Before coming, Tantai, the Imperial Princess had placed a soul-search restriction upon herself. She had not expected it to truly be needed — yet before the National Preceptor, she was utterly incapable of concealment.

His divine consciousness came in with overwhelming force, giving her not the slightest resistance. Tantai, the Imperial Princess let out a muffled cry of pain. She felt as though a hand had plunged into her entire soul — wrenching and peeling — rifling through the sealed and locked fragments of her memories.

She trembled violently from head to toe in agony, consumed by despair, a bitter smile forming at the corner of her mouth.

In the face of absolute power, her restrictions were nothing but a joke. Her defenses, as far as he was concerned, were utterly useless. After realizing she had set a restriction, he tore through the memories of her soul without the least bit of mercy.

The National Preceptor seized upon a fragment of her memory in an instant — Lang Jiuchuan’s intention to bombard with heavenly fire and forcibly storm the imperial mausoleums. Though there was no finalized plan or timing, those most critical elements were already more than enough for him to grasp, and they filled him with a terror unlike any he had known.

“The imperial mausoleums — she actually dares to target the imperial mausoleums!” Even a man of the National Preceptor’s formidable composure could not restrain his expression from changing drastically. He knew full well what lay within the imperial mausoleums, and he would tolerate no one laying a hand on them.

Did Lang Jiuchuan want to storm the mausoleums for the sake of her own physical body? No — it was certainly not only that.

The National Preceptor’s divine consciousness locked tight, and he searched again. He found the memory carrying the name Tantai Wuji — and then: body-seizing. His entire being jolted, and for the first time, his icy eyes flooded with disbelieving fury.

When had his most deeply buried secret been uncovered? He had concealed it so thoroughly — not a single soul had ever known. How had they discovered it, and on what grounds?

And now that it had been discovered, everything Lang Jiuchuan had done…

His mind turned at lightning speed. The public opinion manipulation, the heavenly fire, the disasters — everything, without exception, had been nothing more than a show on the front road. It was all to cloud his attention, and to challenge his confidence.

Lang Jiuchuan — so brazen — was actually going to strike directly at the very root and lifeline of his existence!

She was storming the mausoleums to retrieve the bones — not only her own original body, but his as well!

“You wretched creatures — how dare you — you all deserve to die!” Towering fury and panic caused him to completely shed his usual detached composure. A murderous intent surged from his entire body like mountains overturning and seas overflowing, crashing in a wild torrent toward Tantai, the Imperial Princess.

No one understood better than he did how crucial the arrangements within the imperial mausoleums were to him. He had schemed for a thousand years, exhausting every stratagem, waiting for the right celestial timing to resurrect his physical body, assault the supreme Dao, and become the Great Sovereign. If his skeletal remains were lost, he would suffer an unimaginable blow — and might see all his efforts come to nothing.

A fear unlike anything he had ever felt, like a venomous serpent born of his inner demons, suddenly sank its fangs into his heart, intent on chewing him apart and swallowing him whole.

Wretched thing!

The National Preceptor’s eyes were stained red with fury. His divine consciousness wrapped savagely around Tantai, the Imperial Princess, tearing her soul into shreds. His five fingers concentrated a light of annihilation and reached for the crown of her head — he intended to slaughter this traitor who had dared to betray him on the spot.

“You are of my Tantai bloodline — and yet you dare to betray your own clan, to betray your Elder Ancestor. You — deserve death!”

Yet in the instant his power was about to descend upon her head, a ferocious light flashed in his eyes, and he suddenly changed his mind.

He looked at the glass-clear eyes of Tantai, the Imperial Princess — now shimmering with tears, making them appear even more vivid and luminous — and narrowed his gaze involuntarily.

To kill her was too easy an end for her. It would also waste years of painstaking cultivation.

She was the most gifted child of this generation — a pity she was a girl, and had grown rebellious. But it did not matter. She had her own particular use.

Compared to his current body, already growing devoid of life and seemingly exuding the stench of decay, something younger was better. Perhaps in the future…

The National Preceptor let out a savage laugh in Tantai, the Imperial Princess’s direction.

