Chapter 134

"That core, has it ever been refined by anyone?"

"No. If it were that simple, how could it be called a supreme immortal core?"

"Pill refining is even more elusive than cultivation. A person, even if he lacks natural talent, will always have a bit of progress if he cultivates a bit, but refining cores fails from time to time, and the more complex and powerful the core, the easier it is to lose everything."

Zong Zi Xiao nodded his head in agreement.

"Many sects' secret core techniques have gone through countless failures before they succeeded. Even if the Giant Spirit Villa came to refine their best core, accidents could still occur." Zong Zi Heng frowned deeply, "If you insist on refining this core, I am afraid that it will be a waste of manpower and resources. If you fail repeatedly, do you want to squander the property of the various immortal families?"

"So what?" Zong Zi Xiao laughed disdainfully.

Zong Zi Heng said in a deep voice, "If you can't refine it anyhow, do you really want to take the human core?"

"Haven't I taken it before?"

"Zong Zi Xiao, have you seen what you have become now!?" Zong Zi Heng only felt bitterness. His Xiao Jiu was somewhat stubborn and arrogant, but in no way was he a cold-blooded and cruel demonic cultivator who stole cores. He would rather ... rather have Xiao Jiu dead than the murderous Supreme Demon he is today!

Zong Zi Xiao ridiculed: "The reason why I have become like this is because I have a good big brother.  He taught me righteousness, virtue and goodness ever since I was a child, while he himself did the most shameless, despicable and vicious things in the world. Hypocrites full of benevolence and morality are really disgusting. I would rather be a bad person magnanimously."

Zong Zi Heng's body trembled. His shoulders collapsed as if he couldn't carry the heavy burden, and his face looked defeated.

"Even if the entire immortal cultivation world is emptied, they must still refine the core for me, and if they still can't, I'll rip the core out of all of them." Zong Zi Xiao's smile was ferocious and grim. The evil ghost that crawled out of the Abyssal Hell was no better than him. He admired Zong Zi Heng's fear and pain, and gained twisted pleasure.

In fact, he had never eaten a single human core. Ever since he was eight years old when he went out with Zong Zi Heng and nearly died under the sword of a core-stealing demonic cultivator, he had been extremely disgusted with core thieves, and the appearance of Lu Zhao Feng had deepened his hatred. He had his Yin soldiers dig out the cores of all the cultivators of the Wuyun Sect, so that they would never be able to form cores again. That was the punishment for the core thieves. Those who were unwilling to submit to Lu Zhao Feng, such as his third sister's family, had already lost their lives under the Chasing Mountain Whip, and none of the remaining ones were innocent.

Even if Lu Zhao Feng dug out his own core and gave it to him to eat before he died, he would not have cared.

But he doesn't need to explain it to anyone, and even if he did, no one would believe him. Fear was the best rule, so let the world be afraid.

Zong Zi Heng looked out of the window in a daze, "Zong Zi Xiao, you acted perversely and became an enemy of the world. Sooner or later you will pay the price."

"As long as I possess supreme power, no one will be able to do anything to me." Zong Zi Xiao walked towards his big brother and wrapped his arms around his thin, narrow waist from behind. His voice low and dangerous against his ear, "Same goes to you. Do you think I don't know that you're secretly breaking your chakra? Even if you unblock the chakra, what can you do? You can't beat me, so are you planning to sneak attack?"

Zong Zi Heng pursed his lips and said nothing.

"Well, a sneak attack may be possible." Zong Zi Xiao gently licked the tip of his tongue across his big brother's ear, "Big brother's taste is so soul-crushing. I want to stay inside and not come out." He let out a flirtatious string of laughter, "If you sneak up on me while we're tangled up, you might be able to succeed."

Zong Zi Heng, already on the defensive against his usual humiliation, said indifferently, "If you're so sure that I can't hurt you no matter what, why don't you unseal me?"

"I have a poisonous snake sleeping beside me, how can I ignore it?" Zong Zi Xiao turned over his big brother's face and kissed the warm, soft lips, "You should spend less effort on such useless thoughts."

Zong Zi Heng turned his face away.

Zong Zi Xiao pulled his collar away with his teeth and nibbled lightly on the snow-white, slender neck that smelled like orchids, "This color really suits your complexion. Since you were young, big brother has always loved to wear white, but I want you to wear red for me."

As soon as the words landed, the two of them stiffened in unison. It sounded too much like a romantic and charming love sentence. Like a person proposing to the one he loved, and willingly draping himself in flourishing red attire for him.

The words were inappropriate in this place. At this time and in this place, the both of them were not suitable.

Zong Zi Xiao felt a bit regretful, but having inadvertently said what he had longed for years, he couldn't help but anticipate seeing something on his brother's face.

Unfortunately, this face was deathly still, so beautiful that one could love and hate it at the same time.

Disappointment filled his chest, and Zong Zi Xiao held the person in his arms tightly, thinking viciously: Whether you care for me or not, you are always mine!

---

In the past few days, Zong Zi Heng had been trying to find a chance to see Xu Zhi Nan and Li Bu Yu alone. After realizing that it was not very feasible to meet them secretly, he thought about how to get Zong Zi Xiao to allow them to meet under the excuse of advising them.

Unexpectedly, when he mentioned it, Zong Zi Xiao agreed, but with one request; he could only see one person at a time.

Zong Zi Heng could not help but sigh secretly at his deep scheming. Xu Zhi Nan and Li Bu Yu were polite on the surface, but in reality they each had their own agenda. These two alone would never be able to cooperate without reservation, but it would be different if Zong Zi Heng was there, and Zong Zi Xiao would not give them that opportunity.

