Chapter 372: Chapter 93 Emperor Encounters Assassins
On the other side, Jiang Li was watching the live broadcast.
Or rather, he was using the Void Illusion Realm to achieve an immersive experience, sharing Tianxuan’s perceptions in reverse, to personally witness this battle.
He had naturally heard the secrets revealed by the Emperor as well.
"The Emperor’s Dao Fruit causes one’s emotions to fade away..." Jiang Li harbored doubts.
If the Emperor originally had no personal desires, why did he kill the previous Jiang Family Master, Jiang Tao?
After the Jiang Family Master’s death, the Emperor faced Heaven’s Punishment and regained his humanity. It was plausible to claim that he held onto the Divine Farmer’s Cauldron, but he most certainly would not have killed the Jiang Family Master for it. Even then, he probably didn’t even have the longing for immortality.
Or could it be that the Jiang family truly intended to rebel?
This possibility crossed Jiang Li’s mind, then he silently relegated it to the least likely scenario.
Given the Jiang family’s strength at the time, they had no chance of shaking the Imperial Power. Even if someone from the Jiang family was qualified to inherit the Emperor’s Dao Fruit, they would not succeed.
Unless the previous Master, Jiang Tao, had truly lost his mind, the Jiang family might have harbored the intention, but certainly not the courage.
Moreover, if the Jiang family had rebelled, based on the cause and effect, the Emperor should not have suffered Heaven’s Punishment.
Others were coming to kill him, he couldn’t just not fight back, could he?
"There’s still a mystery here," Jiang Li sighed inwardly.
The deeper he dug, the more mysteries there were to be found. What seemed to be a clear feud between two clans was filled with many hidden secrets.
"However, right now, dealing with the Emperor is what matters."
Jiang Li put aside his thoughts for the moment and focused on the situation at Ziwei Hall.
If they couldn’t get past this hurdle with the Emperor, there was no need to pay attention to anything else; better to quickly escape the Divine Capital. If they overcame this obstacle, then they would have the qualification to move on to the next.
"Theoretically, the best outcome would be for the Emperor to be defeated, placed under house arrest in the West Garden, and left to await death. But to be on the safe side, the best option would be to ensure the Emperor is truly dead."
A deeply concealed thought flashed through Jiang Li’s mind.
...
...
Inside Ziwei Hall.
After the Imperial City was surrounded on all sides, the Emperor’s overwhelmingly authoritative Qi Mechanism suddenly faltered.
He was the supreme ruler, but now he faced a situation akin to being besieged on all sides.
The majority opposed him, and the few that were left were either neutral or too afraid to show themselves.
Before regaining his humanity, the Emperor was impartial and just, as high and unreachable as the Heavenly Dao, naturally not inclined to cultivate followers. And after regaining the feelings that people should have, he had been bedridden and had too little time to gather many loyal followers.
This ultimately left the Emperor quite isolated in a certain sense.
Even worse, the connection with the territories of Great Zhou was weakening.
"Please, Emperor, relocate to the West Garden," Tianxuan took a step forward, repeating the request.
Her determination was unprecedented, unwavering even with the Emperor revealing his secrets.
All past Emperors had been selfless; therefore, the current Emperor should be no different. Should there be any exception, it would be time for a replacement.
Only a selfless Emperor could occupy the highest position in Great Zhou and accept the limitations of the Emperor’s Dao Fruit. Fourteen generations of Emperors had been this way, not a single one a tyrant, which proved the importance of this order.
"What if I refuse?" The Emperor said coldly.
His gaze fell on Tianxuan, his heart seething with venomous resentment.
Tianxuan wasn’t much younger than him, yet she remained breathtakingly beautiful, while he, in his imperial splendor, was already one foot in the grave.
And then there was the Sacrificial Officer, Mo Yiling, who looked as old as the Emperor but would live at least a hundred more years. A Jiazi ago, before the Emperor came into power, he already looked like this, and today, he remained unchanged.
If he still lacked human desires, it would be one thing, but now restored with humanity, how could he resign himself?
