Chapter 1875: The Mastermind Behind the Scenes

The ancient great serpent was extremely sensitive to the aura of cultivators. When it sensed the exceptionally powerful external elemental energy within Dawn, it instinctively furrowed its brow.

"What's going on? The power within you is very unusual; it seems to be a composite effect of multiple formidable powers."

Dawn smiled and nodded.

"Just as you suspected," Dawn replied, "my body contains the powerful life force essence of Sir Xu Yang, as well as the power cores of several other top human experts. All of these were bestowed upon me by Sir Xu Yang. You should feel fortunate to have met him and received his guidance. If you can join our team, you will undoubtedly have a brilliant future."

In truth, the ancient great serpent had not initially been very eager to leave its territory. If Little Mushroom hadn't suddenly appeared, even if the ancient great serpent had learned the full truth about the old emperor's previous sealing in the Misty Mountain Range, it might not have chosen to leave so easily.

However, when it saw the pure desire in Little Mushroom's eyes to recruit it, the ancient great serpent finally chose to compromise and nodded softly.

"Very well, I suppose. Idleness is idleness after all," it mused. "Remaining in this place is certainly comfortable, but for me, whether it's a hundred years, a thousand, or ten thousand, it seems to make no difference. I might as well treat the rest of my life as a gamble and vigorously stir things up with you all within the realm of ancient martial arts. Only then will it not be a waste that I awakened my human soul physique, and I will, after all, leave my own mark in the martial world."

Thus, the ancient great serpent, possessing powerful and mysterious innate abilities, was successfully recruited by Xu Yang and his companions. With this, the lineup assembled by Xu Yang outside the Misty Mountain Range, intended to overthrow the imperial family, was officially complete!

The combat capabilities of the entire team were now formidable. Setting aside the earth-shattering existence of Xu Yang, every other team member had their own irreplaceable, specialized role…

In the imperial palace, the fake emperor suddenly formed hand seals. Soon, he used a special martial arts technique to activate a round bead in his palm. In reality, this item functioned similarly to the Purple Jade Crystal, though its power was naturally incomparable to that of the Purple Jade Crystal.

When the fake old emperor infused his internal martial essence into the crystal, the crystal immediately emitted a dazzling dark golden light.

Not long after, a deep green soul light rapidly condensed in the center of the imperial hall. All the lights merged into one, forming a new, complete soul entity.

This entity was also cloaked, and although it lacked a complete physical body, the terrifying soul beneath its cloak gave off an almost suffocating sense of oppression.

This being had no flesh and blood; even beneath its cloak, it was merely a skeletal soul. However, its soul strength far surpassed that of the fake emperor before it.

Even the silver-robed disciple who had previously reported battle conditions to the fake emperor had to bow in submission before this powerful soul entity, respectfully addressing it as "Your Excellency, Priest."

In fact, this old entity was the mastermind controlling the fake emperor from behind the scenes.

"Your Excellency, Priest," the fake emperor began, "the true emperor of the empire, my own brother, whom I suppressed for many years, has been rescued by a powerful human expert. And from my assessment, he must have learned about the events that have transpired within the empire over these years. If that human expert brings back my cursed brother, I fear the fate of the entire empire will face drastic upheaval. The situation is currently tricky, and I was forced to summon you, Your Excellency, Priest, ahead of time. Please make a decision yourself, Your Excellency."

The skeletal soul entity before him, clutching a glowing dark golden scepter, revealed a cold smile. The suffocating aura of dread around it seemed to grow even denser.

"You are truly not as useful as I imagined," the Priest scoffed. "You can't even handle such a minor matter, and you have to summon me, the Priest, to personally clean up your mess. It is truly disappointing. However, your actions are not entirely unreasonable. After all, your capabilities are indeed limited. It is certainly better than waiting until the situation becomes irredeemable before summoning me."

Hearing the skeletal Priest speak, the fake emperor finally breathed a silent sigh of relief. He didn't even dare to breathe heavily in the presence of this being.

He was merely a puppet, groomed by this skeletal Priest to control the empire.

"Relay the information about that human expert to me now," the Priest commanded, "and I will help you deal with him."

Hearing the Priest say this, the fake emperor immediately brimmed with confidence, nodding repeatedly like a child who had received a toy. He completely disregarded his own dignity, and without hesitation, he tapped his forehead.

Soon, a very powerful soul aura was incubated within the fake emperor's spiritual world, and then transmitted by him into the skull of the Priest before him.

The hollow eye sockets of the powerful skeletal soul entity, known as the Priest, suddenly flickered with two streaks of purplish-red light. This light did not last long; it merely flashed once before returning to the calm state of the eye sockets. After losing the purplish-red flames, they once again became two chilling, suffocatingly empty voids.

"I now have the information about this individual," the Priest stated. "Leave the rest to me. However, since I have been summoned by you ahead of time, there's something I should remind you of. By my reckoning, you have less than half a month left. If you cannot incite a war between the two great empires within half a month, I fear the Lord Master will certainly lay blame upon you. Don't forget that the Necromancer's Sacrifice will take place in half a month. That is the true reason you are allowed to sit on the imperial throne. If you fail even this task, you should be well aware of the consequences."

Facing the sudden eruption of chilling majesty from the Priest, the fake emperor nearly knelt to the ground. However, he forcefully suppressed this immense pressure and clasped his fists respectfully towards the Priest before him.

"Rest assured, Your Excellency, Priest," the fake emperor affirmed, "I have always been able to distinguish priorities. Even if I have to pay the greatest price, I will absolutely not allow the Necromancer's Sacrifice to be disturbed in any way. The war between the two great empires will certainly be launched in the shortest possible time."

The Priest nodded in satisfaction. "It's good that you understand," he said. "From my perspective, I will handle all matters concerning the imperial palace for you. Since that individual rescued your twin brother, the true emperor of the empire, I predict they will surely leave the Misty Mountain Range and head towards the imperial palace in the shortest possible time. I will set up obstacles along the way."