Chapter 126: The Immortal King’s Crown and the Evil Emperor

Chapter 126: The Immortal King’s Crown and the Evil Emperor

Gu An usedLifespan Probeon the thirteen figures in the forest, revealing that they were all at theThird Level of the Integration Stage—with identical ages.

All of them bore the surnameLi.

This immediately reminded him of theThirteen Fiends of the Nine Nether Path, a notorious group that had once shaken the cultivation world.

What are these people doing at Taixuan Sect?

TheGolden Ranking Tournamentwas still years away.

Since they weren’t moving quickly, Gu An didn’t rush to intervene. He wanted to see their objective first.

His gaze landed on the massive coffin they were carrying.

When he extended his divine sense into it, he found a set of bones inside.

The crown’s gemstones were missing, leaving only empty sockets.

Yet, despite its incomplete state, it still exuded an extraordinary presence.

After about half an incense stick’s time, the thirteen figures halted.

The leader, Li Shouyou, turned and gestured.

The four members carrying the coffin set it down and began to open it.

Just as the lid was being lifted, a hand suddenly pressed down on it.

The group turned in unison to see a figure standing at the foot of the coffin.

Shrouded in dark purple demonic energy, it was none other than Gu An.

His right hand firmly held the coffin lid shut.

A heavy silence fell over the forest.

Yet, the thirteen figures did not flee or attack.

Instead, twelve of them turned their gaze toward Li Shouyou.

Their bodies were pitch-black, resembling shadows, making their expressions unreadable.

Li Shouyou gave a slight nod—then knelt.

Seeing this, the other twelve followed suit.

"TheThirteen Fiends of the Nine Nether Pathpay respects to theSword Sovereign of the Righteous Path!"

Li Shouyou’s voice was not loud, but every word was clear.

Gu An was taken aback.

So they were here for me?

No wonder their movements seemed so unusual—they weren’t acting like intruders.

Gu An spoke coldly, "Give me one reason not to annihilate you all."

These thirteen were likely ghost cultivators.

Dark qi swirled around them, yet their bodies still carried human vitality.

Li Shouyou replied, "We, theThirteen Fiends of the Nine Nether Path, come under the orders ofNightshade Ghost Mother. We bring theImmortal King’s Crownas an offering—to aid you in reclaiming your place among theEarthly Immortals!"

Gu An’s expression darkened.

Nightshade Ghost Mother?

Her cultivation was actually lower than these thirteen—how could she command them?

"And why would she do this?" Gu An questioned.

He sensed no hostility from them, meaning they might not be lying.

Li Shouyou explained, "The Ghost Mother has studied yourTaicang Frightening God Swordfor years within Taixuan Sect. She has determined that this technique, though widely practiced by the Taicang Imperial Clan, was not created by their founder—it originally belonged to theImmortal Kingof the Nightshade Sect, the ancestor of the Ghost Mother."

"Because of this, the Ghost Mother journeyed to the Taicang Empire, hoping to reclaim her ancestral inheritance before the Nightshade Sect destroys the empire. Two hundred years ago, she came seeking a successor, but the later generations of the Li family were too mediocre to comprehend theTaicang Frightening God Sword. Left with no choice, she went into hiding."

Gu An frowned.

HisTaicang Frightening God Swordhad indeed come from the Li family.

But he never expected that the Li family’s founder had ties to the Nightshade Sect.

"Your Ghost Mother wants theTaicang Frightening God Sword?" he asked.

Li Shouyou shook his head. "The Ghost Mother wishes to invite you to the Nightshade Sect—to use your sword intent to reclaim the position of Sect Master!"

Gu An fell silent.

What kind of scheme is this?

Using me to eliminate her enemies?

He pushed the coffin lid open with one hand.

The coffin was surprisingly sturdy, lined with layers of restrictive formations—clearly a powerful artifact.

His gaze fell upon the skeleton inside.

Though lifeless, the bones carried a sinister presence.

Just in case, he usedLifespan Probeon it.

