143: Chapter 143 The Desire for Immortality

Inside the Yan State Imperial Palace.

The aging Emperor struggled on his Dragon Throne. He looked at Ye Xuan with eyes full of respect, extending a withered hand. "Minister Ye, my time is short. I hope the Immortal Master will help me protect the Yan State in my final moments."

Ye Xuan said calmly, "Rest assured, Your Majesty. Having received Your Majesty’s grace, I shall naturally protect the Yan State."

By now, Ye Xuan was already the Emperor's trusted confidant. The Emperor was of advanced age and nearing death, yet he continued to struggle, delaying the Crown Prince's ascension.

Suspicious and paranoid, he always feared someone would seize his throne; normally, he only allowed Ye Xuan to be near him.

This gradually caused Ye Xuan to feel frustrated. He didn't know how many more days the Emperor would linger. Currently, his Ye Family was being coveted by the Xuanyou Sect, yet he was unable to pull himself away.

If it weren't for the fact that this Emperor had some history with Jian Yun of the Qingyun Sect, he would have left long ago.

The old Emperor lingered his gaze on Ye Xuan’s strong physique, his eyes filled with longing, but he quickly masked it, continuing to act as a decrepit and weak old man.

Unknowingly, the sky gradually darkened, and Ye Xuan was finally free to leave the Emperor.

He returned to his residence and found several crows perched in his courtyard, letters tied to their wings.

Ye Xuan recognized at a glance that these crows were sent by Ye Jing.

He immediately opened them. Several letters were from his son and daughter, recounting what had happened over the past six months. Others mentioned that Ye Yi had broken through his Cultivation bottleneck and even raised his Yao Beast's Rank.

As he read through the letters, they were all filled with good news.

This dispelled much of the frustration Ye Xuan had felt these past few days, and a rare, faint smile tugged at the corners of his mouth.

The gratifying progress of the Ye Family's younger generation was the Family's greatest hope. Even if he was trapped in the palace for now, he still had the confidence to deal with things.

Thinking of this, Ye Jing burned all the envelopes and spoke no more of it.

At this time, deep within the palace, the night was as black as ink. The lanterns along the palace paths flickered with a dim yellow light. The originally weak Emperor was supported by a eunuch as he arrived at a secret chamber.

A black corpse lay there, its face long since unrecognizable.

Only a pale skeletal frame remained, with bits of flesh still clinging to it.

The Emperor looked at the mangled corpse with eyes full of greed. The eunuch beside him stepped forward, using a golden dagger to slice into the corpse's flesh, then carefully held a clump of the dark-black meat on a plate.

The old Emperor impatiently stuffed the flesh into his mouth and chewed vigorously. Gradually, the aged appearance on his face began to fade slightly.

But he was still unsatisfied, cursing, "The flesh of this Cultivator has too little effect. Why can't I Cultivate and attain that longevity!"

The sound of chewing echoed dully in the secret chamber. A morbid fanaticism and resentment surged in his cloudy eyes, his withered palms clenched tight.

The eunuch stood beside him with his head bowed, not daring to breathe loudly. On that expressionless face, only a trace of undetectable fear was hidden deep within his eyes.

This Cultivator's corpse was none other than Kuang Dao, who had attacked the Yan State. He had been secretly sealed here by the old Emperor; whenever the Emperor felt unwell, he would take its flesh to nourish his body.

"That old fellow Jian Yun... he wasn't willing to help me annex other countries, and instead sent this Cultivator Ye Xuan over to curry favor. This leaves me with no way to make a move!"

The old Emperor sighed to himself.

Hearing this, the eunuch’s body trembled imperceptibly. He advised in a low voice, "Your Majesty, please calm your anger. Lord Ye holds military power and has a Family backing him. Moving against him might provoke the Qingyun Sect to hold us accountable!"

The old Emperor suddenly swallowed the remaining flesh and hissed with resentment, "Accountable? I am the Son of Heaven of the Yan State! If I can obtain longevity, what do I have to fear!"

