Chapter 363: Chapter 363
A silver wave of energy swept upward, pressing against the black dragon phantom above.
"Otherwise, today your Yan Dragon Vein will cease to exist!"
The foremost Qi cultivator of this era had used his spiritual form to enter the Imperial City, using the Dragon Vein as leverage to compel the mortal sovereign to yield!
Xue Yi raised his head and looked straight ahead.
He said, "You can try!"
A desolate resolve, a willingness to die, now permeated the air.
Zhao Jiulang popped the last bit of rice cake into his mouth, then mimicked the Yan Emperor’s earlier action, ungracefully licking his fingers.
No wonder seeing this grand master of the palace eunuchs felt so strange today, he thought. All these earlier scenes, weren’t they just him settling his affairs before death?
Faced with this situation, the Prime Minister of the Yan State showed no fear.
Actually, when Tian Wujing annihilated his own clan, Tian Wujing’s family ancestor had warned him to be wary of worldly cultivators who employed unorthodox arts.
Now, that ancestor’s prophecy had come true.
Despite this threat, the Yan Emperor’s expression remained utterly impassive.
He simply spoke, "Xue Yi, hear my decree!"
The black-robed old man before him trembled upon hearing this. He turned, somewhat bewildered, to look back at His Majesty, but still took a few steps back and knelt.
He said sincerely, "Your servant is here!"
"Retreat to Qiming Hall. You are not to interfere."
Xue Yi looked up at his sovereign, astonished.
He knew that even if he risked his life to protect the Dragon Vein, there was a chance he might not succeed. If he did not act, that Master Zang would undoubtedly sever the Dragon Vein!
"Receive the decree," the Yan Emperor stated.
Xue Yi’s face showed his struggle.
"Xue Yi, receive the decree!"
Xue Yi finally lowered his head.
He kowtowed and said, "Your servant, Xue Yi, receives the decree!"
Xue Yi rose and walked back into Qiming Hall, standing beside Zhao Jiulang.
The Yan Emperor then raised his head, looking upward.
He chuckled. "This is the first time I’ve witnessed such a spectacle above my own imperial palace."
Master Zang looked at the Yan Emperor with some confusion.
The Yan Emperor looked at Master Zang. This was the first time the Yan Emperor had truly opened his eyes to look at him since Master Zang’s spiritual form had appeared here!
"Quickly, quickly. Aren’t you going to cut this Dragon Vein? Cut it for me to see. I’m waiting to watch."
"Heh heh," Zhao Jiulang chuckled. He walked out of Qiming Hall and stood behind the Yan Emperor, looking up at the sky. "Your Majesty, it’s not just you. Your servant is also waiting to see this marvel."
Master Zang looked at the Yan State’s sovereign and minister, somewhat perplexed.
The Yan Emperor pointed at Master Zang, urging, "I still have many memorials in my Imperial Study to read. Don’t dally. Cut it swiftly."
Master Zang let out a cold laugh.
He said, "Your Majesty the Yan Emperor, severing a nation’s Dragon Vein invites a backlash so potent that even I might not withstand it. But, Your Majesty, do you truly believe I dare not?"
The Yan Emperor stood with his hands clasped behind his back.
He said, "Cut it swiftly!" Follow current novels on novel[f]ire.net
"Fine! Today, I shall cut your Yan Dragon Vein and extinguish the fortunes of your Ji Family!"
The next moment, all the lotus flowers beside the old man disintegrated, save for one that remained, wilted.
Master Zang pointed his finger to the sky.
A formidable surge of Qi was projected from the unseen into the firmament.
Immediately after, a ray of rosy light descended, landing directly on the black dragon phantom.
The black dragon phantom fractured, its ink-like blackness dispersing.
From the unseen it came, and to the unseen it returned.
Flames began to burn on Master Zang’s spiritual form. His expression showed no pain, only a cold stare fixed on the king as he spoke in a voice that seemed somewhat ethereal, "Yan Emperor, your Yan State’s Dragon Vein is severed!"
The Yan Emperor had been watching the changes in the sky. When the Black Dragon vanished, the dark clouds scattered, and light shone down, he took a deep breath.
He said, "My Yan State has stood for hundreds of years. The hardship of its founding, the difficulty of its defense—these are etched into the heart of every Yan person.
"Yan has endured for centuries not because of some damn Dragon Vein, nor because of the so-called National Destiny spoken of by you Qi cultivators!
"Yan has relied on the sons of Yan, for hundreds of years, riding with sabers drawn to the Yan border in the north, their blood staining the desert!
"It has relied on the ancestral emperors of the Ji Family; when one fell in battle, a new emperor ascended and continued to lead the campaigns in person!
"It has relied on warhorses, on sabers, on the unbreakable spirit of generations of Yan people!
"I am the Son of Heaven!
"I do not believe in fate! If fate truly exists, then that fate can certainly be changed by human effort!"
In the Yan Emperor’s mind, images surfaced:
The image of Li Liangting, the Earl of North Border, as a child, drooling with envy as he watched him eat a chicken leg.
The image of Lord Jingnan, Tian Wujing, and his roar: "The fall of the great Yan noble families begins with my Tian Family!"
The image of himself, lamp in hand, gazing at the map of Yan’s territory every night before sleep.
My fate, the National Destiny of Yan... you think you can change it just by saying so? You think you can sever it just by saying so? Then what use are my Yan State’s hundreds of thousands of iron cavalry? Then what use are my Yan State’s Northern and Southern Marquises? Then what use am I, the Yan Emperor?
Master Zang’s spiritual form was on the verge of dissipating. The Yan Emperor’s words echoed in his ears.
Suddenly, he felt a sense of bewilderment.
This Emperor of the Yan State—his attitude, his words, his expression—actually caused Master Zang to feel a flicker of doubt about the cultivation he had pursued his entire life.
The Yan Emperor descended the steps.
As he walked down, he said, "Qi cultivators, they are so numerous!
"Rural Qi cultivators eke out a living by fortune-telling for weddings and funerals, surviving by deceiving the common folk!"