Inside the room.
The young man in black stared grimly at the scene before him.
Anger, surprise, sudden realization.
"So you've taken the Grand General hostage!" Shui Qianchou said coldly.
A small flood dragon, only three feet long, chuckled. "This dragon has known of your existence for a long time. According to the plan, this dragon was supposed to be the mantis stalking the cicada, with the oriole behind. Alas, it seems this Prime Minister has other ideas."
It glanced at the Prime Minister slumped on the table and then at the Grand General, whose face was flushed red. The little flood dragon laughed wildly.
Shui Qianchou looked at the Prime Minister and questioned, "Prime Minister, it seems you did not uphold our agreement."
According to their initial agreement, the Prime Minister only needed to signal by dropping his cup, and they would immediately enter, eliminate the Grand General, and then eliminate the Empress, placing the Prime Minister on the throne.
This way, they could go in search of the divine artifact.
In their eyes, it was a win-win plan.
Unfortunately, the Prime Minister had not kept his word.
The Prime Minister, already severely injured, lay on the table, his chest heaving violently.
"So you really poisoned me!" the Prime Minister struggled to turn over, chuckling mournfully.
Shui Qianchou cast him a cold glance and snorted.
"If you had done as we said, you would not have suffered from the poison. Once we left the secret realm, we would have naturally given you the antidote. But you were too clever for your own good. This is the consequence of your own actions, blame no one else."
He was not skilled in poisoning, but Ye Ling'er, the only woman in their team, was very adept at it.
This poison came from a mysterious world that had not invaded Blue Star, but maintained trade relations with various realms, and the goods from that world were very popular.
The poison they used was from this world. It was a toxin that could form a verbal contract without anyone noticing.
This contractual poison only lasted for a few days, and its constraints were not strong; violating it would only result in injury, not death.
However, it was silent and insidious, making it impossible to defend against.
Shui Qianchou's plan, which he thought was foolproof, was disrupted when the Grand General was also taken hostage by a beast, and the Prime Minister suddenly turned against them.
"Heh heh, Prime Minister, you are indeed a scholar. Your every move earlier had deceived us all. You were not cooperating with us; you were trying to pass a message to the Grand General. You don't want to overthrow the Empress either. Your loyalty is truly commendable."
At this moment, he had figured out the whole story.
The Prime Minister's previous actions were all a pretense, meant to mislead them.
However, the Prime Minister's plan had also failed because he had not anticipated that the Grand General would be controlled by another force.
Therefore, his plan had also failed.
The little flood dragon laughed, "Heh heh, I didn't expect you humans to be so full of schemes. He tricked you, and he tricked me. Unfortunately, without sufficient strength, any plot or trick is useless."
With a slight flick of its dragon tail, a streak of cyan light swept out.
The next moment, a hole the size of a grain of rice appeared on the Prime Minister's forehead.
"Your Majesty... this minister... departs first..."
With a thud, his head lolled to the side, and he breathed his last.
Shui Qianchou snorted coldly, his brow furrowed.
The Grand General, filled with righteous indignation, had just gathered his anger when his expression changed drastically.
He looked down at his chest, where a giant worm had emerged. Not only that, but the worm was tearing out his heart.
He spat out a mouthful of blood with a "wah" sound and pointed at the little flood dragon, roaring, "You... you broke your promise!"
The little flood dragon chuckled coldly. "Mere humans are not qualified to negotiate with us beasts. You are just our food."
As the words fell, the giant worm began to gnaw at the Grand General's corpse.
However, in the next instant, a water-blue energy instantly sliced through the void, piercing the giant worm's head.
Shui Qianchou said coldly, "Beasts deserve to die. Today, I will show you the might of us divine descendants."
"Take this!"
"Insignificant human, this dragon will let you die knowing why."
The man and the dragon instantly engaged in a fierce battle.
A circular, grayish-blue shield formed around Shui Qianchou, deflecting the flood dragon's attacks without breaking.
The little flood dragon was incredibly fast and surprisingly durable, taking blows without a scratch.
Streaks of water-blue rays shot out like a machine gun, striking the little flood dragon and making crackling sounds.
"Water God's Blade!"
A phantom image appeared behind Shui Qianchou. With a thought, the phantom raised its hand and swung a blade.
RUMBLE!!!
Suddenly, it was as if the sea had arrived, waves crashing, and a sense of darkness descending upon the world.
The little flood dragon was greatly alarmed.
Abruptly, its body grew to several meters in length.
Its mouth bulged, and streams of green light shot out.
"Azure Dragon's Breath!"
The blade energy and the breath collided, creating a massive explosion.
The house instantly collapsed, and the ground caved in by several meters.
This scene immediately attracted the attention of others.
Behind the house, six other people heard the commotion and shouted, "Not good, hurry and support them!"
They rushed over at their fastest speed.
The beast also heard the commotion. Instead of appearing from other directions, it burst from the ground.
Both sides raced towards the battlefield at their quickest pace.
Midway, they collided. Without further ado, a fierce battle ensued.
Xiao Qianyuan, clad in red, had been in deep self-reflection since his defeat by Lin Yu, and his strength had advanced by leaps and bounds.
"Blade God's Embodiment!"
He unleashed this technique again, and the phantom of the Blade God shone even brighter.
"Go, kill!"
Instantly, the battlefield erupted into chaos, everyone using their unique skills, with colorful lights illuminating the sky.
The battlefield became a scene of utter disarray.
At this time.
At the city gate.
A group of people in full armor arrived at the city gate.
Lin Yu looked at the tall city gate and was contemplating how to get in.
Suddenly, the guards at the city gate were summoned away. Lin Yu thought it was an excellent opportunity and quickly followed them.
"Prime Minister's Manor? What's going on here?" Lin Yu stood before the Prime Minister's Manor, listening to the sounds of battle from within, his brow furrowed in confusion.
"I'd better not get involved here. I'll head to the Imperial Palace!" Lin Yu muttered.
Thus, multiple clones dispersed in all directions, but their destination was the Imperial Palace.
The Imperial Palace was situated on the peak, the highest point in the entire city.
While not ostentatious, it was quite magnificent.
Lin Yu's clones were not weak; they moved with incredible speed. Before the Imperial Palace guards could even comprehend what was happening, they were knocked unconscious.
Lin Yu was quite merciful towards humans, and along the way, he did not kill a single person.
Finally, a grand gate blocked his path. He looked up.
The Imperial Palace!
"This place is most likely the emperor's residence."
Lin Yu chuckled and commanded his clones to push open the gate.
Creak~
Creak~
The gate was not heavy, just large. It didn't take much effort to push it open.
Upon entering, Lin Yu found the interior to be extremely spacious with very simple decorations. In the center of the room stood something akin to a statue in a temple.
Lin Yu walked forward, his heart filled with curiosity.
After a few steps, he stopped, allowing his other clones to investigate.
Only after finding no issues did Lin Yu direct his clones to examine it more closely.
Soon, Lin Yu discovered that it was a memorial tablet.
In the center was the largest tablet.
Founding Emperor: Shi Qianling.
To the left were two tablets. Second Generation Emperor: Shi Meiniang.
The second tablet to the right, Third Generation Emperor...
Then came the Fourth Generation Emperor... a total of nine generations of emperors.
"What the hell? Why would the emperor place his ancestors' memorial tablets in the Imperial Palace? What was he thinking?"
"Never mind, I won't think about it. I should hurry and find the divine artifact?"
Lin Yu ordered his clones to search when a sharp shout came from behind him.
"Who are you?"