Chapter Fifty-two: The Death of Qingjiao

  Just as Zhang Zixing was about to reach for the book of fate, Qingjiao True Person finished reciting the incantation and suddenly released the object in his hand. Zhang Zixing suddenly felt that the scene before him had changed greatly, with nine flag gates erected around him, surrounded by a gloomy wind and eerie atmosphere, while Qingjiao True Person had already disappeared. He knew he had been tricked and was both shocked and angry, wanting to rush out of this place, but his feet felt as heavy as a thousand pounds and he couldn't move. When he looked down, he saw that the ground had stretched out a pair of rotten ghost hands, grabbing his feet, making him unable to budge for a moment. Even with his bravery, he was startled, and at this time, a familiar cry came from the front: "Husband, husband..."

  Those figures gradually became clear, and it was actually Jiang Wenchun, Yang Jiu, Huang Feiyan, and Yuexi, the four women. They all had pale faces, dark circles under their eyes, and looked like ghosts.

  Zhang Zixing asked in surprise: "Wen Ji, Yuji and you few, how did you get here?"

  Jiang Wenchu cried out: "Several of us are already ghosts! Wei Zixi colluded with the group of ministers to rebel, entered the palace and seized the throne. He also wants to lay hands on the harem, my two sisters and I would rather die than submit, and we took our own lives."

  The Moon Princess also lamented: "Dongbohou instigated the internal strife of the various tribes of Dongqi, and a military upheaval occurred. I and Zou Qi were both killed by the rebel army..."

  Zhang Zixing's eyes widened in anger as the voice in his head suddenly spoke up, "Spiritual interference energy detected, activating filtering electromagnetic waves!"

  As soon as the words fell, Zhang Zixing felt that the scene in front of him had changed again, and he returned to the mountain cave, surrounded by the Nine-Faced Flag Gate. The Qingjiao True Person sat far away outside the flag gate, closing his eyes and reciting incantations.

  "Gravity has increased fivefold, temperature is minus fourteen degrees Celsius, unknown energy detected, has reached a dangerous level."

  Zhang Zixing had already realized that everything earlier was an illusion, and he secretly thanked the timely reminder from his superbrain. He shouted loudly: "Qingjiao, how dare you secretly plot against me? Have you forgotten the oath we made just now?"

  Qingjiao Zhenren didn't think that he wasn't being fooled by the illusion, and his heart was also somewhat surprised, but even more so was his indignation: "You damned little brat, you stole my Yuanjiao essence, and then used a cunning plan to enter my belly and stir up trouble. Just now I had no choice but to yield, but now your life is about to be lost, yet you still dare to think that this Zhenren will submit to you? If you know what's good for you, quickly hand over the precious armor on your body, and I can give you a way out!"

  Zhang Zixing sneered: "Do you think I'm an idiot? If I hand over the treasure armor, I'm afraid I'll die even faster. You didn't keep your promise, and retribution is right in front of us!"

  Qingjiao Zhenren was enraged, urging the curse, and nine flags shot out white light, covering Zhang Zixing who hastily activated the energy shield. The magic armor around him appeared with several circles of rotating yellow light, which resisted the white light, and for a moment they were at a stalemate.

  "Haha! Indeed, it's a top-grade treasure armor! It can actually withstand my Nine Palaces Magic Array!" Qingjiao True Person burst out laughing, "Wait for me to refine that treasure light, not only will I obtain your treasure armor, but also flay and dismember you, this little junior, and scatter your bones in the wind!"

  "You can go die now, you ignorant fool! Super Brain, release!" Zhang Zixing coldly shouted, and saw that Qingjiao True Man's body suddenly stopped moving, with a red glow faintly appearing on his abdomen, an extremely painful expression on his face, and the surrounding temperature rising. This red glow seemed to be a particularly terrifying flame power.

  "What is this?! It's even more intense than the Samadhi True Fire!" Qingjiao let out a loud howl, quickly transforming into his dragon form, but he was unable to suppress the rapid spread of the flames within his abdomen. His entire body was reduced to a pile of ashes in an instant, leaving behind only a wisp of his divine spirit that shot out of the cave like lightning.

  The Nine Palaces Devil Array lost its master and immediately became invalid, turning into a small flag the size of a palm that was inserted into the ground. Zhang Zixing walked forward to pick it up, looked at the remains of Qinglong with disdain, and snorted: "Shameless villain, died as he deserved!"

  For the later generations who took oaths and vows as a matter of course, Zhang Zixing would not believe in Qingjiao's ghostly oath. With his super brain ability, he could have escaped from Qingjiao's abdomen long ago, but it was not necessarily possible to truly eliminate Qingjiao. So while negotiating with Qingjiao on the one hand, he used part of the components and half of the energy of the super brain to manufacture a super remote-controlled bomb, which was placed in Qingjiao's body as a precaution. The energy of this remote-controlled bomb was not trivial, equivalent to a small artificial sun, with a temperature of up to 9,000 degrees Celsius. When Qingjiao indeed broke his oath and launched a sneak attack, Zhang Zixing would naturally not show mercy, and decisively detonated the bomb, instantly burning the completely unguarded Qingjiao into ashes, but also fulfilling the "flying ash" oath.

  Zhang Zixing opened the treasure pouch handed over by Qingjiao earlier and found that the stone box, the devouring soul and those talismans were all there. Another treasure pouch was filled with a lot of treasures, which was intentionally presented by Qingjiao to numb him, but unexpectedly, he still failed to steal the chicken without losing the rice.

  In the Qingjiao's treasure pouch, there were some unknown mineral stones and small jade bottles filled with medicine. According to superbrain analysis, these stones all contained strange energy, presumably materials for refining certain treasures. In addition, there were many other treasures, one of which was a very delicate yellow gourd that caught Zhang Zixing's attention.