"Then forgive this old official for the offense," Mo Yiling stood up straight, his other pair of eyes, which had been closed, now opened, staring intently at the Emperor with a quadruple pupil gaze.
No sooner had these words dropped than three tremendous auras erupted. Two in front belonged to Mo Yiling and Tianxuan, clashing with the Emperor’s Qi that filled the Imperial City, while one from behind came like a comet striking the moon, a white rainbow piercing the sun, unstoppable.
This aura had previously been hidden, revealing not the slightest trace of Qi Mechanism, not even when the Emperor recited the Oral Heavenly Constitution. Yet now, it erupted to its full magnitude, dazzling as though it were the authority of Heaven itself.
A pitch-black crack ripped open, stretching all the way behind the Dragon Throne, splitting the illusion of the Nine Provinces map. Even the dragon throne, refined from Refined Gold, silently cracked open, exposing the Emperor’s back directly in front of the dark fissure.
Quick, precise, ruthless, and with an extreme brutality, a magnificent ambition.
It seemed as though Mo Yiling and Tianxuan were confronting the Emperor, but in truth, there was another lethal strike.
And at the very instant this assassination appeared, Mo Yiling’s fingertips bled as he traced swift, dragon-snake-like dances, ancient pictographic characters emerged, primitive and complex, but inexplicably understandable.
Confusion, deafness, tyranny, maiming, delusion, bewilderment, evil, chaos.
Each word was ominous, and as they took shape, black flames, like fire, arose; upon seeing them, the Emperor felt dizzy with muddled senses, all five aggregates beguiled.
The crack thereby reached the Emperor’s body, and in an instant, the Dragon Energy raced and split, True Qi flashing like lightning, space resonated with a bizarre noise, and a fierce Mo’s sword energy shot out from the crack, stained with the Emperor’s blood.
All this transpired at the very first exchange, at the very first breath of the fierce battle!
"Boom!"
An astonishing Qi Mechanism burst forth from the Emperor’s body, and faintly, as if with the sound of a Dragon Roar, a Dragon Shadow flew from the wound, wrapping around the crack, with Mo’s sword energy rebounding violently.
The Emperor’s body underwent a complete transformation, the mountains and rivers, the wind and clouds, the sun and moon, heaven and earth, his body as vast and boundless as Jiangshan, Sheji. His aged face was shrouded in a thin mist, revealing only a pair of eyes as radiant as the sun and moon.
The vast aura of the Emperor suppressed the explosive force of the sword energy.
"To assassinate the Emperor is to invite execution."
Behind him, space instantly split open, and a series of sharp lights, like invisible swords, surrounded the source of the sword energy.
But within that crack, the assassin’s speed was one step faster.
"All under heaven is white, only I alone am black; even the Emperor must be executed if he commits a crime!"
A figure cloaked in black flickered into view, escaping from the sharp lights with a chilling statement.
Missing with one strike and fleeing a thousand miles, this person was well versed in the art of assassination; even having wounded the Emperor, he desired no more.
It was better said, to have been able to wound the Emperor was already the best outcome.
"To execute me? Mo Sect Master, do you have the capability?"
The Emperor, like a mountainous landscape, looked around with a side glance and spoke coldly.
As his voice fell, those invisible sharp lights reappeared, and the figure clad in black burst into sprays of blood.
Clearly, he had already evaded the sharp lights but still sustained injuries.
At the same time, dark Qi also exploded from the Emperor’s body, forming the characters for confusion, deafness, fury, cruelty, bewilderment, delusion, malevolence, and chaos around him, before being forcefully dissipated.
Emperor Dao Fruit’s Divine Power, "Heavenly Mandate."
With this divine skill within him, all curses, devious magic, and injuries struggled to affect him. The Imperial College Sacrificial Officer’s Word Follows Law divine skill, although part of the Righteous Path, was essentially a curse in nature.
The written words he penned only had an instantaneous effect.
But that instant was enough.
Because in the past, not even that moment would have existed.
"Indeed, the Emperor Dao Fruit no longer aligns with him."
