Chapter 598 355: The Treasure of an Empire

After a brief moment of thought, Lu Mingyuan looked at the Female Imperial Tutor and said, "Arrange a quiet place for me. I need to make some preparations."

"No problem," the Female Imperial Tutor said.

"About how much longer until the World Origin appears?" Lu Mingyuan pressed.

Princess Zichuan of the Tri-Eyed Race said, "Three days remain."

Upon hearing this, the hearts of everyone present sank. 'Just three days... That's not nearly enough time.'

"The Four Great Demon Generals have captured some of my clansmen. Will they use this to launch an attack ahead of schedule?" the Beidou Human King asked, his eyes filled with worry.

On the Sacred Land of Awakening, thousands of Beidou clansmen had fallen into the hands of the Evil God Army. If they could not be rescued, the Ancient Beidou Clan would face certain extinction. With just the few of them left, it was impossible to say how many years it would take for the Beidou Lineage to recover.

Unfortunately, the Four Great Demon Generals were far too powerful. Backed by the faith in a Divine Being, they possessed Undying Bodies. The survivors were too weak to even protect themselves, let alone rescue the other members of their clan.

The Female Imperial Tutor shook her head. "Until the turning of day and night, it would be useless even if the Four Great Demon Generals sacrificed all of The Awakened on Ascension Island. They aren't that foolish. However, rescuing your kinsmen will not be an easy task."

At these words, the Beidou Human King could say no more. After all, he couldn't force Lu Mingyuan and the others to risk their lives for his cause.

Lu Mingyuan wasted no time. He immediately rose and left with Yun Qinghe.

Just as the Female Imperial Tutor had said, the many halls of the Changming Imperial Palace were indeed empty, with no one occupying them.

Time was of the essence. Lu Mingyuan entered one of the palaces and sealed it with an Array, not wanting to be disturbed by any living creature.

"Lu Mingyuan, what did you bring me here for?" Yun Qinghe asked, confused.

Lu Mingyuan's expression was grim. "In three days, a fierce battle is unavoidable. Too many experts from the Outer Realm Divine Beings have awakened. With my current strength, I may not be able to handle them all. I have to get stronger."

"But you've already reached the peak of Perfection in the Thirteenth Realm. Can you really break through to the Fourteenth Realm in such a short time?"

Yun Qinghe voiced her doubt.

The further one progressed in Cultivation, the more difficult it became to advance. Forget three years—even thirty might not be enough for a major breakthrough.

Countless Cultivators who reached the Twelfth Realm spent the rest of their lives unable to break through to the Upper Three Grades and achieve sainthood or immortality.

To say nothing of the Fourteenth Realm.

At the very least, three conditions had to be met.

First, one needed sufficient Destiny. Most experts would choose to achieve Integration with a domain, thereby absorbing its Destiny.

Second, one had to master a True Form of a Secret Technique of the Great Dao containing over a hundred million principles and coalesce one's own Little World.

And finally, both one's Flesh Body and Divine Soul had to reach Perfection.

Lu Mingyuan said, "I plan to perform Refinement on the Human Emperor Tripod and the various top-tier Ancient Divine Medicines within it. I will cultivate my Flesh Body to its absolute limit, which should give my strength a significant boost. Also, I need your help to set up a more powerful Taoist Array, ideally one combined with the Human Emperor Divine Techniques, as a means to deal with the Four Great Demon Generals."

'On my own, I might still not be a match for the Four Great Demon Generals.'

'But if I prepare an Array in advance, I might just have the strength to challenge them. At the very least, I need to be able to trap them at a critical moment.'

"I plan to use a Divine Technique to increase your strength."

Lu Mingyuan said with the utmost seriousness.

"Increase my... strength?"

Yun Qinghe had no idea he possessed such an ability.

Lu Mingyuan nodded slightly. "Your cultivation bottleneck has become apparent. Your mental state and comprehension are clearly sufficient, but because you aren't backed by a Sect and rely only on yourself, you are somewhat lacking in Destiny."

"Now, I will use Fu Xi's Vertical Qi Technique to help you manipulate your fate. My intent is to divine your destiny and open up a path to new vitality."

With a wave of his hand, Yin Yang Qi appeared in Lu Mingyuan's palm.

He made a few calculations with his fingers. "Following your original trajectory, it would take you another ten years to break through to the Twelfth Realm. That's already incredibly fast, but given the current situation, it's not enough. I will help you."

As he spoke, the Yin Yang Qi in his palm transformed into a carp that seemed to be made of black ink.

It vanished into the space between Yun Qinghe's eyebrows.

All around them, the sky abruptly changed color as powerful waves of qi began to roll.

"Fate is a matter of give and take. If you alter my Destiny like this, won't it affect you? There must be a huge risk involved," Yun Qinghe said, her face etched with worry.

"Don't worry. My own Destiny is vast and profound. Helping you reach the Twelfth Realm won't have much of an impact on me."

Lu Mingyuan waved a dismissive hand.

'To break through to the Fourteenth Realm now, I can only wait for Great Yan's Fortune to grow further.'

'But the growth of the National Fortune is a very slow process. It can take several years, even more than a decade.'

'I can't afford to wait that long.'

'I've already decided that once I deal with the Four Great Demon Generals and get the Middle-Age Awakened to submit and join Great Yan, I'll head to the Wilderness and plunder the Destiny of the Demon Race.'

'This small expenditure of Destiny is nothing.'

After a moment, a five-colored radiance began to flicker across Yun Qinghe's body.

A towering, illusory figure of a Sword Immortal materialized behind her, its presence causing the very space to tremble.

This was the true form of Yun Qinghe's Primordial Spirit.

She was a reincarnated Sword Immortal, born with a natural Sword Heart. As such, her body was protected by a powerful Primordial Spirit, and she was nurturing an Immortal Sword between her eyebrows. It was only natural that she could withstand such a vast amount of Destiny.

Seeing that Yun Qinghe had entered a state of breakthrough, Lu Mingyuan hesitated no longer.

He summoned the Human Emperor Tripod.

He carefully inspected the Treasures within the tripod.

Just as Emperor Yu had said, the Human Emperor Tripod contained the treasury of an entire Empire.

The Eternal Emperor had hidden the bulk of the Empire's treasury within the Human Emperor Tripod.