As he spoke, he looked at the withered skin on his hands, the greed in his eyes intensifying. "Kuang Dao was just a Loose Cultivator, yet his flesh had such miraculous effects. If I could take Ye Xuan—no! If I could obtain Ye Xuan's body, I might truly be able to step onto the path of the Immortals!"

Saying this, the old Emperor grinned hideously and took out a sinister-looking Medicinal Pill. The pill was flesh-colored, and its grotesque surface resembled a screaming human face.

It was billowing with black Qi and filled with a pungent, fishy scent; it clearly was no ordinary object.

The old Emperor looked at the pill with a dazed expression. As the ruler of a country, even if he governed a territory and was worshipped by the world, he was not even equal to a hair of an Immortal who could fly through the sky.

He also wanted to become an Immortal. This pill was obtained by chance from an evil Cultivator's Storage Pouch during a battle after Qingyun Sect Disciples helped the Late Emperor of Yan State when an evil Cultivator invaded the country.

From it, he learned of the method of Possession, but unfortunately, the Yan State at that time had no means or resources to retain an Immortal, so this method had never been used.

Inside, it detailed the method of Possession. Generally, Possession only occurs when a high-Rank Cultivator possesses a low-Rank Cultivator, because seizing a body requires a battle within the Divine Sense to devour the original owner.

Any slight mistake would result in damage to the Divine Soul, leading to one's Soul Flying Away and Spirit Scattering.

However, the Medicinal Pill in the old Emperor's hand was a soul-devouring pill. This was not a Medicinal Pill but a Magical Artifact; the user could control it to devour a Cultivator's soul.

The old Emperor had once heard the Late Emperor tell him that the evil Cultivator had used this pill to devour nearly half of the Yan State's population, showing its power.

When the owner of a Spiritual Artifact dies, the contract is dissolved. The old Emperor had killed several of his brothers while he was young to gain his current status and obtain this secret.

As a Mortal, facing such an unknown object, one would usually not dare to touch it. But back then, he had a streak of ruthlessness and dared to directly follow the contract methods used by Cultivators to establish a Blood Contract.

As it turned out, he actually became the master of this Magical Artifact and gained a tiny bit of control over spiritual power.

But only a tiny bit.

He gazed at the twisted soul-devouring pill, his morbid fanaticism nearly overflowing.

The old Emperor now had no other choice. He didn't want to accept his fate; he wanted to return to how he was in his youth. Therefore, the first thing he had to seize was Ye Xuan's body!

Once successful, he would leave the Yan State to seek his path of Cultivation.

The old Emperor's fingertips stroked the soul-devouring pill. The human face patterns on the pill's surface seemed to rise and fall with his breathing. Black Qi seeped through his finger joints, coiling into a faint black mist around his withered wrist.

"Ye Xuan... an Immortal Master's body, the foundation of longevity. It should have belonged to me all along."

A raspy, rattling sound came from his throat, and the fanaticism in his eyes almost burned through the darkness of the secret chamber.

"Pass down my decree. Starting tomorrow, Ye Xuan is to attend to me day and night in the Imperial Study. He is excused from his rotation and needs no rest."

The eunuch's body trembled again, and his head bowed even lower. His voice was as thin as a mosquito's buzz. "Your Majesty, Lord Ye has seemed troubled lately. If we force him to stay... I fear it may cause suspicion."

He had followed the old Emperor for decades and knew this monarch's ruthlessness well. However, Ye Xuan was someone Jian Yun Immortal Master of the Qingyun Sect had tacitly allowed to stay in the Yan State. If they truly moved against him and were exposed, the entire Yan State would have to endure the wrath of the Qingyun Sect.

"Suspicion?" The old Emperor sneered, clutching the soul-devouring pill in his palm. Black Qi seeped into his flesh along the lines of his palm. "He has received my grace and protects my Yan State; it is his duty."

"Besides..." He paused and looked at the remaining Cultivator's skeleton, a flash of ruthlessness in his eyes. "Once he becomes my vessel, no matter how much suspicion there is, all that will remain is a dissipated Divine Soul."

The eunuch did not dare to advise further and could only bow in acceptance, though the fear in his eyes grew even heavier.