The scroll from the seal, which was the greatest secret of the royal family of Cloud Country, did not disappoint Wang Lu. It recorded the information about the stele and the builder of the monument, which was what Wang Lu was most concerned about.
The information there was very detailed. Not only it mentioned the identity of the builder, it even described the general process of the construction.
However, upon reading this information, there was only a series of 'what the hell' exclamation in Wang Lu's heart. His mood was even worse when compared to before he read it.
Because the one that constructed the stele was actually Yunkongjun himself!
How could there be such an absurd thing in this world? Truly outrageous! After all of the effort that he had done, from obtaining three days of breathing room by betting on his life to careful investigation in the royal palace secret chamber, in the end, he went back to his original position?
No, this was worse than returning to the original position. The information in the jade scroll was far from answering the doubts of Wang Lu, it produced even more doubts instead.
What was the purpose of Yunkongjun, at the expense of large amount of resources, for building a stele to suppress himself?
Could it be that before his death, he had a sudden inspiration and thus came up with a perverted play of self-repression, similar to erotic asphyxiation1?
Seeing the frequency of perverts that came out from his descendants, this might not be impossible...
Confused, King Yunyang said, "In addition to this scroll, the ancient kings of Cloud Country seemed to have said that the monument in front of the royal tomb must not be destroyed. Otherwise, disaster would happen, even so much that it could overturn the country. In fact, the so-called suppressing the fate of the country actually evolved from this legend."
Wang Lu inwardly sneered, the difference was really big! Suppressing the fate of the country? That was basically losing money for fortune to set off firecrackers, or wearing red underwear, which all belonged to superstitious belief. But if it was to say there was an old monster that was suppressed inside the stele, who viewed the entire country like dirt and has enough power to destroy it, then that was surely terrifying!
However, how could a great cultivator become an old monster that would put the entire country's survival in crisis?
Moreover, from the record, the highest cultivation base that Yunkongjun achieved was Peak Yuanying. And with a secret method, he could even barely manage to have ten to twenty percent of the power of Deity Stage, which meant that he could be considered as a pseudo Deity. And in general, a pseudo Deity could have a lifetime of a millennium. However, when he established the Cloud Country, he was already in old age, so his life should've been exhausted by now! At least, he shouldn't be alive and kicking in the royal tomb!
Wait a minute… inside the royal tomb...
Thinking to this, a flash of light finally went through his mind.
"So that's how it is. It's not that he has a special secret of longevity causing him to be suppressed under the stele, but he has already become a spirit of the dead who has lost his humanity."
When breaking through the Deity Stage from Yuanying, there were harsh tests for the cultivator's heart's dao and primordial spirit. If the cultivator could not overcome the test, then it was highly likely that, due to being haunted by the demon heart, their heart's dao would collapse, temperament would suffer a huge change, and feel indignant toward gods… After that, they will be attacked by their own qi and thus met a tragic end. Perhaps Yunkongjun suffered internal injury when trying to break through Deity Stage, which created a demon heart. Afterward, in old age, he was afraid that the demon heart would consume him and thus would commit heinous crimes, thus, he built the stele and suppressed himself in it.
Was it so easy suppress a near Deity Stage old demon? In particular, Cloud Country was just a mortal world kingdom, and the descendants of Yunkongjun were mostly ordinary mortals. Even if some have the qualification for cultivation, it was only mediocre, far from being able to reach Yuanying or Deity Stage. Thus, if Yunkongjun wanted to suppress himself, he needed to rely on outside forces.
Wang Lu continued to read the scroll and, by connecting with the previous knowledge, he finally found more clues in this clumsy text.
The stele made by Yunkongjun was indeed connected with the fate of the country. He used the most sophisticated method that he had mastered in his life to control the entire Cloud Country's people's hope and fortune and then used the Feng Shui line power to enter the stele and turn it into suppression force.
In simple terms, if the Cloud Country was in peace and prosperous, then the stele suppression was as steady as a mountain. But if the King of the Cloud Country did something wrong, which led the country to a decadent state, then the monster in the stele might break out.
Perhaps from Yunkongjun's perspective, a virtueless King and his country should not exist together… As a matter of fact, for many great cultivators, they often process the matter of ordinary mortals with cold eyes and heartlessness.
But in short, a puzzle in Wang Lu's heart has already been solved.
How could a stele that was used to suppress a near Deity Stage demon and has stood stall for thousands of years be corroded so much by a mere pool of pus?
Because previously, King Yunyang had ordered the slaughter of the villagers of Fog Root Mountain, he completely lost the virtue of a king, which immediately let the stele suffer a heavy blow.
That necromancer dwarf might not know about the matter regarding Yunkongjun, but he lured King Yunyang to do wrong. This was indeed success by a lucky stroke.
After thoroughly analyzing the current situation, Wang Lu suddenly felt that this was a f*cking hopeless situation.
