Chapter 169 - Chapter 169: Chapter 168: The Mysterious Young Man

Chapter 169: Chapter 168: The Mysterious Young Man

Translator: 549690339

“Luo Xuan.” Jiang Li muttered as he strolled around in the main hall.

When Emperor Yong heard Jiang Li call his name, he jumped in fright and quickly responded, “Here!”

“I hear you wanted to meet me when you ascended to the throne, I am truly sorry. I was busy in another world and had no time to meet you then. I apologize.” Jiang Li said, his face full of guilt.

“No, no, no, Your Majesty keeps a busy schedule. I wouldn’t dare waste your time.” Emperor Yong tried to laugh off the discomfort.

“Please don’t call me ‘Your Majesty’, after all, your power truly exceeds my imagination. I was merely eating a pancake in the street, and they said I violated the ‘Ming’ restriction and got thrown into jail. Given time, your Great Yong may well become the number one dynasty in the Nine Provinces and dominate the universe. You could even pluck the sun and the moon from the

sky. ”

“Wow, impressive, what an intimidating ambition.”

Emperor Yong understood clearly that Jiang Li was being sarcastic. He could only take it obediently and didn’t dare to retort.

“I think you’re much more ambitious than me. So how about this, you become the next Human Emperor, and I will abdicate. After ascending to the throne, you can declare that the world is forbidden to use the names ‘Jiang’ and ‘Li’?” “I think it’s a good idea, Luo Xuan, what do you think?”

Emperor Yong was sweating with anxiety. He knew his own weight; he became Emperor Yong by usurpation and more importantly because of his Luo surname, which represents the royal lineage. His ascension was barely justified.

But becoming the Human Emperor was another story – such a position is earned by fists and strength, by defeating all other candidates.

If he dared to claim the title of Human Emperor, he would be beaten to death by a group of unknown Tribulation Stagers in the very night, let alone the next day.

Emperor Yong knew Jiang Li was joking. The position of Human Emperor was decided by the Nine Provinces Earth Veins, and Jiang Li couldn’t just assign it to someone else.

But while Jiang Li could joke about it, Emperor Yong dared not.

This would be a deadly joke.

But he was confused as to why Jiang Li was so angry.

As he understood it, Emperor Jiang Li’s ability to change appearance and tour the Nine Provinces often led to him being wrongfully arrested by local officials who abused their authority. Nevertheless, he usually took such incidents lightly, explaining his innocence with logic and fists.

However, Jiang Li had never lost his temper over such incidents before.

“It’s all a misunderstanding,” Emperor Yong hurriedly said, looking at the trembling government officer and local official.

Now the officials were no longer rushing to take credit for arresting the Human Emperor, and delicately presenting him as a criminal in front of Emperor Yong with pride.

They both likely believed that this was doomsday.

“Marshal Wang, your contributions to this operation were indispensable. You even managed to spin eating a pancake as violating the ‘Ming’ restriction. You should take the primary honor.”

“No, no, no, it was all thanks to Governor Li’s great guidance, telling us to think creatively and act maliciously. I dare not take the credit. It is your achievement.”

“No, no, no, it’s all because Marshal Wang you…”

“No, it’s because Governor Li you…”

The two began whispering fiercely, almost breaking out into a fight.

If Emperor Yong and Jiang Li were not present, they would probably start brawling.

“Silence!” Emperor Yong’s face was ashen, “Emperor Jiang Li, I am sorry for their actions. They approached the situation recklessly for the sake of merit. I will now fire them and throw them into the Heavenly Prison for investigation!” The faces of marshal Wang and Governor Li turned deathly pale.

“Get out!” Jiang Li was thoroughly angry and stormed toward Emperor Yong.

Seeing Jiang Li advancing menacingly, Emperor Yong was scared and kept retreating.

“Just because your subordinates call you ‘Saint’, do you actually think that you are an enlightened ruler and a living saint who never makes mistakes?!”

