As the fluctuations of the voice spread through the imperial capital, buildings vibrated, spell formations flared to life, and auspicious rainbows appeared in the dome of heaven. Within the various organizations in the city, countless powerful experts looked on with serious expressions. In fact, many people couldn’t prevent shock from appearing on their faces.
Xu Qing had hardly been around for a day, and already, he was shaking people to the core. From their perspective, he had accumulated astonishing levels of influence, resulting in a heavenly king perishing. He had occupied half of an entire region, formed an alliance with the Moonrite Region, and had participated in the extremely rare event of killing a god. Any other person who had done even one of those things would be considered extraordinary in every way, much less Xu Qing, who had done all of them.
The way he had confidently strode through the spell formation went to show how he handled himself. He even shocked everyone with a Dawning Sun. After that, he went to bow to the statue of the Grand Emperor. Despite all the countless years which had passed, this was only the fourth time Grand Emperor Swordsage woke up and spoke.
Because of all those things, Xu Qing was the complete center of attention right now.
At the moment, Patriarch Golden Vajra Warrior was sighing deeply. He was starting to get nervous, although he didn’t dare to transmit a message to Xu Qing at the moment. In the ancient records he had read in the past, protagonists usually didn’t act like this. Generally speaking, they kept a low profile.... In fact, it was most often the villain, who usually was a member of a superpower sect, that would win a big victory and then return triumphantly to the city, where everyone would be shaken to the core. The patriarch had studied many scenes like that, and knew that they were generally designed to highlight how terrifying the villain was. But it also gave the protagonist a target. Step by step, the protagonist would overcome various setbacks, and thus, the readers would experience the joy of seeing a nobody defeat an important person.
This…. My lord and master is doing everything backward....
Patriarch Golden Vajra Warrior was trembling inwardly. More than ever, he was coming to realize that Xu Qing was definitely not doing things the way they usually happened in ancient records. If he felt that way, there was little need to mention all of the people in the imperial capital who didn’t understand Xu Qing.
There were very few people who had shaken the entire capital city during the Dark War calendar. What was more, an instance of Grand Emperor Swordsage awakening was something that would ultimately be recorded in the historical annals of humankind. In the ancient records of history, the statue of Grand Emperor Swordsage had always been asleep, and usually only sent out divine will during assessments of the heart for the swordsages.
In the past, the statue had awoken three times.
The first time was in the era of Emperor Eastglory. After the humans suffered a huge defeat, Palace Lord Chenshu Yan of the Swordsage Division, just before dying, called out to the Grand Emperor and begged him to awaken. That was the first time Grand Emperor Swordsage’s statue woke up. Because of that, the Firemoon Darkheaven people, due to the hindrances of karma, didn’t exterminate humankind.[1]The second time was during the reign of Emperor Mirrorcloud. Division Lord Wang Ken of the Swordsage Division entered the palace when the Crown Prince of Violet and Cyan was beset from all sides in ambush. The division lord... never came back out. On that day, Grand Emperor Swordsage woke up, looked to the south, and sighed.
The third time wasn’t very long ago. It was when Emperor Dark War ascended the throne. At that time, the Grand Emperor woke up and looked at him, his gaze hard but full of anticipation. According to the ancient records, the Grand Emperor sent a message to Emperor Dark War at that time. However, no one knew what that message was. People just said that Emperor Dark War was silent for a few breaths of time before clasping hands and bowing to the Grand Emperor.
Today was the fourth time. In an instant, countless gazes, along with innumerable streams of divine will, came from all parts of the city and converged on that spot like a tempest. Verbal discussions and inaudible transmissions swept out like waves on the sea. To the residents of the capital city, it wasn’t exactly hard to get intelligence reports about Xu Qing. And of course, that included information about the assessment of the heart. As a result, it didn’t take long for people to realize what was going on.
