Waves of heat rippled through the mountains surrounding the lava pool.
Presented under the night sky, it glows with a faint dark red light, appearing and disappearing in the morning mist and rippling in the wind, with sparkling beads, each one crystal clear, at first glance like the twinkling of stars in the starry sky.
Zheng Ya strolled among the trees, searching until he found a ravine. He spotted a small mine shaft, about three zhang in diameter, in the mountainside ahead, and stepped inside with a whoosh.
As Zheng Ya ventured deeper into the mine, he triggered a forbidden formation, and a layer of restrictive energy enveloped the entrance. Ignoring this, he continued into the mine to plunder mineral resources.
With a series of "whoosh" sounds, the Emperor Emeritus and Empress Yin led the Nascent Soul cultivators to the scene: "Hahaha, excellent! Zheng Ya, you have finally fallen into my clutches..."
"Hehehe, it seems Zheng Ya is nothing special after all."
"Even if we use open strategies to suppress conspiracies, it can't hide Zheng Ya's selfish desire for mineral resources. Won't he just turn into a bandit and fall into our net?" Empress Yin sneered in agreement, not wanting to miss out on making things worse.
The Nascent Soul Realm cultivators gathered together, watching them clown around without uttering a word.
The retired emperor noticed their different expressions and the loss of their usual flattery, even omitting verbal flattery. He said with annoyance, "Do you gentlemen still have some doubts?"
"Your Majesty, we just tried to destroy and erase the virtual screens that Zheng Ya created all over the world. After countless attempts and exhausting all means, we still couldn't get results. What is the reason?" someone in the group of worshippers asked, and all the worshippers waited expectantly.
An invisible coercion, its intimidating power reaching all around the mountains.
The atmosphere gradually became oppressive and captivating.
It goes without saying that the worshippers all wanted to know some inside information from the retired emperor and the empress dowager, so they used Zheng Ya's creation of a virtual screen to expose the unknown secrets of Hong Li on the mainland as an example.
The things Zheng Ya exposed could not be faked. Even the Nascent Soul Realm offering group could distinguish between truth and falsehood. In addition, the virtual screen created by Zheng Ya was difficult to destroy, which showed his unfathomable and profound background.
This implicitly suggests a conclusion: following Zheng Ya to save all living beings may offer hope for achieving immortality.
If it weren't for the fact that all cultivators in the world were jealous of the transmigrator's identity, they would probably all choose to follow Zheng Ya.
The revelation that it was the Zheng royal family that destroyed the Immortal Dynasty by the Transcendent Ones has led cultivators at the Nascent Soul stage to question the Zheng royal family and the Yin Empress's forces.
It's hard to tell who's right and who's wrong, or who's loyal and who's treacherous.
After all, cultivators at the Nascent Soul stage either choose to attach themselves to the Supreme Emperor's faction or to join the Yin Empress's forces. They have worked hard for many years, accumulating both merit and effort. Once they leave their forces, there is no turning back.
However, after what Zheng Ya exposed, people no longer believed in the retired emperor and the empress dowager, and urgently needed an explanation to soothe their hearts.
Seeing that the situation was not good, the Queen raised her hand and said: "You are all veterans, partners who know each other well. It can be said that we share the same fate, and we suffer together."
Although I cannot prevent you from being influenced by Zheng Ya's swaying words, I only want to state one fact.
I don't criticize anything Zheng Ya exposed because I'm worried you might misunderstand.
All you need to know is that the Dragon Palace secret realm stores the Immortal Dynasty's reserve resources, enough to support the Immortal Dynasty's revival and assist numerous Ascension Realm cultivators. The Emperor Emeritus can attest to this.
"Indeed, the Dragon Palace Secret Realm contains a vast amount of resources. The reason why we did not open the Dragon Palace Secret Realm to retrieve the resources and revive the foundation of the Immortal Dynasty, but instead released the treasure map to allow interdimensional beings to enter and ambush us, I think you can understand the reason, right?" The Emperor Emeritus affirmed.
This reassured the cultivators who were considering giving up.
Regardless of whether what the Emperor Emeritus and Empress Dowager said about the Dragon Palace's reserves is true or false, as long as one stays by their side, one can eventually verify the truth before making a decision.
