Chapter 225: Lords, Thank You for Letting Me Win
[Kingdom of Qing], Capital City.
As the capital of a kingdom, this place was the calming needle of the entire [Kingdom of Qing]. Whether the [Kingdom of Qing] was in chaos or not could be seen somewhat from the changes in the atmosphere within the city.
Early this morning, the city was still peaceful. However, as the war report of Zhalong Pass being breached on the front line arrived, everyone from high officials to the common people panicked. All kinds of rumors spread more and more outrageously. Some even said they saw the figures of Demonic Sect cultivators eight hundred miles away…
“Trash! A bunch of trash.”
In the Golden Hall, the King of Qing no longer had much grace or dignity. His face was twisted with anger, clearly furious to the extreme.
Below the dais knelt a young man.
The current Top Scholar, Zhong Xin.
This former Top Scholar was now half-stained with blood, his aura weak. Yet he didn’t say a word, looking as if he were at the King of Qing’s disposal.
“This humble subject is incompetent.”
“You are incompetent! I entrusted more than half of the [Kingdom of Qing] to you, asking you to hold Zhalong Pass. Yet in just a few days… the dead died, the fled fled…”
The King of Qing directly grabbed a vase beside him and smashed it on Zhong Xin’s body. The vase shattered, but Zhong Xin’s body remained motionless; he just kept his head down in silence. Instead, after throwing this, the King of Qing calmed down a bit. He hurriedly walked to Zhong Xin’s side and personally helped him up:
“I was dizzy with anger for a moment… Minister, don’t blame me!”
Zhong Xin shook his head upon hearing this. “This humble subject indeed failed the King’s high hopes. Therefore, no matter how the King punishes this humble subject, this humble subject accepts it willingly.”
“Sigh, you… are just too loyal!”
The King of Qing felt somewhat emotional hearing this. “Among all the civil and military officials in the court, none can treat me like you do. At this moment, I fear some are already packing their bags to run!”
After speaking, he took down a large number of memorials from the desk beside him.
“Take a look.”
The King of Qing looked powerless and sighed. “Ever since Jiangbei forces approached Zhalong Pass, the entire [Kingdom of Qing] suddenly fell into chaos. There are actually eighty-one rebel armies!”
“Behind these rebel armies are the Demonic Sect’s handiwork. Chong Guang is definitely hiding among them!”
Speaking to this point, the King of Qing kicked over the table and chair beside him fiercely, trembling with anger. “If this continues, I fear they really will fight their way into the Imperial Palace.”
Just thinking about it filled the King of Qing with fear. He was the King of Qing, personally enfeoffed by the Son of Heaven of Jiangdong. Born a noble with the Mandate of Heaven, the thought that those lowly mud-legs might step into his palace and overthrow him made him wish he could grind everyone’s bones to dust.
“Things have come to this; we can wait no longer!”
Thinking of this, the King of Qing immediately looked at Zhong Xin. “My mind is made up. Today I grant you the Sword of the Son of Heaven and the Imperial Insignia, to sweep away the chaos of internal and external bandits for me!”
Everything was due to the heavy pressure brought by the Demonic Sect.
The Dao Court’s system lay in governance and stability. Once it fell into troubled times and order ceased to exist, the enhancement from the Dao Court Official Position to the cultivation realm would also weaken.
If this continued, the King of Qing worried that even if he enhanced Zhong Xin with his own royal position, it might not necessarily have the power of a Great Perfected One. That would truly be the end of the road, powerless to reverse the situation. Therefore, he must take advantage of the fact that he could still exert the power of a Great Perfected One and let Zhong Xin go to war in his place as soon as possible!
In this way, the situation would definitely improve.
Thinking of this, the King of Qing immediately began to make arrangements, calling the eunuchs to set up the ritual, bring the tally and the axe, and then drew the ceremonial sword at his waist.
False Imperial Insignia—allowing someone to exercise authority on behalf of the ruler.
Such a major event naturally couldn’t be decided by a single word. It required the King of Qing to personally perform the rites. Originally, a grand ceremony should have been held.
But now, with the urgent situation, everything could only be simplified.
“Minister, I will rely on you from now on.”
The King of Qing looked emotional as he personally handed the Sword of the Son of Heaven, the tally, the axe, and other items into Zhong Xin’s hands. Along with them, an Official Position was also transferred.
[King of Spiritual Heaven and Auspicious Clouds, Universal Saviour of Living Beings, Suppressor of the North]
This was the highest Official Position in the [Kingdom of Qing]. Although it was only a vassal king position within the Dao Court system, it still possessed unfathomable mighty power.
Zhong Xin didn’t speak, respectfully accepting it.
Seeing this, the King of Qing nodded in satisfaction. Watching Zhong Xin’s aura begin to skyrocket rapidly, in the blink of an eye, it directly exceeded the limit of the Middle Stage of Foundation Establishment.
Of course, this was only holding the position temporarily on his behalf.
