Chapter 858: Plotting to Usurp the Throne

The Tribulation Stage cultivator secretly protecting the Emperor of Xia thought this arrangement was rather splendid; partnering with three half-immortals guaranteed absolute safety, leaving him with essentially nothing to do.

In any case, his sole duty was to protect the Emperor of Xia, and he remained indifferent to everything else.

Below, the three newly appointed Grand Generals stepped forward one after another, eager to volunteer for battle and prove their worth.

"I possess the embryonic Form of the Survival of the Fittest Fruit. I can temporarily elevate myself to the level of an immortal body, allowing me to tangle with the Jiang family's immortal for a turn or two." In terms of raw combat power, Ao Ling ranked the highest; she could achieve an immortal physique by letting others attack her before she engaged the Jiang family's immortal.

Jiang Lianyi was ever a helpful soul, and she delighted most in aiding Ao Ling.

"I possess the embryonic Form of the Law of the Jungle Fruit. I can control others, turning everyone in the imperial palace into our people, breaching them from within, and launching a surprise counter-attack against the Jiang family!"

The young tigress, Jin Caiwei, refused to be outdone: "I possess the embryonic Form of the Planar Fruit. I can flatten objects into a single plane. If it ever coalesces into a complete Dao Fruit, the entire world could be flattened into a sheet!"

The three Grand Generals then turned their gazes toward the Prime Minister, curious to see what capabilities this minister, so highly regarded by the Immortal Fairy, possessed.

"……I can commit suicide."

Ao Ling blinked, "?"

The Emperor of Xia reasoned that with his mere Soul Formation cultivation, he was utterly useless for a rebellion; it seemed his only recourse was to use self-termination to vacate the throne, thereby engineering an opportunity for the Soybean Dynasty.

"Now, now, I already said we must use peaceful means. Look at you all, brandishing embryonic Dao Fruits and tossing around suicide."

"Then how exactly are we to overthrow the Great Xia Dynasty through peaceful means?" Ao Ling asked in bewilderment, having already braced herself for a grand brawl with the Jiang family's immortal.

Had it been the Immortal Fairy left entirely to her own devices, it would have been difficult to conceive any viable method, but fortunately, the Immortal Fairy was never truly alone; within her spiritual space, that old lad Lu Yang was actively plotting and advising.

"As the saying goes, 'to plot for power and usurp the throne.' To overthrow Great Xia, we must accomplish the twin steps of plotting for power and usurping the throne. I believe we should usurp the throne first, and plot for power later."

"What does it mean to usurp the throne? Naturally, it means to usurp that very imperial seat resting upon the grand court!"

"The importance of the imperial throne speaks for itself. So many princes have cracked their skulls open competing for it, and is it not all for that single chair?"

"Once we seize the imperial throne, we will have naturally overthrown half of Great Xia."

The Immortal Fairy spoke with absolute gravity: "Therefore, I propose that we slip into the imperial palace and steal that chair!"

"Splendid idea!" Ao Ling and Jiang Lianyi clapped in unison, slapping their hands together with exceptional vigor.

Within the spiritual space, Lu Yang let out a long breath of relief; under his calculated maneuvering, he had finally managed to commute a death sentence into a prison term.

It would be for the best if the Immortal Fairy were caught red-handed and locked away in the celestial dungeons for a year, which might finally grant them some peace.

The traitorous minister Lu Yang had harbored rebellious intent, a heart most vile, deserving of ten thousand deaths.

"Xia Tian, what do you think of this idea?" the Immortal Fairy inquired.

"A masterful stroke."

For once, the Emperor of Xia proved useful.

"I am intimately familiar with the imperial palace; I shall map out our route."

In the dead of night, when all was still, five silhouettes stealthily infiltrated the imperial palace.

Though the First Prince, being of the Body Integration Stage, had no need for sleep or rest, he was no draft mule to toil from dawn to dusk and dusk to dawn without end.

Furthermore, Jiang Qun was currently impersonating the Imperial Father, and for a sickly, frail emperor to work continuously would shatter the illusion of the persona.

It was precisely through this rationalization that he managed to slip away from the inner palace.

"Everyone, take heed: do not deploy your divine sense, lest we startle the snake in the grass," the Immortal Fairy cautioned the group.

