Chapter 126 - 119: Imperial Palace Affairs Concluded

Chapter 126: Chapter 119: Imperial Palace Affairs Concluded

Inside the Imperial Palace, the Imperial Army treated Chen Sha as if he were a ghost or god. For every step he took forward, they retreated a step in sheer terror.

The concubines of the inner palace and the Empress Dowager, biological mother of the current Emperor, all felt their vision go dark when they saw the Emperor—firmly in Chen Sha’s grasp—covered in blood. It was clear that this mysterious Daoist intended to drag the Emperor right out of the Imperial Palace.

In an instant, the white-haired Empress Dowager cried out, "Danyang, hurry! You must find a way to save my son!"

Zhao Danyang was not only a Celestial Master of Jade Emperor Mountain outside the main lineage, but also the sixth younger brother of the previous Emperor of Zhao Country. Now, he listened to the Empress Dowager’s sharp and desperate words: "If the Emperor is truly taken away by this man, our Zhao Country will instantly become the biggest laughingstock among the commoners of the Three Kingdoms of the World!"

The incident with Ancient Transformation Dragon had happened thirty years ago, after all. The generation that knew of that great scandal had long since passed. But now, they were forced to watch such an utter humiliation happen all over again—and this time, it was not the Emperor of some foreign nation, but their very own.

Zhao Danyang stared at Chen Sha’s back, still reeling from the wild arrogance of the Daoist’s earlier declaration about not caring if he made an enemy of the entire world. With a heavy expression, he said, "This old Daoist is no match for him. If I force the issue, not only will I fail to save His Majesty, but I might also provoke him... If he simply assassinates the Emperor right here, the weight of the Soil and Grain is too great. I cannot bear that responsibility."

The Empress Dowager let out a miserable laugh. "And you can bear the responsibility of watching the Emperor be dragged away?"

Zhao Danyang could not retort. He could not speak his true thoughts aloud because he had already made a certain compromise in his heart. After realizing he could not withstand even a single punch from Chen Sha, he lost all confidence in stopping the man from leaving.

The soldiers of the Imperial Army shared his fear of accidentally harming Emperor Zhao Yi, and so they retreated again and again. They backed away until Chen Sha dragged the Emperor through all six sets of palace gates, before finally leaping away and leaving the Imperial City alongside Zhang Liting and Yuu Miaolian.

Seeing that the Emperor had truly been captured and taken out of the Imperial Palace, the Empress Dowager’s vision went black. She fainted on the spot.

The Grand Governor of the Imperial Army, Jingtting Mountain, approached Zhao Danyang with a grim expression. "Prince, quickly come up with a plan. How do we rescue His Majesty?"

The Emperor had been kidnapped right in front of them, and his captor had boldly proclaimed he would detain him right here in the Capital City’s Jade Capital Temple. Jingtting Mountain had never witnessed anything so absurd and outrageous in his entire life, yet he had been forced to be a part of it. As a firsthand witness, he had watched it all unfold while being completely powerless to stop it.

Zhao Danyang closed his eyes and said, "You all heard the words that the Dao Yi Sect Leader left behind. If his Cultivation is truly approaching that of his father, Chen Canxuan, then it wouldn’t matter how many soldiers the Forbidden Army has. With His Majesty in his hands and peerless Cultivation at his disposal, he could move into this old Daoist’s Jade Capital Temple right under our noses, and there is nothing we could do about it."

Jingtting Mountain gritted his teeth. "Does that mean we can do nothing at all? A nation cannot survive a single day without its ruler. For every day His Majesty does not return to the imperial court of the Soil and Grain, our Zhao Country faces the risk of destruction."

After all, theirs was not the only nation on this Divine Land. The Jin Country in the north was a latecomer, having been established for less than seven generations, yet it had produced several ambitious and rapacious rulers who frequently invaded the borders of Zhao Country and various small overseas nations.

Meanwhile, the Yuan Country in the east boasted national power and military strength that had reached the absolute peak. Even their emperor’s grand vision and military prowess made them the number one dynasty, completely crushing Zhao Country in comparison. Now that their Emperor had been captured by Chen Sha, it was impossible for the other two nations not to scheme the moment they caught wind of the news.

Zhao Danyang opened his eyes. "Our only option now is to mobilize the entire nation’s resources and gather all available forces to rescue His Majesty. If Chen Sha truly keeps his word, stays in the Capital City, and takes residence in the Jade Capital Temple, then we will give him exactly what he wants—we will make the entire world his enemy. Perhaps then we will have a chance."

