Chapter 531
No wonder a Great Grandmaster is a Great Grandmaster . Even when they're cursing up a storm, they can still manage to curse out a Great Grandmaster from thin air .
Wang Qinian was hidden behind Ren Shao'an, whose face was filled with terror, and habitually made a joke in his mind . His mind began to spin . While no one was paying attention, he silently began to move backward . He and Zong Zhui were equally known as the two wings of the Overwatch Council . When it came to skills relating to escaping and going into hiding, there was no one who could match them . At this moment, everyone's attention at the top of Dong Mountain was completely focused on the third man in a straw hat that had suddenly appeared . No one would notice if one person disappeared in the crowd .
Wang Qinian thought to himself that this was probably the advantage of being a minor character . Much like Gao Da who had worked hard to save his own life in the middle of the mountain, they had stayed for a long time beside Fan Xian and were not quite the same as the other loyal and filial officials in the world . Survival was the most important thing . Even if the Emperor was about to kick the bucket, they had to survive .
Wang Qinian's disappearance could escape the notice of everyone in the world, but it could not escape the notice of the Great Grandmasters . However, they were watching each other and the Emperor . They did not spare any thought to watch a dry and nameless old man .
The layers of dark clouds gathered without reason . Hovering in the sky high above the summit of Dong Mountain, they covered a good half of the blazing sunlight . The summit of the mountain was again enveloped in gloom and sea breeze .
Silence .
The Minister of Rites was a fearful elder . He should have stood out and harshly criticized the despicable assassination scene in front of him . But, he couldn't say a word . Ren Shao'an, an official of the Taichang Temple, was not old . He should have stood at the Emperor's side and helped the Emperor block the powerful air of murder coming from within and foreign countries . But, he didn't dare .
No one dared to move . No one dared to speak . Boundless complicated emotions rose in everyone's hearts . It was trepidation, fear, excitement, hopelessness, respect, or sorrow .
Too many things had happened on this mountaintop today . Too many major figures had come . It caused the ancient temples in picturesque disorder to begin shaking in the sea breeze . The copper bells on the corner of the eaves rang out to give their greetings to these major figures .
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Ye Liuyun, Sigu Jian, and Ku He were three Great Grandmasters that the people of three countries bowed down to . The three Great Grandmasters all lived in various corners of the world . Ku He was an Imperial Advisor in Northern Qi . Sigu Jian protected Dongyi with a single sword . Ye Liuyun floated on the ocean and was difficult to find . In this world, there was not a single person who could make all three of them appear at the same place at the same time . This was a conscientious choice as one at the apex of the mortal world .
However, now, they had come to Dong Mountain for one person: the Emperor of the most powerful country in the world and the person with the greatest power in the world .
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At the Emperor's side stood Eunuch Hong, who had never left the capital .
The Great Grandmasters met on Dong Mountain to assassinate the Qing Emperor .
The peak of martial arts in the mortal world and the peak of power gathered here . Such a miraculous sight had never appeared before in the history of this land . It would never happen again in the endless years to come . Such a sight could usually only exist in people's imaginations or in the stories of a Northern Qi novel .
The Qing Emperor, who was the target, and the three Great Grandmasters would never forget that in front of the door to the old temple still stood a blind man with a piece of black cloth tied around his eyes .
"Greetings, Your Highness . " The last Great Grandmaster, who had ascended the mountain, also wore hemp clothing . His feet were bare . The hemp cloth pants hung straight to his ankles and did not hide the feet that were not touched by dust or dirt .
The Emperor bowed slightly in greeting . "It's been a year since I saw you . You seem more energetic . "
Ku He slowly took off the hat on his head and revealed his bald head . An air of calmness exuded from the wrinkles on his forehead . In a quiet voice, he said, "Your Highness also seems very energetic . "
The Emperor had already shaken off his earlier shock . Since Lao Wu and Sigu Jian could be here, then Ku He could be here . He laughed bitterly . He seemed to sigh in admiration that the sister he had purposely spared could be able to create something of such a scale .
"I truly do not understand how Yunrui managed to convince all of you . "
In less than a moment, the bitterness completely disappeared from the Qing Emperor's smile . Upright and unafraid, he said, "You are not mere mortals . I am a son of heaven and also not a mere mortal . If you kill me, do you have the courage to shoulder the chaos in the world after I die?"
There were no lies in these words . Once the Qing Emperor was assassinated, no matter how the Eldest Princess twisted the situation in Jingdou, Qing Kingdom would take a large hit . The assassination of the Emperor would not just tear a large wound on the hearts of the people . Once the always stable Qing court took such a large hit, if they wanted to maintain internal balance, they would have to find an external avenue of venting their anger .
