The night was deep.
The group split up.
Liu Juncheng and Jiang Yi followed Liu An, examining the various clues he had found.
Li Shuang and Luo Mingyue secretly investigated the imperial city.
Sui Jin proactively sought out Ye Zhaozhao to gauge her intentions.
The imperial city was silent in the dead of night, and a heavy rain began to fall, with dark, oppressive clouds overhead, as if threatening to descend at any moment.
For this exploration,
Luo Mingyue was responsible for investigating the current emperor of the Chenrong Kingdom: Emperor Chenlie.
Li Shuang was responsible for checking other areas.
If Emperor Chenlie had a problem, it would be easiest to discover it through those close to him.
Li Shuang's primary targets were the concubines in the imperial harem.
Emperor Chenlie did not enter the harem tonight, so most of the concubines had retired early. The few who were still awake became Li Shuang's key observation subjects.
Li Shuang's spiritual sense spread out, patiently listening.
From the concubines' conversations, it was clear that everything had been normal before Emperor Chenlie ascended the throne. After his ascension, he never entered the harem again. For mortals, offspring are extremely important, let alone for an emperor. Yet, Emperor Chenlie was now over thirty, with no heirs in the harem. Not only was he not anxious, but he also insisted on not entering the harem.
Even with the uproar in the imperial court, he remained unchanged, continuing to act as he pleased.
After complaining for a while, these few also gradually fell asleep.
Li Shuang's heart sank slightly.
It was almost certain that Emperor Chenlie had a problem. But whether he was the mastermind remained unknown.
Li Shuang left the concubines' quarters and quickly began to investigate other parts of the imperial palace.
In the imperial palace, besides the emperor's residence, there was another place with the strictest security.
This place...
It was the tomb of the former emperor.
Li Shuang was quite surprised when she discovered this.
She was not entirely ignorant of the mortal world. Generally, an emperor's tomb would be located in a scenic place with excellent feng shui, and it would never be placed directly within the palace.
But this former emperor had, against all odds, built a tomb within the imperial palace.
Moreover, this absurd decision had been carried out, and for so many years, no one had questioned it.
Li Shuang avoided the guards' eyes and ears and entered the tomb directly.
The tomb was bone-chillingly cold, and the coffin was made from a single block of cold ice stone.
If it were just cold ice stone, it would be nothing remarkable, but on the coffin, there was a bean-sized speck of light constantly flowing.
This was...
Ice marrow, only found in thousand-year-old cold ice stone!
Ice marrow is a rare treasure, highly valuable even for cultivators in the Soul Transformation stage.
And the one using this coffin was merely a mortal emperor?
Li Shuang had no covetous desires for the ice marrow, but she became increasingly curious about the deceased Emperor Chenyang.
It seemed both generations of emperors in the Chenrong Kingdom had some issues.
Li Shuang stepped forward. Through the transparent coffin lid, she could see a male corpse lying inside the coffin.
The man was wearing a dragon robe and a crown, undoubtedly Emperor Chenyang.
Li Shuang thought for a moment, then waved her hand to set up a barrier, isolating the movements here. Then, expressionlessly, she opened the coffin.
Li Shuang reached out to touch the corpse in the coffin.
However, something strange happened.
Her hand passed directly through Emperor Chenyang's body, touching the cold bottom of the coffin.
Li Shuang couldn't help but show a strange expression.
It was an illusion array.
An illusion array was clearly inscribed within this coffin.
Emperor Chenyang's body was not here at all.
No.
Perhaps it should be said.
Emperor Chenyang had not died at all.
Where was he now? What did he want to do? And where did he find such a treasure as ice marrow?
Li Shuang did not disturb the place. She restored everything, carefully cleaned up any traces of her presence, and quietly left.
In the dark night.
Li Shuang quickly investigated the entire imperial palace.
Other parts of the imperial palace seemed to be fine; everything appeared calm.
It seemed the problem lay with these two emperors.
Li Shuang was about to turn back to share her findings with Luo Mingyue.
Suddenly.
She looked at the layout of the imperial palace, and her expression changed slightly.
No!
This wasn't right.
In the layout of the imperial city, some buildings looked newly constructed, standing out awkwardly among the older structures.
If these newly built structures were connected...
Li Shuang's pupils suddenly constricted.
She remembered that midnight, on Central Avenue, the Blood Fiend Body Refining Array carved by the Bronze Demon Guard.
At that time, the Heaven and Earth Furnace had said that it was a simplified version of the Blood Fiend Body Refining Array!
The simplified version could only refine the true blood of mortals.
Li Shuang had then assumed that the massive array in the underground kingdom, which could refine the true blood of cultivators, must be the complete version of the Blood Fiend Body Refining Array.
But now.
Looking at the imperial city in the dark night, her heart pounded wildly.
No.
It was more than that.
She disregarded everything else and immediately spent resources to get answers from the Heaven and Earth Furnace.
"Blood Fiend Body Refining Array (Complete Version): Can refine true blood, and also refine destiny. Within the array's range, whether it's an individual's destiny or a nation's destiny, it can be refined. If an individual's destiny is refined, that individual perishes. If a nation's destiny is refined, that nation perishes."
The Heaven and Earth Furnace's voice was devoid of emotion.
Li Shuang's heart trembled wildly.
She immediately raised the stakes and asked another question: "Has the array already formed? If so, how can it be destroyed?"
"The array has formed and needs to be activated with royal blood. The array is currently in a dormant state; it cannot be forcibly destroyed by anyone below the Spirit Refining stage. Others who wish to destroy the array must wait for it to manifest. Tomorrow at midnight, when the stars clash with blood and the Imperial Star appears, the array will automatically activate. The moment the array activates is also its weakest moment. Find and destroy the array's core, and the array can be broken."
The Heaven and Earth Furnace provided the answer.
But Li Shuang's heart sank, plummeting to rock bottom.
Tomorrow at midnight!
They always thought they had time.
Unexpectedly.
Tomorrow at midnight!
Tomorrow at midnight, this array covering the entire imperial palace would activate.
This array sought to seize the destiny of all living beings, the destiny of the entire nation.
To seize an individual's destiny meant to destroy that individual.
To seize a nation's destiny meant to destroy that nation.
If this array truly activated, the entire Chenrong Kingdom would plunge into immense disaster.
The number of mortals who would die for this would likely not be just one or two.
But hundreds of millions!
Li Shuang took a deep breath, and her figure instantly vanished into the rain.
"So, there really isn't any demonic aura in this imperial city?" Sui Jin asked.
Ye Zhaozhao shook her head: "The Demon-Attracting Bell hasn't reacted, so there shouldn't be. Fellow Daoist Sui, let me pour you another cup of wine."
Sui Jin was perfunctorily responding when suddenly, his gaze shifted slightly. He casually made an excuse and left first.
Ye Zhaozhao watched his retreating back, a somewhat puzzled expression on her face.
What was Sui Jin up to?
Hadn't they just been chatting quite well?
Perhaps he felt he needed to take it slow?
Ye Zhaozhao was not in a hurry either. In her opinion, Sui Jin proactively seeking her out meant he had developed a liking for her, and in that case, winning him over was only a matter of time.
"System, you seem unusually quiet today," Ye Zhaozhao sensed something and suddenly asked.