5: The villain is too cunning, and the Empress's mentality collapses.

The eastern sky turned a pale fish-belly white as the next morning arrived.

After a night of Cultivation, Cao Meng's Qi Sea Dantian expanded into a Purple Mansion. Inside the Purple Mansion, two Golden Cores, one large and one small, shone brightly.

The large Golden Core was the dragon tiger golden elixir, of which less than one-seventh had been refined.

The small Golden Core belonged to Cao Meng himself.

"Reaching the Pill Realm in a single day, I suppose I've brought glory to the Cao family now."

Cao Meng smiled smugly and brought up his attribute panel.

Name: Cao Meng, courtesy name De Meng

Appearance: 99

Cultivation Base: Golden Core [12%]

Comprehension Ability: Heaven-Grade High Grade

Talent: Blood Spirit Sacred Body [Saint Grade]

Pure Yang Sacred Body [Saint Grade]

destiny value: 800

Talent Skill: Talent Plunder

Opportunity Exchange

Appraisal Technique

Relationship Interaction: Wu Feiyan — 6980 [Plunderable]

Exchangeable Information: 1. Wang Han, a Disciple of White Deer Academy, discovered the Pre-Qin Spirit Treasure—the thousand illusions mask—in his ancestor's urn, but failed to fully utilize its effects, causing the pearl to be obscured. [Required destiny value: 1200 points]

2. Yang Xuan, the chief Disciple of the Hanging Temple, excavated a Pre-Qin Ancient Tomb and discovered the ancient seven profound sword formation armor. [Required destiny value: 500 points]

3. The Third Prince of Northern Wei, Yuan Hao, discovered an ancient female Cultivator's ice coffin, suspected to be the body of a great powerful being. [Required destiny value: 2000]

"Only three hundred? Wasn't the first time a thousand?" Cao Meng blinked, but then felt relieved.

The first Plunder had a shocking impact on Her Majesty the Empress's body and mind.

Using the same method for the second and third time naturally resulted in a sharp drop in effectiveness.

Three hundred is three hundred then.

Another item appeared on the Exchange bar.

The thousand illusions mask dug out of his ancestor's urn, twelve hundred!

That was worth about two and a half dragon tiger golden elixirs.

This Senior Brother Wang Han really has commendable filial piety, tidying up his ancestor's ashes whenever he's free.

Unfortunately, his destiny value wasn't enough. Otherwise... The moment he thought of destiny value, Cao Meng subconsciously looked toward his Revered Master... Should he go all out again?

"I should rest," Cao Meng shook his head.

Charging recklessly at the same place won't yield good results; he needed to change his approach.

Furthermore, his Revered Master was currently his captive, and the crisis was temporarily averted.

But this wasn't entirely safe.

Given his Revered Master's status as the ruling Empress, it was impossible for her to remain holed up indefinitely.

Moreover, she had a very powerful old loyal dog by her side.

This old loyal dog was also key when the Empress seized the Great Zhou's Divine Artifact of the nation years ago.

This person was deeply trusted by Wu Feiyan and could enter the Empress's bedchamber without announcement, always appearing and disappearing mysteriously.

If the old loyal dog hadn't been away on business outside the Holy Capital, Cao Meng wouldn't have had the slightest chance of successfully rebelling against his Revered Master.

Therefore, he had to leave before the old loyal dog returned.

However, before that, he needed to boost his strength again.

Having entered the Pill Realm with his Cultivation Base, he was now counted among the ranks of Grandmaster experts.

He already possessed Divine Weapons and sharp blades; the seven absolute spirit swords he had nurtured for ten years were already unparalleled, and since he had cultivated them carefully, their power was certainly formidable.

What he lacked now were means of combat.

Although his two great talents were both Saint Grade, they were auxiliary and not suited for direct confrontation.

The most urgent task now was to Plunder a combat talent to stack a BUFF for himself.

Speaking of talent, a small portion of people in this world are born with various talents, both combat-type and auxiliary-type.

