Cultivation: I Can Reincarnate Into Various Worlds-Chapter 490 - 255, I... have a name called Emperor Tiande_3
"I take my leave..."
Emperor Xiaochang stood up, flicked his sleeve robe, and left the Daoist Temple with a weary look. Xu Xing had offered tea to see him off; the Emperor, however, merely touched the tea to his lips before taking his leave. He was, after all, an emperor and had his own temper. Now that he could see his own death was not far off, he was unwilling to endure such cold treatment.
I laughed at Hai An for being inferior to his father, but this Emperor Xiaochang, though he has the appearance of an enlightened monarch, is hardly any better than Hai An when confronted with setbacks... 𝚏𝕣𝐞𝗲𝐰𝕖𝐛𝐧𝕠𝕧𝚎𝚕.𝐜𝚘𝗺
Xu Xing raised his sleeve, drawing the wine from the wine cup back into the wine jar, then returned the jar of Spiritual Wine to his Storage Bag.
This Spiritual Wine was called Hundred Sun Liquid, a thank-you gift from Chongzhen Temple. The wine was mellow and full-bodied, with a gentle spiritual nature; even mortals could drink it without falling ill. Moreover, its medicinal properties could dispel long-standing ailments from mortals and prolong their lives.
Although Emperor Xiaochang was "unfilial," after more than two hundred years, so-called filial piety and unfilial behavior were merely concepts, amounting to little more than being "hidebound" versus "progressive."
Everyone has their own destiny. I granted him two opportunities, yet he discarded them both... It is a matter of timing, and of fate.
Xu Xing sat cross-legged on the Jade Seat, continuing to study the "Great Unrestrained Realm" he had comprehended while suspended in the sky above the Country of Flowing Light. This realm was truly wondrous. Entering the Great Unrestrained Realm not only increased his combat power severalfold but also significantly accelerated his Magic Power recovery.
「In the blink of an eye.」
Another nine days passed. King Rui Xu Hongzhang, leading the armies of the three feudal kings and taking advantage of the chaos within the Imperial Court, marched straight toward Shenjing. After only a few major battles, they easily reached Shenjing and besieged the city. Upon hearing that the army of 200,000 from the feudal kings was approaching, the Shenjing garrison surrendered without a fight.
From then on, only the Imperial City remained as a stronghold loyal to Emperor Xiaochang.
Emperor Xiaochang staggered to the Vermilion Bird Gate of the Imperial Palace. He gazed at the unending lines of feudal kings’ armies gathered below the city gate and muttered to himself with a mad laugh, "If only I hadn’t killed Huan Shideng that day... hadn’t disobeyed my mother... hadn’t agreed to the Relocation of Graves... Would there be such a defeat?"
"No, I am not wrong!" Emperor Xiaochang gritted his teeth. "If Huan Shideng hadn’t died, how could I control the Imperial Court? My mother brought chaos to the country; as Emperor, I naturally had to defy her wishes..."
Below the city gate, Prince Xu, Prince Rui, and Prince Zheng rode out from their army. Looking up at Emperor Xiaochang on the city wall, one of them called out, "Xiaochang, for the sake of our uncle-nephew relationship, your Imperial Uncles will spare your life if you surrender."
Upon hearing these words, Emperor Xiaochang’s expression shifted rapidly, his face turning shades of green and red with humiliation and anger. A moment later, he regained his composure and ordered the city defenders to open the palace gate.
Once the palace gate opened, the three feudal kings, instead of rushing to take control of the Imperial City, ordered their troops to clear a path. They then proceeded to the gate of the Daoist Temple where the cultivator Xu Xing resided.
"This humble king pays his respects to Feudal Official Yan..." King Rui dismounted, knocked on the Daoist Temple Gate, walked into the courtyard, and bowed respectfully toward the door of the main room.
They knew any claim to the Imperial Throne was illusory; without a cultivator’s support, it could change hands in an instant. Before raising troops to depose Emperor Xiaochang, they had consulted Xu Xing. Only after learning that this Mr. Yan, the cultivator, would not aid Emperor Xiaochang did they dare to mobilize their forces in the feudal territories to "cleanse the sovereign’s surroundings."
As soon as King Rui finished speaking, a gentle breeze wafted through, and the room door opened silently, revealing the youth in a green robe seated on the Jade Seat.
"Where is Feudal Official Yan?" the three Princes of the Imperial Family asked, looking around the room but finding no trace of the cultivator known as Mr. Yan.
"I, Yan, am also Xu," the youth in a green robe said with an indifferent expression, shaking his head and chuckling softly.
He then said in a clear voice, "I am a mountain hermit, having lived and engaged in Cultivation in these mountains for so long I’ve lost track of time. Now that I have awakened from my daze, I cannot recall the current year or month.
"The last I recall, it was still the 21st year of Chongming.
"At that time, there was a title people used: Emperor Tiande."
Upon hearing this, it was as if a thunderbolt struck the minds of the three Princes of the Imperial Family. They looked again at the face of the youth in a green robe, a sudden intuition telling them he bore a striking resemblance to the first portrait of the Grand Ancestor hanging in the Grand Temple.
"We, your unworthy descendants, pay our respects to the Grand Ancestor Emperor..." the three immediately kowtowed, performing the full ritual of three kneelings and nine prostrations, their bodies trembling with trepidation.
