Chapter 371: Chapter 92 Requesting the Emperor to Relocate to the West Garden
Ziwei Hall.
The Emperor sat at the end of the grand hall, his aged body seemingly infused with new vitality, majestic like a dragon coiled and a tiger about to leap, watching the figure walking into the hall.
"Your servant, the Imperial College Sacrificial Officer, Mo Yiling, pays his respects to Your Majesty."
The elder with four eyes and heavy pupils stepped into the grand hall, performing a ritual bow toward the Emperor at the end of the room. His actions conformed to the proper etiquette, yet the vast Qi emanating from him grew fiercer by the moment.
Facing the Emperor of Great Zhou, especially within the Imperial City, the Imperial College Sacrificial Officer dared not relax even a fraction, despite the fact that the Emperor was in the weakest state of his life.
The Emperor propped himself with the support of the Dragon Throne, leaning slightly forward, and said indifferently, "I remember, in years past, I also attended lectures beneath the Sacrificial Officer. By my calculations, I even recall addressing you respectfully as ’Master’."
"Master, have you come today to kill me?"
"This servant would not dare," the elder replied with his hands clasped, his voice deep and forceful, "This servant merely wishes to request that Your Majesty move to the West Garden to recuperate temporarily."
The West Garden, located to the west of the Divine Capital, was a royal garden sprawling over dozens of miles. With gleaming lakes and mountain scenery, exotic flowers and ancient trees, it was truly one of Divine Capital’s greatest sights.
But the West Garden was outside the confines of Divine Capital.
Within the boundaries of Great Zhou, the Emperor was supremely powerful, standing invincible by virtue of his Innate Realm. Within Divine Capital, no one could rival him, but that was in the past.
The current Emperor was too old, his lifespan nearly exhausted, which also affected his power. If he left Divine Capital, his strength would diminish by at least thirty percent at the least.
What was most crucial was that the Immortal Queen was within the Imperial Palace refining medicine. The moment the Emperor stepped out of Divine Capital, it was feared that someone would storm the Imperial Palace seeking the Immortal Queen.
"Moving to the West Garden..." The Emperor’s voice turned colder, "That’s asking for my death."
"This servant merely wishes for the Emperor to follow the Heavenly Mandate," Mo Yiling said, bowing his head, his voice growing ever deeper, "For eight hundred years since its foundation, Great Zhou has been governed by fourteen Emperors, each making a fine start and a fine end. By this act, Your Majesty would be ruining our ancestors’ foundation. Please, Your Majesty, think thrice."
While the Imperial College Sacrificial Officer spoke with deep conviction and righteousness, the Emperor only heard one thing.
——All Emperors died. Why can’t you?
At this moment, the thing the Emperor feared most was the word "death." The Sacrificial Officer’s speech ignited the wrath of this sovereign ruler.
"You sermonize about Heavenly Mandate in vain, you discuss righteousness in vain."
The Emperor seemed to be laughing angrily as he said, "You think previous Emperors died as they should, and I should not? Then let me tell you, they went to their deaths because they had been stripped of all humaneness by the Emperor Dao Fruit. If the situations were reversed, of the fourteen Emperors, who knows how many would cling to life, how many would fear death."
This statement struck like a thunderclap, shattering Mo Yiling’s Mental State.
It wasn’t just because of the Emperor’s sacrilegious defiance regarding previous Emperors, but also because of the secret of the Emperor Dao Fruit.
While the general abilities of Emperor Dao Fruit were known to most, and most Cultivators knew about them. Eight hundred years have passed and the Emperor hadn’t bothered to hide them, so the abilities could be guessed.
There could have been some that weren’t guessed, but likely not many.
And what the Emperor now revealed was exactly one of those unguessed secrets.
These secrets were truly shocking, so much so that even an old veteran such as the Imperial College Sacrificial Officer, who had faced the world’s events, had his Mental State shaken and could no longer maintain his inner peace.
"For one Jiazi, sixty full years, I received the Heavenly Mandate and endured a Heaven-imposed plight. Without a human heart, removed from human feelings, although I had the fame of a lifetime, I was just like a puppet. It wasn’t until Jiang Tao died and I faced Heaven’s Punishment that I awoke from the dream-like state and reclaimed the rightful human heart..."
As he spoke, the Emperor’s gaze swept the room, and the space inside the hall seemed to freeze over by Invisible Power, showing signs akin to being encased in ice.
