"Sir, your delegate has returned!

" the chamberlain announced the news in the strictly protocolized way. Even though he was shouting, his head was lowered.

In the face of the Star Emperor, not even his direct attendants dared to stare at his glorious face.

"He may enter,

" a young man laying in a luxurious bed with a jade beauty glued to each of his sides said. His long, dark hair sprawled around the vast array of decorated pillows. In his private chambers, the Star Emperor didn't bother with wearing any clothes, opting to conduct his day naked as to never have to waste even a moment when a wish to dual cultivates with his concubines would come forth.

"Sir,

" the chamberlain replied, lowering his head even further. This feat alone was worthy of the three stars tattooed on the man's face. In a sense, without the help of cultivation-backed psychique, no man would be able to lower his head so low.

Then, as if someone passed the message through the massive doors to its other side, the gate to the chamber opened up.

But rather than a single person walking in to report, entire conduct entered the place.

It consisted of an array of eight slaves with their eyes gouged up and replaced by precious stones. Their ears were lopped off, and the wounds after them sealed with golden plates. Their tongues were cut away.

Out of the natural way those people were born, only the ability to sense things through touch remained.

"What is this?

" the Star Emperor looked at the small palanquin that the slaves brought inside. Even though its sides were covered by cloth, the ruler of the empire could easily see through them.

"I was told that my delegate was returning, not some devastated corpse,

" he said, directing his eyes towards the slave at the front of the conduct.

"Go and kill yourself,

" the Star Emperor ordered, seeking a way to soothe his surprise-induced rage.

"...

" The slave didn't respond. Without his tongue and with his mouth sewn together by a golden thread, he had no means of talking in the first place.

But instead of rebelling against this kind of outrageous order, he simply kneeled down before grabbing the two golden plates sealing the wounds that used to be his ears and tearing them away.

In an instant, a river of blood flushed out of his freshly opened wounds, quickly leading the man to the place where the Star Emperor could no longer abuse him.

In a sense, this was the one order that every slave in the Star Palace craved to hear.

"Why do I have to do everything myself,

" the owner of the room pushed the sleeping beauties away, making both of them fall from the luxurious bed. Then, woken by crashing into the ground, the two of them instantly pressed their foreheads against the floor, unwilling to as much as twitch.

"Am I surrounded by idiots or what?

" the man continued as he walked towards the deceased slave. If any of his other servants could see, they could easily cease to just by experiencing the amount of rage visible on the man's face.

Nevertheless, the Star Emperor kneeled directly in the pool of blood flowing out of the dead slave's head before smashing his fist directly into where the man's heart was. With a single sharp pull, he brought the still beating and warm heart out of the corpse.

"Out of my way,

" the man muttered, instantly setting the palanquin on fire. With how thin the cloth covering it was, it took only a flash before the wooden frame of the thing was exposed, allowing the man direct access to the bloodied corpse of his delegate.

"You need to answer some questions of mine. I didn't allow you to die yet,

" he muttered, slamming the warm heart directly into the hole of his delegate's body, the same hole someone used to pluck his heart out before.

"Live,

" the Star Emperor said, placing his hand on the corpse's head and sending a revitalizing surge of his energy through the slowly decaying flesh.

"ARGH!

" In an instant, the corpse bent in half. The man calling himself a Star Emperor in the face of Yelna and Markus moved his upper body up, desperately gasping for air. But the joy of feeling the wind's breeze of his face, the joy of feeling anything at all, was soon replaced by nothingness when the domineering aura of the true Star Emperor seemingly squashed his delegate's personality and emotions away.

"What happened for you to end up in such a sorry state?

" The Star Emperor asked, taking up a face of a kind ruler. He even went as far as to place his hand on the revived corpse's head, gently caressing his hair.

"Your majesty,

" the eyes of the revived man widened when he realized who he was speaking with. In an instant, he averted his eyes while trying to smash his forehead against the floor.

"There is no need for that,

" the real Emperor said in an amiable voice. But at the same time, a slight tinge of annoyance appeared deep within his eyes.

"Just tell me what happened and who dared to go against my authority,

" he said, still running his fingers through the man's hair.

"Your majesty, I came to the Military Camp at one of the special zones to investigate a certain rumor,

" the delegate said, forcing its mind to compile everything that happened into the most precise and short version of the past events.

"I was told that someone was organizing a mass expedition into the zone. After having the scene investigated by a High Interrogator, I learned that the rumor was actually true,

" the man reported everything that happened, relaxing under the constant, gentle caress of his absolute ruler.

"So it's the person organizing the expedition that defeated you like that?

" The Star Emperor said, seemingly not minding how unbecoming it was for him to ask any questions at all.

"Your majesty, I wish to claim that I fought with them on the even ground... But that wasn't the case. And no, it wasn't a single man. If I recall correctly...

" the delegate hesitated for a moment,

"he came there with his wife. And it was his wife that turned me into this sorry state I am right now,

" the delegate said, averting his eyes in shame.

"So a woman did it?

" The star emperor said, slightly raising one of his eyebrows.

"When did you become so weak for some woman to be able to best you?

" he then asked with a small hint of anger in his voice.

"Your majesty, it's not like that,

" the delegate continued, turning more and more confident with his words while failing to notice the small changes happening to the real Emperor's face.

"They weren't cultivators. They didn't fight like any cultivators I saw or heard off,

" the man said, shaking his head.

"What's more, in that woman... I didn't feel any energy at all!

" he added, raising his head to look at the Emperor in hopes that the man would see the truth in his eyes.

But he didn't get to see the man's face. By the time his face finally equalized with the Emperor's, another surge of energy fried the delegate's brain.

"This damned idiot dared to attempt looking at my face,

" the Emperor said with scorn, removing his hand from the corpse's head. Now that its brain was gone, not even the Emperor could bring him back to life.

After saying those words, the Emperor moved his hand to the side, only for the nearest of his concubines to crawl forward with her eyes glued to the ground. After reaching blindly for her owner's dirtied hand, she started to lick all the filth from it.

"Aurelian,

" the Star Emperor said, not even bothering to turn in the direction where the man would come from.

"Yes, sir?

" an inconspicuous man appeared in the room, seemingly out of nowhere. The fact that he was privileged enough to call the Emperor with sir spoke of how important and capable he was.

"Find out where did this trash headed for its last mission. Then, go and investigate everyone that dealt with the matter he picked up,

" the Emperor said, slapping the licking concubine away as soon as he felt that his hand was finally free of filth.

"Also, call for Urelius,

" he added after a moment of thought.

"Urelius, sir?

" Aurelian asked, not daring to raise his head even by an inch as he did so.

"Yes, Urelius,

" the Star Emperor said as he looked at the corpse in the burned-out palanquin.

"My delegates are too precious to throw them away normally, so I can only enjoy myself whenever one of them dies,

" the Emperor said as he looked towards the other concubine of his, one that was unlucky enough to be further away from him when he gave his previous order.

"Get the body and that whore to him. Once he combines the two, bring the finished product to my secret chambers,

" the Star Emperor ordered.

Without making as much as a single sound, Aurelius disappeared. Then, the Emperor looked at the corpse once again. Even despite all its wounds, there was still one feature that the Emperor made sure to preserve.

It was the corpse's face.

'In the end, only my face is handsome enough to get me going,'