Chapter 739: Plunging into the Abyss (Thanks to 'Shangxian Qitian' for the reward)
Chapter 739: Plunging into the Abyss (Thanks to 'Shangxian Qitian' for the reward)
Bang!
There was no surprise.
The Emperor in his dragon throne, his head exploded like a watermelon.
The Daoist Grandmaster, at the pinnacle of his power, was capable of Soul Materialization.
Even the most powerful Daoist Grandmaster born in the past could only materialize their soul into a substance limited to a few meters.
Psychic Power is inherently illusory, and it can only influence reality by borrowing the power of heaven and earth. The power itself cannot directly interfere with reality.
Soul Materialization is the process of solidifying the soul.
Only after materialization can Psychic Power directly affect real matter.
Lin Yuan, hundreds of meters away, used his Soul Materialization ability to observe the Emperor's head, surpassing all previous Daoist Grandmasters.
"His Majesty..."
"Is His Majesty dead?"
"Yes, His Majesty is dead."
The explosion of the Emperor's head was naturally the first thing witnessed by the surrounding palace maids and eunuchs.
They couldn't help but scream.
Soon, a large number of Imperial Guards entered the scene.
The Imperial Physician also rushed over.
All the physicians were anxious and prepared to do their best to save His Majesty.
But when they saw the headless emperor, they fell silent.
If he had just fainted, even without breathing or a pulse, there might still be a chance to save him with the skills of the Imperial Physician.
But now, without a head, how could they save him?
The nine highest-ranking commanders of the Imperial Guards looked at the Emperor's body in silence, an eerie calmness in their eyes.
With the rebel army about to attack the city and the Dafeng Dynasty on the verge of collapse, the Emperor's death at this moment was catastrophic.
Once this news spread, there would be no need to defend the city; they might as well open the gates of the capital and surrender.
If the soldiers defending the city learned of this, their morale would shatter; with the Emperor dead, who would they fight for?
In normal times, if the Emperor suddenly died, they could stabilize the situation by being cautious and quickly arranging for a prince to ascend the throne.
Most likely, they could maintain order.
But now?
Putting aside whether they could stabilize the situation,
Which prince would dare to ascend the throne? To do so now would likely make him the ruler of a doomed nation.
A ruler who did nothing to prevent the nation's fall.
And once the rebels break into the capital,
Other members of the royal family might survive.
But as the Emperor, he would surely perish.
In other words,
To ascend the throne at this moment
Would undoubtedly lead to death, and the ruler would also bear the blame for the nation's downfall.
The hall was under the control of the Imperial Guards.
But outside the hall, chaos reigned.
Even the Imperial Guards themselves were in disarray.
The sudden death of the Emperor was a blow to them as well.
With the massive rebel forces outside, their loyalty began to waver.
Unnoticed, a young man with a furrowed brow emerged from the hall.
"Why hasn't the time loop ended yet?"
Lin Yuan looked around at the chaos, deep in thought.
Only the Emperor of Dafeng would dare to wear the imperial robe within the palace.
And judging by the reactions of those inside, the robed man must have been the Emperor.
Apart from the Emperor's death, who else could have such a significant impact on the palace?
The more Lin Yuan thought about it, the more perplexing it became.
If that robed man was indeed the Emperor,
And now he was undeniably dead.
After piercing the Emperor's head with his Psychic Power,
Lin Yuan immediately confirmed his death.
Even without the head injury, the wound was fatal.
But Lin Yuan still carefully examined the body,
Confirming that he was dead, devoid of any signs of life.
The Emperor of Dafeng was truly deceased,
And it was Lin Yuan who had killed him.
But why hadn't the time loop world collapsed yet?
Why hadn't he broken through the time loop?
"The Emperor of Dafeng..."
Lin Yuan's mind flashed with the Emperor's intelligence.
Strictly speaking, the Emperor was two years younger than him.
He should be eighty-six years old.
He ascended the throne at sixteen,
Meaning he became Emperor two years before Lin Yuan arrived in this time loop world.
For seventy years, the Emperor had sat on the throne.
There was no mistake in killing the right Emperor.
Fifty years ago, Lin Yuan had obtained a portrait of the Emperor.
Every six months since then, he updated the portrait, keeping track of the Emperor's changing appearance.
One could say Lin Yuan had watched the Emperor age over time.
The appearance of the robed man matched the portrait Lin Yuan had seen two months ago.
"Indeed, this test is not as simple as it seems."
Lin Yuan's thoughts subsided, and his mind quickly calmed.
From the moment he arrived in this time loop world, Lin Yuan had felt that the test was too easy.
Killing an emperor of a dynasty? In a world with such strict rules,
Not only Lin Yuan, but any Chaos Realm Master could, with seventy or eighty years of cultivation, reach the level of a Daoist Grandmaster.
Given their realm, even an ordinary Chaos Realm Master, with 134 years of dedicated cultivation, could have a chance to reach the level of the strongest Daoist Grandmaster in this world's history.
With the power of the strongest Daoist Grandmaster, infiltrating the palace and assassinating the Emperor would have a high probability of success.
Out of a hundred attempts, there would be at least three or four successful assassinations.
In other words, an ordinary Chaos Realm Master would have a 3-4% chance of breaking through the time loop.
This is clearly inconsistent with the countless Chaos Realm Masters in the past who attempted to reach the thirteenth level.
This is assuming the precondition of an ordinary Chaos Realm Master.
The time loop, formed by the supreme rule of the Dao, targets the foundation of every life, making it exceptionally challenging.
