Chapter 72

A thousand miles from the capital of the Greater Yan Dynasty.

In an inconspicuous valley.

A young man sat cross-legged.

In front of him, a large amount of Spiritual Medicine was laid out.

Each of these Spiritual Medicines was a rare treasure, any single one of which could make a Blood Refining Martial Saint envious.

But at this moment, they were piled up in front of him like common weeds.

If an official from the Greater Yan Dynasty were here, they would find.

Compared to the Spiritual Medicines, the young man sitting cross-legged in front of them.

Was even more unsettling.

Because this young man was the effective ruler of the present-day Greater Yan Dynasty.

Not the Emperor, but Crown Prince Liu Yuan, superior to the Emperor.

“I have reached Martial God Full Circle and can now break through to the next realm.”

In the valley, Lin Yuan’s eyes were calm as he gazed at the many Spiritual Medicines in front of him.

Over twenty years, Lin Yuan had completed the Martial God phase, and with his Against-Heaven’s Understanding, he had also deduced the specific path for the next stage.

However, in Lin Yuan’s predictions, breaking through the Martial God phase might cause his aura to leak, thereby alerting the Divine Weapons.

That was why he had come to this remote location before attempting the breakthrough.

This valley was a thousand miles away from the capital of the Greater Yan Kingdom, and more than twelve hundred miles away from the Divine Weapon Ancestral Grounds of the Greater Yan Dynasty.

Such a distant location was sufficient to conceal the disturbances caused by Lin Yuan’s breakthrough.

“Let’s begin.”

Lin Yuan exhaled slowly.

The many Spiritual Medicines in front of him turned to dust, their essence streaming into Lin Yuan’s mouth.

Exhale!

Inhale!

With each breath Lin Yuan took.

His body underwent earth-shaking changes, his vital energies transformed, reaching ultimate condensation and sublimation.

Buzz!

A terrifying aura uncontrollably spread in all directions.

For a moment, every small animal in the valley felt an overwhelming sense of suffocation.

As if the heavens were collapsing and an Ancient Godly Being was descending.

Fortunately, this suffocating feeling only lasted for a moment.

Half an hour later, all auras completely converged.

…

“Is this the Heaven-Man Realm?”

Inside the valley, Lin Yuan stood up, keenly feeling the substantial increase in strength throughout his body.

Above the Martial God is the Heaven-Man.

The ‘God’ in Martial God refers to the spirit,

an aspect of soul and spirit untouched by all cultivators in this world.

While the Heaven-Man is a realm beyond the Martial God.

“Taiji Field…”

Lin Yuan’s mind stirred.

An invisible ripple spread out.

Easily encompassing an area of more than ten miles around him.

Before his breakthrough, Lin Yuan’s Taiji Field could only cover a few miles.

Now, it had expanded several times, covering nearly twenty miles.

Moreover, the Taiji Field was not only larger in scope.

The suppressing and binding force had also increased several times.

Now, if Lin Yuan faced a Third Rank Evolver like Bingyan,

just by using the Taiji Field, he could suppress his opponent completely, leaving no chance for resistance or struggle.

Besides the Taiji Field, Lin Yuan’s physical soul and vital spirit had also undergone a transformation.

“This breakthrough has increased my strength…”

Lin Yuan sighed lightly, a look of satisfaction on his face.

“It’s getting late.”

“It’s about time I returned.”

Lin Yuan stepped out of the valley,

As he moved, the air subtly distorted,

Invisible to an ordinary person’s view.

With the power of the Taiji Field, a slight twist in the light rays could make Lin Yuan effectively ‘invisible’.

Of course, such ‘invisibility’ had little effect on true powerhouses.

Powerhouse perception does not rely solely on sight.

…

Eastern Palace.

Lin Yuan’s figure appeared silently.

Shortly after.

A eunuch walked in cautiously.

“Your Highness, here is what you requested…”

The eunuch held out a sealed letter respectfully.

Lin Yuan took the letter, glanced at it, and it turned to dust.

Over the past twenty years, besides further advancing his strength and entering the Heaven-Man Realm,

Lin Yuan leveraged his vision beyond the era to open up trade routes among the Central Plains Thirty-Six Kingdoms, and covertly established a massive intelligence network.

Even Emperor Liu Shi was unaware of this, and within the entire imperial palace, only the eunuch, whose life and death hung on Lin Yuan’s whims, knew something about it.

The purpose of establishing an intelligence network was naturally to investigate the Divine Weapons.

As the ‘spokespeople’ for the Nation-Protecting Divine Weapons, most descendants of the Greater Yan royal family were utterly loyal to the Divine Weapons, making it fruitless and burdensome to investigate Divine Weapons using the royal family’s power.

Only by establishing his own forces and nurturing his wings could he hope to learn more about the Divine Weapons.

Actually, Lin Yuan had no animosity towards the Divine Weapons since there was no grievance between them.

However, Divine Weapons constantly thought about devouring him.

In the eyes of the Divine Weapons, all people were food.

And Lin Yuan was considered a delicacy among meals, setting their positions irreconcilably against each other.

…

Over twenty years.

Lin Yuan’s understanding of Divine Weapons had far surpassed that of his first six years after his arrival.

The first point was the origin of the Divine Weapons.

Most of this was myth and legend, without solid evidence to prove it.

The specific rumors were.

Thousands of years ago, in The Ancient Times, there were godly beings who walked the earth and ultimately forged divine weapons.

Moreover, the divine weapons forged at that time were not limited to just thirty-six, but later some unknown calamity happened.