“Probably the most important detail in Xu Qing’s information is that he’s the first person during the Dark War calendar to be given a 30,000-meter pillar of light during the swordsage assessment of the heart! That must be why the Grand Emperor is waking up!”
In the imperial palace, inside the Phoenix Sun Pavilion, Princess Anhai stood at the window, looking in the direction of Grand Emperor Swordsage’s statue and thinking about everything she knew about Xu Qing. Finally, she looked away.
The Grand Emperor is waking up because of him. This... initially makes it seem like the Grand Emperor is taking care of him. But why does it seem to me… that it’s more like Xu Qing being bequeathed with an important responsibility?
Meanwhile, in Seventh Prince’s mansion, Seventh Prince himself sat with his eyes closed. Behind him were a few dozen cultivators, all silent and unmoving. The entire building was quiet. If you looked closely, you would find that Seventh Prince’s hands were clenched very tightly in his sleeves.
In Tenth Prince’s mansion, the prince that everyone thought to be arrogant, despotic, and erratic was in the middle of losing his temper in front of his servants. However, deep in his brutal gaze, in a place where no one could see it, was a glimmer of something cleverly devious.
The other imperial princes were all reacting in various ways in different locations. As for whether their physical reaction matched their internal reaction, no one knew.
There were some important officials and heavenly kings, including the prime minister and people like him, who had very calm facial expressions that didn’t reflect the turbulence in their hearts. Most of them looked thoughtfully at the statue of Grand Emperor Swordsage, and then at the imperial palace. The Grand Emperor woke up when Dark War took the throne. Years later, when Xu Qing came, the statue woke up again....
***
In the imperial palace’s Heaven-Gazing Pavilion, the emperor’s face remained expressionless as he looked, not outside, but at the game board in front of him. After a moment, he placed a white game piece onto the board.
Sitting opposite of him was the imperial preceptor, who smiled and put down a black piece. “Your Majesty, I already answered your question. You, sir, have not yet explained to me what Grand Emperor Swordsage said to you on the day you ascended the throne.”
The emperor looked up calmly at the imperial preceptor. “The Grand Emperor told me that he regrets what happened with the Crown Prince of Violet and Cyan. And he said that, if I could manage it, I should return that skull that Mirrorcloud buried himself with. Didn’t you get it already?” [2]
The emperor spoke in a casual tone, but his every word was packed with meaning.
The imperial preceptor said nothing for a long moment. Then he smiled again. “To run into a person like you in this life, Your Majesty, well, it ensures I won’t be lonely.”
The emperor didn’t react, and instead just picked up another white game piece to play. However, before he could put it on the board, a majestic voice echoed out to fill all heaven and earth.
“Come to the Swordsage Division, young friend. I’ll be waiting for you there.”
The game piece remained between the emperor’s fingers as he slowly looked up. The imperial preceptor’s eyes glittered as he also turned to look outside.
Within the crowds in the city were powerful experts, all of whom were stunned. It was the voice of Grand Emperor Swordsage who had just spoken. What was more, there was a big difference between the Grand Emperor waking up and him summoning someone. That was especially true in the Swordsage Division, where everyone from the division lord to the ordinary swordsages were visibly taken aback.
At the foot of the statue, Xu Qing looked up, his heart pounding. After a long moment passed, he took a deep breath, bowed again, then turned in the direction of the Swordsage Division. He knew the general direction to walk. Along the way, any patrolling swordsages who spotted him would give him formal swordsage salutes, and would help clear a path for him.
Xu Qing was also a swordsage.
It took about two hours before a very unique building complex appeared up ahead. Numerous palace structures were grouped together into the shape of two huge swords. One of them lay directly on the ground, the other was stabbed into it. They were so massive that they could easily fit millions and millions of people inside. This was the Swordsage Division headquarters.
As Xu Qing neared he found that almost all of the swordsages assigned to the headquarters were outside waiting for him. Also present was the middle-aged Division Lord Zhou Hengzhi, who was one of the heavenly kings.