“Without your baseless suspicions and compulsive demands to arrest a quota of 300 criminals, would your men need to go to such lengths to arrest people?!”

“Even if the underlings were in the wrong, the fault doesn’t lie as much with them as it does with you!”

“Is it so hard to admit that you’ve made a mistake?!”

With every statement he made, Jiang Li marched another step forward, forcing Emperor Yong to retreat in kind.

Finally, Emperor Yong was shocked to realize that while Jiang Li was now on the raised platform, he himself was standing outside the hall next to the pancake and banana sellers.

Emperor Yong, who was standing in the center of the hall, looked guiltily at the pancake and banana sellers and confessed, “I was foolish to issue such arbitrary orders. As soon as I return… No, I will repeal this order right now, and I will issue an apology decree and exempt taxes for three years to show my remorse.”

Jiang Li’s expression eased slightly.

“Emperor Yong, remember this, when you issue a command in the future, think it over thrice before you decide. There’s no need to be overly anxious.

Apart from the order forbidding the word ‘Ming,’ everything else you’ve done is passable. You’re doing better than your brother Luo Zheng, as for your nephew Luo Ming, I haven’t met him, so I won’t comment.”

“Luo Xuan will remember this,” Emperor Yong made a deep bow.

The order forbidding the word “Ming” seemed intimidating, but Luo Xuan was not foolish enough to kill everyone who was arrested. Instead, he jailed them for a while and then released them; the punishment was minor.

If Luo Xuan dared to label everyone arrested as traitors and kill them all, Jiang Li wouldn’t bother explaining and persuading him to be a wise ruler; he would just get rid of him and replace him with another emperor.

The duty of the Human Emperor is to supervise the rulers of the Nine Provinces.

To show his repentance, Emperor Yong personally went to the prison to release the prisoners. However, when he walked into the prison, he was taken aback.

The four commanders of the Imperial Palace were sitting around playing Mahjong, with a piece of paper stuck on the face of the Yellow Commander that read, “I am Mahjong”.

Who would have thought that the usually silent Yellow Commander would badmouth himself behind his own back?

What do you mean by slacking off, it’s called proper relaxation, understand?!

Zhang Konghu wanted to urge his colleagues to stop playing, but considering that he almost broke into tears because of the Yellow Commander’s cultivation technique and made a fool of himself, he was yelling at them to stop, while secretly kicking them a couple of times.

The junior cultivators watched the fight between the Body Integration Cultivators and didn’t dare intervene.

Is this the terrifying battle between the great Body Integration Cultivators?

Emperor Yong recognized these as the five Body Integration commanders of the Imperial Palace. Seeing this situation, he was at a loss for what to do.

“Cough, cough, my commanders are always very lively. This is just normal interaction,” Jiang Li’s explained on the side.

…Why is my prison holding these big shots? Emperor Yong gulped.

Emperor Yong really wanted to ask why these people had been arrested, but he was afraid that the question would make everyone uncomfortable. So he pretended not to know the commanders and waved his hand to release everyone.

At this moment, the system mission updated again.

[“Special Mission ‘Find the Shards of the Immortal Ascension Ladder’: A visitor arrives in the Ring Universe, dispatching the Twelve Heavenly Kings and casting the world on the brink of destruction. With the help of local forces, defeat one of the Twelve Heavenly Kings, ‘Luan Tianwang’].

[“This mission cannot be abandoned.”]

[“Mission Reward: Shard of the Immortal Ascension Ladder”].

[You can obtain one free opportunity to travel between the Ring Universe and

Nine Provinces World during the task period]

The northern extremity.

A group of thinly dressed cultivators speed across the snowy ground, their movements light and elegant as they touch down on the snow before lightly leaping up, jumping dozens of meters.

The Freeze Sky and Earth of the northern land can turn water into ice in an instant. These cultivators are only at the Foundation Establishment Stage and thus can’t resist the severe cold yet, but they carry heating talismans produced by Dao Sect, held in their arms – they not only feel no cold, but even feel a bit warm.

