Outside the main hall.

Ji Yaoxue gazed into the distance with a dejected look in her eyes.

There was nothing over there and the person from earlier on had already left.

Perfected Lord Ming Ze arrived beside Ji Yaoxue and asked curiously, “You knew that he wasn’t dead a long time ago, empress?”

“That’s right, I knew it 15 years ago.”

“15 years ago?”

Perfected Lord Ming Ze frowned with a pensive expression.

A moment later, he shuddered and blurted, “That middle-aged monk at Dragon Burial Valley!”

Ji Yaoxue nodded.

“That explains why the monk wanted to save you despite the tremendous risk and even escorted you all the way out,”

Perfected Lord Ming Ze lamented, “That monk was decisive to kill and his attacks were sharp. Not only that, his thought process was frighteningly detailed and he did not seem like someone from the Buddhist sects.”

“At that time, I had a fleeting thought that the means of the monk resembled someone. To think that it was really him.”

When Perfected Lord Ming Ze saw Ji Yaoxue remain in silence, he knew that everything that happened today had quite a huge blow for the child.

The betrayal of a kin was not something that everyone could deal with.

The sudden appearance and disappearance of that man also dealt a huge blow to her.

Perfected Lord Ming Ze did not know how to console her and merely asked, “Why did he choose to avoid meeting you?”

“He’s afraid of implicating me as well as the Great Zhou Dynasty,”

Ji Yaoxue said softly, “Senior Ming Ze, do you really think that he triggered a beast stampede and committed a massacre just because he wanted to vent his frustrations over the death of his kin?”

“Was it not?” Perfected Lord Ming Ze froze for a moment.

“Of course not,” Ji Yaoxue shook her head.

Frowning, Perfected Lord Ming Ze asked, “If that’s the case, why would he say that?”

Ji Yaoxue replied, “It’s because that’s the only way it wouldn’t be linked to me or the Great Zhou Dynasty. That way, no major sect or faction would direct their rage towards the Great Zhou Dynasty.”

Perfected Lord Ming Ze was enlightened.

Su Zimo’s identity was truly way too sensitive.

He had offended way too many factions 20 years ago!

There was nowhere for him left in the North Region!

Given the circumstances back then, even anyone who sheltered Su Zimo’s brother would bring upon great troubles for themselves, let alone Su Zimo himself.

It would have been fine if Su Zimo had died at the bottom of the Dragon Burial Valley.

But now that he was alive, he had to deal with the pursuit of the ten upper sects, four gentry clans and major factions such as Glass Palace!

That was why he chose to sever all ties with the Great Zhou Dynasty so as to not implicate the latter.

It wouldn’t be long before the battle at Cang Lang Mountain Range was made known to the entire North Region.

At that time, countless sects, factions and cultivators would partake in the hunt for Su Zimo, whether or not they had any grudges with him.

That was because Su Zimo possessed the divine phoenix bone and many secret skills!

Anyone who could obtain Su Zimo’s possessions would take over him to become the new strongest monster incarnate in history!

Everyone was hunting down a prey.

And Su Zimo was none other than the prey.

Perfected Lord Ming Ze sighed gently. “It’s tough on him.”

He knew clearly well that from this day forth, Su Zimo would have to bear the infamy of being called a violent and bloodthirsty demon et cetera.

Nobody would express any gratitude to him.

That was because everyone would deem Su Zimo as a violent and cruel demon whose hands were tainted with the blood of countless humans just because he wanted to vent his frustrations!

Since he was not a human, he was a common enemy for everyone!

Ji Yaoxue vaguely realized that the two of them may never meet again after this departure.

“Empress, let’s head back,”

Perfected Lord Ming Ze said softly, “The Great Zhou has no more worries now that the allied army of the three dynasties have withdrawn. I believe that from today on, nobody in the entire Great Zhou will dare to question you.”

Ji Yaoxue sighed and turned to leave.

