The Little Emperor was dead, but the matters of the Valley Master of Stargazing Valley were far from over.
He chose to become the State Preceptor not on a whim; he had already grasped the tail of that “thing.”
“National Destiny… today, I shall sever this National Destiny!”
The purpose of the Valley Master of Stargazing Valley was to annihilate the National Destiny.
National Destiny had no consciousness, but it would automatically counterattack, which was why he wanted the cooperation of the emperor, to weaken the National Destiny to a certain extent.
But now it was no longer necessary, as the theoretically last descendant of the Great Zhou Imperial Family had committed suicide and sacrificed himself with his own blood.
It could almost be said that the death of the emperor and the fall of the nation happened simultaneously. National Destiny had never encountered such an event before; it was the most turbulent and weakest time.
This was what the Valley Master of Stargazing Valley believed to be the best opportunity to act.
“National Destiny” was not something good.
It could be described as a source of endless future troubles.
Today, he intended to eradicate this calamity.
Following the National Destiny he acquired by becoming the State Preceptor, the Valley Master of Stargazing Valley found the true form of “National Destiny.”
It was a massive aggregator, like a meatball, its surface embedded with countless ferocious human faces that seemed to be struggling to break free.
But all were being pulled back, only able to continuously wail.
The Valley Master of Stargazing Valley seized this opportunity.
“Today, I, Zhang Qi, the Valley Master of Stargazing Valley, will sever this calamity for future generations!”
Outside,
Boom!
An earthquake followed by daylight thunder.
Before long, the summit hundreds of meters at the peak of Tai Mountain collapsed, thunderously crashing into the valley.
This seemed to be a beginning; within the range of Tai Mountain, it erupted like a volcano, raising a dust and smoke so high that it obscured the entire sky over the Tai Mountain range, nothing was visible.
Then, fire fell from the sky, all aimed at the same spot, accompanied by endless thunderstorms, where even the grandmasters dared not enter.
That aura of destruction felt as if it could shred them to pieces at any moment.
Before long, they even sensed a tempting aura, as if something important was inside, tempting them to enter.
Which scared all the spectators away for more than a hundred miles again.
“Is this what they call a battle?”
“Inside Tai Mountain, how could there be such enemies?”
“Not only such a powerful grandmaster but also possessing allure, truly terrifying!”
“Let’s move back a bit, while the battle range is indeed Tai Mountain, the affected area extends beyond.”
None of the forces knew exactly what was happening or who the Valley Master of Stargazing Valley was fighting.
But everyone knew, this was not something they could partake in.
This scene lasted for one day and one night.
The thunderstorm stopped, and two streaks of white light appeared in the sky, then quickly flew into the distance.
The white lights merely flickered for a moment, then quickly faded.
But everyone knew, the Valley Master of Stargazing Valley had sent something away, the two streaks of white light, perhaps representing two heirs.
Unfortunately, the white light faded too quickly, and they had no way to follow,
So they could only shift their focus back to inside Tai Mountain.
The battle was over, but who was the real winner?
No one knew.
But they could enter Tai Mountain to check.
Unfortunately, when they entered Tai Mountain, they only saw the Valley Master of Stargazing Valley slowly vanishing.
However, they heard one sentence.
“Seven Great Thieves…”
But that was just one sentence, because right after speaking, the Valley Master of Stargazing Valley completely dissipated.
“Seven Great Thieves, what does that mean?”
“Seven, and not the nine grandmasters, huh!”
“You’ve forgotten, there were two…”
“Be careful with your words!”
Some people’s words were cut off by their companions.
Some things are not to be spoken of.
“Perhaps the key to breaking the situation lies with the heirs of Stargazing Valley.”
“But the whereabouts of these two are still unknown to anyone.”
“Then keep searching!”
Before long, everyone retreated, leaving behind the nearly destroyed Tai Mountain.
Only one group headed to another place.
Imperial City, Imperial Palace.
This group was led by Zhou Qinghai.
Their cultivation levels had basically fallen; using special methods to accelerate their cultivation almost certainly led to a fall.
But Zhou Qinghai could no longer afford to think about this.
Now whether it was the royal family, the ministers, or the Valley Master of Stargazing Valley, all had perished.
The current Imperial Palace was practically defenseless.
That is to say, there was no longer any protective force in the Imperial Palace, now items could be taken at will.
These were all resources for rising.
Initially, to avoid attracting attention, they did not take many valuable items.
But now there was no such concern, they could freely take things.
The group quickly arrived inside the Imperial Palace.
Zhou Qinghai first went to the places of the various ministers, only to find that the ministers’ homes had been raided and nothing was left; then he went to the homes of the royal relatives, and found just the same.
“Just when I inquired, I learned that everything from the imperial families had also been totally confiscated by the young emperor.”
“He spoke of redistributing them.”
“Zhou Qinghai had also made his way to the imperial palace; this was originally his final planned stop.”
“He led his men directly to the location of the royal family’s secret treasure vault.”
“By the time he opened the vault door, he only saw a massive pile of black ash.”
“And a letter on the ground.”
“The handwriting on the letter was quite childish, like it was written by a small child.”
“The content also seemed very ’childlike’.”
