As the chief minister’s cold voice echoed out, an affirmative response rang out from beyond the entrance.

Moments later, five imperial guards in golden armor entered, pulsing with baleful auras. Though they looked young, they seemed surrounded by the aroma of blood and gore. What was more, the way they kept their energy linked as they walked forward showed how skilled they were at the use of formations. Each imperial guard was in charge of a prisoner. The prisoners included men and women, and all had bleak facial expressions. They were all wounded, and had clearly been ruthlessly interrogated. Their cultivation bases had been crippled.

The imperial guards strode up to the chief minister, where they bowed their heads and forced the prisoners onto their knees. No amount of struggling on the part of the prisoners did any good. With the imperial guards’ hands clamped firmly atop the prisoners’ heads, they had no choice but to prostrate on the ground.

Xu Qing sat on the first step just above them. Looking down at the five prisoners, he ultimately focused on the first of them, who was on the left-hand side.

He was a middle-aged man whose skin had been peeled off to reveal black paper underneath. The paper was torn, as if someone had ripped a piece off it to use as evidence.

As Xu Qing looked at the man, the man forced his head up and looked back. When their gazes met, Xu Qing’s eyes turned cold; he could tell that this was the very same person who had attacked him. He could sense the aura clearly.

As for the other four, Xu Qing had never seen them before.

The chief minister cupped his hands in obeisance, then pointed to the middle-aged man on the left-hand side. “Your Majesty, the investigation into the assassination attempt is complete. This person’s name is Pyrrole. He’s half-human, half-demon, and he joined the Ghostwyrm Nethersect at a young age. He has passable latent talent, but because of some bloodline issues, wasn’t able to access his core. His Master wanted to investigate the situation, but a sixty-year-cycle ago, Pyrrole stole the Black Paper Taboo Magic and used it to betray his sect and disappear. He was never seen again after that.

“On the day of the assassination attempt, he used the Black Paper Taboo Magic both to orchestrate the attack and then to flee the imperial capital. It took half a month for the Swordsage Division to track him down and arrest him in the Ninewilds Plains. I’ve already clarified all the details of the case.”

With that, the chief minister bowed his head and waited for the emperor to speak.

The hall was quiet. Everyone was looking at the five criminals and Xu Qing, with different thoughts running through their heads. As for Pyrrole, he was looking at Xu Qing and regretting that he’d failed to kill him. That failure was a tarnished spot on an otherwise amazing record.

“Execute him,” the emperor said from the ninth step.

The imperial guard standing behind Pyrrole lifted a saber and slashed it through his neck. That saber was a precious treasure with a mighty power of extermination in it. The moment it passed through Pyrrole’s neck, his entire body collapsed into a gory sludge. Even his soul was severed.

The guard lifted the head and showed it to the crowd. The criminal had been destroyed in body and soul. It only took a few moments for the head to collapse into ash.

The chief minister then pointed to the second criminal, who was an old man. His head was bowed, making it impossible to see his facial expression. However, he was severely injured, and also had some spikes driven into his flesh.

“The second to stand accused is Lin He, who operates under the secret codename 379. He currently serves as the deputy envoy of the Ministry of Supervision in the Special Operations Division. He attempted to cover for the guilty party during the investigation, and was also the one to provide details about Governor Xu’s whereabouts on the night of the assassination attempt.”

“Execute him,” the emperor said calmly.

The guard behind him slashed down with his saber, killing Lin He in an instant. Moments later, his head collapsed into ash.

“The third to stand accused is Daoist Fire from the House of the Nine Deviations of Darkfire, where he serves as an honor guard. He was responsible for setting up the spell formations in advance. He also used deadly fire magics to facilitate the strategy of water fiends.

“The fourth to stand accused is Sir Fatedark from the Prehistoric Cyan Moon Sect, who ranks even higher than the other three conspirators. He’s an elder in his sect, and on the night of the assassination attempt, he used a special item to prevent any fluctuations from leaving that specific street. That item was a heavenly king medallion!”

The chief minister’s words struck shock into the hearts of everyone present. Some of them allowed that surprise to show on their faces, while others hid their reaction. The case so far had involved three of the superpower sects, plus the Special Operations Division of the Greater Celestial Divisions. What was more, the Prehistoric Cyan Moon Sect was the home sect of the imperial preceptor. But what was most shocking of all was that the chief minister had mentioned a heavenly king’s medallion! That obviously implied that a heavenly king was involved.

“Whose medallion was it?” the emperor asked.

“That of King Heaventide.” The chief minister bowed his head.

The hall remained completely silent.

As for Xu Qing, his face had remained completely emotionless for the entire time, and he hadn’t said a single word. He had listened to the chief minister and watched the executions almost as if he were an outsider.

Meanwhile, all gazes in the hall were now fixed on the fifth prisoner.

Based on what the chief minister had explained, the group of prisoners included the actual assassin, the person in charge of the spell formations, the person who had revealed Xu Qing’s whereabouts and route, and someone who had interfered with the investigation. But for that medallion to mask fluctuations in the imperial capital meant that it was no ordinary item. Therefore, what he wanted to know now was who had been giving orders to these five conspirators.

The fifth prisoner was an old woman with gray hair, her body covered with wounds. However, her expression was one of boundless wisdom and insight. She gave them the impression that a single glance from her would reveal to her everything about you.

When Xu Qing looked at her, the old woman looked back at him and smiled.

