Chapter 52: Three Years of Wind and Snow

Chapter 51: Three Years of Wind and Snow

A major event echoed from the Imperial Palace.

Two years ago, the Great Zhou Butcher, who had been trapped in the Library, broke out of the Heavenly Prison. Before leaving, he proclaimed that the young Emperor was no longer human, causing a massive upheaval.

The young Emperor did not believe that this half-crippled First-Rank expert could kill so many demons, yet he still ordered the demons to restrain themselves.

However, none of this concerned Su Chen anymore.

The pharmacy had been tightly shut for three years.

Three years of wind and snow had drifted by.

Spring arrived with blooming flowers.

The ice and snow melted.

Yet, in the spring of the fifteenth year of Jianwu, too many withered bones had died during the three years of bitter winter, never living to see this spring.

Everything was officially beginning.

"Master Su."

"The Princess of Zhenbei has been found. She wishes to see you personally."

"She is thirty miles outside the Imperial City."

Xu Han did not come himself; instead, he sent a trusted confidant to deliver a secret letter, pinning it to the door of the pharmacy, startling Su Chen from his meditation as he tempered his sword.

The brocade box in his arms still could not be sent out.

But thirty miles was perhaps not too late.

"It likely won't be today."

"Perhaps it isn't too late."

With these thoughts, Su Chen left the Imperial Palace. He took a steed prepared by the West Depot at a certain inn and rode at full gallop toward the north.

At the gates of the Imperial City, clad in a bright red python robe, Xu Han watched Su Chen depart. He then reverted to his cold, murderous demeanor and spoke to the silver-armored giant beside him.

"Begin, Prince Tiance!"

Standing beside him was none other than the Protector God of Great Zhou, a fellow First-Rank Grandmaster and a peak First-Rank expert: Prince Tiance!

In the shadows, the most elite Black Dragon Heavy Armor of Great Zhou had already mobilized in full force. Three thousand soldiers surged forth, infiltrating the Imperial City and heading straight for the palace.

At the same time.

"Report!"

"The border armies of the three passes have declared independence!"

"Nanyang Prefecture, Subei Prefecture, and Tianhe Prefecture have rebelled! They have all rebelled!"

A rider on a fast horse rushed into the Imperial City.

The six prefectures of the realm, including the borderlands, had all revolted! The previously hesitant aristocratic clans had finally entered the fray, pushing the Great Liang toward destruction.

"What should we do?"

"Quick, go fetch His Majesty!"

The nobility and officials of the Imperial City were in a state of panic.

Inside the Tianwu Tower.

Feeling the tremors from below.

Unlike the panic of the civil and military officials, the young Emperor and his entourage were laughing loudly.

"We've finally waited for this day! Why did they wait so long to rebel!"

"The Immortal Treasure is about to surface."

In the Cold Palace.

Emperor Jianwu was reading a book, but as he felt the vibrations of the ground, he gripped the book tightly, his heart unable to find peace.

"My dear son has actually gone this far."

"How hateful."

"If there were just one more year—no, half a year—I could have reclaimed the full strength of a Grandmaster Demon..."

"Let us go."

"As the Immortal Treasure changes hands, not only will I vanish, but the Grandmaster opportunity promised to you will also cease to exist. I hope this time you do not make the same mistake as back then..."

Emperor Jianwu, leading a purple-robed youth with white hair and a shifting expression, also stepped out of the lonely Cold Palace.

Three factions had gathered at the Tianwu Tower, differing only by whether they were inside or outside.

"It seems."

"We have entered the fray first."

Prince Tiance wore a black iron mask and rode a giant horse of exotic blood.

The horse was as massive as a demon, standing three meters tall, with blood-colored mist exhaling from its nostrils; it was a terrifying beast comparable to a Second-Rank creature.

Behind him, the three thousand Black Dragon Heavy Armor fought with such ferocity that the secret guards, the Imperial Guards, and the Martial Guards were routed, losing their weapons and fleeing in disarray.

"Wait a little longer."

"That Liang Taizu won't lead the charge. Relying solely on human lives to wear down that thousand-year-old exotic beast is simply not worth it..."

"He is more anxious than we are. He relies on the Immortal Treasure to live for over three hundred years. Once the treasure changes hands, he will be the first to have his soul extinguished."

As Xu Han spoke, he, the high-ranking Director of the West Depot, led three hundred confidants beside Prince Tiance. With his hands behind his back and a cold gaze, he watched silently as the Imperial Palace turned into a purgatory under the trampling of the Great Zhou heavy armor.

