gu Yue’ and ‘Gu Yue,’

Lu Chen suspected that ‘Wine’ might actually be ‘Nine.’

Therefore, what they truly needed to find was likely the ‘Nine Worm.’

However, these were merely Lu Chen’s conjectures, yet to be verified.

But Lu Chen had a premonition that he would soon uncover the truth.

And the key to it all likely lay in the hands of Yue Ziqi in Cell Block A.

After all, no matter how one looked at it, an emperor blessed with Dynastic Luck achieving longevity and eternal vision was nearly impossible.

Lu Chen had only seen such a case in one person:

the Eternal, Ji Ling’er.

Yet her circumstances differed somewhat from those of the Great Ying Dynasty’s emperor.

Ji Ling’er herself possessed no cultivation; all her power was built upon the Luck of the Great Yan Dynasty.

But from what Lu Chen understood, the emperor of the Great Ying Dynasty was a Peak Three Realms Gu Cultivator.

And due to unique circumstances, Gu Cultivators typically had shorter lifespans than ordinary Golden Core Stage cultivators.

An ordinary Golden Core Stage cultivator could live about five hundred years, but a Three Realms Gu Cultivator often only lived slightly over three hundred years.

This two-hundred-year disparity arose because once a Gu Cultivator’s body and Divine Soul began to age, they might struggle to suppress the Gu Insects within them.

And those Gu Insects had no desire to grow old and die alongside their host.

Thus, most Gu Cultivators met miserable ends in their later years.

Yet the current Great Ying Emperor, Zhao Zhongming, seemed to have broken this limitation.

At this thought, Lu Chen’s gaze gradually deepened.

‘Has something extended his lifespan, or has he obtained some extraordinary artifact?’

Lu Chen stood up, immediately preparing to seek the answer himself.

Demon Suppression Division Prison, Cell A-5.

Clang!

As the cell door swung open again, Yue Ziqi assumed Yuwen Hongguang had returned.

Just as he prepared to firmly reject him once more,

Yue Ziqi was surprised to find an unfamiliar face he had never seen before.

“Who are you?”

Lu Chen didn’t answer but walked directly up to him and calmly said, “It doesn’t matter.”

“Doesn’t matter?”

Just as Yue Ziqi looked puzzled, he saw Lu Chen raise his hand and place it on his brow.

“Because to a dead man, who I am holds no importance.”

The next moment, Lu Chen’s Heretical Avatar transformed into a wisp of black smoke, slipping through Yue Ziqi’s brow directly into his Divine Soul space.From the very beginning, Lu Chen never expected Yue Ziqi to obediently answer his questions.

Therefore, he had no intention of wasting time with Yue Ziqi.

Directly seizing Yue Ziqi’s body and searching his Divine Soul memories—this was what Lu Chen intended to do.

Although such methods were somewhat brutal, Lu Chen was not a rigid traditionalist.

As long as he believed what he was doing was right, no matter how heretical it might appear to outsiders, Lu Chen would not care.

Thus, Lu Chen never constrained himself by notions of Righteous Path integrity.

Whether it was the Righteous Path or the Demonic Path, as long as it was useful, it was a good Dao.

As the Heretical Avatar entered Yue Ziqi’s Divine Soul, Lu Chen immediately found himself in a vast, blank space.

Opposite him, Yue Ziqi in his Divine Soul form appeared somewhat weakened, but unlike his physical body trapped by the Demon Suppression Nails, here in the Divine Soul space, he could fully utilize his Third Realm abilities.

After all, this was his domain!

Yue Ziqi stared coldly at Lu Chen, who had abruptly invaded his Divine Soul.

“Get out of my body,” he said.

As he spoke, an ethereal Spear materialized in his hand.

With the Spear in his grasp, Yue Ziqi’s Aura began to surge.

A phantom white horse appeared behind him—the Falling Cloud Steed Gu, his life-bound Gu Insect.

(End of Chapter)