“Where is the Ice Crystal Flower? We have been searching for more than half a month without finding it.” A cultivator grumbled, “If it weren’t for the academy task, I really wouldn’t want to come to this place to study the growing environment of the Ice Crystal Flower.”

They are students of the Great Zhou Dynasty Family Academy. After Jiang Li’s speech, the original principal voluntarily resigned. The new principal took office and encouraged everyone to think and act more. For a time, students and teachers started to actively study academic issues, greatly improving the academic atmosphere of the academy.

These students received homework assigned by the teacher, requiring them to prove the necessity of the Ice Crystal Flower’s growth in the northern lands.

“Ok, everyone quiet down. Though it’s bad luck we got this subject, everyone keep focused, continue looking, try to find it as soon as possible, finish the task earlier, and go home earlier.” The team leader cultivator encouraged everyone, but his words did not have much effect. The cultivators flew across the snowy ground listlessly.

“Hey, look over there!” A cultivator cried out in surprise.

“What’s up, did we finally find the Ice Crystal Flower?” The other cultivators perked up.

“No, there’s someone!”

The students rushed over hastily. It was a huge pit, and there was someone in it.

This person was a youth around fifteen or sixteen years old. Perhaps due to being frozen for a long time, his face was frightfully pale, and there were severe injuries on his body.

“What happened? Was he attacked?” There are indeed some monsters that rule the northern lands, with numerous underlings. The students presumed that this youth had been attacked by such monsters.

In such a situation, continuing the investigation was impossible. Everyone hastily lifted the youth out of the pit, only to discover that there were three Ice Crystal Flowers beneath him, which was extremely rare.

But at the moment, everyone was too busy to care about their task. Saving a life was more important.

Back on the flying boat, the medical cultivator took his pulse and found out that the youth was unconscious just because he was wiped out and not because of his injuries. Those wounds looked serious but were actually not fatal.

The medical cultivator infused some mellow spiritual energy into him, and after a while, the youth slowly opened his eyes.

The boy jerked up, looking at the unfamiliar surroundings with high alert. He quickly let go of his hand, found his talisman was still intact without any damage, and heaved a sigh of relief.

People saw him holding a talisman and didn’t pay it any mind.

Who doesn’t take a few talismans with them when they go out?

The boy realized that these people saved him and expressed his gratitude.

But to their surprise, they could not understand the language spoken by the boy.

“It’s strange, the language of the Nine Provinces has been unified long ago, so where does this boy’s language come from?”

Of course, the academy wouldn’t let students come to the north land by themselves. They specially sent a flying boat to transport students, and there was also a Nascent Soul Stage teacher leading the team on the boat.

Even the well-informed teacher had never encountered the boy’s situation.

The boy looked lost, seemingly unable to comprehend why they couldn’t understand him. It seems like he had been asleep for so long that his memory was somewhat fuzzy.

As he regained consciousness, he finally remembered where he was, and promptly began to uncontrollably tremble.

Fire, death, despair.

These were his memories before he was teleported.

“Abu, have you remembered anything?” The students looked pitifully at the boy. It was heartbreaking, he was attacked by a monster, went into a coma due to severe injuries, lost his memory, forgot everything, even his own name, even how to speak in Nine Provinces language.

The students named him Abu.

It took Abu several days to recall how to speak in Nine Provinces language, albeit stutteringly.

“Still nothing.” Abu shook his head, looking dejected. “Zhu Zhu, could you retell the current situation of the Nine Provinces’ powers to me, perhaps it might jog my memory.”

“I see.” Zhu Zhu was a kind-hearted female student. She sat next to Abu and explained, “Our Nine Provinces mainland mainly has the Imperial Palace, nine great dynasties, six grand sects, Four Sea Dragon Palace, and many other top-class powers, such as the omnipresent Sky Mechanism Tower, the second-class Elixir Sect in terms of elixir, the flourishing Luban Sect, and so forth.”

