Before entering, Lin Junyao had told him not to move around.
Flames, oceans, ancient trees, yellow soil, and golden mountains. This was a world of the five elements. One look at those flames and oceans and one could tell that they had immense destructive power. Long Chen guessed that this Five Elements Clear Sky Pagoda was definitely a Dao artifact. Furthermore, it should undoubtedly possess nine Dao patterns.
This world should be the core of the Five Elements Clear Sky Pagoda.
The power of the five elements was concentrated here. If Long Chen moved, he might be attacked. Therefore, he simply stood where he was and waited for the arrival of the legendary Zhenwu Great Emperor.
"Child."
Shortly after Long Chen entered, an empty, old, lifeless voice came from all directions. This voice made one's hair stand on end, but it was not malicious. It was just unpleasant to the ears, as if it had come from an old corpse.
Long Chen found that he could not find the source of the voice.
This should be Zhenwu Great Emperor …
But where was he?
Long Chen put aside other thoughts and hurriedly said respectfully, "Junior Long Chen greets the Emperor Emperor."
"Hmm …" Zhenwu Great Emperor's voice came again. He seemed to be laughing with satisfaction, but it still made one's hair stand on end. It was as if a corpse was laughing. Long Chen looked around and was sure that the voice came from all directions.
Zhenwu Great Emperor was hiding in this world, but he did not seem ready to show himself.
Perhaps there was some inexplicable reason. Long Chen did not press the issue. He quietly waited for Zhenwu Great Emperor to speak.
"I know many things about you." The voice came again.
"Please speak, Emperor Emperor."
Long Chen had many doubts about Zhenwu Great Emperor's summons, but he had a keen feeling that this was not a bad thing.
Zhenwu Great Emperor's voice came again. His tone was very calm, or perhaps it did not exist at all. He said, "You have met the City Lord of the Wronged, right?"
Sure enough, it was about the City of the Wronged.
Long Chen remembered that Zhenwu Great Emperor's rise had something to do with the City of the Wronged.
"Yes, I walked out of the black castle alive." Long Chen didn't hide anything and said directly.
"Oh …" Great Emperor Zhenwu let out a long sigh. He suddenly said, "I know that you took the Emperor Soul of Zhenwu. It was something I lost years ago, but I didn't expect it to fall into your hands by chance. In fact, after I lost it, I regretted it. If someone else had found it, his plot could have continued to be realized. But now that I've seen you, I'm relieved because the mark and plot that belonged to him have been removed from the Emperor Soul of Zhenwu."
Long Chen was shocked. As expected of Zhenwu the Great. Even the mark of the City Lord of the Wronged had been removed from the Zhenwu Emperor Soul. At the same time, Long Chen also knew about the Zhenwu Emperor Soul. This was the process. No wonder Zhenwu the Great was looking for it.
So, was he going to take back the True Martial Emperor Spirit now?
Just as this question appeared in Long Chen's mind, Zhenwu Great Emperor suddenly said, "The person who helped you remove the puppet mark must be your father."
"Sovereign Emperor also knows my father?" Long Chen was taken aback.
Great Emperor Zhenwu laughed bitterly. "I've only heard of him, but I've never seen him in person."
From this, it seemed that Zhenwu Great Emperor was still in awe of Long Qinglan. Long Chen thought to himself, "Since he knows how powerful my father is, he won't harm me. He might even treat me very well. I don't have to worry about the Emperor Soul and the God-slaying Sword being taken away by him."
Long Chen felt a lot more relaxed when he thought of this.
"He's an extraordinary man of his generation. Unfortunately, his temper is strange and his strength is unknown. He rarely shows himself. You're his son. It's reasonable that you've achieved so much at such a young age. You've joined my True Martial Emperor Palace and obtained the Emperor Soul. You and I are fated to meet. May I ask where your father is now?"
Long Chen's mind raced. Zhenwu Great Emperor's motives were unclear. His father was something he was afraid of. If he told him that Long Qinglan might really be dead, he wouldn't know how Zhenwu Great Emperor would react. So he thought for a moment and said, "My father's whereabouts are strange. He's only appeared in front of me once in the past ten years. I don't know where he's gone and I can't contact him."
This answer was very clever. It made Long Qinglan a person whom Zhenwu Great Emperor feared. In this way, this strange Zhenwu Great Emperor would probably have some misgivings about Long Chen. Of course, perhaps Zhenwu Great Emperor didn't have such intentions at all. He was just here to admire a junior.
At this time, Zhenwu Great Emperor sighed. "A great disaster has befallen us. I summoned you here today because I wanted you to discard the Emperor Soul, but I didn't expect your father to have erased the puppet imprint. I was overthinking things. However, you're related to the City Lord of the Wronged. I'm afraid you'll become his primary target when the disaster comes."
Great disaster.
Long Chen suddenly remembered that the ten Ghost Kings had taken away the human head statue in the Chaotic Kingdom. He told Zhenwu Great Emperor about this and then asked, "Emperor Emperor, what does the City Lord of the Wronged have to do with the great disaster you mentioned?"
