A thousand miles away from the capital of the Great Flame Dynasty, in an unremarkable valley, sat a young man with his legs crossed.
In front of him lay a large number of rare spirit herbs, precious enough to make any Martial Saint drool with envy.
Yet, they were scattered before him as if they were mere weeds.
If any minister of the Great Flame Dynasty were present, they would realize that compared to the precious herbs, the young man sitting cross-legged was far more impressive.
This young man was none other than the true power behind the throne of the Great Flame Dynasty, Prince Liu Yuan, who despite not being the emperor, wielded even more influence than one.
"I've reached the full potential of a Martial God and can now break through to the next stage," murmured Lin Yuan as he gazed at the spirit herbs.
In two decades, Lin Yuan had completed the Martial God stage and had used his heaven-defying comprehension to foresee the path ahead.
However, he predicted that breaking through the Martial God stage might unleash an aura detectable by divine weapons.
To avoid drawing attention, Lin Yuan had chosen this secluded place to make his breakthrough.
The valley was a thousand miles from the capital and over twelve hundred miles from the Divine Weapon Ancestral Land.
This distance would mask the effects of Lin Yuan's breakthrough.
"Let it begin," Lin Yuan exhaled slightly.
Before him, the spirit herbs turned to powder, their essence surging into Lin Yuan's mouth.
Inhale! Exhale! With each breath, Lin Yuan's body underwent a monumental change.
His essence, energy, and spirit transformed, reaching new heights.
An uncontrollable aura spread in all directions, causing all the small creatures in the valley to experience an overwhelming sense of suffocation, as if heaven and earth were collapsing and a god had descended.
Fortunately, this oppressive feeling lasted only a moment.
Within half an hour, Lin Yuan had withdrawn all his aura.
"So this is the Heavenly Being Realm?" Lin Yuan stood up, feeling the immense power surging within him.
Beyond the Martial God was the Heavenly Being.
The "God" in Martial God referred to spirit, a realm of soul and spirit untouched by other practitioners.
The Heavenly Being surpassed the Martial God.
"Taiji Domain."
With a mere thought, an invisible force spread, easily covering a radius of over ten miles.
Before his breakthrough, Lin Yuan's Taiji Domain spanned a few miles.
Now, it expanded multiple times, covering nearly twenty miles.
Its suppressive and binding force had also grown several times stronger.
If he faced a third-stage evolver like Bing Yan, Lin Yuan could now suppress them completely with his domain alone, leaving them without a chance to fight back.
Besides the expanded domain, Lin Yuan's body, soul, blood essence, and spirit had all undergone qualitative changes due to his breakthrough.
"This breakthrough greatly enhanced my strength," Lin Yuan sighed with satisfaction.
"It's getting late. It's time to head back."
Lin Yuan left the valley, where the air seemed to ripple slightly as he moved.
With the ability of the Taiji Domain, Lin Yuan could bend light to become invisible to normal eyes.
However, this invisibility was ineffective against true experts, who relied on senses beyond sight.
In the Eastern Palace, Lin Yuan appeared silently.
Shortly after, a cautious eunuch entered, presenting a sealed letter with respect.
Lin Yuan took the letter, glanced at it, and it turned to dust.
Over twenty years, Lin Yuan had not only advanced his strength, reaching the Heavenly Being stage, but had also established a vast intelligence network across the thirty-six nations of Central Plains, unbeknownst to Emperor Liu Shi and most in the palace, except for the eunuch standing before him, whose life and death were in Lin Yuan's hands.
This intelligence network was meant to investigate the divine weapons.
As the dynastic symbols of the Great Flame Royal Family, they held sway over many loyal nobles.
Investigating them through royal channels was pointless, so Lin Yuan built his own network to dig up information on these divine weapons.
Though Lin Yuan bore no enmity towards the divine weapons, they saw all humans as mere food, and Lin Yuan was considered a delicacy.
This meant their interests were inherently opposed.
In twenty years, Lin Yuan had learned much about divine weapons, surpassing his understanding from the first six years after his arrival.
The specifics of their origin were lost to myths and legends without solid evidence, but tales said they were forged by gods a thousand years ago, with more than thirty-six created initially.
Something unknown caused this number to dwindle, leaving one divine weapon to guard each of the thirty-six nations.
"A thousand years ago? Ancient divine beings?" Lin Yuan pondered.
To him, these divine beings were likely strong evolvers who crafted sentient divine weapons for reasons unknown.
But after forging the weapons, the ancient divine being vanished without a trace.
"If I could capture a divine weapon and perform a soul search…” Lin Yuan considered this but dismissed the thought quickly.
Based on his understanding and historical accounts of the divine weapons' awakening, Lin Yuan deduced that each nation-guarding divine weapon had the potential of reaching a quasi-fourth stage.
Such power was currently beyond Lin Yuan's reach.
Even at the pinnacle of the Heavenly Being stage, Lin Yuan would only be equal to a divine weapon in strength, and capturing one would surely attract others' attention, resulting in all thirty-six descending upon him.
"What about the Godslayer Society?" Lin Yuan casually asked.
The Godslayer Society was a clandestine organization that spread across the thirty-six nations.
Lin Yuan's intelligence network had uncovered slight hints of its existence; otherwise, it would have remained hidden.
Dedicated to overthrowing divine weapons' rule, the Society emerged when some people resisted being treated as food.
Yet, divine weapons were invincible, driving these rebels underground.
Lin Yuan hoped to glean secrets about divine weapons from the Godslayer Society, which had battled them for millennia.
"Your Highness, we have narrowed down the Godslayer Society's main base in the Great Flame Dynasty. We'll pinpoint its exact location within half a month," the eunuch respectfully reported.
The next day, early in the morning, imperial guards stood outside the Eastern Palace.
"Your Highness, His Majesty requests your presence," the commander said with reverence.
"Is everything alright with Father?" Lin Yuan asked, rising immediately.
Emperor Liu Shi had sired him late in life, nearly fifty at Lin Yuan's birth.
Now, after twenty-six years, Liu Shi was over seventy.
His struggles for the throne left many lingering injuries, now manifesting in his old age.
Lin Yuan had noticed this over ten years ago and had researched medical texts to concoct remedies for Liu Shi.
Though it would take time to heal such innate damage, and despite age slowing him, Lin Yuan believed Liu Shi could live to a hundred barring significant issues.
"Barring any unforeseen events, he should be fine," Lin Yuan thought.
The remedies he crafted weren't just life-prolonging; they should heal lingering injuries over time.
Though he couldn't prevent fatigue and energy lapse common in the elderly, it wasn't due to his inability but the divine weapons' existence restraining him.
In the Heavenly Conquest Hall, Lin Yuan found Emperor Liu Shi, sipping medicinal soup.
Liu Shi called to him, "Yuan'er."
Lin Yuan approached.
"My health declines daily, my energy fades, and I can no longer handle many state affairs," Liu Shi looked towards the ministers present.
Before Lin Yuan arrived, these high-ranking officials had already assembled. “I wish to abdicate and become the Retired Emperor, leaving the Great Flame in Yuan'er’s hands. What say you all?” Liu Shi asked the ministers.
The ministers exchanged glances, not surprised by this announcement, as they had long expected it.
"Father…" Lin Yuan looked at Liu Shi.
"My son shall be a Sage Monarch," Liu Shi stated, patting Lin Yuan's shoulder with a sense of relief.
In the year 3625 of the Great Flame calendar, the new emperor Liu Yuan ascended the throne.
Thank you to reader Chen Xinlong for the hundred book coins.
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