So Zong Zi Heng first summoned Xu Zhi Nan, the person he wanted to see most, and the only one who could help him turn the situation around.

The two of them had not seen each other for only a year, but the immortal cultivation world had been turned upside down, and there was a deep weariness on each other's faces.

"Emperor." Xu Zhi Nan bowed, "To be able to see the emperor again, it's really..."

"Big brother Xu." Zong Zi Heng held Xu Zhi Nan, "There are no outsiders here, so you and I don't have to be so formal."

Xu Zhi Nan let out a long sigh, "In these few months, Emperor has been alone and surrounded by Zong Zi Xiao. You have lost a lot of weight."

Zong Zi Heng said gloomily, "I can only drag out an ignoble existence* when asking a tiger for its skin*."

"If the emperor lives, there is hope for us. When Zong Zi Xiao pushes us to the brink, we can only fight to the death."

"We all understand this, but how easy is it to unite the entire immortal cultivation world?" Zong Zi Heng laughed bitterly, "I, the Emperor Zong, am not worthy of the name. I am not supported internally, and I am not supported by the people externally. Now, I am defeated under Zong Zi Xiao's sword. Even if I have the heart, I’m afraid I don’t have any power.”

"Please don’t think this way Emperor. In the past, we were able to fight together against the Wuyun Sect because it had lost its humanity and had become a demonic sect that stole cores and killed many cultivators, which became a common enemy in the immortal world. Now Zong Zi Xiao's threat is even greater than that of Wuyun Sect, but he has no enmity with the immortal families. Most of them are afraid of his Heavenly Secret Talisman and only want to avoid disaster. If we really have to wait for them to wake up to reality, by then Zong Zi Xiao would have gnawed them to the bones. Now the immortal cultivation world is falling apart, but you are still here, the emperor is still here, and only you can command the world in name only."

Zong Zi Heng shook his head slowly, "Even if I have the support of you and Wuliang Sect, I may not be able to command those many, many immortal sects and families."

"Now it is impossible because they haven't learned their lesson enough." Xu Zhi Nan said gravely, "This time, on the way here, Li Bu Yu and I had actually agreed to take a portion of the tribute to stabilize that demon first. Sooner or later, he will ask us for another annual tribute. Once, twice, three times, and the immortal cultivation world will definitely awaken. When the time comes, if the trouble comes from within the Wuji Palace from Zong Zi Xiao's side, it will definitely give confidence to the immortal cultivation world. When the emperor issues a call for action, we will follow you in life and death to eradicate the demonic cultivator."

Zong Zi Heng's face was tense, and his eyes looked vacantly into the void, not saying anything for a long time.

Whether it was Zong Zi Xiao draining the immortal cultivation world dry or the immortal cultivation world annihilating Zong Zi Xiao, it was something he did not want to see at all. Zong Zi Xiao had humiliated and tortured him to the utmost, but he could not hate him in any way because of his affection and guilt for Xiao Jiu.

He did not want Zong Zi Xiao to die. Even if there was no more trace of Xiao Jiu in that man, he could not forget his late night dream of the world's most fearful Supreme Demon, cowering in his arms and calling out "big brother". His heart was repeatedly broken, but he was still unable to be heartless.

However, no matter how he thought about it, he could not come up with a solution to the problem.

"Emperor." Xu Zhi Nan said softly, "Emperor?"

Zong Zi Heng looked at Xu Zhi Nan in silence, his eyes were seemingly frozen with pain that could not be dissolved.

Xu Zhi Nan was also silent, and only after a long time did he say, "Is it possible that the emperor still cares about his brotherly love?"

This sentence was like a sharp sword piercing through his heart, and Zong Zi Heng's face turned white as he opened his mouth, unable to speak.

"He's not your younger brother anymore." Xu Zhi Nan said again.

"I know."

"We must stop him from capsizing the entire immortal cultivation world."

"I know." Zong Zi Heng forced down the sharp pain in his heart, "When the time is right, I will personally ... clean up the mess." If they could defeat Zong Zi Xiao, he would definitely establish his authority through this battle, and perhaps at that time, he would be able to leave Zong Zi Xiao a life. Would this be their only hope?

Xu Zhi Nan let out a long sigh, "I will also advise Meng Sheng to hold back for a while."

Zong Zi Heng nodded, "She is a proud and stubborn person, I'm afraid you are the only one who can persuade her."

"I have no confidence either." Xu Zhi Nan laughed at himself, "The whole immortal cultivation world is no match for a group of female cultivators from the Cangyu Sect who have a stiff backbone. Now they are on their knees, it won't be easy to stand up in the future."

"The Cangyu Sect does have the capital to be tough, but if they really piss him off, I am afraid that ..." Zong Zi Heng said worriedly, "You should advise Qi Meng Sheng as soon as possible, otherwise, sooner or later, he will go to Kunlun to punish them as an example to others. "

"I understand."

"There is one more thing, I need Brother Xu to help me."

"Please speak, Emperor."

"I want to send Zhong Ming to be raised by my fifth brother, so that he can stay away from the chaotic land and people." Zong Zi Heng said sadly.

"That’s fine. If there is anything the Emperor wants me to do, just ask."

"When everything is ready, I will find a way to inform you."

 

 ----

only drag out an ignoble existence* [苟且偷生]---to drift and live without existence

when asking a tiger for its skin* [与虎谋皮]---expect someone (usually an evil person) to act against his own interest

 

Edited on 28 Apr. 21 (Emzie)

 

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