Liu Xing sat in a chair inside a grand, spacious room. This was the meeting hall of the Yang clan. Paintings adorned the walls, depicting scenes from cranes to dragons to a goateed man seated on a golden throne. The walls not covered by paintings displayed intricate carvings of golden dragons, cranes, snakes, and other ornate motifs. Several wooden beams, carved to resemble ascending dragons, supported the roof.

In front of Liu Xing sat a long table decorated with gold and laden with food and tea. To his left and right sat the two women who accompanied Prince Yang Jinyan. Beside them were other Yang clan cultivators who had achieved the Core Splitting realm. Behind Liu Xing, several dozen people sat in chairs without tables. These were the Lock Opening cultivators who had opened more than five locks. The rest knelt on reed mats.

At the front, Yang Jinyan sat on a high chair decorated with gold carved into the shape of a crane, as if a golden crane had landed there. Yang Liangyu sat to his left, while Elder Yang Zhaoyan was on his right.

"Let's begin the meeting," Yang Jinyan announced. "Since we're in a hurry, we'll forgo tradition and get straight to the point. We face great danger, so I want you all to focus on what I'm about to say. The Twelve Sun Empire teeters on the brink of destruction. The City of Suns is probably empty of people now. A demonic cultivator called Wei Yi has transformed most of its people into spirit beasts. I'll start by telling you what I witnessed today."

Yang Jinyan recounted his tale. That morning, he and Yang Lihuo had been summoned by the emperor. The emperor announced his decision to step down within a year, naming Yang Jinyan as his successor. Yang Lihuo, furious, declared Yang Jinyan an incapable heir who would make a poor emperor. He then attacked the emperor, who easily beat him. But in the end, Yang Lihuo called for Wei Yi, who appeared out of thin air as if he had been invisible all along.

Liu Xing's heart raced as he listened. He knew the story wasn't entirely truthful, but Wei Yi's sudden appearance made him wonder if the cultivator possessed darkness like Ji Dongyang. After all, Wei Yi had obtained a technique from the ruins of his sect. Could he be connected to the darkness in this world? Did this darkness grant him invisibility?

The prince described Wei Yi in detail: a burly man wearing a dark robe, with a pitch-black goatee, dark sharp eyes, and tanned skin. The prince said Wei Yi wasn't exactly old, but he felt ancient, like a tree that looked healthy on the outside but was rotting within.

He realized there were many differences between the Wei Yi the prince described and the one he had imagined. Bai Lin had told Liu Xing that Wei Yi is a young, talented cultivator. But Prince Yang Jinyan described him as neither young nor old. Bai Lin had said Wei Yi was at the Core Splitting realm with four cores, yet now he was at the Sun Refining realm, about to advance to Sun Collapsing realm.

Liu Xing wondered if these were two different people named Wei Yi. But considering the bloodline-stealing spirit beasts roaming the empire, it seemed more likely that this Wei Yi was the same person from Mystic Moon City.

He pinched his chin, pondering. Was Bai Lin's information wrong? Had Wei Yi hidden his true strength? Or had he advanced rapidly in a short time? The truth was likely a mix of all these possibilities. After all, demonic cultivators tended to grow strong quickly and perhaps the demonic technique Wei Yi used also accelerated his aging.

The important thing was that Wei Yi was strong and dangerous. The only one capable of defeating him now was Elder Yang Zhaoyan, and Liu Xing wondered what plan the prince would devise.

The prince described his fight with Yang Lihuo and the emperor's battle with Wei Yi. Liu Xing noticed Yang Liangyu's lips pressed together, as if remembering something scary and sad. Perhaps this was before the grand elder had taken her and her grandmother out of the castle.

"In the end, Wei Yi used poison to weaken my father until he was as frail as a mortal. Then that bastard, my younger brother, struck our father and ripped his heart from his chest." Yang Jinyan slammed the armrest of his chair, shattering it. Splinters flew everywhere as his face reddened, the red line on his face pulsing as if molten lava flowed beneath his skin.

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The prince then said he had nearly died fighting Yang Lihuo and Wei Yi simultaneously. That's when reinforcements from the Yang clan arrived, along with support for Yang Lihuo from the Hei and Wu clans.

