Chapter 398: A Conversation

At those words, the white-haired, withered elder glanced at Zhao Kuang from the corner of his eye, and deep within his own eyes a cold killing intent surfaced.

This person, so desperate to cling to life and the throne, was willing to debase himself this completely, to practically prostrate himself before Li Musheng in submission.

How could someone like this be entrusted with the throne of Great Xuan?

If the throne went to him, the dynasty the Great Xuan founding ancestors had built over a hundred years would sooner or later be ruined in his hands.

On top of that, what Zhao Kuang had just said was also precisely the hand of cards the withered elder had been quietly preparing to play in front of Li Musheng to preserve his own life.

That Zhao Kuang had beaten him to it and blurted it out first made him feel the stirrings of murderous intent. How could he not?

After all, he still had no idea what Li Musheng was truly thinking.

Li Musheng had said he came to kill the Great Xuan emperor, but whether he would also take the opportunity to deal with the Old Ancestor of the Great Xuan imperial family and eliminate the dynasty's last remaining foundation was something the withered elder still could not be sure of.

Even so, nothing of this showed on the withered elder's face. His eyes shifted rapidly, and then he spoke toward Li Musheng, "Though Great Xuan has no precedent of a woman becoming emperor, if this is the person Your Highness has chosen, this old one will overcome every obstacle and support this woman inheriting the throne with everything I have, without a single word of complaint."

At those words, Li Musheng gave a slight nod, and from beginning to end paid no attention to Zhao Kuang.

The things he had offered were things Zhao Muning, once on the Great Xuan throne, would naturally do as well, and would do better.

Besides, Li Musheng was not particularly concerned with the affairs of the Great Li court.

"Since you have put it that way, I have nothing further to say."

Li Musheng looked at the withered elder and spoke, then with a casual wave of his hand released the seals on the man's body.

Sensing that he could move again, his meridians and core returned to normal circulation, and his powerful cultivation fully restored, a flicker of relief and pleasure crossed the withered elder's eyes.

He looked up at Li Musheng, whose gaze had already shifted to the Great Xuan emperor.

At this moment, facing Li Musheng before him, the Great Xuan emperor had long since lost any will to resist. He understood that there was no escaping death tonight.

"In this Emperor's life as ruler of Great Xuan, I gave everything, sparing nothing for Great Xuan's sake. I even threw myself into the position of the Sun and Moon Demonic Cult's Cult Master and entered the demonic path to serve Great Xuan's interests."

The Great Xuan emperor looked at Li Musheng and spoke slowly. The words seemed intended for Li Musheng and Zhao Kuang to hear, or perhaps for himself.

"This Emperor knows many wrong things were done throughout this life. But there was no other way. Great Xuan was the weakest of the five kingdoms under heaven."

"When this Emperor inherited the throne, Great Xuan was already in danger of being swallowed by neighboring kingdoms. It was this Emperor who step by step brought Great Xuan to its current position and secured the dynasty's continuation."

"The hardships of that cannot be explained to outsiders. But this Emperor can say with a clear conscience that I may have wronged anyone and everyone else, but I did not wrong Great Xuan, I did not wrong the late Emperor, I did not wrong the ancestors of the Zhao clan."

As he said this, the Great Xuan emperor looked toward the white-haired withered elder. Facing the Old Ancestor of the Great Xuan imperial family, for the first time he let the bearing of an emperor show openly, and said with force, "Old Ancestor, you are the anchor of the Great Xuan imperial house, and on your shoulders rests the fate of the entire Zhao clan and the Great Xuan dynasty."

"I hope you understand that your life does not belong to you. It belongs to Great Xuan. To preserve your own life today by submitting to another person means you can never lift your head again in the future. Great Xuan will sooner or later be destroyed by your hand."

Having said all of this, the Great Xuan emperor withdrew his gaze, then slowly closed his eyes. He had clearly already given up any thought of resistance, and was waiting calmly for Li Musheng to act and take his life.

Seeing this, Li Musheng's expression remained unchanged, and he said nothing further.

He only slowly raised a finger and pointed at the Great Xuan emperor before him. The withered elder, watching this, let an extremely unpleasant look pass over his aged face.

What the Great Xuan emperor had said was not wrong. The man had devoted his entire life to the Great Xuan imperial house, and the reason the withered elder existed was to guard it.

At this moment, the withered elder was deeply torn. Li Musheng had already released the seal on his body, and he was now fully capable of acting, of attempting to save the Great Xuan emperor's life.

And yet he could not bring himself to move. He kept his eyes open and watched as Li Musheng raised his hand and pierced a finger through the Great Xuan emperor's brow.

Then the Great Xuan emperor's life force drained away rapidly, and he died before the withered elder's eyes.

After killing the Great Xuan emperor, Li Musheng turned to look at the withered elder, "Quite self-aware of you. You managed to hold yourself back."

At those words, the withered elder looked at the Great Xuan emperor's body, and could not stop himself from letting out a long, heavy sigh.

Then he rose from the floor, his gaze settling on Li Musheng, "This old one has long carried a question. Earlier I fell asleep without noticing and had a dream, something that has never happened to me before."

"So this old one would like to know whether all of that was Your Highness's doing."

Li Musheng gave a slight nod and did not deny it, "You have lived long enough, and you are sharp enough. But I cannot leave myself with no means of control over you."

As he said this, Li Musheng's thoughts stirred and a streak of talisman light fell into the withered elder's body, "This is the Life and Death Talisman, combined with methods derived from the Soul-Searching Technique. Though this technique of controlling people is not yet fully refined, it is more than sufficient for use on you."

The withered elder's expression changed sharply at once. He immediately tried to sense the talisman light lurking within his body and circulated his power in an attempt to drive it out.

But even with everything he had, he could not so much as stir the talisman light within him.

At the sight, the withered elder became somewhat agitated and said urgently, "Your Highness, this old one has never had any intention of resisting. There was no need for Your Highness to resort to this..."

At those words, Li Musheng's expression remained even. He said lightly, "You may rest easy. As long as you do not act in bad faith and do the opposite of what you agree to, nothing will happen."

With that, Li Musheng paid the man no further attention. After all, if the man had truly dared act against him earlier, he would already be a corpse right now. Receiving nothing more than a Life and Death Talisman was already a remarkably good outcome.

The reason he had left this Old Ancestor of the Great Xuan imperial palace alive was that if the man died, the Great Xuan dynasty would almost certainly descend into genuine chaos, and all of that would mean untold suffering for ordinary people throughout Great Xuan.

That was not an outcome Li Musheng wanted to see.

Beyond that, Zhao Muning had absolutely no foundation in Taixuan City. Reaching the throne without the support of the Old Ancestor of the Great Xuan imperial palace was essentially impossible. The withered elder's backing was indispensable.

And in this way, though Li Musheng had no particular interest in managing the affairs of the Great Xuan dynasty, he had effectively obtained a means of influencing it.

All told, this trip tonight had not been entirely without its gains.