For example, some are born with the Sword Spirit Body, some are skilled at controlling wind, fire, thunder, and ice, some possess innate Divine Power, some are fast, and others have extremely strong defensive talents, and so on. These talents are equivalent to BUFFs, and when combined with corresponding Cultivation and combat methods, they can often unleash astonishing power.

The strength of talents is also divided into grades, from low to high: Yellow, Profound, Earth, Heaven, Saint~

The stronger the talent, the higher the combat power, naturally.

Saint Grade talents are definitely the standard equipment for Sons of Luck.

The original owner did possess two Saint Grade talents.

It was just a pity that one hidden talent hadn't been developed in time.

The other one, the Blood Spirit Sacred Body, was indeed powerful, but unfortunately, it was an auxiliary talent.

However, the original owner's family background couldn't support him, making him a target due to his treasure... As a result, he was used by the Empress as a sword-nurturing tool, which actually harmed his Luck.

If Cao Meng hadn't Transmigrated and replaced the original owner, he probably wouldn't have escaped the fate of being sacrificed to the sword.

"Where should I go to Plunder?"

Talents vary in strength. It costs five hundred Luck points for one chance to Plunder; if he Plundered a trash Yellow-grade talent, that would be disgusting.

There were few available targets: first, successful Cultivators, and second, Geniuses and Prodigies who had yet to rise.

To Plunder someone's talent, he first had to defeat and control them.

After thinking it over, there were two suitable locations.

One was White Deer Academy, which was one of the Four Sacred Academies of the Nine Kingdoms of the Eastern Continent.

The academy gathered elite Geniuses from the Great Zhou, Great Liang, and Northern Wei Imperial Dynasties, and there were quite a few talented Prodigies.

Cao Meng himself was a Disciple of White Deer Academy, and his Revered Master held the title of Vice Headmaster there.

Finding a target here shouldn't be difficult, but the academy's Genius Disciples either had extraordinary backgrounds or were highly valued by the academy's upper echelons, making it very difficult to secretly Plunder their talents.

The second place was the Imperial Prison, managed by the Eastern Depot, which housed many bandits and dissenters who had opposed his Revered Master... Cao Meng pondered briefly and came up with a plan...

Around noon, Wu Feiyan slowly woke up. The moment she opened her eyes, she saw the Evil Disciple engrossed in artistic creation.

Page after page of lifelike character illustrations, presented like a comic strip on clean rice paper.

There were a total of one hundred and eight illustrations, all masterpieces of the mortal world.

The beauties in the paintings were incredibly realistic.

The Rebellious Disciple... really drew well.

Wu Feiyan moved closer and snatched the freshly finished album into her hands.

Cao Meng smiled slightly: "Since Master likes it, keep it and enjoy it slowly."

"Hmph!" Wu Feiyan lightly snorted, not acting coy like a young girl.

Cao Meng didn't mind. He pointed to a stack of neatly folded clothes beside the imperial bed and spoke frankly:

"There, Master. Those are the clothes I prepared for you. Change into them. Your Disciple is going to tie you up and wander the world."

"What?" Wu Feiyan's expression suddenly changed.

This Rebellious Disciple was quite thorough in his thinking; he had actually seen through her scheme.

Originally, Wu Feiyan had planned to play along with Cao Meng for a few days.

Once her old loyal servant returned, given his secretive status—he never needed to formally announce his presence—she could escape the Rebellious Disciple's clutches as soon as he appeared.

But now... Seeing her hesitate, a malicious smile appeared on Cao Meng's face:

"Alright, Master, I am the butcher and you are the fish. You should hurry and change, don't force your Disciple to help you."

"Rebellious Disciple, just you wait!"

Wu Feiyan lightly snorted, gritting her teeth: "Turn around, don't look."

"Haha, Master, you're a grown woman, still shy." Although he said this, Cao Meng obediently turned away.

Wu Feiyan was quick. In a moment, a black immortal dress adorned with starlight appeared on Wu Feiyan's tall and voluptuous body. On her feet were a pair of small black leather shoes, and two thin red silk ribbons were tied around her Divine Grade jade feet, which shone like snow.

