Unstoppable Martial Arts: Starting with brother's wife and young sister Chapter 1045 - 525: Zhou’s Scheme

"Heh heh!"

Zhan Tian chuckled and sat beside Liu Sheng, his voice lowering, "How are you feeling? How much longer until you've fully recovered?"

"It will still take some time!"

"Congratulations on your breakthrough! Those at the peak of the eighth layer must feel like mere ants to you now, right?"

Zhan Tian let out a hearty laugh in response to his old friend's felicitations.

"That's true, but you're not an ant; you're my closest confidant!"

"We've spent years working together, dealing with those three elders."

"Now, we can finally say the difficult days are behind us! Hahaha..."

"You certainly have a thick skin!"

Liu Sheng scoffed, but he too couldn't help but laugh.

Truth be told, for years, they had both been somewhat stifled by the Three Dukes. However, as Zhan Tian pointed out, even if they couldn't directly confront the Three Dukes, at least they wouldn't be completely suppressed anymore.

Once he fully recovers, if he could also manage a breakthrough... the situation might become even more volatile.

Of course, whether a breakthrough was even possible remained uncertain for him.

The gap between the eighth layer's peak and the ninth layer was truly a daunting abyss.

Chen Xuan observed the two old friends with a gentle smile in his eyes.

This was the unadulterated camaraderie between men, a rarity in this Martial Arts World!

"Speaking of which, how did His Majesty reward you?"

"Hmph!"

Zhan Tian's expression immediately soured at the question, and he even rolled his eyes. "Does a verbal commendation count as a reward?"

"Verbal?!"

Liu Sheng frowned. Since when had Emperor Yu become so parsimonious?

"He claimed the Great Yu Kingdom's treasury is currently strained, and the remaining rewards are common items. He promised to bestow something better when a suitable opportunity arises," Zhan Tian grumbled.

Zhan Tian was clearly displeased.

When did the Great Yu Empire fall into such poverty? And what did they mean by 'no good items'? Were they treating him as a fool?

The Qin Emperor Sacred Land was known to possess countless rare treasures; it wasn't as if they were incapable of bestowing some.

Hmph!

Seeing Zhan Tian's mood, Liu Sheng tried to placate him. "His Majesty is also facing difficulties. The Ten Great Dangerous Lands have severely depleted Great Yu's coffers over the years."

"As for the treasures within the Qin Emperor Sacred Land, you should forget about them; those are the Qin Family's ancestral foundation!"

"Alright, let's not dwell on these matters."

"Focus on your recovery!"

"It's not as if I'm someone who obsesses over such things anyway."

Indeed, having managed the Three Judicial Departments for so long and overseeing the Hundred Mansions of Great Yu, if he harbored any ambition for wealth, becoming the richest person in Great Yu would have been a simple feat.

He simply wasn't interested in accumulating riches!

However, witnessing Zhan Tian's disappointment only amplified Liu Sheng's own displeasure. It seemed genuinely unfair that Emperor Yu would offer no tangible token of appreciation for Zhan Tian's significant accomplishments.

"By the way, His Majesty did not execute Shi the Third or the individual from the Tree-man Race. Instead, he imprisoned them both in the Celestial Prison."

"Not executed?"

Liu Sheng inquired.

"He didn't explicitly state his intentions, but based on His Majesty's tone, it appears he has no plans to end their lives," Zhan Tian replied.

Zhan Tian's words not only piqued Liu Sheng's interest but also left Chen Xuan, standing nearby, somewhat bewildered.

"Is His Majesty perhaps keeping them for research on their respective races?" Chen Xuan ventured a guess.

Suddenly, Liu Sheng's expression shifted dramatically.

"What is it? Did something occur to you?" Zhan Tian immediately asked, noticing the change.

"I'm not sure if this is relevant, but the Ritual Department once acquired an ancient tome. It mentioned that the races residing in the Ten Great Dangerous Lands share intricate connections, though the exact details were vague."

"Could His Majesty be attempting to uncover the weaknesses of these Ten Great Races?"

Upon hearing this, Zhan Tian began to recall past events. "Now that you mention it, there might be some truth to that. The Three Judicial Departments received intelligence years ago about corpses from the Ten Great Races being occasionally transported to the Imperial Palace from the dangerous zones."

"And it was the Shadow Guard handling these transports!"

"When did this happen? Why did you never mention it to me?" Liu Sheng expressed his dissatisfaction, surprised that such a crucial piece of information had never been relayed to him.

"It was only discovered once, by sheer chance, many years ago! At the time, I didn't think much of it," Zhan Tian explained.

"However, based on your deductions, it seems His Majesty has been meticulously preparing for this endeavor for many years."

Hearing the two elders' speculations, Chen Xuan suddenly recalled a crucial detail. "The Tree-man Race fears thunder!"

"And their regenerative capabilities seem to be ineffective against lightning strikes!"

"What?!"

Both old men turned to him simultaneously, their eyes wide. "Is that true?!"

"Elder Zhan, have you forgotten? At that time, four bolts of thunder suddenly appeared in the sky—that was me activating the array to conjure them. Afterward, it was discovered that when thunder strikes the Tree-man Race, their wounds couldn’t heal."

"Finally, an elder from the Tree-man Race used some means to recover somewhat, but he couldn’t fully recover either!"

"Well!"

"I was wondering why four bolts of thunder appeared out of nowhere, turns out it was you, kid, striking me!"

Being struck by lightning out of nowhere, he had found it strange at the time.

But he never expected it to be Chen’s doing.

"Elder Zhan, shouldn’t you be thanking me? If it weren’t for my conjuring the thunder, you might not have been able to break through!"

"Hmm... now that you put it that way, it does seem right."

Zhan Tian pondered for a moment, and it was indeed so, "Alright, then I won’t trouble you about it anymore, getting struck happened, let it be."

He had merely been trying to scare Chen Xuan.

"Oh, so to break through, you need to be struck by lightning!"

Liu Sheng suddenly revealed a sly grin.

"Old thing, I feel like you’re insulting me!"

Zhan Tian glared at him.

"Take out the 'feel like' part! Hahaha..."

"Cough cough cough..."

But laughing too hard strained his internal injuries, causing him to start coughing.

"Alright, alright, look at your frail state!"

Zhan Tian patted him on the back with his large hand, "Already so frail, you’re still in the mood for this? You’ve barely recovered, don’t make yourself worse by coughing."