Deep within the sleeping chambers of the Imperial Palace of Great Tang, the Empress Dowager sat at the edge of the bed, dabbing away tears.
The Prince of Jin, serving as regent, paced back and forth with a sullen scowl, though his trembling hands betrayed his true state of mind.
The Empress Dowager looked up, choking back sobs as she said, "What are we to do? They truly murdered the King of Ji! Can it be that Great Tang is truly finished?"
The Prince of Jin let out a heavy grunt, gnashing his teeth. "Those bastards, every last one of them grew daring enough to defy the heavens! That old dog Li of Southern Qi raised such a monster! Doesn't he realize that if Great Tang falls, how could the nine kingdoms survive? Our ancestors prepared contingencies long ago; they will certainly wipe out these rebels to the last man!"
"What if we issue an imperial edict," the Empress Dowager asked, "proclaiming Southern Qi's rebellion and summoning righteous men throughout the world to launch a punitive campaign?"
The Regent Prince of Jin hesitated. "Southern Qi is very close to us. If they bare their fangs, I fear they could reach the imperial capital within a month."
"Then let them come! We will stake our lives on the foundation our Old Ancestors bequeathed us and fight to the bitter end! Unless they lose two or three million men, they shouldn't dream of setting foot in the imperial palace! Even if we lose in the end, we can burn ourselves to death for the realm; we need not fear facing our ancestors in shame!"
Seeing the Empress Dowager grind her teeth in fierce determination, the Prince of Jin grew exasperated instead. "All you know is fight, fight, fight! You don't understand the first thing about strategy."
He paced dozens of circles around the room before finally saying, "How about this: announce the Emperor's grand wedding, set for three months from now. As for the choice of empress, I say we choose between the princesses of Zhao and Northern Qi, with priority given to Zhao! As long as the State of Zhao agrees, they will become the imperial in-laws. Even if Southern Qi wants to rebel, they will have to weigh the consequences carefully!"
The Empress Dowager sighed. "Alas, it is a pity the Military Commissioner of Qingming's daughters have not yet grown up. Otherwise, choosing one of them to be empress would have been best of all."
The Prince of Jin frowned. "How could that possibly do? That fellow is of commoner stock; not a single official down to a magistrate ever arose in his lineage for generations! His veins run with common, lowly blood! How could he be worthy of intermarriage with the imperial bloodline?"
"I heard Wei Yuan's daughters were born of a Zhao princess," the Empress Dowager countered. "Carrying half the royal blood of Zhao, they can hardly be considered commoners."
The Prince of Jin sneered. "The royal house of Zhao is already a lesser bloodline, and halved at that—if that isn't base blood, what is? Hmph. Troubled times allow insolent upstarts to make a name for themselves! If this were over a thousand years ago when our forebear, the Martial Ancestor, was still around, what room would there be for such creatures to prance about?"
The Empress Dowager sighed weakly, left with no recourse but to say, "Then we must make haste. We must conclude this matter before the rebels raise their banners of revolt."
This time, the Prince of Jin finally nodded and walked out of the Empress Dowager's bedchamber. Waving over the grand eunuch of the inner palace, he commanded, "The women prepared as concubines for His Majesty—send them to my palace. I must personally inspect whether their backgrounds are pure and unblemished."
"Yes, Your Highness," the grand eunuch replied, trotting off at once to see to the task.
***
Within Qingming Immortal City, Wei Yuan had gathered the cultivators of the Palace of Grand Beginning and the core cultivators of Qingming to confer on countermeasures for Great Tang's waning days.
Xiaoyu, Yu Zhizhuo, and True Monarch Chuhe were all far beyond Qingming, but through the empowerment of their fruitions, they attended the meeting by way of the Splendor of the Many Realms. This was the first time in Qingming's history that an assembly was held simultaneously in person and linked through the Splendor of the Many Realms.
Wei Yuan began by briefly explaining the nature of the Martial Ancestor's restriction, followed by how a corner of the seal had now been broken. Over two months had passed since Li Zhi stormed Jidu, and well-informed figures such as Xiaoyu, Xu Henshui, and Baoyun had already learned from their respective clans that the King of Ji had been slain by Li Zhi.
Everyone was initially stunned that Li Zhi had actually managed to kill the King of Ji, and then astonished that even after doing so, Li Zhi remained alive and well.
Naturally, Wei Yuan omitted the matter of meeting the Martial Ancestor's true spirit. Rumor had it that the Martial Ancestor's true spirit was to meet the future common lord of the world to pass down his mantle; Wei Yuan had no wish to shoulder such a reputation, which would bring nothing but endless trouble.
With the King of Ji's death, the restriction had loosened considerably, allowing Wei Yuan to share knowledge concerning Immortal Lords and ancient cultivation. Compared to sovereigns ruling the realm and the rise and fall of dynasties, the assembly was noticeably more interested in this.
