Chapter 271 - 139: Dynastic Change 3

Chapter 271: Chapter 139: Dynastic Change 3

Back then, in the form of a Void Demon Whale, he had returned to the Eastern Domain and happened upon the man, who had fallen off a cliff while gathering herbs. He casually saved him.

The man knelt and swore an oath, vowing never to expose his identity as a Great Demon Cultivator.

Su Chen let out a wry laugh.

And so.

He built a hut and settled down on Cyan Mountain, curious to see just when this seemingly simple but shrewd middle-aged shopkeeper would betray him.

After all, even Xue, the Daqi Emperor Tianqi—someone he had personally saved and trusted—had revealed his identity as a Nine-Life Celestial Pride to Zhuge Mo.

But in the end.

He had waited all this time, right up until the man died.

The man had kept his promise. In all these years, he hadn’t revealed a single thing, not even to his own son. Even when faced with forced conscription as a laborer, he had never sought Su Chen out for help.

’Should I help him?’

Su Chen turned to look at the grazing Cyan Ox. The ox’s face paled, and it immediately lowered its head to eat more fervently, terrified that Su Chen would send it to the front lines.

’I’ve heard that even Qi Cultivation practitioners are just cannon fodder there,’ it thought. ’Even Foundation Establishment experts barely make it back alive. I’d rather just stay here and wait for Su Chen to die of old age.’

’Then I’ll help him,’ he decided.

In a trance.

Su Chen thought of many people.

So, he reached out his hand.

In an instant.

The very sky transformed.

High above the Daqi Imperial Capital, the coiled Golden Dragon of Qi Fortune suddenly awoke. It glanced about in terror, only to have a piece of itself forcefully broken off and flung into the distant figure of the youth, Qing Cang.

BOOM!

In that moment, the once-mediocre youth, who had been shrouded in Death Qi and was moments from heading to the battlefield, was blessed with an aura of destined nobility.

How far he would go from there had nothing to do with Su Chen.

That night, civil and military officials jolted awake from their sleep. Even the Emperor, a mere puppet in the hands of the Core Formation Giants, stared dumbly at the sky, vaguely sensing that a piece of the dynasty’s fortune had been stolen.

In the Book Collection Martial Pavilion, the Deposed Emperor Tianqi, who was there cultivating his character, awoke from his meditation. After a long silence, he let out a low sigh.

’So, he’s been here all along.’

"Sword Master."

"Does he also have the Imperial Blood of Daqi? How can he carve away a piece of the Celestial Dynasty’s fortune? Even if he were sitting on the throne, he shouldn’t be capable of such a thing."

Xue looked at the illusory figure beside him—the True Spirit left behind by the Sword Celestial Venerable, the former Sovereign of the Great Xuan Celestial Dynasty, a being with white hair and black eyes.

The question rendered even this Sovereign of a Celestial Dynasty from ten thousand years ago speechless.

He didn’t understand it either.

Normally.

The Daqi Celestial Dynasty inherited the mantle of the Great Xuan, and only the founding Sovereign—Xue himself—should be able to see and partition the dynasty’s fortune. Subsequent Emperors, at most, possess the authority to confer official titles and distribute the dynasty’s Qi fortune to aid others in their cultivation. That was all.

And yet, an anomaly stood before them.

’I can’t see through him!’

’And I can’t understand him.’

"He is... unsettling. Since a rift has already formed between you, it is best to keep a respectful distance. Pretend you haven’t seen anything."

The Sword Celestial Venerable sighed. He, too, found the man unsettling and wanted to ask why this was all happening.

Time trickled on.

「Two years passed.」

Winter snow fell once more.

The battle lines of the Daqi Celestial Dynasty collapsed again and again, its people suffering grievous casualties.

The vast territories once seized from the Four Dynasties of Yan, Zhao, Han, and Wei were now mostly lost under the combined assault of the Three Great Dynasties.

The smaller kingdoms that had previously pledged allegiance declared their independence one by one. Even some of the nobles enfeoffed in Daqi’s Yellow City fled with their entire families, defecting to the other two Great Dynasties.

