Longevity: Starting from Refining Gu

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Late at night, Ji Shang finished arranging the day's battles, mainly focusing on eradicating the Not Subject forces.

Every new ruler brings his own ministers. After ascending the throne, he would certainly conduct a thorough purge.

After handling important matters, he decided to visit the imprisoned Eldest Prince and Third Prince, who were supported by Li Chonghuan and Feng Yi.

To the outside world, they were declared dead in the chaos of the Imperial Palace, but in reality, they were imprisoned beneath the palace, in a cell only Emperor Donghua could access.

As he entered the dungeon, the Eldest Prince looked up, glancing at Ji Shang, without much concern.

He neither begged for mercy nor spoke harshly.

"Ji Shang, look at yourself, where do you have the demeanor of Emperor Donghua?"

"Can't you even bring yourself to strike against me and Third Brother?"

"You are not a real Emperor Donghua yet!"

"As of now, you seem more like a puppet of Prince Wen."

"Which generation of Emperor Donghua, after ascending the throne, still takes orders from others like you?"

The Eldest Prince roared, "Do you even know what it truly means to be Emperor Donghua?"

"Under the heavens, the master of all, the king of kings!"

"Above and below, I alone reign supreme!"

"That is a real emperor, not someone indecisive like you. Pick up your sword, kill me and Third Brother, and prove it to us!"

Ji Shang didn't care about these words meant to provoke him; he simply sat at a wooden table outside the cell, lit an oil lamp, listened to the night watch, and put on a bronze ghost mask.

Arriving at Cloud Platform, he quickly looked around and saw six others besides himself.

To his left was his most familiar sister.

But at that moment, besides a valiant man observing everyone like him, the others stood solemnly, respectfully waiting for a certain mysterious presence to arrive.

After a short while, Chen Qing appeared at his seat, and Ji Ru, Xu Yaofeng, Hu Yao, Murong Lang, and Evil Exorcism all greeted respectfully, "Good evening, Respected Senior Taichu!"

The Netherworld King and Ji Shang exchanged glances and followed suit.

From the information they had heard, Taichu was an entity above All Gods, regarded as the mysterious Pillar God.

Chen Qing greeted everyone, "Ji Ru, Xu Yaofeng, Hu Yao, Murong Lang, Evil Exorcism, Xie Shu, Ji Shang, good evening!"

After the usual inquiries, Ji Ru did not hold back and said directly, "This is the current Emperor Donghua, who has also joined our gathering."

"Brother, for your first time attending this gathering, Senior Taichu will give you a gift."

Ji Shang was slightly surprised. He cautiously asked the question that intrigued him the most, in his view, this was a question that even the Heavenly Venerable, Heavenly Master, and Miao God couldn't answer.

If Taichu could truly provide a solution, then he would believe this mysterious Taichu was a being above All Gods.

"May I ask Senior Taichu, Emperor Donghua has traditionally had only a hundred-year life span. Is there any way to extend it?"

Chen Qing was not in a hurry, saying, "Let me take a look at your cicada."

Ji Shang didn't mind; after all, it was just a look. The Heavenly Master and Heavenly Venerable had already examined it. He opened his hand and a palm-sized green cicada appeared.

Chen Qing observed it and had to admit the Withered Glory Cicada was truly the strongest King Gu, possessing powers surpassing all other King Gus, comparable to, or even exceeding, an Innate Spiritual Treasure.

It was the manifestation of the Spring and Autumn Cicada, capable of drawing strength from it.

The Divine Skill Evergreen it could unleash was extraordinarily powerful, able to summon past Da Yan Emperors from the river of time to assist him.

No wonder it was considered the strongest True Monarch. Summoning dozens, even hundreds, of True Monarchs at once was overwhelming.

Moreover, once contracted, it could draw past strength from the river of time with the Spring and Autumn Cicada's power, directly ascending to True Monarch, truly terrifying.

Similarly, the cost was not small, as one must endure an unstoppable forty-nine-fold time flow.

This was the reason for the short lifespan of Da Yan's Emperor Donghua.

Chen Qing observed the traits of the cicada and finally discovered a point: there was indeed a way to resolve this issue.

The best means of resisting time was by forgetting.

Among them, the Gu called "Yesterday" had the best suppressive effect on the Withered Glory Cicada.

Seeing this, Chen Qing suddenly recalled a page he had seen in an Age History Book, calculating with Spiritual Mechanism Fire.

After step-by-step calculations, Chen Qing awkwardly discovered that Yesterday was actually on himself!

"I can extend your life by five hundred years. Since it's our first meeting, I will give you this as a gift."

Chen Qing carefully searched within his internal space, found Yesterday, and with a flick of his hand, it landed before Ji Shang.

"After returning, immediately contract this Gu; otherwise, it will be eternally forgotten."

"While it's with me, I can suppress it and remember it, but with your power, you cannot suppress its strength."

Ji Shang blinked, remembering something, then forgetting it again, quickly engraving a sentence on his hand, tightly grasping "Yesterday."

Having said this, Chen Qing turned to the Netherworld King and calmly asked, "What do you wish for?"

"As someone who has caught my attention, if you truly don't know what to choose, I can give you a chance, a chance for Ascension."

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