If you're made a fake emperor, why did you change the country's name?

Zhao Yu's playful smile made Qian Batian's heart sink outside the light screen.

He actually guessed right!

"Want divine sense power? Sure. Everyone knows I, Zhao Yu, am famously easy to talk to." Zhao Yu revealed a 'kind' smile.

Qian Batian was anxious at the moment, and when he heard this, he didn't think much of it and assumed that Zhao Yuzhen would agree.

"Don't worry, nephew Zhao Yu, wait for me..."

Before he could finish speaking, he was interrupted by Zhao Yu's conditions.

"Let's sign a slave contract, and you will serve me as your master."

"If I ascend to immortality in the future, you'll certainly benefit. This price isn't too high, is it?"

As soon as he finished speaking, Zhao Yu's divine sense surged, and the national fortune power he poured into the black longsword quietly doubled.

The sizzling sound of corrosion suddenly became sharper, and where the golden light screen touched the blade, the light flickered violently, and the melting speed visibly accelerated slightly.

But Zhao Yu remained expressionless, as if he were seriously discussing a profitable deal with Qian Batian.

"You...you've tricked me!" Qian Batian's consciousness fluctuated violently, almost losing his human form. "If I were to serve you as my master, how could I possibly take over your physical body!"

"At that time, with just one order from you, I'll have to obediently back out."

Zhao Yu seemed to have heard something amusing.

"Heh, who knows?"

He shrugged and said, "If I ever reach the world of cultivation and encounter some profound techniques that I can't comprehend, it's not impossible for you, a senior, to offer some advice."

Once Qian Batian calmed down, he didn't believe a single word of this nonsense.

He forcibly suppressed his anxiety and anger, wanting to continue the discussion. After all, Zhao Yu had been trapped in his palm-sized divine kingdom, and he had plenty of time and means.

"Hmph, nephew Zhao Yu, you're trapped now..."

Before Qian Batian could finish speaking, a look of pain flashed across his face.

The emptiness of his spiritual consciousness had already caused side effects, forcing him to take a step back.

"Damn it! You won, Equality Prohibition!"

He practically gritted his teeth as he said, "Let's each take a step back, form an alliance, and not invade each other! This is my biggest concession!"

Zhao Yu remained silent for a moment, as if he was carefully weighing the pros and cons.

Just when Qian Batian thought he was about to give in, Zhao Yu casually uttered four words.

"There's no room for negotiation."

"Equal restrictions? I don't trust an old fox like you. A slave contract is much more secure. Don't worry, Mr. Qian, I'm not a harsh person. If I really need you in the future, I'll definitely let you out for some fresh air."

"You! You're now trapped in my divine kingdom! Do you really intend to perish together with me?!"

"So what if I am?" Zhao Yu smirked, adopting a roguish expression.

Within his mind, the air pressure suddenly dropped.

Qian Batian remained silent for a full three breaths.

Just as he was about to speak again to offer advice, he suddenly stopped.

wrong!

That sound...

He suddenly focused all his remaining senses on the light screen.

The gap that had been blocked by the black longsword had, without anyone noticing, quietly expanded outward by an inch from the width of the blade!

Although extremely subtle, under his divine perception, the rate of this expansion was stable and irreversible!

"Zhao Yu—"

Qian Batian's voice instantly changed tone, becoming sharp like a cat whose tail had been stepped on.

"You dare lie to me!"

He finally realized what was happening and roared angrily, "You don't care about the master-slave restriction at all! Your goal from beginning to end has been just to buy time!"

"You figured it out."

Zhao Yu showed no embarrassment at being exposed; instead, his expression hardened.

"Old Biden, then we have nothing more to talk about."

Before he finished speaking, he poured all his divine sense into the longsword!

The power of the nation's destiny poured out like a floodgate being opened, and the pale gold patterns on the jet-black blade instantly shone as brightly as the sun!

"Sizzle—"

The sound of corrosion suddenly turned into an incredibly clear tearing sound!

Zhao Yu examined himself inward and quickly made a judgment.

In no more than the time it takes to drink a cup of tea, this blockade will be completely broken!

"No!"

Qian Batian let out a horrified scream, his first instinct was to run!

But he immediately discovered in despair that his remaining consciousness was as weak as a candle flickering in the wind.

Let alone returning to one's physical body in the distance, forcibly breaking away from this sea of ​​consciousness would probably cause it to completely disintegrate into nothingness halfway through!

His trembling consciousness glanced at the young body brimming with boundless vitality, then at the empty imperial palace.

A crazy idea suddenly flashed into his mind!

He took a deep breath, stopped making any sound, and silently floated to the side of the divine palace. His entire illusory figure circled the divine palace, and began to rotate and deduce rapidly.

Zhao Yu immediately noticed Qian Batian's quietness.

The deathly silence stirred a sense of unease within him.

This old man, Bi Deng, has shown him for the first time what it means to be difficult to deal with. The fact that it's so quiet now probably means something bad is about to happen.

However, breaking through the seal with all our might is the only right way at this moment!

He cast aside all distracting thoughts and focused all his energy on wielding the longsword.

The cracks on the light screen grew larger and larger, golden light flakes flew everywhere, and the entire "Palm-sized Divine Kingdom" began to tremble violently, emitting mournful cries of unbearable strain, like an eggshell about to be crushed.

Finally, with a crisp "snap" sound, the blockade was torn open, leaving a hole big enough for one person to pass through!

