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

Doesn't this mean someone used him, his arrangements, and even helped him modify the Extreme Yin Core to harm me?

Chu Mingkong asked indifferently, not caring if all he received was silence from the old King Chu.

Chu Mingkong had already figured those things out on his own.

The emperor was clearly reviewing the documents with the intention of recounting the events, which means he was unable to attend to such matters at the time because his soul had been transferred to another body.

After their souls were transferred, the emperor, taking advantage of the body of the Prince of Xiling, came into contact with the power of extreme yin and the Rakshasa Society. The Prince of Xiling, whose soul was transferred into the emperor's body, probably also took the opportunity to do quite a few things.

It's hard to confirm what he did, but it's probably all for his own benefit. However, one thing he did that he couldn't escape: he used his status as the emperor to get back at Chu Mingkong.

"I always thought this was the work of the dog emperor, but I didn't expect it was indeed the dog emperor who did it. And you even added fuel to the fire. Originally, it was just a matter of setting off firecrackers to scare me, but you blew it up and affected a large area of ​​Xiling. That's really impressive!"

Chu Mingkong carried the Lunar Eclipse Heavy Sword on his back and then took out the Asura Heavy Sword, sharpening it with eager anticipation.

To be honest, Chu Mingkong is still not quite sure whether the person he encountered in the Abyss was the Emperor or the old King Chu.

But it doesn't matter. This guy seems to be a bit of a suck-up to the Asura King, always eager to do things for him. He was also extremely respectful to the Asura King's protector, Nu Sheng.

Upon seeing Chu Mingkong take out the Asura Divine Sword, the King of Xiling's expression shifted slightly. It was because of this matter that he had been questioned by the King of Asura.

He finally spoke: "To contend with fate and defy destiny, there are many things that are beyond our control. If we accidentally learn those secrets, we can only try our best to transcend them, otherwise we will ultimately be born into a pitiful state. From my perspective, you would also make the choice to give up everything and move forward under pressure. Our bodies and hair are given to us by our parents. I rescued you from danger and gave you a comfortable and carefree life. This is the grace of raising you."

Chu Mingkong was amused. Fortunately, with the blessing of his master's wife's original spiritual energy, his intelligence remained on high alert. He immediately understood that although his words seemed to hide a thousand sorrows, he could only pursue something stubbornly. In reality, however, he was just dodging the issue, changing the subject, diverting attention, and playing the family card.

He wanted to use family ties to lessen Chu Mingkong's resentment over the bombing.

Unfortunately, after obtaining some of the power of the Moon River Goddess, Chu Mingkong could not deduce the changes in the world to the same extent as her. However, he could deduce his own situation to some extent, see which wrong paths he had taken in his cultivation, what better choices he had made, and whether he could make amends now.

Through this deduction, Chu Mingkong discovered that when his consciousness was still chaotic and he had no memory of anything, he had suffered a severe loss of vital essence.

While this loss can be remedied by strengthening the body and replenishing qi and blood in future cultivation, it's hard to say that such a sudden loss of blood, especially when a little kid can barely stand, could be fatal.

"You stole my life essence, and yet you've received countless blessings because of me. My body and hair are gifts from my parents, old King Chu, shouldn't you call me father? How can you now talk to me about the debt of raising me?!"

If the old King of Chu were truly wicked and openly laid out his desires and logic, Chu Mingkong might have listened to his twisted reasoning with a calm and rational mind. But now that he's arguing with him about this, Chu Mingkong can only respond by launching an attack!

After a brief moment of silence, the blood-man transformed into an abyss erupted once more, charging forward with the Asura Heavy Sword in hand.

The old King of Chu felt bitter and angry. By refining Chu Mingkong's pure blood from his childhood, he had almost completely replaced his own body and blood. It was a rebirth experience, and the strength brought by his physical body was indescribable. He could even be compatible with the power of extreme Yin. This blood refining technique, which he had studied for many years, was the foundation for the Rakshasa Society to value him.

If he had come in his own physical body, he could have fought head-on. But now that the emperor had forcibly pulled him into this body, the old King of Chu felt as if he were being used by a decaying, aging body.

He had been stalling for time, trying to transfer his soul back, but now he had to fight to buy himself a few more moments!

The King of Xiling summoned the dragon veins to block them, but unfortunately, everything usable in the palace had already been destroyed by Chu Mingkong. The weakened dragon veins could not stop Chu Mingkong, and their attacks could not keep up with Chu Mingkong's speed. Moreover, Chu Mingkong could now withstand the weak dragon energy breath without any serious harm.

