Madam, please ascend.

Chapter 408 Another Storm Settles
The reverse scale is the most vulnerable part of a dragon's body, behind which lies the dragon's heart, the very point of its life!
Although the Heavenly Puppet Dragon is not a living creature, the core mechanism that enables it to move is located in its heart.

Just like that impenetrable armored puppet, even the most indestructible body has a weakness.

Helian Haihai sensed a threat to his life, so he concentrated all the dark blue flames on his body onto the Reverse Scale, intending to burn Yun Yi alive there.

Upon seeing this, Yun Yi thrust his sword directly into the Reverse Scale, and then retreated several feet before the flames engulfed him.

Helian Haihai was overjoyed, but the Fangyuan Sword was still half an inch too short and failed to truly damage the core.

Do you understand the principle that in a life-or-death situation, even the slightest mistake can lead to a disastrous outcome?
However, even after Yun Yi released his sword, there was no sign of panic on his face; everything was still under his control.

After dodging the flames, he pointed his fingers like a sword, held it upright in front of his chest, looked up at the vast sky, and softly shouted, "Gather!"

The next moment, thousands of sword energies converged and formed a giant sword over a hundred feet tall in the air!

It is engraved with mysterious inscriptions, which upon closer inspection resemble the shape of the "large iron plate" that once stood in the area. The sword was bathed in dragon blood, hence the black rust stains, giving it a mottled and heavy appearance.

The Heavenly Puppet True Dragon sensed the terrifying power contained in this sword strike and struggled to escape.

It used all its strength to finally break free from the combined restraints of Lu Ziwei and Su Qing. Just as it was about to leap into the clouds, it discovered that the Fangyuan Sword at the Reverse Scale point exerted a tremendous force, pinning the dragon's body to the spot and rendering it unable to move.

It turned out that although the Fangyuan Sword failed to pierce the heart, it created a forbidden zone centered on it, where no one could advance or retreat within a radius of several feet.

This is exactly what it means to draw a circle around yourself and imprison yourself!

Yun Yi looked down at the Heavenly Puppet Dragon, which had nowhere to escape, with disdain. His eyes gleamed with a clear light, as if a god had descended to earth.

"fall!"

Immediately afterwards, the giant sword fell from the sky, seemingly slowly, but in reality with tremendous force.

Before the sword even arrived, the gale-force winds made the dragon bones creak. Helian Haihai roared to the sky, shielding himself from the ghostly fire. But the giant sword ignored him, continuing its descent unimpeded, with nothing able to stop it.

Guided by the square-shaped sword, it landed precisely on the reverse scale position.

In an instant, the giant sword pierced through the dragon's body with the force of thunder, and the core mechanism beneath the reverse scale shattered instantly in the sword light.

Then the bronze dragon scales kept peeling off, making a series of crisp sounds, and the dragon skeleton also shattered on the ground, turning back into a mindless dead thing.

Helian Haihai's screams were drowned out by the sword cries that pierced the heavens and earth. When the dust settled and the ground was in ruins, Yun Yi sheathed his sword and stood there.

Su Qing immediately stepped forward to wipe the blood from the corner of his mouth and used her longevity power to nourish his meridians, quickly repairing his nearly dehydrated body.

That sword strike was incredibly powerful. If it weren't for Lu Ziwei's protective barrier, Xijing City would probably have been cleaved in two.

However, the consumption was also quite enormous, and Yun Yi suddenly felt somewhat exhausted. Looking at the gradually dissipating dark blue flames, he sighed, "What an immortal and indestructible Heavenly Puppet Dao! If we can't destroy its core, we can't kill it. It's really troublesome."

Lu Ziwei put away the damaged Book of Ten Thousand Ages. As the most precious treasure of Tian Shu Academy, only a dozen or so pages remain. If Qiu Haoran were to see it, he would surely be heartbroken.

She joked, "Don't let your wife see you looking so disheveled."

Su Qing silently healed Yun Yi's injuries, her eyes filled with tenderness.

Yun Yi asked, "How are those puppet soldiers?"

Su Qing replied, "I have already investigated. After Helian Haihai died, they all collapsed, and the mechanisms in their hearts broke on their own."

"What are the casualties on the Great Xia side?"

"Only some scouts were lost. After hearing the news, Father immediately ordered the border troops to be withdrawn for several hundred miles, so those puppet soldiers did not have time to actually encounter the Great Xia soldiers."

Su Qing spoke lightly, but the situation at the time was actually extremely terrifying.

As early as after she and Yun Yi discovered something strange about the garrison valley and sent a message to Da Xia, Su Chengqian and Qin Dingfeng immediately devised a countermeasure.

After much deliberation, the only option is to temporarily avoid their sharp edge and concentrate our strength to resist the enemy. Therefore, we need to shrink our defensive perimeter and set up numerous ambushes to avoid catching them off guard as much as possible.

General Tie and his men were ordered to rush to the border. At first, they couldn't see anything and thought the old emperor had received false intelligence.