Jingtting Mountain asked, "Who can we possibly invite? Ordinary experts at the First-Grade Great Innate Level wouldn’t even be able to withstand a single punch from him. Our only hope is to invite a few of the Ten Great Powerhouses to the Zhao Country Capital."

However, as vast as the world was, Zhao Country was only one of the Three Kingdoms. Every single figure who could rank among the top ten experts of the world looked down on princes and scoffed at ministers. They were absolute masters who believed that no matter how vast the world was, there was nowhere they could not go and no one they could not kill. Out of the tens of billions of people populating the Divine Land, only ten could be called one of the "Ten Great Powerhouses."

"This Dao Yi Sect Leader acts with such reckless abandon, and he has someone practicing the Qi Stealing Technique by his side," Zhao Danyang said. "If we just spread the word, someone will inevitably come. For instance... Gu Xuanong, the current Emperor of the Yuan Country, only had the chance to seize the throne because Chen Canxuan captured Ancient Transformation Dragon, the practitioner of the Qi Stealing Technique. No matter how you look at it, Ancient Transformation Dragon and the Qi Stealing Technique are immensely important to Gu Xuanong. He cannot possibly turn a blind eye."

Even though the Yuan Country was their neighbor and enemy, the enemy of an enemy was a friend. Some things could be viewed separately from a strategic and tactical perspective. Even if the Yuan Country wanted to use this opportunity to invade Zhao Country, they couldn’t march a massive army to the Zhao Country Capital on such short notice. It was far more likely that they would dispatch capable experts to the Capital City instead.

Zhao Danyang continued, "Besides that, I will immediately send a message to my Senior Martial Brother, the Sect Leader, asking him to bring my other two Senior Martial Brothers down the mountain to aid us in the Capital City."

Jade Emperor Mountain Sect Leader Zhang Shouren was the current Sect Leader Celestial Master. Ranked ninth in the world, he was one of the Ten Great Powerhouses himself.

Zhao Danyang added, "Furthermore, I’ve heard that Woodcutter Bai Zancang, another of the Ten Great Powerhouses, seems to have been active within our Zhao Country for the past half-year. It would be best if we could contact him."

"Bai Zancang..." Jingtting Mountain lowered his eyes in thought before replying, "I will immediately collaborate with the Six Gates to search for information on him."

"This is all we can do," Zhao Danyang said. "The rest will depend on how the various factions and experts across the world view this matter. Aside from those we can track down, whether anyone else comes to our aid will depend entirely on His Majesty’s destiny."

After speaking, Zhao Danyang couldn’t help but gaze up at the sky, a hint of gloom rising in his eyes. It was precisely because he was a Martial Arts practitioner who had reached the Great Innate level that he clearly understood a harsh truth—when Martial Arts reached a level capable of changing the color of the sky and the movement of the clouds, imperial authority was truly worthless.

Now, the only thing he could hope for was that Chen Sha wasn’t truly invincible, and that there was still someone in this world who could subdue him!

Meanwhile, Chen Sha had taken the current Emperor and left the Imperial Palace. He first returned to the spot where he had parted ways with his two disciples, spotting the eye-catching Thousand-Mile Horse carriage from a distance. Then, he brought the Emperor into the inn.

In that instant, everyone inside the inn was dumbfounded, especially when they saw the middle-aged man in a Dragon Robe trailing behind Chen Sha. In this Capital City, who would dare to wear a Dragon Robe?

At a few tables near Lin Qingqing, several Jianghu Wanderers had been discussing the major upheaval in the Capital City and the rumors of "a Daoist slaughtering his way into the Imperial Palace" right before Chen Sha walked in. Seeing Chen Sha’s Daoist Robe and the Dragon Robe-clad Zhao Yi behind him, they immediately realized what was going on.

CRASH BANG!

The moment Chen Sha stepped foot into the inn, several people were so terrified that they tumbled right off their stools. Soon after, the patrons could no longer sit still. They fled out of the inn without looking back, only to find the entire street outside completely deserted.

The street was swarming with armored soldiers who had surrounded the inn, yet not a single one dared to step within thirty feet of the building. At that moment, everyone understood.

The man wearing the Dragon Robe was truly the Emperor! Emperor Zhao had been dragged straight out of the Imperial Palace!

