Chapter 414: The Treasure Ship of Time (1/3)

"Is this person really your Second Uncle?"

Li Heng was slightly surprised and asked.

Wu Wushuang nodded.

"He is indeed my Second Uncle."

"Then I killed your Second Uncle, and you aren't surprised or angry at all?" Li Heng smiled slightly.

Wu Wushuang shook her head.

"My relationship with Second Uncle was not very good. When I ascended the throne, Second Uncle opposed it with his life, and he has constantly been tripping me up, which annoyed me greatly."

"But because of this connection, I couldn't deal a lethal blow to him."

"So, it is good that he is dead. Many thanks, Fellow Daoist Li Heng."

This Great Zhou Empress was very grateful to Li Heng.

"Is that so."

Li Heng was thoughtful.

"Although I shielded the surroundings just now to prevent your Second Uncle from escaping, I did not block you from eavesdropping on what happened. So, what are your thoughts on your Second Uncle's words?"

He looked at the Empress and said with a smile.

The Empress revealed a bitter expression and shook her head slightly.

"I also did not know that Second Uncle had done such wrong things, actually attracting a monster of this level and causing Great Zhou to face a catastrophe. This is my fault; I should have killed Second Uncle sooner."

Her expression was somewhat regretful.

"I see. What about your Second Uncle's other words, such as the truth about Great Zhou, or the relationship between the True Dragon and the Divine Bird? Or did you, Fellow Daoist Wu, already know the secrets within?" Li Heng asked.

Wu Wushuang closed her eyes, then slowly opened them again.

"I knew some things before, but only half-understood them. Now that I have learned these things from Second Uncle's mouth, it can be considered as filling in some of the doubts in my heart, but it is a pity that Second Uncle was wrong."

The Empress's subtext was that she knew, but not entirely.

"So how do you intend to handle this?"

Li Heng continued to press.

"I request that you continue to help me solve the problem of that monster. After the matter is resolved, I will tell you the truth I know, and incidentally resolve the problem of the impurities in your bloodline, Fellow Daoist."

The Empress looked at Li Heng with her moving eyes, full of apology. She also did not know the Divine Bird would cause such an impact.

Otherwise, she would not have invited Li Heng to enter Great Zhou. After all, rationally speaking, she did not want to provoke the disgust of a powerhouse of Li Heng's level.

If one can be on good terms, why scheme?

"Since that is the case, let us proceed according to the original plan."

Li Heng did not care much and nodded.

In any case, his bloodline had no impurities, so he was not in a hurry.

At most, the secrets hidden in this Great Zhou made him curious. And he was somewhat surprised that he did not obtain Source Power after killing the black-robed person. However, these should be answered soon...

The next day.

News spread that the Prince of Wei had died of illness in his residence, and the imperial court was shaken.

However, no rumors or gossip spread about this matter; everyone felt there was no conspiracy in it and all believed the Prince of Wei had died of illness in his residence.

Li Heng sat leisurely on the top floor of a teahouse, looking at the distant mountains, took a small sip of tea, and listened to guests at nearby tables discussing the news of the Prince of Wei's passing.

He was somewhat surprised; this commotion was a bit large.

Could it be that the Empress still had to hold a state funeral for her Second Uncle?

If so, could they still go to deal with those monsters today?

But soon, the surroundings blurred and went silent, forming an independent space. The Empress Wu Wushuang, wearing a phoenix robe and a golden crown, along with Shuiyue and Huoling, appeared before Li Heng.

"Why, are we still proceeding according to the original plan?"

"I thought you would bury your Second Uncle first."

Li Heng said calmly.

Upon hearing this, Wu Wushuang's expression fluctuated slightly, but she did not speak. However, the expressions of Shuiyue and Huoling beside her were somewhat strange, and they could not help but speak up.

"Fellow Daoist Li, his true body and avatar are both gone..."

Very obviously, the implication was that there were not even ashes left.

How could one bury this?

As a dignified prince, one couldn't just set up an empty tomb.

"Ahem, where is that monster?"

Li Heng changed the subject, pretending not to hear.

In any case, he felt he had done nothing wrong.

After all, when killing someone, it is best to scatter their ashes, soul, and True Spirit all at once, so that this person never reincarnates and returns to Emptiness, to avoid any accidents or resurrection.

That is what you call being steady.

At this moment, the surrounding space fluctuated again. A Daoist nun wearing black and white Daoist robes and carrying a Peach Wood Sword on her back, along with General Zhou Mingyi, who was clad in armor and stationed at the border, appeared simultaneously.

