Chapter 450: The Plan of the Great Yu

Wu Youdao gnashed his teeth, a fierce struggle waging within his heart. As the illustrious sixth Emperor of Yu, the man destined to overthrow the Great Xia and restore the radiant glory of the Great Yu, how could he possibly yield and speak the truth under a mere modicum of intimidation!

He was a sovereign who had weathered tumultuous storms, a ruler who had slain men and witnessed rivers of blood; the trifling threat of being refined into an artifact spirit was nowhere near enough to frighten him!

Just as Wu Youdao was about to speak, he heard Lu Yang musing thoughtfully from the side: "It is often said that history is written by the victors. The Dao Seeking Sect has always maintained excellent relations with the imperial court, so we could perhaps consult with the royal historians to perform a little artistic embellishment regarding your tale."

"If you confess honestly, we shall have the historians record that after your capture, you remained unyielding unto death, enduring ten thousand forms of torture without ever leaking a single shred of intelligence, revealing a spine of pure iron."

"Even the Xia Emperor would praise you as a wise ruler possessing the talent to ascend to immortality, lamenting only that you were born in the wrong era—noting that had you continued to rule as Emperor in the Great Yu Dynasty, you could have propelled the empire into an even greater age of prosperity, your genius proving no lesser than that of your progenitor, the First Yu Emperor."

"Conversely, if you refuse to utter a single word, we shall have the historians write that upon your capture, you wept bitterly, imploring us to spare your life, loudly proclaiming the Great Xia to be the true orthodox lineage while declaring the Great Yu Dynasty far inferior, or perhaps writing that our Great Xia treats captives with utmost benevolence, such that you were served fine wine and succulent meats every single day within the Dao Seeking Sect, living a life so joyous that you forgot all about Yu..."

"I will confess everything."

Wu Youdao spoke up instantly, cold sweat drenching his back the moment he heard Lu Yang's words.

He had already failed and been captured, his life and death no longer within his own hands, and ascending to immortality was now an absolute impossibility; the only thing he still cared about was his reputation, and according to Lu Yang's proposition, this would be more agonizing than having his soul scattered to the winds—he would be mocked, reviled, and left to stink for ten thousand generations.

Wu Youdao glared venomously at Lu Yang, but Lu Yang bore no psychological burden whatsoever, completely ignoring his gaze.

The Eldest Senior Sister cast a surprised glance at Lu Yang, never expecting such a method to exist, for she had been preparing to use her old techniques of interrogation through torture to make these two confess.

Extending her jade-like hand, the golden bell upon her wrist chimed softly, raising a curtain of light that separated Wu Youdao from Venerable Xuanlei, intending to conduct the interrogations apart from one another.

"What was your plan in Huangzhou?"

"The Grand Preceptor told the Sovereign... told me that the power of Great Xia's national destiny was the crucial obstacle preventing our rise, and that he needed to thoroughly study its influence on Great Xia; thus, a plan was devised to seize the national destiny of Huangzhou, so that once it was understood, it could be used as nourishment for my Dragon-Tiger Qi, thereby increasing my future chances of achieving immortality by a fraction."

"How does your Great Yu intend to rise?"

"The complete scope of the ascension plan is known only to the First Grand Preceptor; both I and the Second Grand Preceptor only know a portion of it, though ever since I awakened, I have never once laid eyes upon that legendary First Grand Preceptor, and it has always been the Second Grand Preceptor plotting alongside me."

The First Grand Preceptor had already vanished before Wu Youdao was even born, and to Wu Youdao, that first Grand Preceptor was a figure shrouded in myth.

"The Grand Preceptor and I planned to ally with the Demon Domain, the Sea Race, and the Demonic Sect, so that when the Great Age truly arrives, we could strike Great Xia from both within and without, seizing the reins of power in a single stroke, whereupon I would ascend as the Yu Emperor."

The Immortal Fairy felt that the first half of the plan Wu Youdao spoke of sounded remarkably familiar, as though she had heard it somewhere before.

Lu Yang fell into contemplation; Wu Youdao's plan was formulated in an incredibly crude fashion, serving merely as a general keynote, which meant the true mastermind behind the strategy had to be the two Grand Preceptors.

This also aligned with historical records, which stated that during the early period of the Great Yu Dynasty, the Yu Emperor and the Grand Preceptor shared a close bond; the Grand Preceptor possessed the talent to govern the world and devised strategies for the sovereign, while the Yu Emperor followed good advice readily, the two complementing each other to foster the prosperity of the Great Yu Dynasty.

