I Am Not the God of Drama

The Emperor's Admonitions

Rumble—

A low, booming sound came from the sky above, like rolling thunder heralding a coming storm.

The densely packed crowd crossed the desolate imperial palace, stopping before that golden celestial path leading to the sky...

[The Ancient Vault is under attack]

[Please speed up! Otherwise, there will be unknown risks to the ascension!]

Two lines of text flashed before Wu Qiong's eyes. She froze slightly, her expression instantly becoming incredibly solemn.

The booming roar came from the end of the celestial Path of Ascension, as if a great battle was taking place in the sky above. Coupled with these two lines of prompts appearing before all the Emperor Candidates, the atmosphere instantly became incredibly tense.

The Ancient Vault of the Imperial Path was undergoing an unforeseen event; they didn't have much time left...

"Sister Wu, we're the first ones here!" Beside Wu Qiong, a figure looked around excitedly. "If we're the first to go up, doesn't that mean we can ascend to the clouds and leave this place?"

Wu Qiong gazed at the celestial Path of Ascension before her and shook her head:

"According to the prompt, it should be that only the single person who ascends to heaven can become Emperor; it has nothing to do with who arrives first... We have to kill the other Emperor Candidates and become that 'sole' person to be able to leave."

Hearing this, the crowd's expressions became somewhat nervous. But Wu Qiong pondered for a moment before changing the subject,

"However, ascending first definitely gives us an advantage. Holding the high ground makes it easy to defend and hard to attack. Even if a fight breaks out, we can deal with it calmly."

"Then let's go quickly, they should be arriving soon!"

"Mm."

Wu Qiong didn't hesitate any longer. Leading the dozens of people behind her, she stepped directly onto the stairs ascending to heaven, inching closer to the sky above.

Fortunately, the Path of Ascension was wide and sturdy enough. Even with dozens of people running on it, there was no trembling whatsoever. Golden imperial might swirled around the crowd. Charging at the very front, Wu Qiong could feel her own Associate Emperor Destiny resonating with the path beneath her feet, even if this resonance was still very faint.

Not long after the crowd started running upwards, a few figures trailing at the very back collapsed onto the stairs with pain-contorted expressions, staggering to a sit as beads of sweat slid down their cheeks...

"It hurts so much..."

Wu Qiong and the others running ahead looked back. They saw scars on the legs and feet of those few people, with some even having slightly deformed bones... They had probably injured their legs and feet during the chaotic melee just now.

"Hold on a little longer, we're almost there!"

"I can't... I really can't anymore... I can't walk..."

"Me neither, I think my bone is fractured. Let alone climbing stairs, it's hard enough just to walk..."

"..."

Seeing this, Wu Qiong's first reaction was to have the strong boys carry the wounded and continue advancing. But looking around, she realized that everyone was already exhausted from the previous battle and the constant running.

And to ascend to the clouds, they still had an unknown number of thousands of steps to climb. Who could carry them the whole way?

Wu Qiong was incredibly anxious in her heart. At the same time, out of the corner of her eye, she saw that another team of an Emperor Candidate had already arrived at the bottom of the Path of Ascension and was rapidly approaching this way...

A line of text flashed before her eyes:

[The Emperor must remember: Sever all thoughts and sentiments. If encountering a crisis, even parents and siblings can be abandoned]

Wu Qiong had seen this sentence before. When she obtained the Associate Emperor Destiny, this sentence had been among the Emperor's Admonitions... But for it to reappear before her eyes in this manner meant that those Imperial Remnants in the sky had truly run out of patience.

Wu Qiong struggled internally for a moment, but ultimately followed what the Emperor's Admonition said, speaking heartlessly:

"Leave them be, let's go!"

Hearing these words, the crowd was stunned. Before they could recover, Wu Qiong had already taken the lead and left.

Although Wu Qiong's followers couldn't bear it in their hearts either, they really couldn't do anything about these wounded... After casting an apologetic glance at the few people, they turned back and chased after Wu Qiong.

Those few with mobility issues stared blankly at Wu Qiong's retreating figure as she abandoned them. When she turned to leave, she hadn't even said a single extra word to them... This kind of ruthlessness and decisiveness made them feel unfamiliar, as if Wu Qiong was gradually transforming into a different person.

Not long after Wu Qiong and the others left, another Emperor Candidate's team came climbing up the stairs.

"Huh? Why are there people here?" The Emperor Candidate spotted the abandoned individuals, a flash of wariness in his eyes.

"Did Wu Qiong leave them behind to block us?"

"Doesn't look like it. They have injuries on their legs, they should have been abandoned..."

"Oh, then let's just go straight past them."

"But what if the injuries on their legs are fake, and they plan to sneak attack us when we're halfway past?" The Emperor Candidate swept a suspicious glance over the few people, somewhat undecided.

Almost at the same time, a line of text flashed before his eyes:

[The Emperor must remember: Cannot be merciful. If they are my enemies, even the wounded and young children must be eradicated by the roots]

The Emperor Candidate's expression continuously shifted. He had never killed anyone along his journey, but now, seeing the reminder in this line of text, he hesitated... He looked up at Wu Qiong and the others who had already gone far, and steeled his heart!

"Whatever, kill them all!!"

The emperors' urgency and anxiety similarly spread among the Emperor Candidates. As they climbed the Path of Ascension, they gradually let go of their former principles, starting to embrace the ideologies instilled by the emperors, staining the stairs red with blood...

...

Clang—!!

The Lord of Hanging Jade cleaved open an Imperial Jade Seal with his sword. As if sensing something, he looked down beneath him.

He saw a path faintly extending from beneath the clouds, emitting a faint golden light. His eyes narrowed, as if he had seen something within it, and he sneered:

"No wonder you're trying so desperately to stop me... So, a new 'Emperor' is about to be born?"

"You know that you are already dead and your era has passed, so you can only choose a new 'Emperor' to recreate your past glory in this era?"

"You want to find shadows of your former selves in these children. You all feel that if another version of your past selves appeared, this era could be overturned... After all, the former you did indeed accomplish this."

"But do you really think your old feudal imperial ways can still apply to this era?"

The Lord of Hanging Jade formed a mudra once again. That cross-shaped energy longsword slowly split into three, and then into six... Six swords of the new era symbolizing scientific authority orbited around the Lord of Hanging Jade. Their blades pointed at the ancient ideologies and order that had long sunk into the river of time.

He spoke indifferently:

"You from the old era can never create an emperor for the new era..."

"If this world is truly to be overturned by someone, what creates him won't be you, but this era itself."

...

The battle between feudalism and science roared in the sky above.

Beneath the rolling dark clouds and continuous thunder, a figure wearing a theatrical robe slowly stopped before the golden stairs leading to the sky...

"So high..." Jiang Xiaohua wore an expression as if he was about to die, only deep exhaustion remaining in his eyes. "Climbing up is so tiring... Since those emperors don't have time to bother with you anyway, how about you go on your own this time?"