Zhenwu Great Emperor sighed. "It's a part of the City Lord of the Wronged's corpse. He already has enough power to reconstruct his body. In a few days, he'll be able to return to his former glory. Come to my True Martial Emperor Palace …"
"Who exactly is this City Lord of the Wronged?" Long Chen was alarmed and asked hurriedly.
"He must be a City Lord of a city in the Eternal Sacred Realm. He committed a great crime and the entire city was slaughtered. The City Lord of the Wronged was dismembered and imprisoned in the Eternal Hell of the lower world. The others in the city were also sealed with a strange secret art and turned into ghosts. They'll be chained for life until they die. The City Lord of the Wronged is a prisoner of the Eternal Sacred Realm."
Long Chen sucked in a breath of cold air. So that was how it was. No wonder he could sense the aura of humans from those ghosts. The changes in the dynasty also proved this point. Those strange ghosts, and even the ten great ghost kings, must have been humans in the past. It was only because they had been sealed that they had turned into these ghostly things.
"If the City Lord of the Wronged recovers, given his hatred for the Eternal Sacred Realm and the world, he will bring a catastrophe to the Three Regions and Nine Realms. I, Zhenwu Great Emperor, will bear the brunt of it. Do you know why?" Zhenwu Great Emperor asked helplessly.
Long Chen quickly asked, "I'd like to hear the details."
Zhenwu Great Emperor's voice came from afar. "That's because the people who sent him to the lower world and sealed him in the Eternal Hell are the factions that the ancestors of the Three Regions and Nine Realms established in the Eternal Sacred Realm. You should have seen the ninety-nine Golden Demon Suppressing Columns of our Martial God Palace. They suppress the heart of the City Lord of the Wronged, which is also the most important part of his body. If he regenerates his body, he'll come to our Zhenwu Great Emperor Palace immediately to take his heart back."
Long Chen was shocked. He could not remain calm. If that was the case, the Zhenwu Great Emperor Palace and even the Three Regions and Nine Realms would face a great disaster if they could not stop the City Lord of the Wronged's rebirth.
Given the City Lord of the Wronged's character, he might even cause a great disaster.
Long Chen remembered how many people had died to the mouths of those ghosts in the City of the Wronged.
"Is there no way to stop that guy's rebirth?"
Long Chen asked after some thought. At the same time, he understood that Zhenwu Great Emperor must have a reason for telling him all this. Perhaps he wanted Long Qinglan's help, but Long Chen knew that Long Qinglan would not appear this time.
"There is no other way. He has prepared for more than a hundred thousand years just for this moment. There is no way to stop it," Zhenwu Great Emperor said in a hoarse voice.
Long Chen fell silent. To be honest, the City Lord of the Wronged was so strong. He did not know how many ghosts he had under his command. If those ghosts entered the world, the people of the Three Regions and Nine Realms were not all strong. Given the characteristics of those ghosts that ate people to become stronger, it might really become a great catastrophe for the Three Regions and Nine Realms.
If that happened, the people would be in a terrible situation. The City Lord of the Wronged had been sealed by the ancestors of the Three Regions and Nine Realms. If the people of the City Lord of the Wronged died, the resentment in his heart would be enormous. At that time, his desire for revenge …
It was unimaginable.
As a member of the Three Regions and Nine Realms, Long Chen also felt the heavy pressure. Zhenwu Great Emperor was the leader of the Three Regions and Nine Realms. Perhaps his heart was even heavier.
"I am telling you all this mainly to let your father know. If you have the means, pass the message to him. At this point, I have no choice but to think of other ways. But if you cannot contact your father, then there is no other way. Child, you were born in the Three Regions and Nine Realms. If there is a catastrophe, you will also have to bear a part of the responsibility. In the face of disaster, everyone has a responsibility."
Long Chen knew that Zhenwu Great Emperor had painstaking efforts, but he really could not do anything about Long Qinglan. Of course, he also had some connections with the City Lord of the Wronged. If the City Lord of the Wronged really made things difficult for him …
Long Chen said in a clear voice, "Emperor, I will try my best to help my father, but don't hold too much hope. The last time he told me that he was going to leave, but if it was me, I would definitely go through fire and water without hesitation."
"Hmm, very good."
Zhenwu Great Emperor had received a satisfactory answer. He said, "You are from the Eternal Sacred Realm and grow at an astonishing speed. I hope that you can make great progress in the next few years. With your talent, you might be able to turn the tide in a few years. As for the situation of our Three Great Imperial Palaces … I was already a dead man. I only held on until now because of the matter of the City Lord of the Wronged. That person from the Sword Spirit Imperial Palace chose to reincarnate and lost everything. As for that giant beast from the Desolate Imperial Palace, he has never cared about anything. I guess when the time comes, he will be the one we can rely on the most."
These words were more like Zhenwu Great Emperor muttering to himself.