259: One by one, one by one

Xuanwu Gate.

A strong smell of blood mixed in the air, the ground was covered with dense corpses—soldiers, generals, civil officials, strategists, and even princes.

However, now they were just docile, motionless corpses.

And at this moment, inside Xuanwu Gate, a group of black-clad individuals were finishing off the corpses on the ground and sealing them into their storage rings.

“Old Ninth, you were truly deeply hidden. I calculated everything, but I never calculated that your ambition would be so great and your schemes so profound!”

The Second Prince coughed blood from the corner of his mouth, his face pale, his Qi faint, looking as if he was about to die.

He was impaled on the city wall by a large spear, and a huge hole in his chest continuously gushed hot blood, staining that section of the wall red.

Nangong Ao walked forward expressionlessly, pulled out the sharp sword embedded in the Third Prince’s back, shook off the blood from the blade, and then sheathed his sword.

Ignoring the Third Prince, who died with his eyes open on the ground, he casually unleashed a blast of chill, freezing the Third Prince’s corpse, and sealed it into a storage ring.

After doing this, Nangong Ao again drew his bow and nocked an arrow, aiming at the Second Prince on the city wall.

“Imperial Brother, when it comes to scheming, you are still deeper. I gave you the Cultivation Technique ‘Celestial Frost Chill’ and told you the whereabouts of the Imperial Seal, yet you still poisoned my wine, trying to poison me to death. What a truly vicious heart!”

The Second Prince, hanging from the large spear, gave a miserable smile: “Poison you? I wish I could go back to when you were a child and strangle you. Heh heh, you quietly gathered such a force. You are the one who is truly hidden the deepest.”

The black-clad individuals inside Xuanwu Gate were all formidable, and the sword moves they displayed were extraordinary.

They were from the Shen Jian Sect’s Divine Sword Art.

If his guess was not wrong, the Shen Jian Sect, which outwardly retreated to the Ten Thousand Mountains, was in fact colluding with his Ninth Brother…

It was just that he had failed to discover at the beginning that this fellow possessed such methods and schemes.

Otherwise, how could things have turned out like this?

“Hahahahaha…”

Suddenly, in an instant, the Second Prince seemed to have come to terms with it and burst into laughter.

“Big Brother died young, perishing early. I originally thought the throne would fall to me, but I didn’t expect that old man wanted to give the Great Wei throne to Nangong Yan, that woman.”

“However, you also have excellent methods! You used a secret letter from the Xuanxiao Sect to lure Nangong Yan away, then separately used the Imperial Seal and ‘Celestial Frost Chill’ to tempt me and Old Third to covet the position of Great Wei’s supreme ruler, waiting for us to eliminate Nangong Yan’s forces and the other princes and princesses.

Then you designed for me and Old Third to fight each other here at Xuanwu Gate, while you feigned death to escape, enjoying the spoils of victory.

We fought to a mutual destruction, and then you seized the opportunity to strike, winning the final victory with little effort.”

“Heh heh! My ability to feign death and escape wasn't entirely due to your poisoned wine, Imperial Brother. I gave you ‘Celestial Frost Chill,’ a Cultivation Technique only the Great Wei Emperor can Cultivate, yet you poisoned me. Didn't that give me the opportunity!”

The Second Prince fell silent.

At that time, he did indeed use poisoned wine.

However, the other party dropped a bombshell before feigning death.

The Second Prince had the Great Wei Emperor’s exclusive Cultivation Technique, and the Third Prince had the Great Wei Emperor’s Imperial Seal.

What were they waiting for? There were only their two factions at Xuanwu Gate. Whoever won was legitimate; whoever lost was a rebel.

And then.

Both factions were wiped out by a third party.

“Do you think this is over?!”

Nangong Ao still maintained his posture of drawing his bow and nocking an arrow. He wasn't in a hurry to deal with the Second Prince so quickly.

The other party was already at the end of his rope, his heart veins shattered, beyond salvation. His ability to speak now was merely a final surge of energy before death.

“If you are referring to Nangong Yan, then you don’t need to worry about me. I have a way to deal with her!”

Nangong Yan would come to contend for the throne?

Heh heh, once he ascended the throne, she wouldn’t have that chance!

However, the Second Prince shook his head.

“That fool could be lured away by a secret letter from you, giving us an opportunity, which proves her mind isn’t good. With her scheming, she definitely can’t outplay you!”

Nangong Ao did not reply, because the Second Prince’s words were entirely accurate.

With Nangong Yan’s brain, how could she possibly outplay him? Even the Second Prince and Third Prince, Nangong Yan couldn’t outplay them.

If it weren’t for the Great Wei Emperor’s resources being tilted towards Nangong Yan and him paving the way for her, with civil and military officials consciously taking her side…

She would have been played to death long ago!

“The old man seems to be preparing for a major event, and our early-deceased Big Brother might not have died, and his withdrawal from public view might be related to the old man’s grand plan.

And Nangong Yan is merely a tool pushed out by them to divert attention…”

“What grand plan?!” Nangong Ao quickly pressed: “How much information have you found?!”

“Not much, but not little either. But why should I tell you? Giving you these hints is just to make you prepared, so you don’t lose inexplicably. Hahahahaha, no matter who of you has the last laugh, the other side will suffer. You two had best perish together…”

The Second Prince’s words were not yet finished when a powerful suction force came from above his head, stripping away his Primordial Spirit.

Chu Mo, in black and masked, was holding the Human Emperor Flag, extracting the Second Prince’s Primordial Spirit from it to perform a soul search.

“If you won’t tell me, then I’ll just search myself!”

After some time, Chu Mo’s expression became grave, and he cursed: “Damn it! As soon as he was impaled on the wall, realizing the general situation was lost, he destroyed his own memories. You are a ruthless person!”

All the information the Second Prince had uncovered over the years had been completely destroyed by this guy.

His Primordial Spirit was incomplete, clearly having self-destructed a part of it.

However, he did find a somewhat useful piece of news.

Youming Mountain!

Whatever Nangong Wuji was planning seemed to be inextricably linked with Youming Mountain, and the netherworld lotus seed he took was from Youming Mountain.

“netherworld lotus seed! Youming Mountain! The early-deceased First Prince might not have died. So… will he be in the Imperial Mausoleum, or on Youming Mountain? Or somewhere else?!”

Chu Mo had no definite answer to these questions; there was too little information to make a judgment.

But, he had a Clone on Youming Mountain.

If used well, he might be able to uncover something. Additionally, the few guys buried deep beneath the Imperial Mausoleum should also start acting.

Chu Mo closed his eyes, sensing.

Soon, his expression became strange.

“Ref… refining corpses?!”

That’s right! The few Clones left in the Imperial Mausoleum had refined themselves into corpses.

Therefore, they hadn’t been discovered.

Living aura couldn’t be detected, and it was perfectly normal for there to be corpse Qi deep within the Imperial Mausoleum.

Chu Mo’s mouth twitched.

These Clones are truly talented!

However, only one Clone remained that was refining corpses in the Imperial Mausoleum.

Because the grand formation beneath the Imperial Mausoleum seemed to have drained all the corpse Qi that had formed him.

The corpse refining failed, and he dissipated.

“One is one, one has its own way of fighting. Concentrated things are all essence!”

Beside him, Nangong Ao’s mouth twitched upon hearing this.

To be a Clone for this guy, one must have truly had eight lifetimes of bad luck!