"Tian Xuzi, Zhou Mingyi, pay respects to Your Majesty."

The two spoke in unison to pay respects to the Empress, both having cultivation in the Creation Realm. However, the two were so close and spoke with such tacit understanding; I fear there might be some illicit affair between them.

One a Daoist nun, one a general of the Military School.

Li Heng muttered to himself, what a strange combination this was.

"No need for formalities. This is Fellow Daoist Li Heng, the core of this operation." The Empress nodded and introduced Li Heng beside her.

"Tian Xuzi, greets Fellow Daoist Li."

"Fellow Daoist Li, we meet again."

The two of them greeted Li Heng in unison.

"Greetings, fellow Daoist Tian Xuzi." Li Heng nodded in return.

"General Zhou, I thought you were still guarding the frontier."

He looked toward Zhou Mingyi again and said with a smile.

"Thank you for your concern, fellow Daoist; there is no war at the frontier."

Zhou Mingyi replied with a smile.

In reality, his heart was far from as calm as he appeared.

Because ever since Li Heng appeared and caused the Black Fog to become thin, the Black Fog had become much lazier, the number of times it invaded the Great Zhou frontier had decreased significantly, and it even seemed to be moving away from the Great Zhou frontier.

It was precisely because of this that he was able to get away to come here.

And all of this was because of this Li Heng.

"Alright, everyone is here, let's set off."

The Empress was concise and to the point, not delaying at all.

Li Heng was somewhat surprised; so few people? That shouldn't be right. With the scale of Great Zhou, shouldn't there be eight or ten experts in the Creation Realm popping out? Even Creation Realm experts of a One-Tribulation World would do.

Or was it because they had all died during the previous Calamity?

Or perhaps this Empress Wu Wushuang was too overbearing?

Over the past few days, Li Heng had heard of the deeds of the Empress Wu Wushuang: ascending to the imperial throne and conquering all forces in the world that refused to submit. She had razed mountains and destroyed temples, and no one knew how many experts of the same level she had suppressed and killed.

Only in this way could she sit firmly on the imperial throne as a woman.

"Wait, Wushuang, I want to join too."

Suddenly, spatial fluctuations rippled again, and a middle-aged man with disheveled hair and messy clothes appeared, reeking of alcohol and unable to stand steadily in place.

The Empress's expression instantly turned gloomy, and she spoke in a cold voice.

"Prince Qi, what are you doing!"

"Prince... Prince... Prince what, I am your third uncle! Hehe, didn't you say you were going to conquer that monster? Take your third uncle with you, and I guarantee you'll be safe and sound."

Prince Qi staggered, his swaying body struggling to maintain balance so he wouldn't fall to the ground, then he patted his chest and said as if everything was up to him.

"Eh, are you that Li Heng, fellow Daoist Li?"

Unconsciously, Prince Qi looked at Li Heng with a dazed expression.

He swayed as he walked in front of Li Heng.

"Tha... thank you."

"Uh~, I've long found Prince Wei an eyesore, thank you, Brother Li, for ridding the people of a scourge."

Prince Qi cupped his hands toward Li Heng.

Li Heng smiled slightly and spoke.

"Thank you for the praise, Prince Qi, it was merely a small effort."

"I wonder if Prince Qi also needs help?"

Instantly, Prince Qi shook his head like a rattle-drum and hurriedly retreated. "No, no, no, no, no, I don't need it, I'm perfectly fine."

Beside them, Tian Xuzi and Zhou Mingyi were not at peace in their hearts.

Although they knew there was something suspicious about the death of Prince Wei, they did not know the truth of the matter. But now, listening to the crazed Prince Qi, could it be because of this fellow Daoist Li?

Was it truly fellow Daoist Li who killed that damned Prince Wei?

This... was truly somewhat unbelievable!

They looked at each other, somewhat horrified.

Because Prince Wei's cultivation could be called the best in Great Zhou; if it weren't for the fact that His Majesty occupied the imperial throne, she probably wouldn't have been able to suppress Prince Wei, yet now Prince Wei had died so easily.

And it was even a death from illness for a ridiculous reason.

Just kidding, how could a person of this level die from illness.

"My plan does not need you, go back, Prince Qi."

Wu Wushuang's expression softened as she commanded.

At the same time, she offered an apology to Li Heng and spoke.