This was his true self.

Indifferent! Ferocious! Cruel!

Like a tiger or a wolf!

Otherwise, he would not have been able to hold his position as Director.

"Where is Xuan'er?"

The Imperial Palace was in utter chaos.

Empress Dugu called out the young Emperor's name, clutching her fifteen-year-old legitimate daughter and pulling Princess Yunyang along. Behind them followed Empress Dowager Zhang, as they moved toward the outskirts of the city under the protection of the Imperial Guards.

The palace was currently a mess of Great Zhou cavalry, rogue cultivation eunuchs looting amidst the chaos, and demons.

At that moment.

Emperor Jianwu appeared.

The blood-soaked Imperial Guards looked at one another in disbelief; they naturally recognized Emperor Jianwu.

But hadn't the former Emperor passed away?

"Your Majesty, you are still alive?"

Holding her daughter, Dugu Yue ran toward her husband with a face full of joy and disbelief.

"Don't go!"

Empress Dowager Zhang showed terror, but it was too late to warn her.

"Of course I am still alive. Can you do me a favor?"

Emperor Jianwu walked over, looking exactly as he did when he was on the throne, gently stroking Dugu Yue's hair.

"Of course. It is so wonderful that you are alive."

Dugu Yue's eyes were filled with love, and tears of excitement welled up.

"Good."

"Then I shall not be polite."

In an instant.

Emperor Jianwu's entire body was instantly covered in pitch-black scales. He transformed from a handsome, vigorous emperor into a hideous, scaled monster. He opened a gaping maw of fangs and, under the terrified gaze of his wife and daughter, bit them alive and swallowed them whole.

"Wonderful."

"Fortunately, I had the foresight. My daughter and wife carried Life-Sustaining Blood within them. Now, I have finally regained my Grandmaster status. I am qualified to enter the fray and reclaim everything."

After consuming his wife and daughter, Emperor Jianwu looked at the stunned Imperial Guards and the despairing, numb Empress Dowager Zhang, then smiled at the white-haired, purple-robed youth behind him.

"What are you standing there for?"

"Kill them all."

With that, he wiped the blood of his wife and daughter from the corner of his mouth and walked toward the Tianwu Tower.

Three forces had converged!

Everything had begun.

...

...

Meanwhile.

Thirty miles north of the Imperial City.

An abandoned courtyard.

Su Chen had returned to his original appearance. He met the Princess of Zhenbei, whom he had once encountered briefly in the Library—the daughter of the Seventh Prince and his Empress.

They had not met for eighteen years.

Her face was aged; she had become a woman, terminally ill, with a withered aura and little life remaining.

"The orphan of Zhenbei, Chu Feng, has waited here for three days at the request of Master Su, to specially present the Zhenbei Jade Token that Master Su desires..."

Chu Feng knelt on the ground, coughing violently as she offered the jade token. The token was crystal clear, with a red and a blue seed carved inside like the sun and moon within the jade—exactly the exotic organ medicines Su Chen had been searching for: the Five Viscera Grass and the Six Fu Flowers.

"It wasn't you who requested I come here..."

Su Chen realized that Xu Han was playing tricks. He looked toward the Imperial City, understanding in his heart that Xu Han had deliberately led him away to prevent him from participating in the event.

In the Imperial City, the Great Liang had likely fallen; whether the nation would perish depended on who emerged as the winner today.

As Su Chen took the token to leave, Chu Feng pulled the jade back.

"What do you mean?"

"The orphan of Zhenbei, Chu Feng, begs the Wind and Snow Little Grandmaster, Master Su, to take my son as a disciple. Chu Feng is willing to offer the jade token with both hands..."

"I can just take it by force!"

Su Chen's expression turned cold.

"Master Su likely does not know the cultivation methods for the Five Viscera Grass and the Six Fu Flowers, does he? This lowly woman knows them. Not only that, but I can also inform Master Su of the secrets regarding the Immortal Treasure, the Year of Heavenly Chaos, the three princes who attempted to assassinate the Emperor at Tianwu, and the true cause of everything currently happening in the Imperial City. I implore Master Su to give his word to take the Seventh Prince—the sole remaining bloodline of the deposed Emperor—as a disciple..."

"Otherwise, Chu Feng will defile these last remaining exotic organ medicines..."

Blood leaked from Chu Feng's nose and mouth as she knelt on the ground, holding a bottle of demon filth. Using the most cowardly tone, she was uttering the most forceful words, threatening Su Chen, the Wind and Snow Little Grandmaster and the number one on the Martial Rankings.