Chapter 124 - 117: How Dare You Speak to This Sect Leader Like That?

Chapter 124: Chapter 117: How Dare You Speak to This Sect Leader Like That?

Zhao Country. Inside the Imperial Palace, the most honorable place in the nation, within Qingtian Hall—on the dragon throne.

This venerable seat, which since ancient times had only allowed one supreme ruler to sit upon it, now unprecedentedly held two people.

An emperor and a Daoist.

When the armored, blade-wielding guards of the Imperial Army rushed in, they were all frightened out of their wits by the sight before them.

In an instant, countless angry roars erupted from the Imperial Army, directed straight at the Daoist in the hall:

"Demon Daoist!"

"Release His Majesty at once, or you’ll die a gruesome death!"

"How dare you sit on the dragon throne!!"

"Absolutely lawless..."

At this moment, all the guards of the Imperial Army were so shocked by this scene that they became incoherent. No matter how hard they racked their brains, they couldn’t find the exact words to describe Chen Sha’s current crimes.

Just then, a middle-aged, helmeted man among the Imperial Army—clearly a commanding officer—raised his hand, swiftly ordering everyone in the hall to be quiet.

Seeing him raise his hand, the many soldiers of the Imperial Army were immediately forced into silence. This was because this man was Jing Tingshan, the Grand Governor who commanded the Imperial Army of the Imperial City.

Even though Jing Tingshan was also terrified by what he saw, his first reaction was to look at Emperor Zhao Yi. Only after ensuring that Zhao Yi was merely startled and not injured did he rest his hand on the Yanling Saber at his waist and shout at the young Daoist in a deep voice,

"I know you are the Dao Yi Sect Leader, and that Lord Wan, the God Catcher, a First-Grade Great Innate, couldn’t even last three moves against you. But you’d better think about what you’re doing right now. The person beside you is the Emperor of our Great Zhao! Even if you are..."

Hearing these words, a look of indifference appeared between Chen Sha’s brows.

"Noisy! Noisy! So noisy!"

He spat out the word three times. Glancing sideways at Emperor Zhao Yi, he said,

"Clearly, your hall full of soldiers has yet to realize that the life and death of you, the Venerable ruler, rests solely upon this poor Daoist’s every whim."

As he spoke, the hand gripping Zhao Yi’s shoulder slowly moved up to his neck.

Zhao Yi was indeed worthy of being the ruler of a nation. Even though he was experiencing the most humiliating, unbelievable, and thrilling assassination attempt of his life, he quickly calmed down. He turned and shouted in a deep voice,

"General Jing, I am unharmed. Let us first hear what he wants."

The moment the Emperor spoke, the hall instantly fell dead silent.

Yuu Miaolian stood to the side and frowned. "Did you not hear my Sect Leader’s words clearly just now? Immediately bring my junior brother, Zhang Liting, whom you locked up in the Celestial Prison, to this place."

Zhao Yi subconsciously asked, "Zhang Liting? Who is that?"

Yuu Miaolian’s expression froze. Only then did she realize that Emperor Zhao had absolutely no idea why their Sect Leader had come before him. She couldn’t help but feel a trace of pity for Emperor Zhao.

If the Minister of the Ministry of Justice hadn’t relied on his First-Grade Official Position to cover up a murder for his grandson within the Ministry of Justice—even going so far as to falsely accuse her junior brother, Zhang Liting, and throw him into the Celestial Prison—there would have been no reason for her Sect Leader junior brother to descend the mountain, enter the Capital City, storm this Imperial City, and sit upon his dragon throne.

Zhao Yi clearly realized that he hadn’t fully grasped the reason why this Dao Yi Mountain Sect Leader had turned his Capital City upside down. He immediately looked at the Chief Eunuch who had followed them into the hall and asked,

"What exactly is the relationship between this Zhang Liting they speak of and Zuo Qiantang of the Ministry of Justice?"

The Chief Eunuch immediately knelt down and repeatedly begged for mercy. "This old slave only learned of the specifics after these two caused a massive uproar in the Capital City and broke into the Imperial Palace. It was Lord Zuo Qiantang who..."

With that, he explained the entire sequence of events from beginning to end. Since Zuo Qiantang had already been shot to death by a barrage of arrows on White Tiger Street, he was now the most suitable person to take the blame for all of this.

