Chapter 445 380: Our Daqian: A Dynasty Can Fall; It Is But the Cycle of Rise and Fall

"Are you... colluding behind my back with the righteous... no, the Cults!" Su Po gritted his teeth, ultimately not daring to point his finger at all the major sects throughout Daqian.

But even so, this was an exceptionally severe accusation.

However, Yuwen Yong didn't even frown, as if he wasn't the one being admonished. "Your Majesty... if I may be blunt, the Cabinet has not received any intelligence regarding this matter. You..."

After a brief pause, he continued, "But logically speaking, the chances of this are slim. At least... I've searched through history, and an event like this is unheard of... Personally, I think... perhaps you need to screen and verify your intelligence? If you don't have a suitable person for the job, I can send someone to help."

Yuwen Yong was just short of pointing at the Emperor's nose and asking if he had been deceived by that crowd from the Jinyi Guard and the Eastern Depot.

Everything he said was the truth—the Cabinet was completely in the dark. In fact, according to his own inquiries, the realm was in an unprecedented golden age. The Grand Ancestor Emperor had laid the groundwork. He had even issued a final edict on his deathbed, instructing future Monarchs to continue building and planning until this very moment, when the spark of the industrial revolution had finally been lit. In such an era, people starving to death were few and far between.

If the realm could descend into chaos now... then the people of past dynasties might as well have all killed themselves!

"?" Su Po froze, then sank into contemplation. 'He seems to have a point.'

He had been losing his composure earlier, mainly because more than one informant from the Jinyi Guard had sent urgent reports. Even the Eastern Depot, which operated on a separate intelligence network from the Jinyi Guard, had its local spies reporting the same thing. That was why he had started to panic.

He couldn't understand where this surprise army had come from... He even began to suspect that this group from the Cabinet had intentionally sidelined him, making him a powerless figurehead.

But now that he had calmed down and was thinking it through... according to the intelligence reports, it was as if all of Daqian was wreathed in the smoke of war.

'Judging this with pure reason...'

'It seems...'

'The chance that the entire intelligence apparatus—the Jinyi Guard, and even the Eastern Depot—has collapsed is higher than the chance that the entire realm has risen in rebellion!'

Realization dawned in Su Po's eyes. He prided himself on the current state of the realm: peaceful and with plentiful food. For a rebellion to break out in a single region at a time like this... that would be understandable.

But for more than half the realm to rebel... Heh. He recalled the last Heavenly Monarch of the Great Chu Dynasty, King Chu You. That man had been so utterly shameless, forcing the various Dukes to send their heirs to the palace to serve as his Ning Tong, and even he hadn't provoked the entire realm to rebellion!

'Surely all those major sects haven't banded together, have they?'

'The conflicts among those major sects... are far greater than any conflict they have with the Imperial Court!'

Instantly, Su Po's emotions stabilized, though a dark shadow still lingered in his eyes. He began to curse inwardly at the Jinyi Guard Commander he himself had promoted. 'What is that idiot Lu Yun doing?'

"Alas! What have I done." Su Po's expression was grave, his attitude transformed. He patted Yuwen Yong's shoulder, looking with heartfelt pain at the spot on his head that had been struck earlier. "My loyal minister, this... Alas, I acted too rashly and have made such a terrible mistake! What can I possibly do to make this right?"

As he spoke, Su Po actually began to shed tears.

Yuwen Yong remained perfectly composed. "It is only human, Your Majesty. I beg you to steel your resolve!"

"No, no, no, I must reward you handsomely!" Su Po's brow tightened. "My loyal minister, is there anything you desire?"

"To see Your Majesty like this, I can now die without regret!" Yuwen Yong's aged face finally managed to show a touch of emotion.

Just as the two were performing this harmonious scene of accord between Monarch and subject, of a repentant Heavenly Monarch... a piercing roar suddenly echoed through the air.

"? What is that?" A flicker of confusion appeared in the Heavenly Monarch's eyes.

Then...

An old eunuch in a Python Robe suddenly appeared before Su Po. His expression was like ice. With a sudden flick of his sleeve, a surging wave of Powerful Qi erupted from him.

For the first time, utter astonishment filled Yuwen Yong's eyes. It was the primal reaction of a mortal witnessing the Extraordinary manifest before him. 'I know this old man... Isn't that the old eunuch on the verge of death? Where did he come from? And this power...'

RUMBLE—

Aerial bombs began to fall... one, two, three... far, far too many!

At that instant, terrifying explosions erupted.

The ground was covered in smoke and flames. A terrifying inferno, fanned by the wind, blazed to life, sending plumes of black smoke rolling into the sky.

"...What... is this?!" Su Po stammered, his mind a complete blank. He understood what was happening, but his brain stubbornly refused to accept the reality of it.

"Without a doubt, the Rebel Army is attacking!" Su Buqun spoke. His voice was like a razor blade scraping across glass—piercing, sharp, and thick as if clogged with phlegm, even slightly slurred. At that moment, a flicker of doubt appeared in his murky eyes.

He had once followed the Grand Ancestor Emperor, campaigning across the realm. He had witnessed the Grand Ancestor's heroic vigor and brilliant strategy, and had been utterly captivated. Back then, he was just an insignificant little eunuch.

The only reason he had become the current patriarch of the Imperial Palace was simply because all those who had once been stronger than him... he had outlived every single one of them.

'There's something to be said for longevity...'

And so, this scene felt all too familiar.

He had even considered intervening... But the problem was the sheer number of aircraft in the sky. Moreover, if he were to act without restraint, he would almost certainly be seen by the masses of common folk outside.

