Chapter 462: Heavenly Empress

As Heng Xian shouted, the entire venue instantly fell silent, and the Unmatched Dao's gaze turned toward the source.

State Elder Pavilion???

Many people only then realized, indeed, they had overlooked the existence of the mysterious State Elder Pavilion!

Did Heng Xian bring people from the State Elder Pavilion?

Only seen, in a thicket at the mountain's base, a head slowly, slowly poked out halfway, revealing Ji Sihai's youthful appearance.

Only him!

His eyes filled with dread and panic: 'Ah, old sister-in-law, hello!'

The crowd first stared at each other, then all turned to look at the Heavenly Empress.

Within the State Elder Pavilion, everyone was a royal prince or clansman; the only one they could call 'sister-in-law' seemed to be the Heavenly Empress.

At the focus of gazes, the Heavenly Empress's expression flickered slightly, then her face became calm as water, revealing no joy, anger, or mood swings.

Ji Sihai said nervously: 'Hahaha, I just happened to come out, with no other meaning; you go about your business, you want to kill whoever you want to kill, I'll just watch.'

After saying that, he gave Heng Xian a helpless expression, muttered something, as if saying, 'We have no choice, we can only set you up…'

The Heavenly Empress looked at Heng Xian, her expression hinting at a barely perceptible mockery, and said: 'You think moving out the State Elder Pavilion can save the Tai Ping family and let you leave alive?'

Heng Xian turned his head from Ji Sihai's sneaky silhouette and the surrounding calm forest, then looked at the motionless Ji Yaoyue on the ground, and said calmly: 'Actually, whether I move out the State Elder Pavilion or not, I can still leave alive, right?'

'Oh?' the Heavenly Empress exclaimed in surprise.

Heng Xian said: 'Your Majesty's cultivation reaches the heavens, your mind is as vast as a valley; if you wanted to kill me, you would have done so long ago. Why let me swing my sword and spout nonsense here? Your Majesty has no intention to kill me!'

The Heavenly Empress replied with a half-smile: 'How do you know I have no intention to kill you? Could I not toy with you a bit?'

Heng Xian said: 'I have heard that the Heavenly Empress of Great Zhou, ruling behind the curtain for decades, possesses discerning insight, treats the virtuous and humble with courtesy, treats guests and strategists kindly, unites upper and lower, thereby making Great Zhou's national strength flourish, its might extending within the seas, aweing the four directions!'

The Heavenly Empress lightly laughed: 'But you are not my guest or strategist!'

'I can surrender! I surrender now!'

Heng Xian's expression was calm.

'This...' the people from all directions couldn't help but look astonished.

All the way killing and rushing here to save people, not fighting to the death, suddenly surrendering— the plot feels off!

The Qin Prince involuntarily said: 'How could you suddenly surrender? Who dares to believe your loyalty?'

Heng Xian calmly said: 'I have reasons to surrender!'

The Heavenly Empress cut off the Qin Prince who was still arguing, calmly said: 'Go ahead and speak!'

Heng Xian said: 'Rather than fighting to the death, it's better to surrender to the Empress and become her guest; with her magnanimity, she surely wouldn't mind me taking along a powerless imperial princess, right?'

Heavenly Empress: 'Not a bad calculation, there's some sense to it!'

Heng Xian said: 'Of course! As a gesture of repaying kindness, I will also offer the Empress a plan!'

'Oh?' Not only the Heavenly Empress, but also the Qin Prince, Chang Gongzhu, Xu Lulu, a group of experts in the sky, and Ji Sihai all felt curious.

Heng Xian said word by word: 'This plan is called Substitute the Peach for the Apricot, Deceive the Heaven and Cross the Sea! I studied under the most notorious South Palace Elder of the Tianyuan Sect, but the South Palace Elder's biological father was Nangong Lingtian, who once dominated a region centuries ago!'

My master once passed down a secret technique to me, called the Heaven-and-Earth Blessing Wondrous Method, which wonderfully absorbs the entire qi fortune of a family or power for cultivation!

So, if Your Majesty were to cultivate using the entire qi fortune of the Great Zhou Empire, how would that be?

As his words fell, everyone in all directions couldn't help but suck in a breath of cold air.

Such a practice is truly shocking to hear; what kind of utterly wicked person would cultivate this way?

Many people subconsciously glanced at the Heavenly Empress.

The Qin Prince said coldly: 'Heng Xian, as the literary world's Poet Sage, how could you devise such a vicious scheme against my Great Zhou? Are you seeking death?'