"Explosion!" The extremely Yin aura that had been gathered around the King of Xiling suddenly exploded, and the terrifying explosive energy even cracked the palace's barrier!

The shockwave from this explosion was similar to the one Chu Mingkong had experienced, indicating it was the same technique used.

"The Prince of Jin has mastered the transformation of the physical body into the extreme abyss, while you have mastered the explosion of yin energy. It's really fortunate that the Heavenly Extreme Empire only has these two extreme abysses!" Chu Mingkong rushed out from the layers of explosion waves, his body shrouded in an extreme yang barrier, blocking all the explosions.

The transfer of the soul of the King of Xiling was about to be completed! But Chu Mingkong's sword came right after, severing the body that had already died once in one stroke, but the transfer of the soul continued.

The Asura Heavy Sword pierced the "Emperor's" lower body, cutting off half of his soul, while releasing the upper half of his soul.

"I will repay your so-called kindness of raising me with my own lifeblood when I was a child. I will let you go out of consideration for your wife and daughters. I will leave you with half of your soul as punishment for your crime of harming Xiling."

As for the grudge of you blowing me up, next time I'll personally go and kill you, and see what you've concocted with my lifeblood!

Chu Mingkong waved his hand, splashing a pool of Yin blood onto the emperor's lower body, corroding and annihilating half of the Xiling King's soul, leaving him with no way to retrieve it.

The emperor was now completely finished. He had beheaded the emperor of the Tianji Empire, and the Xiling King, who had been forcibly dragged down with him, had half of his soul severed by Chu Mingkong.

From somewhere within the palace, the dragon veins seemed to extend an alluring invitation to him, urging him to sit on the throne.

Chu Mingkong sneered dismissively, raised his arm, and two heavy swords flew out, searching for the source of the invitation. He then slashed down with another sword.

"I thought I was killing a real dragon, but it turned out to be just a real worm."

Chu Mingkong looked at the sorcerer who was still standing there:

"And you, Uncle Wei, the Wei family has taken care of me in the past, so you can leave now. But from now on, you must not have anything to do with Qingning or the Wei family. I will take good care of the Wei family. If we have no enmity in the future, we will no longer know each other and have no further connection. But I still want to know, why do you want to leave?"

Chapter 259 Ancient Demon Embryo

"I would have done the same without you telling me."

As Wei Zhong, the head of the Wei family, spoke, he stared at the bone mask in his hand, a symbol of witchcraft. The witchcraft of this era has ultimately declined. Wei Zhong had just tried to forcibly summon the powerful ghost cultivator hidden in the Golden Palace, hoping that the ghost cultivator would possess the emperor and grant him a blessing. Unfortunately, it was all in vain, and Wei Zhong's spiritual power was completely exhausted. He has not yet recovered.

"Now that you have come out of the Moon Eclipse God Kingdom, you should know some things about the Moon River Goddess. At the peak of ancient witchcraft, not only could heroes and ghosts be summoned to help in battle, but occasionally some unknown and unheard beings could also be summoned. These coincidences allowed witchcraft to reach its peak, but the power of the past became the price left to future generations. I am now paying that price and do not want to continue to harm future generations."

Chu Mingkong frowned. This did indeed resemble the Moon River Goddess somewhat. He pressed further, asking:

"You actually know about the past of the Moon River Goddess? Even the Moon Destroyer Cult in the Crescent Moon Kingdom doesn't know much about this. It's certain that the Moon Worship Cult's worship of that goddess is a false one."

“In the era of the Moon River Goddess, many wizards were defeated by her. Afterwards, wizards would inevitably trace and explore the reasons for her power. Naturally, they would be able to dig out some things and leave them in the surviving books. However, they would only know that such a thing happened, and the more specific details would remain unknown.”

So that's all there was to it. Chu Mingkong had thought the witchcraft system was really that powerful. Chu Mingkong was both relieved and disappointed. It couldn't be said that he had no intention of learning about the Moon River Goddess from Uncle Wei Zhong.

"What is this price? Is the price you are paying the same as the price paid by the Moon River Goddess? Could it be that it's a high-interest loan issued by the same being?"

