The blood all over Li Yao's body was immediately frozen. Every drop of blood seemed to have grown an icicle that pierced through his veins, muscles, and skin and protruded out of his pores one after another. He felt that he had goosebumps all over his body.
"What did you say?"
Like a ghost whose neck had been gripped, he stammered, "S-Say it again. What did you say just now?"
"Why do you look like you're scared out of your wits? Did I say something extraordinary?"
Slightly dazed, Long Yangjun said in confusion, "No. There are no secrets in the royal library. The classics about the Supreme Emperor's mausoleum are not worth studying."
"No."
Li Yao struggled to speak. His voice turned sharp and cold as if a giant ice cube was stuck in his throat. "You said just now that Blackstar the Great was very interested in the Supreme Emperor's mausoleum and that he might have even been killed in the Supreme Emperor's mausoleum?"
"So what?"
Long Yangjun slightly frowned and said, "Every hero in the universe is interested in the Supreme Emperor's mausoleum. If possible, who would not want to explore the Supreme Emperor's mausoleum? Do you not want to? I want to go too! "
"You don't understand!"
Veins were bulging on Li Yao's face, but his face below the veins was as pale as a dead man's. He seemed to be about to grab Long Yangjun's collar and shake her hard. "Where did you see the so-called 'legend' exactly? How credible is it? Do you have any solid evidence?"
"I saw it in a notebook from more than seven hundred years ago. The writer of the notebook was a member of the royal family who was deposed. The notebook contained a lot of bizarre, uncanny legends. However, the writing was rather clumsy, and the content was too absurd to be of much value. After hundreds of years, it can barely be found on the market. Even in the royal library, it was stuffed in a corner that had been sealed for a long time. I glanced at it briefly and threw it back."
Seeing that Li Yao was panicking as if he were faced with a great enemy, Long Yangjun knew that it was of great importance too. She became solemn too. "As for evidence, of course, I don't have any, but I think it's quite possible. Whether or not the Supreme Emperor's mausoleum was found is another matter, but it is indeed possible that Blackstar the Great left the capital planet to search for the 'Empyreal Transcendence Sector' when he was about to die."
Li Yao's eyelids and veins were jumping crazily, and he sweated hard. "Why are you so sure?"
"It's very simple. His personality!"
Long Yangjun opened her hands and said, "Do you think that Blackstar the Great was the kind of person who would sleep in his hometown and wait to be killed? If you were Wuying Qi, wouldn't you want to wander in the sea of stars and look for new opportunities and legacies when you know that your life is coming to an end? Should you really find the Supreme Emperor's mausoleum and receive the legacies from ten thousand years ago, chances are that you will be able to break into a new level and live another five hundred years or even longer! "
Li Yao clenched his fists and said in a hurry, "But Wuying Qi's mausoleum is clearly inside the Emperor's Mausoleum!"
"So what? The mausoleum is nothing more than a stone coffin and an enormous statue that is carved into the mountain."
Long Yangjun said, "Don't forget that the emperors of the Imperium of True Human Beings all chose to burn their bodies into ashes at a temperature of almost ten thousand degrees in order not to be disturbed after their death. It means that even if you open Wuying Qi's mausoleum, you will only see ashes at best.
"Right. The rule was made by Wuying Qi himself. Chances are that it was meant to fool other people!
"In the worst case scenario, even if his remains are really inside the mausoleum, it doesn't mean anything wrong. With his Cultivation, he could've easily left his body and searched for the Supreme Emperor's mausoleum by attaching his soul to an artificial body. Naturally, his body would've been left on the capital planet. He had 'died'!"
Li Yao was silent. Recalling his adventures in the Martial Meritocrats Sector, which were indeed completed with an artificial body, he could only nod his head.
If he could do it when he had just stepped into the Divinity Transformation Stage, it was certainly not a problem for Blackstar the Great.
Li Yao's face was as pale as a ghost a moment ago, but it was as dark as the face of Emperor Shenwu right now.
He paced back and forth in the narrow cabin. After every lap, his face looked even more awful. What was leaking out of his pores was not sweat but ink.
"Are you poisoned, too?"
Long Yangjun asked, "Why do you look so awful?"
"Hush …"
Taking a deep breath, Li Yao said, "Let me think. Let me connect the causes and effects in the calmest state possible … How about this? I'm going to make a series of bold hypotheses. You can help me analyze them and see if they're possible."
Long Yangjun nodded. "Alright. Come on."
"First of all, Blackstar the Great was very interested in the Supreme Emperor's mausoleum when he was on the throne. Of course, you're right. All the heroes in the universe were interested in the Supreme Emperor's mausoleum. Nobody was not."
Li Yao took a breath and continued, "But Wuying Qi was different. As the 'founding emperor' of the Imperium of True Human Beings, he was naturally capable of collecting all the classics and files about the Supreme Emperor's mausoleum in the sea of stars.
"Also, his royal palace was built on the relics of the royal palace of the Star Ocean Imperium ten thousand years ago. When the royal palace was built, hundreds of thousands of captives of the Cultivators were used to excavate an enormous, complicated 'underground palace'. Later, all the captives of the Cultivators were killed.
"Can we boldly assume that Blackstar the Great trapped and killed hundreds of thousands of Cultivators because he found the relics of the royal palace of the Star Ocean Imperium when he excavated the underground palace, or at least something in the relics … something that he did not want other people to know, other than his brutality?
