The new moon rises, casting a soft, pale glow.
The bloodshed of the war seeped into the Star-Picking Tower with the wind, casting a shadow over people. In the cold and gloomy atmosphere, one could appreciate the moonlight on the horizon and find solace in its warmth and coolness.
Emperor Chengping said with self-deprecation, "You shouldn't have come?"
“I came here to see what I have conquered, not to be delivered to someone’s doorstep. You can rest assured.” Zheng Ya knew what he was implying.
It was nothing more than a scheme. The retired emperor and the empress dowager withdrew to show the world, while Prince Rong set up the trap, luring those with ulterior motives into it, catching them like turtles in a jar.
After all, rumors were rampant that Prince Rong had conspired with Zheng Ya to seize the imperial seal, making it difficult to distinguish between truth and falsehood. By seizing the opportunity to capture Prince Rong, they could find out Zheng Ya's whereabouts.
Or perhaps they conspired with Emperor Chengping to exploit the emperor and plot to seize the imperial seal.
Ambitious individuals and those who cross boundaries will not let any opportunity slip by, thus missing out on the seal, losing precious treasures and resources, and being forever denied immortality.
Is this the most deadly hope?
Like the moonlight on the horizon, it gives people a faint light, visible but intangible, yet it guides the way to light.
Emperor Chengping also had this sense of quality: "If I am not mistaken, the Emperor Emeritus and Empress's retreat from the capital was merely a strategic retreat to maintain internal stability while keeping external tensions high."
Could they have already laid a trap outside the city?
"Haha, it seems you're not good enough as a tool!" Zheng Ya heard his sorrow and saw his unwillingness and probing.
Emperor Chengping suddenly turned around, stared at Zheng Ya's smiling eyes, and said, "Do you know Xie Ming's whereabouts? Can you reveal a little bit about it?"
"Is the emperor's suspicion really so true?" Zheng Ya was very unaccustomed to his repeated probing tone. Was it really that interesting?
Both the fabricated and the seemingly friendly statements were his uncertain probing.
Perhaps at this moment, Emperor Chengping's heart was already dead, with only a stubborn unwillingness to accept defeat remaining, influencing his thoughts and making him want to salvage the situation.
Xie Ming might be his lifeline at this moment?
Emperor Chengping, seeing that he remained completely silent, gave a bitter smile: "Are you here to laugh at me, or to challenge my bottom line?"
"No, you won't fight me to the death just so they can use you as a tool and let them get away with it," Zheng Ya said confidently, implying that he shouldn't do anything foolish, as it would be pointless.
Emperor Chengping knew he couldn't imprison Zheng Ya with the Five Elements and Eight Trigrams Demon-Suppressing Array, and besides, it was hard to say whether the Zheng Ya in front of him was the real person or a substitute puppet. He also didn't want to target anyone on behalf of the retired emperor and the Empress Dowager: "Where does your confidence come from?"
Or do you really think the great array beneath Kyoto only possesses the limited power it has shown?
No, you've misunderstood me again.
I know about the existence of the Five Elements and Eight Trigrams Demon-Suppressing Array underground, but the key is the components of the Heavenly Array.
Unfortunately, it has not been fully repaired and cannot unleash the full power of the formation.
Of course, if you detonate the great formation, its power is unpredictable, which is one of the reasons why the retired emperor and the empress chose to retreat.
"But are you sure that will deter me?" Zheng Ya directly exposed his reliance, suggesting a possible collaboration to slow down the progress of everyone in the world in planning the seal, while also intending to work hard to plunder resources.
Who caused cultivators across the land to be misled into hunting down financial groups all over the world, thus cutting off their source of income?
This poses a serious obstacle to the development of interplanetary navigation beacons.
However, the current situation is not conducive to the conglomerate's comeback.
With the retired emperor and the empress dowager's forces eyeing the area covetously, it was unrealistic for Zheng Ya to create a new organization to plunder resources.
Nowadays, it seems that no emerging organization or individual can escape the surveillance of the retired emperor and the empress dowager.
They were particularly determined to kill those who crossed realms.
Sheng Xiang's double was killed as soon as he appeared.
