Taiyi Dao Fruit

The existence of King Shu might indeed be very important to the Heavenly Monarch, important enough for him to stand at the forefront.

In a certain sense, the current Heavenly Monarch is acting as a replacement for King Shu.

'In other words, the Heavenly Monarch will take action in the territory of Great Zhou... very well.' Jiang Li thought to himself.

He slowly retracted his Qi Mechanism and looked at the people in front of the hall.

All the officials lowered their heads, not daring to meet Jiang Li's gaze. The Qi Mechanism just now had already proven one point—that Jiang Li had indeed embraced the Emperor Dao Fruit.

And the Emperor, is a Supreme.

Although most of them are well-informed, compared to the top elite, that is, the third grade, they are still far behind. Therefore, upon discovering that Jiang Li had embraced the Emperor Dao Fruit, they immediately regarded Jiang Li as a figure who would determine the world's structure.

In this sense, the numerous officials are actually no different from ordinary people.

Though, Jiang Li is indeed already a Supreme.

In any case, thanks to this ingrained perception and the groundwork laid beforehand, at this moment all the officials and royal clans instinctively adjusted their positions, not daring to show the slightest offense.

Jiang Li's gaze swept over the crowd, grasping their mindset at this moment, and said indifferently, "It's late, everyone may retire first. Tomorrow, accompany me in sending off the Former Emperor for the last time."

Jiang Sikong... no, now he should be called Emperor Jiang. Emperor Jiang smoothly changed his self-reference once more, adapting to his new position at the fastest speed.

"As Your Majesty commands."

The crowd responded in unison once again.

Afterward, Jiang Li turned and entered the hall, while the others waited until his figure disappeared through the hall's door before they departed in an orderly manner.

Inside the palace, Jiang Li took off the Imperial Robe draped over him and glanced at it, "This robe's material is quite special."

If calculated according to the grade of Magic Artifacts, this robe could already be classified as fourth-rank.

"Naturally, the Emperor's robe cannot be ordinary, so I took the time to make one and gave it to Zhu Hui'an as a small gift for your enthronement," the Primordial Lord Rain Master said with a light laugh.

Tianxuan, Gongsun Qingyue, and the Princess, who entered the hall afterward, all glanced at Rain Master upon hearing these words.

If Rain Master hadn't mentioned it, they might have almost forgotten that this fourth-rank true Dao Fruit is actually the Leizu Dao Fruit.

Lei Zu, the Primordial Consort of the Yellow Emperor, known as Lady Xiancan, was the first to cultivate silkworm and weave silk. Her Dao Fruit Divine Skills excel at drawing silk to make garments. However, the Primordial Lord Rain Master has always used it for frontal attacks and cultivating Yi Dao of Cause and Effect, almost making people forget the specialization of her Dao Fruit.

However, if viewed from a historical perspective, as the Primordial Consort of the Yellow Emperor, Lei Zu's combat power shouldn't have been weak. After all, that was a barbaric and ancient era, where the higher a woman's status, the better she could fight.

From this perspective, the Primordial Lord Rain Master hasn't deviated from the Cause and Effect of Lei Zu.

Of course, these are trivial matters, the key is that Rain Master secretly made clothes and gifted such a thoughtful small present.

Even though Rain Master is now at third grade, making a fourth-rank Vestment robe still requires considerable labor and heart power.

Let's just hope this truly is just a gift.

The Princess, having earlier perceived some relations, showed only a trace of surprise with no further expression. She seemed to regard it merely as a gift, possibly relieved that Rain Master distracted Tianxuan and Gongsun Qingyue, the master-disciple pair.

As for the Master and Senior Sister, they were somewhat suspicious but showed no astonishment.

"Oh, I forgot to prepare a gift for my junior brother," Gongsun Qingyue said with annoyance.

"Serving our new Emperor well with your master is the best gift," the Princess teased with a smile.

"Bah," Tianxuan, upon hearing this, spat and said, "Summer has come, spring is over."