"Master!" Lin Qingqing immediately understood the situation the moment Chen Sha walked in. Turning sideways to look at Zhao Yi, she asked with excited curiosity, "Did you really capture the current Emperor?"

Beside her, Qii Zhengyi was bowing to Yuu Miaolian. Following her cue, he quickly bowed to Zhang Liting, greeting him as "Third Martial Uncle."

Chen Sha didn’t answer Lin Qingqing’s question. Instead, he told her to greet Zhang Liting first. "This is your Third Martial Uncle. He descended the mountain to handle matters for our sect long before you joined."

Lin Qingqing immediately bowed in greeting.

Unexpectedly, Chen Sha glanced over and noticed a third person sitting at the table—a young man. He looked as if he had been petrified. The chopsticks in his hand trembled violently, still gripping a piece of food. He didn’t dare to look up at anyone or even breathe too loudly, looking incredibly guilty, like a thief caught red-handed.

"Who is this person, and why is he sitting with you?" Chen Sha asked.

Lin Qingqing immediately introduced him. "He’s my cousin, Liu Xiansheng. He’s the son of my uncle who lent us the carriage. He followed us all the way from Jiangzhou."

Hearing this, a hint of kindness appeared in Chen Sha’s eyes. He nodded at Liu Xiansheng and said, "So you are Patriarch Liu’s son. This poor Daoist is Chen Sha, your cousin’s Master."

After all, this was the kind family who had gifted his group a carriage; naturally, Chen Sha bore no ill will toward him.

However, the moment Chen Sha addressed him, Liu Xiansheng shuddered involuntarily. Trembling, he stood up, unable to play the ostrich any longer. The second he was on his feet, he bowed deeply, bending well past his waist. With a pale face and quivering lips, he stammered, "This... this j-junior... Liu... Liu Xiansheng, greets Sect Leader Chen."

Chen Sha couldn’t help but look at Lin Qingqing. "Does your cousin stutter?"

Lin Qingqing, of course, knew exactly what was going on. She smiled faintly and said, "He’s just terrified of you. Before you arrived, he was trying to convince me to become a disciple of his grandmaster, Zhao Danyang, at the Jade Capital Temple. And then... he saw you bring the current Emperor here."

Hearing this, Chen Sha turned his gaze toward Liu Xiansheng. Feeling Chen Sha’s eyes on him, Liu Xiansheng’s face instantly turned as translucent as paper. He squeezed his eyes shut, waiting for death right then and there.

Instead, Chen Sha chuckled. "The way you’re acting, one would think I’m going to kill you. Since you’re Qingqing’s cousin, why would I make things difficult for you over a few careless words? Still, I didn’t expect such a coincidence. Since you are a disciple of the Jade Capital Temple, you can lead the way. I plan to stay at your temple for a while."

Hearing this, Liu Xiansheng’s face grew even paler. "Sect... Sect Leader Chen, this junior takes full responsibility for his slip of the tongue. This has nothing to do with my fellow martial brothers or martial uncles at the Jade Capital Temple. If you wish to beat me or kill me, do it to me, but please do not involve my sect."

Chen Sha’s eyes filled with even more amusement. "Your Cultivation isn’t very high, but you certainly have a sense of responsibility. I already told you, I’m not holding your thoughtless words against you..."

Liu Xiansheng asked in a trembling voice, "Then why do you want to go to my Jade Capital Temple?"

"You didn’t offend or anger me," Chen Sha said calmly. "But your grandmaster, Zhao Danyang, did. Furthermore, I already told him to lend me the Jade Capital Temple for a few days. These matters have nothing to do with you. Just lead the way, and don’t actually make me angry."

Though still deeply panicked and uneasy, Liu Xiansheng couldn’t understand the full situation. In the end, out of absolute terror toward Chen Sha, he silently agreed.

The group walked out of the inn and boarded the carriage directly. Although numerous soldiers who had followed them from the Imperial Palace and experts from various court departments flanked the street, they acted more like an honor guard clearing the way. They only dared to hide on either side of the road, anxiously keeping pace as the carriage moved forward.

And just like that, Chen Sha moved into Jade Emperor Mountain’s base in the Capital City—the Jade Capital Temple—that very day.

Within two or three days, news of everything he had done sprouted wings and spread rapidly across the world, reaching the ears of every nation, every sect, and countless powerhouses.

The Martial Arts world was shaken to its core!