These four mysterious golden pillars beside the altar were actually magic tools personally refined by the Holy Emperor. But why would he lock himself in? No one enjoys having chains pierce their physical body and tether them to a pillar. Damage to the body impedes the circulation of certain meridians, leading to irreversible harm in cultivation. Even novice Qi Refining cultivators understand this basic principle. A Nascent Soul cultivator certainly could not be unaware of it.

The Golden Armored Guard seemed to sense their thoughts and let out a cold snort.

"There is a reason why this Holy Emperor is locked here. I was once the Holy Emperor, the only cultivator among the four great cultivation worlds—Spirit Mist, Azure Dome Plain, and Myriad Moon Lake—to reach the ninth stage of the Nascent Soul realm. If I could just pass the final Great Heavenly Tribulation, breaking through to the next realm would be imminent. To weaken the might of that tribulation, I sought a natural cavern deep within the earth, preparing to undergo it there. Constructing this Imperial Tomb was purely a ruse to mislead others. This Profound Ice Jade Coffin was for my slumber. These four Soul-Suppressing Pillars are merely a set of top-tier magic tools I prepared to defend against the heavenly tribulation."

"However, a small accident occurred during the tribulation, leaking my location. Several enemies, who were also Nascent Soul cultivators, learned that my Great Heavenly Tribulation was near and seized the opportunity to gather cultivators from the Spirit Mist, Azure Dome Plain, and Myriad Moon Lake realms to attack the Holy Emperor Cultivation World. I was deep underground, weathering the tribulation, dared not ascend to the surface, and could only watch helplessly as the Holy Emperor Cultivation World was conquered by cultivators from the three realms. When I emerged, at my most vulnerable right after surviving the Great Heavenly Tribulation, they stormed the underground Imperial Tomb. They could not kill me, but they basely used my own magic tools to freeze and seal my physical body within this icy coffin upon the altar, causing the breakthrough I had just achieved to plummet back to Nascent Soul realm cultivation. I can project a sliver of my divine sense into this Golden Armored Guard puppet to move around, but my physical body remains permanently frozen."

"These four Soul-Suppressing Pillars are the Holy Emperor's magic tools. Can Your Majesty not simply retrieve them?"

Ma Dongyan asked, confusion etched on his face. The earlier failure to sever the golden chains had not discouraged him in the least. He seemed utterly determined to get the Holy Emperor out of that ice coffin.

"These golden pillar magic tools are named Soul Suppressors; they exert immense pressure on the nascent spirit. I cannot unleash even a hundredth of my strength while bound. Only once I escape this ice coffin can I reclaim them. But my cultivation is suppressed by the Soul Suppressors, rendering me incapable of dealing with them myself. To uproot the four Soul-Suppressing Pillars requires either another Nascent Soul cultivator or the combined effort of over ten Golden Core cultivators," the Golden Armored Guard explained.

"The four surrounding cultivation worlds have long been devoid of any trace of Nascent Soul cultivators. Even journeying to more distant cultivation worlds might not guarantee finding one. It seems the effort must focus on Golden Core cultivators. Finding ten Golden Core cultivators is far easier than finding a single Nascent Soul one."

"However, this Imperial Tomb is surrounded by an Earth Flame Barrier. The higher the cultivation, the greater the pressure. Even Golden Core cultivators who arrive might be unable to pass through," Ma Dongyan lamented, shaking his head. "Your Majesty, do you possess any method to destroy this Earth Flame Barrier?"

"I have tried. Even my Golden Core level puppets could not pass this Earth Flame Barrier. This barrier was erected by my former enemies from those years, harnessing the power of the earth fires. Its might is immense, designed to stop any cultivator who might wish to enter the tomb to help me escape. Destroying this barrier will likely be even more difficult than destroying the Soul-Suppressing Pillars. To this day, no Golden Core cultivator has managed to enter this area; only you little brats at the Foundation Establishment stage have stumbled in."

Ma Dongyan’s face flushed. Being called a 'little brat' at over a hundred years old stung, but he felt no real shame. Before an ancient Nascent Soul ancestor who had lived for an unknown expanse of time, 'little brat' was actually rather polite.

