Emperor Candidate Qualifications
"Oh? What good things?"
"Treasures stained with imperial aura, divine weapons, or even Dao Foundation secret treasures."
Jian Changsheng's eyes instantly lit up!
"Besides these, there are objects that appeared in the imperial court throughout history, such as calligraphy and paintings, jewelry, gold, delicacies, pastries..."
Sun Bumian's ears twitched, and his eyes also lit up closely following.
"Since we're already here..." Sun Bumian pushed his small Round Sunglasses, his expression unprecedentedly serious. "Having taken a beating, it would truly be unreasonable not to take something with us."
While speaking, Chen Ling deliberately sized up Jiang Xiaohua from the corner of his eye.
Jian Changsheng and Sun Bumian's appetites had already been fully whetted by Chen Ling, but Jiang Xiaohua seemed uninterested in these things...
"Bro! Let's not sleep!"
Jian Changsheng and Sun Bumian, one on the left and one on the right, forcefully dragged him up from the ground, shaking him back and forth vigorously.
Jiang Xiaohua: ...
Without Jiang Xiaohua, they had no way to conceal their Auras. Jiang Xiaohua wanted to lie flat, but they were the first to disagree.
Ultimately, the two forcefully dragged Jiang Xiaohua away. As Chen Ling mobilized the power of the Ancient Vault of the Imperial Path, the four of them vanished from their original spot in an instant.
...
In a haze, the Hemp-Clad Youth slowly opened his eyes.
A galloping tremor came from the earth beneath him, and flying yellow sand obscured a corner of the sky. The Hemp-Clad Youth stayed blankly in place for a long time before suddenly recovering his senses, stiffly trying to climb up from the ground...
A wave of severe pain came from below his ribs, making the corners of his mouth twitch uncontrollably, his face incomparably pale.
"Brother Li, take it easy!" Han Dong's voice came from the side, his nervous voice trembling. "There's so much blood on you..."
The Hemp-Clad Youth looked down. His body was indeed a patch of scarlet. A portion was oozing from the knife wound under his ribs, and a portion was what he spat out when he was knocked away by the shockwave just now... It looked shocking to the eyes.
The Hemp-Clad Youth slowly sat up, discovering that he was currently in a wilderness with flying yellow sand, with a few large boulders beside him.
Not far from him, a vast army of troops and horses was charging towards a distant Imperial Palace amid deafening shouts, incredibly excited as if injected with chicken blood!
"What place... is this?"
"I don't know. Just now we only saw a few golden figures descending to the lower realm, and with a wave of their hands, we arrived here."
In the Hemp-Clad Youth's mind, everything that had happened just now gradually resurfaced. Recalling Chen Ling's icy eyes full of Killing Intent, he involuntarily shivered in his heart.
Thespian Emperor... Just who exactly was he??
Why did he want to kill me?
One doubt after another surfaced in the Hemp-Clad Youth's heart, but he suddenly seemed to remember something, and immediately asked: "Where's Ah Qian??"
"Didn't see her... It seems we were scattered."
Only then did the Hemp-Clad Youth discover that not everyone was transferred here. For example, Wu Qiong, Ah Qian, and the other dozens of figures trailing at the very back in the snowfield were nowhere to be seen.
But the other figures were basically all present... such as Zhu Zhong.
Zhu Zhong sat blankly on the ground, sweat still hanging on his forehead, as if frightened by Chen Ling's attack just now. After all, that [Judgment] strike that pierced through the earth had flown right past his ear, missing melting his head by just a hairsbreadth.
He took a good while to recover before staggering up from the ground.
"Damn it... just what place is this?"
"Why does this look like a scene from a school history book?"
"These roads, architecture, and the Imperial Palace over there... it should indeed be a scene from ancient times."
"There seems to be people trying to siege the city over there?"
"..."
While the crowd was whispering among themselves, a line of golden text simultaneously surfaced before the eyes of several figures:
[You have gained the attention of multiple Emperors]
[Please take your followers and proceed to the corresponding location to claim the "Associate Emperor Destiny"]
Among the crowd, about four people saw this line of text, and the Hemp-Clad Youth was also among them... In the snowfield, they had somewhat figured out the principles within, and upon seeing "Associate Emperor Destiny", joy filled their hearts!
They knew that having endured the trials of the snowfield, they were about to receive their corresponding rewards.
Great joy appeared on Zhu Zhong's face. At the same time, he also sensed the location where he was about to claim the "Associate Emperor Destiny", which was exactly within that Imperial Palace about to be breached right in front of him!
The location the Hemp-Clad Youth sensed seemed to be in the Imperial Palace of another dynasty... but it wasn't far from here.
And before the eyes of the others, text was also seen —
[Please choose a 'King' you trust and follow them]
[After choosing a 'King', it can be changed, but it can be changed at most once]
These people were all those who didn't have outstanding performance in the snowfield and weren't noticed by the Emperors. It was their first time seeing the golden text, and they were instantly startled.
"Trust me! Follow me! I, Zhu Zhong, will definitely take you all out!" Zhu Zhong waved a large hand.
The crowd was still somewhat blank, but due to Zhu Zhong's own strength and the authority he displayed previously, after hesitating for a moment, over fifty people still walked behind him.
The other several figures who obtained the "Emperor Candidate" qualifications also shouted one after another, winning over a group of people. The fewest had about five or six, and the most had a dozen or so.
What surprised Zhu Zhong was that there were actually nearly thirty people who chose to stand behind the Hemp-Clad Youth, becoming the largest faction aside from Zhu Zhong.
Among them, aside from Han Dong and the other District 2 children won over by empty promises, a large portion came because of that dispute between the Hemp-Clad Youth and Zhu Zhong. He had courage, strength, and a kinder heart than Zhu Zhong, so naturally he would attract a large batch of followers.
Seeing this scene, Zhu Zhong's eyes narrowed slightly.
He slowly walked out from the crowd, came to the Hemp-Clad Youth, and sized up this youth covered in blood.
"Li Fu, is it? You almost really managed to deceive me..." Zhu Zhong twisted his neck, his tall figure looking down at the Hemp-Clad Youth. "Relying on bluffing to get so many people to believe you, you indeed have some skills... However, how much longer can you keep bluffing?"
Before the Hemp-Clad Youth could speak, Han Dong from the side rushed up.
"What are you doing? Seeing someone heavily injured by the Thespian Emperor, you want to take advantage of his precarious position, right?!" Han Dong gritted his teeth. "If you want to fight, with so many of us here, we're not afraid of you!"
"Take advantage of his precarious position?" Zhu Zhong sneered. "Don't forget, we were almost killed in the snow by the Thespian Emperor because of him... He's the main culprit, yet you guys still support him?"
As soon as this sentence came out, the crowd behind the Hemp-Clad Youth seemed somewhat shaken. Recalling the scene just now, the Oppressive Aura of the Thespian Emperor rushed over their faces once again.
The Hemp-Clad Youth forcefully propped up his heavily injured body, coldly staring at Zhu Zhong for a long time. Ultimately, he didn't waste words with him, turned around and left:
"Don't mind him... let's go."