"But why would Wei Yi want to control them if it makes them weaker?"

"From Wei Yi's perspective, there are scenarios where letting them rampage makes sense, but there are also times when control is preferable. For example, it would be disastrous if they rampaged inside a sensitive location—say, the Emperor's Tomb, where the formations controlling the Royal Barrier are housed."

Prince Yang Jinyan pinched his chin. "They're moving toward the castle now. Doesn't this mean they're already under Wei Yi's control?"

Liu Xing blinked several times. He had not considered this possibility before, but he could easily confirm it. He studied the abominations again as they marched towards the castle. Most wore expressions of joy or even glee, while others seemed shadowed by grief, anger, or stoic calm. But their eyes remained sharp, fully present.

"I'm fairly confident they aren't directly controlled by Wei Yi. After all, they can hunt people with bloodlines independently, which means they have independent thoughts. I suspect Wei Yi planted some kind of directive in them during their creation."

"All right," the prince said. "Your idea is essentially to lure this army into the Emperor's Tomb, which would force Wei Yi to control them and make them weaker. But there are still threats inside the castle."

"The Sun Refining abominations," Liu Xing added.

"As well as Wei Yi himself."

Liu Xing noticed that the prince hadn't counted Yang Lihuo. Either he didn't want to mention his brother's name, or Prince Yang Jinyan had decided he wasn't a threat.

"Still, this is actually better than just sneaking into the castle," Liu Xing added.

"How is it better? True, the army would be weaker, but even weakened, they're a threat we'd be willingly adding on top of bigger threats. It's like choosing to fight slightly weakened lions while battling dragons. Surely it's better to fight the dragons without the lions."

Liu Xing understood the prince's perspective, and his logic was sound. The prince just lacked some crucial information. Like the fact that Liu Xing basically wanted to use the third army as backup qi batteries. His intention was to kill them and use their beast cores to fuel the battle with the Sun Refining abominations. It was actually doable. He didn't expect to be able to kill the Sun Refining abominations with a single shot from his gun, but perhaps the combination of the Ethereal Pearl and the Thunderstrike Gauntlets could kill them if he had enough qi.

He weighed whether to tell the prince about his gun. He wanted to keep this gift from his friend a secret. But without knowing his full capabilities, Prince Yang Jinyan wouldn't be convinced. That's why he decided to compromise.

"Prince, how much qi do you think I have?" Liu Xing asked.

The prince turned his head. "A lot."

"Compared to you?"

"Since you've just advanced to the Core Splitting realm, and I've spent quite a lot of qi, the amount of our qi is actually comparable." He looked around before adding, "Yet, as a Lock Opening cultivator, the total amount of qi you've used to fight is more than mine. I didn't count how many times you used your lightning pillars, but that attack probably consumes a lot of qi."

Liu Xing nodded. "That technique needs quite a lot of qi, and believe it or not, as a Lock Opening cultivator, the amount of my qi, while larger than usual Lock Opening cultivators, is not more than yours."

"Then how have you unleashed so many attacks? How is that possible?"

Liu Xing decided he would hide his gun and the potent qi. The potent qi his gun produced made qi-extensive techniques manageable. But he would reveal the function of his gun that could absorb beast cores.

"Spirit beasts that I kill don't have their beast cores intact," Liu Xing said.

A case of literary theft: this tale is not rightfully on Amazon; if you see it, report the violation.

The prince blinked several times, trying to digest his meaning, then his eyes widened. "You extract their beast cores while fighting?"

"Yes, and I use their qi to fight."

"Is it some kind of technique? Bloodline? Treasure?" he asked rapidly.

Liu Xing decided to ignore his questions. He'd said enough. He knew that with just this information, the prince would understand his plan. And indeed, a moment later he nodded.

"I understand your plan now. In all my years, I've never heard of a Core Splitting cultivator surviving an encounter with a Sun Refining cultivator. Even disciples from the greatest sects would be crushed." He glanced at the third army—there were thousands of them. "But, if you extract their qi, then you have a chance to kill Sun Refining abominations. It's terrifying to think that a new Core Splitting Cultivator could challenge those monsters."

