Chapter 357: King Chi's Ruthlessness

"Your Majesty, what happened?" Hearing the commotion, Gongsun Quan rushed inside, a large group of guards following close behind him.

As soon as he entered the room, he saw King Chi bathed in golden flames.

King Chi's expression was incredibly solemn. The kingly pressure radiating from her was almost tangible, suffocating everyone in the room.

Realizing the gravity of the situation, Dongfang Yuan barked, "Everyone except Gongsun Quan, get out! No one is allowed to enter without my orders!"

In an instant, only the three of them remained in the room.

"A major incident has occurred," Dongfang Yuan said urgently. "Supreme Heaven has appeared!"

Even Gongsun Quan, a man who always seemed to hold the bead of wisdom in his grasp, paled slightly. "Where? Who brought it back?"

King Chi said in a deep voice, "I can sense that Supreme Heaven is right here in the Chiyan Empire. I don't know who brought it back, but I am certain it wasn't the Nightmare Squad we dispatched earlier."

Dongfang Yuan suddenly thought of a possibility, his body trembling. "Could it be the former king..."

"Impossible!" King Chi cut him off decisively. "Father fell into the Abyss with critical injuries. He has been missing for so many years; he must be dead by now. I know exactly how strong he was—he was no match for the Pope of the Primal Divine Cult. The Abyss is a place not even the Pope dares to tread, let alone him!

"Rather than guessing it is my father, I think it is more likely... the Primal Pope! He fought against my father; there is no way he doesn't know about Supreme Heaven's existence. Furthermore, he suddenly attacked my clone earlier... Dammit! After my clone lost consciousness, I had absolutely no way of knowing what happened next."

Since the matter involved Supreme Heaven, King Chi's intellect had made a rare appearance, even though her guess was still entirely wrong.

"Your Majesty, the most pressing matter right now is not investigating the other party's identity," Gongsun Quan said solemnly. "With an unknown individual appearing in the Chiyan Empire carrying Supreme Heaven, I find it hard not to suspect their motives. Lord Dongfang, please contact the temple keeper of the Imperial Ancestral Temple immediately. Every member of the Royal Family has had a Life Tablet set up in the Imperial Ancestral Temple since birth. Have the temple keeper check the locations of all Royal Family members through their Life Tablets!"

Dongfang Yuan did not waste a second and immediately made the call. A moment later, the temple keeper's panicked voice rang out from the other end of the line.

"The Thirteenth Highness has disappeared!!"

"What!?" Dongfang Yuan's expression drastically changed. "Then hurry up and find him! The Thirteenth Highness..."

Gongsun Quan pressed down on Dongfang Yuan's hand, signaling him to hang up.

He shook his head. "It's no use. Since the other party was able to bring Supreme Heaven back from the Nightmare World, their strength is unfathomable. Furthermore, Your Majesty took away a large number of elites for the Seven Kings Council. The hope of finding the Thirteenth Highness is slim."

"Your Majesty." Gongsun Quan cupped his hands toward King Chi, his expression grave. "Supreme Heaven has appeared in the Chiyan Empire, and now a member of the Royal Family has gone missing. Putting these two events together, the mastermind's objective is already obvious. They want to lift the restrictions on Supreme Heaven."

"Dammit!" King Chi's breathtakingly beautiful face filled with rage. "I will return to the empire right now!"

Gongsun Quan shook his head. "There isn't enough time."

"Then what do you suggest we do? Are we supposed to just watch helplessly as Supreme Heaven falls into someone else's hands!?"

Gongsun Quan fell silent. He slowly lowered his hands, straightened his posture, and gazed at the furious King Chi. "Your Majesty, I have a plan. This plan will definitely shatter the mastermind's scheme, but... it goes against the harmony of heaven."

"At a time like this? If you have a plan, spit it out! Supreme Heaven is the foundation of the Chiyan Empire. The empire is about to be lost, so why should we care about the harmony of heaven?" King Chi urged anxiously.

Gongsun Quan took a deep breath, his gaze burning bright. "Your Majesty, you should still remember that the former king placed two fail-safes on Supreme Heaven. The first is that only members of the Royal Family can use Supreme Heaven. The second is to prevent members of the Royal Family from being held hostage and used by those with ulterior motives: after birth, every member of the Royal Family has a restriction placed within their bloodline. If an accident occurs, the person with the highest degree of bloodline awakening can activate the restriction, triggering the Nirvana Holy Flame within the bloodlines of the Royal Family members..."

