“What is he saying?” Xiao Lingshu was bewildered.
“Has this Mad Lord realized he’s doomed? Has he completely lost his mind?”
Ouyang Jue sneered coldly, unfazed by the comment, and simply pointed at Xu Qin beside him.
“Do you know what the Imperial Preceptor’s true identity is?”
“I know!” Xiao Lingshu shot his hand up to answer first.
“A wanted criminal! A fraudster! A borderline creep! A welfare king! A male Bodhisattva!”
Ouyang Jue: “….”
Xu Qin’s forehead veins bulged.
“Shut up!”
“Tch, can’t take a joke.” Xiao Lingshu curled his lip.
“Why ask if you don’t want to hear the answer?”
Xu Qin took a deep breath, reminding himself that now was not the time for verbal sparring.
Shi Pengpeng looked at the Jade Seal in Ouyang Jue’s hand, pondered his words, then thought of Xu Qin’s name, and an even more absurd idea popped into her mind.
She said, “Don’t tell me you’re going to say he’s a descendant of Xu Fu?”
“You really are the clever one.” Ouyang Jue gave her a satisfied smile again.
“That’s right.”
Shi Pengpeng: “….”
The others: “….”
“Awesome, Senior Sister!” Xiao Lingshu was stunned.
“You even guessed that?!”
Shi Pengpeng: “…..”
‘To be honest, even though I guessed it, I don’t feel awesome at all. Instead, I feel an overwhelming sense of stupidity washing over me.’
But at this moment, everything finally made sense to her.
Longevity Island, Xu Qin, Benan Ling Palace, Corpse-Clay Figurines…
All the clues from before converged, finally painting the picture Ouyang Jue had been weaving for years.
Back then, the First Emperor who unified Tianxia was obsessed with passing the throne down through the ages.
The Qi Ren Xu Fu reported that there were three immortal mountains in the sea—Penglai, Fangzhang, and Yingzhou—where immortals resided and where one could obtain the elixir of immortality.
The First Emperor then sent thousands of boys and girls into the sea to seek the way of immortality.’
Xu Fu sailed east three times.
The first two times, he returned empty-handed.
Once he claimed but the Sea God refused to grant the medicine because the offerings were too meager.
Another time he said a Giant Shark blocked the way, so the quest for immortality failed.
On the third voyage, Xu Fu not only took thousands of boys and girls but also demanded grains and artisans.
By then, the First Emperor was already in his twilight years, and his desire for longevity was at its peak.
Xu Fu got everything he wanted and vanished without a trace.
The First Emperor died at Shachiu.
The outcome of Xu Fu’s eastern voyage has always been debated in history.
Some believe Xu Fu was a swindler; others think he did obtain the elixir but took it for himself.
But the mainstream view is that after Xu Fu sailed east, he found vast plains and fertile lands and never returned to the King. They believe he succeeded in his journey, settled in a lush land, and became its ruler.
Later generations saw many people pretending to be Xu Fu’s descendants to deceive others, and many rulers tried to imitate the Emperor of Qin in their search for the immortal elixir, but naturally, all ended in vain.
By modern times, as people’s education levels improved, the number of Xu Fu’s so-called descendants gradually dwindled.
Who would have thought, in the twenty-first century, we’d still see this classic old plot?
For a moment, everyone felt their eyes were opened.
“Could this be the path to immortality Ouyang Jue has been seeking all along?” Zhong Ziqing suddenly realized.
The Ouyang Family’s crimes were heinous, casting a shadow over three generations.
By the time it came to Ouyang Jue, he knew full well he bore his family’s curse, yet he didn’t think to renounce evil and seek a sliver of hope.
Instead, he tried to escape Heaven’s retribution with even greater wickedness.
“Heh, so you finally figured it out.” Ouyang Jue’s tone was contemptuous.
“Too bad you realized it too late.”
Xu Qin also smiled, his expression inscrutable.
“After Zhulong destroyed the other lords, Xu Fu still managed to win by a margin.”
Ouyang Jue saw the retribution that befell his ancestors and forebears, and glimpsed his own future fate. So he began his search for the art of immortality early on.