Tantai, the Imperial Princess saw the savage smile and the greed, the cold ruthlessness in his eyes. Her pupils constricted. In an instant, she understood everything — and began to struggle violently.

But how could she overpower an ancient monster who had lived for a thousand years with cultivation of such overwhelming strength?

And especially now, with her soul already drawn into his divine consciousness, her will at its most vulnerable — sure enough, that divine consciousness grew wild and ferocious, forcing itself upon her soul’s core with violent dominance, consuming her piece by piece, assimilating her.

Soul possession.

It was real. Everything Lang Jiuchuan had said was real. He truly was that monstrous creature who had survived by repeatedly seizing the bodies of his own descendants. He was Tantai Wuji — a villain as wicked as any demon.

“I curse you with my soul — may no Heaven’s blessings come to you, may your desires never be fulfilled… Ah—!” Tantai, the Imperial Princess let out a shrill, despairing shriek.

“Wretch — silence!” Tantai Wuji forcibly obliterated her soul.

As her consciousness of the soul scattered and faded, the corner of Tantai, the Imperial Princess’s lips pulled into a mocking curve. Her heart was, strangely, perfectly calm and at ease — as though she had been set free.

So be it.

This suffocating title of Sacred Lady — whoever wanted it could have it.

But, Ah-Qing — I can no longer help you.

She sank into darkness.

Tantai Wuji took complete control of her young body.

When he opened his eyes again, there was a fleeting moment of discomfort. Both hands formed a hand seal, and the spiritual light and purity that had once belonged to Tantai, the Imperial Princess — visible in her eyes — vanished entirely, replaced by something profound and cold, carrying the weight of endless years and a sense of ancient, fathomless vicissitude.

Tantai Wuji slowly raised his head and felt the vigorous life force and pure bloodline contained within this young body. Unlike his old form — increasingly burdened by deep-rooted illness and seemingly exuding the odor of decay — she was younger, and held far greater potential.

The corner of his mouth curved into an arc of satisfaction, though it was swiftly replaced by furious urgency.

“Little wolf cub — if you truly dare to do it, your master will make you regret it for the rest of your life.” Tantai Wuji said in a dark, sinister tone. His figure blurred and flashed away from the cave.

Meanwhile, at the very moment Tantai Wuji was seizing his new host, Lang Jiuchuan stood above the imperial mausoleums. Her plain white robes stirred on their own without any wind, and a soul-stirring aura radiated from her entire being.

She raised her gaze to the heavy, ink-black night sky, her brows deeply furrowed, an aching sorrow in her chest — as though something had been lost.

Feng Ya reminded her: “You can begin.”

“Mm.” Lang Jiuchuan stood at the center of a formation she had arranged with command banners. She slowly raised her hands, forming hand seals with rapid precision, drew out two command banners, and began urgently reciting an incantation aloud.

“Nine Heavens Mysterious Sound, urgently summon the gods, gather at the Celestial Palace, drive the thunder and chase the clouds…”

Boom.

A rumble of muffled thunder rolled through the thick cloud layers, releasing a heavy yet bone-shaking roar.

“Righteous energy of the eight directions, lightning flashes and flickers… The fierce officers of the Five Thunders, lightning and wind charge forth…” As Lang Jiuchuan chanted, she rapidly stomped out the Gang steps beneath her feet. At the final utterance of the incantation, the tip of her foot struck sharply, and she soared through the air above the imperial mausoleums. The command banners cut like blades of thunder, slashing ferociously down upon the mausoleums below: “Rumbling thunder and shattering lightning — swift as the laws and statutes command — I decree it so.”

Kaboom.

Lang Jiuchuan channeled the Nine Abyssal laws throughout her body. Wild wind rose suddenly, and violet-white lightning coalesced in midair into a massive ball of heavenly fire. Like a meteorite it came crashing down — striking the ancestral mausoleum with pinpoint precision — and it was as though a long string of firecrackers had been simultaneously ignited. A deafening chain of explosions rang out one after another, like boulders from the heavens smashing into the earth.

At the foot of the mountain, the townspeople were jolted awake in fright and rushed outdoors, staring toward the direction of the towering flames and light, crying out in alarm: “Heavens — a firestone has fallen from the sky! Heaven is punishing the Tantai clan!”