Who is spreading rumors that my filial piety towards them has changed?

"He's just relying on the skills of an outsider." The emperor scoffed, pondering whether to use the extreme yang power nurtured by the dragon vein to suppress him, but then he remembered that this kid could also use extreme yang power to clash with him, so he temporarily abandoned the idea.

"What outsider? That's the mother of my child whom I've never met!" Chu Mingkong brandished his sword and pressed forward again, giving the emperor no room to breathe and no way to retreat for himself, determined to kill him in one fell swoop!

The emperor withdrew his overwhelming Yin Dragons and Snakes, which re-condensed into several black Yin Dragons. They lost their previous breadth and reformed into a single entity, like several sharp swords piercing the sky and shattering the earth, staring at Chu Mingkong.

Taking advantage of the brief moment when Chu Mingkong was entangled, the emperor secretly activated the royal treasure, an ancient beast horn!

The power of extreme Yin was injected into it, and the beast horn began to decay and wear irreversibly. With a long and ancient horn sound, a huge, maddened bison charged at Chu Mingkong with unstoppable force. No matter what obstacles it encountered, its immense power could penetrate through them!

"It looks like something stolen from the Moonlit Empire. This aura is reminiscent of the ancient aura that the Moon River Goddess brought me to. It's definitely a good thing! Never mind, let's get this!" Lightning crackled around Chu Mingkong's arm, and the power of the White Tiger manifested.

Having obtained the power of the White Tiger from both sects, and with the approval of the first Empress of Yueqi, Chu Mingkong mastered this power with ease. It wasn't that he became more adept at using it, but rather that the White Tiger actively came to meet him and adapt to his shape and posture!

A white tiger with a fierce look in its eyes rushed out of the void. It was not as big as the Horned Bison, but in the Moonlit Empire, the guardian beast could suppress all the totem beasts in the territory!

The horn-wild buffalo was shattered by electricity, and the ancient horn in the emperor's hand exploded. The force backfired, sending him flying backward and crashing into the wall, creating a deep crater. He spat out a mouthful of blood, which fell to the ground and corroded small pits.

Disciples from various sects have been secretly observing the area around the capital, especially the movements of the imperial palace, which have become the primary focus of intelligence for all sects. Today, with the reopening of the capital's barrier, urgent intelligence was quickly delivered to the important figures of the sects, prompting a group of elders to come and confirm the situation and see what had happened.

They had only just gathered when they were astonished to see the once-arrogant emperor suffer a minor defeat in the battle, and that this had happened right in the palace.

"Even one of our sect's elders was powerless against this mortal emperor who defied the heavens, and today someone is actually fighting on his territory and gaining the upper hand?!"

"If the Heavenly Emperor dared to set foot in my sect, he would be in deep trouble. My sect even tried to provoke him out of the palace, capture him alive, and extract the secret of this power, but I never expected..."

"It's Chu Mingkong, who fled the palace in such a sorry state that day! He's only been gone a few months, and now he dares to storm the palace?"

Zuo Qiuchi and Feng Ying arrived a step too late. They didn't expect that this kid would not wait at all and would go straight into the palace to start the battle. Now that the palace barrier has been set up, they can't go in to help.

Yun Nongyu brought some elders and disciples from the Daoist sect over. Chu Mingkong had asked Yun Nongyu many questions before, and she knew this day would come eventually, so she wasn't too surprised. The Daoist disciples were deeply shocked to see that someone could develop the battle of extreme Yin power to such a level.

"Master Yun, is there any way to break this barrier?"

"It's worth a try. I'll attempt to activate the Extreme Yang Heavenly Thunder Array to bombard the palace's barrier. Even if it can't be broken, it will still affect the emperor." Yun Nongyu had been consulted by Chu Mingkong for so long, and she had secretly been thinking about how to deal with it.

She and several fellow disciples immediately flew to several locations above the palace to set up formations. Flying swords darted through the sky, accompanied by golden talismans. Soon, dark clouds covered the sky, and a terrifying aura of thunder gradually rose, as if a great tribulation was about to occur.

Seeing this, the people from those sects dared not step forward to help. Unlike last time, when they were all eager to rush into the barrier to seize treasures and opportunities, they were truly intimidated by the emperor's killing spree in recent days. Now, they just watched from afar, remaining silent.

They both hoped that these Taoists, who rarely ventured out, could teach the emperor of this mortal dynasty a lesson and curb his arrogance, and they also hoped that the Taoists' actions would fail, as if only in this way could their current retreat appear as a rational act, rather than a cowardly one.

