Chapter 75: Chapter 66: A Great Change in the World

Blood flowed like a river through the Imperial Palace as First Grade experts fell, one after another.

The three-hundred-thousand-strong Iron Armor Army fought for three days and three nights, until morale shattered.

Flame Emperor stood upon the dais.

Amidst the raging storm.

He remained motionless.

"Your Majesty, abdicate."

"The tide has turned against you."

A general cried out in despair.

Flame Emperor was unmoved.

He was in his fifties, with streaks of white in his hair. He wore a Bright Yellow Emperor’s Robe, his gaze profound. Hands clasped behind his back, he silently watched the slaughter raging in the storm outside the hall.

BOOM!

The Jinluan Hall was breached.

A Prince strode into the hall, seeming to tread on the wind and rain itself. He brought with him a stench of blood so thick the raging storm could neither scatter nor cleanse it. He smiled as he looked at Flame Emperor.

"Crown Prince Flame, it’s all over."

"You, who murdered your own father."

"Worse than a beast! You should be sentenced to death by a thousand cuts, so the imperial clan will remember and the world will be warned!"

The Prince laughed aloud.

"Father was wrong."

"I tried to persuade him."

"He wouldn’t listen."

"I didn’t kill him. I merely stood by and watched him die."

Flame Emperor admitted it.

Inside the hall, the Princes showed no anger, only cold mockery as they looked at the New Emperor who had reached the end of his road.

His Majesty Xuanlong, their Imperial Father—they too felt he had indeed lived for far too long.

So long that they never had a chance.

Flame Emperor had ascended the throne through patricide.

They weren’t angry; on the contrary, they were ecstatic.

"The Zhou Territory is a Land of Cold and Bitterness. Thirty percent of it is scorched earth where no grain can grow. It borders the Demon Monster Mountain Range, and its population is dwindling. Thus, they have long yearned for the Liang Territory."

"To possess the Great Liang Mountains and Rivers, to treat the Liang People well, that is acceptable. To appease the Sect Families and Noble Clans, that too is not wrong. But where in all this did our Imperial Father place the Zhou People?"

"The Liang People were his subjects, but were the Zhou People not?"

"He wanted the lands to be safe and the Human World to be at peace, so he chose to make the Zhou People suffer a little more. In the Old Liang Land, they praise him, but no one saw that the Zhou People were still struggling in the Land of Cold and Bitterness..."

"According to his policies, how much longer would the Zhou People have to suffer?"

"Ten years!"

"Twenty years?"

"By then, who would be the Sovereign of this world? The Zhou People, or the Liang People?"

"He was not wrong."

"And I, am also not wrong!"

"My Imperial Father called me a traitor. But from my perspective, he was the one who betrayed the Zhou People, and he was the one who deserved to die!"

Flame Emperor spoke as if telling a story. His gaze gradually hardened, an unprecedented ferocity appearing in his eyes.

"You’re at the end of your rope!"

"Mad ramblings! You patricidal beast, get down from there and accept your imprisonment!"

The Princes roared as armored soldiers entered the hall, their killing intent soaring to the heavens.

A guard brought forth a set of steel shackles and stepped forward, intending to capture this Deposed Emperor who had reached the end of his road.

But Flame Emperor was smiling.

"What are you smiling about?"

The princes had a bad feeling.

’But the outcome is already decided.’

’The Heaven-Ascension Tower, the very foundation of Great Zhou’s power, would never intervene.’

’What other variables could there be?’

"There is one thing you are wrong about."

"I’m not the one at the end of my rope—you are. The tide of the world has always been on my side!"

"At least, in Old Zhou it is..."

"Who do you think it was that strangled our Imperial Father while I merely stood by and watched?"

A cold sneer was in Flame Emperor’s eyes.

The next instant.

Outside the hall, the Iron Armor Army was in an uproar. There was a tremendous noise, and the auras of numerous First Grade experts descended.

In a flash.

Outside the hall, everything fell silent.

"No!"

"Impossible."

"Could it be the Heaven-Ascension Tower...?"

The princes trembled.

Outside the hall.

Seven elders, seven Peak First Grade experts, filed in. Each carried the severed head of a First Grade expert, which they tossed into the hall before bowing to Flame Emperor.

"The Great Zhou Seven Religions, along with the Ten Prefectures of Old Zhou and three hundred Noble Clans and Noble Families, present this belated coronation gift!"

"Long live Your Majesty! May your reign be without end!"

Outside the hall.

Tens of thousands of figures appeared—on the battlefield, on the palace walls, in the watchtowers. They occupied the entire Imperial Palace. All of them were Cultivators, and their shouts shook the Nine Heavens, causing the entire Imperial City to tremble.

"Long live Your Majesty! May your life be without end!"

Among them.

Second Grade and Third Grade experts were not in short supply.

It wasn’t just the Great Zhou Seven Religions.

There were also the personal guards of the Old Zhou Noble Clans.

To aid Flame Emperor, the Old Zhou Land had unleashed its entire hidden strength. They had force-marched for thousands of miles for three days and three nights without rest, and in the end, they had made it in time.

Flame Emperor, as Emperor Zhou, was worthy of the name—the choice of the people’s hearts.

"This..."

Inside the hall.

The princes trembled uncontrollably, their bodies as limp as mud.

"We... are utterly defeated."

The faces of the princes were ashen. Imprisoned, what awaited them was the execution of their entire clans and death by a thousand cuts, a warning to all the world.

Defeated.

They were defeated.

Utterly defeated!