They didn't kill Wu Wei not because they didn't want to, but because they planned to use Wu Wei as bait to lure out Zheng Ya, and then capture them together.
Zheng Ya had previously collaborated with Wu Wei, and their relationship was ambiguous.
When Wu Wei was targeted and suppressed by the two, she was forced to search the world for Zheng Ya to cooperate with, which played right into their scheme of using one tiger to devour another.
As the saying goes, "If the water is too clear, there will be no fish."
The forces the two formed could not sweep across the world, nor could they keep up with the overall situation. Despite years of effort, they had not been able to find the whereabouts of the Five Elements Key. The only way to succeed was to push certain key figures to stir up trouble and fish in troubled waters.
Zheng Ya relied on the Sihelou Treasure System to analyze their schemes, and then sought cooperation with Emperor Chengping in return.
Emperor Chengping's heart sank as he listened, and he said defiantly, "You're just making things up. Do you think I'd believe you?"
“I understand that you’re easily frightened and don’t trust anyone right now.”
But I've been wandering through the void watching the show from beginning to end. Did you ever control the formation to sense my presence?
The important thing is that I recently found myself between the Emperor Emeritus and the Empress Dowager, and analyzed their lip-reading communication. What do you say to that? Since activating the Void Concealment Technique, Zheng Ya has been invincible in this world.
The key is the combination of the Void Concealment Technique and the Time Acceleration Ability, making it impossible for anyone to stop one from escaping.
The formation was sealed off, and before the grand formation could be activated, Zheng Ya had already used his time-accelerating ability to escape, arriving before Zheng Ya could.
Emperor Chengping said incredulously, "I don't believe it. Unless you provide facts to prove your point, you may leave."
"Don't worry, I'm not here to mess with Prince Rong, but to save you. Let's see if you have the guts to try." Zheng Ya saw through his distrust of everyone, perhaps heartbroken.
Abandoned by both heaven and man, is there any hope left?
Emperor Chengping found it hard to believe and said with a self-deprecating laugh, "No matter how eloquently you speak, I will not believe any of your nonsense. You may leave."
"Haha, I understand now. You plan to rely on the underground array to eventually activate the seal and connect with the rules of the Heavenly Dao, using it as your trump card to ultimately obtain the qualification for ascension. It's all or nothing, if you don't succeed, you die trying." Zheng Ya realized.
Emperor Chengping asked in surprise, "How did you figure that out?"
"That's not important. What's important is that you've distorted the facts." Zheng Ya shook his head, rejecting his reliance. Seeing the look of disbelief on his face, he smiled faintly and continued, "Judging from your expression, you still don't believe it?"
Do you think it would be difficult for them to gather the seven secret keys of Yin and Yang and the Five Elements, form an array to activate it and make it resonate with the seal, and then enter the seal's secret realm according to the seal's guidance to completely activate the seal and take away your authority over the underground array?
Don't forget, the seal is the key spiritual treasure that controls the grand formation..."
"No, no, it can't be like this..." Emperor Chengping jumped around in terror, clutching his head, completely panicked.
Zheng Ya said with a laugh, "That's the truth, so why are you deceiving yourself?"
Think it over carefully; we don't have much time to discuss cooperation.
Don't forget, if the Emperor Emeritus and Empress Dowager have laid a trap outside the city, they will definitely come back to scheme against you, their tool..."
"Stop talking. In the end, you all treat me like a tool. It's utterly ridiculous!" Emperor Chengping angrily turned to Zheng Ya and scolded him, feeling that he was ready to kill and destroy the formation, even if it meant mutual destruction.
Has this guy gone mad?
Zheng Ya was startled and rebuked, "I can make you stronger, but Xie Ming, whom you are hoping for, has already been extradited back to the Qian Yuan Continent by me. He can't help you at all."
"And your cooperation with me now is the only chance I'm giving you to save yourself..."
"Haha, they're all liars, plotting to use me as a tool. I'll destroy everything, they can all die..." Upon hearing that Xie Ming was gone, Emperor Chengping felt as if his entire world had collapsed, and he was filled with despair. He raised his hand and manipulated the Five Elements Eight Trigrams Demon-Suppressing Array to self-destruct...
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