The thunderous lightning, like a calamity, bombarded the palace's barrier, quickly awakening the towering dragon that had been coiled there. A black cloud spewed from the dragon's mouth, swiftly dispersing the thunderclouds in the sky, but the dragon's body also bore the marks of burns.

This Extreme Yang Thunder Array can be considered a success, as it was a temporary structure. Although it was not completely broken, it did manage to shake the seemingly unbreakable barrier.

However, Yun Nongyu still sighed regretfully. Now that the great Yin Dragon had been disturbed, it would be difficult to set up an array again!

Amidst a violent tremor, the majestic aura of thunder faintly penetrated the palace's barrier. Chu Mingkong wasn't particularly fond of the extreme yang energy at the moment, but upon discovering that the barrier was no longer as sturdy as he had imagined, his confidence grew even stronger.

"Your tortoise shell isn't very good; it's almost been knocked off. You'd better sew it up quickly!" Chu Mingkong sneered, continuing to close the distance and put pressure on the emperor.

"No need for you to worry about that. It seems you've benefited greatly from your time in the Lunar Eclipse Kingdom, allowing you to be so arrogant. However, in my realm, a lowly scoundrel like you won't be able to run rampant for long!"

"I've already slapped you in your own home, and you're still gloating about how strong you are inside your shell? If your harem weren't so empty of beauties, I'd easily go and have my way with you a few times, giving you time to recover, and beat you until you want to commit suicide!"

In the hundreds of exchanges just now, the emperor used all his spiritual treasures and drove them with extreme Yin power without regard for the cost. This method was indeed very effective, forcing back some of Chu Mingkong's attacks and even forcing him to unleash his Extreme Abyss Transformation.

Fortunately, the Moon River Goddess left behind the Black Tide Control Technique, which also benefited his Abyss Transformation. Her divine power radiance appeared on the surface of the Abyss Transformation's "Blood Armor," guiding the flow of power. Chu Mingkong never fell into a disadvantageous position again; at worst, he was evenly matched.

Now, there is a growing sense of pressure returning, and it won't be long before the emperor's magic treasures are exhausted, and his death will be imminent.

"Imperial Breath!" Sensing the emperor's call, the dark dragon in the sky, its golden and black scales intertwined, roared angrily and plunged its head into the barrier. A beam of evil light as thick as a cartwheel shot out from the sky and shot towards Chu Mingkong, as if someone in the sky was chasing Chu Mingkong with a light sword.

"The resentment in this beam of light is so strong. Is it using the resentment and negative emotions arising from the rejection of the petitions of the people as a weapon? Will it be used to suppress opponents in the future? It's really 'making the most of' the people!"

Chu Mingkong didn't want to be touched by that beam of light. He was already at his limit in maintaining his current calm state of mind by relying on his master's wife's original spiritual energy. Fluctuating emotions were the biggest negative effect of the extreme yin power.

"I'll give you a punch!" He took out the black relic and, with the help of the joyful mother and child Buddha image within it, once again manifested the Dharma Image Heaven and Earth, revealing the towering Buddha image that had once appeared briefly in the Abyss!

The monstrous Buddha image, tightly embraced and connected with the Mingfei in his arms, remained stable and unchanging. With a raised hand, it punched the Yin Dragon in the sky, making the Yin Dragon dizzy and disoriented, forcing it to swallow the torrent of energy in its mouth.

"What kind of cultivation does this person specialize in? How come he knows a little bit of everything!" The people outside the barrier were increasingly astonished. Some of the techniques he displayed were ones that Chu Mingkong had shown before, and this time he had shown new techniques.

"Imperial Advisor, what are you waiting for!" The emperor had exhausted all his methods and was now truly panicked.

His confidence stemmed from his ability to easily defeat sect elders within the palace. He was absolutely certain that as long as he was in the palace, he was invincible, and even the largest organizations would have to come down and take him seriously.

After successfully transforming the palace into his own domain, his confidence soared. However, he never imagined that he would be driven to a dead end within the palace.

As soon as the emperor finished speaking, a man stepped forward. He had disheveled hair and wore a bone mask. Although he wore prayer beads around his neck and wrists, his clothing and the tattoos on his body suggested that he belonged to another system.

witch!

The moment he stepped out, the faint sounds of bone drums and the chanting of sorcerers echoed through the palace battlefield. The sounds were initially distant, but then grew closer and closer, as if they were resounding in one's mind. In addition, many illusory and blurry shadows gradually appeared around him.