Whether it was Xuanlong Emperor or the Flame Emperor before them, they were no match. While they had their eyes on the throne, the Emperors had their eyes on the hearts of the people...

The three-day, three-night struggle for the throne had come to a close.

"Search!"

"Find the rebel traitors! Show no mercy!"

"Those who harbor them will also have their entire clans exterminated!"

Jinluan Hall was secured.

The chaos in the Imperial Palace and Imperial City, however, continued.

The great roar of killing and the light of torches filled the air as they searched from house to house, not letting a single traitor involved in the rebellion escape.

In the Library Pavilion, Su Chen was drinking tea and reading a book.

The rain was still falling, showing no sign of stopping.

Cyan Sparrow was still on the roof of the Library Pavilion, secretly cultivating, hoping to astound everyone one day.

KNOCK KNOCK KNOCK!

The door of the Library Pavilion was knocked upon.

Before Su Chen could open it, the door was kicked in. A Second-Grade Red Robe from the Seal Supervisorate swaggered in, hands clasped behind his back, leading a group of Imperial Guards carrying torches.

"Heh heh."

"Lord Commander of the Western Depot."

"You won’t mind if I come in and have a look around, will you?"

The Second-Grade Red Robe from the Seal Supervisorate gave a smile that didn’t reach his eyes, his tone dripping with sarcasm.

However, his men had already entered, packing the entire courtyard.

"The Library Pavilion is in a remote corner of the Imperial Palace. Did you come all this way just for me, honored eunuch?" Su Chen replied without turning his head.

"I do mind."

"It would be best if you didn’t come in. You will die."

This was a well-intentioned reminder.

The Library Pavilion was a Land of Death.

It was poisonous.

The thousand-year-old Withered Leaf Heart-devouring Vine was present.

Anyone below First Grade who entered would not come out.

"Heh heh."

"Well, I’m in. What are you going to do about it?"

"Search the place!"

"Your Western Depot committed a crime and picked the wrong side. It’s questionable whether the Western Depot will even exist anymore. Search it thoroughly for me!"

The Second-Grade Red Robe’s savage expression was on full display. He wasn’t pretending anymore.

He had come specifically for Su Chen.

Two Imperial Guards stepped forward and brazenly tossed two forged treasonous letters in front of Su Chen.

"We’ve caught you red-handed. What excuses do you have now?"

"Arrest him."

This red-robed figure couldn’t even be bothered to pretend anymore.

In an instant.

Iron chains flew toward Su Chen.

THUD!

Someone fell to the ground.

The poison had taken effect.

"Ah..."

"What’s happening?"

The Second-Grade Red Robe stared, stunned, as the Imperial Guards collapsed one after another. Only then did he think to cover his nose and mouth.

However.

It was too late.

"I am Second Grade, the Ninth Seal Supervisor! You dare to poison and kill me?"

"Fine!"

"You really are a traitor! Just you wait for the entire Western Depot to be exterminated!"

He roared.

He turned and ran for the outside.

「A long while later.」

Su Chen got up, stretched his limbs, and skillfully grabbed a shovel. He dragged the decaying corpse of the red-robed figure, which had collapsed at the entrance, back inside.

Looking at the corpses strewn across the ground, Su Chen shook his head.

’So many bodies. How am I supposed to bury them all?’

Su Chen began burying the bodies.

The medicinal field grew much taller.

At the same time.

A figure flickered within the Library Pavilion.

"I didn’t report you."

"From back then."

"Consider the favor from the carriage repaid."

"If you’re going to leave, leave quickly."

Inside the library, the figure stiffened, then walked out, revealing his face. He had white hair and the appearance of a youth, dressed in a Prince’s robe. But this time, Prince Jie’s eyes were not covered. His pair of eyes shone with a purple light.

It was a pair of Spiritual Eyes.

Without another word.

Prince Jie, looking somewhat shocked at the courtyard full of decaying corpses, cupped his fists in a salute and quickly left the Library Pavilion.

’A prince doing cultivation?’

’Looks like he should be at the First Grade level. Is cultivation really that amazing?’

Su Chen shook his head and withdrew his gaze. He finished tending to the medicinal field and restored the courtyard to its original state, then went back to drinking tea and reading his book.

But, having observed the battle at Jinluan Hall from afar, he knew clearly.

The world had descended into chaos!

Sure enough.

「The next day.」

A million Zhou People arrived in the Liang Territory, having traveled over mountains and across rivers. The officials expelled the Liang People, seized their homes, and used them to settle the Zhou People.

In addition, the Seven Sects began to proselytize, recruiting disciples far and wide and establishing their own mountain strongholds.

The Three Sects clashed violently with the Seven Sects.

For a time.

An atmosphere of panic and fear pervaded. Frictions between the Zhou and Liang people erupted everywhere in the world.

As for the various policies established by Xuanlong Emperor, they were long forgotten, like tea grown cold after a guest’s departure. Incidents of Zhou Dynasty officials bullying men and women, violating the wives and daughters of Liang People, and seizing all their property became increasingly common.

This new Emperor even seemed to intentionally encourage these things to happen.

’First Class, Zhou officials. Second Class, Zhou People. Third Class, Old Liang. Is this your policy for ruling the nation, Flame Emperor?’

Su Chen sighed.

「Half a year passed.」

In the Great Liang Imperial Palace, and even inside and outside the Imperial City, the contact signals of the Black Abyss from the Jianwu Period began to appear.

The Black Abyss had sent someone.

They wanted to make contact with that renowned Black Lotus Saint, who had made a stunning, yet fleeting appearance and swept through the Heaven-Ascension Tower.

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