"It"s all in the past.
“You probably won"t be too happy that I arranged your whole life.
“I have my own cross to bear. I believe you will come to understand."
In the sky, Sun Wudao spoke very earnestly to Wu Yu.
Golden clouds swirled around him, until people could no longer see the Ancient Emperor clearly, but they saw his words and manner and how he regarded Wu Yu. They knew that this was reality, and that this was the truth. Those that suspected Wu Yu"s survival despite his treasure now had their doubts answered. Because this answer was the absolute eradicator of their doubts.
Cultivation was plunder. The strongest ruled.
This was the Heavenly Sword Sect"s creed.
As for the Heavenly Sword Sect, the one who had imparted this was Feng Xueya, and Feng Xueya was the Yan Huang Ancient Emperor. The emperor of Dong Yue Wu was him as well. Sun Wudao was him as well!
Sun Wudao"s grave had become an entrance to the Taigu Immortal Path. All sorts of mysteries had been answered in this instant.
This was the truth.
Wu Yu was blank. He did not know whether to believe it or not.
He felt that he needed some quiet time to contemplate this.
He was still looking at the crowd, who were looking back at him with admiration. Only a few princes and princesses had ashen faces. Nangong Wei was looking at Feng Xueya, Sun Wudao, and the others vaguely. Only Luo Pin was looking at him with some worry.
And the Full Moon of Nanshan and Ye Xixi.
The Full Moon of Nanshan was pretty sanguine about it. But for Ye Xixi, the Ancient Emperor had killed her parents. If what he had said was true, then Wu Yu could not face Ye Xixi anymore.
Ye Xixi"s life goal was revenge.
It was all tangled up and frightfully messy.
"The most important thing is to remain calm. Although, all of this is unsettling indeed." Thankfully, Ming Long was a voice of reason in these times.
"Okay." Wu Yu, too, knew that he had to be calm.
But someone could not be calm.
That was Prince Le.
He stood not far from Wu Yu, and Wu Yu saw him enter a nightmarish abyss, plummeting straight from heaven.
He could sympathize with how Prince Le felt. From an immortal that could not be vanquished, to the object of ridicule and being worthless. All his excitement looked like a joke now.
Word of Wu Yu as the new Yan Huang emperor had already spread across the Jambu Realm. Everyone knew.
In this moment, a huge force came rolling through. Wu Yu, the Full Moon of Nanshan, and Ye Xixi were swept up by this huge force, powerless to resist. They were transported beside Di Shatian and the others. Wu Yu had not yet a.s.sessed what was happening, and everyone was shocked as well.
"This should be the Ancient Emperor"s doing. Why...." Wu Yu did not understand.
He seemed to be protecting Wu Yu.
He looked back and saw an empty patch of land, with Prince Le, Qu Haoyan, Qu Fengyu, and Baili Zhuihun in the center. However, Wu Yu detected something strange.
Prince Le was staring straight at him!
Wu Yu jolted in surprise!
Because he saw that Prince Le"s eyes had actually merged into one huge eye!
How could a person transform like this?
Frighteningly, Qu Haoyan, Qu Fengyu, and Baili Zhuihun were also starting to break apart. Within them was not flesh and blood, but some silver thing.
Everyone was reeling from the shock, and the Ancient Emperor laughed coldly. "Spirits of the Universe from the Taigu Immortal Path. This is the first time you have appeared in my Jambu Realm. Finally decided to show yourself, Coffin Parasite?"
Wu Yu was trying to be calm, and none of this was helping.
The Taigu Immortal Path, Spirits of the Universe, and Coffin Parasites!
What came to mind?
He recalled that in the tomb, Prince Le, Qu Haoyan, and the others had been taken in and killed by the strange creatures in the two coffins. He had witnessed Prince Le and the others turn into corpses.
As for them, they had come back miraculously at the last moment of the Taigu Immortal Path. Wu Yu had been given a fright.
When he met Prince Le again, Wu Yu had constantly reminded himself to be on his guard.
In the end, Prince Le"s conduct had been flawless, especially in the Ancient Soul Tower. He seemed to be completely himself, and Wu Yu had forgotten about that matter. He had even come to believe that Prince Le and the others had come back from the dead.
But now the Ancient Emperor had said that they were Spirits of the Universe from the Taigu Immortal Path, and called them “Coffin Parasites.” And their current behavior corroborated that!
"What monster is that!?"
"Everyone, get back!"