"This Prince Qi is my third uncle, but he is currently crazy and muddled, confused and unclear, so it is inevitable that he will say offensive things; please forgive him."

"You, you, how can you, this girl, talk about your third uncle like that."

Upon hearing this, Prince Qi suddenly became indignant.

"It is fine. But since Prince Qi is willing to go, then why not take him along?" Li Heng smiled slightly.

He was somewhat curious about this suddenly appearing Prince Qi, because he sensed that the bloodline within this Prince Qi was even more strange; it had the aura of a True Dragon, but also the aura of what might be that Divine Bird.

The Empress frowned upon hearing this, but she still gave Li Heng some face.

"Since that is the case, then let Prince Qi come along."

She thought to herself that she had never been able to see through this crazy third uncle, and did not know what secrets he was hiding. However, as the Lord of Great Zhou, how could she fear such a situation?

Her own power was enough to suppress these variables.

As long as she didn't let him touch the core of the plan, it would be fine.

Prince Qi's eyes lit up, and he hurriedly leaned toward Li Heng.

"Good, good, good brother, thank you, thank you Brother Li."

He became happy like a little child.

"To... to show my gratitude, I can tell Brother Li a sec... secret!" In front of everyone, in the public eye, Prince Qi leaned close to Li Heng's ear and said loudly.

At this moment, whether it was Wu Wushuang, Shuiyue, or Zhou Mingyi and Tian Xuzi, they were all somewhat helpless, because they knew Prince Qi was about to say his classic catchphrase.

"The secret is, I am still alive."

After finishing this sentence, Prince Qi stood with his hands on his hips and laughed out loud.

He looked extremely pleased with himself.

Then, before three seconds of laughter had passed, he suddenly turned sorrowful and burst into tears, his tears splashing out like a waterfall, truly living up to the saying that sorrow is like rain, forming a river upon hitting the ground.

Watching Li Heng stand there stunned, Wu Wushuang smiled aloud.

"Fellow Daoist Li, just don't take my third uncle's words seriously or to heart." She felt delighted in her heart; now he knew how formidable her third uncle was, right? He actually dared to let him follow and bring him along?

If you don't listen to the Empress's words, you will suffer the consequences right before your eyes.

The others also nodded very earnestly.

They would not take it to heart at all.

After all, wasn't that just nonsense?

Of those who could stand here, who wasn't alive?

The crowd rolled their eyes, thinking speechlessly.

"It's fine, it's fine; Prince Qi's words are quite interesting too."

Li Heng came back to his senses and smiled slightly.

He looked at Prince Qi, who had fallen into extreme sorrow, and was lost in thought. Actually, what Prince Qi said was truly not wrong; he himself was indeed still alive, in every sense of the word.

"Alright, alright, let's not waste any more time; let's set off."

Seeing that Li Heng did not show any expression of surprise or being thwarted, the Empress suddenly felt a bit bored, so she went straight to the main business and urged everyone to set off.

Li Heng followed the host's lead and left with the others.

Then, they arrived before a Heaven-Reaching Treasure Ship docked by the side of a great river. This treasure ship was magnificent, its material seeming neither like metal nor wood, with various Runes engraved around it, emitting an aura of time.

The Empress smiled as she introduced it to Li Heng.

"The Time-Space River of the True Realm is incomparably vast; with our cultivation, we must rely on external objects to truly navigate within it. This treasure ship was refined using Time Wood as its frame and can sail through time."

"It will help us reach the location of that monster."

Li Heng nodded without saying much; for a dynasty with such deep foundations as Great Zhou, it was not surprising that they could produce a ship of this level. He immediately followed the others and stepped onto this Heaven-Reaching Treasure Ship built from Time Wood.

Then, the scenery outside the ship changed abruptly; it was no longer the material World, but the vast Void, and the treasure ship appeared on the Time-Space River, floating quietly, having changed Heaven and Earth in the blink of an eye.

The Empress summoned Shuiyue, Huoling, Tian Xuzi, and Zhou Mingyi to give them a few instructions, seemingly about how to operate the treasure ship, and then turned to smile at Li Heng.

"Fellow Daoist may observe the scenery on the Time-Space River; it might be helpful for your cultivation and enlightenment of the Dao. It will still take some time before we reach the location of that monster."

Li Heng nodded without saying much.

Then, he saw the previously sorrowful Prince Qi happily take out a fish bucket and a fishing rod, sit by the side of the treasure ship, and begin to fish.

But after watching for a long time, no fish had taken the bait.

Is this... an empty catch?