In an instant, the dynasty’s fortune plummeted. The Daqi Celestial Dynasty—the orthodox Celestial Dynasty that had once been infinitely glorious, firing the first shot in the consolidation of dynastic fortune and rebelling against the Five Great Sects—was now in a precarious position.

It was even possible that their Imperial City would be stormed and the dynasty completely destroyed.

That night.

Messengers from Daqi departed the Imperial City. They split into three groups, riding at top speed toward the Three Great Dynasties to negotiate terms of peace, their paths taking them past Cyan Mountain.

’Emperor Tianqi, are you still not going to make your move?’

Su Chen gazed from afar at the Longevity Fire inside the Book Collection Martial Pavilion.

On this very night.

The Longevity Fire erupted with violent fluctuations. At the same time, hidden in the darkness of night, seven True Core Demon Children, who had been lying in wait for years, had grown extremely impatient in their fruitless search for the Nine-Life Celestial Pride.

They were preparing to leave!

But before they left.

They planned to make a huge scene.

For example.

Killing Emperor Tianqi, slaughtering the entire Daqi Imperial City, and obliterating the legacy inherited from the Great Xuan Celestial Dynasty.

After all.

Ten thousand years ago, when their Extreme Realm Heaven was annihilated, the Great Xuan Celestial Dynasty had been a primary force in the attack! One might even say the Great Xuan Celestial Dynasty was responsible for the whole thing.

BOOM!

That night, the faces of the seven Demon Children contorted in horror, and they fled the Imperial Palace like madmen. A ritual was taking form; the Golden Dragon of Qi Fortune was swooping down, heading straight for the Book Collection Martial Pavilion.

It was at this moment.

A resplendent Golden Core, bright as a great sun, was forged. It was surrounded by the illusory figures of a dragon and a tiger, whose roars echoed throughout the land. In this instant, it was tempered and refined to perfection.

On this day, golden light stretched for seventy thousand li. This Golden Core shone like a sun, eclipsing the glow of the bright moon and banishing the night. It was as if daytime had arrived, its light illuminating the lands of Daqi and even the territories of the Three Great Dynasties.

After Zhuge Mo, the Daqi Celestial Dynasty had produced another Golden Core expert.

His name was Xue!

"The Daqi Emperor Tianqi!"

"A Dragon Tiger Golden Core!"

"How is this possible?!"

Without a moment’s hesitation, the seven True Core Demon Children turned and fled. Even the strongest among them, the First Demon Child—a cultivator at True Core Perfection who had reached the very pinnacle of the Core Formation realm—dared not linger for even half a step, fearing that it would cost him his life.

They had wanted to cause a major stir, but little did they know that Emperor Tianqi Xue, after three years of silence, had the very same idea.

And what kind of stir was that?

Perhaps the heads of the True Core Demon Children from Extreme Realm Heaven would do nicely.

’Core Formation has three stages: Void Core, True Core, and Golden Core. Golden Cores themselves are divided into standard Golden Cores, Dragon Tiger Golden Cores, and Purple Gold Cores!’

’If I’d waited longer, I might have been able to forge a Purple Gold Core... or I might have failed.’

’But time waits for no one. This is enough!’

On this day, the Eastern Domain shook, the Five Sects were struck with terror, and the Three Great Dynasties trembled. The Imperial City itself was in an uproar as the civil and military officials who had once joined the rebellion fell to their knees in fright.

A Golden Core!

The Daqi Celestial Dynasty had a Golden Core expert once more!

And it was the Deposed Emperor Tianqi!

On Cyan Mountain, snow was falling. Su Chen warmed his tea and heated his wine, quietly observing the spectacle. He brushed the snowflakes from his robes, content to watch the brewing storm and the shifting tides of the dynasty.

"This wine has grown weak."

Su Chen shook his head, drained his cup, and returned to his thatched hut to fall into a deep sleep, as if the rise and fall of a dynasty were of less consequence than the wine he had just drunk.