... You Want to Gift the Extreme Dao Imperial Weapon to This Emperor?

"Though this Emperor is the master of the Divine Flame Imperial Palace, my time in Cultivation has been short, and I have yet to break through to the Saint King realm."

"Meanwhile, the five branch Palace Masters are all Saint King realm experts. Each possesses a Saint King weapon, making every single one of them stronger than this Emperor."

Speaking of the Divine Flame Imperial Palace's current predicament, the Empress knitted her willow-like brows, a deep sorrow lingering in her beautiful eyes.

A beauty's frown.

In Chu Chen's eyes, it possessed an entirely different kind of breathtaking charm.

Chu Chen furrowed his brow and asked:

"Analyze them for me. Among these five branch Palace Masters, who can be trusted? Who cannot?"

Touching upon serious matters, the Empress's expression turned solemn. After a brief moment of contemplation, she parted her rosy lips and slowly explained.

"None of the five branch Palace Masters can be trusted! Geng Yan and Chou Rang appear to be at odds, but in truth, they secretly became Dao companions long ago."

"Tuoba Kuang is relatively weaker in strength. He appears arrogant and brazen, but beneath his rough exterior lies a deep, calculating mind. However, he constantly wavers, shifting his stance whichever way the wind blows. He is an absolute fence-sitter."

"As for Qi Lao'er, his lifespan is nearing its end with only a few years left to live. He has never cared about the palace rebellion, choosing instead to sit on the mountain and watch the tigers fight. His sole obsession is finding an immortality medicine to extend his lifespan, hoping to live a second lifetime."

Empress Lin Shuwang was clearly no mere figurehead. She possessed a thorough understanding of the temperament and disposition of every single branch Palace Master, indicating she had long been making her own preparations.

"Yet I know not why, but this time, Qi Lao'er actually abandoned his long-standing neutrality entirely for your sake, fiercely defending this Emperor."

"It seems this person can be won over to our side~"

Speaking of this, the Empress smiled like a blooming flower, genuinely pleased.

Wrapping his arm around the Empress's slender waist, Chu Chen quietly listened to her analysis of the current landscape.

"Rest assured, wife. The bond between Qi Lao'er and I as master and disciple runs incredibly deep. In this palace struggle, he... he is absolutely one of our people~"

As for his scheming, cheap master Qi Lao'er, Chu Chen had naturally long since figured out exactly how to manipulate him.

Chu Chen knew better than anyone exactly what that old man wanted.

As for which of the two-master or disciple-was the superior chess player, that remained to be seen.

"And what about Bai Yu? What kind of person is he?"

Of the five branch Palace Masters, the Empress had introduced four, conspicuously omitting the Southern Palace Master, Bai Yu. This stirred a flicker of jealousy in Chu Chen's heart:

"Wife, I heard that Bai Yu once pursued you with maddening persistence. Across the entire Divine Flame Imperial Palace and even among the millions of citizens in Shenhuo City, there is not a single soul who doesn't know he covets you~"

Despite his distaste, Chu Chen had to admit the facts.

As the Central Palace Master of the Divine Flame Imperial Palace, Bai Yu was incredibly handsome, possessed an elegant, scholarly aura, and wielded formidable strength.

He spoke with gentle refinement and exuded immense charisma, rendering him highly lethal to almost any woman.

Coupled with the fact that he spent his days in close proximity to Empress Lin Shuwang, this...

"What? Are you jealous?"

The Empress blinked in surprise before catching on, covering her mouth with a soft giggle:

"This Bai Yu is indeed not a terrible person on the surface, but..."

"But this Emperor simply feels nothing for him. In fact, I find him quite detestable!"

"The man appears scholarly and refined, but he is nothing more than a hypocrite. On one hand, he madly pursues this Emperor; on the other, he actively conspires with Geng Yan and the rest to oppose me and apply political pressure..."

"Furthermore, Zhang Ke'er once caught Bai Yu sneaking into Geng Yan's palace in the dead of night..."

Hmm?!

Hearing this, Chu Chen's eyes widened as profound understanding instantly washed over him.

No wonder the Empress kept Bai Yu at such a cold, disgusted distance. So there was this hidden layer of filth.

This Geng Yan was truly not simple!

The Divine Flame Imperial Palace only had five branch Palace Masters. Excluding herself, two of the remaining four were having illicit affairs with her...

No wonder Geng Yan was the loudest and most aggressive voice when it came to opposing the Empress and instigating this palace rebellion~

Of course, the fact that Zhang Ke'er could discover a Saint King realm expert's secret trysts meant she was even more...

Not simple at all~

"What about the Elder council? Supreme Elder Weng Su is also a Saint King realm expert. We cannot ignore her."

Chu Chen knew perfectly well that in this era of the Emperor's Fall-where Great Emperors had vanished and Quasi-Emperors remained hidden from the world-Saint King realm experts stood as the absolute zenith of combat power on the Desolate Ancient Continent.

Despite Weng Su and Qi Lao'er being white-haired and nearing the absolute limits of their lifespans with only a few years remaining, as long as they hadn't breathed their last, these ancient Saint King relics would be terrifyingly lethal if forced into a desperate, life-or-death struggle.

Putting all else aside, since they were doomed to die soon anyway, pushing them too far would just cause them to immediately trigger a Self-Destruction on the spot.

Exactly how apocalyptic was the power of a Saint King realm expert's Self-Destruction?!

Even fellow Saint King realm experts wouldn't be able to withstand the blast, let alone the other Elders, disciples of the Divine Flame Imperial Palace, and the millions of innocent citizens residing within Shenhuo City.