After listening to the Chief Eunuch’s words, Zhao Yi’s face turned ashen. He turned to look at Chen Sha and said,

"Just for one of your junior brothers? You and this woman beside you didn’t hesitate to turn the Capital City upside down, even slaughtering your way into my Imperial Palace to sit on my dragon throne?"

Hearing Zhao Yi put it this way, Yuu Miaolian’s eyes widened slightly. What kind of logic was that? Did her junior brother’s life mean so little in his eyes that it wasn’t worth going to such lengths?

Chen Sha, however, was far more direct. He simply reached out, gripped the Emperor’s neck, and pressed down, slamming the man’s head forcefully into the armrest of the dragon throne.

THUD!

As the Emperor of a nation, Zhao Yi couldn’t even react before his head was smashed downward in the direction of the Imperial Army guards in the hall. In an instant, his forehead was covered in blood.

In the moment his head was slammed down, the Emperor’s mind went completely blank!

The reaction from the hall full of Imperial Army guards was even greater. Jing Tingshan, in particular, flushed red the instant he saw Chen Sha force the Emperor’s head down toward them, ready to bellow in outrage. But upon hearing that loud thud, he watched the Emperor essentially kowtow in their direction. It felt as if he had been struck by lightning. After a brief moment of daze, he immediately scrambled to kneel on the floor and bow his head, no longer daring to stand.

Zhao Yi’s forced bow looked exactly as if he were kowtowing to them.

CLATTER CLATTER CLATTER!

The rest of the Imperial Army soldiers reacted only half a beat slower than Jing Tingshan. Their expressions changed drastically as they all dropped to their knees in unison, bowing toward the dragon throne.

By the time Zhao Yi, dizzy and disoriented from the impact with blood trailing down his face, slowly raised his head to look at the Imperial Army soldiers kneeling all over the floor, Chen Sha’s soft, airy voice had already drifted into his ears.

"As an esteemed Emperor, you are used to living a life of privilege and luxury. I can understand why you don’t place much importance on this poor Daoist’s senior brother. But you must also know that even as an Emperor, your life is utterly worthless in this poor Daoist’s eyes."

Still gripping the back of Zhao Yi’s neck, Chen Sha continued, "You think this poor Daoist is exceedingly audacious, don’t you? But perhaps with the passage of time, you emperors down below the mountain have forgotten. Thirty years ago, there was an emperor even more formidable than you. Under the watchful eyes of the masses in the Primordial Palace, he was captured and locked away in the back mountains of Dao Yi Mountain for thirty years."

Zhao Yi’s face twitched as he listened.

Then he heard Chen Sha slowly say, "I shouldn’t forget to tell you. That Emperor of Great Yuan from thirty years ago, Ancient Transformation Dragon, was recently butchered by me on Dao Yi Mountain. Do you think killing you would be any harder than killing him?"

Zhao Yi’s Heart Spirit practically exploded. He was forty-five years old this year. Thirty years ago, when Ancient Transformation Dragon was captured by Chen Canxuan from the Primordial Palace, he was only fifteen. He wasn’t even the Crown Prince back then, merely a young prince who hadn’t yet established his own estate.

Even after ascending the throne, he had heard about this incident. But at that time, the rumors in the Jianghu were noncommittal. Some legends claimed it was true, yet in the Jianghu, neither the Great Yuan Court nor Dao Yi Mountain had ever actively stepped forward to confirm the matter.

Moreover, Yuan Country later experienced the Jingnan Rebellion led by Gu Xuanong, which disrupted the direct lineage of the Yuan emperors. This caused the incident involving Ancient Transformation Dragon from thirty years ago to fade from public memory, turning into an unsolved mystery that may or may not have happened.

Now, he was personally hearing Chen Sha confirm this matter right in front of him.

"You..." Zhao Yi stared at Chen Sha. He wanted to see some trace of emotion in Chen Sha’s eyes.

Instead, he saw that the young Daoist’s expression was as placid as an ancient well. Just as he had said, crushing a noble Emperor like himself seemed no more difficult than squashing a bug.

Chen Sha said plainly, "If I were you, I would have them fetch my senior brother from the Celestial Prison as quickly as possible. And while you’re at it, have them all leave this place. Otherwise, they won’t just witness a single humiliating experience of yours—they will see an even more unbearable spectacle."