“False” Imperial Insignia; the key was still on the word “False”. As long as the King of Qing wished, this Official Position could be withdrawn at any time, so he was very reassured about this.
However, soon he realized something was wrong.
Because Zhong Xin’s aura was still climbing. After reaching the Late Stage of Foundation Establishment, it showed no sign of stopping. Streaks of magnificent colors of Divine Abilities surged out from his body!
“So powerful?”
Until this moment, the King of Qing hadn’t noticed anything wrong, only surprised that his royal position could actually allow someone to climb to such a high realm.
It wasn’t until Zhong Xin’s aura broke through the bottleneck of the Late Stage of Foundation Establishment without any shackles, and his whole person’s aura revealed a concept of “Perfection” and “Flawlessness,” that the King of Qing finally discovered something slightly amiss. How is this substitute holding more powerful than when I personally wielded it?
‘Something’s wrong!’
In an instant, the King of Qing’s pupils shrank abruptly. Almost instinctively, he wanted to withdraw the Official Position just bestowed, but a chill suddenly came from his chest.
All words were blocked in his chest.
Because behind him, accompanied by a burst of blazing white Divine Ability magnificent colors, a figure appeared silently, and an invisible sword edge had already pierced through his chest.
[Assassinate King]! [Defy Steel]!
With the enhancement of two Divine Wonders, the sword edge of the [Formless Sword] encountered no resistance!
‘Assassin!? Impossible!’
The King of Qing’s eyes widened. He couldn’t believe an assassin could infiltrate the heavily guarded Golden Hall. Void shifting should be prohibited here!
Who is it? Why?
The King of Qing tried his best to look back, but he didn’t see the person who assassinated him. He only saw a hand and a talisman book held in that hand.
The pages flipped quickly, revealing the writing on them: [Lu Yang kills the King of Qing before the court]
Heavenly Tribulation Killing Intent! Destined Death!
With the enhancement of this Heavenly Tribulation Killing Intent, Lu Yang experienced for the first time what it meant to have divine help, what it meant to have Heaven and Earth join forces when the time comes.
From beginning to end, he only did one thing.
Life-Bound Divine Ability, [Determine Intimacy]!
Normally speaking, he and the King of Qing hadn’t even met; there was fundamentally no Karma. It was impossible to teleport directly to his side through [Determine Intimacy].
However, driven by the Heavenly Tribulation Killing Intent, not only did he clearly sense the Karma between him and the King of Qing, allowing him to shift from ten thousand miles away to behind the King of Qing with just a thought, but he also grasped the best timing through intuition, beheading him effortlessly!
Squelch!
The [Formless Sword] flashed and vanished, bringing a splash of blood light, and also splitting the King of Qing, who died with grievances, into two halves. Blood instantly stained more than half of the Golden Hall red.
In an instant, Heaven and Earth fell silent.
The surrounding eunuchs, the King of Qing’s expression, and many sounds seemed to disappear at this moment. Unknown when, dark clouds had gathered over the capital of the [Kingdom of Qing].
Rumble!
The entire capital trembled slightly at this moment. The whistling wind sounded like someone roaring, scraping against Zhong Xin and Lu Yang like steel knives.
However, just then, Zhong Xin also raised his head.
That face, usually “loyal,” “respectful,” diligent for decades, never revealing the slightest abnormality, now wore a mocking smile.
If the King of Qing were not dead, he could naturally retrieve the authority and position.
But now, he was dead.
Not only did he die in this deep palace, but before dying, he granted the Imperial Insignia to another. Back and forth, this actually made Zhong Xin the person with the highest authority in the current [Kingdom of Qing]!
“Lords, thank you for letting me win.”
As his voice fell, Zhong Xin’s appearance was still constantly changing. Flesh and blood fell off, as if taking off a mask, revealing a face familiar to Lu Yang.
Perfected One Chong Guang!
‘As expected…’
Seeing this scene, Lu Yang muttered to himself in his heart.
Zhong Xin was Chong Guang!
What “just reincarnated”—all were ghost words to fool people. With Perfected Lord Qingcheng Feixue putting in effort, even the heavenly secrets and Karma were deceived by him together!
No wonder he didn’t choose to go overseas back then.
The one appearing in Sacred Fire Cliff at the beginning was probably a clone-like existence from start to finish. The infants appearing all over the [Kingdom of Qing] were also diversions.
He had actually reincarnated long ago!
As for what Perfected One Yin Shan told Lu Yang about relying on an [Uprising] to reverse the Dao Court rules from bottom to top, it was even more deliberately released by him to confuse the public!
All for the sake of “Pretend to Take One Path While Sneaking Down Another.”
After all, to reverse the Dao Court rules of the [Kingdom of Qing], it didn’t necessarily have to be an [Uprising] from bottom to top; it could also be a [Seizure of Power] from top to bottom!
Chong Guang was about to achieve the Dao!
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