These two could be considered Golden Core stage combatants.
However.
Their foolishness would turn their combat power into a liability.
If she were to explain the Blood Fiend Body Tempering Array to them, they might not believe her, and it would only cause more complications.
Judging by their aggressive demeanor, they had clearly been provoked again.
Li Shuang didn't have time to play self-proving games with them now.
These two.
They could just sleep soundly for a while.
Inside the Imperial Advisor's Hall.
Ye Zhaozhao waited and waited, but Sheng Yuan and Shen Yue didn't return.
A hint of doubt flickered in her eyes, and she wanted to go look for them herself.
However.
As soon as she reached the door, she was stopped.
The guard was a mortal, and though she was afraid, she carefully said, "Immortal Fang, the Imperial Advisor said that among everyone here, only Immortal Fang is not allowed to leave freely."
With that, she lowered her head in fear.
Ye Zhaozhao raised an eyebrow.
Was she... under house arrest?
Although the person in front of her was just a mortal.
There was a spiritual imprint left by someone in this Imperial Advisor's Hall.
If she forced her way out, Li Shuang and the others would soon know.
"If I don't go out, I don't go out," the system said. "Even with my knowledge, I can't discern the core of the array. Those people probably don't stand a chance either. If you stay cooped up in the Imperial Advisor's Hall, when the Sword Sect investigates later, you'll be free of all suspicion. Now, just wait for them to court their own demise."
As the system spoke, Ye Zhaozhao's expression shifted slightly, and she indeed returned to her room.
She pushed open the window, looking outside with some anticipation.
Outside, a storm raged, and though it was daytime, it was dark and gloomy.
The entire imperial palace had a doomsday feeling, shaken by the wind and rain.
Hopefully... this was also Li Shuang's doomsday!
Time ticked by, minute by minute.
Based on the structure of the array, several locations were roughly guessed.
The Zhaoyang Palace, however, was a bit strange.
It was far from the center of the imperial palace, and it wasn't even one of the newly built structures from recent years. If "Emperor Chen Lie" hadn't suddenly mentioned it, the Zhaoyang Palace would never have entered their radar.
"Xiao Shuang, this Zhaoyang Palace... no matter how you look at it, it has nothing to do with the array," Liu Juncheng couldn't help but say. "Are you sure that person wasn't deceiving us?"
Li Shuang slowly said, "I'll go take a look. We'll know after midnight."
"Alright," Liu Juncheng took out the imperial palace map. "Based on our investigation, the central Lingyun Palace has the highest probability. Senior Sister, it's up to you."
Luo Mingyue readily agreed.
"I'm responsible for this Junhua Palace, Third Junior Brother for Mingguang Palace, and Fourth Junior Sister for the South Hall of Fengyi Palace. If we're right, as soon as the array core appears, send a signal immediately and destroy it at the first opportunity."
"If we've guessed wrong, there should be an anomaly when the array core appears, and everyone should rush there immediately."
Liu Juncheng said.
Given the unknown overall situation, this was already the best arrangement.
Everyone agreed.
While the heavy rain continued, several people concealed their tracks and ambushed themselves near their respective palaces in advance.
By evening, the seemingly endless rain abruptly stopped.
The previously gloomy sky instantly cleared up.
By nightfall, tiny stars even appeared in the sky, seemingly foretelling good weather for tomorrow.
Li Shuang quietly watched the starry sky, waiting for the Imperial Star, symbolizing disaster, to appear.
The Imperial Star was inherently an inauspicious star, signifying disaster and turmoil.
If only the Imperial Star appeared, the nation's destiny would be shaken, and mortal kingdoms might enter a new era. But this was a normal development for mortal kingdoms, and cultivators would not interfere.
However, if someone took advantage of this fluctuating destiny to usurp the nation's fortune for their own use, that would be a demonic method, and it must be nipped in the bud immediately.
Li Shuang held her breath, suppressing her aura to the extreme.
She hid behind a large rock, waiting for the opportune moment.
