?”Hmph! Now that she had abdicated the throne, why save the limited veto? Everyone!”

The grandfather of one of the punished people spoke with spite, wanting to use the likely want of other members of the Council of Elders to at least somehow spite Nie Xiwang in his favor, and reverse the punishments she gave.

“He’s right!”

“Hmph!”

“See if you get your way!”

The other Elders, as he predicted, jumped at the opportunity. After all, they saved that power of veto in case she was not driven to abdicate after being impeached, and then took that opportunity to make some drastic decisions.

The Elders raised their tokens once again, which shined with bright green glow, but the Spiritual Formation only made a small impulse, not activating.

“Eh?”

“This is…”

The eyes of the Elders widened as Nie Xiwang’s laughter reached their ears.

“Hahaha, did you not know? The Council of Elders can only veto the decisions of the sitting Monarch, not ones of the past”, she chuckled as they walked with Wu Long, long since anticipating this development.

“Hah! Then by the authority of the Emperor I revoke that decision!”

The new Emperor snorted with derision and glee, and then struck the floor with the scepter, already anticipating the look on her face, but only gained the same effects as the Elders.

“I proclaimed the decision ‘Legacy’, both of them, which you probably know is irrevocable unless done by the ‘Highest Authority’, Your Majesty. Did you really think that meant the ruler of this country?”

The Blade Empress shook her head with a wry smile, not bothering to explain further as the Emperor understood who she was speaking of.

After all, the origins of the scepter, the Imperial Scripture and the tokens of the Imperial Council were concealed within the secret only those sworn in to the Throne were revealed to, and thus could not be spoken out loud.

There was a thin tree branch enclosed within the scepter, tree leaves within the tokens, and a tiny part of a root in the ground beneath the throne, that has grown to envelop the deep underground on the territory of nearly the whole of the Empire.

Legacy Rulings were decisions made by Emperors who did not wish for them to be revoked by future generations of Emperors, and thus were only possible to reverse with the help of the one behind this Empire.

Though such decisions could still be vetoed by the Council of Elders while that particular Monarch was still sitting on the Throne, and were also limited to two non-overturned decisions for the entire period of one’s rule.

“Not so fast! Where do you think you are going?

Foreigners or not, it is natural to greet the Emperor when you meet them”

The new Emperor spoke again, straightening up even more, as they were passing through the crowd toward the exit where he and the Imperial Ancestor stood.

“Hello”

Wu Long waved his hand with a bright smile without halting his steps.

“Pfft!”

Nie Xiwang covered her mouth with her hand as she turned to him with laughter in her eyes and a slight playful rebuke for making her laugh at such a moment.

“You…!”

The Emperor’s veins bulged as he became red, pointing his finger at Wu Long.

“Guards! This ma-…”

“Nie Pogong! Stand down!”, the Imperial Ancestor raised his voice with very apparent irritation, adding “Tsk tsk tsk, useless fellow… not knowing when to stop. Do you not see the situation? Why push your luck when you are hanging by a thin thread already?”

“A…Ancestor…”, the Emperor widened his eyes at this rebuke, speaking in a somewhat lost tone as a thought that he had to replace this imbecile as fast as possible went through the mind of the ancestor.

“Haa~ what’s done is done… It is out of my hands now, and I cannot protect you. I sincerely hope you don’t regret your decision in the future, Xiwang”, the old man spoke in a somehow even more tired voice, a bit bitter, but with no malice as Nie Xiwang made a respectful gesture toward him.

There was no familial affection in the old man toward the Blade Empress, and his support of her when she was ascending the throne, which overturned the opposition of the Council of the Elders, stemmed from the fact was that she was the best candidate to become the next Imperial Ancestor, supporting this Empire for thousands of years as his own time was already not that far off.

He was not worried about the palace intrigues and squabbles, as the moment he passed, she would remain the only Mortal Transcendence Realm expert they had, and would have no choice but to rely on her, naturally raising her authority and position.

Thus, he could not hide his disappointment with her abdication and cutting all ties, but did not resent her either, as he understood, he was simply tired of his burden and bitter about not seeing its end.

It was this gaze, one simply carrying the burden of the Empire, desperately waiting for it to end, without remembering why he did it in the first place, or why it mattered, that made Wu Long sure they would not be opposed by this old man.

The two started to leave the palace without being impeded by anyone else, as the members of the Imperial Family ground their teeth.

Though there were three Elders of the Council that secretly exchanged glances, grins appearing on their faces.

“…~it! Wait!”

But as they were already not far from leaving the grounds of the Imperial Palace, a voice resounded from behind them, a muscular figure rapidly approaching from behind.

“…!”, Nie Xiwang sharply turned, her swords rising above her and pointing toward the mountain of muscles that came closer and stopped at a small distance.

“Hahaha, don’t worry, Xiwang. I know this fellow”, Wu Long chuckled, softly placing his hand on her wrist, and her expression softened as well, the swords turning to face down behind her again.

“Know him? But he’s… he’s from the Imperial Family?”, she asked, with a pause in between.

“Hahaha, he should be your cousin… although it seems distant, if I am not mistaken, because his son is your nephew”, WU Long chuckled, and then turned to the man with the words “I see your face is all healed. So? What did you want?”

“I… I… can I follow you? That guy… the guy who was with you before said that if I give you my loyalty, you can make me strong”, Nie Guanting spoke with an unwavering gaze, looking into Wu Long’s eyes.

“Heh, and why do you want to become strong?”

“Because the strong live”, the man answered without skipping a beat, something in his eyes making a glint appear in Wu Long’s eyes.

“Hooh~… interesting. Do you have any unfinished business or things to settle in the Palace?” Wu Long asked and the man shook his head, seemingly not caring about any formalities of leaving like Nie Xiwang.

“Follow me then”, Wu Long chuckled and turned to walk further with the Blade Empress.

“Thank you!”, resounded from behind them as the man stared following them, but his pace and distance from them quite jumbled as he made quick steps toward them and then waited for them to move a bit further before again almost catching up.