All the secrets have been solved, but there was simply no clue on how to solve the problem. King Yunyang's misconduct was real, and the massacre on Fog Root Mountain had also gradually made its impact. In this context, the trauma on the stele was basically irreversible—although it would not become worse in a short time. There were still surviving parts of the binding power on Yunkongjun, which rendered him incapable to completely break away—but without the constraint of the stele, Wang Lu basically has no way to deal with this near Deity Stage monster.
After he pondered it over, Wang Lu felt that he was stuck. There was already a vague clue in his heart, but it was blurred.
However, it was normal to encounter difficulty in reasoning. Thus, Wang Lu wasn't anxious. After bidding his farewell to King Yunyang, Wang Lu simply strolled in the royal palace like it was his own courtyard.
He has two days more of buffer time, so he didn't need to be anxious. Not to mention that as the first person who entered this immortal dream land it didn't matter if he was defeated, Wang Lu was also not so arrogant to think himself capable to win in every endeavor—in any case, Aya was not around, so losing once or twice was not a big deal.
While pondering, Wang Lu had inadvertently run into the private boudoir of Princess Yunyue. Because of the previous exhortation of King Yunyang, the palace guards didn't dare to block him and just let Wang Lu, a man, enter a woman's boudoir.
When Wang Lu became aware, he was already by Princess Yunyue's bedside and once again saw the Princess. It was late at night, yet she was still awake. Her pair of unusually large eyes were quietly watching him.
"I am going to die, right?"
Under the ravage of violent poison, although the Princess has lost the ordinary person's figure, her voice was still brisk and sweet, but now it sounded very weak.
Wang Lu said with a smile, "Yes, you're going to die, but why does it sound like you're happy?"
Although Princess Yunyue was good at hiding her feelings, before a Peak Xudan Stage cultivator, it was difficult for her to hide her inner feelings. After waking up, aware that her vitality would soon be exhausted, Yunyue somewhat felt relieved.
"Because if I die, my father wouldn't do any wrong anymore." Yunyue softly smiled. "Father is actually a very kind and generous person. However, because of the matter regarding my mother and I, it is always easy for him to go to the extreme. I know that this is not his fault, but I don't want him to make this mistake again."
A bit surprised, Wang Lu asked, "You actually have such a high awareness? At a young age you're already indifferent to life and death, little girl, you're very promising."
Yunyue became somewhat gloomy. "How could I possibly be indifferent? I certainly hope that I can live a long life, always be healthy, and even be young and beautiful forever. But if I can't control my emotion at this time, what would my father do? He withstands more pressure than I am, and he shoulders a more arduous duty, I simply can't add more pressure on him."
The more he heard her, the more surprised he was. The eyes before him that were being eaten away by the poison unexpectedly seemed to emit rays of light.
"But things that I can do are too little. I have tried my best to oppose it, but father still went on with it. So I thought that maybe my death would truly free him."
Wang Lu said, "Do you think that after you died, he would just give you up like that? He has lost all of his loved ones, so it would be normal if he does something strange."
"Therefore, my immortal elder brother, may I ask you a favor?"
Wang Lu laughed in spite trying not to. "Immortal elder brother… very well, since you have called me your elder brother, I'll hear it first."
"After I die, please make my father forget about me. I heard that immortals have a spell that makes people forget their worries, can you… make him forget about me and my mother? Father is actually still very young. If he can marry again, he can definitely continue the royal bloodline. But he has always been clinging to the past and always refuses to accept a new woman."
Wang Lu sighed but couldn't help nodding. "You, this child, are really whimsical. But, from your point of view, this is indeed a brilliant and effective way. I do have a spell that let mortals forget their worries, but cultivators could not freely cast spells arbitrarily, just like the rule of a king is limited. But now, the main contradiction is not really about your father's personal life, instead…"
Before he could continue, a flash went through his brain. At this time, his gaze once again landed on Princess Yunyue. More and more he felt that although this girl looked exactly like an alien, her heart was actually more human than most people.
Perhaps because she grew up in the palace, she has never experienced the danger of humans. However, goodness out of naivety was not in any way cheap. Good is good, virtue is virtue, no one is justified to do evil after experiencing the vicissitudes of life. In the eyes of Wang Lu, this Princess Yunyue has become the key to reverse the situation.
"Mm, I think I now have the perfect solution to all the problems."
Princess Yunyue blinked her eyes curiously and wanted to open her mouth to speak. However, this time, she no longer has the strength to speak.
Wang Lu, of course, could see her doubts. But he did not immediately answer, and just patted her head. "You better rest first, tomorrow night, everything will be clear."
With that, Wang Lu left the princess' private chamber and once again woken up King Yunyang who has just fallen asleep.
"You don't need to sleep anymore this night. I want you to prepare a few things for me, and before noon, I want you to accompany me on a trip."
…Erotic asphyxiation or breath control play is the intentional restriction of oxygen to the brain for the purposes of sexual arousal