"I can't be sure. What I can be sure of is that in the distant past, this land was far more glorious than it is now, but also far more dangerous. There might have been more than one such level. However, the history of the Moonlit Empire mentions that the Moon River Goddess strangled her own child. Perhaps... her price was also related to her descendants."

Wei Zhong's aura suddenly returned to its peak. Chu Mingkong's eyebrows twitched. He thought to himself that this witchcraft was a bit strange. From the invocation ceremony until just now, Wei Zhong's aura had clearly been overdrawn and difficult to recover, but he had recovered to full strength without him noticing.

However, even though his strength had returned, the weariness in Wei Zhong's eyes had not diminished.

Chu Mingkong, however, had not yet dispelled his Abyss Transformation and dared not let his guard down during the conversation. He asked:

"Is there anything Old King Chu can do to help you? The power of extreme Yin? I also have that. If Uncle Wei can't handle the consequences, won't they fall silently on Qingning's head? Can you tell me what those consequences are?"

"It is indeed the power of extreme Yin, a power capable of annihilating all things. I once tried to use the extreme Yin power of the King of Xiling to 'settle the debt,' but you were not yet fully grown at the time, so I had no choice. As for the price, if I were to reveal it, it would implicate our clansmen. If Qingning hears any strange calls in the future, remember to remind her not to pay any attention to them!"

Finally, Wei Zhongdao said, "I should go," and his body turned into a wisp of black smoke and suddenly dissipated.

Chu Mingkong looked around. The palace was devastated in the great battle. The palace's barrier was completely broken, and the palace had lost its previous ability to "automatically recover from destruction." It could no longer return to its former splendor, solemnity, and sanctity.

Sensing the presence of his master and the others, he felt relieved and released the Abyss Transformation. The black blood writhed and receded into his heart. After the excitement of the long battle cooled, a wave of fatigue washed over him, but he was still able to maintain his mental clarity.

"Are you alright? It seems like you're alright." Zuo Qiuchi asked herself with concern after entering the palace, then saw Chu Mingkong walking in a certain direction. "Mingkong, where are you going this time?"

"Go see what my two swords just cut through in the dragon vein," Chu Mingkong said, leading the way.

The existence of the so-called dragon vein is complex. Within the entire Tianji Empire, it is the mysterious lifeline of the nation, formed by the collective will of the common people, gathered in the imperial palace of the sovereign, and transformed into a force used by the monarch.

The giant dragon that previously surrounded the palace was a manifestation of the dragon vein according to the emperor's will.

As Chu Mingkong and the others entered the Golden Palace, each of them felt an alluring call, tempted by the promise of unparalleled glory and status, bewitching them to sit on that throne and become the new emperor.

Zuo Qiuchi and Feng Ying remained unmoved by such bewitching. Although the emperor later became powerful enough to shake the secluded sects and kill so many sect elders that they dared not underestimate him, the emperor's rise in status was essentially due to the power of extreme yin.

Delving deeper, it was through the Soul Transfer Technique that the emperor obtained the method to use the power of extreme Yin from the King of Xiling, thus reversing the power balance between the secular emperor and the otherworldly sects. However, the Heavenly Extreme Royal Family's foundation must also be acknowledged; many things were accumulated over generations. With this accumulated foundation, coupled with the emperor suddenly obtaining the method to use the power of extreme Yin, they rose to power overnight and became invincible.

In the beginning, secular emperors were insignificant figures in the eyes of Zuo Qiuchi and others, so they naturally wouldn't be tempted by the position now.

Yun Nongyu was the first to deny it, saying, "That's unreasonable. The dragon vein doesn't have its own will. Its will is actually a manifestation of the emperor's heart. Now that the emperor is dead, it's impossible for him to actively bewitch someone else to sit on the throne!"

"When I manipulated my weapon to strike the source of this seductive voice, I discovered an unusual aura within the dragon vein."

The group walked to the center of the Golden Palace, where the floor had been split open to create a deep pit tens of meters deep. The wishes of countless people from all over the world had transformed into a dragon vein and gathered underground. However, it did not take the shape of a dragon, but instead appeared as a colorful cloud of energy. If one released their senses slightly, many prayers and supplications would appear in their mind.

At the center of this gas cloud, a cocoon of flesh and blood formed, with tentacles extending from all sides, drawing power from the gas cloud to nourish itself and grow stronger.

There were two wounds on the cocoon that were slowly healing; those were inflicted by Chu Mingkong.

