The princess nodded and said, "Based on the situation back then, peace talks were our best choice. The king was also thinking from the perspective of the people. If the war had continued, who knows how many people of the Great Sheng Dynasty would have suffered."
Ding Meng cupped his hands and said, "The king is righteous!
But what was the outcome of the peace talks? "
The princess said, "The Cang Ming Nation's request was to take away the Sacred Spirit of the Imperial City and immediately withdraw their troops until they were out of the Great Sheng Kingdom's territory."
Ding Meng said in surprise, "They spent so much effort to fight all the way to Tianjing, and they only made such a simple request?"
The princess said, "Yes, we were also very surprised."
Ding Meng's face darkened. "Who went to negotiate?"
The princess said, "It was Mister Jiaogu and General Tianqing!"
Ding Meng was silent. There was definitely something strange about this.
However, looking at his serious expression, the king suddenly said, "Jiang Yu!"
A reply immediately came from outside the door. "I'm here!"
The king said, "Has Mister Jiaogu left the palace?
If he hasn't, ask him to come back! "
Jiang Yu walked in and cupped his hands. "King, Mister Jiaogu has just passed away!"
Ding Meng and the other two were shocked. The king couldn't help but ask, "What happened?"
Jiang Yu lowered his head and said, "Just now, Mister Jiaogu used a rope to commit suicide on the battle platform's mast outside!"
The king frowned and waved his hand, indicating for him to leave.
The princess sighed. "He knew that he had committed grave sins and simply hung himself. However, my divination shows that General Tianqing and Mister Jiaogu will die tonight. It seems that the divination is correct."
Ding Meng muttered to himself and said, "If I'm not wrong, the Cang Ming Nation's army must have destroyed all the Sacred Trees and Sacred Spirits along the way."
The princess nodded. "Indeed!"
Ding Meng said, "Their target wasn't the Great Sheng Dynasty but the Sacred Trees. They didn't deliberately destroy the Sacred Trees. Instead, they wanted to put the Sacred Trees in magic stones and transform them into monsters."
The monarch frowned and asked, "Why is that?"
Ding Meng said, "Da Sheng Kingdom was founded on the Holy Tree. Because of the existence of the Holy Spirit, the Holy Tree was able to bless and benefit the people all over the country, allowing them to barely survive. Once the Holy Tree was changed to the Holy Tree, it would cause people's hostility to become heavier. They would kill at the slightest provocation, even children of five or six years old would do the same. When these negative emotions are gathered together, they are the necessary aura that Demons need to cultivate. If I'm not wrong, there must be a Demon hiding somewhere in the Four Great Kingdoms, specifically absorbing these hostility to improve his cultivation …"
The monarch might not be able to understand these words, but Ji Chenxue understood the principle behind it. The situation of the Great Sheng Dynasty was similar to the slash-and-burn period of the Federal Empire several decades ago. If a Demon really descended, he would basically face the awkward situation of having no energy to absorb. Just like General Henning, he could only hide for a long time until there was energy or a large amount of hostility. Only then would he be able to absorb and use it, finally revealing his true form and revealing his true form.
Hearing Ding Meng's explanation, the monarch couldn't help but sigh deeply. "The previous kings have taught us that our Great Sheng Dynasty was originally a barrier planted by an Immortal. This barrier could breed all living things, humans, and spirits. However, the Immortal had also made a prophecy that one day, Demons would invade. At that time, there would be a person chosen by Heaven who would stand out and resolve the crisis of our Great Sheng Kingdom. Now it seems that you, Ding Meng, are this person chosen by Heaven."
Ding Meng and Ji Chenxue glanced at each other. According to the monarch's words, the so-called Immortal was most likely a former Divine Light warrior, and the barrier was actually a disguised form of Divine Light energy. It wasn't impossible for Ding Meng to recreate the Holy Tree Holy Spirit, but the Great Sheng Kingdom was such a vast territory. Every town and every village had a Holy Spirit. If he wanted to inject energy, then the amount of energy needed would also be relatively large. However, right now, he hadn't even recovered from his injuries, so where would he find the extra energy to use?
The monarch stared at Ding Meng. "I only recently learned about the matter of Zheng Mingqiao and Yu Xingyang. These years, the story of the hero's knife has been widely spread among the people. As the monarch of this generation, I have failed the previous king's trust, resulting in this kind of tragedy occurring many times in the territory of the kingdom."
The princess explained, "Ding Meng, the monarch hasn't dealt with Tianqing, Jiaogu, and the others. He has his own difficulties, and we didn't touch them because we were waiting for your return. I believe that these matters must be handled by you personally. As for the enmity between Brother Zheng Mingqiao and Mr. Yu, I'm guessing that you have already taken revenge before coming to the palace."
Ding Meng nodded and said, "I can understand. I've also gotten justice for Brother Zheng Mingqiao!"
At this time, the monarch stood up and waved his hand. "The three of you, please follow me!"
He walked towards the throne in the center, which was the seat of the general Miao Xing. The monarch pressed his hand on the pearl ornament in the center of the throne. At this time, Ding Meng was surprised to find that the pearl on the monarch's crown actually shot out a strange ray of light. The pearl was immediately activated and turned into a pupil of light.
Ji Chenxue said in surprise, "This is the Divine Light Crown. I didn't expect to lose it here."
