Chapter 241 – I Wager the Kingdom—Would All Ministers Like to Gamble?

Three years after White Deer Academy entered the secular world, Great Ying Dynasty, Imperial Palace.

“Your Majesty, the Clan Chiefs of the major families have already…”

Great Ying Emperor Zhao Zhongming raised his hand.

Seeing this, the old eunuch wisely chose to fall silent.

Zhao Zhongming leaned back on the Dragon Throne, resting with his eyes closed.

Unlike his vigorous state three years ago, the current Zhao Zhongming seemed to have aged thirty years in just three.

Not only had his black hair turned silver, but his face was also covered with wrinkles.

It was as if he had aged dramatically within these three years.

This was starkly different from the external rumors of the Great Ying Undying Emperor.

Since a certain day three years ago, Zhao Zhongming had completely retreated behind the scenes, only sending a few senior eunuchs to convey his words in court.

Thus, many had been speculating whether Zhao Zhongming had encountered cultivation issues, making him reluctant to appear before others.

However, Zhao Zhongming’s disappearance did not plunge the Great Ying Dynasty into chaos.

The influence of a five-hundred-year Undying Emperor was far beyond that of any ordinary emperor.

To say that the current Great Ying Dynasty was Zhao Zhongming’s sole domain would be no exaggeration.

After about the time it takes for an incense stick to burn, Zhao Zhongming seemed to have finished resting and stood up.

As he rose, a peculiar force began to swirl around him.

His appearance also started to rejuvenate.

Soon, the majestic, sharp-eyed Great Ying Undying Emperor of old reappeared before the senior eunuch.

But the senior eunuch, Guan Shilun, looked at Zhao Zhongming with deep concern in his eyes.

Perhaps noticing Guan Shilun’s gaze, Zhao Zhongming said calmly, “Rest assured, before finding a way to break through the path ahead… I will not fall.”

“Lead the way.”

“As you command.”

Meanwhile, in the Imperial Study of the Great Ying Dynasty’s Imperial Palace.

At this moment, the Clan Chiefs of the Four Great Clans of the Great Ying Dynasty were all present.

These individuals were not only the leaders of Cultivator families but also served as Patrol Envoys of the Four Directions Demon Suppression Division.

They were arguably the most powerful and authoritative figures in the Great Ying Dynasty aside from Emperor Zhao Zhongming.

These individuals were: Cui Shouye of the Vast Righteous Cui Family, Yue Qingshan of the White Steed Yue Clan, Li Zhaofeng of the Heavenly Sword Li Family, and Xu Yuanrui of the Mountains-Rivers Xu Clan.

The last time the Four Great Clans had been summoned together was a thousand years ago during the Sky Demons uprising.

This time, Zhao Zhongming gathering them clearly indicated he had important matters to announce.

Although the four didn’t know what Zhao Zhongming intended to do, they could all sense that a storm might soon sweep through the entire Great Ying Dynasty.

In this storm, even the Four Great Clans couldn’t guarantee they would emerge unscathed.

It was this very concern that caused the four Clan Chiefs to wear solemn expressions as they quietly awaited Zhao Zhongming’s arrival.

“His Majesty arrives!”

A sharp, penetrating eunuch’s voice echoed outside the study, and the four inside immediately knelt.

In unison, they declared, “Your servants pay respects to Your Majesty.”

“Rise.”

“Thank you, Your Majesty.”

Zhao Zhongming entered the study.

He first calmly glanced at the members of the Four Great Clans, then said to the palace maids and eunuchs beside him, “Except for Eunuch Guan, the rest of you may leave.”

“As you command.”After the irrelevant individuals had departed, only the six people remained in the imperial study: the Clan Chiefs of the Four Great Clans, Emperor Zhao Zhongming, and the Chief Eunuch Guan Shilun.

Zhao Zhongming walked to the Dragon Throne in the study and sat down directly.

“Please be seated, my esteemed ministers.”

“Thank you, Your Majesty.”

