The Peerless Emperor

The plan had completely failed!

In the secret chamber beneath the Yun family's clan city, Yun Hu stared at the once vibrant and deep green light, now growing dim and lusterless, his face ashen.

"Even with the Lord's generous assistance, there's no way to succeed?" Watching the green light fade before his eyes, Yun Hu's whole body began to tremble.

Whoosh whoosh...

The sound of the wind arose within the chamber, causing the green light in front of him to sway, but the sound of the wind brought on a surge of immense fear to Yun Hu's pale face.

Thick black smoke rose before Yun Hu, and a vague shadowy figure gradually took shape before him.

Though the dense black smoke shaped like a human, it remained hazy, with what seemed like wings on its back, pointed horns atop its head, and two crimson glints that flickered across the face.

Yet, this mysterious figure remained shrouded in a misty cloud of black smoke, as if unable to fully materialize.

"Yun Hu, what exactly happened?" The shadowy figure, as deep and abyssal as ever with two red glints for eyes, stared at the trembling Yun Hu with an eerie tone.

Facing this shadow, Yun Hu swallowed hard and hastily explained, "My Lord, we were on the verge of success, only to be blindsided by a young man named Lin Qian."

"Out of forty-eight Transcendence Realm Elder Yun Wu, fourteen have perished, leaving only thirty-four. After the sacrifice, it was impossible to spread the Curse Array Formation."

"I had no choice but to activate the Curse Array Formation early, causing one hundred ninety states' beings to be cursed and infected. In seven days as the heavens and earth tide, the spirit energy will surge violently, coinciding with the full moon in three months."

"By then, when the walking dead flood into other realms and the curse spreads, it will be too late for anyone else to discover it," Yun Hu babbled in panic to the dense shadow before him.

After hearing Yun Hu's explanation, the shadowy figure, its smoky body undulating continuously, finally spoke coldly, "I can sense that the Soul Martial Continent has been tainted by the curse."

"Indeed, the number had previously surged, but now, the number of people infected with the Black Blood Poison curse is dropping drastically." The black figure, staring at Yun Hu, spoke with an icy voice, "If this continues, not a single person infected with the Black Blood Poison curse will remain, and the plan will utterly fail."

"A thousand-year plan will fail once again, how much longer must I wait!" The shadowy figure, expressing its fury in a raised voice, added, "So much for the endeavor, it's redundant for failure!"

"My Lord, there was nothing I could do. This young man named Lin Qian, turns out to be the grandson of my adopted son. Somehow, he obtained the Huaxia Empire legacy, leading an army in a formidable assault, and the Yun family retreated at every turn." Yun Hu fell to his knees with a thud, pleading before the dark figure, "My Lord, I will surely find a way to make amends."

The figure, resembling black smoke, eyed Yun Hu before him, shaking its head slowly: "In the beginning, I saved a branch of your clan, promising to restore your line's former glory, with the condition that you aid me in fulfilling my plan. Sadly, this branch of your line has proven too weak. The bloodline has also become increasingly diluted through marriages with the Human Clan."

"Now that the plan has failed, you are completely without value to me." The smoky figure continued, its tone now even more composed than before, "Fortunately, I didn't put my full trust in you, a useless pawn, and made sure to have a backup plan, or else I would have lost it all."

At those words, Yun Hu couldn't help but lift his head, his face showing a flicker of unease.

A backup plan?

The words of the dark figure did not instill any sense of a potential comeback in Yun Hu. Instead, a wave of intense fear rose from the depths of his heart.

The Lord before him, Yun Hu, would never believe to be any kind of benevolent believer or someone of good will.

During the ancient war of yesteryear, with the Black Blood Clan leading, the Lord in question was the covert orchestrator; back then, the Yun family also secretly fanned the flames, inciting the catastrophic war between the different races and the Human Clan.

However, what was unexpected was that, during the war in the Ancient Era, the Human Clan united sincerely, nurturing many a genius, who fought desperately against the foreign clans. Despite heavy losses on both sides, a ceasefire was reached instead of continuing the conflict as the Lord had anticipated.

Therefore, the Lord had considered other plans as a substitute, and just when success seemed within reach, it was thwarted once more.

Yun Hu, responsible for this plan, believed he could not escape involvement.

Thump! Thump!

At that moment, Yun Hu suddenly felt his heartbeat speeding up, echoing loudly and incessantly in his ears.

Yun Hu looked down in confusion to find black smoke emanating from the area of his heart within his left chest.

Thump! Thump! Thump!

His heart was not only beating rapidly but also with increasing force with each beat; panic began to overtake Yun Hu's heart.

"Lord, what are you doing?" Yun Hu sprang up from the ground, trying to summon his Soul Power only to discover, in fright, that it was no longer under his control.

"What am I doing? My contingency plan naturally involves you," the black figure said smugly, as the black smoke swirled into a flow of air and forcefully penetrated Yun Hu's heart.

Yun Hu frantically reached to cover his chest, but he couldn't stop the black smoke.

The dense black fog instantly passed through his palm and chest, entering his heart within his left chest.

The black mist swiftly invaded Yun Hu's heart, staining it black, and then spread throughout his body via his blood.

Inside the Clan Leader's mansion of the Yun family estate, a man rushed in a panic. Upon arriving at the front hall, he happened to see Yun Hu's figure.

On seeing Yun Hu, the man's face lit up with joy: "Father, you really are here!"

With that, the man hurried toward Yun Hu, his tone full of urgency: "Father, I just found Elder Yun Wu dead in the backyard, what exactly..."

As he spoke, his face suddenly turned pale because he realized his father Yun Hu, when lifting his head, had a pale bluish-white complexion, and his pupils were flashing a crimson light.

From his seven orifices, dark black blood flowed out; he faced his son with a contorted smile, revealing a row of dreadfully white teeth.

He wanted to run but couldn't, as Yun Hu had already firmly grasped him, opening his mouth to viciously bite at his face.