The palace atop the City of Heaven was so high that it made one think they could pluck stars from the sky while sitting on a cloud, and from below, they could see the tides rising and falling in the City of Divine Beings.
“Finally made it here.”
Li Mo snapped back to reality.
His eyes were anything but relaxed; in fact, they were even more alert and serious than before.
The Divine Sword… something felt off!
In the past, the Divine Sword of the Celestials had completely ignored him, even though he had already gleaned the essence of the sword belonging to mere mortals.
That was just one reason.
The sword had undergone a deeper transformation.
And it wasn’t a good one.
Once someone picked it up, they didn’t want to let go; once they grasped it, they felt like they could control heaven and earth; once they held it, their inner ferocity swelled violently…
As for how others felt about Li Mo, they were blissfully unaware.
The City of Divine Beings was in utter chaos.
The Imperial Capital wasn’t faring any better either.
“I hereby decree that Elder Han He is now crowned as the Crown Prince! Why aren’t you all kneeling before the Supreme Emperor to accept this honor?”
Shang Wu, with her majestic charm, boldly stood on the table while gazing at the Jiangshan Yizhi Map.
Whoever saw her prized disciple couldn’t help but think she had the aura of an emperor, right?
“Kneel to your grandpa! Keep your mouth shut for once!”
Elder Han He noticed the Celestial Guards looking at him with malicious intent, as if even the slightest movement would provoke them into action. The old man inwardly lamented.
It was Shang Wu who was committing the real blasphemy; why were they focused on him, the Crown Prince?
Was his balding head supposed to wait until he was crowned to grow back hair?
“Brother Li, you… I…”
Wu Chushu stared blankly, seemingly engaged in an internal battle among the celestials.
Smack—
Elder Zeng swiftly slapped the back of his head, clearing his mind with a glance.
If you learn other things, that’s fine; if you mess them up, you only embarrass yourself. But this? Learning this and not getting it right?
“Li bro truly took the City of Divine Beings without firing a shot, huh?”
Xiao Qian sighed dramatically, feeling quite honored.
His mastery of the Thousand Forms Secret Art had long surpassed anyone’s understanding, and Brother Li’s application of the technique was beyond the realm of comprehension.
Thousand Forms was a general term for various styles and shapes.
Brother Li wasn’t just perfecting it for himself; he was spreading the Thousand Forms Secret Art among everyone, which would in turn, benefit him, helping both others and himself.
“Hey, Old Huang, what are you scribbling over there?”
Murong Xiao noticed that Huang Donglai had been scribbling something since earlier.
Without looking up, Huang Donglai replied, “I’m summarizing Brother Li’s success experience.”
“Success in rebellion, you mean?”
“Yup.”
“……”
Murong Xiao thought to himself that Da Yu hadn’t quite reached that stage yet.
At that moment, someone pointed at Li Mo in the Jiangshan Yizhi Map and questioned, “Did anyone notice that Li Mo’s situation is a bit off?”
…..
Under the canopy, Emperor Jingtai’s deep-set eyes sparkled with a hint of sigh:
“The Divine Sword of the Celestials contains not only the way of chivalry but also the way of emperors. This is my mistake; if it weren’t for that, Su Jun wouldn’t have…”
Li Mo had only grasped about 30% of the sword’s essence, with zero understanding of the general and imperial sword paths.
Jiang Yu was skilled in the imperial sword path.
This was also the reason why Jingtai held little hope for his Crown Prince from the very beginning.
Because he had walked this path once and ended in defeat.
As for the sword of chivalry, no one had dared attempt it since it was too complex.
However, Jingtai furrowed his brow and added, “His current state seems to be influenced by the emperor’s sword essence, yet it’s not quite the same… If Li Mo were going to be affected, he would have long ago…”
Emperor Jingtai had allowed Li Mo to wield the Divine Sword out of a desire to see if he possessed the mental fortitude to resist its allure and whether he had the qualification to do so.
The outcome was obvious; Li Mo showed no interest in the way of emperors, his heart pure as day; even if he wanted to learn, he couldn’t.
It couldn’t have been an act all this time!
“There’s a trump card left by the bl**d God within the sword.”