The various factions of the 10,000 Kingdoms Pilgrimage had not expected this turn of events. They were scared out of their skins. Even the Phoenix Supreme hurriedly took the Nanyin Demon Continent"s contingent far away. Things were disconcerting enough.
The Ancient Emperor smiled. "No need to panic. The Coffin Parasites are a mystical type of Spirit of the Universe. They originate from the Taigu Immortal Path, and snuck in during the last Taigu Immortal Path opening.
“As their name implies, they must have a life host in order to survive. However, their parasitic abilities are excellent. Ordinary immortals are unable to tell at first glance. I, too, went through an extended deductive process before I figured it out.
"Their parasitic presence is hard to judge, because they do not control the host"s actions and thoughts. Under ordinary circ.u.mstances, they are deeply hidden, which is why we did not find anything strange about Prince Le and the others.
“They had no way out of the Taigu Immortal Path, so they came to the Jambu Realm. They knew that if they could become the Yan Huang emperor, they would stand a good chance to attain immortalhood. That is why they tried so hard to gain the Yan Huang Golden Bead.
“If the main Coffin Parasite became immortal, that would be dreadful. They could continue to change hosts and grow stronger. Even in the sky palaces, there are few who can deal with them. Luckily, I cut them off early, before their threat could escalate."
With this explanation from the Ancient Emperor, Wu Yu finally knew the truth.
No wonder he had not found anything off about Prince Le. Prince Le"s ordinary behavior was as it should have been. That was why there was nothing off about his memory or personality.
It wanted the Yan Huang Golden Bead so much because it wanted to become immortal. Once it did, it would probably be as bad as the Heaven Devouring t.i.tanic Beast.
It also knew that the Ancient Emperor would groom his son to immortalhood.
Coincidentally, the Ancient Emperor seemed to favor Prince Le, although it was through Wu Yu. They had thought that this was a juicy chance, and therefore had entered the Ancient Soul Tower and had been so anxious.
But they had not expected the Ancient Emperor to see through them.
Wu Yu"s Eyes of Fire and Gold had not been able to see anything.
The news of the Coffin Parasites had Wu Yu scared out of contemplating his throne.
These were the truly scary Spirits of the Universe?
Prince Le"s body was split asunder. Only the single eye was left. Prince Le was just a layer of skin, and shedding it revealed a golden ball of flesh. It was densely covered in tentacles, like an octopus, but more disgusting.
Qu Haoyan, Qu Fengyu, and Baili Zhuihun"s bodies split apart as well, revealing three flesh lumps. They were silver in color, and all merged together to form a creature that resembled the golden version beside it. It, too, was full of disgusting tentacles.
To have such a thing leeching off your body....
Prince Le and the other three were long dead. They were just sh.e.l.ls. After being shed, the Ancient Emperor gathered up their remains and handed them to Di Shatian, saying, "They died in the Taigu Immortal Path. A pity. Today, they will be sent off. You will arrange it later."
Di Shatian hurriedly accepted it, nodding. "Yes, Ancient Emperor. I will let the Prince leave in peace."
Wu Yu was a little dismayed. He had been spending so much time not with Prince Le, but with a monster. More accurately, two monsters.
The two Coffin Parasites had been exposed, and they were panicking. Perhaps they were planning to fight for their lives, but no one was afraid of them, as frightening as they may be. Because the Ancient Emperor was here, and he had said that their current weak state was no threat, a little like when the Heaven Devouring t.i.tanic Beast was small.
They had the audacity to leap towards the Ancient Emperor.
"Little Le, here is your revenge."
The Ancient Emperor was emotionless. Two beams of light blazed out from his eyes. One was gold, the other was blue. They pierced the Coffin Parasites, and both were carbonized with shrill shrieks.
The Ancient Emperor had taken care of them, and also used them as an excuse for Wu Yu to enter the Ancient Soul Tower. Of course, all was clear now.
The Coffin Parasites were destroyed, and everyone knew that this was why the Ancient Emperor had not selected Prince Le.
"I actually felt a little reluctant to kill them. If they had not burst out, it was almost like Little Le still existed. His will was still here, but now that they were humiliated and angered, there was no choice," the Ancient Emperor lamented.
Everyone was surprised.
They thought that the Ancient Emperor was aloof and superior, uncaring of his children. But now it seemed like it was not the case. He loved them secretly, although he did not show it. This was another form of fatherly love.
It seemed to be all over.
The Ancient Emperor sighed and turned to Wu Yu again. He paused and then said, "Yu Er, remember. Tomorrow you will be crowned emperor, and your name will be ‘Emperor Yu.’"