235: A genius madwoman!

This Thunder Empress was a troublesome existence, even in terms of her strength!

Su Yang asked curiously, "With her strength, how is she still just an Empress of an Empire? Since she's the founding Empress of the Thunder Empire, theoretically, she should have political ambitions. With her strength, no mortal Empire in the Myriad Spirits Realm could be her match. Even in the cultivation world, she should be unrivaled."

"Her heart is not set on that!"

Sword Master said, "In the early days, the Thunder Empress's political ambitions were indeed very great. The Thunder Empire started as a small country with a territory of only 800,000 square kilometers and once expanded into a superpower with a territory of up to 48 million square kilometers."

"Perhaps expanding the territory was too easy and held no meaning for her. After the Thunder Empire reached its Peak, it never expanded again. Even in the Late Stage, when those originally annexed countries broke away and restored their regimes, the Thunder Empress did not interfere. So later on, the Thunder Empire's territory began to shrink gradually. Now it only has 30 million square kilometers of land, nearly one-third less than its Peak period."

Su Yang's brow furrowed even deeper.

"Then what did she do in the later stages? If she had no heart for the mortal world, with her strength, she should logically have been able to step through the void and enter the Spirit Realm."

Sword Master shook his head. "Master, you forgot. Thirty thousand years ago, to isolate the calamities, you applied a Seal on the Upper Realm. This Seal not only greatly blocked the downward flow of Spiritual Qi from the Upper Realm but also completely cut off the path of Ascension for the Myriad Spirits Realm."

"Although the Thunder Empress possesses Earth Immortal level power thanks to the star glory cloak, her strength compared to your strength back then is like the difference between a star and a blazing sun. She simply cannot break through the Restriction you set, cannot step through the void to ascend to the Upper Realm, and can only remain stranded here."

Su Yang fell silent.

Sword Master also fell silent for a moment and sighed. "A long lifespan and invincible power in this world, yet trapped in one corner of heaven and earth. Although she has been quiet for these past ten thousand years, this Old Servant has often paid attention to her movements."

"Based on my observations over these ten thousand years, the Thunder Empress seems to be... carrying out a very massive and dangerous plan."

"What plan?"

"She doesn't seem content to be trapped in this realm forever."

"The star glory cloak contains the power of space and stars. She likely wants to use this, combined with some kind of forbidden method, to forcibly open a passage to the Upper Realm."

Sword Master's voice lowered slightly. "And this method, according to this Old Servant's observations, likely requires a massive amount of energy and the sacrifice of living beings."

"She seems to be systematically transforming all the subjects of the Thunder Empire, regardless of their Aptitude, into Cultivators with a certain level of power. It appears she is cultivating them in this way... as the sacrifices she needs."

"Roughly how many subjects does the Thunder Empire have?"

Su Yang asked subconsciously.

"About 1.8 billion."

Su Yang sucked in a breath of cold air.

Using 1.8 billion subjects of an Empire as sacrifices to open a passage?

How insane and cruel!

"With such a perverse act, is there no one in the Empire who opposes it? Do those Sects and Families just let her have her way?"

Su Yang asked.

Normally, a plan that shakes the foundation of the state and threatens everyone's survival would inevitably face strong resistance.

Sword Master chuckled. "Resistance? Naturally, there is. On the surface, the Thunder Empire is united and prosperous under the Thunder Empress's iron fist, but in reality, there are deep undercurrents, and the forces opposing her are not few."

"Many ancient families with long histories and Sects with deep foundations submit on the surface but have long since joined forces in secret, accumulating strength and waiting for an opportunity. After all, no one wants to become a stepping stone or fuel on someone else's path to Ascension."

"But,"

Su Yang was puzzled. "The Thunder Empress has Earth Immortal level strength. In the Myriad Spirits Realm, the only ones capable of opposing her are probably you, Sword Master, Luo Luo, and Cold Moon. How can those resistance forces in the Thunder Empire compete with her?"

"This is the key point and where the situation gets complicated."

Sword Master explained, "The Thunder Empress is extremely good at disguising and hiding herself. The strength she publicly displays has always been maintained at the Tribulation Stage—which is already top-tier in the Myriad Spirits Realm, enough to suppress all directions, but not so shocking that the internal opposition in the Thunder Empire would feel they have absolutely no chance of resisting her."

"In fact, the Thunder Empress's brilliance lies in giving these opposing forces enough room for illusion."

"She allows resistance forces to exist, but once they actually revolt, she immediately uses thunderous means to completely purge them once. This way, she gets another century or so of peace."

"The newly born resistance forces fall back into the perception that she only has Tribulation Stage strength and feel they can succeed again. Then they gather together once more, try to resist the Thunder Empress again, and are once again thoroughly wiped out by her."

"Repeating like this, this boring game has continued in the Thunder Empire for nearly eight thousand years."

Su Yang was rendered speechless.

Everything about this Thunder Empress had exceeded his understanding.

This person was both brilliant and insane.

What was even scarier was that she seemed to be a Genius!

"Then... has Wangxian Hall made any moves?"

Su Yang asked curiously.

Sword Master said, "From this Old Servant's perspective, I know very well that she has been working in vain. Even if she sacrifices the power of 8 billion living beings, it's impossible to shake the Restriction Master set. Even the existence that Master was wary of couldn't shake the Restriction Master set with his life, let alone a mere Earth Immortal like her."

"However... this Old Servant has also made some preparations. If the day truly comes when she intends to sacrifice all the living beings of the Thunder Empire, this Old Servant will naturally step in to stop her."

"This Old Servant admits I cannot strip the star glory cloak from her, but defeating her is more than enough."

Su Yang nodded in understanding. "No wonder you've just been watching her act out."

Sword Master sighed. "What this Old Servant can do is watch her movements and wait for Master to return to inform him of her situation. As part of the eternal emperor battle armor, this Old Servant has a way to defeat the star glory cloak, but to strip the Thunder Empress of the star glory cloak without damaging it—that is something only you, Master, can possibly accomplish."

"Is that so..."

Su Yang gave a bitter smile.

After hearing about these things concerning the Thunder Empress, he doubted whether he could actually handle her.

Simply defeating her wouldn't be much of a problem.

The key was how to get such a madwoman to voluntarily give up the star glory cloak and return it to him.

Just thinking about it was a headache.

However.

Su Yang also knew very well that whether there was a chance or not, he had to find a way to complete this task.

The star glory cloak, as an important component of the eternal emperor battle armor, was a crucial piece for increasing his combat power and an indispensable part of reclaiming his memories.

No matter how difficult, he had to get it from her hands!

Su Yang took a deep breath and exited his chat with Sword Master.

Su Yang looked at the women who were chatting.

He said with a smile, "My dear wives, the journey to the Thunder Empire is long. Who wants to be an 'accessory'? We can Cultivate while we fly. Also, I need you to help me cool down right now so I can properly think about how to handle things after we arrive at the Thunder Empire."

"What do you mean by 'accessory'?"

Kailin asked, and Kaina looked just as puzzled.

The women giggled and looked at each other, their faces showing a hint of a mischievous expression...