According to the scouting the Immortal Fairy had conducted over the past few days, the immortal of the Jiang family resided within the forbidden grounds at the deepest recesses of the palace, paying no heed to the daily occurrences of the court. However, if cultivators of Xiao Ling's caliber used their divine sense to probe about, it would easily draw the immortal's attention.

"Understood," the Emperor of Xia whispered.

The Emperor of Xia was the one who could least afford to use his divine sense; many of the imperial guards possessed cultivation higher than his, and the slightest ripple of his divine sense would be instantly detected.

The five of them were "silhouettes" in the most literal sense. Jin Caiwei invoked her embryonic Planar Fruit, flattening the four of them into two-dimensional states as they glided along the ground.

This measure was primarily taken to accommodate the Emperor of Xia and Lu Yang, whose cultivation bases were so low that infiltrating the palace normally would have invited immediate discovery.

"Has this embryonic form of your Dao Fruit stripped away the concept of 'height,' leaving behind only 'length' and 'width'?" Ao Ling inquired, looking upon Jin Caiwei with a newfound respect.

She had assumed Jin Caiwei would possess an embryonic Soul Fruit just like her father, never imagining it would be an entirely novel concept; such creativity was not to be underestimated.

Even she, if encountering Jin Caiwei's embryonic Dao Fruit for the very first time, would likely be caught off guard.

"You possess some discernment, at least," Jin Caiwei huffed with a smug smirk, having expended immense effort to coalesce this particular embryonic form.

Transforming into a planar state did not grant true invisibility; it merely rendered them exceptionally difficult to perceive.

Yet even if they were discovered, there was no cause for alarm; Jiang Lianyi could employ her embryonic Law of the Jungle Fruit to dominate the minds of any witnesses, forcing them to overlook their presence.

Within the spiritual space, Lu Yang could not help but think: you are merely stealing a chair, is it truly necessary to deploy embryonic Dao Fruits one after another like this?

To think that back in the day, the Second State Preceptor had utilized only a single embryonic Dao Fruit to infiltrate the Ascending Sect.

Aided by the twin embryonic Dao Fruits, the five bodies and six souls arrived smoothly at their destination—the Hall of Great Radiance.

The Hall of Great Radiance stood in profound silence, entirely devoid of life and plunged into darkness. Yet this posed no obstacle; even Lu Yang, who possessed the lowest cultivation, and the Emperor of Xia, who possessed the lowest combat prowess, could discern the layout of the hall by the meager sliver of moonlight, to say nothing of the three ancient half-immortals.

This was not the first visit to the Hall of Great Radiance for Lu Yang and the Immortal Fairy; the previous Grand Assembly of the Orthodox Hegemons had been convened right here, and the prior thrashing of the other four immortal sect masters had also unfolded within these walls.

Stretching before the Hall of Great Radiance was the Dragon Tail Way, a path interspersed with steps and slopes, its surface paved with patterned tiles. Beneath the eaves hung dense clusters of interlocking brackets, while the interior and exterior beams were adorned with colored paintings, and the upper portions of the windows were inlaid with elegant diamond-patterned lattices, every detail steeped in deliberate symbolism.

Yet the most arresting feature was undoubtedly the throne resting at the far end of the Hall of Great Radiance—the seat revered by tens of thousands, the supreme symbol of the Lord of Great Xia.

"We have finally arrived," the Immortal Fairy cheered in a low whisper, closing the distance in a few swift strides to seat herself upon the chair with immense satisfaction.

Jiang Lianyi's eyes lit up, and she instantly produced the four treasures of the study, her brush dancing across the paper to capture the scene.

Within the monochrome ink painting, Lu Yang sat enthroned high above, hands resting upon the armrests, his eyes sharp as a dragon's, exuding an awe-inspiring majesty like the rightful sovereign of the realm. Above his head hung a horizontal plaque bearing the characters "Upright and Honorable," flanked by the high-perched Qin Mirror.

Upon closer inspection, one could even spot the calligrapher's signature tucked into the corner of the plaque—Meng Junzi.

"Fairy, how does it feel to sit upon the imperial throne?" Lu Yang inquired.

The Immortal Fairy shifted her weight slightly, looking rather dissatisfied: "Mediocre at best. It is nowhere near as comfortable as the chairs crafted by Zhu Tian."

No matter how grand a chair symbolizing imperial authority might be, it was ultimately fashioned by craftsmen possessing only a modicum of cultivation; how could it ever compare to an imperial seat personally crafted by Zhu Tian himself?