Chapter 54

The difference was that Su Xuan was using the life of her master Master Tian Ze as the price, while the mysterious woman was using the life of Su Xuan as the price.

Could this be considered one thing subduing another?

Su Xuan thought he had her master in the palm of his hand.

And the mysterious woman from earlier was certain that Su Xuan would lose.

So, which of these two bets would win?

Or rather, which bet would take effect first?

Yan Yan Lingji was very expectant.

Su Xuan also answered this question for Yan Yan Lingji.

"No choice, who told me I crave your bodies!"

No more pretending, he showed his cards!

Although Master Tian Ze knew that Yan Yan Lingji had been captured and was currently being held somewhere in the palace, he did not immediately go to rescue her.

Ever since he was released by Bai Bai Yifei, he understood Bai Bai Yifei’s intentions. Bai Bai Yifei was using him as a pawn, wanting to use him to achieve certain goals. Although because of the gu in his body, he had no choice but to be controlled by Bai Bai Yifei.

But this did not mean he was truly willing.

He was secretly looking for a way to remove the gu-insect in his body, while on the other hand, he intended to take revenge.

Although Bai Bai Yifei had given him a method for revenge.

However, he was not prepared to follow the method given by Bai Bai Yifei completely.

Killing his enemies was what he wanted.

But his goal was not just as simple as killing his enemies.

He also wanted to return to Regarding Baiyue and take back everything that belonged to him.

After he escaped this time, although he had gathered his former subordinates, there were only a few of them in total. Even if the current Regarding Baiyue was not as strong as it used to be, how easy was it to take everything back?

Fortunately, Master Tian Ze knew a secret.

A secret that had been circulating in the world for a thousand years.

The Seven Luminaries of the Azure Dragon!

There were seven stars in the sky, corresponding to the seven states on the earth. According to legend, if one could unravel this secret, one could obtain the powerful force to control the world.

The seven stars referred to the "Jiao, Kang, Di, Fang, Xin, Wei, Ji" of the Eastern Azure Dragon near the ecliptic. These seven stars together formed a complete dragon-shaped constellation.

And the seven states referred to the seven states of the current world.

Some speculated that the reason the seven states were powerful today was because they each held a part of the secret of the Seven Luminaries of the Azure Dragon.

But Master Tian Ze knew very well that Han Guo did not hold the secret of the Seven Luminaries of the Azure Dragon.

This portion of the Seven Luminaries of the Azure Dragon was still hidden in an unknown place.

In the past, Duke Zhuang of Zheng obtained a secret treasure, allowing the not-so-powerful Zheng State to rise and become the first hegemon among the feudal lords during the Spring and Autumn period. During the reign of Duke Zhuang of Zheng, the Zheng State was prosperous for a time, and his radiance even made the Son of Heaven of the Great Zhou pale in comparison. Since King Ping of Zhou moved east, the status of the Zhou gradually declined. For the increasingly disobedient Duke Zhuang of Zheng, the Son of Heaven united four states to try to strip Zheng of its fief, but the coalition forces of the Son of Heaven were beaten into a rout by Duke Zhuang of Zheng.

Although the glory of the Zheng State did not last many years, the source of the power that allowed it to rise rapidly to become a hegemon had been a secret that many had been exploring ever since.

After Han Guo destroyed Zheng, it also wanted to find the source of that power, but had no gains.

They did not know that many years ago, Zheng had secretly hidden that secret elsewhere.

And the person who guarded the clue to that secret had changed their surname after the destruction of Zheng and went to the land of Regarding Baiyue.

The Hu of the Fire Rain Duke Hu. It is worth mentioning that the Hu State was destroyed by Zheng many years ago, and the one who destroyed it was Duke Wu of Zheng, the father of Duke Zhuang of Zheng. In the "Han Han Feizi" written by Han Fei, in the chapter "Difficulties of Persuasion," this matter was even mentioned, "In the past, Duke Wu of Zheng wanted to attack Hu, so he first married his daughter to the Lord of Hu to please him. He then asked his ministers: 'I want to use troops, who can be attacked?' The grand officer Guan Qisi replied: 'Hu can be attacked.' Duke Wu was angry and executed him, saying: 'Hu is a brother state, why do you speak of attacking it?' When the Lord of Hu heard this, he thought Zheng was close to him, so he did not guard against Zheng. The people of Zheng raided Hu and took it."

