Chapter 208 - Truth Revealed
In the dream, the Great Xia Dynasty was completely dominated by the Great Yong Dynasty.
However, in reality, this was not the case.
At the beginning, the Great Xia Dynasty held an absolute advantage. They captured twelve cities in succession, and the entire nation celebrated.
Everyone even believed that it wouldn’t be long before they could capture the imperial city of the Great Yong Dynasty, thereby expanding the territory of the Great Xia Dynasty once again.
Amid this joy, the Great Xia Dynasty’s eldest princess, along with the fifth princess, Ning Zhi, went for an outing in the countryside.
But they unexpectedly encountered Xiang Yuansheng, the Master of Nirvana Palace, who had just emerged from seclusion.
Though it was only a brief meeting, Xiang Yuansheng was immediately captivated by Ning Zhi’s beauty.
After returning, he found it hard to sleep.
The next day, he brought rich gifts and went to the Great Xia Dynasty to propose marriage.
But Ning Zhi did not like Xiang Yuansheng, so she had her father reject him.
This made Xiang Yuansheng very upset.
But who could have known, the war between the two nations suddenly took a dramatic turn.
A few months later, the Great Yong Dynasty managed to counterattack and advanced directly to the gates of the Great Xia Dynasty’s imperial city.
Upon hearing this news, Xiang Yuansheng, disregarding the danger, rushed into the Great Xia Dynasty ahead of time to take Ning Zhi away.
His only goal was to save her life.
That very night, the imperial city fell.
The entire royal family of the Great Xia Dynasty was executed, leaving Ning Zhi as the sole survivor of the bloodline.
When Ning Zhi learned that all her family members had been killed, she was overwhelmed with grief.
So she voluntarily told Xiang Yuansheng that if he could kill the emperor of the Great Yong Dynasty, she would willingly marry him.
Killing the emperor of a mortal dynasty was an enormous task.
If word got out, they would face the revenge of an entire dynasty.
The risk was immense.
But Xiang Yuansheng, to win Ning Zhi’s willing consent to be his Dao companion, resolutely agreed.
And in just ten days, he devised a meticulous plan.
First, he used formations to create a fake secret realm, planning to use it to attract Ye Yu’s attention.
Then, he spent a fortune to invite a highly skilled rogue cultivator.
At the critical moment, she would be the one to ambush Ye Yu.
Even if something went wrong, it would be the rogue cultivator’s problem, and nothing would implicate him.
The entire plan was flawless.
And most importantly.
Now, the secret realm had successfully caught Ye Yu’s attention.
This made Xiang Yuansheng overjoyed. He even began to envision the future scenes of being together with Ning Zhi.
Tsk tsk tsk, just the thought of it made him happy.
But he didn’t notice.
In Ning Zhi’s eyes, there was only distance.
Soon, Ye Yu and Huangfu Baizhi, under the protection of a hundred cultivators, boarded the dragon chariot and left the imperial city with Xiang Yuansheng, heading east.
The location of the secret realm was on a mountain peak a thousand miles away from the Great Yong Dynasty.
This distance wasn’t too far.
It didn’t take long before they successfully arrived.
After disembarking from the dragon chariot, Ye Yu saw a huge crack on the mountain peak.
Within it, multicolored lights shimmered.
Around it were a dozen cultivators, waiting nearby.
Seeing this scene, Xiang Yuansheng pretended to be displeased and sternly reprimanded, “What’s going on with you? After so long, is the exploration of the secret realm still not finished?”
A short man in a red Daoist robe slightly lowered his head.
“Reporting to the Sect Master, the Grand Elder has already entered the secret realm for some time. I believe it won’t be long before results come out.”
Their conversation wasn’t hushed. It was loud enough for everyone around to hear clearly.
Huangfu Baizhi looked at the crack in front.
She noticed the constant flickering of lights within, and the spatial fissures around it. These were signs that the secret realm was on the verge of collapse.
Perhaps, it really wouldn’t be long before it ended.
Logically, they should wait. After all, secret realms can be encountered but not sought.
Besides, someone was already risking their life inside. If they obtained treasures, wouldn’t that be wonderful?
However, Huangfu Baizhi didn’t speak up to persuade.
She didn’t want to influence Ye Yu’s decision.
Seeing that Ye Yu hadn’t expressed his stance immediately, Xiang Yuansheng pretended to hesitate and said, “Your Majesty, how about waiting here for a moment?”
A playful smile appeared on Ye Yu’s face.
With his Eternal Star Diagram, he could see through all formations in the world. This method of disguising a secret realm with formations had long been seen through by Ye Yu.
The secret realm was fake, and naturally, the treasures were fake too.
So Xiang Yuansheng bringing him here naturally had ulterior motives.
Ye Yu looked at Huangfu Baizhi beside him, and the nearly hundred cultivators around.
With such a lineup, unless a grand cultivator of the Ascension Realm came, there was no way they could trap him here.
Moreover, according to Ye Yu’s observation, Xiang Yuansheng was merely at the late stage of Integration realm.
Although Ye Yu himself was only at the mid-stage of the Integration realm, killing him wouldn’t be difficult.
In this situation, Ye Yu was genuinely curious to see what kind of tricks Xiang Yuansheng could pull off.
So, Ye Yu stepped forward, coming face to face with Xiang Yuansheng, and said mockingly, “Alright then, I shall wait and see what surprises you can bring.”
Xiang Yuansheng suddenly felt a shock in his heart.
For some reason, a cold chill suddenly washed over him.
Had he exposed some flaw?
That shouldn’t be the case!
If Ye Yu had really discovered something, why would he stay instead of leaving?
Forget it.
Whether he noticed anything or not, the arrow was already on the string, and it had to be released.
Xiang Yuansheng immediately crushed the jade talisman hidden in his sleeve.
The next second, a brilliant light suddenly rose in the distance.
This unusual phenomenon drew the attention of everyone present.
Huangfu Baizhi, who had spent years on the battlefield, instantly realized something was wrong.
She quickly stepped forward and grabbed Ye Yu’s hand, trying to lead him away.
However, it was already too late.
Over a hundred cultivators, all dressed in white mourning clothes, suddenly appeared, surrounding the area in a tight formation.
At the forefront was none other than the Fifth Princess of the Great Xia Dynasty, Ning Zhi.
And the cultivators behind her were the last remaining forces of the Great Xia Dynasty.
“Great Yong Emperor, today is your day of death. I will use your spirit in heaven to honor the fallen soldiers of the Great Xia Dynasty!”
Xiang Yuansheng couldn’t help but widen his eyes in shock.
What was going on?
Wasn’t she told not to come?
Why was Ning Zhi being so disobedient, standing right at the front?
Wasn’t this courting death?
Xiang Yuansheng clenched his fists tightly and shouted, “Enemy attack! Your Majesty, please leave first. I will take my men to hold them off!”
If you’re going to act, you have to go all the way.
Xiang Yuansheng intended to lead the Nirvana Palace members to engage half-heartedly.
Firstly, this would prove that the Nirvana Palace had nothing to do with this attack.
Secondly, no matter what happened, as long as he stayed close enough, he could protect Ning Zhi at the first sign of danger.
But Ye Yu had no intention of letting Xiang Yuansheng leave so easily.
He immediately spoke up, “There’s no need for you to get involved. I refuse to believe that this group can stir up any trouble.”
“Ah, this…”
Xiang Yuansheng’s expression turned extremely sour. Why wasn’t Ye Yu playing by the rules?
Ye Yu stared at Xiang Yuansheng, and said word by word, “Just do as I say. Stay by my side and enjoy the show!”