Chapter 1028: The Ancestral Emperor
Jian Chen calmed down and removed the Space Rings from the two old men before rejoining Rui Jin and the others in the air. He said, “Senior Rui Jin, I want to go to the Felicity Empire next. Please create a Space Gate for me.”
Rui Jin did not turn down Jian Chen’s request and instead agreed to it without any hesitation, “I just happen to have looked into the territories of the three great empires, so I know their precise locations.” With that, Rui Jin extended a finger and swung it casually. The space ripped open, quickly forming a Space Gate.
Jian Chen stared unblinkingly at Rui Jin’s ordinary and simple action. His eyes shined with interest as he seemed to be deep in thought. He already knew that he would not be able to undergo breakthroughs as easily as before once he reached partial achievement and that every layer would require the comprehension of the laws of the world. As a result, he paid close attention to how Rui Jin ripped open space.
“Not only does senior Rui Jin’s action of ripping open space contain his comprehension of the laws of space, it also possesses the control of power. Space is a law while energy also has its own way. Looks like I’ve already begun to interact with the laws when I was a Saint Ruler, except that it was just a smattering of it,” Jian Chen mumbled inside.
“Once I deal with the matters on hand, I’ll immediately go to Mercenary City and get Xiao Ling to invoke the mysteries of the world for me to comprehend. I’ll work hard on increasing my strength.”
Jian Chen and the others, including the four protectors, immediately stepped through the Space Gate and disappeared from the air above the Longqi Kingdom as soon as it had formed. You Yue had already been sent into the artifact space when Jian Chen fought with the Saint Kings before.
The Felicity Empire was one of the three great empires of the continent. It possessed a lengthy history and had two of the seven capital cities of the continent, the City of the Heavenly Spirits and Thunder City. The City of the Heavenly Spirits was the imperial capital of the empire, where the imperial palace was located.
As the imperial capital of the Felicity Empire, the prosperity of the City of Heavenly Spirits was naturally self-evident. Countless organizations consisting of large and small clans filled every space within the city walls. Experts gathered and were as common as clouds.
However, there was one exception. There was a huge mixture of people within the city walls of the imperial capital, but it was governed very well, so there were extremely few cases of violence.
Jian Chen’s group appeared in the air above the city after passing through the Spatial Gate. They looked down at the land below them and with a rough scan, they found were the imperial palace was. They immediately flew in that direction.
Currently, the pale-faced Fang Yan and Ta Ji, who had just come back from the Longqi Kingdom, sat on cushions as they meditated in a majestic hall within the palace. Before them sat a middle-aged man in a set of luxurious, gilded robes. His face was dark as he angrily glared at Fang Yan and Ta Ji.
The man was extremely handsome, and the presence of a ruler radiated from him. He was filled with prestige.
He was an Imperial Protector of the Felicity Empire as well, and he was stronger than Fang Yan and Ta Ji. He was at the peak of the Seventh Heavenly Layer as well as an emperor who had abdicated several years ago. He was a member of the imperial family.
“The Bloodsword sect is just too arrogant for injuring the Imperial Protectors of my Felicty Empire. How dare they! And I can feel that Imperial Protector Luo Duo’s presence has disappeared. He must have suffered a mishap. Hmph, the Bloodsword sect is going too far. Do they really think that they can trample all over the dignity of the empire just because they have Houston supporting them?” The middle-aged man growled unhappily.
The Felicity Empire was one of the three great empires of the continent, and even among ancient clans, there were not many that could rival them. As a result, they treated their dignity with more importance than anything else. The Bloodsword sect had heavily injured two of their Imperial Protectors regardless of the consequences and even killed one. It was not something that the Felicity Empire could bear with.
Saint Kings were the central force of the empire, so Luo Duo’s death was an extremely heavy loss. Even with the entire empire in perspective, they could count the number of Saint Kings with their fingers, so Saint Kings were not something they could obtain just because they wanted to.
The middle-aged man immediately rose up from his cushion as icy-cold light flickered in his eyes. He growled, “Houston actually dares to offend my Felicity Empire like this right before he’s about to pass away. Looks like he’s trying to do something big before he dies. If that’s the case, we’ll strike first and wipe out his sect.”
“Dealing with the Bloodsword sect with the strength of our empire is naturally not a problem, but how do we deal with Houston? And other than Houston, there’s a new sect leader. He’s extremely powerful when he wields an Emperor Armament and definitely has the capacity to fight you,” Ta Ji said with a deep voice.
“I’ll keep the new sect master busy. We can get the Ancestral Emperor to deal with Houston. Although the Ancestral Emperor’s slightly weaker than Houston, Zaar Caiyun of the Zaar clan and Hao Wu from the Holy Empire still owe me a favor. I’ll go to the Holy Empire this instance to find them, so they can assist the Ancestral Emperor. I think the three of them should be more enough to deal with Houston,” the middle-aged man said. However, his eyes suddenly froze when he finished speaking, and he quickly raised his head.