"???" Su Po was still trying to sort through his thoughts. He completely ignored Yuwen Yong, whose body had been shredded by shrapnel. At last, something clicked. His face went black. He rushed forward, grinding his teeth, and kicked Yuwen Yong's corpse twice. "What traitors... WHAT TRAITORS!!!"

Su Po ignored the old patriarch's use of the term "Rebel Army"—only the old patriarch would dare use such a word in his presence. Of course, this didn't mean the old man supported them; it was simply that the ancient fossil was fond of using the familiar language of his own era to describe things.

"Liars! All of them are liars!" Su Po gasped, his aged face flushing crimson. "I really have been sidelined... Sidelined! Damn it... Those bastards!"

'What has the realm become... Could it be? Has the realm been embroiled in war for a long, long time? It's just that I've been here, in this Imperial Palace, cut off from the world... so I never knew!'

'How many years have they been fighting out there? To reach the Imperial Capital, they must have been fighting for at least three years, right? What is Lu Yun doing?! And... why is it only now that I'm hearing news of the realm being in chaos...?'

Su Po felt like he was losing his mind.

Just last year, on his birthday, he had proclaimed his grand ambition. He would become an Eternal Emperor, and he hoped his many loyal ministers and generals would help him achieve this goal.

The memory of that harmonious court, prosperous and full of vitality, was still fresh in his mind's eye...

The thought that he believed the realm to be perfectly governed while entire provinces might have already fallen... this was far beyond a simple loss of face.

'Considering the current situation... it's really over.'

"I implore Your Majesty to flee at once!" Su Buqun knelt on one knee, his head lowered. His voice was completely flat, as if he were merely stating a fact. He was too calm... as calm as a thousand-year-old tortoise... or perhaps a reanimated corpse.

"No... I cannot run!" Su Po gritted his teeth, a crazed, savage glint in his eyes. "There's still room to counterattack... As long as! As long as..."

Realizing what Su Po was about to say, Su Buqun unhesitatingly bound the Emperor to his back and bolted—

Yes, Su Buqun had realized that Su Po probably wanted to force the Transcendents within the palace to go out and face the enemy.

He even realized how Su Po planned to suppress the news afterward and prevent information about the Extraordinary from spreading: massacre the city's populace, then pin the blame on the enemy.

He had heard the Grand Ancestor Emperor mention this exact tactic offhandedly when he was young, during a lesson for the eunuchs.

That last Heavenly Monarch of the Great Chu Dynasty, King Chu You, had pulled the exact same move.

However, while Su Buqun was loyal to Daqian, his reverence was for the Grand Ancestor Emperor. He would never defy the Grand Ancestor's decree.

He had watched Su Po grow up, but it was for this very reason that he could not stand by and watch the Heavenly Monarch utter such blasphemous words.

So, the moment he realized Su Po was about to speak those words, he had acted decisively.

"Your Majesty, please do not be concerned. The fate of the realm rests on your will alone! Though you may not be the Grand Ancestor Emperor, Your Majesty is also a man of great ambition. Even if the Rebel Army captures the Imperial Capital for a time, as long as you live, you can restore the country, raise a new army, and retake the city."

Su Po: "..."

'Was it possible? The reason I was about to give the order without a second thought was because I suspected everything outside had already fallen... that I had no other choice?'

At this, Su Po let out a humorless laugh. He said nothing, a wave of despair washing over him. 'It's over. It's completely and utterly over. All I can do now is pray the Jinyi Guard reports were exaggerated, that only parts of the country are in chaos... that most of the realm is still in Daqian's hands!'

After fleeing swiftly from the city, Su Buqun ignored Su Po, who hung his head in silence. He turned to stare back at the city, watching the drones fly past one after another. 'Why are they drones? What on earth is happening...?'

'Thankfully, it seems these drones are also maintaining order. They aren't engaging in any sort of city-wide massacre... Otherwise, I would have no choice but to find a safe place for Su Po, then fight my way back to organize the other eunuchs. We would have to re-enter the city to resist and protect the populace—'

'—Even without displaying Extraordinary Power, we are strong and well-equipped with advanced weaponry. While we couldn't defeat an enemy capable of taking the Imperial Capital with our strength restricted to the Martial Arts Level, we could at least protect some of the citizens and inflict a painful blow on our foes—'

'—But from the looks of it, this mysterious Rebel Army... they don't seem to be one of those unrestrained, uncultured peasant mobs who know only destruction, do they?'

'Strange... why haven't I seen a single soldier from the Rebel Army?'

A flicker of confusion appeared in his murky pupils, but after a moment of silence, it was replaced by a look of dazed remembrance. It was so similar. It was as if he had returned to that day, the day the Grand Ancestor Emperor led his army onto the walls of the Imperial Capital. The same smoke of war, a nearly identical scene... he could almost hear the Grand Ancestor's voice again—

[Even if the heavens themselves fall, you must never break the prohibition! Never recklessly reveal or teach Extraordinary Power.]

[If the dynasty should change in the future, should the Ten Thousand Races invade, Cults run rampant, or demons appear... even if you are facing a rebel army from a later generation, you must first ally with them! Annihilate these enemies of the Human Race first, and only then settle who is master! Only then determine who is strong and who is weak!]

[King Chu You is an excellent case study! His emergence... his every action, caused the situation to collapse, allowed the Ten Thousand Races to pass the gates, and led to the birth of the Alien Dynasty of Da Che. He is our cautionary tale! I will say it plainly: In all things, do the opposite of King You, and you shall succeed.]

[Do not seek empty fame and glory! Do not, for the sake of the so-called dynasty, follow the example of that King You!]

[My Daqian... the dynasty can perish. That is merely the cycle of history. But this world, which belongs to the Human Race alone, must never perish!]

Casting one last, deep look at the Imperial Capital, Su Buqun shot off into the distance without a shred of hesitation.