“The fifth to stand accused wasn’t directly involved. However, all four of the other conspirators were connected to her in some way…. This person is named Dao Po, and she’s from…” The chief minister hesitated briefly. Even when mentioning the heavenly king, he had spoken as smoothly as ever. It was only at this point that he faltered. But then he took a deep breath and continued speaking. “… the Star-Plucking Tower!”

The crowd looked on solemnly.

A moment later, the emperor’s voice rang out from the ninth step.

“Go ahead and execute them all.”

“Yes, sir!” Three guards raised their glittering sabers, and a moment later, lifted up three heads. The bodies collapsed into gore, and then the heads crumbled into ash.

At that point, the emperor rose from the Dragon Throne.

Everyone in the crowd bowed their heads solemnly. The heavenly marquises in black court attire rose from their cross-legged positions. Xu Qing also stood, his expression somber, but his heart pounding.

“Xu Qing from Sea-Sealing County,” the emperor said coolly.

Xu Qing took a step forward then swiveled to face the west. Clasping his hands, he bowed deeply.

“As my loyal subject, you have governed Sea-Sealing well, put Holytide in order, quelled the chaos in Nightspirit, maintained peace and tranquility, safeguarded human lands, and expanded territory dutifully. You are hereby officially appointed as region lord of Holytide, and will receive the full support of the heavenly marquises. What’s more, after you attend Imperial University, you will be appointed as a heavenly marquis.”

Outside, the dragons roared and exhaled dazzling light.

Massive amounts of destiny aura formed, then rushed into the hall and surrounded Xu Qing. In fact, the clouds on Planet Ancient Emperor stirred, and destiny aura rushed from there to Xu Qing. As the destiny aura converged on Xu Qing, he emanated a five-colored glow. The sable dragon on his court garment flew out into the open, devoured the destiny aura, and then roared to heaven.

This was the traditional human way of conferring titles! It meant that, as of this moment, Xu Qing was being officially protected by the destiny aura of humankind. Of course, he was only being given the title of region lord. Based on what the emperor had said, after Xu Qing went to the Imperial University for training, he would officially be given the title of heavenly marquis. It could only be imagined how shocking the destiny aura would be then.

Outside of the imperial palace, past the rainbow bridge, the Captain and Plumdark sat in a building waiting for Xu Qing.

When the auspicious signs filled heaven and earth, Plumdark nodded slightly. That said, she could sense that the destiny aura was somewhat lacking. Only five colors, not seven. And there’s no umbrella of destiny aura, nor the projections of past sages… the emperor is being a bit stingy.

The Captain, meanwhile, was salivating like mad. As he looked at the destiny aura, his heart raced. So much destiny aura…. If I got that, I would easily be able to remove three seals. I want to join the court too!!

The Captain and Plumdark weren’t the only ones to see the auspicious signs. All humans in the imperial capital looked up at the transformations, and soon, a swell of conversation filled the city.

Meanwhile, everyone in the palace hall looked at Xu Qing and cupped hands to salute him according to etiquette. Xu Qing’s heart pounded as he sensed his cultivation base rotating faster than ever. This level of destiny aura was providing a big blessing to his battle prowess. As long as he was in human territory, he would be far stronger than before. In fact, he could sense that, mortals or not, as long as there were a lot of humans nearby, that blessing would be immense.

Xu Qing took a deep breath, then bowed to the emperor according to etiquette. At the moment, it didn’t matter who the mastermind behind the assassination plot was, or whether or not the executions had just been for show. He would have to look into all of that later. The emperor’s conferring of a title put the investigation to an end.

Xu Qing could tell that this title was a true blessing to him. Of course, people would all have their own opinions on what was really going on behind the scenes. There were some things that were a lot more meaningful before they were revealed publicly than after. Furthermore… Xu Qing was getting the feeling that the emperor was playing a game of Go with someone. 𝒻𝘸𝘦𝓿.𝑐𝘰

As for the identity of that person, based on today’s events, plus what the clay fox had warned him about, he got the feeling it was the imperial preceptor, in other words, the Crown Prince of Violet and Cyan!

Maybe the mastermind behind the assassination attempt was the emperor, or maybe it was the imperial preceptor. Either way, a successful assassination had never been the true goal. It had just been one move on the game board.

In that case, if one person has made a move, it goes without saying that the other person will also make a move….

As Xu Qing contemplated that, the destiny aura and auspicious signs faded away. At that point, the emperor’s voice once again rang out, reaching the outside world, and echoing throughout the imperial palace.

“There is another matter that my people must know about.

“King Eastcauldron has won a great victory, and has now laid siege to the Nightshade imperial capital. More than half of the Nightshade Region is now occupied by our human forces!

“When I ascended the throne, I asked Grand Emperor Swordsage to promise that humankind would win great glory in my lifetime. I completed the work on the Dawning Suns, and thus, the Nightshades that so badly tormented previous emperors are about to be wiped out!

“To celebrate this historic expansion of human lands, I hereby open Planet Ancient Emperor, and allow the elites of humankind, plus the imperial princes, to seek enlightenment of the ancient dao legacies there! Any young one who receives a legacy from a Grand Emperor will receive a dragon pendant from me!”

The emperor’s words crashed like thunder in the imperial capital, causing a mountain-toppling, sea-draining commotion. Countless chosen cultivators were shaken to the core.

“Planet Ancient Emperor is being opened for legacy seeking! This is the first time in three hundred years!”

“I’m definitely going to get a legacy!”