Very quickly, Ta Ji and Fang Yan sensed it as well. They looked into the distance, and their expressions immediately became ugly, “It’s the new sect master of the Bloodsword sect. He’s actually come to our Felicity Empire.”
With that, a sharp light flashed across the middle-aged man’s eyes and he snorted, “Perfect. New sect master, I’d like to see what you want to do today.” With that, the middle-aged man strode towards the outside.
“You cannot go!” At this moment, an old voice boomed in the hall. It was filled with an absolute prestige that could not be denied.
The middle-aged man came to a stop and turned around. He saw that a sage-like old man had appeared on the highest throne within the hall at some point.
The man’s expression slightly changed, becoming filled with respect. He bowed to the old man with Ta Ji and Fang Yan, “I greet the Ancestral Emperor!”
The old man was the Ancestral Emperor of the Felicity Empire. He was already over five thousand years of age and was the oldest member of the imperial family.
The Ancestral Emperor within the royal family of the empire did not refer to the founding emperor, but the oldest and most powerful past emperor. There would always be one, just one.
“You all stay here and go nowhere. Do not interfere with the matter outside,” the Ancestral Emperor nonchalantly commanded. However, he was looking outside; his profound gaze seemed to be able to look through the various structures and obstructions to see Jian Chen’s group.
Jian Chen and the others flew toward the imperial palace of the empire, landing on a roof of a hall.
“Who has come!? Why do you not come through the main entrance!? Do you not know the rules of the empire!?”
The four protectors of the Bloodsword sect radiated with Baleful Yin Force, so it was extremely hard for them to conceal themselves. As soon as Jian Chen’s group landed, a loud call rang from the palace. Several Saint Rulers began to radiate with tremendous presences as they threateningly flew to where Jian Chen and the others were, encircling them.
At the same time, all the guards of the palaces moved, surging out in all directions like a tide. They formed as sea of people very soon, surroundng the area where Jian Chen and the others stood.
A Saint Ruler glanced past the four protectors of the Bloodsword sect and growled, “Are you from the Bloodsword sect?”
The four protectors said nothing, as if they had not heard the question at all. Jian Chen scanned the Saint Rulers coldly with an expressionless face and icily asked, “Where is Bi Jian?! Come up quickly for your death!?” Although Jian Chen spoke very softly, it resounded throughout the entire imperial palace.
Immediately, another twenty-odd Saint Ruler presences began to radiate from various places of the palace. They all quickly approached Jian Chen’s group, joining the encirclement. All of them seemed to carry ill intentions.
Without a doubt, what Jian Chen had said had expressed the fact that he had come to the imperial palace of the Felicity Empire to make trouble. They were enemies.
“Who are you to come make trouble for the imperial palace? Do you think that you have lived too long so you want to die earlier?”
“Brat, you’re the first one to come make trouble at the imperial palace in recent years. If you’re sensible, tie yourself up and go plead for forgiveness from the emperor. He might spare your life.”
…
The Saint Rulers around Jian Chen all called out. Although they knew that Jian Chen’s group was not easy to be trifled with, they were in the imperial palace of the empire. It was their territory, and they had quite a few Imperial Protectors inside.
Jian Chen’s face slightly sank, “I have no intentions of becoming your enemies. I have only come with intention of killing Bi Jian. Will you be handing him over or not?”
“How dare you look down on the dignity of the empire. It doesn’t matter who you are. You have committed unforgivable crimes. Let’s capture these troublemakers and pass them to the emperor for judgement,” a Saint Ruler called out. He was a Ninth Heavenly Layer Saint Ruler and seemed to be extremely prestigious among the group of people. The other Saint Rulers all began moving after he spoke.
“Stop!” At this moment, an old voice boomed from the depths of the imperial palace, though the owner of the voice was not present. It was filled with absolute prestige and could not be denied.
The Saint Rulers that had gathered around Jian Chen immediately stopped. They gave a deep, polite bow to the depths of the palace. They did not know who exactly the speaker was, but they were certain that it was at least an Imperial Protector.
“Brother, my Felicity Empire has no ill will with you. May I ask why have you come to make trouble?” The old voice rang out once again. It was the Ancestral Emperor.
“A prince of your empire, Bi Jian, gathered several millions of mercenaries from many mercenary groups to take my city. Say, is this ill will?” Jian Chen replied with a deep voice. He felt no fear at all.
“So brother has come for that matter. From today on, Bi Jian will no longer be a member of the Felicity Empire. His life or death will have nothing to do with the empire. I hope we can clean the slate between us like that. How do you feel about that?” The Ancestral Emperor’s tone was extremely amiable and without any hostility, as if he was trying to negotiate.