To achieve immortality, I cultivate using Qi Luck

Chapter 1081: Chapter 440 Xian An Mutiny_2 Chapter 1081: Chapter 440 Xian An Mutiny_2 With the support of King Rui, Zhou Country, which was still the dominant power in the world at the time, began to allocate many resources towards He Ba Yuan.

The path to the Second Realm of the Inborn that he had previously interrupted was now unfolding once again.

After ten or so years of perseverance, it was five years ago that he finally broke through the Inborn bottleneck and became a Grandmaster of the Second Realm, after taking dozens of elixirs bestowed by King Rui.

However, at that time, Zhou Country was at its zenith, and the Zhou Emperor was strong and vigorous.

As for abdication, it was uncertain how many years away that was.

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Even though the Emperor’s sons had already begun to vie for the throne, signaling the start of a struggle for succession,

with the formidable Emperor still present, the dispute remained within a controlled scope—no one dared to act out of line.

Under such circumstances, revealing He Ba Yuan’s strength could indeed strengthen his bargaining chips, but the effect would merely be as such.

On the contrary, this might provoke dread among those brothers who also harbored thoughts of succession, and it could even incur the dread of his father, the Emperor.

After all, this was a Grandmaster of the Second Realm of the Inborn, equivalent to a reserve force general.

To a country, the significance of one general is no less than that of a million Elite Army.

If his father, in the name of the righteousness between Two Countries, directly asked Zhou Country for He Ba Yuan, would Zhou Mingyu give him up or not?

Therefore, if one were to scrutinize this situation, it would provide little benefit while concealing great risks.

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In light of this, instead of immediately publicizing the news of He Ba Yuan’s breakthrough, Zhou Mingyu decided to keep it as a hidden card, ready to unsheathe his sword at the critical moment and strike a fatal blow to the opponent.

And that moment came swiftly.

In August of this year, Great Liang fell, and his father—the wise and mighty Emperor for the first half of his life, who had only suffered setbacks these past two years—

was unable to escape during the siege by the Chu soldiers; he fell alongside Great Liang and was personally killed by the Chu Emperor.

For Zhou Country, this was undoubtedly a thunderbolt from a clear sky, an unimaginable disaster.

Zhou Country had forever lost a powerful Emperor, a Grandmaster of the Second Realm of the Inborn, and a key figure, causing the kingdom to fracture and no longer remain a unified entity.

However, for King Rui like Zhou Mingyu, who aspired to inherit the throne,

despite concerns about Zhou Country’s waning national strength following his father’s death, he could not mask his excitement and exhilaration.

With the Emperor no longer above him, Zhou Country’s position was left vacant.

Previously, while his father, the Emperor, was young and strong, he had yet to confirm a Crown Prince; it seemed he wished to watch his sons struggle for succession and choose the most capable among them to lead Zhou Country forward in this era of great strife.

This idea was certainly good.

In such turmoil, an Emperor lacking ability is fundamentally unable to lead the country to survive and grow.

But the fundamental prerequisite for all this was to ensure an orderly transition of the throne, to guarantee that the Emperor above would live long enough, safely enough.

However, the sudden rise of Chu State broke all this.

Before the Zhou Emperor could confirm his successor, he had already perished.

With his death, the more than a dozen princes below all became eligible for the throne.

Of course, this was only legal eligibility.

In reality, over the years, the struggle for succession had already eliminated those who were ordinary, mediocre, and incapable.

The ones who truly rose to prominence and were eligible for succession were just the Big Emperor Son, Tai Wang, the Third Son, Xin Wang, the Sixth Son, King Rui, and the Tenth Son, Cheng Wang.

These four princes each had their own advantages—either outstanding personal capabilities, powerful maternal families, or the favor of the Emperor.

As for King Rui Zhou Mingyu amongst his brothers, he was actually the least prominent one.

The Big Emperor Son being the eldest legitimate son, was legally the most suited to inherit the empire, hence some old-fashioned and conservative Ministers leaned towards supporting him for the throne.

The Third Son’s mother was the direct daughter of an Inborn General family within the country.

Using this identity, the Third Son directly garnered the support of a bunch of Inborn Generals from Zhou’s own soil.

Then he married the direct daughter of a Wenwu giant within the country, thereby gaining the support of a large number of Civil official forces.

With connections on both the literary and martial aspects, the faction of Xin Wang, the Third Son, became the largest factional force within Zhou Country.

The Tenth Son, Cheng Wang, was favored by the Emperor simply because of his young age and his resemblance to the Zhou Emperor.

In a system where imperial power is supreme, the support of the Emperor naturally gave the greatest advantage, so he, too, harbored some hope for succession.

Leveraging this advantage, as well as the status of his mother coming from the Cauldron Sect, Cheng Wang also won the support of the Immortal Sect, boosting his strength instantly, and became a hot candidate for succession.

It was only the Sixth Son, Zhou Mingyu, who slowly rose through his personal capabilities.

Ultimately, by garnering support from He Ba Yuan and the remnants of Zhou Country behind him, he gained some presence and was seen as eligible for succession.

However, his strength paled in comparison to his brothers’.

At its peak, Zhou Country had sixty or seventy Inborns, including several Grandmasters of the Second Realm.

In contrast, Zhou Country’s mere five first realm Grandmasters, albeit formidable, were insignificant compared to the entire strength of Zhou Country.

The princes mentioned earlier, although they did not represent the entire Zhou Country, the part of Zhou Country’s forces they represented—couldn’t each bring out a dozen or so Inborns?