Chapter 1245: Each Fends for Themselves

“In recent years, forces from the cultivation world have continuously encroached upon the realms ruled by Our imperial family. Previously, this issue was never officially addressed in the historical records. Now, having just experienced the upheaval involving the Seven Peaks Sword Sect, what is Our Majesty to do? We have just given a promise to this brave warrior.”

Old Xuanwu, however, revealed a sinister smile. “In my opinion, gathering these cultivators at Seven Peaks Mountain is not impossible.

However, the premise is that these individuals must be firmly under our control. This old man has a method: if this task were entrusted to this brave warrior, then his desire to accommodate those from the cultivation world would naturally fall into place.”

Emperor Yunlong looked at Xuanwu with a puzzled expression. “Perhaps you could elaborate?”

The old man nodded with a smile. “Our imperial lineage has been researching the Ten Directions Beast Emperor Formation for hundreds of years, and now it has reached a crucial stage of development.

However, it has always lacked a most vital medium, preventing the entire formation from taking its final shape.

In this old man's view, we could seek this warrior's help to find this crucial medium, thereby perfecting the Ten Directions Beast Emperor Formation.

At that time, we can use this formation to apply a second seal to Seven Peaks Mountain. With the Ten Directions Beast Emperor Formation's blessing, even if all the cultivators in the world were to gather at Seven Peaks Mountain to establish their own cultivation grounds, it would absolutely not threaten the rule of our imperial family.”

If it were anyone else making such a deceptive move, even if Xu Yang himself agreed, his Eight Gates team members would never consent.

However, this time, standing before everyone was Emperor Yunlong, the pinnacle of power on the entire Yingzhou Continent.

Unless Xu Yang truly became enraged, no one, including Xu Yang himself, would dare defy his commands.

With the old tortoise constantly instigating, Xu Yang clearly understood that this was entirely Emperor Yunlong's intention. He might as well play along and see the charade through, as it would ultimately lead to a favorable outcome for everyone involved today.

“Prime Minister, please speak frankly. For me, Xu Yang, to go back on my word is absolutely impossible. If this is the necessary price to fulfill the promise in the contract, then I have nothing more to say.”

Seeing Xu Yang's direct inquiry, the Prime Minister saw no point in continuing the charade and nodded with a smile.

“Then I shall speak plainly. The most crucial step required to perfect the Ten Directions Beast Emperor Formation is acquiring the Heart of the Sacred Beast from the Far North Forbidden Zone.”

Hearing the words "Far North Forbidden Zone," not only Xu Yang was stunned, but every member of the Eight Gates team, including the trembling Fifth Prince standing nearby, wore expressions of astonishment.

The mere mention of "Forbidden Zone" was enough to convey how different this place was from the other major regions.

It was known that Xu Yang had, until now, experienced four out of the five major regions of the entire Yingzhou Continent, including the Central Region, and had established his powerful influence in each of them.

Only the Far North Forbidden Zone remained untouched by Xu Yang. According to legends and Xu Yang's understanding of the zone during this period, over ninety percent of that area was occupied and controlled by various savage giant beasts.

It could be said that it was entirely a realm ruled by beasts. For this very reason, the Far North Forbidden Zone was also the only region that the Central Region's imperial family had never fully and completely controlled.

In that place, not even an enforcement hall had been established, because any human powerhouse who ventured into that area would be mercilessly trampled and destroyed by the savage giant beasts.

Of course, old Xuanwu had set up this scheme precisely to use Xu Yang's power to achieve their more significant goals. After hearing old Xuanwu speak of the Heart of the Sacred Beast, Xu Yang actually felt relieved.

He finally understood the true purpose behind Emperor Yunlong and old Xuanwu's elaborate plan. In other words, while they had seemingly petitioned Emperor Yunlong, it was actually Emperor Yunlong who was using this opportunity to have Xu Yang handle matters for him.

“I stand by what I said: as long as Your Majesty can grant Seven Peaks Mountain's request and allow those cultivators to enter Seven Peaks Mountain to cultivate and establish their own training grounds, I will naturally fulfill this requirement.

However, I will need sufficient time, but there are countless cultivators in the world, and they won't have that much time to wait.”

Emperor Yunlong burst into laughter. “Naturally! We can immediately issue an imperial edict inviting heroes from all corners of the world to gather at Seven Peaks Mountain to establish their cultivation grounds.

We believe your strength is fully capable of helping us achieve this. However, let Us be clear: if you fail to acquire the Heart of the Sacred Beast, not only you but also your friends here will have to pay the corresponding price.

Of course, you must understand that this is not a threat from Us; it is simply part of the terms of our cooperation.

You should know that the Heart of the Sacred Beast is of immense importance, a secret that non-royals should not know. Yet, We are now revealing this most crucial imperial secret to all of you.

If you ultimately go back on your word and fail to obtain the Heart of the Sacred Beast, We will have no way to account for it to those who have consistently upheld this promise. If it becomes common knowledge that the core of the Ten Directions Beast Emperor Formation is the Heart of the Sacred Beast, the entire world might be plunged into turmoil because of this secret, and none of us could bear that responsibility.”

Xu Yang smiled and nodded gently. “Your Majesty, rest assured. I, Xu Yang, have never gone back on my word. I will certainly obtain the Heart of the Sacred Beast.

It's just that I've never been to the Far North Forbidden Zone, so I might need some time to prepare.”

Unexpectedly, no sooner had Xu Yang finished speaking than Xuanwu, who was beside him, produced a perfectly complete map of the Far North Forbidden Zone.

“With the guidance of this map, it will surely bring you great convenience, esteemed sir. To this old man's knowledge, there should be no other map in this world more detailed than this one.”

Xu Yang unhesitatingly unrolled the map. Its detailed markings utterly astonished everyone, though Xuanwu had also implemented certain security measures on it.

Without reaching the corresponding coordinate areas, the map would not fully display all its content. It was also encrypted as an imperial secret. This method left Xu Yang somewhat speechless, but it wasn't the first time he had experienced such a thing.

Previously, when he had taken Long Kun and others to search for the secret of the Nine Dragons Heavenly Tribulation, the map they obtained had a similar semi-enclosed structure.

The current map only showed markings for the entrance area between the main continent and the Far North Forbidden Zone, occupying only about ten percent of the entire map of the Far North Forbidden Zone. However, for Xu Yang, this was already sufficient.