Heng Xian ignored him, merely clasping his hands before the Heavenly Empress; what this lady intended was already obvious.

The Qin Prince wanted to say more, but the Heavenly Empress suddenly said with interest: 'So what should I do?'

The Qin Prince's face froze.

All directions fell silent.

Heng Xian said: 'Simple! The urgent task is naturally to destroy the State Elder Pavilion; with it around, the Empress's affairs are inconvenient!'

Ji Sihai, watching the excitement from afar, changed expression, as if he had swallowed a fly.

The Heavenly Empress waved her silk-embroidered phoenix robe sleeves, lightly laughing: 'How can I alone destroy the State Elder Pavilion?'

Heng Xian calmly said: 'The State Elder Pavilion was sealed by Your Majesty, yet just now it suddenly broke the seal; Your Majesty surely knows, but by turning a blind eye, You naturally have full confidence to deal with them!'

The Heavenly Empress still smiled: 'You are very smart! No wonder you became the Poet Sage, utterly defeating the Qin Kingdom's envoy!'

Heng Xian bowed: 'Your Majesty overpraises me; it's merely luck!'

The two exchanged questions and answers, making such a heart-pounding matter sound like a game, causing everyone in all directions to feel a chill inside.

Ji Sihai's expression darkened in the distance as he stepped out from under the tree, coldly saying: 'Well done, Heng Xian, well done borrowing a knife to kill; you let us out purely to deal with the Heavenly Empress, right?'

Heng Xian said with a plain face: 'You make it sound like you coming out wouldn't be to deal with the Heavenly Empress!'

The Heavenly Empress fell silent, seeming to be caught in some dilemma.

Ji Sihai looked at the Heavenly Empress, the fear and dread in his eyes gone, stepping closer: 'Ms. Wu, since the State Elder Pavilion has emerged, you should restrain yourself!'

The Heavenly Empress snapped back from her thoughts, her aura surging heavenward, unmatched in fierceness: 'How should I restrain myself?'

Ji Sihai stopped his steps: 'Seclude yourself in the Purple Phoenix Palace and not emerge, or… die!'

'Hehe...' the Heavenly Empress first chuckled, then burst into a loud, skyward laugh: 'I, who have ruled for decades, laboring day and night to uphold this vast empire, how could you old ghosts control it?'

She had changed her self-reference from 'this humble one' to 'I'!

'Xuan'er!'

Behind Ji Sihai, dozens of figures suddenly appeared, each with an aura like an abyss, immense pressure, causing people in all directions to retreat in shock.

The speaker was the Martial Absolute Emperor at the front, his eyes complex, his tone even more complex.

The Heavenly Empress stared blankly at him, a flicker of longing appearing in her eyes, then quickly vanished, as she flung her sleeve heavily: 'Hmph!'

This girl disrupts my Great Zhou; she cannot be kept—attack!

Behind him, an elderly old man had the most fearsome aura, coldly shouting.

Understood!

Martial Absolute Emperor, Ji Sihai, and a group of elders emerged with mighty aura, rushing straight toward the Heavenly Empress.

Step back!

The Heavenly Empress drove back her pallid children and attendants, stepped through the air, walked to above the palace, her robes fluttering; as a daughter, she alone faced dozens of Ji clan ancestors, her aura unmatched.

Martial Absolute Emperor, Ji Sihai, and their group looked grim, continuing to approach, yet though they seemed to have overwhelming aura, they secretly dared not act rashly, as if fearing something.

Meanwhile, Heng Xian had already rushed to Ji Yaoyue's side below, scooped her up, and struck several of her major acupoints, his complexion shifting.

The three souls have shifted, the seven apertures are severed—she won't live long!

She seemed to sense his arrival; Ji Yaoyue opened her eyes, her face as pale as paper: 'Cold, hold, hold me tighter!'

Heng Xian held her tightly, murmuring: 'My life—two lifetimes added together just to have a romance, and it ends like this?'

Whether helping the State Elder Council emerge or deliberately surrendering to the Heavenly Empress, it was only to take Ji Yaoyue away!

He suddenly thought of the 'Profound Yellow Heavenly Hexagram,' immediately opened it: 'Give me a plan to save her!'

However, the Profound Yellow Heavenly Hexagram, rarely seen, for the first time revealed another kind of answer——

【Variable appears, to protect the host, the hexagram image is about to fade, the host has no danger to life!】

(End of chapter)