Given that Lin Yuan's power far surpasses that of a typical Chaos Realm Master, the time loop should be even more difficult for him.
Initially, Lin Yuan speculated that the Emperor's strength might have made this test appear simple, but in reality, it was extremely challenging.
The process of killing the Dafeng Emperor was surprisingly effortless.
The Emperor in robes possessed the strength of a peak Daoist Mage.
Under Lin Yuan's strike filled with killing intent, he had no means to resist.
In other words, Lin Yuan's speculation was incorrect.
"Could the Dafeng Emperor in the trial not refer to the actual Dafeng Emperor, but rather someone else with the same name?" Lin Yuan speculated, but quickly dismissed the idea.
The trial of the time loop originated from the supreme rules and was absolutely impartial. It wouldn't play word games. If it said the Dafeng Emperor, then it was indeed him.
Furthermore, it was the same Dafeng Emperor that Lin Yuan had known.
"In other words, the current Dafeng Emperor isn't dead. He's still alive?"
"Interesting."
Lin Yuan's expression turned pensive.
If it were any other twelfth-tier Perfected being who had witnessed the completion of the trial by killing the target, they might have panicked or even doubted themselves. But Lin Yuan didn't.
With the support of Boundary-Breaking Essence, Lin Yuan had the absolute initiative to break the time loop at any time. The only reason he hadn't done so immediately was to avoid paying too high a price.
However, being unwilling to pay the price didn't mean Lin Yuan couldn't afford it.
Time rewound to fifty years ago.
On the boundless East Sea, a seemingly ordinary ship drifted.
The Endless East Sea, also known as the Abyssal Depths, was an infinite realm inhabited by numerous colossal sea beasts from ancient times.
On the ship's deck stood a young man exuding an air of nobility.
If any high-ranking official of the Dafeng Dynasty were present, they would recognize this young man as the very Dafeng Emperor currently reigning over the court.
"I spent twenty years creating a doppelganger identical to myself," the young man thought. "With this, I can leave the Imperial Palace without arousing any suspicion. My doppelganger will take my place and do everything in my stead."
The final trial required him to survive for one hundred and fifty years.
This meant that under normal circumstances, he couldn't live beyond one hundred and fifty years if he remained in the Imperial Palace.
Therefore, without hesitation, the young man abandoned his life in the palace and ventured onto the Endless East Sea.
This place was rarely visited by humans, and even during the Dafeng Dynasty's heyday, their exploration of the East Sea was limited.
Of course, merely arriving at the East Sea was just the young man's first step.
He entered the cabin, where a coffin several meters long was placed.
The coffin was forged from pitch-black metal, emitting a deep glow.
"I exhausted the Dafeng Dynasty's entire foundation to cast this coffin with Primordial Divine Metal," the young man said, gazing at the coffin with an eerie glint in his eyes.
Primordial Divine Metal was the hardest metal in this world since its birth.
Even the most powerful Daoist Grandmasters couldn't budge a fist-sized piece of Primordial Divine Metal.
When the Dafeng Dynasty was established, the Founder scoured the realm for all Primordial Divine Metal to forge the Nine Tripods, intending to suppress the Central Plain's Ninety-Nine Provinces and ensure the dynasty's longevity for ten thousand years.
However, by the time the Founder passed away, the collected Primordial Divine Metal was still insufficient.
The next five generations of emperors followed the Founder's decree and continued collecting Primordial Divine Metal.
By the time it reached the young man's generation, the collection was nearly complete.
These Primordial Divine Metals were originally meant for the casting of the Nine Tripods, but the young man forcefully used them to create an unprecedented coffin.
"Using various secret arts of the royal family, I've created a False Death Technique. Once activated, I'll fall into a deep slumber, and my bodily functions will almost cease to exist, allowing me to live until the end of my lifespan, which is about one hundred and thirty years from now."
The young man lightly leaped and laid down in the coffin.
The pitch-black coffin immediately closed.
The ship carrying the coffin crumbled in the next moment.
The black coffin swiftly sank into the Abyssal Depths.
The Abyssal Depths were a no-go zone for land-based life forms, especially the area the young man had chosen, which was the deepest part of the sea.
Only with the indestructible Primordial Divine Metal could the young man withstand the immense sea pressure. Other life forms, even the strongest Daoist Grandmasters, would be crushed into powder by the endless sea pressure.
This was the young man's method of overcoming the final trial.
He came to this deep sea without leaving any clues or information, not even his closest kin knew his whereabouts.
The only ones who knew were the crew on the ship, but they perished along with the ship's disintegration.
In other words, at this moment, no one in this world knew his location.
In fact, even if they did, it wouldn't matter.
Who could venture into the Abyssal Depths?
Even the terrifying sea beasts that existed since ancient times dared not approach the deepest parts of the sea; they only roamed the surface.
Even if, hypothetically, someone could enter the Abyssal Depths and retrieve the coffin made of Primordial Divine Metal...
Who could harm him through the hardest metal in this world?
Primordial Divine Metal isolated everything, including psychic power. Even if it were to manifest physically, it couldn't budge the Primordial Divine Metal.
The final trial required him to survive for one hundred and fifty years.
The young man speculated that within this period, there would surely be enemies who would target him.
However, since the trial only required him to live through one hundred and fifty years, he had no intention of facing that enemy.
Instead, he chose to hide in this deep sea, a place his enemies would never find.
He wouldn't give them any chance.
PS: Thanks to 'Shangxian Qitian' for the reward.
The reward adds three more chapters.
But let me take a break, I'll slowly repay it later~
Thanks~
(End of Chapter)
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