“The nine great dynasties all exist for tens of thousands of years, their foundation is so profound it’s unimaginable. Even though the monarch’s battle prowess isn’t strong, with the aid of the country’s blessing, they can even compete with Transcendence Tribulation Stage upper beings, of course, barring Empress Yu Yin, who is in the Transcendence Tribulation Stage by herself, without needing a country’s blessing.”

“And then there are six grand sects, these sects all possess immortal foundation, of which the most intimidating is the Dao Sect which it’s said to have an immortal sitting in town for tens of thousands of years, never taking action, but when they do, the heavens and earth change colour.”

Abu’s eyes lit up when he heard the word ‘immortal’, “Is an immortal strong?”

Zhu Zhu laughed at Abu’s words, “Abu, you truly are completely amnesiac. Don’t we cultivation seekers all wish to become immortals? how could there be an immortal who isn’t strong?”

“But the immortal isn’t the strongest, in our Nine Provinces, the strongest is Emperor Jiang Li.”

“Emperor?” It seemed Abu hadn’t heard the term Emperor before and repeated it.

Zhu Zhu thought Abu recalled something when he heard ‘Emperor’, so she spoke, “The Emperor is our pride. Without the Emperor’s protection, there would be no peaceful Nine Provinces today, we would have all been killed by the Heavenly Demons from outside our domain.”

“What’s a Heavenly Demon from outside our domain?” Abu continued to ask, this term seemed to match the terrifying being in his memory, this unknown being that descended from the sky like a demon or a ghost, engulfing the world in a sea of fire.

“How do I put this?” For Zhu Zhu, accurately describing a Heavenly Demon from outside their domain was a rather difficult task, “It’s basically a group of bad guys from outside the Nine Provinces who want to destroy them.”

“But we don’t need to worry about this, the current Emperor is the strongest in history, reaching the Mahayana Realm, an achievement which hasn’t been achieved by a cultivator in tens of thousands of years, he’s virtually invincible, even an immortal would have to admit defeat before him!” Zhu Zhu laughed, their generation regards the Heavenly Demons as just a tale.

“How can there be someone stronger than an immortal? Don’t tease me because I lost my memory.” Abu shook his head, “I don’t believe it.” Seeing her most-admired idol being doubted by someone, Zhu Zhu got a bit flustered.

“Don’t you disbelieve, you may not remember what a Heavenly Demon from outside the domain looks like, alright, I haven’t seen one either, the last Heavenly Demon appeared a hundred years ago. But none of this matters, according to teachers, the Heavenly Demons are on par with immortals, they’re completely unreasoning, killing upon sight, many Emperors from past generations made the ultimate sacrifice in fights against Heavenly Demons.”

“And the reason why Emperor Jiang is touted as the strongest isn’t just because he’s reached the Mahayana Realm, more importantly, he can easily kill Heavenly Demons from outside our domain!”

“Are you serious?” Abu’s eyes were wide open, greatly shocked, his voice was trembling.

Zhu Zhu thought that Abu was happy that the Nine Provinces didn’t need to fear the Heavenly Demons and didn’t think much of it.

There’s hope of salvation, there’s hope for my hometown. Abu repeated silently in his mind, biting down hard on his lips, tears glistening in his eyes, tightly holding onto the charm.

His hometown was attacked by an unknown enemy, an incredibly cruel one who killed upon sight, leaving corpses strewn everywhere. His father gave him the charm, told him to run. He held onto the charm with tear-streaked face, miraculously survived the onslaught, and teleported to this unknown yet powerful world.

He thought with such a powerful enemy, there was no chance of defeating them, his hometown was doomed, and he was the sole survivor. But he never thought that such an unimaginably powerful figure existed in this world.

Perhaps their Emperor could save his hometown..