Only by not dying could he escape the terrifying descent into the Phantom Realm.
That was when Xu Qin approached him, claiming to be a descendant of the Qi Ren Xu Fu.
When Xu Fu succeeded in his eastern voyage, he learned the art of immortality from the immortals.
But he returned too late—the Emperor of Qin was already dead.
Xu Fu was filled with remorse and ended his own life to repay the Emperor of Qin.
Before his death, he recorded the method of immortality onto a Jade Slip, which he distributed among the boys and girls who had voyaged with him.
The clues to the Jade Slip were held by the Xishi descendants.
For two thousand years, Xu’s descendants searched tirelessly for the Jade Slip.
Only in Xu Qin’s generation did they finally gather it all.
But times had changed, and the feudal dynasties were long gone.
In the age of science, no one believed in the so-called art of immortality.
Xu Qin felt unappreciated and spent years searching, finally finding his way to Ouyang Jue.
Ouyang Jue was naturally suspicious, but Xu Qin soon demonstrated extraordinary abilities and solved a problem for him.
The Ouyang Family had few heirs.
By Ouyang Jue’s generation, extinction was inevitable.
He also inherited the family’s leukemia gene—a life destined to be short.
Xu Qin taught him a spell, allowing him to find a woman fated to bear many children, borrow her destiny to have a daughter, then use that daughter for a blood transfusion, thus prolonging his life.
Blood relatives killing each other—a crime against humanity—was just standard practice in the Ouyang Family.
Ouyang Jue knew his own father had him just as a backup blood bank.
It was only because his father was too stupid that he failed.
But such an evil act as stealing someone’s blood for yourself carried too much risk in the country.
So Ouyang Jue tricked the woman into going to Gaolu.
After she gave birth to a daughter, he didn’t bring the girl back to China, but took her directly to unregulated Mianguo.
Ouyang Jue succeeded in extending his life, and from then on had no reason to doubt Xu Qin.
The two hit it off: Ouyang Jue provided funds and protection, Xu Qin managed things, and together they invested in Longevity Island in Mianguo.
An overseas immortal island, seeking the Dao and immortality—that was the whole plan.
Xu Qin’s art of immortality, passed down from Xu Fu, was originally meant for the First Emperor, so everything used was fit for an emperor.
Xu Qin claimed the title of Imperial Preceptor because of this.
On the Imperial Preceptor’s suggestion, Ouyang Jue spent a fortune acquiring the land east of Xiluo, under the pretense of developing the Qin Han Jingqu, and built a large number of Bingma Yong modeled after the Qin Shihuang Mausoleum.
The Corpse-Clay Figurines in Benan Ling Palace were also originally prepared for this place.
According to the plan, once Ouyang Jue obtained immortality, he could transfer the souls trapped in the figurines and Jin Shui into these Bingma Yong, making them his puppets and army.
Who would have thought Shi Pengpeng would appear out of nowhere, drive the stones as a chariot, crush the palace, and deliver those imprisoned souls to rest.
Thinking of this, a trace of hatred flashed in Ouyang Jue’s eyes.
“Shi Pengpeng, do you know you almost ruined my grand plan?”
“Didn’t know before, but I do now.” Shi Pengpeng gave herself a thumbs-up.
“I’m amazing.”
She turned to Yin Xiang.
“Teacher, you heard that, right? When we get back, remember to report my achievements to Heaven again and ask for some more rewards for me!”
Yin Xiang: “……OK”
Ouyang Jue:”…..”
Ouyang Jue sneered.
“You think you can still go back?”
He raised the Jade Seal in his hand and pressed it into the void.
“Mandated by Heaven, may longevity and prosperity endure.”
In the nineteenth year of King Zheng of Qin, Qin conquered Zhao and obtained the He Shi Bi.
After unifying Tianxia, Ying Zheng became the First Emperor and ordered Li Si to carve the Imperial Seal of Transmission from the He Shi Bi.
On the face of the Jade Seal, there are eight ancient bird-and-worm seal characters: ‘Mandated by Heaven, may longevity and prosperity endure.’
