After a moment's hesitation, the beautiful woman finally sighed and said, "Several years ago, while the King was asleep, the Prince transferred his own meridian points to the ground, intending to harness the moonlight's power to fully refine this treasure. Yet unexpectedly, a group of external cultivators suddenly appeared and intruded. At the time, the Prince was actively channeling the moonlight's energy and thus most of the seals remained unactivated. As a result, these visitors managed to enter his main chamber. The Prince had no choice but to temporarily suspend his cultivation and rely on the less intelligent, clumsy attendants to fend them off and secure the room. However, one individual proved particularly astute—he immediately recognized the Prince's status as a corpse-king, knelt down to beg for mercy, and offered to accept the seals in exchange for his life. The Prince, impressed by the man's insight, therefore established the seals and incorporated him into his retinue." "How does this relate to the Dharmasiddha Shells?" the middle-aged man interjected, still not having heard what he had hoped to hear, growing increasingly impatient. "Your Majesty, please calm down! The key point is that the man advised the Prince—saying that he could effortlessly gather the immortal spirits of external cultivators without us having to send our agents out to search for them one by one." The woman explained calmly. "Ah, interesting. Tell me more!" The man seemed to have grown a bit curious. "In fact, it's quite simple. The man proposed that the Prince deliver to him a rare and unusual treasure, secretly embedding a strand of divine awareness within it. Then, he would sell this treasure to other solitary cultivators and design a scheme to lure them to come willingly to the Prince's ancient tomb. Once they arrive, they will inevitably perish. However, if they refuse to come, at the right moment the Prince's dispersed consciousness will activate the hidden seals within the treasure, eliminating the man and drawing his spirit back to the tomb as well. But for this strategy to work, the treasure must first be exceptionally rare. Moreover, the Prince's dispersed consciousness and the corpse's fire must remain completely free of any signs of decay or imperfection—otherwise, the whole plan would backfire." "The woman spoke calmly. 'There's no need to continue. The king will certainly be confirmed. The jade shield, which hasn't yet been fully refined and accepted as its master, will be entrusted to this person. Only the Shakyamuni Buddha's nature inscribed upon the treasure can mask the king's corpse energy.'" The man interrupted her, speaking coldly. "It's not coarse at all—indeed, it exactly matches the king's expectations. After the shield has been accepted as its master, even it can no longer conceal the corpse energy. At the time, the prince needed a large quantity of refined cultivators' essences to strengthen his practice, so he took the risk and entrusted the shield to this person. However, I specifically instructed him not to disturb cultivators who have reached the Dan-jin stage or above, to prevent any exposure of the flaw. For several years prior, several such cultivators have gradually come forward on their own, and no errors have occurred. But this time, it appears he failed to follow instructions, resulting in the loss of the treasure and damage to the prince's concentration. I'll activate the seal to retrieve his spirit and interrogate him thoroughly." The woman's voice also grew cold. "Hmph!" With such modest efforts, how many immortal souls can we gather? I've already arranged for General Ge to be planning something significant. Once that plan succeeds, we'll have a steady supply of immortal souls at our disposal—without drawing the attention of the Buddhist and Daoist immortals. The man hummed and said, in a cool tone. "So this is why, over the past few years, the King took General Ge away from the ancient tomb for a while, then returned alone?" The woman was slightly surprised. "Exactly. General Ge has long since transformed into someone else and now controls a renowned immortal family, employing human cultivators to carry out our tasks. Even to conceal his identity, he orchestrated alliances with other families, preemptively eliminating another Buddhist lineage's human clan—precisely because their abbot had noticed something amiss and intended to alert nearby Buddhist monasteries. I'll personally intervene, first eliminating all the cultivators at the Dan stage and above within their sect, then have General Ge lead the human cultivators to easily wipe out that noble family." The man emitted a series of low, satisfied chuckles. "So, what exactly was the king's plan?" the woman asked, startled. "Heh! It's not really that complicated—once you've experienced it, you'll naturally understand. This strategy was actually suggested to me by Tianfeng True Sovereign of Fang Jian Mountain during his last visit. He implemented it in exactly the same way, quietly and without incident, and has remained unharmed to this day. As long as we remain cautious, at least for the next two or three centuries, we won't have to worry about our cultivators' immortal essences again. Should anything ever go wrong, we simply pack our bags and relocate the tomb chamber to another site. Aside from those few ancient beings in the Great Jin Dynasty, who could possibly stand in our way?" The man spoke with unwavering confidence. "Tianfeng True Sovereign! This man isn't a simple figure—he surely wouldn't have willingly shared his secret with the king." "Is there something else in store?" the woman's voice softened, tinged with concern. "Something else? Of course he has plans! All he had to do was speak, and he's already taken three Blood-Heart Pills from the King." The man's tone grew increasingly irritated. "Still, I remain somewhat uneasy. The reputation of the Twin Demons of Fang Jian Mountain isn't exactly stellar. Perhaps he intends to lure the King away