He complained, "Does the Great Yan have some kind of audacity to actually raise an army and attack us?"

Ye Ling's expression turned serious: "His Majesty wouldn't speak without reason; we must remain vigilant."

"Hmph, His Majesty retired due to illness before, and Great Xia lost its backbone, which is why it suffered many losses under Great Yan. This time, I will get back everything with interest."

"Wait, what is that?!"

Tie Hong squinted at the distant desert and saw a dark line suddenly appear at the edge of the seemingly endless desert. Then, this dark line spread towards the direction of the Great Xia.

Upon closer inspection, they turned out to be countless puppet soldiers, like a tidal wave.

These soldiers were fearless, veritable killing machines, and their targets were clear and decisive. Several approaching scouts were immediately caught and killed, a sight that sent a chill down the spines of General Tie and his men.

When did the Great Yan Dynasty train such an army?

Tie Hong instructed his soldiers to proceed according to plan, not to launch a rash attack, but to retreat and defend.

He's not just bored and has to go head-to-head with this kind of thing.

The soldiers of the Great Xia formed a battle formation, held their shields in front of them, and shouted loudly to boost their morale.

The opposite side was completely silent, with only the faint, oppressive sound of machinery moving about.

Tie Hong's eyes were filled with the black tide, and a thought inexplicably popped into his mind—if they couldn't resist it and let these things rush into the Great Xia, wouldn't the area behind them become a living hell?

Qin Dingfeng, who was in Tian Shu Academy, was also extremely nervous. He had finally made up his mind to return to his sect to seek help, fearing that the Great Xia would suffer a devastating loss of life.

Meanwhile, Su Chengqian sat on the dragon throne, and although he had not met Helian Haihai of the Western Capital of the Great Yan, a confrontation had already begun.

Everyone held their breath, waiting for the moment when swords and spears clashed.

However, the expected scene of carnage and devastation did not occur, because the black tide suddenly stopped, and countless puppet soldiers stood there in a daze.

They remained motionless, as if they had turned back into inanimate objects.

Ye Ling looked towards Xijing City. Although she didn't know what had happened there, she could guess that it must have been Yun Yi and the Princess who had turned the tide and prevented this catastrophe.

Following the emperor's prior instructions, Ye Ling ordered, "Immediately destroy the heart mechanism of these puppets, then pile them up in one place and burn them to ashes!"

All soldiers: "Yes, sir!"

General Tie still felt lingering fear: "That was really close... But if it's this dangerous on our side, it must be even more troublesome on Brother Yun's side."

Perhaps out of resentment at the abduction of his own daughter, Ye Ling became less polite in his speech: "He has already tricked the most precious princess of the Great Xia Dynasty into his hands, so what's a little suffering?"

Yun Yi was unaware that someone was spreading such rumors about him behind his back.

The barrier set up by Lu Ziwei was destroyed along with the Heavenly Puppet Dragon. The commotion in the palace attracted countless people, with Crown Prince Helian Ran at the forefront.

Since the "Imperial Preceptor is dead," Yun Yi and the others did not stay there, but quietly transformed into a streak of light and left the palace.

As for what will happen to the Great Yan Dynasty next, that's their own business. The three returned to their humble abode in the city.

Lu Ziwei asked, "The Great Yan is at its most vulnerable now. Don't you plan to take action?"

“I have no interest in this kind of thing. On the contrary, you should stay and work behind the scenes. I think Helian Ran would definitely listen to you.”

“I’m not interested either. I’ve already entrusted the cleanup to Ye Lan and Liang Shangjun. They will take care of it.”

"In this way, the Great Xia and the Great Yan can finally have some peace and quiet for a while."

Lu Ziwei changed the subject: "The secular dynasties are at peace, but your situation is not so good."

Yun Yi laughed and said, "You promised to help me beforehand, so you can't go back on your word."

"That's natural, but I also need to make some plans."

"Then I'll have to trouble you, Master Lu."

For some reason, upon hearing that Lu Ziwei was willing to help resolve the Demon Extermination Conference, Yun Yi felt a great sense of relief and developed a strange trust in her.

I have always been the backbone of Xin Ci, Zhu Que and others. Now I can rely on Lu Ziwei as my strategist. It feels really good.

Lu Ziwei asked, "What about the Overturning Heaven Pavilion?"

Yun Yi: "It's not my style to just passively take a beating. Next time, it'll be my turn to teach them a lesson."

He had already planned this out. Now that he knew that although the Overturning Heaven Pavilion still had two Ascension Realm cultivators, they were held back by the Heavenly Pillar. He could then use this as a basis for his actions.

For example, before they attacked the Righteous Qi Sect, there was still a Heavenly Pillar on the Cliff of Absolute Heaven that had not been destroyed.

And coincidentally, in their previous life, Yun Yi and Song Xinci both perished at Jue Tian Cliff. They had to vent their anger from that time this time.