"There is no need to worry too heavily over Weng Su. The Elder council ultimately remains under this Emperor's jurisdiction."

"Her late arrival to rescue me today was primarily because she heard my cultivation realm had plummeted. Seeing the four Palace Masters unite to force my hand while my power waned, she was merely prioritizing her own self-preservation."

The Empress possessed a terrifyingly clear understanding of every single individual within the Divine Flame Imperial Palace. Her judgment of the overarching situation far exceeded Chu Chen's expectations:

"Furthermore, by borrowing the might of your Extreme Dao Imperial Weapon today, this Emperor has already thoroughly beaten her into line."

Chu Chen nodded slowly, giving the Empress an approving thumbs-up.

Some people were simply born to be supreme rulers, and Empress Lin Shuwang was exactly that kind of person.

"Wife, let me show you my, Chu Chen's, ultimate trump card!"

With a wave of his hand, an ancient, unadorned earthen jar materialized out of thin air before the Empress.

"This... what is this?"

The Empress reached out to grasp it, lifting the object up to eye level to examine it meticulously.

"Why is it just a broken earthen jar? So... this was the thing that was poking... poking this Emperor earlier?"

Looking at the pure, bewildered expression on the Empress's face, Chu Chen nodded with profound solemnity, smoothly seizing the chance to change the subject.

"This is the Extreme Dao Imperial Weapon I have refined, the Heaven-Swallowing Magic Jar. It possesses the terrifying power to swallow the heavens and devour the earth."

Whoosh-

The moment those words fell, the Empress, who was holding the Heaven-Swallowing Magic Jar, parted her rosy lips in sheer shock, her delicate body trembling slightly.

An Extreme Dao Imperial Weapon!

A supreme divine weapon personally forged by an ancient Great Emperor through a lifetime of painstaking blood and sweat.

An Extreme Dao Imperial Weapon capable of sinking continents, shattering the sun and moon, eternally protecting holy lands and aristocratic families, and forcing the very Great Dao to bow in submission!!

To think that...

It was actually this remarkably unremarkable, broken earthen jar, currently resting right in the palm of her hand.

The Empress's little heart pounded wildly against her ribs. Heaven and earth be her witness, for a fleeting moment just now, she had genuinely thought this broken jar was too ugly and had been tempted to toss it aside.

"But my cultivation realm is simply too low. I have only achieved initial refinement and cannot mobilize even a ten-thousandth of the Heaven-Swallowing Magic Jar's true power."

Chu Chen shook his head in feigned helplessness while forcibly making up excuses:

"It's all because my strength is too weak to completely control it. Because of that, this Heaven-Swallowing Magic Jar loves to wander around aimlessly, randomly roaming across my body and running everywhere. It's incredibly annoying~"

Buzz buzz buzz~

Barely had Chu Chen finished his sentence when the Heaven-Swallowing Magic Jar, which had been lying quietly in the Empress's palm, instantly began to violently tremble.

The terrifying sword imprints and scars engraved into the jar's clay seemed to awaken in that instant. Strands of eerie, pitch-black light spewed from its mouth, while the body released a tempest of razor-sharp sword Qi that instantly enveloped the entire grand hall.

That apocalyptic Imperial Pressure erupted outward from the Empress's palace once more, aggressively sweeping across the entirety of the Divine Flame Imperial Palace. The five branch Palace Masters, who had only just breathed a sigh of relief, leaped out of their secret Secluded Cultivation chambers in pure panic, their eyes locked onto the central palace in absolute horror and dread.

"Ah... well, although this Heaven-Swallowing Magic Jar is highly disobedient, it's generally still quite reliable."

Chu Chen hadn't expected the Heaven-Swallowing Magic Jar to actually understand human speech and realize he was passing the buck onto it. Flailing in a panic, he rapidly spat out a few forced compliments just before the artifact could fully detonate, barely managing to stabilize the precarious situation.

"So, Elder Weng Su and Qi Lao'er are our people. Tuoba Kuang can be bribed to our side, and Bai Yu is indecisive. That means the only ones we truly need to eliminate are Geng Yan and Chou Rang."

"Wife, I will now completely sever my spiritual connection to the Heaven-Swallowing Magic Jar. You will take over and refine this Extreme Dao Imperial Weapon."

As he spoke, Chu Chen pressed a finger to his glabella. An illusory beam of spiritual light, forming the tether between Chu Chen and the Heaven-Swallowing Magic Jar, instantly materialized within the hall:

"With your peak ninth heaven Great Saint cultivation, you will undoubtedly be able to unleash ten or twenty percent of this Extreme Dao Imperial Weapon's true power. Slaying Geng Yan and Chou Rang should be no problem at all."

"..."

Empress Lin Shuwang stared at Chu Chen with her mouth hanging half-open. Her beautiful, wide eyes swam with absolute shock and utter disbelief:

"W-wait... are you saying... you intend to gift this Extreme Dao Imperial Weapon to this Emperor?!"

"Chu Chen, this is an Extreme Dao Imperial Weapon!!!"

The Empress shrieked in sheer panic, yet Chu Chen merely shrugged his shoulders, his expression as calm as a gentle breeze:

"What else would I do with it?"

Then, right before the Empress's utterly incredulous gaze, he formed his fingers into a sword gesture and ruthlessly slashed down upon the illusory beam binding him to the Heaven-Swallowing Magic Jar.

Buzz buzz buzz~

Sensing his intent, the Heaven-Swallowing Magic Jar began to struggle violently, its mouth frantically spewing torrents of pitch-black light...