The summons from the Grand Emperor was an important thing, and there was no way that the swordsages, who valued strict adherence to the law, would dare to take the situation lightly.
Among the crowd was a person who had met Xu Qing in the past. He was Huang Kun, who, according to Seventh Prince’s introduction, had a grandfather who was an honor guard in the Swordsage Division. [3]
Huang Kun’s heart was racing. He was one of the few people in the imperial capital who had seen Xu Qing before. And he almost couldn’t believe what had happened in the Holytide Region after that banquet. The awakening of the Grand Emperor was being taken seriously by everyone in the Swordsage Division, and only emphasized to Huang Kun how far apart he was from Xu Qing. Years ago, when they both sat at the same banquet together, Huang Kun hadn’t thought much of Xu Qing. After all, Xu Qing was just a random swordsage from some backwater location. Even though he was special in Sea-Sealing County, that didn’t have much to do with Huang Kun. As for whether or not Xu Qing would ever make a name for himself, that had been an unknown.
But now... as Huang Kun looked around at his fellow swordsages, he could only sigh. He was now just one of countless swordsages, and all of them were looking at the same approaching figure.
Xu Qing didn’t even notice Huang Kun. He was struggling to stay calm and collected despite the respect shown to him by the Grand Emperor, and the sensation that it was shaking the entire dynasty.
When Xu Qing saw all of the swordsages gathered outside the Swordsage Division, he stopped in place. Taking off his green jerkin, he produced a swordsage uniform from his bag of holding and put it on. Upon donning the same pure white clothing as everyone else, Xu Qing truly looked like he belonged. The gazes of the swordsages changed slightly at that point, and that included the division lord and other swordsage leaders. They nodded slightly.
Taking a deep breath, Xu Qing continued walking past all the swordsages until he was standing in front of the division lord himself. Looking very serious, he offered a formal swordsage salute.
“I am Swordsage Xu Qing, here at the summons of the Grand Emperor.”
Division Lord Zhou Hengzhi gave Xu Qing a serious look, then nodded.
“Please, go ahead,” he said. He gestured, and a vortex sprang into being at the main entrance of the division. The sword energy that pulsed out of it caused the swordsages’ Emperor’s Swords to vibrate.
Looking very solemn, Xu Qing entered the portal. The moment he stepped in, he found himself inside the palace, in what was considered a restricted area.
It was a simple cave that contained only an altar, atop which sat a withered old man. He looked almost like a corpse, and he emanated a strong sense of decay. However, the spot where his heart existed pulsed with life. He had innumerable shocking and ghastly wounds covering him. They were, of course, injuries he had sustained while keeping humankind safe. Every single one pulsed with godly might; they were all wounds that had been inflicted by gods.
This was the actual clone of Grand Emperor Swordsage. He was the last Grand Emperor of humankind, and he... was the only Grand Emperor who had refused to leave Revered Ancient, and had been safeguarding humankind ever since!
When Xu Qing saw the Grand Emperor and all his wounds, he felt a sensation of intense respect well up in him. Dropping to his knees, he kowtowed.
The Grand Emperor’s eyes slowly opened.
1. This is a very obscure reference, but you might remember that in the imperial edict in chapter 740, it was mentioned that Emperor Eastglory had a loyal official named “Yan.” It’s the same Yan from Chenshu Yan, leading us to the seemingly logical conclusion that it’s the same person mentioned here. ☜
2. The skull here is presumably the bowl mentioned in chapter 530.2 and 533.2. ☜
3. Huang Kun: Huang is #7 on the list of 100 common Chinese surnames. It also means “yellow.” Kun is one of the eight trigrams, and though it has a lot of meaning, it is generally associated with yin things. Huang Kun was mentioned briefly in chapter 547.1. You might also remember a character from earlier in the story named Huang Yikun. The two names are exactly the same except that one of them has the “yi” character in it, the other does not. ☜