from the tomb? After all, our three lives are fully intertwined with this tomb's essence. As long as we remain here, few in the world could harm us." The woman's expression remained worried. "Your Majesty's point is well taken—indeed, we must remain vigilant. I will fully unseal all the tomb's restrictions during my stay and take extra care when I go out. I'll make sure the Twin Demons don't catch even a single moment of my departure." The middle-aged man paused, then grew more serious. "If the King remains alert, that will be sufficient." Indeed, why must the King personally intervene? Any matter may be entrusted to the Queen and her several incarnations. After all, as long as the King remains unharmed, I believe any formidable foe will extend a measure of courtesy to him." The woman's voice grew once again exceptionally alluring. "Heh! My lady may not know, but to carry out this plan, it is essential to bring all the prominent families of Jiangning under our control. Last time, in order to counter that old man, Kong, I sustained minor injuries simply because I could not disturb his body. Thus, I was unable to act continuously. Though the other two great families no longer have Yuan-Ying cultivators within their ranks, their lineages are no ordinary affairs—there are several rare treasures among them that specifically counteract our kind. I suspect it is precisely these two families' respective monasteries, aware of the King's presence, who have deliberately sent disciples to establish these families, hoping to monitor the King's movements. Now, for over a thousand years, the King has remained inactive. They may have long since forgotten this very matter. It is precisely the right moment for the King to act—now, I shall eliminate them all at once. When those sects finally realized what had happened, it was already many years later. The King should have used the refined souls of human cultivators long ago to transcend the final stage, forging the Heavenly Corpse Body. The man seemed exceptionally fond of the woman, patiently explaining. "Then, I would like to extend my congratulations to the King. Once the Heavenly Corpse Body is achieved, the King will be free from the tomb and no longer confined by it." The woman listened with evident delight. "Haha! At that point, it won't just be the King who is liberated—my method of separating souls will also allow me to free you and the Prince from the tomb." The man chuckled warmly. "Still, King! That Diamond Shell must be retrieved. It is truly no ordinary treasure. After its integration, one can instantly attain an indestructible, diamond-like body within a short period." You forgot that after the old monk had produced this relic, though it had not yet formed a diamond shield—only emitting a golden aura—it was sufficient to cause the king to unleash the corpse fire, and it took three days and three nights for the golden aura to be completely consumed, ultimately extinguishing the monk. If this relic were to be fully transformed into a diamond shield, its power would surely be even greater. The lady reminded. "Your Majesty is mistaken. Such a diamond shield can only be forged by our ten-thousand-year-old corpse king, through the power of the moonlight. Human cultivators would never dream of achieving this. Among the ten-thousand-year-old corpse kings throughout the world, besides myself, there is only one other—the deputy chief of the Ten-Thousand-Beast Valley, a ten-thousand-year-old corpse bear. Would human cultivators dare to venture into the Ten-Thousand-Beast Valley? There stands the long-standing banner of the Ten-Thousand-Beast Valley, which even the ten foremost sects and ten leading demonic clans would hesitate to approach." The man spoke with a mocking tone. "That is true. Yet this kind of treasure is precisely what we need—rare and suitable. We should wait "The lady insisted. 'Yes, even if the lady doesn't mention it, I'll send someone myself. However, since he's able to draw the King's attention from within the Jade Shield, he must be no ordinary person. Once the first-class treasure is secured, I'll have both of my incarnations join the effort. As long as he's not a cultivator at the Mid-Stage of Yuan Ying or above, he'll be safe.'" The man spoke with great confidence. "I... I also... want to go!" The tall figure emerging from the black mist, who had remained silent since the middle-aged man and the lady began speaking, suddenly spoke up upon hearing this. "How can you possibly leave? Your body is filled with corpse energy that won't settle—any cultivator would immediately recognize your true form. How can you go? Say no more—go in and begin your training right away!" The man's tone grew serious, and he delivered the words with directness and firmness. Upon hearing this, the tall figure immediately slumped. With a long arm covered in green hair, he waved it toward the distant pavilion before lying down again. Yet suddenly, a pair of blood-red eyes flashed with a fierce, predatory gleam, recalling something. The stone lid of the coffin shot upward with a sharp *whoosh*, lifting itself from the ground and sealing the coffin once more. ...At the distant kingdom of Han Li, naturally, he had no idea that merely extinguishing a slender strand of divine awareness would trigger such a cascade of events. He now gazed intently at the啼魂 beast within the golden bubbles, his face dark and troubled, lost in thought. Meanwhile, Jin Yuan, who had just stepped out of the plaza and returned to his chamber, suddenly exhaled a soft *pffft*. Instantly, his entire body was engulfed by a gray flame, vanishing into a mist of pale smoke. His spirit, however, emerged unharmed, pale with alarm, appearing within the flames. Yet, as though drawn by some unseen force, his spirit was then condensed into a compact, dim orb, roughly fist-sized, and surged out through the half-open window, soaring upward before vanishing into the sky. From beginning to end, not a single person noticed the elder's disappearance.