Chapter 364: The Old Emperor's Scheme

The old emperor walked through the void step by step.

He did not look at the lump of flesh on the ground that was no longer human in shape, nor at the Consort Shu lying limp on the ground, nor did he give another glance to his own eldest son, who had lost his soul.

His gaze, from beginning to end, fell only on one person.

Gu Yuan.

"Young man, you're not bad."

The old emperor stopped on the eaves of Jinghua Palace, looking down from above at Gu Yuan, his voice calm yet carrying an undeniable imperial majesty: "I thought I had figured out everyone's hearts under heaven, playing with the aristocratic clans and my two useless sons in the palm of my hand, yet I never expected that a true dragon that had crossed the river would break into my little pond."

In his eyes there was no anger, no shock, only the appreciation of meeting an equal opponent, and a barely perceptible greed: "You… are not of this world, are you?"

"Father… Emperor… you… you're not dead?"

The eldest prince finally came back from extreme shock, his lips trembling, he looked at his own father with the eyes of one beholding a ghost.

"Dead?"

Hearing that, the old emperor finally diverted a sliver of his gaze to his eldest son, that gaze cold as if looking at a complete stranger.

"If I hadn't faked my death to escape, how could I let you two brothers completely let go and go at each other's throats, fighting for succession? If I hadn't given you hope, how would you willingly, for my sake, drain those aristocratic clans that cling to Great Yin like bloodsuckers?"

The old emperor's words were like a basin of ice water poured over the eldest prince's head.

He understood in an instant.

What brother vs. brother, what struggle for the throne—from start to finish, it was nothing but a play staged by this father of his to purge the aristocratic clans!

He and Yinzhen were nothing but puppets on the strings of their father!

"Why… Father… why?!"

The eldest prince bellowed in anguish and despair,

"You just watched us slaughter each other, watched Yinzhen, that bastard, kill my wife's clan and drive my mother to her death?! What is your heart made of?!"

"Heart?"

The old emperor snorted, his laugh full of contempt and ridicule,

"When I decided to walk this path of devouring the nation's fortune and defying heaven to become a sage, I stopped caring about these things."

"Even if my sons die, they can be reborn; if I do not become a sage, I fear that billions of humans will eventually die in the mouths of monsters."

"Zhe'er, you don't need to resent me either; although you're foolish, you did manage to finish the last thing I asked of you—now the aristocratic clans are gravely weakened, Yinzhen that bastard is ruined, and the bloodline of the Great Yin imperial house has only you left as the sole sprout."

On the old emperor's face appeared a loving smile that made the eldest prince feel a chill run through his body.

"So from now on, it will be you who offers this final, most important sacrifice for your father's path to sainthood."

Before his words even faded, the old emperor suddenly thrust out his right hand and seized at the void.

"National Fortune Grand Sacrifice, begin!"

Accompanied by his solemn decree, the entire capital, indeed the very fortune of the Great Yin Divine Dynasty, boiled over at that moment!

The Qi Luck Golden Dragon that had just backfired on Yinzhen and was now circling above the Forbidden City let out an agonized wail.

Golden chains woven from the people's willpower appeared out of thin air, tightly binding its body and forcibly dragging it toward the palace.

Inside and outside the capital, countless ordinary folk felt at that moment as if an invisible giant hand had cruelly clenched their hearts.

A vital essence drawn from bloodline and deep within the soul was being forcibly extracted without restraint!

"No… Father! You can't do this! You're destroying the foundation of Great Yin!"

The eldest prince watched in horror, feeling his own imperial dragon aura draining away at an unprecedented speed.

His father is refining the fortune of all humanity!

Yet the old emperor's aura was climbing at a terrifying rate!

Having only just entered the realm of sages, in just a few breaths it had already stabilized, and even began to charge toward the peak of sainthood and beyond!

"Foundation?"

The old emperor burst into wild laughter: "I am the foundation of Great Yin! As long as I become a sage, what is a mere mundane divine dynasty? Once I unify this realm and flatten the hundred thousand great mountains, I will be able to lift the world and ascend, achieving an unprecedented great feat."

"Let humanity be great again!"

"For you to become part of me is your honor!"

The old emperor could feel it.

His power had already far surpassed that of all the sages of past ages!

Soon he would establish the foundation for myriad generations!

The old emperor's gaze once again fell on Gu Yuan.

"Young man, I admit you are an anomaly; your appearance has disrupted many of my plans, but now the situation is settled, I am about to surpass the sages and enter a new realm, and you…"

The old emperor's eyes turned icy: "Your fortune outweighs that of my two useless sons combined; if I devour you, I even have confidence to leap to heaven in one step and directly surpass the sages!"

"Now I give you two choices."

"One, kneel, submit to me, offer everything you have, and I can spare your life, making you my first divine general after I become a sage."

"Two, be crushed by my own hand, together with your fortune and your secrets, becoming my provisions!"

The old emperor's voice, like a divine edict from the nine heavens, was filled with undeniable majesty.

In his view, this multiple-choice question needed no thought.

A smart person, facing an existence about to become a supreme sage, has no other path but submission.

Yet Gu Yuan's reaction once again defied his expectations.

Gu Yuan felt no panic, no fear, not even a trace of solemnity.

He simply listened quietly to the old emperor's arrogant words, shook his head, and let out a soft sigh: "Are you done?"

"Old Emperor, do you really think the national fortune now flooding your body is unprecedentedly pure, unprecedentedly strong? Do you think you've surpassed all past sages and are just one step away?"

Gu Yuan's voice, no longer flat as before, now carried a hint of amusement:

"You fool, you don't even need to think with your power‑stuffed brain—how could the Qi Luck Golden Dragon, contaminated for hundreds to thousands of years by the polluting force you deliberately summoned, become so pure in just a few days?"