Once the members of the Four Great Clans had taken their seats, Zhao Zhongming finally spoke.

“All of you are important ministers of our Dynasty, and at the same time, rare third-realm Cultivators in our court. You must be quite curious about why I summoned you here, correct?”

Cui Shouye, Yue Qingshan, and the others exchanged glances and nodded one after another.

Zhao Zhongming looked at them but did not immediately offer an explanation. Instead, he said, “Before revealing the purpose of gathering you all here, I would like to first tell you a story.”

“After hearing this story, you may come to understand what is in my heart, and also comprehend what I will ask of you afterward.”

Cui Shouye and the others immediately straightened their postures, their expressions turning serious.

They sensed that what Zhao Zhongming was about to say would be anything but ordinary.

“All of you must have heard the saying: ‘If one does not enter the Palace of Heavenly Inquiry in this lifetime, the third realm is already the Peak.'”

“This statement not only reveals that the path beyond the third realm is entirely controlled by the Palace of Heavenly Inquiry, but it also tells us another thing: beneath the Palace of Heavenly Inquiry, all are but ants.”

“So-called Dynasties are merely games akin to children playing house. If the Palace of Heavenly Inquiry wishes, they can replace us at any time.”

“And what I wish to discuss with you is related to this Palace of Heavenly Inquiry.”

As he spoke, Zhao Zhongming’s gaze grew profound, as if he had fallen into some kind of recollection.

“The world says that I am the Undying Emperor, the Reincarnation of the True Dragon, the Son of Destiny.”

“But what they do not know is that five hundred years ago, I was actually no different from my imperial brothers.”

“Everything changed only after I met a certain person.”

“At that time, I had no grand ambitions. I neither wished to become an eternal emperor nor an immortal transcendent. All I thought about was being a carefree prince in a remote corner, indulging in a life of pleasure and unrestrained freedom.”

“And do you know what prompted me to embark on the path of Cultivation?”

Cui Shouye and the others exchanged glances and shook their heads one after another.

They actually knew very little about Zhao Zhongming’s early years.

Although the lifespan of Cultivators is long, third-realm Cultivators live at most three hundred years.

By the time the four of them were born, Zhao Zhongming had already been emperor for many years.

As for the deeds of Zhao Zhongming’s early years, very few people knew much about them.

It was as if someone had secretly erased a certain period of Zhao Zhongming’s history.

The most crucial part was the fifteen years between Zhao Zhongming’s twenty-fifth year and his fortieth year when he ascended the throne.

Neither the libraries of the Four Great Clans nor the historical records of the Great Ying Dynasty contained any documentation of this period.

This led many to believe that Zhao Zhongming had an illegitimate claim to the throne and had personally erased the history of those years.

As for those who knew about this history, the old had aged and the dead had passed away.

To this day, no one knows what truly happened during those fifteen years.

And as Zhao Zhongming’s cultivation and power gradually solidified,

fewer and fewer dared to investigate this secret.

Yet now, Zhao Zhongming was actually preparing to directly tell them this history.

This made Cui Shouye and the others both curious and tense.Some things are better left unknown.

Though they were curious about this matter, they also understood that sometimes mere curiosity… could exact a painful price.

Given the choice, the four of them would rather not know this part of history.

But at this moment, Zhao Zhongming undoubtedly gave them no choice.

They… had no right to choose.

Ignoring the fluctuating expressions of the four, Zhao Zhongming continued on his own: “Before the age of twenty-five, I considered myself well-versed in women, with few capable of stirring my heartstrings… until I met that woman…”

“She was like an orchid hidden in a valley, a clear spring in the mountains. In her, I saw neither the vulgarity of ordinary people nor the arrogance of Immortals—only an indescribable purity.”

“And it was from that moment I understood what love truly meant.”

“After that, I shamelessly stayed by her side, following her as she journeyed through mountains and rivers.”

“Initially, though she didn’t reject me, she wasn’t close either. She neither drove me away nor engaged in conversation, treating me as if I were invisible while she searched for something within the Great Ying Dynasty.”