Among these shadows were palace maids and eunuchs dressed in different eras. As they walked, they became wary and alert. Suddenly, they cried out in surprise, and as if possessed, they began to dance wildly and erratically. Their movements were chaotic yet strangely uniform, revealing a sense of madness and insanity.

The atmosphere in the palace shifted from an abyss of malice, chilling silence, and deathly stillness to a different kind of sinister and eerie ambiance.

"A ritual for invoking gods in witchcraft?!" Chu Mingkong sensed a hint of familiarity amidst this absurd unfamiliarity. He had a similar feeling when he invoked the gods and Empress Zhen, only it wasn't this sinister.

He looked at the so-called "national advisor," searching for a sense of familiarity in his memory. Nowadays, there are not many people who know how to perform the ritual of invoking the gods.

From the direction of the Golden Palace, a pale, grinning ghost face protruded from the palace gate, its terrifying aura even resonating with the dragon vein!

"Could this be the person we heard about the other day, the one whose hauntings occurred during the late emperor's time? And who is this person?"

"An ancient emperor who refused to leave the mortal world, discarded his consciousness from his previous life, and transformed into a ghost cultivator, hiding in the Golden Palace in pursuit of immortality. He was insignificant in life, but the ghost cultivator he became after death was exceptionally powerful," the imperial advisor said calmly.

"I wonder which emperor this is. He has mastered the Ghost Path for many years and is now at the point where he must undergo a life-or-death tribulation at any moment. He is not afraid of Your Highness's mastery of weaponry. However, ghost cultivators are not tolerated in this world, and they will surely die in the lightning tribulation. Therefore, he hides in the Golden Palace, relying on the aura of the highest palace in the human world to conceal himself and avoid the tribulation," Yun Nongyu said. This was the first time she had ever discovered a ghost cultivator of this caliber!

"Is it difficult to deal with?" Zuo Qiuchi asked, her pretty face furrowed with worry, her eyebrows furrowed, clearly a little disgusted by the existence of those ghostly figures.

“It used to be difficult, but for His Highness who has mastered the solidified power of the White Tiger, it is not a big problem. Ghosts are most afraid of thunder, which symbolizes righteousness and order.”

Chu Mingkong found it somewhat amusing that the ghost was actually afraid of his White Tiger power; he had worried about it for so long, only to find out it was just a charlatan.

"I remember that the Heavenly Pole Empire had a female emperor who dominated the Heavenly Pole Empire for nearly a thousand years before disappearing. Instead of inviting her over so I could appreciate her charm, you just performed a ritual to summon this ghost cultivator and call him out of the Golden Palace. What a waste."

This kind of teleportation is so boring, and the ghost cultivators he summoned didn't even dare to touch him, it's a complete waste of his energy.

"However, compared to that ghost cultivator, I'm now more curious about your identity as the 'Imperial Preceptor.' There are very few people who know witchcraft, and even fewer who can perform it like this. Plus, your tall and slender physique looks familiar. Could you be Uncle Wei, who has been missing for so long? If you're here, then..."

Chu Mingkong spoke calmly, but did not stop in his tracks. Nothing could stop him from settling a long-standing grudge and overcoming a negligible obstacle.

He wouldn't let hesitation lead to unforeseen consequences.

He strode toward the emperor, who was now exhausted. His skin had turned deathly pale, indicating that his Yin energy had been completely depleted after using so many magical treasures and trump cards.

The emperor mumbled incoherently, and Chu Mingkong couldn't understand what he was saying. Whether it was foul language or curses, it didn't matter; all he had to do now was kill him.

As the massive sword was raised and cleaved halfway down the emperor's neck, Chu Mingkong clearly heard what the bastard was saying.

"Transfer...soul—"

The corpse, now dead, uttered its last words, relying on the powerful life force of a high-level cultivator who remains alive even after death. Chu Mingkong then delivered several more sword strikes to confirm that the corpse had completely lost its life force, before sitting down to wait.

After a while, the lost corpses began to come back to life!

The shattered body was restored, and pale hands grasped the head that had rolled to the side and put it back in place.

The emperor stood up again, but his divine aura had completely vanished; he was dead, and someone else had taken his place.

"As expected, the Emperor also possesses Lady Zhen's soul-shifting technique, and it's even bound to your body, Old King Chu! I was wondering why Uncle Wei suddenly brought the Wei family to the capital. It turns out it's because you were swapped into the Emperor's body! He came to the capital to follow you on your mission!"