"So, do you want to follow my plan?"

"It's a good plan, but I actually have another one."

"Oh? Is it good?"

If the prince's plan was good, then Liu Xing would willingly abandon his own and go along with it.

"It's not, but it can complement your plan. You see, the golden castle is huge and split into several levels. The lower level is occupied by the army, the middle level by me and several important nobles, and the top floor is occupied by my father and his advisors. Each level has its own library and treasure room. The lower level treasure room is actually trash, the middle level is good—my cultivation and techniques are from the middle library—but the truly important treasures are in the upper treasure room. In the upper treasure room are pills that can make people breakthrough to the next realm, techniques integral to the royal family, as well as several other weapons so valuable."

"I assume you want to go to this upper treasure room," Liu Xing said. Though, he actually thought that retrieving techniques was a waste of time, since techniques needed to be learned before use. Pills that could force a breakthrough were valuable, but Liu Xing doubted that even if Prince Yang Jinyan broke through to the next stage, it wouldn't turn the tide of the battle. And weapons, while good, needed to be supplemented by a fitting fighting style. Still, there must be something worthwhile if the prince mentioned this treasure room.

"What I want to retrieve is armor. This armor belonged to the second empress of our empire, and it's quite strong and capable of enhancing every aspect of a cultivator."

Liu Xing nodded. Wearable armor is useful. And he suspected this armor had special properties that made it more valuable.

“But if this armor is so valuable, wouldn’t Yang Lihuo already have it?” Liu Xing asked.

After all, if Prince Yang Jinyan knew how valuable this armor was, then there was a high chance that Yang Lihuo knew about it too.

"There is a chance that he and Wei Yi have already searched the treasure room," he said with a nod. "But my father mentioned that this armor can only be worn by a woman who meets certain criteria. So even if the upper treasure room was looted, there's a good chance they ignored this armor."

Liu Xing instinctively glanced toward the woman the prince called Hong'er. From the way he addressed her, Liu Xing knew this woman was close to the prince. And she was also the second strongest person after Liu Xing in this group. Making her stronger would mean increasing the Yang clan's chance of survival. Moreover, Liu Xing suspected the prince also wanted to check the treasure rooms on the middle and lower levels, so he could equip his men with treasures. It was fundamentally a good idea.

"Is there anything that you think would fit me?"

The prince thought for a moment, then nodded. "There are several, and you can borrow as many treasures as you want."

Liu Xing nodded. The key word was borrow. Which meant Liu Xing needed to give them back after he used them. While he kind of regretted that he couldn't own the treasures he would get from the upper treasure room, it was still better than nothing. After all, since the prince only wanted to lend the treasures to Liu Xing, even when the Twelve Sun Empire was on the brink of destruction, it was a sign that those treasures were too valuable to give away.

"All right, I think we can do that too."

The prince nodded. "Give me five minutes. I'll create a simple plan that incorporates all of our discussion."

The prince got up from his position and began to regroup and discuss the plan with the rest of his clan members.

Liu Xing decided to observe the third army and clenched his hand. The situation was spiraling out of control. If what Yang Lihuo said was true, then his "rebirth" would occur in just several hours.

Several hours. If Yang Lihuo wasn't stopped, Liu Xing would be killed along with the prince and the rest of the Yang clan. They were all within the Royal Barrier, so they would be sacrificed as well. Even if they somehow survived the ritual, Yang Lihuo's "rebirth" would spell disaster. Liu Xing didn't know exactly what form this rebirth would take, but he was certain that it would be dangerous.

Either way, this day would be historic. Either it would mark Prince Yang Jinyan's triumph, or it would be the last day of the current Twelve Sun Empire.

After five minutes, the prince called him over and shared the plan he'd devised. The plan was so simple it barely qualified as one—more like guidelines with several objectives. And Liu Xing's objective was simple.

"You need to fight the third army alone," the prince said.