“And for some reason, the more she ignored me, the more curious I became about her.”

“Looking back now, perhaps it was precisely this indifference of hers that ignited my competitive spirit.”

“For a time after that, I mobilized all my connections to investigate this woman’s origins.”

“But after extensive inquiries, I was astonished to discover that she seemed to have appeared out of nowhere—utterly traceless.”

“However, though I was idle and unaccomplished in my youth, I was aware of some Dynasty secrets.”

“Those who could suddenly appear within our Dynasty, leaving no trace of their past, fell into only two categories.”

“One came from the heavens, the other from beyond the heavens.”

“The heavens meant the Palace of Heavenly Inquiry; beyond the heavens meant the Sky Demons.”

“Unlike today, back then the Sky Demons, while not well-regarded in our Dynasty, hadn’t reached the level of being universally despised.”

“This was because the Sky Demon turmoil a millennium ago was essentially provoked by the previous Dynasty, and the establishment of our Dynasty benefited from it. Thus, in the Early Stage, our Dynasty’s stance toward the Sky Demons was neither to engage nor offend.”

“So, upon guessing that the woman might be from the heavens or beyond, I grew even more curious about her.”

“Or rather, besides her, I was equally curious about the world she came from and what it was like.”

“After that, I pursued her even more fervently.”

“If she climbed the secluded mountains, I climbed them too. If she ventured into the four seas, I followed. Wherever she went, I would do everything possible to follow, shadowing her every step.”

As he spoke of this, a rare, happy smile appeared on Zhao Zhongming’s face.

It was as if those memories were more precious to him than anything else.

Seeing this, Cui Shouye and the others exchanged strange looks.

They had thought Zhao Zhongming was going to reveal some Dynasty secret.

Instead, it turned out to be the story of Zhao Zhongming’s early years as a ‘simp.’

To put it nicely, Zhao Zhongming was bravely pursuing love.

To put it bluntly, he was shamelessly pestering her.

But strangely, this version of Zhao Zhongming seemed more human in their eyes.

After all, whether in terms of cultivation or age, Zhao Zhongming was undeniably their Senior.Given Zhao Zhongming’s status and cultivation level, people often looked at him with a sense of awe.

But that awe had now completely collapsed, turning into an indescribable contrast.

However, Cui Shouye and the others… did not dislike this.

“After following her for three years, I finally learned her name for the first time—a single character, ‘Jiu.’ I called her Miss Jiu.”

“Over the next three years, I learned what Miss Jiu was searching for. She said she was looking for the way home.”

“Do you know how complicated my feelings were upon learning this?”

“I didn’t want her to find her way home, yet I couldn’t bear to see her searching aimlessly like this.”

“In the end, I couldn’t stand to see her wandering any longer, so I offered to help her find her way home.”

“And it was from that day on that Miss Jiu finally changed her attitude toward me. She began to speak to me voluntarily and was willing to share some of her few memories.”

“She said her memories were very vague. One memory was of being on a high mountain, where people called her something she could no longer recall. She only remembered frequently entering and leaving a great hall, where many large pots were burning with fire.”

“As for what was burning in those pots, she couldn’t remember.”

“Another memory was of her in a deserted bamboo forest. At that time, she seemed not to be human but a small insect, searching everywhere for food.”

“But which memory was real, she couldn’t say.”

“She only knew that there was a strong thought in her mind—to return home.”

“From then on, I mobilized all my connections to help her find her way home.”

“Gradually, I did uncover many useful clues. For instance, the large pots in her memory were actually alchemy furnaces used by cultivators.”

“Based on her memories, the place in her first memory was a great hall filled with alchemy furnaces.”

“The Great Ying Dynasty had no such place, so I concluded she must have come either from the Palace of Heavenly Inquiry or from an extraterrestrial land.”

“But I had contacted people from the Palace of Heavenly Inquiry, and they said there was no one like Miss Jiu there.”

“So I realized one thing—Miss Jiu… came from beyond this world.”