Chapter 258 The Desolation of the Imperial Palace and the Battlefield

Rakshasa Society.

The battlefield in the palace was also being watched by many people outside the scene.

In a dark and empty environment, the people sitting around the stone table stared at the situation within the huge barrier. When the emperor was killed, the aftermath became somewhat unimportant. Voices could be heard in the long-silent space.

The silence was first broken by a sarcastic laugh that was neither a smile nor a laugh:

"Hey, I told you to invite the gods over and let that kid have a go, Yin Emperor."

"Shut up." The woman who was called simply replied, then ignored her and focused her gaze on the image projected in the crystal ball.

The outcome of the subsequent battle was hardly in doubt, as the people around the table had diverted their attention. The King of Xiling had been forcibly "captured" into his own corpse by the Emperor using his Soul-Shifting Divine Skill. Since he was not in his own body, he could not exert his true strength, so he naturally did not expect to be able to deal with Chu Mingkong, who was proficient in all kinds of weapons and had a strong fighting spirit.

There's no hope. The King of Xiling brought his own body here, risking all the resources he'd accumulated over the years, and perhaps he could still put up a fight against the exceptionally fast-growing Chu Mingkong. But now...

If we really want to find something interesting in the subsequent battles, it's probably whether the King of Xiling can come up with some surprising way to escape.

"Snow Lord, what exactly was your decision? The Heavenly Emperor asked you for help, and you could have saved him. The Emperor's rise to power was an accident, and he borrowed some of the opportunities from the King of Xiling, which led him to come into contact with the existence of my Rakshasa Society. However, he is still a good candidate who can be recruited."

“In my eyes, his aptitude is too poor. Chu Mingkong is more to my liking,” said the woman called Xue Zhongjun, her voice completely calm, her gaze as steadfast as an ancient glacier.

"But Chu Mingkong's origins are questionable. The King of Xiling has already stated this. Perhaps the person behind him is on the opposite side of us," a hoarse voice reminded.

"And this brat stole my divine sword." The Asura King never concealed his true name here.

"He's mine now, you could say he's my apprentice." Xue Zhongjun glanced at the man.

"Oh? How funny, when did I become your disciple?" The Asura King chuckled, raising an eyebrow as he asked.

"Isn't my beloved disciple's younger brother my disciple?"

The meeting was silent. It was the consensus among those present that they would not try to reason with Xue Zhongjun, but Shura King just smiled.

"A disciple's brother is different from a disciple, isn't he? You ice-cold woman can tell such lame jokes now. It's a rare sight to see this. I'll not argue with you this time."

----------

Chu Mingkong looked at the emperor, who seemed to have "come back to life" as if by some kind of magic spell, but his mind was not disturbed. In fact, he was quite happy because he had figured out some long-standing confusions.

Chu Mingkong was grateful to his adoptive father for his inexplicable "favoritism" in forcibly placing him in the position of heir.

Although this favoritism directly triggered a crisis of trust between him and the Princess of Chu, and also affected some internal factional disputes in Xiling, Chu Mingkong did not complain much about the old King of Chu at the time.

In this position, he enjoyed a relatively easy life. Even though he chose to hide in the border region, he still had no worries about food and clothing. Because of this identity, he also got to know his master Zuo Qiuchi, Fengying, Aunt Gu, Yunhan, Xiao Qingning and others.

If he were an ordinary person, he would never have had the chance to come into contact with these people. This is also the reason why Chu Mingkong was able to stay in the border of the Abyss for so long. Compared to what he gained, the Chu Princess's intentional or unintentional targeting was just like throwing a tantrum.

Looking back now, I realize I didn't know much about this godfather. This king, who wasn't related to me, was a very busy man.

He always had a variety of reasons for going out, such as "exploring methods to suppress the power of extreme yin" or "another ferocious beast from the extreme abyss has come out to cause trouble." This made it difficult to see him in the Xiling Prince's mansion. His reasons were perfectly valid in Xiling, so no one suspected him.

Because of his frequent absences, many management matters of Xiling fell directly on the shoulders of the Princess of Chu. This is also why Xiling was able to operate normally as if nothing had happened after the King of Xiling officially disappeared.

After all, this situation has been going on for a long time.

"When I was eavesdropping in the palace last time, the dog emperor mentioned that he did indeed plan to bomb me, but someone else carried it out. Moreover, he never expected that the Yin Core could cause such a big commotion."