【Evil Emperor (Fifth Level of the Grand Ascension Stage): 7,600 / 9,999 / 9,999】

Damn!

Gu An remained outwardly composed but internally, his heart pounded.

This thing was stillalive!

And its maximum lifespan was identical to An Hao’s!

Gu An leaped onto the edge of the coffin and peered down at the Evil Emperor’s remains.

TheThirteen Fiendsremained kneeling in silence.

His eyes flashed coldly—

Boom!

Two beams of divine light shot from his pupils, obliterating the skeleton in an instant!

The bones disintegrated into dust.

Only theImmortal King’s Crownremained in the coffin, and the bottom of the coffin itself had been pierced through by hisDao-Breaking Divine Light.

TheThirteen Fiendsglanced up briefly before lowering their heads again.

A system prompt appeared before Gu An:

【You have successfully extracted 320 years of lifespan from the Evil Emperor (Fifth Level of the Grand Ascension Stage).】

Holy sh*t!

That scared the hell out of me!

Who could’ve guessed that the skeleton was still alive—and at theFifth Level of the Grand Ascension Stage!

For a brief moment, Gu An imagined countless disaster scenarios.

He even felt as though he had just saved the world from a calamity.

The name ‘Evil Emperor’ alone sounds ominous.

And the fact that it had been hiding in a coffin all these years…

Clearly, there had been a terrifying scheme in play.

Gu An reached out and lifted theImmortal King’s Crown—but he didn’t touch it directly.

Instead, he wrapped it in spiritual energy, avoiding physical contact.

Then, he turned to Li Shouyou.

"You knew about the Evil Emperor?"

Li Shouyou hesitated, then nodded. "Indeed. This skeleton belonged to the Evil Emperor. Five thousand years ago, the Nightshade Sect was embroiled in a civil war. The Evil Emperor was betrayed and poisoned, preventing him from circulating his spiritual energy. In desperation, he donned theImmortal King’s Crown—but it instantly drained his life force, reducing him to bones. Because of this, the crown was declared a cursed artifact, and none dared to touch it."

"Then why the hell did you bring it to me?" Gu An’s voice turned icy.

Li Shouyou remained calm. "If you have mastered theTaicang Frightening God Sword, theImmortal King’s Crownwill recognize you as its rightful owner—because the same person who created the sword also forged the crown."

Gu An narrowed his eyes. "What is the Ghost Mother’s relation to the Evil Emperor?"

"The Ghost Mother is his descendant."

"Then why would she offer her ancestor’s remains to me? Isn’t that blasphemy?"

"She despises her bloodline. As a child, she was turned into aGhost Fiendby her own father. That is why she seeks a successor unrelated to her lineage. The Li family’s founder was merely a disciple of the Nightshade Sect. She wants someone else to inherit theTaicang Frightening God Swordand reclaim the sect in her place—as revenge."

Gu An narrowed his eyes.

"And how were you so sure you’d find me?"

"The Ghost Mother said that if we approached the Outer Sect City, where theHeavenly Mending Platformis located, you would sense us—no matter how well we concealed our cultivation."

Li Shouyou and the others had used an advanced concealment technique.

Only someone at Gu An’s level could see through it.

Gu An continued questioning them, and Li Shouyou answered each time.

After an incense stick’s time, Gu An finally spoke.

"I’ll take theImmortal King’s Crown. You may leave."

Li Shouyou flipped his hand, producing a short flute. "This is theNine Nether Flute. If you play it, we will come immediately, ready to serve at your command. From now on, to us, you are the rightful Sect Master of theNightshade Sect!"

Gu An extended his hand and summoned the flute toward him.

Using his divine sense, he carefully inspected it—confirming that there were no hidden surveillance formations or reverse-tracking restrictions—before tossing it into his storage pouch.

Then, he leaped down from the coffin and gestured for theThirteen Fiendsto leave.

The group bowed deeply to him, lifted the coffin, and silently departed.

Gu An did not immediately return to Xuan Valley.

Instead, he sat beneath a tree in meditation, placing theImmortal King’s Crownbefore him.