The Golden Armored Guard, finding the conversation engaging, continued chatting casually with Ma Dongyan about methods to break the ice coffin.

Ye Qin remained silent, observing with cold detachment.

Though Ye Qin also desired the secret to longevity from the Holy Emperor, he absolutely did not wish to see him emerge from the ice coffin.

As far as he knew, this Holy Emperor was likely the sole surviving Nascent Soul cultivator among the four great cultivation worlds. Of course, there might be a few reclusive Nascent Soul experts whose existence Ye Qin had never encountered. At the very least, the Spirit Mist Cultivation World had no active Nascent Soul masters, otherwise, the major sects there would have long since submitted to one. The possibility of Nascent Soul cultivators existing in the Azure Dome Plain or Myriad Moon Lake was also extremely slim.

Therefore, once the Holy Emperor reappeared, a terrifying entity at the ninth layer of the Nascent Soul realm, no lower-ranked cultivator could stand against him. That would truly unleash apocalyptic storms upon the cultivation world, capable of overturning the power structures of the four realms in one fell swoop. Even if all the Golden Core cultivators from every sect joined forces, they might still be no match for this Holy Emperor.

The Azure Pill Gate, one of the seven major sects in the Spirit Mist Cultivation World, would be forced to bow before the Holy Emperor; the sect's very survival would rest upon his whim.

One must remember that in those years, the Spirit Mist, Azure Dome Plain, and Myriad Moon Lake cultivation worlds had jointly attacked and annihilated the Holy Emperor Cultivation World, then frozen the Holy Emperor himself within this altar's icy coffin, shattering his hope of breaking through to the next, higher realm. This vengeance was so profound it could be called irreconcilable.

Ye Qin dared not harbor any illusions about whether the Holy Emperor would retaliate against the sects of the other worlds after his release. The most likely outcome would be a bloody purge; not a single sect that participated in the attack on the Holy Emperor Cultivation World would escape unscathed.

As a disciple of the Azure Pill Gate, even without having contributed significantly to the sect, he was far too prudent to engage in an act that could bring about his sect's total destruction. He would not forget his fundamental position for the sake of paltry personal gain.

Ye Qin could only maintain silence, staying quietly on the sidelines and watching Ma Dongyan busy himself. Everyone could see that Ma Dongyan intended to curry favor with the Nascent Soul cultivator, the Holy Emperor. But relying solely on Ma Dongyan's strength—a mere ninth-layer Foundation Establishment cultivator—he doubted he could help the Holy Emperor escape. If it were that easy, someone else would have accomplished it long ago.

Chu Hui, unclear what was churning in his own mind, also maintained a gloomy expression. At times, he stared at Ma Dongyan with cold mockery in his eyes; at other times, he lowered his head in thought. He appeared equally unenthusiastic about helping the Holy Emperor break free.

In the entire hall, only the three of them—Ma Dongyan, Ye Qin, and Chu Hui—had yet to present offerings to the Holy Emperor. Ma Dongyan was deep in conversation with the Golden Armored Guard, meaning they would have to wait their turn.

"Besides having ten Golden Core cultivators simultaneously pull out the Soul-Suppressing Pillars, there is another way I can escape. However, this method carries certain aftereffects," the Golden Armored Guard stated.

"Please enlighten Your Majesty. As long as I can help Your Majesty escape, this junior will exert every effort!" Ma Dongyan’s spirit lifted, and he quickly inquired.

"The Great Art of Soul Seizing: abandoning this current physical body and finding a new shell!" the Golden Armored Guard’s voice was chillingly devoid of emotion.

Ma Dongyan flinched upon hearing this, involuntarily stumbling back a step in alarm, nearly turning to flee. He wanted to aid the Holy Emperor’s escape to earn his trust and receive help in forming a Golden Core. But he certainly had no desire to sacrifice his own life, offering his body for the Holy Emperor’s freedom.

However, the next sentence spoken by the Golden Armored Guard reassured him.