These words felt like a lash directly to his soul. Zhao Yi gave Chen Sha a profound look. Even though his forehead had been smashed open, he still forced himself to maintain a facade of composure.

Finally, Zhao Yi said in a deep voice, "Immediately go to the Celestial Prison and bring him here!"

Jing Tingshan immediately looked up, expressing anxious concern. "Your Majesty..."

Zhao Yi growled, "Why haven’t you gone yet! Everyone, withdraw from the hall!!"

Chen Sha’s threat had worked perfectly. He couldn’t possibly allow the Imperial Army soldiers in the hall to watch his head get smashed into the dragon throne again. Even so, he already felt that today was the most humiliating, painful, and agonizing day he had ever endured as the Venerable ruler since ascending the throne.

But he could also tell from the expression of the Daoist beside him: smashing his head against the dragon throne was merely the most trivial thing this Daoist was capable of doing.

Meanwhile, as the Imperial Army rode posthaste toward the Celestial Prison, above the Imperial Palace, a white-haired old Daoist who had rushed over from the Jade Capital Temple seemed to be flying through the air, gliding straight toward Qingtian Hall.

It was none other than the Grand Celestial Master of a different surname from Jade Emperor Mountain, stationed in the Capital City—Zhao Danyang.

When he arrived outside Qingtian Hall, he found that various important members of the Imperial Palace had already gathered there. Even the Empress Dowager and the Concubines from the inner palace had rushed over in a panic. Since the founding of Zhao Country, this was the first time such a disastrous event had occurred—someone storming into Ziwei City, capturing the Emperor alive on his dragon throne, and threatening an entire nation.

"Celestial Master Zhao, hurry! You must find a way to save the Emperor!"

Zhao Danyang’s expression was also fraught with anxiety. Listening to the screams of the Concubines on both sides, he opted to first understand the situation inside the hall. Upon learning that Zhao Yi had ordered everyone not to enter the hall and that someone had swiftly gone to the Celestial Prison to retrieve the third disciple of Dao Yi Mountain, he stood in place and waited for a moment.

About half an hour later.

The Imperial Army arrived posthaste outside Qingtian Hall, bringing with them a disheveled man wearing a prison uniform. It was Zhang Liting.

"Hand him over to this old Daoist; I will take him inside!"

Zhao Danyang immediately snatched the bewildered and helpless Zhang Liting from the hands of the Imperial Army, then strode into the hall.

Inside the hall.

When Zhao Yi saw Zhao Danyang bring the man in from outside, a glimmer of joy immediately rose in the depths of his eyes. "Imperial Uncle."

As it turned out, this Celestial Master of a different surname from Jade Emperor Mountain was actually a Prince of Zhao Country who had become a monk and cultivated his way to the position of Grand Celestial Master.

Upon entering the hall, Zhao Danyang also immediately spotted the Emperor and Chen Sha sitting side by side on the dragon throne. A flash of shock and anger first appeared in his eyes, but he quickly suppressed it. Bringing Zhang Liting out from behind him, he said,

"This old Daoist is Zhao Danyang, one of the Four Great Celestial Masters of Jade Emperor Mountain. Your Dao Yi Mountain disciple is here. Leave the dragon throne at once and release His Majesty."

Zhang Liting, who had been pulled forward, also looked with a face full of astonishment at the two incredibly familiar people on the dragon throne. He stared in shock at Chen Sha sitting on the reigning Emperor’s throne.

"Junior Brother, you actually came down the mountain?!"

Seeing that Chen Sha merely raised his eyelids upon hearing his words, Elder Celestial Master Zhao suppressed his anger and spoke again. "Did you hear me, junior? This old Daoist has already..."

On the dragon throne, Chen Sha lowered his eyes. "You’re merely a lowly Celestial Master of Jade Emperor Mountain. I thought you were the Jade Emperor Mountain Sect Leader, daring to speak to this Sect Leader like that!"

His body moved on the dragon throne as he clenched his fist. The sound waves vibrating within the grand hall erupted like rolling thunder, and his Fist Power surged out like an overwhelming tidal wave, striking straight toward Zhao Danyang.

In an instant, the strike landed on this Great Innate Level Celestial Master of a different surname from Jade Emperor Mountain.

Simultaneously, his other hand manifested an invisible gripping force. Across a distance of over a dozen zhang, he grabbed Zhang Liting and pulled the man to his side.