  "Could there be some kind of immortal elixir inside?" Zhang Zixing thought of Sun Wukong's story of eating a lot of immortal elixirs in the Tiāntái Temple, and his heart grew hot with excitement as he picked up the gourd.

  When he opened the gourd stopper, what came out was not an immortal pill, but a puff of green smoke. Zhang Zixing was shocked and feared another unexpected event, so he quickly summoned his magic armor.

  A wisp of blue smoke danced in the gourd, soon condensing into a white bead. The bead hovered above the remains of Qingjiao for a moment before stopping in front of Zhang Zixing, speaking in human language: "Thank you, benefactor, for eliminating the evil path and saving my life!"

  "Who are you and why are you inside this gourd?" Zhang Zixing asked cautiously, still on high alert and not releasing the magic armor.

  Yuanyuan cried out: "I, a humble concubine named Xue'er, have cultivated for over a thousand years. One day, while meditating in the mountains, I was ambushed by this evil Daoist Qingjiao, who not only stole my magical treasure, the Red Cloud Twin Swords, but also swallowed my physical body, leaving behind only my primordial spirit, which was sealed within the Soul-Searching Gourd and scattered into a nascent soul. It was intended to be used as an offering for the Nine Palaces Demon Array. Fortunately, thanks to the timely intervention of Master En, the evil Daoist was eliminated, and I am eternally grateful."

  Zhang Zixing only knew about the Tian Jiao Sect and had never heard of the Tu Shan Gate, but this woman was also a victim of Qingjiao's sneak attack. He felt sympathetic towards her and didn't make things difficult for her. From his treasure, he took out a pair of red double swords and said: "Are these your treasured swords? This place is not safe to stay in for long, it's best to leave quickly and find a place to cultivate. I have urgent matters to attend to and must leave immediately."

  "It is this sword, if I can entrust my soul to it, I can quickly condense into a primordial spirit and find another body to reincarnate in the future," Yuánzhū's voice was filled with excitement, "However... currently my primordial spirit's power has been greatly damaged, and I am unable to control this sword to leave. I fear that if I don't, I will be taken advantage of by petty people. Please, sir, allow me to entrust this sword into the treasure pouch, and after my primordial spirit is stable, I will leave."

  Zhang Zixing agreed after confirming that this action would have no impact on his daily life. Xue'er was overjoyed, saying: "Benefactor, you are greatly virtuous, I will never forget it! May I ask the benefactor's surname and name? In the future, I will definitely repay with my life!"

  Zhang Zixing naturally wouldn't reveal his true identity as the Son of Heaven to this bead, and said lightly: "I am a carefree wanderer, a nameless person. This time it's just a coincidence, no need to thank me..."

  "Xiaoyao Sanren..." Xue'er whispered a few sentences, the light entered the Hongyun Double Swords and was collected by Zhang Zixing into his treasure pouch.

  Zhang Zixing didn't dare to linger in the Longevity Cave, and stuffed the small flags of the Jiugong Magic Array along with those spoils of war into the treasure pouch. He activated the super brain's night flight mode and returned to the imperial study in the palace.

  He labored through the night, only to feel an unprecedented fatigue, after giving the eunuch a decree for a three-day rest from court duties, he fell onto the couch and fell fast asleep.

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  Zhang Zixing woke up at dusk, and the first thing he saw was the worried faces of his three wives.

  Jiang Wenchang took the fragrant tea from the palace maid's hand and personally brought it to his lips: "Your Majesty, are you feeling unwell? You have been sleeping for a day and two nights, making your humble servants worry."

  Zhang Zixing only then realized that they had been guarding themselves here all along, and felt a warmth in his heart. He took the tea and drank it all in one gulp, and smiled at the three women: "Thank you for your hard work, three virtuous wives. My husband is just overworked and has no major problems."

  Yang Jiu thought he was tired from government affairs and said with concern: "As the husband is in charge of the world, it's absolutely not allowed to overwork. If you're tired, taking a few days off is also harmless."

  Xiang Zixing didn't explain either and responded: "Wise wife, don't worry. The husband is not only the master of the world but also the master of a family, he will definitely take care of your body."

  The three women heard the words "master of the family" and "for you", and they all showed a moved expression. Huang Feiyan said softly: "When I first entered the palace, my father repeatedly warned me that the palace was as deep as a heavy mountain, and it was absolutely not comparable to an ordinary family. The emperor is the most respected person in the world, with unpredictable joy and anger, and his mind is difficult to measure. One must restrain their usual personality, be careful and cautious, and if there is any mistake, it will inevitably implicate the entire family. However, after I married my husband, I found that he not only treated me and my two sisters with deep affection but also had a kind of trust and respect that cannot be expressed in words. My two sisters and I often sighed, even in an ordinary family, there is no such warm atmosphere. This life can meet a man like my husband, it is the blessing of Feiyan's previous life, only to regret that Feiyan is useless and cannot give birth to a son or daughter for her husband, which is really sorry for her husband's love...

  When it came to the matter of children, Yang Jiu also showed a gloomy expression, lowering his head and not speaking. Zhang Zixing looked at Jiang Wenchu who was about to speak but stopped herself, guessing what she wanted to say in her heart. He sighed: "I've said before that children are destined by heaven, don't worry about this matter again. As for the matter of taking a concubine, I already have someone in mind, when the time is ripe, I will bring her into the palace to accompany you all, how does that sound?"

  "It turns out that husband had already chosen someone, and I was worried for nothing." Jiang Wencui's eyes lit up: "I wonder which daughters of the ministers these few sisters are?"

  How many? One is not enough? Zhang Zixing couldn't help but sweat, this virtuous wife was indeed the empress, her handwriting was very large, and she would often write in bulk.