In the Imperial Capital, within the Celestial Sovereignty Palace, a secret chamber in the rear hall.
After reading the memorial submitted by the Northern Sea Prefecture Office, Emperor Zhang Tai cast a displeased glance at the Commander-in-Chief, Yuwen Tian, who stood beside him.
"Did you not tell me the Marquis of Zhenbei was dead? And that no one from the Marquis of Zhenbei's lineage had survived? If that's the case, then who is this Grandmaster martial artist cultivating the 'Seven Kills Skill' who is now wreaking havoc in the North Sea Prefecture Office? Don't tell me the Marquis of Zhenbei has some uncles or brothers who also cultivated the 'Seven Kills Skill' and escaped your pursuit and assassination!"
In reality, Emperor Zhang Tai had already made preparations. Not only had he administered a potent poison to the Marquis of Zhenbei before his defeat, but he had also dispatched his Grandmaster realm Commander-in-Chief with elite guards to eliminate him after his downfall. It was precisely because he was certain the Marquis of Zhenbei was dead that he dared to lay hands on the Marquis's manor. Otherwise, who knew what kind of deranged actions a Grandmaster, driven mad by the extermination of his clan, might take.
Now, a Grandmaster who knew the 'Seven Kills Skill,' a secret known only to the direct lineage of the Marquis of Zhenbei, had suddenly appeared. How could Emperor Zhang Tai not be enraged?
However, Commander-in-Chief Yuwen Tian was also bewildered. He was absolutely certain that the person he and his elite guards had cornered and fought for three days and three nights was the Marquis of Zhenbei. He had even brought back the Marquis's mangled corpse for Emperor Zhang Tai to personally examine. How could there be any mistake? Furthermore, all the bodies of the Marquis of Zhenbei's lineage had been accounted for. Not a single one was missing!
Yet, he dared not argue with Emperor Zhang Tai. He could only kowtow quickly and say, "Your Majesty, your humble servant truly does not know the reason. The Marquis of Zhenbei's corpse was confirmed by several Grandmasters before it was interred. Before burial, it was even pulverized to ashes. Even if he had faked his death, he couldn't have come back to life after being reduced to ashes! Also, all registered members of the Marquis of Zhenbei's manor, their bodies were accounted for, and they all matched. May I inquire if I could see the memorial?"
Emperor Zhang Tai said nothing more. With a cold snort, he threw the memorial to the ground, motioning for Yuwen Tian to read it himself. Yuwen Tian certainly didn't dare to show any displeasure. He could only respectfully pick up the memorial and examine it carefully. After a long while, he found the discrepancies and quickly tried to explain, "Your Majesty, the memorial states that the madman's strength seemed greatly diminished. Although he is a Grandmaster, he could only exert the power of an early-stage Grandmaster. This point does not align with the Marquis of Zhenbei. Therefore, your humble servant speculates that the person mentioned in the memorial might be an imposter, deliberately causing trouble. Or perhaps, there are other remnants of the Marquis of Zhenbei's manor that we are unaware of, who, upon hearing of their clan's extermination, became momentarily agitated and went mad, attacking the yamen. These are all possibilities..."
Regardless, Yuwen Tian had to prioritize clearing himself. Moreover, he didn't believe his conjectures were wrong. The Marquis of Zhenbei had died by his hand. To kill him, he himself had nearly been killed. The memory was too vivid; he absolutely could not be mistaken.
"I don't want to hear these excuses and reasons. You will immediately take people to investigate this matter. Regardless of whether the suddenly appearing Grandmaster is truly the Marquis of Zhenbei or a remnant of the Marquis of Zhenbei's clan, I want his head within half a month. Unruly even in death, what a treacherous minister!"
Emperor Zhang Tai was too lazy to dwell on who was right or wrong. He just needed the problem solved. Thus, he quickly issued new orders. Yuwen Tian could only obey, kowtowing and responding with an "Understood." Then, he withdrew.
After Yuwen Tian left, leaving Emperor Zhang Tai alone in the secret chamber, Emperor Zhang Tai suddenly let out a chuckle. "A mere subject dared to covet the Snow Lotus. Even if you took the Snow Lotus and consumed it, what of it? In the end, the Snow Lotus essence, along with your half-transformed Martial Saint blood, was refined by me. Even your entire clan's destiny will be used for my benefit. I wonder if this newly emerged figure is real or not. However, to be safe, the breakthrough must wait a bit longer, wait a bit longer. I have planned this for so many years, there's no rush for a moment. I must not lose my composure; I must remain calm!"
As he spoke, Emperor Zhang Tai opened the secret box before him and, with an infatuated gaze, touched the two items within. On the left was a vial of blood essence, golden with faint wisps of pure white spots. On the right was a manual, "Heaven Stealing and Destiny Plundering Mortal Transformation Art."
The blood essence was from the Marquis of Zhenbei's corpse. Yuwen Tian's so-called pulverization to ashes was actually Emperor Zhang Tai's act of refining the Snow Lotus essence and all the bodily essence from the Marquis of Zhenbei. This level of bodily essence combined with the Snow Lotus, and further aided by a secret technique, was said to allow one to successfully break through to the Martial Saint realm.
As for the secret technique, it was naturally the "Heaven Stealing and Destiny Plundering Mortal Transformation Art" beside him. This technique was accidentally acquired by Emperor Zhang Tai many years ago. At that time, his Grandmaster realm was purely built up through various elixirs and rare medicines, making further breakthrough to the Martial Saint realm impossible. In fact, due to forced breakthroughs, his lifespan was even shorter than that of a true Grandmaster. Imperial physicians predicted he could only live to two hundred years old. Naturally, he was unwilling to accept this, and thus he searched everywhere for secret techniques to break through to Martial Saint, regardless of whether they were righteous or evil. He only wanted to break through, to enjoy millennia. To be an emperor for a thousand years.
The core of the "Heaven Stealing and Destiny Plundering Mortal Transformation Art" required the bodily essence of a peak Grandmaster, along with the destiny of that peak Grandmaster's entire clan, to help one break through bottlenecks, rebuild the martial foundation, shed mortal form, and advance to the Martial Saint realm. The limitation was that the clan's destiny of the peak Grandmaster must be sufficiently vast. If the destiny was too meager, the breakthrough might fail, and this secret technique could only be used once. Furthermore, when breaking through using bodily essence and destiny, it was best to exterminate the entire clan of the peak Grandmaster. This was to prevent others from sharing the destiny extracted by the secret technique when gathering it. Compared to the genuine direct descendants, destiny would naturally not favor outsiders. Only when their clan was wiped out and their destiny gathered would it be forced into the body of the person refining their bodily essence.
Emperor Zhang Tai had set his sights on the Marquis of Zhenbei from the beginning. After the Marquis of Zhenbei obtained the Ten Thousand Year Snow Lotus Seed, he became even more indispensable. After all, the Ten Thousand Year Snow Lotus Seed was the best for healing injuries. He had originally worried that his damaged origin would prevent him from gaining three hundred years of lifespan upon breaking through to the Grandmaster realm, and that he might only gain seven to eight hundred years upon breaking through to Martial Saint. With the essence of the Ten Thousand Year Snow Lotus Seed, all of this would not be an issue. Now, all he had to do was to definitively confirm that no descendants remained from the Marquis of Zhenbei's lineage, and then he could safely break through.