The Path of the Martial Arts BOSS

Within the dark imperial mausoleum, dotted lights flicker, those are the lights of the Long Burning Lamp fueled by overseas whale fat.

Prince Shunping ascended the steps slowly, passing by corpses lying on the ground and people kneeling.

He had been preparing for this day for fifteen years.

Fifteen years ago, he started mixing sand into the imperial mausoleum. At first, progress was slow, almost leading to his exposure. However, as his influence and strength grew, more sand was mixed in.

After the late Emperor's death, Prince Shunping had one less concern but acted with increasing caution. Eventually, leading to the current situation.

In this mausoleum, at least one-third of the tomb guards had other loyalties.

Yet, this day wasn't supposed to come today. Initially, Prince Shunping planned to come when he had absolute confidence, but due to a piece of news, he came ahead of time.

"Imperial Ancestor, let me see whether you are alive or dead." Prince Shunping stood at the top of the steps, gazing at the black iron wall before him, muttering to himself.

On the iron wall, a Divine Dragon was etched, along with a figure like a Divine Demon standing atop it, stroking the dragon, its gaze piercingly alive, looking straight at Prince Shunping before the wall.

Prince Shunping knew inside was that elderly member of the royal family, a supreme being who due to injuries failed to make it onto the Heavenly List, had been secluded in the mausoleum for years, using the Dragon Vein to heal.

He was the son of Emperor Daqian, having received the power transmission from Ji Muqing before his death. In terms of strength, he shouldn't be inferior to those on the Heavenly List, but due to old injuries, he went into hiding, gradually forgotten by the world.

"Hoo—"

Prince Shunping took a deep breath, looking at the iron wall in front, slowly calming his mind, his face expressionless.

In the dark tomb, everything fell silent. The unmoving Prince Shunping and those kneeling tomb guards, like statues, added to the eerie atmosphere of the dim setting.

Suddenly, Prince Shunping opened his eyes, a sharp gaze piercing the air with a sound, "Open!"

He threw a punch; it was simple, lacking domineering aura or reckless aggression, yet this punch was more dominating and explosive than any other.

For this punch carried the simplest yet strongest power.

Power, a simple word, but when accumulated to a certain degree, it can lead to earth-shattering changes.

The punch struck, space cracked, revealing web-like fissures. The punch finally hit the iron wall, directly penetrating it, the force tearing the dark wall, areas close to the fist turned to powder.

"Kara—"

A sound of breaking followed by a violent collapse. Prince Shunping stepped forward, ignoring the falling iron wall fragments, entering the now-accessible opening.

Beyond the iron wall, the first sight was a pair of golden light balls. Then, illuminated by countless night pearls, the light balls revealed their form, it was a pair of golden eyes.

The owner of these eyes was a middle-aged man with a pale complexion, looking about forty years old.

This middle-aged man was draped in the Nine Dragon Imperial Robe, wore the Pingtian Crown, exuded authority without anger, glaring intensely at Prince Shunping.

Prince Shunping too fixed his gaze upon him.

After a long stare, Prince Shunping burst into laughter: "Haha...hahaha..."

He laughed heartily, even bending over to slap his thigh, "Imperial Ancestor, Imperial Ancestor, you're dead, you're finally dead..."

Indeed, this son of the Grand Ancestor, the Imperial Ancestor to Prince Shunping, was dead, thoroughly dead, with only a trace of Qi Mechanism remaining.

"Hm? Qi Mechanism..."

Prince Shunping suddenly felt something amiss, hastening a few steps forward, reaching to examine any abnormality within the Imperial Ancestor's body.

Unexpectedly, as soon as his fingers touched the Imperial Ancestor's clothing, he shattered like a fragile ceramic statue into countless fragments.

Within this broken shell was an emptiness.

"Empty, shell..." Prince Shunping's face was unprecedentedly grim.

..............

In the dim secret chamber, the Array Plate slowly rotated, revealing the half-body image of a figure dressed in magnificent black attire.

A familiar scene, but the person familiar with this end was no longer present.

"Shadow King."

The white-haired Daoist stepped out from the shadows of the chamber, looking at the half-body image.

"Qing Yu, chaos in the Western Regions, invasion from Japan in the East Sea, I plan to take this chance to split Daqian, seize half of the territory." The image of the Shadow King said.

"Oh?" Qing Yu chuckled with interest, "Weren't you planning to inherit the entire Daqian Country, becoming its new ruler? Why the change of heart?"

"Because unexpected factors occurred."

The calm tone couldn't hide the urgency, Qing Yu could see the Shadow King urgent; his agitation could even be seen reflected in the Thousand-mile Mirror Light Array, showing how palpable it was.

For someone like the Shadow King, the old fox, it should have been impossible.

"You want me to help you?"

Qing Yu's face suddenly turned calm, speaking flatly: "Why should I help you?"

"No, I do not insist you help me." Unexpectedly, the Shadow King showed no inclination to request Qing Yu's help, or was he certain Qing Yu would help?

"I wish to inform you, my enemy is also your enemy. That person is my Imperial Ancestor, the son of the Grand Ancestor, was once a student at the Mountain River Academy under Meng Shanhe.

Long before the Grand Ancestor was the Grandmaster of Great Zhou, the Imperial Ancestor's power was already at the True Pill Realm. Before the Grand Ancestor's death, he transmitted his power to the Imperial Ancestor. Tell me, if he's still alive, where would he rank on the Heavenly List?"

"I have heard of the elderly member of the Daqian Royal Family, isn't he severely wounded, continuously secluded? Has he healed?" Qing Yu asked.

"More than healed perhaps, maybe he's stronger..."

The Shadow King said deeply: "No matter what plans the Imperial Ancestor has, I intend to act first, seize half of Daqian's territory first. He's oppressed me for half a lifetime; I don't want to be oppressed in the latter half too.

Qing Yu, our cooperation has had its twists, but it's been pleasant. Next, just act according to your own intentions, which would be the greatest help to me.

My Imperial Ancestor cannot tolerate the constant presence of Northern Zhou, a remnant of the former dynasty..."

Just as he finished speaking, the Array Plate dimmed, the Shadow King's image vanished, the secret chamber returned to darkness.

'The Shadow King's Imperial Ancestor...'

In the darkness, the white-haired Daoist silently pondered, a cross-shaped Divine Weapon rose before him, slowly spinning, "In fact, I have some guesses regarding the Ji Family, let me delve further into where the next clue might be..."