Chapter 1082: The Might of the Imperial Insignia
The main contributor in snatching the Yan Huang Golden Bead would definitely be Wu Yu, and Prince Le would not do much.
But ultimately, Wu Yu's status was Kingmaker Le, decreed by the Ancient Emperor. To everyone else, Prince Le was the direction of his loyalty. If he obtained the Yan Huang Golden Bead, it should go to Prince Le. Just like how the plunder of Queenmaker Yin Xiong Zhan or Jiang Wenyu and the others would belong to Princess Yin.
Princess Yin could then shower them with treasures later, which was normal. However, half was an impossible amount. No prince would be willing to basically go half and half.
One reason was that Prince Le himself knew that he would not personally be part of this fight. Secondly, he was generous and forceful enough.
Wu Yu was not just thinking about the Yan Huang Golden Bead's treasures from the 10,000 Kingdoms Pilgrimage, but also other considerations.
"Actually, we should not be narrowly locked onto the Yan Huang Golden Bead. For example, didn't we gain a huge amount from the Ancient Emperor's dao musings? And the Imperial Insignia? Therefore, the Yan Huang Golden Bead is not the only prize within the Ancient Soul Tower," Wu Yu said.
And the above was the reason why he had to stay by Prince Le's side. His relation with Prince Le was a curious one. For now, Wu Yu would definitely not leave him in trouble, or he would create an obvious rift between them.
At least for now, Prince Le's dominant emotion towards Wu Yu was gratitude.
"Got it. One has to lower one's head under the eaves." The Full Moon of Nanshan grinned.
"Eaves... the Jambu Realm is the house, and the owner is the Ancient Emperor." Ye Xixi caught on to the Full Moon of Nanshan's thinking.
"Clever one you are, little girl." The Full Moon of Nanshan patted her head.
"Of course. Cleverer than you," Ye Xixi said.
Wu Yu conferred briefly with Prince Le about their situation. Prince Le prepared to seek out those of Yan Huang Tribe, to inquire news of the Yan Huang Golden Bead.
As they prepared to leave, they were still ignorant of any dangers that might lurk in this harsh and scorching land, where even the soil was baked black. Wu Yu used his Eyes of Fire and Gold to survey the world.
"Oh! When Princess Yin and the others pursue us here, they'll appear nearby, right?!" Ye Xixi asked.
"Probably." Wu Yu himself was unclear if those ascending from the same spot would also emerge at the same place. If not for the Full Moon of Nanshan's question, he would have left long ago. He was still anxious to leave, because there was no need to get tangled further with Princess Yin. It would save them a bother, and more troublesome situations.
Just as he spoke, Princess Yin and her three men appeared on a nearby hill. They spotted Wu Yu and the others in the valley instantly. All four came charging towards Wu Yu!
Jiang Wuzhou took to the skies, preventing Wu Yu and the others from escaping through the air. Xiong Zhan and Jiang Wenyu pincered them, while Princess Yin came head-on. After losing the Imperial Insignia, she still had many advanced dao treasures in her possession, which were also top-quality. Besides, she also had mystiques and dao techniques, and her fighting strength was not far from Xiong Zhan and the others.
"What are we to do?" Prince Le asked worriedly.
"If we don't deal with them, they won't let us leave in peace." Wu Yu's answer was bold. Of course, he had a reason for this.
His Heaven Devouring Avatar appeared in a flash, the Dark North Royal Obelisk and Blood Coagulant Rapier in its hands. The Elusive Firefly was also given orders. The Full Moon of Nanshan went to keep Xiong Zhan busy. Last time, he had run rings around him.
As for his Heaven Devouring Avatar, it took to the skies to face Jiang Wuzhou, who Ye Xixi had faced before. Given the Heaven Devouring Avatar's strength, it might not be able to kill its opponent, but suppressing him should be no problem. If the Imperial Insignia was in the Heaven Devouring Avatar's hands, then Jiang Wuzhou was dead to rights.
All that remained was Ye Xixi with the Elusive Firefly, in answer to Jiang Wenyu. She could also thoroughly control him. Before, Ye Xixi and the Elusive Firefly individually were on the back foot, but with them joining forces now, even taking down Jiang Wenyu should not be a problem.
Therefore, the three fights besides Wu Yu's real body all saw the advantage fall in favor of Prince Le's side. Princess Yin naturally swooped down on Wu Yu. She had originally intended for one of her three allies to support her, but all of them were occupied.
This made her exceptionally furious, but she was not afraid of Wu Yu, because only his real body faced her.
She knew that Wu Yu was confident enough to face her with his real body alone because of the Imperial Insignia.
"You think you can blood bond with the Imperial Insignia and master it in a mere dozen days? Dream on!"
She gave a derisive laugh. She had seen the Tortoise Shield Dragon Boat previously, proof that Wu Yu had managed to blood bond with it, at least. But for such a raw relationship, the appearance of the original owner could very well see the seraphic dao treasure turn its loyalty.