On her head, her black hair was styled into a high bun and crown, and her starry eyes were like water.

Beautiful!

Majestic~

A Peerless Grade Empress.

For such a Revered Master, the Disciple's filial piety must surely be overflowing.

Cao Meng rested his chin in his right hand: "It seems like something is missing?"

"Right, it would be better if there was some silk. Black, white... either would do~"

"Alright, can we go now!" Wu Feiyan glanced at the Evil Disciple, her tone indifferent.

"No rush!" Cao Meng pointed to the paper and brush on the table and smiled wickedly.

"Before we leave, please trouble Revered Master to leave a letter for Uncle Bai, saying that a rare treasure has appeared in the Yunmeng Ancient Marsh, and you plan to go try your Luck and relax..."

"Heh heh, Evil Disciple, you are quite thoughtful." A hint of mockery flashed across Wu Feiyan's exquisitely beautiful face.

She walked gracefully to the table, picked up the brush, and began to write.

Cao Meng stared intently at Wu Feiyan while warning her: "Master, I'm warning you, don't try any tricks, otherwise, you know the consequences..."

Wu Feiyan looked up at the ill-tempered Thief Cao and immediately abandoned the idea of leaving a hidden clue in the letter.

This Rebellious Disciple was extremely cunning. If he noticed anything amiss, her hundred-odd catties would be at risk of falling apart.

"Let's go!" After finishing the letter, the Empress tossed the brush aside, stood up, and turned to walk out of the hall.

Cao Meng grabbed his Revered Master: "Who said we were leaving this way?"

Hearing this, the Empress immediately became angry: "Do you intend to escape underground?"

"Exactly, your Disciple intends to go underground," Cao Meng said with a smile.

"Please, Revered Master, open the secret passage. Your Disciple wants to leave through the secret passage~"

"You~"

This bastard.

Only successive emperors knew how to open the palace's secret passage. It was not only an escape route but also the location where previous emperors hid treasures.

This Rebellious Disciple, he actually... "What, Revered Master, are you unwilling?"

Feeling the pressure from the Rebellious Disciple, the Tsundere Empress backed down.

She let out a light snort, turned around, lifted the bedding on the imperial bed, and tapped the smooth, seamless wooden board in a rhythmic, orderly manner.

Click~

With a soft sound, the imperial bed automatically slid to the left, revealing an underground passage.

"There!" The Empress brushed off her sleeves and glared hatefully at Cao Meng, but deep in her eyes was a hint of schadenfreude.

Was the Royal Secret Passage that easy to navigate?

Evil Disciple, you brought this upon yourself!

"Very good, Master, you are indeed cooperative." Cao Meng smiled slightly, beckoning with his finger toward a small sword box about a foot long nearby.

"Sword, come!"

The sword box automatically flew into his palm.

Inside the box were the seven spirit swords Cao Meng had spent ten years cultivating with great effort.

Cao Meng waved his finger, the sword box automatically opened, and the seven small swords inside lined up in a row.

With a thought, one small sword flew out and landed in his palm.

"Revered Master, please," Cao Meng placed the small purple sword in front of his Revered Master.

"What do you mean?" Wu Feiyan looked at Cao Meng, puzzled.

Cao Meng said with a look of helplessness: "Your Disciple knows that Revered Master misunderstands him deeply, and now you can't wait to bite him to death to vent your hatred."

"Therefore, to ensure absolute safety, please, Revered Master, hold this sharp sword in your mouth and lead the way... If Revered Master makes any sudden move, your Disciple guarantees that Revered Master and Disciple will go to the Yellow Springs together!"

"Vicious! Thief!"

"I'll fight you to the death~"

Her plan to escape was thwarted again, and the treasure trove of previous emperors was about to be Plundered by this Evil Disciple.

Her Majesty the Empress finally couldn't hold back. Waving her hands, she lunged madly toward the Rebellious Disciple.

Hmm~