Starting with being handed over to the Imperial Concubine, building a family with a thousand-year hi

"Damn it! That damned eunuch got the better deal!" Enveloped in an earthy yellow light, Situ Chengjun moved swiftly underground, his heart filled with resentment and bitterness as he cursed inwardly. This trip to Huitai County had not only left him severely injured and drained most of his power, but also cost him a life-saving earth-遁玄符 (a magical talisman for escaping underground), yet he had gained nothing, while Su Mu had reaped the benefits. The frustration and anger in his heart were indescribable.

After Situ Chengjun and Su Feiyang, two True Martial Realm geniuses from ten thousand years ago, both escaped, Su Mu did not linger at the bottom of the rift. He put away the Meteorite Puppet, leaped, and flew out of the top of the rift. At this moment, the zombie whose head had been pierced by the Purple Geng Spirit-Slaying Sword was completely dead. The true fire and sword energy around Su Mu merged, completely annihilating the remaining evil power within its body.

Before long, the evil beetles, now without their master's control, also lost their vitality and began to self-destruct one after another. The rapid explosions shook the entire crack violently, causing it to collapse and be buried under rubble in the blink of an eye, disappearing completely from the spot.

"Eunuch Su..." Xiao Anran had been waiting at the top of the crack. When she saw Su Mu fly up, she quickly stepped forward to ask about the situation inside.

"Leave here first!" Su Mu waved his hand, his tone calm, indicating that it was not advisable for her to stay here any longer—the aftershocks of the collapsed crack had not yet dissipated, and staying here might be dangerous.

Everyone immediately got up and evacuated. Xiao Anran, who was brought by Su Mu, naturally followed closely behind him. Su Mu flew to the shore with her first, and then sped north. Before long, they landed next to the royal carriage. Jinzi followed closely behind, flying down from the sky and landing on Su Mu's shoulder.

The carriage quickly started moving and sped towards the Great Qian Imperial City. Inside the carriage, Xiao Anran, unable to contain her curiosity, inquired about what had happened at the bottom of the rift from Su Mu. Su Mu did not hide anything and simply recounted the course of the battle.

"Eunuch Su is reaping the benefits without lifting a finger. The new emperor, Situ Chengjun, has worked for nothing and I'm afraid he won't let it go easily," Xiao Anran said softly, a hint of worry on her face.

"I wouldn't call this reaping the benefits without lifting a finger," Su Mu said calmly, a hint of confidence in his eyes. "My two puppets contributed significantly to the battle, and one of them, the Silver Puppet, was completely destroyed, which is quite a price to pay. As for Situ Chengjun, his strength is just so-so, not particularly formidable, so there's no need to fear him."

"Is Eunuch Su confident in defeating him?" Xiao Anran asked softly, a hint of doubt flashing in her eyes.

"Yes!" Su Mu nodded without hesitation, his tone firm and without the slightest doubt.

"That's good!" Xiao Anran breathed a sigh of relief, the worry on her face instantly disappearing. In the past, she had doubted Su Mu's strength more than once, but time and time again, facts proved that her doubts were wrong. Over time, she began to trust Su Mu without reservation; as long as Su Mu said he was confident, she believed him without a doubt.

"By the way, Your Highness, Situ Chengjun is the ancestor of your Xiao royal family." Su Mu suddenly remembered something and reminded him softly.

"That's not necessarily true." Xiao Anran curled her cherry-red lips, her tone tinged with disdain. "Eunuch Su said that he might indeed be a powerful figure from the Xiao clan ten thousand years ago, but that's just his word, and there's no evidence to prove it's true. The reason we're temporarily submitting to him is simply because we don't have enough strength to contend with him, not because we genuinely acknowledge him as our 'ancestor'."

"What if he wasn't lying?" Su Mu asked again.

"Even if what he said is true, so what?" Xiao Anran said firmly. "He has been asleep for ten thousand years and has never contributed to the establishment of the Great Qian Empire, nor has he made any contributions to our Xiao royal family. Now that he has just broken free from his seal, he can't wait to seize the throne. Such greed and tyranny make it hard for people to have any goodwill towards him, let alone be convinced."

Su Mu smiled and didn't continue the topic. Instead, he took out the storage ring he had taken from the zombie and probed it with his divine sense to examine its contents. To his surprise, the storage ring contained only one thing—a demon beast's inner core.

These demon beast cores were not stored in jade boxes, but were arranged in nearly transparent, specially made glass bottles according to their level and attributes. Each glass bottle had a label clearly indicating the level and attributes of the core inside, and they were arranged neatly.

Among them, the worst ones were all late-stage level 5 demon beast inner cores, totaling 120; there were 60 early-stage level 6 inner cores, 40 mid-stage level 6 inner cores, and 30 late-stage level 6 inner cores; what was even more surprising was that there were also five early-stage level 7 demon beast inner cores among them—such a quantity and quality of demon beast inner cores would be considered a considerable fortune even in the cultivation world.

"This zombie probably improved its cultivation by relying on the inner core of a demon beast. Its cultivation method should be able to directly refine the power of the inner core of a demon beast," Su Mu secretly speculated. "Those evil beetles can probably also gnaw on the inner core of demon beasts to increase their strength."

He could easily deduce that the powerful sect leader who set up this seal ten thousand years ago was probably worried about something going wrong with the seal, or perhaps he lacked confidence in the sealed zombie and was unwilling to leave it with any truly rare treasures. That's why he only left behind these demon beast inner cores. To the top experts ten thousand years ago, these inner cores might have been insignificant, but to experts at the Grandmaster and True Martial realms, they were extremely precious cultivation resources.

"Although these inner cores aren't of much use to me, they're excellent cultivation resources for Jinzi." Su Mu glanced down at Jinzi, who was fast asleep on his shoulder, and a faint smile appeared on his lips. "If Jinzi's strength improves, he can better help me; moreover, I get system rewards every time Jinzi advances. This deal is worthwhile."

"It was a worthwhile trip."

Su Mu took out two late-stage level 5 demon beast inner cores from his storage ring and gently placed them near Jinzi's mouth. Jinzi subconsciously opened its mouth and swallowed them, then fell into a deeper sleep. After swallowing the inner cores, a faint golden light emanated from Jinzi's body, and fine, mysterious patterns appeared around it, clearly indicating that it was refining the power of the inner cores in preparation for breaking through its cultivation level.

After two days and nights of smooth travel, the royal carriage finally entered the Great Qian Imperial City, slowly drove into the palace, and finally stopped in front of the library. Su Mu and Xiao Anran had just stepped off the carriage when Xiao Anxun hurried over, his expression slightly grave.

"Eunuch Su, His Majesty has a lot of complaints about you," Xiao Anxun stepped forward and said in a low voice.

"As expected." Su Mu's tone was calm, his face showing no emotion—he had long anticipated that Situ Chengjun would vent his anger on him after returning empty-handed.

"His Majesty suffered a serious injury in Huitai County and has been in seclusion to heal since returning to the palace," Xiao Anxun added, his tone tinged with worry. "Once His Majesty has fully recovered, he will probably come to the library to settle accounts with you personally."

"It's alright, I'll wait for him." Su Mu waved his hand, his tone firm and without the slightest fear. Then he picked up the sleeping Jinzi, walked into the gatehouse of the library, and headed towards the main building deep in the courtyard.

"Brother, don't worry." Xiao Anran walked to Xiao Anxun's side and gently comforted him, "We must trust Eunuch Su. He will definitely be able to handle His Majesty."