As Mo Yiling spoke, a set of scrolls opened behind him, with pictographic characters on them. The character "Sword" lit up, and a sword light flew out from it, indeed an ancient looking long sword.
The second Divine Power of the Emperor Dao Fruit — "Heavenly Mandate" and "Longevity and Eternal Prosperity."
The former empowered the Emperor to endure the Heavenly Mandate, rendering all divination, curses, and injurious magic unable to afflict him; upon ascending, he would reach Dao Fruit Perfection, with all divine skills manifesting their greatest Power. The latter allowed the Emperor to forever maintain his peak condition unless he reached natural life’s end; there would be no moment of decline for the Emperor.
Now, as the Emperor appeared old and decrepit, it meant that "Longevity and Eternal Prosperity" had entirely lost its effect, and even "Heavenly Mandate" was no longer at its zenith, clearly indicating that the Emperor Dao Fruit no longer suited him.
And it was upon the Emperor Dao Fruit that the Emperor founded his status as the strongest in the world.
"How great is Heaven’s Origin."
As Mo Yiling moved his sword, the winds and clouds responded, and the formidable sword light, like a pillar from the heavens, bore down. An ancient character for "Heaven" flashed within the sword light, falling like the heavens themselves, unstoppable.
"To rise against superiors cannot be forgiven."
The Emperor’s eyes reflected the sword light, his gaze intense, bursting with killing intent, and the grand sword light seemed to wilt under tremendous pressure.
Again, the Oral Heavenly Constitution was invoked.
Compared to the previous arbitrary commands, the Emperor’s divine skills now more closely aligned with the laws of Great Zhou. Given that the Emperor stood as ruler and Mo Yi Sacrificial Officer as subject, his Power was further highlighted.
But at the same time, on the scroll behind Mo Yiling, a line of bold characters flew out, expounding on the doctrine of ruler and ministers.
"A ruler should regard his ministers as his hands and feet, and thus the ministers regard the ruler as their heart and stomach; if the ruler regards his ministers as dogs and horses, then the ministers view the ruler as one of the common people; if the ruler regards his ministers as dirt and weeds, then the ministers view the ruler as an adversary and enemy. Your Majesty, I now stand as dirt and weeds, and you as an adversary."
The Confucianism doctrine of Word Follows Law, combined with Mo Yiling’s mastery of Divine Skills of divine Skills, contested the Emperor’s Imperial Decree. Both sides presented their arguments, not to say they could unravel the Oral Heavenly Constitution, but it was enough to prevent Mo Yiling from being restrained.
The Heaven’s Origin sword light rose again, pressing down like a collapsing heavenly pillar and shaking the body representing Jiangshan, Sheji.
At the same time, behind Tianxuan, starlight emerged, and a figure with robes made of Star Sea and wearing a crown of Taiyin extended their arms, with great stars rising.
"When the Emperor encounters a villain, he finds no auspicious paths without the Dao."
Here, the Emperor, signifying Ziwei, lacking the supportive stance of the officials and the leading from front and back, became an isolated ruler with no Dao— a ruler without principle.
This move was the embodiment of the Emperor’s current situation!
A Killing Star soared, Xing Yao’s force was supreme, and in an instant, as if the Heavens had unleashed a deadly mechanism, stars shifted positions, with multiple malefic stars converging into a colossal Star Battle. Countless starlights, like swords, tore through the hall of Ziwei.
"Bang!"
The hall turned to dust in an instant, and the earth tremored violently. That gigantic Star Battle fell from the sky, enveloping the Emperor in endless malevolence.
Judging by the situation, Tianxuan didn’t seem to come to request the Emperor’s move to the West Garden but rather seemed to be summoning the Emperor to his death.
The malefic star and the grand sword pillar pressed down together, with the most straightforward and effective means— armed force, to deal with the Emperor.
And from behind, that shadowy figure folded space and unleashed another strike with the Assassination Sword.
Under this triple-layered strike, starlight, sword light, and sword energy engulfed the Emperor, the earth cracked open, and fissures raced across the ground like earth dragons, a strong scent of medicine wafting up from the ground.
"Immortality Elixir!"