In the imperial capital, the sun shone brilliantly.
Under the side corridor of the “Little Hidden Palace” square stood two men of similar age and appearance.
“Thank you, Your Highness, for your aid,” Emperor Hao bowed deeply to the ground.
The Prince of Linjiang, with a cold expression, stepped aside. “There’s no one else here, why the pretense?”
The Emperor Hao showed no displeasure, merely saying, “We are waiting for one more person.” Before the Prince of Linjiang could frown in question, he directly answered, “It is the King of Qingyang.”
The Prince of Linjiang raised his brows. “You managed to win him over? That’s quite a feat.”
“The King of Qingyang isn’t someone to be won over. He has always disagreed with Marquis Lin on politics and acts with complete disregard for laws. It’s just that this time, he’s on our side.”
“He certainly has nerve. The two great elders only helped suppress the overall situation in the capital and Qinland, yet he, an unaffiliated celestial king, dares to enter the Little Hidden Palace and step into our territory?” The Prince of Linjiang seemed to recall something, shaking his head, “Zhang Boqian, truly, I can’t fathom this man.”
The Emperor Hao said, “I know what you were worried about, Uncle. Rest assured, I wouldn’t let Marquis Lin come and muddy these waters. In fact, before he recovers, he won’t be leading any troops again.”
The Prince of Linjiang was somewhat surprised, but then nodded, “Alright then.”
Before long, a figure landed on the corridor—it was Zhang Boqian, the King of Qingyang. The three exchanged glances, acknowledging each other, without any need for pleasantries.
The doors of the “Little Hidden Palace” slowly opened.
Emperor Hao led the way inside.
It was nearing midday, and the palace, both inside and out, was unusually quiet. Within their sight and perception, there was no one else present besides the three of them.
As Zhang Boqian stepped through the gates, he immediately found himself in a closed space resembling a small world.
Emperor Hao and the Prince of Linjiang had already released their respective domains. The “King’s Domain” and “Gathering Pagoda” derived from the same imperial secrets, their original forces swirling and evolving into various landscapes and scenes. The edges of the two domains touched and began to slowly merge.
In the main hall ahead, a powerful, enigmatic aura loomed, shining like a radiant sun in this enclosed space.
Zhang Boqian’s face remained calm, his eyes deep and profound, not as sharp and soaring as usual, yet his presence was not diminished in the slightest, vast and boundless.
Even Emperor Hao was momentarily unsure if Zhang Boqian’s domain had not been made tangible or if he was standing there without any concealment. If the latter, it meant that within just two days after the celestial king’s challenge, Zhang Boqian’s martial arts had advanced.
This thought caused only a small ripple in Emperor Hao’s mind. He cast aside all extraneous thoughts and walked along the passage towards the main hall.
Every alliance he made was a gamble, every step taken on the edge of a knife. A single misstep would lead to ruin, and those he sought to protect would be disgraced and destroyed.
Emperor Hao pushed open the carved double doors of the main hall. Light filtered into the dimly lit chamber, eerily stopping at the midpoint, leaving the rest of the hall, including the throne, shrouded in shadow.
“Upon the dawn’s awakening, the imperial bloodline is no longer suppressed, and the first to awaken is the son of a mere singer. Is heaven mocking the Jicheng lineage of Qin?” An old, sinister voice echoed from the walls of the hall.
As Emperor Hao and the others entered the main hall, the doors closed behind them.
The hall did not plunge into darkness. Instead, it was a gray, pale hue, like a cloudy day. The shadowed half of the hall, including the aging figure on the throne, gradually came into view.
Emperor Hao’s expression was composed, unaffected by the nearly insulting words of the Longevity King. He slowly walked to the center of the hall and stood still.
“Our Jicheng lineage bears the luck of the dawn, rising by the Luo River. Since the founding ancestor, we have had thirty-three branches, with seventeen remaining. Our ancestors’ blood irrigated this land, bearing fruit and flourishing. As the senior most of the royal clan, having supported us for over a hundred years, why do this to our own kind?”
“Brash child, lecturing me. I didn’t lose to you, but to fate.”
“If not for your arrangements, my mother wouldn’t have served the late emperor, and Empress Zhao wouldn’t have lost her life over such a trivial matter.”
The Longevity King’s laughter abruptly stopped, his gaze piercing Emperor Hao through the haze. After a moment, he said, “You know a lot. It seems the King’s Domain is entirely in your hands, and even the Fengyang Marquis’s family has switched allegiance.”
Emperor Hao calmly replied, “There is no Fengyang Marquis anymore.”
The Longevity King laughed heartily, “Good, very good! You’re not soft when it comes to killing your own kin!”
“Fengyang, Linyi, and the King of Qi hid soldiers in their residences, plotting to create chaos in the capital during the dark mountain’s incursion, which is a crime of toppling the empire. No one can be pardoned.” Emperor Hao’s expression remained unchanged, his tone neutral, yet every word carried the taste of blood and fire.
The Longevity King, seeing Emperor Hao and the others enter the Little Hidden Palace, knew the tide had turned. Realizing that most of his hidden strategies had been uprooted by Emperor Hao, even the remnants posed no significant threat.
The Longevity King’s eyes bore into Emperor Hao, “I underestimated you.”
