Chapter 277: Imperial Dynasty Secrets

Burp—!

Wang Zhitao hovered in midair, letting out an extremely loud, satisfied burp, the sound full of lazy contentment.

Strands of ultra‑pure black‑gray qi streamed out of his pores, but these breaths were no longer pure destruction and Termination.

They fell onto the cracked earth, and at the snarling fissure edges, a tender green sprout miraculously pierced through.

At death's end, there was rebirth.

Li Hu and Zhang Mei gasped heavily, greedily inhaling the brand‑new air of this space.

That warm, life‑pulsing energy washed over their bodies, which were nearly rotting, bringing an unprecedented sense of comfort.

The two exchanged glances, each seeing the other's post‑catastrophe survival and deep horror.

Their gazes finally converged on that black silhouette.

Wang Zhitao, the seemingly harmless boy, had just… devoured a calamity‑grade apex, even half‑stepping into a higher‑tier terrifying monster.

It was like having a sumptuous dinner.

On the other side, Wang Zhize stood silently, his eyes tightly shut.

His brows, rarely, knit tightly.

Countless bizarre memory fragments, like a raging torrent, brutally washed over his spirit.

It was the entirety of the memories of a "Lord of the Deadlands" that had existed for an unknown number of years.

He "saw" an imperial dynasty artifact blazing with golden light that suppressed the nation's destiny; over ages long enough to erode stars, its internal spirit gradually birthed an independent, twisted will.

He "saw" how the spirit called the "Lord" seeped like an invisible phantom into the imperial dynasty's power hub.

Several power‑laden nobles and generals, wielding massive forces, in its memory scene knelt fervently before a vague black mass, offering their loyalty and authority.

He "saw" the imperial dynasty's vast dragon vein, spanning ten thousand miles like a colossal dragon, pierced by countless invisible black threads, its pure primal energy continuously siphoned into an unknown location.

The entire imperial dynasty was being parasitized and hollowed out without its knowledge!

The scene shifted again.

It was an endless blood‑red Altar.

Tens of millions of beings within wailed and struggled, their flesh, blood, and souls forcibly stripped and refined, ultimately coalescing into a nascent pill exuding evil aura.

And this so‑called "Dead Zone" was merely one of those countless Altars!

What they stood upon were the skeletons of billions of beings!

Finally, all the images froze on a single face.

It was Wang Zhize's own face.

The image of that face was placed at the exact center of a massive Dan Furnace's illusion, beneath which were two terrifying ancient seal characters.

Furnace Core!

It is not a mere catalyst for a pill.

It is the heart of the Dan Furnace that bears this Defying Heaven Dao Pill, serving as its very Core…

Boom!

Wang Zhize snapped his eyes open, two shafts of divine light piercing the void flashing then vanishing.

His complexion grew exceedingly solemn for the first time.

This was no longer revenge.

It was a Heaven‑shaking Evil Ritual that engulfed the entire imperial dynasty, using billions of beings as sacrifices and the nation's dragon vein as fuel…

And he was the final and most crucial component of this evil ritual.

"Brother Wang, you…"

Li Hu sensed the dramatic shift in Wang Zhize's aura and spoke cautiously.

Wang Zhize did not answer immediately; he simply lifted his head and scanned the ruined, ugly space.

"This place should not be like this."

He spoke lightly, his voice low yet carrying an absolute will that bent reality.

"I define: Death retreat, vitality descend."

The moment the words fell.

The whole world began a cataclysmic transformation.

The mountain‑high massive skeletons of the Lord of the Deadlands disintegrated and melted in gentle light, turning into the purest life energy that merged with the earth.

The cracked ground healed swiftly, a layer of fresh green grass spreading like a carpet to the horizon.

The parched land became moist, a clear stream sprang from nowhere, tinkling as it flowed.

The last lingering gray ash in the sky was completely purified, the azure washed clean, with a few white clouds drifting lazily.

In the blink of an eye, a wasteland steeped in death and decay turned into a bird‑song, flower‑scented, vibrant utopia.

Li Hu and Zhang Mei were already completely numb.

