Chapter 228: Chapter 146: Another Sixty Years Pass, All Living Beings Enter My Dream

Qianqing Palace.

Shangguan Xiyue carefully carried a cup of hot tea and placed it on Wang Xiao’s desk.

She remained silent, attending to Wang Xiao’s side just as she always did.

At that moment, Wang Xiao was dressed in casual robes, sitting cross-legged before his desk as he meticulously reviewed the official reports and memorials sent from various regions.

’Only after truly becoming an Emperor did I realize how much trouble it is to manage such a vast country.’

Governing the people’s welfare, cultivating talent, disaster prevention, appointing and dismissing officials, census registration, tax collection, land reform...

Each of these matters was endlessly complex, and a single misstep could affect the entire nation.

Moreover, they involved the lives of countless common people.

One wrong move could incite civil unrest and cause public discontent to boil over.

Even though Wang Xiao’s Divine Soul was exceptionally powerful, allowing him to focus on several tasks at once, he still proceeded with extreme caution, not daring to be the least bit negligent.

In the month since his enthronement, he hadn’t implemented any sweeping reforms. Aside from the typical acts of a newly crowned Emperor—such as reducing taxes and granting a general amnesty—he had issued almost no other decrees.

He was still in a learning phase.

Of course, Wang Xiao was in no hurry.

He had plenty of Time left.

If achieving Enlightenment were this simple, he wouldn’t have needed to become an Emperor in the first place.

Just then, Chief Eunuch Chen Fang walked in from outside the hall. He bowed slightly and said,

"Your Majesty, Princess Wencheng is outside and requests an audience."

Wang Xiao glanced up briefly, his eyes still on the report in his hands, and spoke:

"Admit her."

"Yes."

A short while later, a woman with a slender figure and an aloof air walked slowly into the hall, dressed in a plain white gown.

It was Princess Wencheng, Liu Yuzhen.

She watched Wang Xiao, who was still reviewing memorials, and shook her head.

"You’re becoming more and more like a worldly Emperor."

Liu Yuzhen had been in a state of shock for quite some time after learning of the great battle on the Capital City’s Ten-Mile Long Street.

’Her own unassuming ninth brother had quietly reached the Immortal King Realm through his Cultivation.’

’What’s more, he seemed to have already reached its pinnacle, just one step away from becoming an Earth Immortal.’

’Even the Earth Immortal Ancestor had seemingly granted her ninth brother a favor, ceding Wenchang Country to him and promising not to interfere.’

What she found strange, however, was that ever since her ninth brother had taken over Wenchang Country, he had completely immersed himself in the duties of an Emperor.

He held court daily, summoned his ministers, and after court, he would review the reports and memorials from across the land.

There was nothing about him that resembled a Cultivator.

After all, an Immortal King ruling a nation wouldn’t handle every single matter personally.

They would typically appoint an Emperor and let him manage the country for them.

They would only intervene in times of war or major unrest.

Wang Xiao put down the memorial in his hands, looked at Liu Yuzhen, and said,

"I am an Emperor. Why say I’m ’like’ one?"

Liu Yuzhen replied,

"I just find it strange. I don’t know what you’re planning, Ninth Brother. I may not be an Immortal King, but I know this isn’t the way to attain Enlightenment. Do you really intend to be a worldly Emperor?"

Wang Xiao smiled.

"And why shouldn’t I? My path is naturally different from yours."

"Very well." Liu Yuzhen had nothing more to say.

She realized she had never truly understood this ninth brother of hers.

Wang Xiao spoke up. "Sixth Sister, was there something you came to see me about?"

Liu Yuzhen said, "I came to bid you farewell. I’m returning to the Sect tomorrow. I probably won’t come down from the mountain again until I become an Adult Immortal."

Wang Xiao nodded slightly. "In that case, I wish you a safe journey, Sixth Sister."

After a moment’s thought, Liu Yuzhen said, "Although you severely injured Junior Martial Uncle An, so he probably won’t cause you any trouble for a while, I’ll keep an eye on him for you after I return to the sect. If he makes any moves against you, I’ll notify you immediately."

Wang Xiao fell silent at the mention of An Yuanshan.

’An Yuanshan may be an Immortal King, but he’s nothing more than a buffoon. I’ve never paid him any mind.’

Still, Liu Yuzhen’s offer was well-intentioned, and he wouldn’t refuse it.

After a moment’s thought, he took out a Talisman and handed it to Liu Yuzhen.

"When we first met, you gave me a Protective Jade Ring. Consider this Talisman me returning the favor. Take it. It can block a single blow from an Immortal King."

In recent years, he had traveled to various kingdoms to seize resources like Spiritual Fields and Spiritual Ores, so he had naturally fought with many Cultivators from the Immortal Sects.

Crafting a Talisman that conformed to this world’s flow of spiritual energy was hardly a difficult task for him.

He had already given one to nearly everyone close to him, including Xu Zhenshu.

Liu Yuzhen accepted the Talisman, her expression complicated.

’A single Talisman like this,’ she thought, ’is probably as valuable as a Spiritual Treasure.’

A myriad of emotions welled up within her.

The Prince who was once trapped in the Imperial Harem was long gone.

In his place stood the Sovereign of the Yongchang Kingdom, the Celestial Destiny Emperor, whose power held the world in its sway.

"Ninth Brother, take care!"

Liu Yuzhen cupped her fist, turned, and departed.

Shangguan Xiyue watched Liu Yuzhen’s departing figure and said,

"The Sixth Princess is a good person."

Wang Xiao picked up another memorial and resumed reading it, but he still replied,

"A good person, yes, but not one who walks the same path."

Shangguan Xiyue pressed her lips together and couldn’t help but gaze at Wang Xiao’s profile.

’Do I,’ she wondered, ’walk the same path as him?’

...

A million li north of the Yongchang Kingdom stood a mountain so high that mortals could never hope to reach it in their entire lifetime.

The great mountain was wreathed in immortal mist, encircled by torrential rivers that flowed past it like stars guarding a celestial throne.

Atop the mountain was an unbroken chain of palaces, with Flying Waterfalls and gushing springs, dancing Immortal Cranes, and swirling, ethereal mists—truly an immortal paradise on earth.

This was the home of the Vast Immortal Sect.