This man in the hall had never been taken seriously by many of the royal clan. In their eyes, Emperor Hao’s maternal relatives, who were of noble birth and gifted, were more valuable than he himself. Otherwise, how could the Longevity King and the Su Emperor’s faction, clashing in secret for nearly a month, only realize the true mastermind behind the game when Emperor Hao challenged the King of Qingyang?
A single mistake, and the entire game was lost.
The Longevity King suddenly chuckled, his voice like a night owl, “Very well, since you want to ask about causes, I’ll tell you. Our Jicheng lineage has shed more blood to support this dawn’s luck than you think. Of the thirty-three branches established, only two have continued to the present: yours and mine. The fifteen branches that remain in name have all changed. Even with the abilities of the founding ancestor and the Martial Emperor, the direct lineal descendants have been cut off.”
He emphasized, “Which noble family of the empire has sacrificed as much as the Jicheng lineage?”
“The Zhao family, through generations of intermarriage with ours, is laughable. Today, if tested, the children of Gaoyi might have purer imperial blood than even Linjiang and you.”
This statement caused the expressions of the other three in the hall to vary.
Just as Emperor Hao was about to speak, the Longevity King ignored him and continued, “The young generation of the Zhao family has taken the Manjushaka flower. What if they can someday control the human emperor? The founding ancestor’s plan for ‘the beginning of the dawn’ involved severing the Tengshe’s wings, carrying the heavy burden of the dawn wheel, resulting in the loss of the Jicheng totem and the suppression of the imperial bloodline. All this, for what? For the human race? Is the result that the strong cannot protect their bloodline and legacy, while the weak ants survive and thrive?”
Emperor Hao’s expression changed, becoming grave, “So you want to overturn the dawn wheel…”
The Longevity King’s gnarled fingers emerged from his wide sleeves, gripping the armrest tightly, his eyes filled with regret.
Leaning forward, he stared at the figures in the hall, “Look at what remains of Jicheng’s lineage! Linjiang, lured by Lin Xitan, willingly degenerated, retreating to the border for thirty years. And you! Ji Jian, a commoner’s blood, dares to sit high in the court?!”
The old voice echoed in the hall, cold and venomous, like a curse.
“Our Jicheng lineage is already dead!”
The Longevity King’s turbid eyes darted, like a snake’s tongue, to Zhang Boqian, “Human nature is forgetful and greedy. No one remembers the initial sacrifices. Look at the rise and fall of the clans over a thousand years; the imperial blood diminishes year by year. When the unaffiliated celestial kings reach the peak, they always subdue the imperial family and support their own surname.”
The oppressive atmosphere in the hall felt like being trapped in mud, with a heavy weight pressing on the chest, making it hard to breathe.
Whether the Longevity King truly believed in the demonic secret or not, it didn’t matter. He resented the decline of the clan and the weakening of the imperial blood. Perhaps he thought cutting the dawn wheel would release the imperial blood. But no one anticipated that the thousand-year-old “beginning of the dawn” would achieve its zenith at this moment, making it impossible to overturn.
“I, who built this empire, will destroy it, rather than see it fall to others!”
Silence fell in the hall, so quiet a pin drop could be heard.
Zhang Boqian’s face was as still as water, the Prince of Linjiang looked somewhat melancholic, while Emperor Hao stood with his eyes downcast, oddly at peace.
Emperor Hao’s voice, like a sharp blade, cut through the silence, “Our ancestors, standing by the Luo River, envisioned a world free from servitude. The founding ancestor laid the foundation with the imperial blood, aiming to carry the light of the dawn. Now, these have been realized. This is the true will of our ancestors!”
The Longevity King’s laughter was intermittent and hoarse, “Haha, haha, ha, little Jian, if you are as righteous as you claim, why don’t you let Lin Xitan die?”
Emperor Hao’s pupils contracted.
The Longevity King’s voice, though harsh and unpleasant, had a hypnotic rhythm, “With the dawn’s beginning completed, his role in suppressing the fates is no longer needed. This man, with near-mythical intelligence, is worth two fated masters. Crush his soul and infuse it into the national destiny, and the dawn’s resurgence can be hastened. Isn’t the fate of the fated master to be a blood sacrifice?”
Before he finished, a thunderous explosion echoed in the hall, followed by a continuous roar of thunder. Zhang Boqian had already punched at the throne above.
No one expected Zhang Boqian to make the first move.
Emperor Hao and the Prince of Linjiang immediately expanded their domains, sweeping across the hall’s walls.
At the same time, the gray haze in the room vanished, the walls, floor, and ceiling seemingly disappearing, replaced by a blue fluorescence. The pressure from all directions squeezed in, like being submerged in the deep sea.
This strange sight lasted only a few breaths before being swallowed by the overlapping “King’s Domain” and “Gathering Pagoda,” revealing the gray hall again. After Emperor Hao and the Prince of Linjiang suppressed the original force array in the hall, they looked up at the throne.
Surprisingly, the expected earth-shattering blow did not occur.
Just before reaching the throne, Zhang Boqian abruptly retracted his fist, forcing himself to stop. His feet sank into the ground, and he wobbled slightly, clearly showing the difficulty of halting the attack.
Why would he choose to suffer a backlash rather than continue?
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