Is this… creation?

"Brother, are you okay?" Wang Zhitao flew over, feeling the intense emotional turbulence Wang Zhize had just experienced.

Wang Zhize shook his head and conveyed the astonishing secret he had just learned to the three of them in the most concise language.

From the true identity of the "Lord", to its parasitism of the imperial dynasty, to the truth of the "Immortal Dao Pill", and his own "Furnace Core" destiny.

Silence as dead.

Li Hu's fists clenched with a crackling sound, his facial muscles twisted with anger.

He came from the military, holding the simplest loyalty to the imperial dynasty, but now, the imperial dynasty he serves, actually…

Zhang Mei's face turned even more deathly pale; she could not imagine that the so‑called "Lord", for his own selfish desire, could actually commit such a monstrous crime.

Zhang Mei's complexion turned even more pallid; she could not imagine that the so‑called "Lord", for personal greed, could commit such a heinous crime.

【61】 "Beast! A pack of beasts!" Li Hu forced out a few words through clenched teeth, bloodshot eyes, "Brother Wang, what should we do? I, Li Hu, entrust my life to you! Even if I die, I will gnaw a piece of flesh from those bastards!"

"Exactly!" Zhang Mei said resolutely, "We must never let its scheme succeed!"

The fear in their hearts had long been replaced by a raging fury.

Wang Zhize looked at them and nodded.

"Time is running out."

His gaze seemed to pierce the barrier of space, looking toward the distant direction of the imperial capital.

"According to its memory, the ultimate alchemy site lies at the imperial capital's 'Heaven‑Sacrificing Platform.' There, the dragon vein's Core Node resides; once the ritual begins, the entire empire will become a furnace, with no chance of reversal."

"We must rush there at once."

Wang Zhize finished speaking and raised his hand again.

"I define: here, the illusion endures forever."

An invisible layer of law energy enveloped the entire oasis, light and shadow warped, and the newly born vibrant life was perfectly concealed.

In any probe from the Outside World, this place remains that barren, deathly silent wasteland.

After completing all this, Wang Zhize, using the coordinates from the Deathland Master's memory, made a gentle stroke in the void.

A stable spatial fissure appeared before the four of them.

On the other side of the fissure, it was no longer endless chaos but the breath of the real world.

"Go."

Wang Zhize stepped in first.

While traversing the space, his mind shifted, integrating the newly grasped "Death" and "Decay" laws entirely into his small world.

Within the small world, a surging black Nether River quietly emerged, running parallel to the life‑symbolizing river, eventually merging into the world's cycle and forming a more complete, more stable cycle of life and death.

The World's Heart, the light sphere formed from grandfather Wang Shan's spirit, thus became denser and brighter.

"Hey, you two, don't just stand there."

Wang Zhitao looked at the still‑weak Li Hu and Zhang Mei and grinned.

He opened his mouth and gently exhaled two puffs of black‑gray breath.

The breath settled on the two, no longer cold, but transformed into two streams of exceedingly pure life energy, instantly healing their final hidden wounds and even showing faint signs of loosening their cultivation bottlenecks.

"This…"

Li Hu and Zhang Mei were shocked again.

Death could truly be transmuted into vitality!

Wang Zhitao, this humanoid feral beast, had gained yet another defying‑the‑Heavens ability!

A moment later, the four passed through the spatial corridor and set foot on solid ground.

The familiar scent of earth and spiritual aura rushed onto them.

They had returned.

Wang Zhize lifted his head, gazing toward the horizon's outline of the colossal city that stretched beyond sight.

Imperial Capital.

His eyes were cold and sharp.

There lay the terminus of his journey.

Heaven‑Sacrificing Platform.

There also awaited his greatest adversary of this life.

Lord.

An unprecedented sense of urgency pressed upon his heart.

He knew that the final battle that would decide the fate of the entire empire, even this world, was now unavoidable.

"Lord…"

Wang Zhize murmured softly, his voice devoid of fear, only boundless battle intent and cold murderous intent.

"Your feast should end now."

"I have arrived."