Of course.

As for the Tian Gui, they merely need to be somewhat careful.

Without Xu Qingfeng, the Heavenly Court is like a toothless tiger, looking fierce but merely a facade.

"What a pity for the Blue Giant Jellyfish." The Artifact Spirit of the Emperor Artifact expressed regret.

"Pity?"

Yuan Ying sighed lightly, "Ying Zhu, you've been with me for so many years, yet you still can't learn to fish for the big catch patiently."

"The Great Emperor means..."

"The Blue Giant Jellyfish's death was indeed unexpected in my plan, but it wasn't without gain. For instance, the death of Xu Qingfeng and the nine from Ji Ming."

"I am dull-witted; Xu Qingfeng's fall is indeed joyous, but the Nine Kings' Palace is clearly allied with the Tian Gui Tribe."

The Ying Zhu Sword was even more confused: "Even if death is inevitable, it shouldn't be now."

Yuan Ying clicked his tongue lightly at the Ying Zhu Sword, helplessly saying:

"The Nine Kings' Palace and the Blue Giant Jellyfish were two chess pieces; one piece was exchanged for Xu Qingfeng, another unveiled the Corpse Emperor, along with Jing Ke."

"Dongfang Youming and Jing Ke!?" the Ying Zhu Sword's voice changed tone.

"Xu Qingfeng's corpse is intact, half the Samsara Sea has disappeared; guess whose handiwork that was."

Yuan Ying said calmly, "As for Jing Ke, a strand of his Divine Sense is attached to the Myriad Fortune Hairpin. This cultivator who escaped from The Other Shore, I searched for him... for a reincarnation cycle."

The last four words Yuan Ying said were particularly soft, yet seemed to exhaust all his energy; he sat on the book box, gasping for air.

The Artifact Spirit of the Ying Zhu Sword fell silent.

It looked up towards the White Jade Stairway near the Heavenly Court, its gaze fell upon the blood-red fruit at the end of the stairway.

The Great Emperor waited a cycle of reincarnation just to await this Immortal Path and that Immortal Fruit.

Longevity, those two words are a bloodless curse, trapping countless Emperor Realm individuals throughout history, unable to escape, closing their eyes with regret.

"We must find Jiu Kongsi quickly, his... there might truly be that ship leading to The Other Shore, cough cough."

Yuan Ying spoke intermittently.

He instinctively touched his mouth corner, his palm somewhat warm, lowering his head he found his palm full of blood.

"Great Emperor, you..." the Ying Zhu Sword called out nervously.

"It's nothing; one must acknowledge aging, can't deny age."

Yuan Ying sat cross-legged, his hands forming a peculiar seal.

"Boom!"

Yuan Ying's clothes exploded.

Then it could be seen that Yuan Ying, who outwardly appeared only slightly pale and scholarly, had dry, emaciated skin covered in purple-red spots.

Those were corpse spots.

Corpse spots existed on every inch of Yuan Ying's skin; suddenly, the dry corpse spots swelled into pustules as if something was about to burst from them.

"Puff—"

With a gentle pop, a delicate little hand emerged from one pustule.

Like a chain reaction, other pustules burst consecutively, putrid pus enveloped Yuan Ying, one small hand after another extending forth.

From afar.

Yuan Ying looked extremely eerie at this moment.

"Bang!"

"Bang!"

"Bang!"

A drum-like beating heart sound arose, not just one, but countless.

"Suppress."

Yuan Ying's expression remained calm, without any hint of pain, as his hands swiftly pressed.

The countless small hands extended from the pustules instantly retracted, though the blood-red pus dispersed in the air, its foul odor lingering.

"Hee hee hee."

A childish giggle echoed, very pure and otherworldly, anyone hearing it would think it belonged to a cute little child.

Yet the Ying Zhu Sword's Artifact Spirit prepared for battle.

Yuan Ying said wearily, "You shouldn't have come out."

"Swish!"

The pustules on Yuan Ying's skin no longer oozed pus but transformed into eyeballs, dozens of which frantically rotated on Yuan Ying's body.

The eyeballs varied in color: some were cerulean, some blood-red, some pure white—each with a distinct hue.

"Hee hee hee." The child-like laughter persisted.

The Ying Zhu Sword knew the sound emanated from the eyeballs.

"Get back."

Yuan Ying motioned to form another hand seal.

"Becoming an Immortal? A fool's dream, there are no Immortals in this world."

The child's tender voice turned increasingly venomous, "Stop persevering; the path to immortality never existed, we eagerly await your despair in inability to achieve immortality!"

Yuan Ying formed another seal, the eyeballs unwillingly retreating back inside Yuan Ying, though the tender voice continued to linger faintly.

"Hoo."

Covered in blood and dirt, Yuan Ying exhaled a heavy breath.

His gaze remained serene and indifferent, Spiritual Energy dispersed, vanishing the filth from his body, and he donned clean clothes once more.

"More frequent now."

Yuan Ying retrieved an elixir from the book box, upon closer inspection, one would find the elixir resembled an eyeball.

Without even glancing at the elixir, Yuan Ying swallowed it in one gulp.

Visibly, Yuan Ying's complexion turned from pale to rosy within just ten breaths before turning pale once again.

Seeing this, the Ying Zhu Sword said solemnly, "Great Emperor, should we go to Earth? If we capture Xu Qingfeng's offspring, refine them into new elixirs, perhaps it might continue to suppress..."

"It can't suppress them."

Yuan Ying lowered his gaze to his hands and said, "In the current Immortal Domain, be it cultivators or commoners, they all refer to me as the Demon Emperor, overflowing with evil, deserving of eradication by everyone."

As he spoke.

Yuan Ying suddenly started to laugh, his smile warm, "Ying Zhu, what do you think they would say if they knew I refine Emperor Realm offspring into elixirs for life extension?"

"Great Emperor! To become your elixir is a blessing they acquired over hundreds of generations! Mere parasites, daring to bite back at their master!"

The Ying Zhu Sword brimmed with malice.

Yuan Ying's smile faded, "You're right, mere parasites, though this parasite... is me."

The expression of the Ying Zhu Sword's Artifact Spirit changed dramatically, hurriedly explaining, "Great Emperor, I didn't mean you."

"Of course I know."

Yuan Ying's expression turned hazy, his thoughts drifting to the First Era.

He was fortunate to find a Cloud Water Rust Character, an Immortal Scripture, which took Yuan Ying a whopping 300,000 years to decipher.

Although the Cloud Water Rust Character contained no Immortal scripture to ascend, it held a recipe for an elixir that could extend life — the Longevity Pill.

Besides requiring various spiritual treasures, refining the Longevity Pill necessitated a specific catalyst.

This catalyst.

Was the offspring of the Emperor Realm.

To be precise, it was the bloodline flowing within the Emperor Realm offspring.

In a past cycle of reincarnation, Yuan Ying made the Nine Kings' Palace do many things for him using the Longevity Pill.

Few Emperor Realm experts met a good end—the Nine Kings' Palace killed them.

Few Emperor Realm offspring lived—the Nine Kings' Palace captured them.

A cycle of reincarnation.

He relied on the Longevity Pill to endure for a full cycle of reincarnation!

However, the Longevity Pill wasn't without side effects; the Emperor Realm offspring used as the catalyst wouldn't die but instead parasitize the one who took the pill.

Coexisting with them!

Initially, Yuan Ying could forcibly restrain these 'parasites.'

But as the years passed, with Yuan Ying no longer at his peak and his energy gradually waning, the parasites occasionally seized control of his body, seeking to take over!