“’Brother Emperor, are you surprised? Are you astonished? All the spiritual medicines of the Imperial City have been gathered by me, waiting for you to come and take them. Am I good to you? It’s just that I accidentally burned all those things completely. Surely, Brother Emperor, you can forgive me?’
“As for those martial arts secrets and the unburnable items, I’ve gifted them to those destined. With so many ’spiritual medicines’, Brother Emperor, you should be satisfied, right?”
“Lastly—”
“You must have attended the worship ceremony, right? I know you’ve always looked forward to that position. Unfortunately, I was the last one on that seat!”
“Eat shit, you!’”
“The content of the letter was brief, but Zhou Qinghai’s blood pressure was very high.”
“The young emperor was only eight years old, but he was quite clever, foreseeing many things, including Zhou Qinghai coming to pillage resources from the imperial palace.”
“Regrettably, he didn’t leave anything for him.”
“The young emperor destroyed everything.”
“In the five hundred years of the Great Zhou Imperial Family, countless treasures and cultivation resources had existed, but he didn’t leave a single item.”
“If it was to be destroyed, then it should be done thoroughly.”
“Like a childish quarrel?”
“Indeed, he is just a child.”
“’Zhou Qingjiang!’”
“After Zhou Qinghai uttered these words, he could no longer suppress his internal injuries and instantly fainted.”
“There was another flurry of chaotic activity.”
“…”
“Nobody knew about the internal affairs of the Great Zhou Imperial Family, but the incident at Tai Mountain had been spread.”
“The eight-year-old young emperor committed suicide and cursed the runaway former Crown Prince of Great Zhou; all the grandmasters and ministers were killed by the Valley Master of Stargazing Valley; the battle the Valley Master might have been fighting remains unknown; the incident involving the ’Seven Great Thieves’ spread far and wide.”
“Unless one lived in complete isolation, nearly everyone had received these pieces of news within a month.”
“The discussion was mainly about the young emperor’s suicide curse on the former Crown Prince and the Valley Master of Stargazing Valley’s last words about the ’Seven Great Thieves.’”
“The former attracted attention due to royal grudges and naturally garnered interest, while the latter intrigued many due to its mysterious nature.”
“Most people believed that the ’Seven Great Thieves’ refers to seven grandmasters other than those from Stargazing Valley and the Border Army, though some said otherwise.”
“Since the Valley Master of Stargazing Valley had died, nobody could be certain.”
“Except for two people.”
“One named Yue, the other named Xing, they had known some truths about the incident that day.”
“Just as the spectators had seen, those two beams of white light were meant for Yue and Xing.”
“Both received something like white jade.”
“The circumstances of Xing’s item were unclear, but Yue’s was received under Wang Sheng’s witness.”
“That object flew directly into Yue’s room, and soon after, Yue came looking for him.”
“’Great Grandmaster Wang Sheng, the Valley Master has passed away.’”
“Wang Sheng scarcely saw any change in Yue’s expression, marking the first time he saw his undisguised sorrow.”
“’Is there nothing important inside it?’”
“’No, it’s all crucial information that I thought Great Grandmaster Wang Sheng would want to see.’”
“’…’”
“How could he bear to read it now!”
“He had heard about the relationship between the Valley Master of Stargazing Valley and Yue, encompassing father and son relationships and master-disciple ties, all indicating a close connection.”
“With the passing of the Valley Master of Stargazing Valley, Yue brought him this item.”
“But even though he complained, since it was delivered, he still had to look.”
“But… how could he actually read it?”
“It totally looked like a jade scroll from a cultivation novel!”
“Does such sophisticated technology even exist in this world?”
“Or could it be that the difference between a Great Grandmaster and a Grandmaster is that vast?”
“Seeing Wang Sheng’s uncertainty, Yue said, ’This item was the last thing created by the Valley Master—place it directly on the forehead to access the information within.’”
“It increasingly resembled a jade scroll.”
“Wang Sheng did not hesitate and used it as Yue instructed, subsequently accessing the information inside.”
“It appeared to be a few sentences.”
“’Yue, there isn’t much time, just a few words.”
“Besides the power of other grandmasters, it might not be transcendental, existing for a long time, as they have acquired ******, their strength has not surpassed the standard, but they are the world’s thieves, if capable, they must be killed!
“*** are all incomplete, if capable, ****!”
’Above the level of Great Grandmaster, there exists a higher realm. This sound transmitting object is a product of a level above Great Grandmaster, and that realm seems related to destiny but must not rely on it!’
“Lastly, if possible, help the young emperor get reburied. He’s very pitiable, and without him, I wouldn’t have acquired some information. Place it next to his mother’s grave, located in the western side of the Imperial City, on top of the highest peak.’”
“’…’”
“After listening, Wang Sheng was somewhat dazed.”
“So this jade scroll even came with sound cancellation?”
“Valley Master of Stargazing Valley, what exactly were you saying, always disappearing at crucial moments.”
“Of course, even so, the amount of information was substantial.”
“At first, the Valley Master of Stargazing Valley believed that other than the forces of Stargazing Valley and the Border Army, also the transcendent powers are the seven great thieves, and if possible, they must be killed; he mentioned their strength has not exceeded the norm.”
“The most important piece of information was that there exists a realm above the Great Grandmasters…”