…

Because of the passing of his kin, Su Zimo appeared and triggered a beast stampede to murder millions of cultivators and a hundred Nascent Souls in a town!

The piece of news rippled through the entire North Region like a whirlwind.

A shocking wave was stirred in the cultivation world of the North Region once again!

“How can that be? Everyone witnessed him leaping down the Dragon Burial Valley 20 years ago! How is he still alive?”

“Millions of cultivators! How strong!”

“I heard that he hasn’t managed to cultivate to become a fiend demon. If so, how did he manage to kill a hundred Nascent Souls? Could his strength have grown to such a terrifying degree?”

“I think the Nascent Souls fell into an ambush and their spirit energies and Essence Spirits were locked.”

“Is he declaring war against the humans?!”

It was a common topic of discussion among all the cultivators of the North Region.

Initially, the cultivation world had calmed down with the imminent opening of the intermediate ancient battlefield because all the major sects and factions were busy preparing to send their disciples inside.

However, the piece of news stirred the entire North Region!

The number of cultivators in the Great Zhou Dynasty increased significantly.

All the major sects and factions moved – all of them wanted to be the first to hunt down Su Zimo.

Cultivators of the ten upper sects, four gentry clans, two aristocratic families and even super sects such as Glass Palace and Malevolent Earth Sect appeared one after another in search of Su Zimo.

It was almost impossible for Su Zimo to continue hiding given the current circumstances!

However, for 10 consecutive days, nobody found Su Zimo.

Even Dharma Characteristics were alerted for this period of time.

It was said that Dao Lords of Glass Palace visited Ethereal Peak personally to capture Su Zimo but to no avail.

Within the capital of Great Zhou, powerful spirit consciousnesses would sweep past daily to check every last corner of the capital.

It was as though Su Zimo had vanished into thin air.

Nobody knew where he was.

Suddenly, a spirit crane that arrived in the vicinity of Glass Palace caused yet another huge stir!

There was a declaration written on it.

“You had better not send any cultivators into the ancient battlefield, or I’ll murder each and every single one of them I see! Blood will be paid by blood for the 13 cities of Yan Country!”

It was signed with a name… Su Zimo!

The fact that nobody from Glass Palace stood out to deny it meant that it was probably true.

The piece of news caused a huge uproar.

There was someone in this world who dared to threaten Glass Palace!

This was a declaration of war!

A Golden Core was declaring war against a massive titan of history in Tianhuang Mainland!

That was courage that no one could match!

There were no scheming or conniving plots.

It was a declaration of war in bright daylight!

He threatened Glass Palace under the watch of the entire cultivation world!

If they dared to send anyone into the ancient battlefield, everyone would be murdered by Su Zimo!

Blood will be paid by blood for the 13 cities of Yan Country!

A full 20 years had passed.

Nobody expected Su Zimo to survive.

Less than that, nobody expected this monster incarnate to reappear with such a domineering stance that he would dare to trample on the dignity of Glass Palace and declare war against them!

The entire cultivation world was in a full uproar and discussions were strife.

“Steel is easily snapped if it’s too rigid. That lad is way too ballsy to dare to provoke Glass Palace as a Golden Core realm spirit demon. I think he has a death wish!”

“I don’t think so. In my opinion, I think he’s very smart.”

“Huh? Why do you say that?”

“If he charges at Glass Palace directly, that would be having a death wish. However, he’s very smart to shift the fight onto the ancient battlefield.”

“So what?”

“That lad murdered Xi Wuya 20 years ago and can be considered as the true number one Perfected Being of the North Region! With the restriction of the ancient battlefield at the Golden Core realm, he would be equivalent to a god within! How could anyone from Glass Palace be a match for him?”

“That might not be true. Don’t forget that a Void Reversion crushed his Golden Core entirely, that’s undeniable. Furthermore, that lad had no spirit energy in the battle at Cang Lang Mountain Range. In my opinion, his strength has dropped instead.”