God Emperor

For the imperial court, the impact of this battle was quite bad.

A felon dared to blatantly break into the imperial city and cause massacres. He despised the royal law and the court. It was like slapping the court in the face. It was completely lawless.

If Zhang Ruochen is not captured, where will the court's face be?

A protective formation in the Central Imperial City was opened, with chain light patterns rising into the sky, connecting the sky and the earth, sealing off the entire city and preventing Zhang Ruochen and Ling Feiyu from escaping.

Zhang Ruochen had no intention of escaping from the imperial city at this time. After all, everyone thought he would escape. If he did escape, it would only be more dangerous.

On the contrary, it is relatively safer to stay in the Imperial City.

Obviously, Jiezi Mansion cannot go back and can only find another hiding place.

Zhang Ruochen left the Seventh City and walked on the snow-covered streets. His mind had long since returned to calmness. Even if the Destiny Corpse Emperor escaped, the ancient ghost-raising clan and the ancient zombie-driving clan had paid a heavy price.

After this battle, if other forces want to deal with him, they will have to carefully consider whether they can bear the price of offending him.

On the street, the voice of a seven or eight-year-old child rang out: "Dad, look, there is a moon in the sky."

"How could there be a moon in such a spooky weather... Hey, there is actually a moon, and it seems to be still moving." The middle-aged man next to the child felt surprised.

Zhang Ruochen also raised his head and saw that in the dark sky, there was indeed a bright moon hanging, and the light it emitted only covered a city area.

That city area...is the seventh city area.

Suddenly, the bright moon started to move and flew towards another city.

Only those who have reached the holy realm can see clearly that it is not a bright moon, but a rather huge mirror.

"Could it be the supreme holy instrument of Confucianism and Taoism?"

Zhang Ruochen's face condensed slightly, sensing something was wrong.

According to legend, the Mirror of Return to Truth can see through all the illusions in the world. Zhang Ruochen's attainments in the Thirty-Six Transformations of the Intangible and Formless are not very good. Once illuminated by the Mirror of Return to Truth, his true form will be revealed in an instant.

"In order to capture Ling Feiyu and me, those old gentlemen from Confucianism and Taoism actually used the Supreme Sacred Artifact. It's really a big deal."

The Guizhen Mirror's detection speed is quite fast. It only takes one breath to complete the detection of a city area and then move on to the next city area.

On the ground, there are also troops cooperating with their actions.

After a city area was explored, it was determined that Zhang Ruochen was not hiding inside, and the city protection formation was immediately activated to isolate the city area.

After such a blanket search, it won't take long before Zhang Ruochen is bound to be found.

"The search speed is so fast. The mental strength of the person who controls the Guizhen Mirror must have reached an astonishing level. What should we do now?"

Zhang Ruochen frowned, knowing very well that once he was captured, no one could save him.

Where can I hide?

Suddenly, Zhang Ruochen's heart moved, he thought of a place, and said to himself: "Yaochi."

At this moment, a profound and long-lasting memory emerged in Zhang Ruochen's mind.

Eight hundred years ago, Yaochi was a manor owned by the royal family of the Central Qingchi Empire, located on the outskirts of the imperial city. It is also a garden awarded to Princess Chi Yao by the Qing Emperor. It was there that Zhang Ruochen and Chi Yao met for the first time.

Every time Emperor Qing and Emperor Ming got together, it was always in Yaochi.

Therefore, Yaochi is not as simple as a manor, but has extraordinary significance. There, there is a formation jointly arranged by Emperor Qing and Emperor Ming to isolate it from the prying eyes and exploration of the outside world.

The two great emperors were both close friends and the masters of the two central empires. Every time they met, they discussed many secrets. At the same time, Zhang Ruochen and Chi Yao naturally had many opportunities to get together and left many beautiful memories in Yaochi.

If he hadn't had no choice, Zhang Ruochen wouldn't have wanted to go there at all, because the more beautiful the memories, the deeper the pain in his heart would be.

In the end, because of the threat of Guizhenjing, Zhang Ruochen came to the outside of the ancient manor, stood in the snow, and looked at the gate of the manor.

What was once the suburbs of the imperial city has now become the inner city.

The manor is still the same manor as before. Even the plaque on the gate has not been changed, with two familiar words printed on it - Yaochi.

Unfortunately, Yaochi is now extremely deserted. Not even a guard or servant can be seen. There are two old seals on the door, which read "no entry" and "kill without mercy" respectively.

A forbidden place.

The monks passing by here also looked at the manor with a look of taboo, and stepped away from it, not daring to get close.

The two seals seemed to have sealed the secret that the owner of the manor most did not want to be revealed. Anyone who broke in would be killed without mercy.

Zhang Ruochen's eyes were a little deep, and he walked step by step to the door. After a moment of silence, he stretched out a hand and touched the seal.

"Boom."

