Chapter 2081

She looked at the demon emperor, smiling brightly and warmly.

Then she bowed to it, turned and walked into the mist, never looking back.

That slender figure faded away, and the white mist remained white mist, never turning back into Lu Wushuang.

Even Nie Xiaolou nearby could deeply feel its sorrow.

The imperial family is heartless. This side of the emperor has never been shown to anyone.

Seeing the demon emperor gazing dazedly in the direction where the figure vanished, Nie Xiaolou hesitated repeatedly, yet still ventured: "The Nine Abysses Great Emperor buried the former state preceptor of Qingyang by the Luofeng Pool, erecting a large stele inscribed, 'State Preceptor Wushuang.' Your Majesty, would you like to recall the former Qingyang state preceptor from abroad to Beika?"

To ease your heart.

At this moment, a palace maid ascended the steps and entered the hall, kneeling to report softly:

"State Preceptor Shuangye requests an audience."

Shuangye comes now?

The figure on the coiling dragon pillar remained silent, and the palace maid dared not move.

After a while, the demon emperor spoke in a deep voice: "Let him wait below the platform."

"Yes." The palace maid received the order and withdrew.

Just a moment ago, the demon emperor had also entertained the thought of relocating the tomb, but it was only a fleeting notion.

Interrupted by Shuangye's request for an audience, it immediately snapped back to attention.

"No need to move the tomb; Luofeng Pool is quite suitable for her!" It snorted, "If we were to bring her back for burial, we couldn't erect such a stele. 'State Preceptor Wushuang'? Hey, wouldn't those fellows in court jump up and down?"

Qingyang had served Beika wholeheartedly on the Jinjin Plains, yet bore blame in Beika, with the whole nation pointing at her as a criminal minister—naturally, she could not be given a grand funeral in Beika.

On the contrary, the enemy He Xiong gave her full respect after death.

If she were aware in the Nine Springs, she probably would not wish to return?

Nie Xiaolou nodded: "The feng shui there is excellent; it is indeed a tranquil place."

The demon emperor hummed: "Place down the lotus and wax pellets, then you may withdraw."

"Take care, Your Majesty." Nie Xiaolou knew it needed solitude, quickly bowed and withdrew.

The temperature in the hall dropped rapidly, clearly indicating the emperor's displeasure.

As Nie Xiaolou left Huahua Hall for the last glance, he saw within the hall clouds veiling and mist swirling, the azure dragon's silhouette coiled on the pillar, faintly visible, as if congealing again into a sculpture.

Only after he departed did the demon emperor exhale a breath of white vapor onto the blood lotus on the ground.

With this draconic breath, the lotus withered swiftly.

Petals fell away, the lotus base plumped, and in the center formed a crystalline round bead.

This bead is five to six times larger than a normal lotus seed, entirely silver-white, nearly transparent. If examined closely, one can still see what seems to be a shadow drifting within the bead, the figure elongated.

Upon seeing it, the demon emperor's breath grew light.

Dragon egg!

Qingyang actually found this dragon egg for Him!

In fact, it sent Qingyang to the Jinjin Plains for only two reasons:

One was to have her oversee the military and civil affairs of Yaoguo;

Two was to let her escape Beika's turmoil and peacefully cultivate her twilight years in Yaoguo;

As for this dragon egg, which exists only in legend, and which the demon emperor had merely mentioned casually long ago, even he himself had not taken it seriously.

After the Black Dragon God Sovereign struck the Tianluo Star, the true dragon clan remained active for a long time, until the Middle Ages when they gradually vanished.

Born of spiritual energy, they ultimately departed with it.

Jiao dragons—true dragons have basically disappeared, but jiao still struggle to survive, their numbers extremely scarce.

Unlike adult individuals, when jiao eggs enter dormancy, they require little spiritual energy, thus they have been preserved to this day.

Legend says it fell upon the Jinjin Plains.

Unexpectedly, Qingyang truly brought such a treasure to Him!

The demon emperor sighed, seized the dragon egg, and swallowed it whole!

Before birth, human fetuses contain a trace of innate true qi, which dissipates immediately after birth; dragon eggs are the same—before hatching, they contain true dragon qi, and when the dragon fetus matures but has not yet hatched, it reaches its peak.

The current spiritual energy environment is the best in the past three hundred years, and this dragon egg is about to hatch. Therefore, the red lotus Qingyang sent actually corresponds to its maturity in blooming time.

This trace of true dragon qi benefits the demon emperor the most, even far surpassing Emperor's Flowing Elixir.

It still requires a long time of refinement.

Then, the demon emperor picked up that wax pellet.

The seal on the wax pellet remained intact; he gently pinched it, and the pellet shattered, revealing several worms inside.

Some were already dead, two remained alive, their forms different from when sealed—no longer slug-like, but rather one-third like grasshoppers, one-third like beetles.

From the Jinjin Plains to Lingxu City, during this long transport, they spun cocoons and transformed into their next form.