Old Granny Yantian said solemnly.
“What’s the trump card?”
“I can’t say for sure, but it’s probably bigger than the trials the Divine Sword itself poses.”
Looking at the old lady’s expression, Emperor Jingtai fell silent for a moment, his face darkening as he muttered two words:
“Longevity?”
He could ask this question because he had thought about it too.
For a person who had already reached the peak in wealth, status, and power, what else could even be called a temptation?
Reflecting on his own heart, he realized he couldn’t refuse.
If even emperors weren’t exempt from temptation, then what about him…
The old lady clasped her hands: “As for the bl**d God and Li Mo, I can’t calculate anything, I discovered it too late. Please forgive me, Your Majesty.”
“You can’t blame yourself.”
Jingtai gazed at the Jiangshan Yizhi Map, the bl**d vessels bulging in the fingers clutching his teacup, a flicker of dim light shaking in his eyes.
At that moment, the emperor didn’t appear to be the ruler of the Nine Heavens and Ten Earths.
Instead, he seemed like someone drowning, watching helplessly as the lifeline he clutched was about to snap…
Meanwhile, in the projection, Li Mo’s hand held the Divine Sword, its glow faintly revealing a trace of crimson.
Any ordinary person with eyes would’ve seen something was wrong.
“What’s going on?”
“The Divine Sword of the Celestials was once taken by the bl**d God, mired in his tainted bl**d; could it be that…”
“Is it a trick left by the bl**d God?”
“That spans across Da Shang and Da Yu, even reaching back to the ancient Huanmo Sect.”
“Can Young Hero Li withstand it?”
The once-boisterous Imperial Capital once again fell into silence, many faces turning ashen.
…..
In the City of Divine Beings, in the City of Heaven.
The bl**d light within the Divine Sword was growing ever stronger.
“Thank goodness we didn’t try to touch the Divine Sword back then.”
Many celestial beings had actually entertained the thought but hadn’t had the time to put it into action.
If it weren’t for Li Mo’s rehearsal with the heavens, stepping forward would have been inevitable sooner or later.
“Tch, he’s really shot himself in the foot.”
Po Jun grunted with a complicated expression.
He genuinely admired Li Mo, even if he had been tricked by him; some part of him felt a pang of sympathy.
“Does my brother-in-law be okay…” Feng Zhi thought anxiously.
The Celestial beings were hesitant to approach, not having a clue about what strange changes might occur. Moreover, the folks from Ink City were guarding Li Mo closely, not letting anyone near.
The most anxious ones were probably Dong Ge Yu and the others.
“Li Mo, you….”
“I can handle this. Don’t come over.”
Li Mo reminded them in his last bit of clarity.
Then, his consciousness sank, his vision completely shrouded by the mesmerizing glow of the Divine Sword. As the dazzling colors blurred into a haze, his conscious mind fell into darkness.
“Your Majesty, your health is deteriorating…”
A high-pitched voice reached his ears, accompanied by the jolting of wheels over a bumpy road. He seemed to be on a horse-drawn carriage.
The carriage was grand and spacious, like a moving palace, with the outside filled with banners and the fierce army.
A eunuch knelt before his sickbed, carefully reporting.
“I’m just about to be crowned…”
“Where did this come from?”
Li Mo’s consciousness was already weak and hazy, his physical state on the verge of collapse, leaving him unable to speak.
Moreover, he seemed incapable of doing anything according to his own will.
All he knew was that he didn’t seem to be in the Nine Heavens and Ten Earths anymore.
Instead, he found himself back in that past history when an empire swept across the land with overwhelming prowess, only to plummet from the sky like a comet.
How swift was it, you ask?
The animated story telling this empire’s saga took longer to be released than the empire lasted…
The reasons behind the empire’s collapse were numerous, but what people loved to discuss most was the sudden d*ath of its mighty ruler, believed to have coincided with the empire’s demise.
How ironic.
This prematurely deceased emperor had spared no effort in seeking longevity with all his might, and yet in the end, he met d*ath with no wealth left, leaving behind a mixed legacy.
“I… have I become Qin Shi Huang?!”