Decree!
“How very… Tianxia culture…” Yan Jing sneered.
“So that’s what it means.”
“Damn, the last person this crazy was Murong Fu!” Xiao Lingshu’s mouth twitched wildly.
‘So this old geezer always fancied himself a king!’
The rest of them were also speechless, but there was no time to dwell on it.
As the Jade Seal fell, a terrifying surge of Yinsha Zhili shot into the sky.
From the depths of the naturally formed Renjian Dam, the sound of war drums echoed.
“BOOM BOOM—”
With the drumbeat, a massive army of thousands of clay-and-stone soldiers raised their weapons and charged forward: “Kill—”
Under the eerie moonlight, the expressionless clay-and-stone figurines were packed densely together, forming a chilling, ghostly torrent surging into the valley.
Everyone gasped in shock.
“Damn, damn, damn… How did Ouyang Jue do this!”
“So this is the power of the Imperial Seal of Transmission?”
Refining clay and stone, controlling puppets—those are common spells, nothing special.
But to command thousands of Bingma Yong at once is no easy feat.
At least, none of the Mystic Sect elites present could do it.
Such power—how could it not make their hearts tremble?
“Damn, who are you trying to scare!” Xiao Lingshu cursed, flicking out two copper coins.
“Dao Fa Ziran, Qiankun Wuji—”
The copper coins whistled through the air, wrapped in the power of the Breaking Evil Incantation, slicing through the chest of the leading clay figure like sharp blades.
“Ssshhh” went the dirt as it fell.
The clay soldier’s chest was gouged out, but it felt no pain and continued striding resolutely toward the Mystic Sect.
“How is that possible!” Xiao Lingshu was stunned.
‘Clay and stone are dead materials; puppets made from them usually have very little power and are easily destroyed.’
‘But this clay puppet, even after being pierced by the Breaking Evil Incantation, didn’t fall—not even slightly affected.’
The others noticed this too, and were secretly shocked.
They knew that back on Longevity Island in Benan Ling Palace, a batch of powerful clay figurines had been made, but those used the corpses of victims and trapped vengeful spirits within, thus gaining such abilities.
But this is inside the country—there couldn’t be that many living souls for Longevity Island to exploit…
“Vengeful Blood!” Shi Pengpeng said.
Back then, Woodie gained power only after a drop of Vengeful Blood seeped into its chest.
And now, they finally understood—that Vengeful Blood originally flowed from Ouyang Jue himself, taken by killing his own flesh and blood.
“No way,” Xiao Lingshu gasped.
“There are thousands of soldiers here—if each got a drop, wouldn’t Ouyang Jue be a dried corpse by now?”
“He’s already just a walking corpse.” Shi Pengpeng said coolly.
Even if he extended his life by blood replacement, it was nothing but a Heaven-defying evil art.
Now that Ouyang Jue’s spell had been broken, his true fate exposed, he no longer belonged in this world.
He might look alive, but he’s actually dead.
The one riding the Clay Horse now is just a ghost attached to a corpse.
Xiao Lingshu realized, turned his head, and under the dim moonlight, looked carefully again.
Sure enough, he saw that there was not a trace of blood on Ouyang Jue’s face, and the hand holding the Jade Seal was already shriveled like dry wood.
Just like that thousand-year Jiangshi from earlier.
Ouyang Jue was indeed already dead.
And he used every last bit, drawing out all his Vengeful Blood to refine this army of Bingma Yong.
“That’s a ruthless man.” Xiao Lingshu shivered.
“No, now he’s a ruthless corpse.”
“Shi Pengpeng, thanks to you, I’ve lost the elite troops I spent so long preparing.” Ouyang Jue’s gaze was as cold and sharp as a blade, stabbing at Shi Pengpeng.
“Fortunately, the Imperial Preceptor found the Imperial Seal of Transmission for me. Tonight, I’ll let you witness the power of an emperor.”
“Mad Lord,” Shi Pengpeng pinched a yellow talisman between her fingers, “There are no emperors in New China, you know.”