"I've never heard of such a thing." Zuo Qiuchi frowned, convinced that it was a parasite lurking in the highest hall of the Tianji Empire, sucking away the power of will and the divine essence of the Golden Crow Phoenix Body.

The blindfolded female Taoist took out several gold paper talismans, parted her red lips slightly, and chanted a Taoist incantation. The talismans ignited in response, and a Taoist aura of divination and insight into the myriad things of heaven and earth rippled out. Her skin glowed as she cast the spell, and her exposed white jade feet seemed to exude a faint fragrance.

Her eyes were covered by blindfolds, yet they seemed to gleam with a sharp, penetrating light, staring directly at the bloody cocoon beneath.

"Inside...inside is a demon fetus that already has a human form? Its aura doesn't belong to this world!" Yun Nongyu asserted.

“Since its founding, the Tianji Empire has experienced several relocations of its capital due to the initial instability of the situation. However, after it stabilized, its ancestral system remained unchanged for thousands of years. This is also true of the Golden Palace. It is difficult for later generations to steal things under the palace. In other words, the history of this blood cocoon is so long that it needs to be traced back to the time of the first emperor?!” Feng Ying was very surprised.

Chu Mingkong brandished his sword again and said indifferently:

"Let's kill it first. It's been sucking our marrow for so long, harming so many Golden Crow Phoenix bodies. It can run away, but it can't hide. I just slashed it twice, and it was able to recover with the help of the dragon vein."

Whether it was Yun Nongyu's recent observation or Chu Mingkong's current killing intent that completely frightened the blood cocoon, a black claw formed from power reached out from the void, grabbed the blood cocoon, and fled.

Yun Nongyu and Chu Mingkong tried to stop it immediately. Chu Mingkong's full-force sword strike even hit the void rift torn open by the claw, but it was still to no avail. They could only watch helplessly as it escaped.

Chu Mingkong has now resolved his long-standing nemesis, but just as the Moon River Goddess said, he has always been too narrow-minded, so narrow-minded that he has treated the emperor as his greatest enemy in this life.

Seeing his traitor's somber expression, Zuo Qiuchi patted his shoulder and comforted him:

"Alright, let's put aside what this situation is for now. At least you've left the capital and been busy in the Crescent Kingdom for so long, and you've finally settled a major matter on your mind. Go back to Xiling and have some fun."

Chu Mingkong didn't want his master to worry too much, so he smiled and nodded.

"That makes sense. It's just that we don't know what the Tianji Empire will become in the future. At least the princes who are still alive don't have to worry about someone jumping out and killing them anymore."

......

Kunlun Daoist School.

A carriage awaits departure. After being modified by the Taoist sect, the carriage has a spacious interior and can be considered a small paradise.

Chu Mingkong took Aunt Gu and Madam Zhen's slender hands and walked out, as if afraid that they would exert any extra effort. He smelled the fragrance of the mature women and personally carried them into the car.

He whispered, "Madam Zhen, I didn't get to enjoy myself to the fullest back then. I'll try my best to make up for it and make up for your regrets. Would you like to come along, Aunt Gu?"

Madam Zhen blushed, and Aunt Gu glared at him fiercely with her beautiful eyes, but she couldn't muster any more momentum.

"You brat, hurry up and bring those two girls up here. Stop talking nonsense here, or I'll expose you!"

Madam Zhen quickly stopped her, saying guiltily, "Madam Gu, you mustn't, you mustn't..."

The voice of their master came from behind again. She was seen carrying Yun Nongyu, rushing out of the mountain gate in a flurry of activity, and saying to Chu Mingkong:

"Mingkong, get out of my way, I'm kidnapping someone."

"..." Yun Nongyu gave up struggling with a look of melancholy.

Chu Mingkong quickly went back to pick up Yongzhen and Rong'er. He could be more open with the two of them, not even letting them walk, and carried one girl in each arm as they came out.

"Mingkong, are we going back to Xiling now?" Rong'er asked helplessly, trying to distract herself from the awkwardness of being carried like this.

"Yes, but we're going back from the Crescent Moon Kingdom. We'll be passing through the Defeat Moon Cult's territory on the way. I'll take you to see the snow-capped mountains. There are allies there who helped me, so we'll exchange a few pleasantries. Otherwise, it wouldn't be good to just run away."

On the train, as the wheels swayed gently, Feng Ying asked Yun Nongyu for advice, allowing Yun Nongyu to temporarily escape Zuo Qiuchi's bear hug.