Chapter 949: Empress
There was now an explanation for everything.
Why had that curse, which was made from the emperor’s blood, actually not honed in on the emperor, but instead flew to the depths of Planet Ancient Emperor? Why did the godly ascension ceremony feature a pentagonal altar with a coffin and shrine for Dark War? Why did Xu Qing’s action of taking that lamp cause corpse energy to come out of all five coffins and form a hand with five fingers and not four?
Why had Eleventh Prince’s extremely unfilial and rebellious behavior provoked little more than cold indifference from the emperor? Why had the emperor not launched into an attack? Why had the emperor acted like a parent the whole time? Why had Emperor Heaveneater, who parasitized Tenth Prince but was under the emperor’s control the entire time, had his soulclone killed, all while Tenth Prince’s physical body remained unharmed?
The answers to all those questions were provided the moment the emperor’s mask came off.
This woman was not Dark War! She was Dark War’s daoist partner, and also the mother of Eleventh Prince and Ningyan. What was more, considering her position years ago, she had only been a step away from becoming the empress consort.
Everyone, down to the last one, was flabbergasted to the core, including everyone on Planet Ancient Emperor, everyone outside the planet, and everyone in the imperial capital. There was no denying... that this was a monumental development that surpassed imagination and what the senses could impart.
In fact, it was really a complete impossibility. Everything the emperor said and did, down to his daily routine, did not give even a scrap of a clue pointing toward this outcome.
In fact, it was correct to say that the act had been perfect. No one had even been able to guess that this was the truth until Dark War’s coffin appeared on that pentagonal altar. And yet, most people just instinctively assumed that Dark War’s coffin was empty.
The entire matter was terrifying to think about. That was especially true... when the corpse energy rose up from the five coffins. Even then, no one speculated about what was really going on....
It was almost as if the idea that the reigning emperor wasn’t actually Dark War had been suppressed by some terrifying power, interfering with the perceptions of everyone in the world. And that same power seemed to help people come up with reasonable explanations for all sorts of unreasonable situations.
Until now.
That veil had been pulled to the side by this woman. And the truth was completely and utterly astonishing.
After all, though it might be possible for a god to create an effect that could secretly alter the perceptions of so many people, in the end, it would only be a powerful High God. Although... there was actually one other individual who could do something like that. Only he could pull something like this off flawlessly.
That individual was... Grand Emperor Swordsage!
He knew from the very beginning what was going on. And because Grand Emperor Swordsage approved of the ‘emperor,’ it made sense why The Emperor’s Sword didn’t react when Xu Qing tested it out. That was because... her presence, and everything she was doing, was approved of by Grand Emperor Swordsage![1]
This line of thinking didn’t just pop up in Xu Qing’s mind. It occurred to many others at the same time.
At the moment, it was impossible to say what this spectacular woman had gone through. What twists and turns had been involved in her relationship with Dark War. Did Dark War help her achieve her goals? Or did he actually devour her, only for her to be resurrected later, and then somehow turned into the emperor...? Or was it the case that she had always been impersonating the emperor...?
Right now, no one knew. It was a mystery that was impossible to solve.
While virtually everyone in the crowd was reeling in astonishment, as well as fear and unease for the future, there were three people whose facial expressions were the same as ever.
The first was the chief minister, who stood silently in place on Planet Ancient Emperor. Stepping forward, he dropped to his knees in front of the woman.
“My respects, Empress!” [2]
The second person was the court eunuch who was a nine-world Smoldering God. He also bowed his head and dropped to his knees.
“My respects, Empress!”
The third person was someone that no one in the crowd could have guessed would step forward. But once they saw him, it only took a moment to realize why his actions made sense. He was none other than... King Firecrusher. Expression placid, he stepped away from Eleventh Prince’s side, walked up to the woman, looked her in the face, and with eyes flickering full of memories, he bowed and dropped to his knees.
“My respects, Empress!”
In reality, he had never turned traitor! He had just been playing along with the act.