"In front of my throne, Evil Spirits cannot hide."
With the Oral Heavenly Constitution in his mouth, a figure was forcibly driven out, now appearing on the side of the hall.
Dressed in a moon-white palace dress, her face veiled by light gauze, peerless in elegance, surrounded by divination symbols and star constellations, if not Tianxuan then who?
"Imperial Sister really has some impressive skills, to be able to sneak here quietly," the Emperor praised. "Had you not heard a secret that disturbed your heart, I might not have been able to find you."
Forced to reveal herself, Tianxuan remained unflustered, speaking in an even tone, "I don’t compare to Your Majesty’s strategizing, just a few words and you’ve disturbed the Mental State of Master Mo Yi and myself. However..."
In Tianxuan’s beautiful eyes, the stars appeared to move, her tone sharp, "Even within the Imperial City, Your Majesty resorts to schemes, it seems your strength indeed is not as it once was. Or perhaps, the Sect Leader’s departure has made Your Majesty anxious?"
An eye for an eye, a tooth for a tooth.
If the Emperor used words to disturb their hearts, Tianxuan would do the same to shake the Emperor’s spirit.
Third-rank strong people had already reached the Realm where thought triggered the movement of Qi. If the mind was a fraction slow, so too was the Qi, and a tiny flaw could lead to a fatal crisis.
In fact, had the Emperor not been worried that others might be hidden nearby, at the moment Master Mo Yi’s spirit was shaken, the Emperor might have already taken action.
This seemed to also prove one thing, that even within the Imperial City, the Emperor did not have full assurance.
Gongsun Qi’s departure had been too sudden, and the attacks from Tianxuan and Mo Yi were just as unexpected, leaving the Emperor looking somewhat unprepared.
Now, with still more than twenty days until the Immortality Elixir is refined, logically, the other side would have time to prepare and need not be so rushed.
But it is precisely because it defies common sense that they can catch the Emperor off guard.
Even if Gongsun Qi had not chosen to leave today, Tianxuan would have initiated an attack, the only difference being that the news of the Immortal Queen refining the Immortality Elixir would have been spread.
"How can Imperial Sister be so sure that the Heavenly Monarch’s departure isn’t to avoid forcing Imperial Sister into a corner?"
Seated on the Dragon Throne, the Emperor, even at this moment, remained composed, "If all third-rank practitioners were to arrive, I would undoubtedly be defeated, but with only the two of you..."
A majestic Qi Mechanism filled the hall and the Imperial City, and in an instant, the Imperial City was packed with an extreme sense of presence.
It wasn’t radiating outwards, but rather as if it had always filled the Imperial City and only now had it revealed itself.
In a flash, the figure on the Dragon Throne seemed to have become the Imperial City itself, and even the entirety of Great Zhou.
With Divinity as the monarch, the body as the state, flesh and bones as mountains and rivers, meridians and blood vessels as the earth’s veins, his very being was Great Zhou.
The map of the Nine Provinces appeared behind the Emperor, and his Qi Mechanism continued to expand, looking as if to spread throughout the Divine Capital, seemingly boundless.
However, at that moment, light shields rose outside the Imperial City, and streams of Qi turned into solid walls, colliding with the Emperor’s aura.
To the south of the Imperial City, a Phoenix Shadow soared high, with fierce fire scorching the sky.
In the north, Yin Qi dispelled the atmosphere, even though it was broad daylight, dark shades tainted the sky, dimming the sunlight.
In the east, the Qi of Wood rose up, taking the shape of Canglong, indicating the stance of a soaring dragon in the sky.
The west saw Vast Qi ascend, transforming into an elaborate tapestry.
From all sides, they not only trapped the Emperor’s Qi within the Imperial City but also stabilized the city’s spatial structure, reinforcing the earth’s veins, ensuring that the repercussions of the battle wouldn’t extend beyond recovery.
For such measures to be taken, the gathered individuals must have been numerous. Nearly all the strong individuals from the Divine Capital had to emerge, accounting for at least ninety percent, even the Princess from Yong Province, Ji Lingguang, had surprisingly returned.
"Please, Emperor, move to the West Garden," Tianxuan bowed slightly, making the request.
"Please, Emperor, move to the West Garden," Mo Yi bowed, echoing the request.
"Please, Emperor, move to the West Garden,"
The voice of Princess Ji Lingguang carried from a distance.