It was impossible for every Yu Emperor to possess the talent to govern a state; Wu Youdao, for instance, merely possessed high cultivation talent but lacked any ability to rule a nation.

"You would become the Yu Emperor? Then what of the First Yu Emperor?"

The First Yu Emperor was the strongest individual of the Great Yu Dynasty; according to historical records, he fought across all quarters, finally overthrowing the Great Qi to unify the world and establish the Great Yu Dynasty, ruling for three thousand years before his internal wounds flared up due to years of constant warfare, leading to his death from illness.

Lu Yang maintained his doubts regarding this claim; it was not as though he had never interacted with supreme powerhouses, so how could the First Yu Emperor, as the strongest cultivator of the Great Yu Dynasty, have died so simple a death?

"The progenitor is truly dead; after succeeding the throne as Yu Emperor, I even went to pay respects before his corpse," Wu Youdao stated with absolute certainty, for had the First Yu Emperor not perished, he would never have agreed to the Grand Preceptor's plan.

After all, with the First Yu Emperor still around, it would never be his turn to become the new Yu Emperor and obtain the opportunity for immortality.

"How many of you have awakened at present, and what are their cultivation realms?"

"There are thirty-two in the Body Integration Stage and seven in the Tribulation Transmutation Stage."

Lu Yang frowned; this number was far greater than what Venerable Scourge had confessed, as Venerable Scourge had only mentioned two individuals in the Tribulation Transmutation Stage.

It appeared that Venerable Scourge, despite being in the Tribulation Transmutation Stage, was not particularly important to the Great Yu Dynasty's plans, occupying a mere peripheral position.

When an early-stage Tribulation Transmutation cultivator was considered peripheral, the hidden strength of Great Yu was terrifying indeed.

"What are the specific realms of those seven in the Tribulation Transmutation Stage?"

"Three are in the early stage, two in the mid stage, and two in the late stage; the latter four are still in slumber, and as for whether there are other Tribulation Transmutation cultivators, I do not know."

Lu Yang calculated the Tribulation Transmutation cultivators of the Great Yu Dynasty he had encountered: Venerable Scourge, Venerable Xuanlei, and Venerable Shaman, which happened to make exactly three early-stage Tribulation Transmutation cultivators.

"Where are these four mid and late-stage Tribulation Transmutation cultivators slumbering?"

"The Grand Preceptor knows, I do not."

"What are the realms of the two Grand Preceptors?"

"No one knows the realm of the First Grand Preceptor; I have questioned several powerhouses who met him, and some say he was but half a step away from immortality, while others claim he had already proven his Dao Fruit and achieved the status of an immortal, while the Second Grand Preceptor is a Half-Immortal level powerhouse."

When Wu Youdao mentioned that the First Grand Preceptor might be at the Immortal realm, a look of profound adoration surfaced within his eyes.

Lu Yang, however, remained quite calm; nowadays, whenever anyone mentioned an immortal, his mind was entirely filled with the images of the Immortal Fairy and those four unfortunate souls.

He simply could not summon any sense of adoration toward immortals anymore.

The so-called Half-Immortal level powerhouses were simply Tribulation Transmutation cultivators who possessed the embryonic form of a Dao Fruit.

Lu Yang only knew one Half-Immortal cultivator, who was the third-in-command of the Immortal Lineage, the Immortal of Longevity.

"Assuming the Huangzhou plan succeeded, what was your next step?"

"A Tribulation Transmutation cultivator would take action, shrouding a certain city in Jizhou with their rules to see if the power of those rules could transform the inhabitants into subjects of Great Yu."

"Which city?"

"It would be chosen at random."

The Eldest Senior Sister repeated the questions to Venerable Xuanlei, who knew far less intelligence than Wu Youdao, though his words served well enough as corroborating testimony.

The Eldest Senior Sister felt it necessary to share the intelligence Wu Youdao had provided with the imperial court and the other four Great Immortal Sects, especially regarding the matter in Jizhou, so that complete preparations could be made.

Bound with chains, she secured the thoroughly refined soul of Venerable Shaman and handed the other end of the chains to Lu Yang.

"I shall deliver these two to the Prisoner Peak and subsequently make a trip to the Imperial Capital; you are to hand this person's soul over to the Fifth Elder."

Watching the departing figure of the Eldest Senior Sister, the Immortal Fairy suddenly snapped out of her daze.

"Ah, I forgot to ask for contribution points!"

The second chapter will be out before eleven o'clock.

(End of Chapter)