Then she stepped forward, took the Imperial Robe, and helped Jiang Li put it on.

The Imperial Robe was wide and heavy, completely able to be worn directly over Jiang Li's white garment. Tianxuan gestured for Gongsun Qingyue to come over, and together, they helped Jiang Li dress in the robe.

The two then observed Jiang Li's new appearance, their eyes lighting up with admiration.

Just as Jiang Li found the four of them, dressed in mourning attire, elegantly simple yet charming in a unique way, they also felt that his current attire exuded more majesty than before.

The Primordial Lord Rain Master's pupils quietly transformed, her dragon eyes glowing golden as if gold was melting and flowing in her gaze.

Jiang Li had been guarding the Former Emperor's spirit and participating in the rites these days, thus not fulfilling the agreement to assist Rain Master in cultivation, almost causing her to reveal herself.

This was not only due to the dragon's nature but also because dragons are closely related to the Emperor, no exception for the Yinglong Dragon, which is even said to be Taiyi's consort.

Jiang Li, bearing the Green Emperor Dao Fruit and becoming Emperor, presented even greater assistance and allure to Rain Master.

Unfortunately, as it is now within the Imperial Mausoleum, with Tianxuan and the other three present, it wasn't suitable for Jiang Li to assist her cultivation.

As for Jiang Li, he also couldn't engage in private matters at such a time.

However, Jiang Li still noticed the momentary change in Rain Master's gaze.

'I must find some time,' Jiang Li thought.

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The night passed quietly for Jiang Li.

Although he was in the same hall with four beautiful women, and they were in mourning attire, Jiang didn't have any encounter with them.

The next day, the Former Emperor's Zigong was buried.

Before the Zigong entered the Underground Palace, Jiang Li led the ministers and royal clan to mourn and offer the Sacrificial Wine, while also secretly vigilant of the Heavenly Monarch taking action.

Jiang Li, having gone through the three declinations and three submissions, was now confirmed to be ascending to the throne. Although there were no flaws in the legalities and related matters, if the Heavenly Monarch truly wanted to find a reason to target him, it would be simple.

Jiang Li replacing the Ji Family to ascend to the Emperor's position would still leave some dissatisfied, no matter how perfectly it was done. The Heavenly Monarch could simply brand Jiang Li as an usurping rebel and raise troops under the guise of enforcing the Mandate of Heaven and pacifying misfortune.

Since the Heavenly Monarch intends to replace King Shu and seize the Three States, and even more, to take the entire Great Zhou, this is unquestionably an opportunity not to be missed.

However, the Heavenly Monarch did not make a move at the funeral.

Perhaps it was because acting at a funeral would damage his reputation, or maybe he wasn't confident—anyway, the Heavenly Monarch did not take action.

Jiang Li didn't hesitate because of this, conducting the rites efficiently, and then accompanied the royal clan and officials in escorting the coffin for burial.

Afterward, they mourned again in a palace outside the tomb, staying for one more night, and the next day they announced to the heavens and earth that the Former Emperor had passed away, made a Divine Tablet, and sent it to the Imperial Temple for worship.

With that, the funeral was considered complete.

On the way back, they no longer walked and instead took a carriage.

However, on the road, a Divine Travel Grand Protector suddenly came with a message—the elder of the Dinghu Sect had arrived in the Divine Capital.

As a sect closely related to the court, the Dinghu Sect indeed needed to be involved in the crowning of the new Emperor. Moreover, they needed to determine the cause of Elder Tianquan's death and handle the matters of the Dinghu Sect Leader.

So, Tianxuan and Gongsun Qingyue returned to the Divine Capital first, while Jiang Li, as the newly crowned Emperor, continued riding in the carriage.

Then...

A streak of golden light flew in from outside the carriage, directly entering Jiang Li's Imperial Robe.

Soon, there was a sensation of delicate scales brushing against his skin, as an exquisite little dragon head slowly emerged from Jiang Li's collar.