Time passed minute by minute. Midnight was drawing closer.
There was no movement in the imperial palace, as if the Blood Fiend Body Tempering Array was just a joke.
At this moment, Li Shuang was immensely grateful that she had knocked out those two idiots.
Otherwise. If those two couldn't hold their patience, their efforts might have been in vain.
As midnight approached.
Li Shuang felt something and suddenly looked up at the sky.
Behind the myriad stars, a huge yellowish-white star faintly revealed a corner.
The Imperial Star!
It was about to appear!
The moment the Imperial Star subtly revealed itself.
A strange change also occurred in the imperial palace.
Many beams of light shot up into the sky.
Looking only at these lights, one could not imagine that this was a demonic array. The aura of these lights was grand and righteous, without a trace of demonic energy.
In the imperial palace.
Many mortals also looked up at the sky curiously.
Tonight, Liu An had specifically ordered everyone to stay in their rooms and not go out.
They didn't find this celestial phenomenon frightening, only thinking that the Imperial Advisor was setting up some astonishing array.
Lights were appearing everywhere.
Only the Zhaoyang Palace remained completely dark, without a single movement.
Li Shuang, however, continued to wait calmly.
She chose Zhaoyang Palace.
Firstly, because of her vague intuition.
Secondly, her cultivation technique told her that the fake "Emperor Chen Lie" bore her no ill will.
Of course.
No ill will didn't mean he was telling the truth.
But she absolutely had to investigate this Zhaoyang Palace.
The Imperial Star slowly appeared.
Finally.
The last corner also emerged from the dark night.
The huge yellowish-white star, with sharp points, overlooked the world.
The moment the Imperial Star appeared, the entire destiny of the Chenrong Kingdom seemed to be shaken.
In the Chenrong Kingdom, disaster and war were about to erupt!
At the same time.
The previously dark Zhaoyang Palace indeed underwent a bizarre transformation.
The entire palace collapsed with a roar.
On the ruins, a huge altar appeared out of thin air.
On the altar.
A blood cauldron emerged, and countless red lines, with the blood cauldron as their center, instantly spread into the distance.
The moment the blood cauldron appeared, the originally grand and righteous light was suddenly stained with layers of blood red.
It had been golden light.
In an instant, it turned into towering blood light!
The Blood Fiend Body Tempering Array had been activated!
From within the blood cauldron, two figures crawled out.
One of them, Li Shuang had seen his portrait, was none other than the former Emperor Chenyang.
The other was the missing Emperor Chen Lie!
These two, father and son, indeed had problems.
And that blood cauldron...
Li Shuang's pupils constricted. She had a strong intuition that the core of the array was brewing within the cauldron.
The information given by the "Emperor Chen Lie" was actually true.
Li Shuang immediately sent a message, waiting for everyone to arrive.
She stared intently at the blood cauldron, waiting for the core to truly emerge.
"After years of secluded cultivation, you and I, father and son, are about to achieve the Great Dao!" Emperor Chenyang's face was full of vigor. "Once we seize the nation's fortune, our Great Dao, father and son, will be within reach! From then on, we will transcend mortal fate, just like those cultivators, free and unfettered between heaven and earth!"
Emperor Chen Lie softly responded, "Congratulations, Father, your great endeavor is about to succeed."
Emperor Chenyang looked at him with loving eyes. "Among all my children, I have favored you alone. This immense opportunity, I share only with you. In the future, with you and I, father and son, united, we will sooner or later trample all those cultivators underfoot."
Emperor Chen Lie also nodded with a joyful expression.
As the father and son reveled in their ambition, a pulsating heart slowly emerged from within the blood cauldron.
Li Shuang's heart tightened.
A heart.
Another heart.
This array core...
It was the heart itself!
Luo Mingyue and the others hadn't arrived yet, but she no longer had time to wait.
Li Shuang's figure instantly appeared in mid-air.
The Black Abyss Sword fiercely slashed down towards the heart.