According to Li Shouyou, thousands of years ago, there had been anImmortal Dynastywhere all people could cultivate.

At that time, there were no emperors—only the ruler of the Immortal Dynasty, who called himself theImmortal King, governing the land’s immortal gods.

But disaster struck the Immortal Dynasty.

Calamities plagued the land, cultivators fell intoheart demon tribulations, and plagues swept across the empire.

In just ten years, the once-glorious Immortal Dynasty was wiped out.

TheImmortal Kingsurvived—but his empire did not.

He no longer dared to call himselfImmortal, fearing heavenly punishment.

In the centuries that followed, his descendants founded theNightshade Sect.

One of its sect masters later created theTaicang Frightening God Sword, a technique so powerful that it disturbed the heavens, triggering divine tribulations.

Thus, it was namedFrightening God.

That sect master believed he had reached the level of his ancestor, theImmortal King.

But even then, he could not achieve eternal life.

As his end drew near, he forged theImmortal King’s Crownusing his own cultivation.

The crown contained the power of theImmortal King, yet no sect master had ever been able to subdue it.

Instead, all who attempted to control it were cursed with misfortune.

Gu An sent his divine sense into theImmortal King’s Crown—but even with hisNinth-Level Grand Ascension Stagecultivation, he was unable to penetrate its mysteries.

There was no way he would dare to use his sword intent to probe it.

Even if Li Shouyou had spoken the truth, the method he suggested might not even work.

After all, no one had ever succeeded.

After careful thought, Gu An concluded that this artifact was far too ominous to keep near him.

He stood up, activated theInfinite Free Step, and sped toward theNorthern Sea Mountain Range.

Diving to the seafloor, he buried theImmortal King’s Crownand theNine Nether Flutedeep in the mud—sealing them with powerful restrictions.

He would return to study them after advancing several more major realms.

For now, Gu An had no need for theImmortal King’s Crown’spower.

With that matter settled, he quickly returned to Xuan Valley—just in time to continue celebrating the festival with his disciples.

After theThirteen Fiendsleft, Gu An’s life returned to tranquility.

No one disturbed him.

Three years passed in the blink of an eye.

Gu An turned seventy.

That day, inHorizon Valley, Gu An had just finished harvesting herbs.

Feeling pleased, he personally delivered them to the storage building.

As he stepped out, he spotted Lü Xian approaching.

Lü Xian’s expression turned stiff upon seeing him.

Ever since Gu An had defeated him, Lü Xian had thrown himself into relentless training.

His cultivation skyrocketed.

Now, he was at theSixth Level of the Nascent Soul Stage.

A ninety-nine-year-old at the Sixth Level of Nascent Soul!

That was astonishing!

Yet Lü Xian still felt defeated.

Even after consuming countless pills, he had failed to reach theTransformation Stagebefore turning a hundred.

"Are you participating in theGolden Ranking Tournament?" Lü Xian asked as he walked up.

Gu An chuckled. "Why would I? My talent is too poor—it’d just be embarrassing."

Lü Xian’s mouth twitched.

Taking a deep breath, he said, "I’m planning to enter. Three years ago, in the middle of the night, I suddenly felt an immense pressure lift from me. Ever since, I’ve been free of heart demons and nightmares. So, I figured—why not go to theGolden Ranking Tournamentand relax a little?"

Relax?

He’s going to make everyone else suffer.

Gu An internally ridiculed him.

Then, he focused his senses on Lü Xian’ssoul remnants.

One of them was missing.

Previously, Lü Xian had seven souls—now, he had only six.

Three years ago…

Gu An suddenly made a connection.

Could it be that the Evil Emperor had left a remnant soul inside Lü Xian as well?

That didn’t make sense.

What connection could there possibly be between the Evil Emperor and Lü Xian?

The Evil Emperor was a long-deceasedsect master of the Nightshade Sect.

Lü Xian was the biological son of Lü Baitian.

…

Wait!

Could Lü Baitian be connected to the Nightshade Sect?!