Entering a new world with a new body, Ding Yun skillfully used her mental power to retrieve the Creation Pill from her soul space and stealthily placed it into her physical body's mouth.
Then, she quickly began to digest the pill.
To repair her severe injuries and take control of the body.
Following that, Ding Yun once again used her mental power to carefully examine her surroundings. Finding that no one else was near her, she hurried to sort through her memories.
While sorting, she didn't forget to hold her breath.
Putting herself into a state of suspended animation, feigning death.
Just in case the murderer returned to check what had happened.
Before long, Ding Yun had a basic understanding of the original body's general situation. However, she didn't know who the murderer was, as the original body was killed in her sleep.
The country where the original body resided was called the Great Zhou Imperial Dynasty.
It was a place where martial arts flourished, and Daoist magic and demons also proliferated.
It was the lord of the Central Continent, the foremost imperial dynasty in the world. Both in territory and strength, it far surpassed the numerous other imperial courts and dynasties of the other eight provinces, truly deserving the title of the world's number one.
And the original body was the imperial daughter of the Great Zhou Imperial Dynasty.
The only one, at that. Meaning she had no elder or younger brothers, and no elder or younger sisters. She was the sole daughter of Emperor Qianyu of Great Zhou, her status supremely honored. It would be no exaggeration to say she was second only to the emperor, above tens of thousands of others.
As for why a dignified emperor had only one child, there was naturally a reason. To be precise, Emperor Qianyu did not have only her as a child, but she was the only one who survived. She was the sole survivor.
From the first year of Qianyu to the end of the 180th year of Qianyu, Emperor Qianyu had a total of seventy-three imperial sons and one hundred and forty-nine imperial daughters. Many died due to palace infighting and various accidents.
But the total number of children eventually exceeded one hundred.
However, in the 180th year of Qianyu, a major event occurred. The Crown Prince, who was already one hundred and seventy-eight years old, had failed to break through to the Great Grandmaster realm in martial arts and didn't have many years left to live. Unwilling to die still as Crown Prince, he united with over a dozen imperial sons who hadn't been enfeoffed as princes despite their advanced age. Together, they raised an army, jointly pressured the palace, and rebelled.
It was said that several hidden sects had secretly incited them, remnants of the previous dynasty were at play, and evil gods were involved. This directly triggered the greatest upheaval in the Great Zhou's six hundred years of founding and four dynasties. The entire imperial capital was engulfed in bloodshed, and this turmoil lasted for more than half a month before Emperor Qianyu finally quelled it.
However, the final outcome was also extremely tragic.
Emperor Qianyu severely damaged his foundation, and all his offspring died. Not only did his sons and grandsons all perish, but even his married daughters and other descendants who carried his bloodline also died.
It could be said that his lineage was completely wiped out.
The reason was that remnants of the previous dynasty's royal family, in league with the Witch sect, had obtained Emperor Qianyu's vital blood during the great battle. They then did not hesitate to sacrifice ten Martial Saints and all the remaining imperial fortune of the previous dynasty to cast a bloodline curse upon Emperor Qianyu.
If that turmoil had not occurred, and if all under heaven had been peaceful, Emperor Qianyu might have been able to suppress the curse through his own cultivation, or even with secret arts and treasures.
But at that time, Emperor Qianyu was fighting dozens of Martial Saints and a half-step Martial God. He was truly unable to divide his attention.
Not only did he directly fall victim to the curse, but the curse also spread continuously, originating from his bloodline. The result was that he himself was severely wounded, his foundation damaged. By consuming the imperial dynasty's fortune at a critical moment, he managed to preserve his life. However, all his offspring died due to the curse.
After the rebellion was quelled, Emperor Qianyu, in addition to his damaged foundation, also suffered a significant reduction in his lifespan. His original thousand-year lifespan was reduced to less than two hundred years. Even after consuming many longevity-extending spiritual medicines, it only extended to over three hundred years.
Furthermore, he did not wish to pass the throne to a collateral branch.
Therefore, even with his limited lifespan, after lifting the curse on himself, he did not hesitate to consume fifty years of his lifespan. From the remaining meager Pure Yang foundation within his body, he severed a part and combined with a concubine who possessed the Innate Pure Yin physique, hoping to conceive a genius imperial son to succeed him.
The result was that his Pure Yang foundation did not allow him to accurately conceive an imperial son for succession. Instead, he gave birth to a daughter with an Innate Dao Body, whose Yin and Yang were harmonized and perfectly balanced.
With only a few years left to live.
He was utterly unable to conceive another child.
Despite this, he remained extremely unwilling. No matter how his ministers advised him to adopt a collateral branch of bloodline as an imperial son and establish a new Crown Prince to stabilize the nation's foundation.
He resolutely refused. He even went so far as to kill the ministers who advised him to adopt.
And he doted on his only daughter immensely.
The ministers were not seeking death. If he was unwilling, then so be it. At most, after he died, they would discuss with the imperial clan and choose which collateral branch to succeed the throne.
Thus, the Great Zhou court remained harmonious for another decade.
Until last year, when the Queen of Rakshasa Kingdom paid a visit.
Rakshasa Kingdom had always had a tradition of queens succeeding to the throne. The previous king had no sons, only six daughters. Therefore, the previous King of Rakshasa naturally designated his eldest daughter as the Crown Princess, and upon his death, his eldest daughter succeeded him.
In the past, Emperor Qianyu might have felt that Rakshasa Kingdom was truly outrageous. How could a woman succeed to the throne? But only when he himself had no sons and only one daughter.
Did he begin to empathize and conceive the idea of imitating Rakshasa Kingdom's situation, to establish his daughter, the original body, as the Imperial Grand Princess, and let his daughter inherit the throne.
Having a son would naturally be best, but if there were no sons, a daughter would still carry his bloodline, and his bloodline would still be passed down. This was far better than adopting a collateral branch that had not a single drop of his blood, and who, after his death, might even establish their own birth parents as the Retired Emperor and Empress Dowager.
Therefore, after the Queen of Rakshasa Kingdom's visit.
Emperor Qianyu specifically summoned her into the palace to inquire in detail about their situation there, including but not limited to the attitude of the court officials after she succeeded to the throne, and the attitude of the common people throughout the land.
The officials of the Great Zhou were not fools. As soon as he summoned the Queen of Rakshasa, who could not guess his intention to have his own daughter succeed to the throne? The result was that before Emperor Qianyu could even propose the idea of establishing his daughter as the Imperial Grand Princess, he was blocked by all the officials, who again requested the establishment of a Crown Prince.
Even several old princes from the imperial clan specially attended court.
They reiterated the rules of imperial succession several times.
If Emperor Qianyu had not been severely injured and was still the foremost expert in the world, he would naturally have had absolute authority, and no matter how many people opposed him, it would not have mattered. But now, he was severely injured, with only a few years left to live. His strength could only be utilized at ten to twenty percent, and a full-power strike would shorten his lifespan by several months. Therefore, facing the unanimous opposition of the entire court and the imperial clan, he was also powerless.
That very day, he had a talk with the original body and basically abandoned the idea of establishing his daughter as the Imperial Grand Princess and inheriting the throne.
Then, that night, the original body was assassinated.
Killed with a palm strike in her sleep without seeing the attacker's face.