At this point, he stopped speaking, because what followed was far too taboo to say out loud.

King Chi's face involuntarily paled, her snow-white teeth biting tightly into her lip.

"Gongsun Quan!" Dongfang Yuan erupted in fury. "Do you know what you are saying!? You want Her Majesty to kill all the members of the Royal Family? That is tantamount to severing the empire's own future!"

Gongsun Quan's expression remained indifferent. "This is the best method."

"You!" Dongfang Yuan turned his head to look at King Chi. "Your Majesty, you absolutely must not do this. It will shake the very foundations of the empire. Moreover, we still cannot be certain that someone is trying to break Supreme Heaven's restrictions. Perhaps the Thirteenth Highness's disappearance is just a coincidence, or perhaps the former king has truly returned..."

"Say no more." King Chi's voice suddenly became extraordinarily cold. "There are no such coincidences in this world. A member of the Royal Family didn't go missing any earlier or later, but precisely when Supreme Heaven returned. Do you think that's possible? If father had truly returned, there is no way the empire wouldn't have received the news. Therefore..."

She sounded as if she were explaining it to Dongfang Yuan, but also as if she were convincing herself.

"Your Majesty!" Dongfang Yuan said urgently. "Even so, you can't kill all the members of the Royal Family! You could just activate the restriction in the Thirteenth Highness's bloodline..."

King Chi shook her head. "The mastermind was able to bring back Supreme Heaven and freely enter the Imperial Palace to abduct a member of the Royal Family. Against such eerie methods, you might be able to defend once, but could you defend a second time? Triggering the Nirvana Holy Flame in the royal bloodlines is meant to catch the enemy off guard.

"Although the Nirvana Holy Flame is strong, it isn't completely without a counter. Once the mastermind is prepared, succeeding a second time will be difficult."

Dongfang Yuan's face looked ashen. "Are you going to slaughter the entire Royal Family just for a sliver of possibility? Your Majesty, those are your siblings and relatives!"

The coldness on King Chi's face grew even more intense. At this very moment, the aura radiating from her no longer seemed like a facade, but that of a true sovereign ruling over the world—domineering and utterly heartless.

"As members of the Royal Family, they must naturally be prepared to sacrifice themselves for the empire at any time. The empire has nurtured them for many years; now, it is time for them to solve the empire's problems."

...

...

Dream World.

"I wish... to lift the restrictions on Supreme Heaven!" The expressionless Thirteenth Highness placed the hand bearing Supreme Heaven onto the mountain of treasures. Like a cold machine, he mechanically made his wish.

Suddenly, Supreme Heaven erupted with dark golden light. Enveloped in the glow, the mountain of treasures began to frantically shrink at a visible rate.

Watching this scene, Su Mu frowned slightly. More than half had already been consumed, yet the sacrifice still hadn't stopped. Just how many treasures had the Royal Family sacrificed back then to shackle Supreme Heaven?

Soon, the mountain of treasures vanished completely, wholly absorbed by Supreme Heaven.

"Leader, the wish has failed," the Thirteenth Highness said expressionlessly.

Su Mu felt slightly surprised. Was the Chiyan Imperial Family this wealthy in the past? No, that wasn't right. It must be that the foundation he had laid down in the past was simply too immense.

Judging from Longyuan's attitude, the former Mad King must have been the strongest of his era. Naturally, the empire he commanded at the time would have also been the strongest. Furthermore, in that turbulent era, a large number of Nightmare Creatures invaded, making transcendent materials common everywhere. Thus, their wealth far exceeded what it was today.

Even though the Chiyan Empire was now the weakest empire, it had once been rich.

"Sacrifice these two treasures as well." Su Mu brought out the two supreme treasures of the Primal Divine Cult, the Gold Crown and the Gold Scepter, and handed them to the Thirteenth Highness.

The Thirteenth Highness took the treasures and continued wishing. "I wish... to lift... to lift..."

The Thirteenth Highness suddenly stuttered. His originally expressionless face abruptly twisted into a hideous grimace, and his body temperature rapidly skyrocketed.

Su Mu narrowed his eyes. Moving like lightning, he pinned down the Thirteenth Highness, pouring boundless spiritual power into the boy's body.

However, the moment his spiritual power entered—boom!