Now it's a battle of wits between the retired emperor and Empress Yin and Zheng Ya, both playing open and overt schemes, and the outcome is unpredictable.
Moreover, Zheng Ya has already been caught in the law, which has implicitly forced the offering group to make a choice.
As the oppressive atmosphere gradually dissipated, the actress smiled knowingly and said, "I thank everyone for their support and trust!"
"I think the most urgent task is to capture Zheng Ya himself alive and find a way to destroy the virtual screens he created all over the world."
Otherwise, it will incite public condemnation, and the situation will worsen, hindering our success. Someone made this suggestion, and the worshippers readily agreed.
There is more or less a hint of sowing discord in it.
The retired emperor ignored them and laughed loudly: "Haha, well said! We've already captured Zheng Ya alive. Are you afraid we can't destroy the virtual screens he created to spread rumors and mislead the public?"
"The idea of all the retainers is to be on the safe side and capture Zheng Ya himself alive for interrogation so that everyone can feel at ease!" The Empress Dowager was trying to sow discord among the Emperor Emeritus, but she herself was still somewhat unsure whether the Zheng Ya trapped in the mine's forbidden formation was the real Zheng Ya.
Just now, in the sky above the battlefield, Zheng Ya created four substitute puppets, all of which were destroyed by the offering group, causing a bad influence.
Killing Zheng Ya is not the point; the point is to erase the virtual screen that Zheng Ya created.
The virtual screens are ubiquitous throughout the world. As long as they exist, they are as if Zheng Ya is still alive, constantly transmitting Zheng Ya's thoughts, guiding people to save the world and its people, and slandering and attacking the Zheng imperial power and the Empress's forces' plot to seize the imperial seal.
The Empress Dowager and the Emperor Emeritus are most worried about this matter continuing to escalate.
The Emperor Emeritus nodded and said, "Very well, let a few of you attendants work together to bring Zheng Ya, who is trapped in the forbidden formation, up here to be tortured."
"Make your move!" The loyal retainers stepped forward to cast spells, and in no time they restrained Zheng Ya, who was trapped in the mine's forbidden formation.
Bound hand and foot and hung upside down on the protective array at the mine entrance, Zheng Ya struggled but couldn't break free. Instead, he laughed and said, "Are you giving me electrotherapy? Feels good, right?"
"Zheng Ya, you treacherous scoundrel, your reputation as a villain has been spread throughout the world via your virtual screen, proving your true nature as a villain. From now on, no one will be fooled or misled by you into despising the great cause of the Immortal Dynasty's revival."
"This is truly reaping what you sow, hahaha!" The retired emperor glanced at the scene on the virtual screen in the air and mocked excitedly.
Empress Yin did not miss this opportunity to suppress Zheng Ya and demonstrate her status: "Indeed, you despicable and shameless scoundrel have finally brought this upon yourself."
"That's right, those who travel between worlds are all villains who come to destroy the world, they deserve to die the most, should we kill him?"
"No, use every kind of cruel torture to make these transmigrated thieves suffer a terrible death!"
The worshippers jeered and cheered, while others remained silent, observing the situation.
After they had finished laughing, Zheng Ya couldn't help but burst out laughing: "Pfft, hahaha, don't you guys think you're being too presumptuous?"
Why don't you send a few people outside to check what's being broadcast on the other virtual screens before you come and worship my outstanding person...?
"Shut up! Someone, go check what's going on outside!" The Emperor Emeritus ordered in shock and anger. Someone instantly teleported to the battlefield to investigate, returning moments later: "No, this is terrible! Those virtual screens outside are showing footage of our scandalous actions..."
"Pfft, no, impossible! What kind of sorcery did you use? Why is the content displayed on the virtual screen different..." The Emperor Emeritus was furious and roared as he used magic to cut Zheng Ya's flesh into pieces, ripping it into a thousand pieces.
Zheng Ya scoffed with a death-defying air, "Haha, you're sensing the resources in the mine; you're sure to be pleasantly surprised..."
"No, ahh, pfft!" Upon hearing the sound, the Emperor Emeritus sensed the resources inside the mine, but they had already vanished. He was so angry that he vomited blood...
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