……

After the Heavenly Puppet Dragon dissipated, the core mechanism of Helian Haihai's heart was also destroyed, and he instantly became weak and was on the verge of death.

He collapsed among the dragon bones, barely managing to sit up with his back against a piece of bone, thus maintaining his last shred of dignity.

Facing Helian Ran and the officials, he no longer wanted to explain anything.

As death approached, his mind finally cleared. It turned out that ever since the mysterious master extended his life, he had become delirious, and in reality, his mind was being pulled by invisible threads.

I am not in control of my own destiny in any situation.

"Father!" Helian Ran knelt before his father, looking at his suddenly gray hair. Although he felt hatred and resentment, he still felt sorrow at this moment.

Helian Haihai only said one sentence: "Remember that you are the emperor of the Great Yan. Never look up, and never yearn for those illusory things..."

His injuries were so severe that his eyes lost their light after he finished speaking.

However, as the last person to hear the dying words, Helian Ran's ascension to the throne was obviously a matter of course, and no one would raise any objections.

With the situation in the Great Yan Dynasty settled, Lu Ziwei returned to Tian Shu Academy first, while Yun Yi and Su Qing also flew back to the Great Xia Dynasty.

Several days later, after a bumpy journey, the two finally returned to Dong'an City.

Su Chengqian: "Does Qing'er mean that it's not the right time for Great Xia to swallow Great Yan whole?"

Su Qing nodded and said, "The whereabouts of the shepherd who bewitched Helian Haihai are unknown, as are the cultivators who almost killed my father back then. They should all be people from the Overturning Heaven Pavilion."

"If this Overturning Heaven Pavilion is not eliminated, who knows when they will attack the secular dynasties again." Su Chengqian also thought of the day he woke up, when Yun Yi killed a woman named Hong Fu in the palace.

It is clear that the Futian Pavilion is constantly infiltrating the Great Xia Dynasty, and what they want is nothing more than for the two countries to go to war.

Therefore, at least until the scheme of the Futian Pavilion is exposed, maintaining the status quo between the Great Yan and the Great Xia is the best course of action.

The more stable they are, the more those who want to stir up trouble will stand out, which is equivalent to exposing the layout of Futian Pavilion.

Su Chengqian: "Then I'll listen to you. Anyway, the Great Xia has finally settled down, and Qin Dingfeng and I have discussed many reform measures that urgently need to be implemented."

Su Qing: "Thank you, Father Emperor."

Su Chengqian's gaze darted back and forth between Su Qing and Yun Yi, and he tentatively asked, "Then... what about your situation?"

"What?" Su Qing almost exclaimed in surprise, quickly covering her mouth with her hand and looking at Yun Yi. She was clearly surprised that her father would suddenly bring up this matter.

Su Chengqian asked Yun Yi with a smile, "I've heard you have quite a few female confidantes, but how about you consider staying in Great Xia as a prince consort? I might as well pass the throne to Qing'er then, and the entire Great Xia will belong to the two of you."

Su Qing retorted, "Father, I am a cultivator; I cannot be an emperor!"

"Hehe, I was just saying that. After all, Yunyi has helped our Great Xia so much, but I don't have anything worthwhile to repay him with."

Yun Yi said respectfully, "I have no debt to Su Qing and there is no need for me to repay her."

"You brat!" Su Chengqian sensed something was wrong. He had only asked her a probing question to try and persuade his daughter to stay.

He could easily see through Su Qing's thoughts. Now that he was in charge of the Great Xia and the chaos of the Great Yan had been quelled, it seemed that it was time for his young lady to leave the court.

Su Chengqian looked at his daughter, "Then what are you doing...?"

Su Qing answered first, "I want to leave with Yun Yi."

Yun Yi was shocked. He and Su Qing had never discussed this matter before, simply because he didn't want to put her in a dilemma.

Little did they know that Su Qing had already made up her mind when she was married and received the Longevity Elixir.

Once she makes a decision, no one can change it.

It was just a pity for Su Chengqian. Although he had expected this outcome, he still couldn't hold back his tears and burst into tears.

Su Qing was quite helpless. "I just got married, I didn't die."

There was another person who cried particularly loudly, and that was Su Rui.

With you gone, sister, I've become the undisputed heir, and the hard times are yet to come!

Yun Yi, as his brother-in-law, offered a suggestion: "You'll be of marriageable age in two years. Just hurry up and have a child, and make him the crown prince!"

Su Rui suddenly understood and felt that the sky over the Great Xia Dynasty seemed to have cleared up again.

"Brother-in-law, that's brilliant!"

That "brother-in-law" came from the bottom of his heart.

Yun Yi laughed heartily, bid farewell to Su Chengqian and the others, and then took Su Qing back to Burial Sword Valley.

As for whether bringing back a righteous fairy who is also the eldest princess of the Great Xia Dynasty will cause chaos in the valley, we can only deal with it as it comes.

(End of this chapter)