After concluding his discourse on cultivation lore, Wei Yuan finally said, "For now, Great Tang's allotted fortune has run out. Without the suppression of the Martial Ancestor's restriction, the nine kingdoms will inevitably make their moves. Southern Qi has taken the initiative and seized the upper hand. Yet from what I see, Zhao, Wu, and Song will not resign themselves to falling behind; sooner or later, they will raise troops.
"The world is plunging into chaos, with heroes contending for supremacy. Before the dynasty changes hands, the situation across the realm will be fraught with peril. Everyone must exercise caution and regularly return to Qingming to fortify your karmic luck.
"Furthermore, in your daily travels, keep a keen eye out to see who shows signs of becoming the common lord of the world—"
Wei Yuan was only halfway through his sentence when a brilliant golden beam suddenly flared in the center of the firmament, resembling the opening of a golden eye. A pillar of light crashed downward, piercing straight through the roof of the immortal palace! A throne carved from raw, unhewn stone plummeted from the heavens, landing directly before Wei Yuan and nearly smashing down upon his head.
Wei Yuan froze in astonishment. He looked up at the sky, then down at the stone chair, then back up at the sky, and down at the stone chair again.
Turbulent waves surged in the hearts of everyone present, including those attending via the Splendor of the Many Realms. True Monarch Chuhe, whose accumulated merits overflowed beyond measure, was the first to fathom the chair's origins. "This is the throne upon which the first Human Sovereign sat! This... this thing is the karmic luck of the Human Sovereign!"
A colossal rooster head poked out from the void and said, "Indeed. In my ancestors' time, when we could still fly, they witnessed the Human Sovereigns from the Yuangu era down to antiquity sitting upon this very chair. Back then, there was also a dragon turtle, though heaven knows where it has wandered off to by now."
So this was... the karmic luck of the Human Sovereign descending from the heavens?
The cultivators gazed at Wei Yuan, their expressions tinged with strange skepticism. Ordinarily, they respected Wei Yuan well enough, but looking at him now, they could not shake the feeling that the fellow was flamboyant, fond of pretty women, and prone to airs—not bearing the slightest resemblance to a common lord of the world.
Once his shock passed, a deep headache seized Wei Yuan. He paced several circles around the ancient fortune of the sovereign before finally making up his mind. "First, place this into the secret treasury. Not a single whisper of this is to leak out!"
The cultivators naturally understood the gravity of the matter, assuming Wei Yuan meant to bide his time before claiming kingship, waiting until the opportune moment to bring it forth. Furthermore, they all knew a great deal about employing karmic luck; even if such ancient fortune of the Human Sovereign was kept secret, Wei Yuan would find all endeavors turning smoothly in his favor. And once made public, it would be equivalent to holding the Imperial Seal of the Realm—what men called the destined bearer of Heaven's Mandate.
Wei Yuan stored the stone throne into the secret treasury with his own hands, then returned and said, "I have just made a decision: I have sealed away the ancient fortune of the Human Sovereign. When the world is settled, this ancient fortune can be placed in a museum for future generations to behold."
"You do not intend to use it? Wouldn't that invite needless complications?" Feng Chutang asked, thoroughly bewildered and voicing clear opposition.
The other cultivators chimed in one after another, their sentiments largely echoing the same objection.
Wei Yuan waited until everyone had finished speaking before patiently explaining, "I have given it careful thought. The ancient fortune of the Human Sovereign differs from ordinary karmic luck. It possesses the miraculous power to make all under heaven submit with one heart, serving as a peerless weapon for conquering the realm. But how does it compel the world's submission? In truth, it acts through an irresistible induction. And what is this induction? It is compelling simple men and foolish women to deeply believe that I am the common lord of the world, the one destined by Heaven's Mandate, thereby pledging allegiance and devotion to me."
Such was the working principle behind the Human Sovereign's fortune; the cultivators did not understand why Wei Yuan would suddenly bring this up.
Wei Yuan said softly, "My original aspiration was to ensure that there would no longer be any simple men or foolish women in this world. Induction is essentially implanting an idea into the minds of the people. Done that way, how would the people of the world differ from marionettes on strings? That runs completely counter to my Dao path.
"Therefore, I still intend to proceed as before: enriching the realm, strengthening the people, opening the minds of the common folk, and widely spreading the paths of cultivation so that every person may rise like a dragon.
"When that time comes and the people of the world possess full wisdom, they will naturally be capable of judging right from wrong. They will have no need for my induction, nor will they need anyone else's. In the end, the ancient fortune of the Human Sovereign will no longer serve any purpose. Only then will this become the world I truly envision."
Chapter 1369