"Relax, little brat. I have no use for your physical body. If this Holy Emperor were to use the inferior method of soul seizing to inhabit another body, I would certainly choose a sufficiently superior vessel. Otherwise, if I intended to seize a body, I would have done so long ago, not waited until today. Do you truly believe I would be interested in just any physical form?" the Golden Armored Guard snorted.

"This junior's physical body has extremely poor spiritual root potential; it’s natural that Your Majesty would not favor it. I merely wonder what sort of physical body would satisfy Your Majesty's demands?" Ma Dongyan suppressed the urge to flee, forcing a wry smile to mask his recent cowardice.

"It must be the body of a cultivator with a Single Spiritual Root potential of eighty or above. If it reaches ninety, so much the better. If the root potential is below eighty, it simply cannot withstand the force of my soul seizure. The body would instead explode and die. Even if the seizure succeeded, my cultivation would significantly decline, leaving considerable future complications," the Golden Armored Guard stated flatly.

"Single Spiritual Root eighty!?... That requirement is far too high."

Ma Dongyan fell into a daze. While there were many cultivators in the cultivation world, those with high Single Spiritual Roots were rare. Any cultivator with a Single Root exceeding forty would be aggressively sought after by any major sect for discipleship. Those exceeding sixty were treasures, meticulously nurtured.

A Single Root of eighty represented terrifyingly high potential.

Even such a cultivator would receive top priority and protection in any sect. With such innate talent, they were Heavenly Talents of cultivation; provided they didn't perish mid-journey, a little diligence offered a fifty percent chance of reaching the Golden Core stage, perhaps even striving toward Nascent Soul. With Ma Dongyan's own strength, approaching such a cultivator was difficult, and bringing them to the Holy Emperor for seizure was impossible.

"The standards are naturally high, otherwise how could I have been trapped for so long! Although many cultivators have entered the tomb over the years, none have met my requirements. The highest potential seen was from Shi Hanyang, who only possessed a Single Root of sixty-five, still a considerable distance from my needs. Your own is only just over fifty," the Golden Armored Guard said.

The red light flickering in the Golden Armored Guard's eyes, having sat silent for a long while, suddenly remembered that he had been focused on Ma Dongyan and neglected Ye Qin and Chu Hui, who were waiting nearby. He turned his gaze toward the other two.

"This junior’s highest Single Spiritual Root is only forty-seven, far inferior to Brother Ma. If a physical body must be used in this discussion, Brother Ma is vastly better suited than I," Chu Hui exclaimed, hastily waving his hands to distance himself, lest the Holy Emperor fixate on him.

"This junior’s highest Single Spiritual Root is only twenty-five points. Even lower than both elder brothers!" Ye Qin spoke quickly after being scanned by that astonishingly oppressive red light. He was speaking the truth; his highest root potential was indeed only twenty-five points.

Ma Dongyan and Chu Hui both turned to look at Ye Qin when he announced his spiritual root potential, their gazes filled with sympathy and pity. A maximum Single Root of twenty-five was miserably low.

If cultivators with a Single Root potential over forty were snatched up by all sects, then those below twenty were often spurned. A root potential that low offered virtually no hope of reaching Foundation Establishment. While high-potential cultivators soared, those with such low roots would struggle laboriously at the very bottom.

Ye Qin’s Single Root was barely a fraction above the level that invited scorn—a spiritual talent as useless as a lame duck. For someone with such a low root to have reached Foundation Establishment, even a common barnyard fowl could boast of flying to the heavens.

While pitying Ye Qin, they were also mystified. Logically, with such poor roots, even if Ye Qin reached eighty or ninety and his beard turned white, he should only be at Qi Refining five or six, far from Foundation Establishment. How had he managed to break through, and according to his apparent age, his cultivation speed was no slower than theirs.

Could he be a disciple from some great cultivation family, consuming vast amounts of spirit stones to ingest elixirs to reach this level? Cultivators nurtured this way had extremely limited futures, and it would likely bleed the supporting family dry.

Their gazes toward Ye Qin turned even more compassionate. This time, it was pity for the family that harbored such a cultivator—a family deserving of sympathy.