"Fellow Daoist, it's time for you to assist in my cultivation now,"

the Yinglong dragon brushed its head against Jiang Li's cheek, its tongue lightly licking Jiang Li's earlobe, whispering, "You have no idea how enticing you are right now."

Jiang Li, unperturbed, focused his thoughts, setting heavy restrictions on the carriage to isolate the sound from inside going out while leaving the channel open for incoming messages.

Meanwhile, the Master of Rain connected with Jiang Li through the Qi mechanism, receiving the Innate Qi within Jiang Li's body and returning it, his body glowing with a golden light, the dragon's might faintly visible, enhancing Jiang Li's own aura.

Man and dragon complemented each other.

The ample Imperial Robe became a bit crowded with a dragon inside it, and Jiang Li instinctively loosened his collar, but the Primordial Lord Rain Master said, "Just like this, don't take off the robe."

Jiang Li: "?"

It felt like the roles had reversed; he never imagined he'd get caught up in a uniform temptation scenario, especially being the one wearing the uniform.

It was like overturning the Heavenly Gang.

Besides, the Rain Master's assertiveness had become increasingly strong, usually calm and cool, yet showing an intense draconic nature at times.

She was adapting to the influence of the dragon's body, also expressing it through contact with Jiang Li.

"You don't have to take it off, just turn back into human form first," Jiang Li whispered.

A uniform, is it? You too.

The Yinglong dragon understood his intent and let out a chuckling laugh, then moved to the front of Jiang Li and turned back into human form.

The Imperial Robe became even more crowded, as the former Yinglong turned into a gracefully plain person, lowering her gaze slightly, seeing the simple white clothing wrapped tightly around her body, allowing Jiang Li only to see the shoulder, yet looking even more captivating.

The experiences missed in the Imperial Mausoleum due to various reasons were now explored.

The Master of Rain leaned her delicate head on Jiang Li's shoulder, lightly tilting her head, and the exquisite dragon horn on her forehead brushed through his hair like a comb.

"Come, assist in my cultivation,"

the Master of Rain softly invited.

It was indeed—

Turning back to embrace is always agreeable, gently nudging, slowly hearing the sound tremble, slightly startling the rising red blush.

...

...

The procession moved much faster than when they came and arrived at the Divine Capital on the second day, entering the Imperial City at night.

The carriage carrying Jiang Li didn't stop after entering the palace; it proceeded directly to the Nanli Palace.

The Princess saw this, showed a slight look of contemplation, and ordered her maids to direct her carriage toward Nanli Palace, but a maid from Nanli Palace hurried over to stop the Princess's carriage.

"Your Highness,"

the maid whispered, "The Lady and Gongsun Family Master wish you to return an hour later." 𝗳𝗿𝐞𝕖𝘄𝗲𝕓𝗻𝚘𝚟𝕖𝐥.𝚌𝕠𝕞

"The Lady?" The Princess paused for a moment, then laughed, "You all really change titles quickly."

Who else could this "Lady" refer to but Gongsun Qingyue?

As for the reason for delaying her return...

"Alright, tonight I'll help the Emperor one last time and deal with some backlogged memorials," the Princess said.

And so, the Princess's carriage headed toward the Great Ming Hall.

Jiang Li also noticed the different directions of the two carriages, his gaze shifted slightly, and he gently stroked the dragon horn in his hand, saying, "Primordial Lord, we are almost at Nanli Palace."

"We've arrived, then I'll hide,"

said the Primordial Lord Rain Master lazily, turning into a golden light and directly slipping into Jiang Li's sleeve, entering the space he had created.

Seeing her like this, she seemed content to simply rest beside Jiang Li.

At this time, the carriage entered Nanli Palace and arrived at Nanming Pavilion.

The pavilion doors opened, and Tianxuan and Gongsun Qingyue, both dressed in simple white clothing, stood inside the pavilion.