He didn't describe the aftermath in detail, but everyone could imagine it. The two groups fought, then Yang Lihuo and Wei Yi betrayed their allies, transforming them into spirit beasts. The prince and his retainers, along with the remaining Yang clan members, had to retreat. In the end, only three of them successfully arrived here.

He also mentioned how Elder Yang Zhaoyang and Liu Xing had killed the abomination that chased him. Many people glanced at Liu Xing when the prince said this. Some nodded, others observed him calculatingly, but none looked down on him. Although Liu Xing hadn't killed the abomination himself, he had held it off for more than two hours, weakening it until the elder crushed it with a shimmering barrier.

"Now, I'll tell you what we need to do," the prince continued. "Our enemy intends to transform all of us into spirit beasts. My retainers suspect they plan to conquer the world with this army."

Gasps rose from the back of the room.

"But that's not their goal. Creating an army of spirit beasts isn't the most effective way to conquer the world. What they truly seek is personal power—to advance their cultivation further. Turning us into spirit beasts is just a means to achieve that power."

Liu Xing furrowed his brow, wondering where this conclusion came from. As if reading his mind, the prince answered, "I know this because Wei Yi mentioned the Emperors' Tomb to Yang Lihuo during our fight."

"What is this Emperors' Tomb?" Liu Xing whispered to the girl on his right, the one who had been drenched in blood earlier.

She glanced at him and whispered back, "It's where we bury our past emperors."

Liu Xing pinched his chin, trying to piece together what the prince might say next.

"The Emperors' Tomb lies underground, beneath the castle," the prince explained. "It's a place of dense qi, where our Twelve Sun Empire buries our past emperors and stores our reserved wealth. But one of the hidden functions of the tomb is to create a barrier that can be activated to protect the capital".

"Let me explain this barrier," Elder Yang Zhaoyan interjected. "It's flexible, designed by our formation masters about a thousand years ago. This barrier can be adjusted to withstand physical attacks, create illusions to conceal the capital, and even funnel qi to a single point to unleash a devastating attack at the cost of sacrificing everything. This Royal Barrier is a masterpiece that only the great sects can replicate." He puffed out his chest, clearly proud of this achievement.

Yang Jinyan nodded. "I've thought long and hard about this, and I've reached a possible conclusion as to why they were discussing the Emperors' Tomb even in the middle of the fight. I believe Yang Lihuo and Wei Yi intend to modify the Royal Barrier to sacrifice the people inside the capital who have been transformed into spirit beasts. Liu Xing, I heard you might have an explanation for this."

Liu Xing straightened, caught off guard. Truth be told, he initially drew a blank when put on the spot like this, but his mind soon started to work, and his eyes widened. He actually did have a possible explanation for this.

He stood and cleared his throat. "For those of you who don't know, I'll explain why I came to this empire." He looked around the meeting hall, then recounted everything he knew about Wei Yi, the Xia clan, the spirit beasts with snake limbs, and the pink worms.

This time, he spared no details. It seemed Wei Yi was truly responsible for those spirit beasts. It made sense—he had unleashed them at the perfect moment. In the midst of chaos, the spirit beasts could rampage unchecked.

After hearing his explanation, the people around him began to murmur.

"They steal bloodlines," Liu Xing said. "I've always wondered about Wei Yi's endgame. Is he planning to eat all those spirit beasts to increase his cultivation? I just realized he doesn't need to consume them one at a time. He can devour them all at once using the Royal Barrier." Liu Xing glanced at Elder Yang Zhaoyan, who nodded slightly, confirming his conclusion.

He returned to his chair, his heart pounding like a galloping horse. It all made sense, but there was no concrete evidence. It was just what Yang Jinyan and he had pieced together, trying to make sense of it all. Whether their conclusion was true or not, the fact remained that Yang Lihuo and Wei Yi intended to do something in the capital using the Royal Barrier.

Perhaps they wanted to be reborn with new bodies forged by the sacrifice, carrying an ultimate bloodline. Or maybe they didn't need to be reborn at all, instead transferring all that power and those bloodlines into their current bodies. The woman to his right might be correct—they could be planning to transform all people of the Twelve Sun Empire into a spirit beast army. Hell, they might even intend to create one powerful spirit beast they could fully control.

In the end, though, their goal was irrelevant. What mattered was what they would do next, and what he and the Yang clan needed to do to stop them.