Back then, how much energy had she put in before she had subdued the Imperial Insignia and made it bend its will?
Therefore, she was confident.
As she charged forth, Wu Yu stood unmoving at his spot. Calm as a mountain, his movements were not fast. The Imperial Insignia appeared in his hands in its Dragon Sword form. The golden, glass-like blade sparkled under the sun, lifelike mystical dragons extending from the hilt. The seraphic dao treasure seemed to become one with Wu Yu, while Princess Yin felt alienated from the Imperial Insignia. The foreign feeling was a devastating blow to her confidence!
"Mine!"
She was still shocked, and slowed her speed. Wu Yu brandished his sword and attacked.
"Imperial Dragon Sword: Golden Roc Covers the Sky!"
The numerous spirit designs activated. Dazzling with light, a roc dragon flew out of the Imperial Insignia to cover the sky. Even with nine suns, the world turned dark in the shadow of the roc dragon's wings. In the darkness, the roc dragon's stupendous sword qi shot towards Princess Yin!
This was the Offensive Spirit Design that she had been most familiar with, but now it was turned on her. The roc dragon sword qi was savage and uncommonly strong, even more so than when she had executed it before. It was a scene straight out of a nightmare that put a fright into Princess Yin.
She held a sword in her left hand and a pagoda in her right. They were both elite advanced dao treasures, and she hurriedly activated their spirit designs, barely managing to stave off Imperial Dragon Sword: Golden Roc Covers the Sky. But her heart was already crushed. Even with her mighty Violet Kingdom Primordial Energy, she was sent flying by Wu Yu!
She had been sent flying and not skewered through because of her two advanced dao treasures, which had absorbed some of Wu Yu's sword qi. The sword had blocked some, while the pagoda paid the price and shattered. It blocked a majority of Wu Yu's Imperial Dragon Sword: Golden Roc Covers the Sky. But still, a considerable amount of sword qi hit her, sending her flying a good distance!
"Impossible!"
The anguished cries of Princess Yin filled the air. She could not believe that Wu Yu had already mastered even the Imperial Dragon Sword: Golden Roc Covers the Sky in a mere dozen days....
Of course, she would probably die of anger if she knew that Wu Yu had already mastered it all!
This time, Wu Yu had defeated her with basically one move. The other three guys were stunned to the point that the Heaven Devouring Avatar and the Full Moon of Nanshan almost won. With Princess Yin's survival unknown, they naturally had to follow. Therefore, all three retreated unanimously.
"Wu Yu, Prince Le! This debt will be collected! Just wait and see!"
Jiang Wenyu fired an angry parting shot and then hurried after Princess Yin, whom they did not know was alive or dead.
"Let's go."
Wu Yu could not be bothered to reply. Opening up his own speed, he again had the Dark North Royal Obelisk guard the Seven Stars Fortifying Design as they left.
He knew that Princess Yin's wounds this time were probably about the same as the previous time. She would probably need a dozen days to recover. In any case, they could not catch up, and he simply needed to put distance between them to shake them off.
Wu Yu did not believe that they could find him at the fifth level of the Ancient Soul Tower. They had found him last time because the fourth level of the Ancient Soul Tower was empty, and simply taking to the skies would reveal all.
"To go from the fifth to the sixth level, the only difficulty should be the nine suns. These nine suns are just too fiery. And we have to pass through them to reach the sixth level."
"Sounds about right."
Wu Yu and the others could see a black circle near the nine suns, and one could just imagine the temperature there. The entire sky seemed sealed off, save for the black circle that looked like a tunnel upwards.
"Should we seek information first, or try ascending to the sixth level?" Wu Yu asked after spotting the black circle.
With the Tortoise Shield Dragon Boat, he still had some confidence of reaching the sixth level.
"The sixth level of the Ancient Soul Tower must be a real terror. Let's assess the situation for a while first. The weakest up there would at least be sixth tier Dao Querying cultivators. Your strength would not be advantageous there," Prince Le said.
His words were reasonable, showing uncommon prudence.
They had just left their original location and ascertained that Princess Yin and the others would not chase them down. Wu Yu was well satisfied with the Imperial Insignia's strength the first time that he had used it. Wu Yu reckoned that even sixth tier Dao Querying cultivators with seraphic dao treasures could not stand against him now.
They were advancing quite stealthily through a blackened valley when the sound of applause suddenly came from ahead.
"Kingmaker Le defeated Princess Yin with one Offensive Spirit Design. Spectacular! And unexpected, oh how unexpected...."
Someone exclaimed while clapping.
"Who is it?" Wu Yu looked ahead. It was so hot that the air itself was distorted by the heat. He knew that there was a bunch of people around the cliff corner. As they spoke, they had already walked out.