A mighty force surged out from the seal, causing Zhang Ruochen to fly backwards and fall into the snow, rolling up snowflakes all over the sky.

Zhang Ruochen stood up again, looked at his bloody arms, then looked at the two old and yellowed seals, and said to himself: "Is this a warning?"

Zhang Ruochen took a deep breath, the holy energy circulated in his body, and the wound on his arm slowly healed.

Afterwards, Zhang Ruochen put his hands behind his back and walked to the left side of the manor. After a detour, he came to the back door of the manor.

The back door was not sealed, but there was a formation barrier set up by the two emperors.

This was not the first time Zhang Ruochen entered Yaochi, so he naturally knew how to break the formation barrier. He stretched out a finger and drew lines on the vermilion door.

"Squeak."

The formation barrier retreated, Zhang Ruochen pushed open the door and walked in.

The manor was full of dense yellow weeds, with thick snow piled on it. Looking around, no living creatures could be seen, only the whistling wind could be heard.

Desolate, dilapidated, without a trace of life.

The door of memory was opened, and the scene in front of Zhang Ruochen became magnificent, with pavilions, lakes, cranes, white mist bridges, and a scene with every step.

At this time, he seemed to be able to hear the laughter of a boy and a girl, and their figures practicing swords under the tree, meditating by the lake, and watching the stars and the moon on the roof.

Every dilapidated place is a memory.

"Brother Chen, with your talent, you will definitely be able to reach the Great Saint realm in the future and become the next Ming Emperor of Shengming Central Empire. My talent is a little worse, and I may not be able to reach that realm in this life. I am afraid that I will not be able to take over the throne of Chiqing Central Empire."

"Who said that only those with high talent can cultivate to the Great Saint realm? You should know that in history, there are many Great Saints and gods who actually have mediocre talents, but their hearts are extremely strong."

"Why are you so stubborn? Can't you tell this princess not to practice so hard, just be the empress of the next Ming Emperor without worries?"

"So that's the case... Wait a minute, don't go, Yaoyao, I'll tell you again now."

"I don't want to listen anymore!"

...

The figures of the boy and girl gradually faded away and disappeared in front of Zhang Ruochen's eyes. There was only a mossy stone road and a bunch of dead branches and vines hanging down.

Zhang Ruochen shook his head gently with a bitter smile on his lips.

Then, Zhang Ruochen walked into an abandoned viewing pavilion, which was full of spider webs. In the center of the spider webs, there was a chess table.

On the chess table, there was an unfinished chess game, with black and white pieces interlaced.

In Zhang Ruochen's memory, Emperor Ming brought him to Yaochi three times in total. Each time, he would play this game with Emperor Qing, and each time it would last for three days.

A game of chess was played three times, a total of nine days, but it was still not decided.

In front of Zhang Ruochen's eyes, it seemed that Emperor Ming and Emperor Qing were still sitting there, Emperor Ming played white and Emperor Qing played black. They looked extremely solemn, and every move was like making a major decision.

Zhang Ruochen swept away the spider webs with his hand, walked over, came to the side of the chess table, and looked at the endgame on it.

After a moment, Zhang Ruochen's eyes shrank violently, and he said, "No, this is not an endgame... It has already been decided. White lost, and my father actually lost! How is it possible?"

Zhang Ruochen remembered very clearly that the last time they played chess, there was no winner.

With the status of the Green Emperor, it is impossible for him to play this game of chess with others again.

Then, there is only one possibility, the last time Zhang Ruochen knew was not the last time. When he didn't know, Emperor Ming and Emperor Qing finished the endgame and decided the winner.

"What a weird chess move."

Zhang Ruochen knows chess, but he is not proficient in it.

Even so, he can see that the chess moves of the two emperors are quite weird, but he can't tell where the weirdness is.

"Could it be that my father was assassinated by the Green Emperor during the last game with the Green Emperor, so he disappeared?"

Zhang Ruochen clenched his hands tightly together, and a strong anger arose. He had a feeling that the chess in front of him might be related to his father's disappearance.

"Such a weird chess move must hide some secrets. Could it be a clue left by my father?"

Zhang Ruochen stretched out his arms and wanted to lift the chess table and put it into the space ring.

However, the chess table was intertwined with the rules of the Holy Dao, and each chess piece contained the power of the Great Sage, which was heavier than a mountain.

Zhang Ruochen couldn't even lift the chess table, or even pick up a chess piece.

In the end, Zhang Ruochen had to give up and memorize the chess game, preparing to find a chess master in the future, who might help him unlock the secrets of the chess game.

This manor was so quiet that Zhang Ruochen felt a chill.

"Maybe I really shouldn't come here."

Zhang Ruochen sat next to the chess table, where Emperor Ming once sat, feeling lonely physically and mentally. He sighed and immersed his mental power in the Qiankun Realm.

At this moment, he wanted to find someone to tell his pain to.

The first person he thought of was Huang Yanchen.