It's now!

Zhao Yu's divine consciousness transformed into a stream of light and broke free from its cocoon. The jet-black longsword, carrying boundless national fortune, headed straight for Qian Batian's core of divine consciousness!

However, his knife came to an abrupt stop in mid-air.

He clearly saw that Qian Batian's divine consciousness was slowly seeping into every line of his divine palace in an inconceivable way.

The process was silent, yet shocking.

Like a drop of thick ink falling onto rice paper, it spreads silently and naturally.

The divine palace that should have belonged solely to him now had a layer of strange, constantly flowing black patterns appearing on its surface, exuding a bizarre feeling that mixed the two completely different auras of him and Qian Batian.

Zhao Yu's knife remained suspended in place, not falling.

It's not that I don't want to cut it, it's that I can't cut it!

The Divine Palace is the root of divine consciousness, and like the spiritual root, it is the foundation of martial arts.

This strike, regardless of whether it kills Qian Batian, will inevitably cause severe damage to his own divine palace.

At best, it will destroy the foundation, making it difficult for the divine sense to advance further in the future; at worst, the divine sense will collapse, and the soul will be scattered on the spot!

The veins on his hand, which was gripping the hilt of the knife, bulged.

He turned to look inward at himself and found that he still had control over his body; his limbs, meridians, and blood were all normal.

He slowly exhaled and uttered a single word in his mind.

"system."

[Host's divine palace has been detected to have been invaded by an unknown cultivation technique... Analyzing...]

Analysis complete.

A screen of light unfolded in front of Zhao Yu, with calm and clear words on it.

[Intruder: Qian Batian (Remnant of Divine Consciousness)]

[Technique Used: Lower Heavenly Rank - Consciousness Palace Symbiotic Technique (Fragment, Self-Created)]

[Effect: At the brink of death, Qian Batian, at the cost of burning 99% of his remaining divine consciousness, forcibly comprehended and used this secret technique, merging his own divine consciousness into the host's divine palace in a 'parasitic' state. In this state, his divine consciousness cannot be forcibly expelled by any external force; the two share the divine palace, like a demon clinging to the heart, difficult to separate.]

[Note: After the host takes over the body, they will passively share all the comprehension and martial arts insights of the fused individual; this is the only 'symbiotic benefit' of this technique.]

After reading it, Zhao Yu showed no joy on his face.

"Old Bi Deng, you have no sportsmanship, you can't play the game so you resort to parasitism, you little piece of trash."

"System, is there a safe stripping method?"

[System solution in progress...]

[The only safe path to separation: The host's cultivation breaks through to the Nascent Soul Realm. At that time, the divine consciousness will transform into an infant, solidify, and can actively cleanse the Divine Palace, forcibly expelling the parasitic divine consciousness as impurities.]

[Warning: Any other forced stripping method has a success rate of less than 0.01%. At best, it will cause permanent damage to the host's foundation, cutting off their path to cultivation forever; at worst, it will trigger Qian Batian's divine consciousness to self-destruct, backlash against the Divine Palace, resulting in mutual destruction.]

[Host recommendation: Await breakthrough.]

The words "awaiting a breakthrough" kept Zhao Yu staring at the light screen for a full three breaths.

Within his sea of ​​consciousness, Qian Batian's 'residual divine consciousness' had completely merged with the Divine Palace. He no longer had a physical form, yet he was omnipresent.

His 'voice' drifted from every corner of the shrine, carrying the weariness of surviving a catastrophe, but with even more playful banter.

"Nephew Zhao, I didn't want things to come to this. Now that we've become symbiotic, you'll need my martial arts insights in the future, and I won't be able to do without the nourishment from your divine palace. So... it's not a loss."

Damn it!

He, a time traveler, actually fell into the hands of this old Bi Deng time and time again.

But thinking about it, it makes sense. This old Bi Deng has unlocked unlimited comprehension, but he has no martial virtue whatsoever.

At this moment, Zhao Yu suddenly understood why natives in novels all hated overpowered characters.

"Old man."

He cursed again, not for any other reason than simply not wanting the old bastard to think he had won.

He slowly withdrew the black longsword into his consciousness and quietly gazed at the 'contaminated' divine palace for a moment.

Then he began to do the only serious thing he could do at the moment: regain complete control of his physical body.

His divine consciousness slowly sank towards that familiar yet unfamiliar divine palace.

This action should have been as natural as breathing, but this time, the whole process felt particularly awkward.

It's like walking into your own home, yet you can clearly feel that there are eyes that don't belong to you, hiding in the cracks of the door, under the bed, and in the closet, coldly watching your every move.

The divine consciousness returned to its place.

On the altar, Zhao Yu, who was sitting cross-legged, suddenly opened his eyes.

The surging blood and qi flowed through the meridians again, and the sense of control over the limbs and bones felt incredibly real, making the body feel completely healed.

He flexed his fingers to confirm he had full control before finally letting out a sigh of relief.

However, before he could finish exhaling, a strange sense of 'resonance' came from the depths of his mind without warning.

Previously, when cultivating the "Emperor's Divine Art of Transforming Weapons," a difficult and obscure barrier had suddenly become clear, and countless profound insights surged into my mind.

The feeling was like a calculus problem that was originally impossible to solve suddenly turning into an elementary school math problem, where the answer could be found with just a little thought.

Is this Qian Batian's level of understanding?

That's pretty awesome.