To be honest, the first time Maverick Chen heard this from the East-Star Prefecture Master, he was totally shocked.
"The Ninefold Sacred Emperor's wife? Then she must know about his downfall. So Star-Treasure Pavilion exists just to grow stronger and take revenge on the Five Sacred Lands, right?"
Anyone who thinks that way isn't alone—it's literally everyone! Even Maverick Chen, who's supposed to be a genius strategist, used to believe the same thing.
But what the East-Star Prefecture Master told him was, "No, that's not it. Star-Treasure Pavilion doesn't exist for revenge—it's for salvation. To be precise, it's for resurrection! To resurrect the Ninefold Sacred Emperor!"
"What? The Ninefold Sacred Emperor isn't dead?!" Flowing-Light Holy Emperor was in the hall too, and he was stunned. Dozens of top-tier Sacred Emperors joining forces to wipe out one person, and they still didn't kill him? That's just... monstrous! Is the Star-River Dominion's First Calamity Star really going to defy the heavens?!
"No, the Ninefold Sacred Emperor really did die, and not even a trace was left behind. But Star-Treasure Pavilion spent millions of years spreading its chambers of commerce across the Star-River Dominion, collecting anything that carried his aura.
In the end, after burning through endless manpower, resources, and wealth, only in the past century did they finally see even the faintest hope of resurrecting the Ninefold Sacred Emperor. But it's just that—a sliver of hope.
As for the Holy Emperor Sovereign Lord... Back when he was in the Frostbane Trial World, he had some encounters that turned out to be foreshadowing laid down by the Star-Treasure Pavilion Master ages ago."
"What kind of foreshadowing? Did they just take him as a disciple?" Nightdream Ye asked out loud.
"It's more than that. When the Ninefold Sacred Emperor is resurrected, what comes back first is his soul. But the Star-River Dominion's First Calamity Star—his divine soul is that powerful. So, how many bodies could possibly carry it?
So everything had to be laid out with absolute precision. According to the East-Star Prefecture Master, Star-Treasure Pavilion's target was four people—one Seed for each direction, each cultivated and overseen by one of the Four Prefecture Masters.
But for the other three directions, everything was going smoothly—only the East ran into trouble."
Damn it! A Seed?! All this just to resurrect the Ninefold Sacred Emperor? Are they trying to snatch the Holy Emperor Sovereign Lord's body? I'll wipe out those bastards myself!
Bang!
Mad-Blade Li, always the most explosive, instantly drew his giant blade.
"Calm down. It's not that simple." Maverick Chen knew that revealing all this would definitely stir up trouble. As unbelievable as it all sounded, this was the truth!
"Cultivating Seeds isn't just about snatching bodies—if it were that simple, it wouldn't require all this effort. Plus, the Holy Emperor Sovereign Lord is actually one soul in two bodies. You must've noticed how his Holy Emperor Avatar is a bit special, right?
That's right—Lynton Chu's flesh body actually belongs to Evan Chu, and it's the most perfect Star-soul constitution out there, unbelievably powerful. Right now, Evan Chu's main consciousness is inside the Sacred Dragon Emperor body, but that can't last forever. And that's... exactly why the Holy Emperor Sovereign Lord still hasn't woken up!"
By this point, Maverick Chen had finished speaking. Not a single person in the grand hall dared interrupt. Everyone held their breath, waiting for the final answer.
"According to Star-Treasure Pavilion's original plan, their divinations showed that only one of the four Seeds would succeed, and only after a hundred years. Unless a Seed dies prematurely, nothing can stop the Ninefold Sacred Emperor's resurrection.
The normal procedure is that all four Seeds fall into a mysterious sleep, while the Ninefold Sacred Emperor's divine soul is resurrected and takes shape. In a special world, he examines the four Seed bodies and chooses the one most suitable for himself.
Those who aren't chosen won't feel anything—they'll just keep cultivating as usual, with Star-Treasure Pavilion still supporting and training them.
As for the one who is chosen, they're considered the lucky one. Even though they'll lose their flesh body and the ability to use the Holy Emperor Avatar, the future will bring them even greater rewards."
At this point, Maverick Chen stopped talking, his face growing even more anxious. The real heart of the matter was what came next!
"That's right—now something's gone wrong with the Holy Emperor Sovereign Lord, Evan Chu. He didn't wait the full hundred years. Instead, he fell into sleep early, and it's already been ten whole years—way longer than it should've taken! Normally, this kind of body-snatching process only takes three months!"
When Maverick Chen finished, he felt a wave of helplessness. He couldn't imagine how to handle what came next. Without Evan Chu, the Frostbane Dynasty could never be truly whole!
He was capable enough, but he was nowhere near enough to replace Evan Chu. No one could ever replace him!
"What do we do now?!" Violet Thunder was just as shocked—he never imagined the Ninefold Sacred Emperor's disciple would have secrets this earth-shaking behind him.
"All we can do is wait! Wait for the East-Star Prefecture Master to send word from Star-Treasure Pavilion headquarters, and find out what's really going on."
"So what's the worst-case scenario?"
"Best-case scenario: the Ninefold Sacred Emperor is resurrected successfully. Whether Evan Chu is chosen or not, he'll wake up, and he'll gain plenty. Worst-case scenario: the resurrection fails, and Evan Chu's consciousness is lost forever in that strange world."
Seeing the hall still shrouded in dead silence, Maverick Chen decided not to hold back and dropped one more line that nearly drove everyone to despair.
"According to the East-Star Prefecture Master, right now only Evan Chu has entered this state—the other three are safe and sound. That could be the omen of a Seed's premature death."
Boom!
It was like a thunderbolt crashing down in everyone's mind! An omen of a Seed's death? That meant, as things stood, Evan Chu had a ninety percent chance of falling!
"No—wait! There's still Lynton Chu! Where is Lynton Chu? He's Senior Brother's second life form—call him out!"
Violet Thunder went wild, grabbing Maverick Chen by the collar and roaring.
But Maverick Chen could only sigh, "Do you think I can just walk into Evan Chu's world-space whenever I want? And with Evan Chu in this condition, I'm afraid Lynton Chu is..."
Maverick Chen didn't finish the last few words, but everyone already understood.
Meanwhile, in the bedroom of Evan Chu's palace, the man who'd slept for ten years was finally starting to wake up. But when Evan Chu opened his eyes and saw the world again, he realized he'd become a complete cripple!
His cultivation was gone, his realm had vanished—he felt no different from an ordinary mortal! Worse, he couldn't inspect his divine soul, couldn't sense his meridians, couldn't open his Chaos Trial World, couldn't gather any kind of power, and couldn't transform into the Sacred Dragon Emperor true body.
Evan Chu's heart started to panic. On instinct, he tried to get out of bed, but his body staggered and he collapsed straight to the floor.
His legs were totally numb, like he was paralyzed. His eyes couldn't focus on anything, and his sense of smell was completely gone...
"How did this happen? Why am I... a cripple?!"