As a result, only thirty-six divine weapons remained, each safeguarding one of the Central Plains Thirty-Six Kingdoms, forming the current situation.

“Thousands of years ago?”

“Ancient Godly Being?”

Lin Yuan stroked his chin, deep in thought.

To Lin Yuan, these so-called Ancient Godly Beings were nothing more than powerful evolvers.

However, why this Ancient Godly Being would create these sentient divine weapons was beyond anyone’s understanding.

And since that time, the Ancient Godly Being who created the divine weapons disappeared without a trace, never to be seen again.

This was something that greatly puzzled Lin Yuan.

Such a powerful being, even if at the end of his lifespan, would at least leave behind some specific legends.

“If one could capture a divine weapon and perform a ‘Soul Search’….”

A thought struck Lin Yuan’s mind.

Since the divine weapons had developed spiritual wisdom, they possessed consciousness and a soul.

And ‘Soul Search’ was a technique that used one’s powerful mental force to forcibly scan the memories of another.

But this idea was quickly dismissed by Lin Yuan.

Based on his current understanding of the divine weapons combined with the historical instances when the divine weapons had revived,

Lin Yuan deduced that each of the divine weapons guarding the Central Plains Thirty-Six Kingdoms had nearly Fourth-Rank power.

Such strength was beyond Lin Yuan’s current capability to confront.

Perhaps at the Heaven-Man Realm stage, achieving Perfection, he might reach close to Fourth Rank.

Even so, he would be at the same level as the divine weapons.

To capture a divine weapon would certainly cause a massive upheaval and attract the attention of other divine weapons.

At that time, Lin Yuan could be facing a situation where thirty-six sword divine weapons were against him alone.

“How is the investigation into the Defying Divine Society going?”

Lin Yuan casually asked.

The Defying Divine Society was an extremely secretive underground organization.

It was active throughout the entire Central Plains Thirty-Six Kingdoms.

If it were not for the intelligence network established by Lin Yuan, which once caught traces of the Defying Divine Society,

it would have been difficult to uncover information about this organization.

The aim of the Defying Divine Society was to overthrow the rule of the divine weapons.

For thousands of years, the divine weapons had reigned supreme, using all living beings as their sustenance.

It was bound to provoke resistance from certain people.

However, the power of the divine weapons was unmatched.

These people could only hide in the shadows, establishing the Defying Divine Society and waiting for an opportunity.

And Lin Yuan intended to use the Defying Divine Society to gain specific information about the divine weapons.

As an organization that had opposed the divine weapons for thousands of years, it surely held many secrets about them.

And these were precisely what Lin Yuan needed.

To know both your enemies and yourself is the only way to win.

The more Lin Yuan understood about the divine weapons, the more confident he could be.

“Your Highness, we have pinpointed the general area of the Defying Divine Society’s main headquarters in the Greater Yan Dynasty… within half a month, we should be able to ascertain its exact location…”

The eunuch answered respectfully.

…

The following day.

Early in the morning, the Imperial Guard arrived outside the Eastern Palace.

“Your Highness, the Emperor has summoned you.”

The head of the Imperial Guard said respectfully.

“Father Emperor is okay, isn’t he?”

Lin Yuan immediately got up upon hearing this.

Emperor Liu Shi had his children late in life.

When Lin Yuan was born, Liu Shi was already almost fifty years old.

Twenty-six years had passed, and Liu Shi was now over seventy years old.

In his youth, Liu Shi had paid a heavy price in the struggle for the throne, acquiring many hidden injuries in the process.

Now that he was old, these injuries naturally began to manifest more severely.

This condition was something Lin Yuan had noticed over ten years ago.

He had even specifically studied medical texts and formulated several treatment plans for Liu Shi.

However, injuries to the body’s origin source required extensive time to heal, compounded by old age, and in recent years Liu Shi had increasingly withdrawn from handling state affairs.

“There shouldn’t be any issues,”

Lin Yuan thought to himself.

With the treatment plans he had devised for Liu Shi, while they might not extend his life indefinitely, they should at least slowly mitigate the internal injuries.

As long as no major complications arose, living to a hundred would not be a problem.

Of course, the symptoms common to the elderly, like lack of energy, were inevitable.

It’s not that Lin Yuan couldn’t solve these issues.

But because of the existence of the divine weapons, Lin Yuan couldn’t utilize his true power.

Inside Chengtian Hall.

Lin Yuan saw Emperor Liu Shi.

Liu Shi was in fairly good spirits, sipping on his medicinal broth.

“Yuan’er…”

Seeing Lin Yuan come in, Liu Shi quickly waved him over.

“Father Emperor.”

Lin Yuan walked over.

“My health and spirit are in decline, and I am no longer capable of handling the multitude of state affairs…”

Liu Shi’s gaze shifted to the ministers beside him.

These ministers were all high officials of the court, and they had arrived before Lin Yuan.

“Therefore, I wish to abdicate and become the Retired Emperor, and leave Greater Yan in Yuan’er’s hands. What do my loyal subjects think?”

Liu Shi looked at the ministers.

The ministers exchanged glances; they had anticipated this day for a while and weren’t surprised at all.

“Father Emperor…”

Lin Yuan looked at Emperor Liu Shi.

“My son should be the Sage Monarch.”

Emperor Liu Shi didn’t say much more but patted Lin Yuan’s shoulder, his expression showing a trace of relief.

…

In the year 3625 of the Greater Yan calendar, the new Emperor Liu Yuan ascended to the throne.