The Qing Emperor's calm came from his judgement of the present situation . If he were assassinated on Dong Mountain with the participation by powers of foreign countries, regardless of whether officials in court were loyal or not, under the powerful pressure of a newly passed monarch, they would have to send out troops .
Given the Qing Kingdom's powerful military strength and bloodthirstiness bred into the people, once they raised the battle flag of vengeance for the Emperor, how could Northern Qi and Dongyi stand against their overflowing murderous rage? Even if the other side had a Great Grandmaster, there was certain to be chaos in the world .
"Once I die, tens of millions of people will die . " The Emperor smiled contemptuously and looked at the three Great Grandmasters . "The three of you have always liked to consider yourselves protectors of the common people . Ku He, you protect Northern Qi . Sigu Jian, you protect Dongyi . However, because of my death, it will cause your people to die, suffer hunger, be humiliated, fall into destitution and lose their homes . They will be unable to take a breather for a hundred years . Is this exchange worth it?"
Ku He smiled slightly . "If Your Highness does not die, will you not send out troops? Will a great battle not happen?"
The Emperor said slowly, "In these 20 years, there has not been a great battle . You all know why that is so . "
Ku He sighed . "Your Highness directs troops like a god . Qing Kingdom grows in power each day . The reason Your Highness pities the millions of common people and has not declared battle is for no other reason than the fact that us old men are still alive . Otherwise, even if you unite the world, it would be one that has been pushed to the edge of breaking . Naturally, Your Highness does not want this result . "
"Correct . I am waiting for you all to grow old, waiting for you all to die . " The Emperor's eyelids lowered slightly . "I am younger than you, I can wait . "
"We cannot wait anymore . " Ku He sighed again . "Otherwise, after we die, who will maintain peace in the world?"
The Qing Emperor's sword-like brows gradually knitted together . The small wrinkle between his brows contained a glimmer of coldness and tyranny . "Peace? Only I can give this world peace! Can the three of you, who have no understanding of the times and are savages that only know how to fight and kill, give the people of this world peace and prosperity?"
The Northern Qi Imperial Advisor who had ascended the mountain last smiled warmly and said quietly to the Qing Emperor, "How the history books in a thousand years describe today's matter on Dong Mountain is not something that we mortals can control . No one in the world can be responsible for the distant future . What we want to see is nothing more than a presently peaceful world . "
Ku He's palms came together slightly . "We have to at least take responsibility in this world before we are old or die . "
"Thus, I must die?" The Qing Emperor smiled slightly and turned his head to gaze at Ye Liuyun . "Uncle, you are a person of the Qing Kingdom . You float on the ocean and are carefree . If you want me to die, is it also for the peace of the world? Don't forget, Qing Kingdom has killed countless people in Northern expedition battles . Your Ye family takes up at least 30 percent!"
Without waiting for Ye Liuyun to reply, the Emperor turned to Sigu Jian and smiled coldly . "What about you? A sword-struck man who kills people like mowing down grass, yet you dare to say that you cherish the world? Perhaps you killed everyone in your family for peace in Dongyi?"
In the end, the Qing Emperor looked at Ku He with disdain and said, "Tianyi Dao is very popular among Ascetic Monks, but you monks are not involved in production . You are completely supported by the people . So, what are you? Nothing more than a bunch of vermin . "
"Zhan Mingyue", The Qing Emperor said coldly . "Don't think that you can wash all the blood from your hands by shaving your head . "
"Uncle, you are only doing this for the survival of your family . Of course, I had originally planned to kill you here . If you want to kill me, I won't have any resentment . "
"Sigu Jian, you've protected Dongyi for many years . I want to destroy Dongyi, so it is logical that you would come to assassinate me . "
"Ku He, you are the Imperial Advisor to the Emperors . I want to swallow Northern Qi whole . With the benefits there, there is no need to speak of your crude behavior . "
"These three people all have reasons to kill me, as well as the right to kill me, but…" He looked at the three Great Grandmasters, who each had a shocking cultivation, and could no longer hold back in his disdain . "You all have various kinds of agendas up your sleeve . Why squander time in making another excuse to bully the world?"
"Do you think wearing three straw hats and three pieces of hemp clothing makes you common people? Wrong! You have always been strange creatures that shouldn't exist in this world . " The Qing Emperor stared coldly at the three Great Grandmasters . "Are you worthy to beg for the lives of millions?"
The Qing Emperor gently shook his sleeves and laughed for a long time . The laughter was full of contempt and ridicule . Perhaps he was ridiculing the Great Grandmasters who stood at the peak of the mortal world or himself for the fact that calculations were, in the end, no match for the will of heaven's feelings of predestination .