After the pearl was activated, the throne actually moved away automatically, revealing a hole. When they looked down, it was actually a gurgling stream of water.
"What's this?" Ding Meng asked hesitantly.
The monarch explained, "The previous monarchs have instructed that only when the true Heaven's Chosen One arrives can we open it and let it pass."
Ding Meng asked curiously, "Has anyone gone down before?"
The monarch said, "Yes!"
Ji Chenxue asked curiously, "Who?"
The monarch said, "General Haoran has gone down for twenty years and has yet to return!"
Ding Meng understood. "No wonder the monarch has been ill for so many years. In fact, the Divine Light Crown is here. The monarch has been protecting this palace. It's also because of the tiny amount of Divine Light energy in the crown that you haven't been completely devoured by the Demons' aura."
The monarch revealed an apologetic expression. "Ding Meng, the Da Sheng Kingdom owes you too much. There are many people who shouldn't have died, such as my sister, Wu Meiniang, Tian Mengyu, Zeng Cheng, Qiao Yu, and the others. It's all because of my negligence as the monarch. For the sake of the Sacred Tree, I implore you to let bygones be bygones and help us."
Ding Meng bowed and said, "Monarch, you're being too serious. As a citizen of the kingdom, I should do my best for the kingdom. After all, I grew up in the Colorful Cloud Kingdom. I can't just watch as the Demons devour our homeland."
The princess said, "Ding Meng, Big Brother is also the Heaven's Chosen One. The divination shows that Big Brother is still alive. I hope you can bring him back."
Ding Meng said, "Of course!"
After saying that, he took Ji Chenxue's hand and dove in.
As soon as they entered the water, Ding Meng's telekinesis was fully unleashed. He discovered that there was a long, circular tunnel under the water. It was slanted downwards, and his telekinesis could not detect the end of it. In other words, the length of this tunnel was more than 300 kilometers.
The water was very clear. Ji Chenxue could not help but say, "This liquid is not pure water. It seems to be a more advanced energy flow."
Ding Meng also noticed that these were not pure water molecules. This was because when the two of them entered the tunnel, the diamond-shaped origin in their bodies was automatically activated. It sent strengthening and healing molecules to all parts of their bodies, making their bodies feel indescribably comfortable. At the same time, these water molecules also had a shielding effect. The more his telekinesis probed forward, the more his eyes hurt. This situation had never happened before.
Ji Chenxue muttered, "If this is really the so-called barrier set up by the Divine Light martial artists, then this tunnel is a natural cover. In the Flourishing Kingdom, those who are not Interstellar martial artists and above will not be able to discover this place. Furthermore, the entrance needs to be opened by the Divine Light Crown."
Ding Meng said, "Based on your analysis, this place is most likely the Mou Xing Ruins. Let's talk about it when we reach the end."
As the two of them continued to go deeper, light appeared at the bottom of the tunnel. The light was like a mirror. After leaping through the mirror, Ding Meng found himself in an ancient tunnel. This tunnel was square, and the walls were made of smooth stone slabs. Although the tunnel was ancient, there were faint energy fluctuations coming from the front.
Ding Meng and Ji Chenxue's faces lit up at the same time. This was Divine Light energy, and it was an extremely pure Divine Light energy.
As they continued to move forward, the energy fluctuations became more and more intense. This situation was a bit like the Divine Light crystal bridge on Poison Dragon Planet. Every time they moved forward a certain distance, strong astral winds would hit them in the face. Ordinary origin ability users would find it extremely difficult to move one meter, but Ding Meng and Ji Chenxue were Interstellar martial artists. Naturally, they did not fear this kind of pressure.
Suddenly, a strong heat wave came from the violent energy fluctuations. When they looked carefully, they found a man sitting in the middle of the tunnel in front of them. This person was wearing cloth clothes and shoes, and he seemed to be resting with his eyes closed.
The man seemed to have sensed that someone was coming from behind him. He turned his head in surprise and carefully sized up the person who had come.
Ding Meng stopped in his tracks. His face was filled with excitement, and his voice was even a little choked with emotion. "Big Brother, Big Brother Haoran, I'm back. I'm finally back."
Haoran's eyes lit up, and he jumped up. "Ding Meng?
You're Ding Meng?
It's really Brother Ding Meng! "
He appeared in front of Ding Meng in a flash and excitedly pressed down on Ding Meng's shoulder. "You've been gone for so many years. We've been waiting for you …"
He pressed down on Ding Meng's shoulder twice, and his face became filled with surprise. "Ding Meng, when you left, you weren't even an origin ability user. Now, even I can't see your strength?"
Ding Meng smiled and said, "Big Brother, I'm already an interstellar warrior now. It's normal that you can't sense my strength!"
The moment Haoran pressed down on his shoulder, he determined Haoran's aura. Now, his big brother had also absorbed the Divine Light energy. He must have absorbed it from down here, and his big brother had actually broken through to the warlord level.
"Big Brother, congratulations. You're now an advanced warlord." Ding Meng was happy from the bottom of his heart.
Haoran sighed and said, "Sigh, I'm ashamed to say this. I was ordered by the king to come down to this treasure land, and it took me a full 20 years to reach here from the entrance. I broke through from the warlord level to where I am now. I originally planned to go back after a while, but I didn't expect you to come back. It's really worth celebrating. It's really a blessing to be able to see you while I'm still alive.