7: The Peerless Emperor (Part 1)

Wu Yun, who was Lin Yun's third life, awakened his memories at the age of nine.

His current identity was the Thirteenth Prince of the Shenwu Empire.

While it sounded incomparably noble, the reality was quite a different scene.

This was because he was born to a palace maid after Emperor Shenwu had lost control of himself while drunk.

The side palace he lived in was dilapidated, with peeling walls that were completely out of place compared to the golden magnificence of the main palace.

The eunuchs delivering food always arrived last, right at the end of the mealtime; the food in the box was always cold, and occasionally, it even had a sour stench.

"Thirteenth Highness, your lunch."

The eunuch slammed the food box heavily onto the table, his eyes filled with undisguised contempt.

Wu Yun expressionlessly picked up his chopsticks and pushed around the cold rice in his bowl.

It wasn't that he hadn't tried to resist.

But a nine-year-old prince, rumored to have a "Naturally Useless Body," was worth less than even the lowest servant here.

The laughter of several children dressed in fine silk clothes drifted in from outside the hall.

"Look, that little waste is eating pig slop again."

"Shh, keep it down. Don't let Father hear that we've come to such an unlucky place."

Wu Yun turned a deaf ear; beneath his numb expression was the Soul of an adult, calm to the extreme.

Something is wrong.

Only these three words were in his mind.

After his previous life ended, he had dumped almost all his Reincarnation Points into "family background" and "Aptitude."

As a prince of the Shenwu Empire, this family background was definitely top-tier.

But why was the script like this?

Even more ridiculous was his body.

In the few days since Awakening, he had tried to Cultivate every day, but the Spiritual Qi he inhaled into his body was like a clay ox entering the sea—it vanished instantly without a trace, failing to even cause a ripple.

This formed the most absurd contrast with his maxed-out "Aptitude" attribute.

Where exactly was the problem?

That afternoon, the Seventh Prince led several eunuchs and barged into his side palace with a swagger.

"Thirteenth Brother, I heard you made a little wooden carving yourself a few days ago? Bring it out for your Imperial Brother to see."

The Seventh Prince had a mocking look on his face.

Wu Yun silently gripped the wooden carving hidden behind his back a little tighter.

That was the likeness of his daughter, Xiyue, which he had carved from memory.

"Not giving it?"

The Seventh Prince gave a cold laugh and signaled to the eunuchs behind him.

Two eunuchs immediately stepped forward and roughly pinned Wu Yun to the ground.

The wooden carving flew out of his hand.

The Seventh Prince walked over, stepped on the carving, and ground it down with force.

"Crack."

The sound of the wood shattering reached Wu Yun's ears clearly.

An unprecedented fury erupted from the depths of his heart like a volcano.

In that instant, there was a roar in his head, and the entire world seemed to stand still.

His consciousness was forcibly pulled into the interior of his own body.

Deep within his Dantian, he "saw" it.

There, a tiny golden vortex, almost imperceptible, was slowly rotating.

All the Spiritual Qi that entered his body was ruthlessly devoured and decomposed by this vortex, turning into the purest energy to nourish itself.

Wu Yun was stunned.

The next second, wild joy overwhelmed him.

Innate Spiritual Body!

This was actually the one-in-a-million Innate Spiritual Body!

It wasn't that he couldn't Cultivate; it was that his starting point was too high! This spiritual body had not yet finished gestating and would instinctively devour all energy. Once it reached Major Achievement, his Cultivation speed would be a thousand or ten thousand times that of others!

"So that's it! So that's how it is!"

Wu Yun laughed wildly in his heart.

He slowly climbed up from the ground and looked at the Seventh Prince's mocking face. For the first time, the numbness in his eyes was gone, replaced only by a kind of pity, as if looking at a buffoon.

What did this bit of humiliation matter?

Just wait.

With the confidence to bide his time, Wu Yun began to investigate another matter—the cause of his death in his previous life.

He couldn't ask directly; for a nine-year-old child, knowing too much was a sin in itself.

He set his sights on Fu'an, the only old eunuch who was still somewhat kind to him.

Fu'an had received favors from his birth mother in this life, so he would always secretly slip him a couple of hot steamed buns.

"Grandpa Fu, tell me some stories about the war! Tell me the one about suppressing the King of Zhenbei!"

Wu Yun hugged Fu'an's leg, acting spoiled in the most innocent tone.

Fu'an sighed and stroked his head.

"Alright, alright, since Your Highness wants to hear it, this old servant will tell it."

What Fu'an told was, naturally, the official version of the Empire.

How the Marshal of the Fourth Legion, Xiang Tong, was brilliant and divinely wise, and how he eventually saw through the betrayal of his vanguard general "Li Yun," turning the tables to suppress the rebellion in one fell swoop.

Wu Yun looked up with bright eyes and a face full of admiration.

"Wow! Marshal Xiang is so amazing!"

His small hands were inside his sleeves, his nails already digging deep into his flesh.

When the story was over, Wu Yun shook Fu'an's arm and asked as if casually:

"Grandpa Fu, then... what about the family of that traitor named Li Yun?"

Fu'an's expression didn't change, as if he were talking about a trivial matter.

"The traitor's family? Naturally, they were all executed. Their heads were hung at the Tianxing City market entrance for three days and nights to serve as a warning to others."

Boom!

Wu Yun's mind exploded.

In an instant, images flashed before his eyes: Jiang Yiyi's red-rimmed eyes as she saw him off to war, and Zhaoyang and Xiyue crying and hugging his legs... The warm memories now became the sharpest knives, carving into his Soul one stroke at a time.

He used almost all his strength to control himself and not break down on the spot.

He forced out a smile and asked again.

"I also heard that it seemed other generals went to help at that time?"

"Sigh, don't mention it." Fu'an shook his head. "That was General Murong Zhaoxue of the Third Legion. A young girl with good talent; it's said she was about to Breakthrough to the Spirit King Realm. Unfortunately, she was plotted against by the rebel general Li Yun and fell at Luoyun Slope."

Wu Yun's body trembled violently.

Murong Zhaoxue actually hadn't managed to survive either... Night fell.

Wu Yun stood alone by the dilapidated window. Cold moonlight spilled onto his youthful face, half in light and half in shadow.

All the pain, regret, and anger in his heart had settled, turning into an extreme, hair-raising calmness and malice.

In a voice only he could hear, he softly whispered.

"Jiang Yiyi... Zhaoyang... Xiyue..."

"Murong Zhaoxue..."

With every name he uttered, the killing intent in his heart grew stronger.

Finally, he looked up at the pitch-black night sky outside the window, as if piercing through endless space to see that high-and-mighty Marshal.

He squeezed out two words through his gritted teeth, one by one.

"Xiang... Tong!"