"Echoing worms?" The demon emperor raised a claw, and the two worms buzzed their wings and took flight.

In an instant, the buzzing sound turned into human voices:

"Qingyang's Dharma Protector, you have lost."

A male voice, sounding quite young.

"Ha, victory makes a king, defeat makes a bandit." This is Qingyang's voice.

As soon as she spoke, the demon emperor knew who she was conversing with:

The Nine Abysses Great Emperor He Xiong.

Deep in the palace, clouds veiled and mist swirled; the demon emperor alone listened to Qingyang and He Xiong's conversation.

He knew this was Qingyang exhausting her last lifespan to exchange for this top-secret intelligence for him.

Although the Grand Vase is in the Panlong Desert, it has maintained a certain connection with He Xiong, even giving rise to variants of the Wenda Tree and Juoluo Wood, aiding He Xiong in resolving the crisis of the Muwang Ding.

He Lingchuan's past anomalies—such as bearing elemental power alone, or being able to conceal his true self from Miao Zhantian's True Eye, or even escaping the Inverted Sea alive—might all be the work of the Great Square Vessel behind the scenes!

The things this artifact can do seem far more numerous than during the Abyss King's era or the Panlongcheng era.

Why is this so? The ancient immortals long ago certified that the Great Square Vessel has no need for an artifact spirit, because it is itself one of the vast existences.

Could those immortals have been mistaken? No, it knows what kind of great beings those are—it wouldn't be so unreliable.

In other words, the Great Square Vessel itself is constantly evolving and changing, and can even actively offer help to He Lingchuan.

Moreover, Qingyang specifically asked about the Red General, inquiring whether he had seen the Red General inside the Great Square Vessel.

Asking this way is actually quite skillful.

And how did He Lingchuan respond? "I have seen 【her】."

This shows that the Red General exists within the Great Square Vessel!

And He Lingchuan said, "Not being in the mortal world means one cannot be considered truly alive." This resolves the long-standing doubt of Between Between Between Beijia and the Heavenly Gods:

After Panlongcheng's fall, the Red General did not retreat into seclusion but was drawn into the Great Square Vessel. This also aligns with He Lingchuan's description of her as "not truly alive."

Therefore, whether in life or death, she has never ceased opposing Between Between Between Beijia.

Regarding the elemental power He Lingchuan carries at all times, usable independently, he himself said this:

Even the Great Square Vessel must obey the laws of elemental power—where would a "special grant" come from?

In other words, He Lingchuan's elemental power originates from an extremely powerful force, more likely a mighty army—not the Black Armor Army, nor the Dragon God Army.

And he is very close to this army.

During the Havoc in Heavenly Palace and the Battle of the Wood King's Cauldron, the Demon Emperor could confirm he had no other army nearby, yet he still unleashed elemental power.

Hmm, very close?

Could it be that this army is right……

If the Red General still exists within the Great Square Vessel, then does her blood-and-iron elite force also exist similarly?

This might be the sole explanation for He Lingchuan possessing such formidable elemental power.

But if they are a legion of the dead, how could they transmit genuine elemental power to He Lingchuan?

The term "existence" itself is worth debating.

Miao Zhantian, who governs the "Truth" divinity, once spoke: the transition or barrier between the false and the true, between illusion and reality, is not as obvious as humans think—it mainly depends on where the boundary lies.

What if this "boundary" is the Great Square Vessel itself?

Interpreting He Lingchuan's elemental power this way makes it seem slightly more coherent.

The Demon Emperor does not know how the Great Square Vessel selects people, but each time it finds someone, they can cause great trouble for the Heavenly Demons and Between Between Between Beijia.

However, this time He Lingchuan differs from the Abyss King and Zhong Shengguang.

He opposes the Heavenly Gods but does not refuse to cooperate with Between Between Between Beijia;

He works with the Spirit Mountain but does not hesitate to give Mu Guo an eye drop, to deliver a blow from horseback.

So, what exactly is this person opposing?

Qingyang likely saw through this long ago, which is why he produced the classified intelligence of the Heavenly Gods' Descent Experiment, asking Between Between Between Beijia to "owe him a favor" through him.

Her painstaking effort—only it can truly understand.

After swallowing the flood dragon's egg, the Demon Emperor lowered his head to stare at Qingyang's final letter, uttering a wistful sigh:

"You have found release."

Thus, another important acquaintance of his in the world is gone.

The Demon Emperor gazed toward the direction of the rising sun, and his flood dragon eyes were gilded with two points of Jin Guang.

"The State of Cangyan?" he chuckled lowly, "Let's see what you're capable of!"

——

The "Flashing Gold (Lower)" volume concludes, and the middle part of this book is also collected!

Everyone knows, this book is divided into upper, middle, and lower parts.

Starting from the next chapter, we enter the "Cangyan" volume, simultaneously launching the lower part of "After the Immortals Disappeared," which is also the final volume's brand-new chapter.

——

Feng Xing Yun Jian / Nine Fang Ye

10