"Or maybe, the enormous royal palace was built as a disguise in itself. In fact, Blackstar the Great was trying to excavate the relics of the royal palace ten thousand years ago and find the secrets about the Supreme Emperor's mausoleum inside?"
Pondering for a moment, Long Yangjun nodded quickly. "It's indeed a possibility."
"Next, since Blackstar the Great had all the classics and files about the Supreme Emperor's mausoleum in the past ten thousand years and found the unknown secrets in the relics of the royal palace ten thousand years ago, he was more likely to know the precise coordinates of the Supreme Emperor's mausoleum than anybody else, right?"
Li Yao went on, "However, when he was in the prime of his life, he was busy dealing with the Holy League, expanding the territory of the Imperium, and suppressing the remaining forces of the Star Ocean Republic. It was impossible for him to leave the Empyreal Terminus Sector and look for the unpredictable Supreme Emperor's mausoleum in the depths of the vast sea of stars.
"However, at the end of his life, when he sensed that his doom was coming, and the preparations were almost done, he had to take the risk no matter what. So, he pretended that he had passed away and left his body in the mausoleum, leaving the capital planet in the form of a soul to follow the Supreme Emperor's footsteps!"
Long Yangjun said, "There was no problem up to this point. It was a very reasonable inference."
"Let's assume that Blackstar the Great did find the Supreme Emperor's mausoleum. However, the Supreme Emperor's mausoleum must've been heavily guarded with complicated traps. With his soul that was about to perish, it was unlikely that he could've broken into the mausoleum. At the very least, it was impossible for him to reach the central area."
Li Yao said, "Can we imagine a picture where the remaining soul of Blackstar the Great wandered for a long time before a magnificent bronze gate in the deepest part of the Supreme Emperor's mausoleum, but no matter how hard he gritted his teeth, plotted, and tried, there was no way that he could enter the mausoleum at all?
"With Blackstar the Great's selfishness, it was naturally impossible for him to tell the precise coordinates of the Supreme Emperor's mausoleum to another person. Therefore, for a long time, say … for a thousand years, no other adventurer came to the Supreme Emperor's mausoleum, and Blackstar the Great's remaining soul could only wander on his own and disperse in pain.
"However, Blackstar the Great had prepared carefully for his entire life. Naturally, he must've considered such a situation. Did he have a certain secret technique that could preserve his remaining soul for a thousand years? From a technical point of view, it shouldn't be a big problem. There are plenty of ways to achieve that! "
"Fair enough. If Blackstar the Great had truly found the Supreme Emperor's mausoleum, I'm afraid that he would've been unwilling to die in front of the final gate. Even if his soul did perish, he would've certainly kept part of his hatred and resentment."
Li Yao's voice was colder and colder. "Then, let's assume that two adventurers did find the Supreme Emperor's mausoleum a thousand years later and reached the final gate, accidentally activating the remaining soul that had been hibernating for a long time, or some sort of curse, poison, or tenebrum energy that was similar to the remaining soul. It wouldn't matter if it was Blackstar the Great's mark of life anyway!
"The new adventurer thought that she had received the Supreme Emperor's heritage. After all, few experts in history had the infinite dominance of the emperor. But out of their expectation, she had actually received Blackstar the Great's heritage. Blackstar the Great's remaining soul even parasitized her body and gradually took over her body! Were there any loopholes? "
"I … don't think so."
Long Yangjun narrowed her eyes and stared at Li Yao carefully. "Are you serious? Has Li Linghai really been to the Supreme Emperor's mausoleum?"
"Otherwise, where do you think Li Linghai got the resources to establish the Deep Sea Fleet and reach out to the reformists?"
With a bitter smile, Li Yao said, "I believe that Li Linghai has definitely been to the Supreme Emperor's mausoleum. Also, her motives and purposes will all make sense now!
"If she is just 'Queen Li Linghai', it will be meaningless to throw the Imperium into chaos, because she does not have the prestige and the strength to clean up the mess at all!
"But what if she is not just 'Queen Li Linghai' but also 'Blackstar the Great'?
"The Imperium is mired in chaos. The four Kurfürst families are fighting each other inside, and the Holy League is attacking on a large scale outside. Even the current emperor has passed away uncannily. The entire Imperium is about to fall apart, and the civilization of mankind is about to be plunged into a catastrophe.
"At the critical moment when the Imperium of True Human Beings and even the civilization of mankind are about to be destroyed, Blackstar the Great, the greatest emperor of the Imperium, the strongest ancestor of the Immortal Cultivators, and the supreme 'ancestor' in the hearts of all the Immortal Cultivators, returns to save the day!
"If the Imperium is peaceful, and the four Kurfürst families and the peripheral warlords are all on the same side, they may not welcome Blackstar the Great's return. They may even unite to deal with him.
"However, as long as the four Kurfürst families, the peripheral warlords, and the reformists … all the forces are engaged in a civil war, and they are faced with the immense military pressure of the Holy League, nobody will be able to compete with Blackstar the Great's prestige and strength. They will only be crushed by him one by one, or even collapse without a fight, and they will all surrender to him and consider him … the last savior of the world!"
This time, it was Long Yangjun who was rendered completely speechless.
Her face gradually darkened, too, until it was as dark as Li Yao's.
"I really hate my big mouth."
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