No one would have thought that after Zheng destroyed Hu, its descendants, in order to guard that secret, changed their surname to Hu.

And Master Tian Ze happened to know this secret.

This was naturally because of the origin of Regarding Baiyue.

Regarding Baiyue originated from the ancient Yue State and was the descendant of King King Goujian of Yue. More than two hundred years ago, two hundred years after the era of Duke Zhuang of Zheng, King King Goujian of Yue succeeded to the throne and became the last of the Five Hegemons of the Spring and Autumn period.

He slept on brushwood and tasted gall, defeated King Fuchai of Wu, and achieved an unprecedented hegemony.

Among them, there was no lack of the shadow of the Seven Luminaries of the Azure Dragon.

King King Goujian of Yue also obtained a portion of the Seven Luminaries of the Azure Dragon and unraveled the secret within.

After achieving hegemony, he searched everywhere for the rest of the Seven Luminaries of the Azure Dragon.

Although he did not find them, he eventually obtained some clues.

Among them was the clue to the Seven Luminaries of the Azure Dragon of the Zheng State.

Unfortunately, due to various reasons, he never went to plot for the Seven Luminaries of the Azure Dragon.

Afterwards, more than a hundred years passed.

King Wujiang of Yue went north to attack Qi, listened to the mistakes of a lobbyist surnamed Tian, and led his army to turn around and attack Chu. Unexpectedly, he fell into an ambush and was defeated and died. Because Wujiang had not designated an heir, the vast Yue State fell apart from then on. Even the Seven Luminaries of the Azure Dragon of the Yue State fell into the hands of the Chu State because of this.

Regarding Baiyue, although it inherited a part of the legacy of the Yue State, was ultimately not the powerful ancient Yue State of the past.

Master Tian Ze had been keen on reading ancient books since he was a child and recruited strange and talented people for his own use. By chance, he discovered this secret in the ancient books left by the Yue State, and then he kept it in his heart, never revealing it to anyone.

Now, he had reappeared in the world.

He knew very well that he had no troops and no power. If he wanted to change his fate, he had to find the Seven Luminaries of the Azure Dragon.

Duke Zhuang of Zheng obtained the Seven Luminaries of the Azure Dragon and achieved hegemony.

His ancestor King Goujian obtained the Seven Luminaries of the Azure Dragon, reversed the trend, destroyed Wu, and became a hegemon.

He would definitely be able to do it too.

In the wilderness.

A handsome young man held a magic staff, on which hung a Soul-Sucking Bell. The bell shook gently, the soil cracked, and a corpse was revealed.

In the Xiang-Chu region of Regarding Baiyue, there had always been a custom of corpse-driving for thousands of miles. The man was known as the Corpse-Driving Demon, the head of the hidden shamans of Regarding Baiyue and also a capable subordinate of Master Tian Ze.

Seeing him perform his technique, the corpse before him gradually stood up.

The corpse’s appearance was ferocious and had already rotted somewhat; it was none other than "Vulture"!

After Vulture died, he was killed by Su Xuan because he had attacked Su Xuan on behalf of Mo Ya.

Ji Ji Wuye’s murderous intent toward Su Xuan was intense. Even when Su Xuan revealed the matter of the Fire Rain Duke’s treasure in the court that day, Ji Ji Wuye subconsciously ignored it and did not pursue the secret of the Fire Rain Duke’s treasure. For him, the only thing he wanted to do was to kill Su Xuan.

Afterwards, after the Liu Yi case was closed, Vulture’s corpse was sent to a mass grave in the suburbs and buried casually.

After Master Tian Ze was released from prison, he noticed this matter.

Although Vulture had not found the whereabouts of the Fire Rain Duke’s treasure, he was a personal participant and had slaughtered the entire clan of the Fire Rain Duke, so he might know some clues.

As the Corpse-Driving Demon awakened Vulture’s corpse, he performed the true "Communication with the Nether" technique.

To Master Tian Ze’s surprise, he really gained clues.

After gaining the clues, he found that he needed to make a trip to the Wang Gong of Han Guo, or more accurately, a trip to the site of the old Zheng State palace remains within the Wang Gong of Han Guo.

But this was good, he could rescue Yan Yan Lingji along the way.