"Fine, fine, fine . The way of heaven is never fair . Three ignorant people want to ruin my great plan . In these 20 years, I often ask the heavens why you strange old creatures were not born a thousand, or a hundred, years ago . Why must you be born while I am alive?"
The most powerful middle-aged man in the world suddenly drew back his smile and coldly said, "Now that everyone has arrived, what are you all waiting for?"
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Ever since Eunuch Hong had pulled back his aura, the Qing Emperor had stood at his side with his head raised surrounded by the Great Grandmasters . He smiled and talk without fear . How self-confident and spirited was this? If it had been any other noble in the world in his present situation, even if their state of mind remained clear, they would still sink into some kind of difficult-to-endure emotion .
Only the Qing Emperor continued to speak frankly and with composure . Between his eyes and pupils, there was not a glimmer of fear . There was only a calm after the astonishment . After the calm, there was a faint glimmer of melancholy and helplessness .
He coldly talked and asked questions toward each of the three Great Grandmasters . The overly arrogant attitude did not grow any weaker at all in the dangerous situation . His powerful breathing techniques he had used for many years allowed him to naturally exude a ruler's supreme might, even when surrounded by those who were at the peak of human power .
Given the Qing Emperor's methods, courage, and determination, there were already signs of a great unification 20 years ago . He had the power to complete this massive task . Since the beginning of Wei Kingdom, there would be another country for 10,000 mornings . The Qing Emperor would become a true collective master of the world .
However, 20 years ago, Qing Kingdom's plan to unify the world was forced to slow down . In the process of Qing Kingdom taking over from Wei Kingdom and becoming the most powerful and prosperous country in the world, there was a sudden leap in the martial arts' realms in the mortal world . From 30 years ago, there gradually appeared a few Great Grandmasters in the mortal world . In this history of mankind, there had never appeared such a strange creature who could resist the machinery of a country with one man's power .
Once such a terrifying Great Grandmaster appeared . Even someone whose nature was as strong as that of the Qing Emperor's still had to temporarily withdraw the vanguard of their troops to seek a temporary balance on land .
"What else are you waiting for?" The Emperor used a mocking tone to ask once again . "Are the Great Grandmasters also afraid of me? Zhang Mingyue, you have long hidden your tracks and have not come out . Are you worried that this situation on Dong Mountain is a set up by myself and Yunrui?"
The Qing Emperor had the power to hit on one's thoughts with a single sentence, even if the other person was an unfathomable Great Grandmaster .
Ku He smiled slightly . The top of his head reflected the faint light below the grey clouds . He seemed to have already become one with this part of the summit . In an even voice, he replied, "When all is said and done, Northern Qi and Dongyi are the two places that have been hurt the most by Your Highness and the Eldest Princess these years . "
For such a great opportunity on Dong Mountain, the three Great Grandmasters all wondered whether the Eldest Princess' suddenly loss of power and the sudden deposition of the Crown Prince was a great conspiracy created by Qing Kingdom . Thus, they had to see true problems within Qing Kingdom .
Everything before them now, Yan Xiaoyi's rebel army and the changing of commanders right before the battle, already proved all of this .
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Something strange was happening on the ocean . The layers of grey clouds above the summit of Dong Mountain grew until they connected to the horizon between the sea and sky . The entire dome of the sky was covered by dark clouds . The day gradually became darker . The rolling and squeezing in the clouds seemed to be very clear, as if some unnamed power was gathering in the changing and struggling layers of cloud .
The wind whistled . There were hidden rumbles of thunder from between the clouds . It was as if they were the pained groans of the heaven and earth . Suddenly, a drop of rain fell .
In the patch of sky where the layers of grey clouds were the thickest, the summit of Dong Mountain had already entered a very mysterious realm . When the first drop of rain fell, it just happened to land on the dragon embroidered in gold thread on the Qing Emperor's bright yellow dragon robe .
The rain hit the right eye of the coiled dragon . The yellow cloth became darker, making the dragon appear darker and more sorrowful .
Power .
The four unusually strong paths to power appeared at the same time on the summit of Dong Mountain enveloped by grey clouds . They interfered with each other, feared each other, clashed with each other, and gradually flowed together and shot straight into the sky . They crossed swords with the thick clouds hiding the might of thunder up in the sky above the summit .
Truth .
The four paths to power contained real power and were perfectly joined together, entering a mysterious realm . When the first drop of rain landed, it gained control of everything on the summit of Dong Mountain . All the life completely integrated into the realm of truth and power began to lose control of their own spirit .
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