The reason was that this entire thing was a complicated plot, hatched years ago by the talented woman who had replaced Dark War. When she began making preparations for the godly ascension ceremony, she knew that her actions would meet with disapproval by many factions. That was why she kept her true battle prowess hidden the entire time.
She couldn’t reveal that she had a peak Imperial Sovereign cultivation base. Not even if nonhumans invaded. Not even if humankind was in great peril. The only exception would be if the species was in true threat of extinction....
Otherwise, revealing a peak Imperial Sovereign cultivation base would just put humankind in the position to be invaded by a host of gods. There was no way the gods would allow any peak Imperial Sovereigns among the species of Revered Ancient. And if she did reveal that peak level of strength, it could only be within human territory. Even outside of human territory, it was a big taboo to even step halfway into that peak level.
She could only wait patiently. She had to wait for the right opportunity to reveal her battle prowess. And she also needed to be confident in being able to keep that opportunity under control.
That was also why she had to be aloof to Ningyan and his brother. She needed them to be on their own, nursing hatred toward Emperor Dark War. It was the perfect distraction for the prying eyes of any nonhumans.
It was also something of a fishing expedition. When the opportunity arrived, whoever was poking around the fishing lure would be taken out in one fell swoop. As of this moment, she had succeeded.
Considering that the chief minister, court eunuch, and King Firecrusher himself were all active participants, all the other shocked government officials could ultimately... just bow their heads.
Xu Qing was feeling rocked to the core. Things really were turning out according to his earlier expectations. But to see it playing out with his own eyes was still incomparably shocking. Of course, what was most shocking of all was that this mother of Ningyan had a peak Imperial Sovereign cultivation base.
Inside, Xu Qing sighed. He had just thought back to the time when he first arrived at the imperial capital and gained the sense that Grand Emperor Swordsage was dying. Now everything made sense.
Could it be that the Grand Emperor provided a secret magic to this empress to help her do all this, either as a gift or a legacy? And then he gave The Emperor’s Sword to me...?
Xu Qing wasn’t sure if his speculations were correct. Lifting his head, he looked at the statue of the Grand Emperor outside of Planet Ancient Emperor.
Meanwhile, Eleventh Prince was struck as mute as a wooden chicken. He stood there trembling, looking drained and blank.
Finally, the empress said, “Stop causing trouble. Back down.”
Eleventh Prince seemed to get excited by the words. He bowed his head, but couldn’t prevent tears of joy from flowing down his face. All evidence of his immature temper was gone.
The empress turned. Her eyes were full of determination and courage. Her expression and bearing seemed full of power and resolve. She seemed to be telling the world that she was the ruler here, and that she had the strength to change anything and everything.
“I am the empress of humankind. My dear ministers and officials, do you have any objection?”
A few breaths of time passed in which there was only silence. But then the officials both on and off Planet Ancient Emperor clasped hands and bowed.
“Our respects, Empress!”
Their voices crashed like thunder.
Next, Planet Ancient Emperor rumbled, and the destiny aura of humankind seethed as it converged on the empress. As it blessed her, it formed an imperial crown over her head. The destiny aura was confirming its approval of the current office holder!
All eyes focused on the empress as she stood atop the Temple of Heaven, looking into the dome of heaven with her true facial features.
“After the ancestral sacrifices are the heavenly sacrifices!” she said, her eyes shining brightly. All of a sudden, she seemed even more confident than before.
The first part of the grand ceremony was concluded. The second part... was now officially starting!
1. Xu Qing tested the sword on the ‘emperor’ inchapter 771 . ☜
2. The actual title here is the same title for all the successive emperors of humankind. It’s literally ‘human emperor.’ Of course, as I mentioned previously, the character for emperor isn’t gender specific. If you wanted to go really literal, it could be ‘human imperial person.’ In any case, the author does include the gender tag for the empress on numerous occasions to clarify that she is a “female emperor.” Just as with the (male) emperors, I’m generally going to leave out the ‘human’ part unless it’s relevant to the story. ☜