“It was from that moment that I made a decision.”

“After all, I had no desire to inherit the throne. The Great Ying Dynasty wouldn’t gain or lose much with or without me.”

“If all had gone smoothly, I should have left the Great Ying with Miss Jiu and journeyed to that mysterious extraterrestrial land.”

“But everything changed in the ninth year.”

“At the time, I actually knew that the Sky Demons seemed to be searching for something within the Great Ying Dynasty. To avoid the tragedies of the previous dynasty, the Imperial Court of Great Ying did not treat the Sky Demons with hostility but instead helped them in their search.”

“To help A Jiu find her way home, I deliberately made contact with a few Sky Demons.”

“Though called Sky Demons, they were not much different from ordinary people. Among them, the disciples of the Azure Cloud Sect were particularly interesting.”

“Although the Azure Cloud Sect disciples had diverse personalities, each was genuine and straightforward, which suited my taste.”

“Unexpectedly, when I brought a few Azure Cloud Sect disciples to meet A Jiu, they stared at her in shock, saying she was a disciple of their Azure Cloud Sect’s Danyang Peak, who had gone missing in the Trial Grounds during the last True Immortal Trial.””After leaving a few people behind, the others ran back to Water Deer Academy to verify something unknown. When they returned, they told A Jiu that as long as she was willing, she could leave with them at any time and return home together.”

“Do you know how I felt at that moment?”

“It was an indescribable feeling—both joyful and sorrowful.”

“Joyful because A Jiu had found her way home; sorrowful because I, a man without cultivation, would likely have to part with A Jiu soon.”

“So I made the decision I regret most—I asked A Jiu to stay and accompany me to revisit the places we had been to nine years ago.”

“A Jiu agreed. Then, to cherish this precious time, I asked several Azure Cloud Sect disciples not to follow us, allowing A Jiu and me to be alone for a while.”

“But this decision became the greatest mistake of my life.”

“Because I had no idea that besides being an Azure Cloud Sect disciple, A Jiu had another identity… that of the Immortal Wine Worm.”

“A Jiu’s other set of memories were from her time as the Wine Worm.”

At this point, Zhao Zhongming’s expression gradually turned ferocious.

“The Immortals are merciless, treating all things as Gu, and A Jiu is one link in this Gu.”

“Shortly after A Jiu and I left the Imperial City and arrived at Nine Nether Mountain, a group of Sky Demons found us.”

“Somehow, they learned of A Jiu’s identity as the Wine Worm and tried every means to capture her, intending to offer her to the Immortals in exchange for the method of Immortal Ascension.”

“To protect me, A Jiu temporarily repelled those Sky Demons but could never truly shake them off.”

“I tried to seek help from the Imperial Court, but the court instead told me not to interfere.”

“I hate it—I hate that I indulged in pleasure in my youth, and I hate that I never held any official position.”

“Though those Azure Cloud Sect disciples came to our aid as soon as they received the message…”

“How could they withstand the combined forces of other Sky Demons and our dynasty? In the end, they were trapped within the Academy…”

At this, Zhao Zhongming stood up directly and looked at the four people before him.

“I won’t speak of what happened after, because those events are unimportant.”

“I once promised to take A Jiu home, and I will definitely take her home. For this… I am willing to pay any price.”

“Today, I have gathered you for one purpose only: to follow me into the Academy and tread the Heavenly Path.”

“Because only there lies the road to the outside world.”

“After this matter, regardless of the outcome, you may take the entire territory of the Great Ying Dynasty.”

“I stake the empire as my wager. My esteemed ministers… are you willing to gamble?”

Hearing Zhao Zhongming’s words, Cui Shouye and the others fell completely silent.

Because Zhao Zhongming’s words were too shocking.

If they succeeded, their several Families would completely become the masters of the Great Ying Dynasty.

If they failed, they would face the Academy’s retaliation.

After all, the Academy only permits its own disciples to enter. For non-disciples to enter, the only way is to fight their way in.

The stakes… were too high.

(End of Chapter)