234: Thunder Queen, the Realm of Earthly Immortals!

Since there was no direct teleportation array to the Thunder Empire, Su Yang specifically had Kaidun III prepare a map for him, so he knew the general direction to take from the Kaiyue Empire.

Bidding farewell to Kaidun III, Su Yang took Kaina, Kailin, Cold Moon, Crimson Phoenix, Wen Yunyao, Lin Bingqing, An Ran, Gu Yue, and Luo Luo—a group of ten—and they turned into ten streaks of light, flying away from Gangyan City and racing toward the Thunder Empire.

Su Yang's departure went unnoticed by everyone except Kaidun III.

Just as he had arrived in this country casually, he now left it just as casually.

Taking two peerless princesses with him.

Flying high in the sky, their speed was extremely fast.

Having heard Kaidun III's description of the Thunder Empire, Su Yang felt that the situation in that country was rather complicated.

While flying, he didn't chat with the others but instead asked Sword Master about the Thunder Empire in his mind.

"Sword Master."

Su Yang called out in his heart.

"...Master, what is it?"

Sword Master's voice was as full of vicissitudes and hardness as ever.

"How much do you know about the Thunder Empire? Also, the star glory cloak is the one that landed there, right? What's the specific situation?" Su Yang asked directly.

Sword Master was silent for a moment.

After a long while, he slowly spoke, his tone becoming somewhat grave: "The Thunder Empire... the situation is a bit complicated."

"Let me first talk about the star glory cloak. It is a rather special piece of the eternal emperor battle armor, governing stellar attraction, spatial protection, and immunity to all Laws. Thirty thousand years ago, the star glory cloak did not transform into a Magic Treasure's hidden form like the other components; instead... it basically maintained its original form."

"Oh?"

Maintained its original form?

This was indeed completely different from the situation with the other components.

"Then who has the star glory cloak now? Is it also in the hands of the Thunder Empire's royal family?"

Sword Master said: "Thirty thousand years ago, the star glory cloak fell into the eastern region of what was then a chaotic Thunder Marsh. At that time, there was a female leader of a small tribe there who had extraordinary talent, a resilient Heart-Nature, and a natural affinity for the power of thunder."

"During a tribal conflict, she was knocked off a cliff by the opposing leader. She should have died, but unexpectedly, she fell right onto the star glory cloak that had landed beneath the cliff. A portion of her blood and soul merged into the star glory cloak, and she initially gained possession of it."

Su Yang listened quietly, sensing that things were not simple.

"Because of the star glory cloak, that female leader's injuries recovered quickly. Subsequently, relying on a portion of the cloak's power, she unified the various tribes of the Thunder Marsh, established the foundation of the Thunder Empire, and founded the Empire, becoming the founding Empress of the Thunder Empire."

"However, her desire for power was extraordinary; she wasn't satisfied with merely being able to use the cloak. To completely control this supreme divine object and gain eternal life and infinite power, she did something extremely crazy when the Empire was at its Peak."

Sword Master's voice carried a rare hint of sighing and gravity: "As the first Empress of the Empire, she gathered the nation's resources and laid down a Heaven-Defying blood sacrifice array. Using her own flesh and Divine Soul as sacrifices, she performed a complete self-sacrifice, attempting the deepest level of Fusion with the star glory cloak."

"Self-sacrifice? Fusion?"

Su Yang's brow furrowed; no wonder Kaidun III said she was strange.

This felt a bit like a crazy woman.

"Yes. In a sense, she succeeded, but she also became distorted."

"Her consciousness did not completely vanish but instead became entangled and combined with the spirituality of the star glory cloak in a peculiar way."

"You could say she has become a part of the star glory cloak, or rather, the star glory cloak has become her new shell and source of power."

"Because of this, she obtained unimaginable power and near-eternal life, ruling the Thunder Empire to this day. She is also the only monarch among the Empires of the Myriad Spirits Realm who has ruled since the Empire's creation."

"From the current practical standpoint, she is now another... symbiotic owner of the star glory cloak."

Saying this, Sword Master gave a silent sigh.

After hearing this, Su Yang's heart sank.

A symbiotic owner who had deeply merged and coexisted with a battle armor component for thirty thousand years... this situation was far more complex and dangerous than forcibly taking an ownerless item or defeating a guardian!

"Sword Master, if I need to retrieve the star glory cloak, what must I do?"

Su Yang asked the most crucial question.

Sword Master was silent for a moment and sighed again: "The trouble lies therein. Master, you are the only legitimate successor to the eternal emperor battle armor, and at the level of Law, the star glory cloak will ultimately obey your call. You can rely on the resonance of the complete battle armor and higher authority to forcibly strip the star glory cloak from her. But..."

He paused, his tone becoming more and more serious.

"But, over thirty thousand years, the Thunder Empress's consciousness has merged too deeply with the spirituality of the star glory cloak. If she risks Soul Flying Away and Spirit Scattering, using the extreme connection left during the sacrifice as a trigger, it is possible that at the moment her consciousness vanishes, she could trigger the star glory cloak to self-destruct along with her, or at the very least, cause irreversible and serious damage to it."

"Even if you are the true master, if she is extremely resistant and intent on mutual destruction, it would be difficult to guarantee 100% that the cloak remains intact."

Su Yang's brow furrowed even tighter.

Forcibly taking it carried the risk of mutual destruction... this was simply the worst-case scenario.

The eternal emperor battle armor was related to his memories as the Eternal Immortal Emperor, and more importantly, these memories could only be activated by the complete armor. If the star glory cloak were destroyed or seriously damaged, there was no guarantee that the memories could be activated in the end.

This was critical!

"Therefore, the most secure and only way to ensure the star glory cloak is perfectly intact,"

Sword Master said slowly, "is to have the Thunder Empress hand over the cloak voluntarily, or at least, perform the stripping while she is willing and without any violent resistance."

Voluntary?

Would an Empress who didn't hesitate to sacrifice herself for power, who coexisted with a Divine Artifact and ruled an Empire for thirty thousand years, voluntarily hand over the source of her power and life?

Su Yang felt his head throb.

This "star glory cloak" would likely be the most difficult component to obtain of all.

"Sword Master, what level has this Thunder Empress's strength reached now?"

Su Yang calmed down.

He needed to evaluate his opponent's strength first.

Sword Master answered quickly this time, clearly having paid attention to this.

"With the help of the star glory cloak and that sacrifice, the Thunder Empress's cultivation base has long since broken through the limits of this realm's Cultivators. According to this realm's standards, she had already reached the Peak of the Mahayana Stage at least twenty thousand years ago. Later, she went a step further and touched upon the Earth Immortal realm of the Upper Realm."

Earth Immortal?

Su Yang's heart jolted.

Having spent so much time with Cold Moon and Crimson Phoenix, he naturally understood the Ranks of the Upper Realm.

In the Upper Realm, also known as the Spirit Realm, power is divided into five levels, from low to high: Mortal Immortal, Earth Immortal, Heavenly Immortal, Immortal King, and Immortal Emperor.

Earth Immortal.

That is to say, even in the Upper Realm, the Thunder Empress's strength would have already transcended the level of the most common Mortal Immortals, reaching a lower-middle level.

Such strength, placed in the Myriad Spirits Realm, was simply an existence that could crush everything...