Chapter 169: Chapter 102: But I Have No Heart

"Have you heard?"

"This new imperial examination... they accepted seventy-two scholars for the civil service, and more than half of them are commoners from poor families who haven’t even cultivated before..."

"Has His Majesty gone mad? Officials in every dynasty have always been chosen from noble clans like us! We have cultivation and strategy in our hearts. Why choose commoners!"

"Hush!"

"What’s there to be afraid of? This so-called imperial examination is a joke, doomed to fail! Even a great ruler can make mistakes..."

A new dynasty, a new era.

Daqian was indeed very different.

This new, so-called imperial examination tested the people of the realm on strategy and policy, starting from towns and commandery capitals all the way to the Imperial City, causing a huge stir throughout the land.

Even the idle and lazy Imperial Hospital, long accustomed to peaceful days, was abuzz with discussion about it.

In the courtyard.

Su Chen was still trimming branches and leaves.

He seemed to have nothing to do, passing his days in idle mediocrity. The Medical Officers of the Imperial Hospital had even given him the nickname "Lazy Imperial Physician."

Aside from him, there was another person in the small courtyard.

He wore a Black Dragon Emperor Robe, his hands clasped behind his back, a faint smile on his face as he watched Su Chen trim the branches.

"This imperial examination policy has nearly severed the roots that allow the noble clans to meddle in court affairs. It’s a benefit for a thousand autumns, yet the entire court is cursing me for it."

"But you’re the one who proposed this policy!"

Kong was smiling.

He really wanted to pry open the other man’s skull and see just how many more brilliant ideas were hidden inside.

Perfume, soap, the Martial Arts List, and now this imperial examination—they were all refreshingly novel concepts.

"It’s not that the ideas are so brilliant."

"It’s that cultivation exists in this world, making the Royal Race more accustomed to suppressing everything with force. They’re too lazy to think about these things..."

"By the way."

"Shouldn’t a great ruler like you be handling state affairs?"

Su Chen didn’t even turn his head.

The Three Fortunes were gathering.

The Human World was continuously releasing Spiritual Qi.

The speed of the Immortal Arrival was accelerating.

Above the Imperial City, a Gate that only Grandmasters and Qi Cultivation Immortals could see was slowly taking form.

The Celestial Alliance had begun to move about the world again.

Moreover, even Demon Mountain was stirring restlessly.

The Demon Mountain Masters, who had never crossed the chasm between worlds, were also probing. Sub-Innate Demon Monsters had already been sent as vanguards to the Imperial City.

But for some reason, the Immortals of the Tombs, many of whom clearly had the power to break their seals and possessed sufficient lifespans, had yet to make a move.

However, they didn’t know.

When the Gate took form, the Immortal Arrival! It was not a peerless Immortal Fate, but the descent of an extremely terrifying, murderous calamity.

Perhaps some of them knew this secret, but relying on their terrifying power—which had brought them to the pinnacle of the world with no path left to advance—they didn’t take the murderous calamity seriously.

Or perhaps, they couldn’t afford to worry about such things.

After all, in this broken world with no path forward, if they didn’t go to the true Human World, only one fate awaited them: to die of old age!

The small courtyard fell silent.

Neither of the two spoke again.

Only the snow fell.

And the SNIP of Su Chen’s shears as he trimmed the branches.

They weren’t close.

Even back when Kong was still Jie, they hadn’t been close.

You couldn’t call them friends, as they’d never had that kind of relationship. But at this moment, they understood each other as if they were old friends who had known each other for years.

"Someone in the Imperial City died of old age."

Kong said.

"I know."

"He was only fifty."

Su Chen added.

With the Three Fortunes gathered, the Spiritual Qi in the Human World was surging violently.

The price was people.

Human lifespans were cut in half.

It was likely the same for the Demon Fiends.

Ever since the establishment of the Daqian New Dynasty, every day saw young prodigies soaring to new heights, aided by the terrifyingly dense Spiritual Qi.

At the same time, massive numbers of creatures were constantly dying.

Like a brilliant night-blooming cereus, squeezed to its limit to bloom just before the Immortal Arrival, only to turn to ash after a single night’s splendor.

"Is doing this... the right thing?"

Though Kong’s eyes remained resolute, his tone held a hint of confusion.

Even he was seeing the All Living Beings’ Fortune for the first time, and it was the first time he had established a unified Dynasty in the Human World.

It was also the first time he learned that the eruption of the All Living Beings’ Fortune would consume the remaining lifespans of so many people.

"Walking the path beneath your feet is beyond right and wrong."

"At least..."

"You ended the sorrow and chaos of war, brought stability to the realm, and ensured that all people have clothes to wear, food to eat, and happy smiles on their faces."

Su Chen’s words swept away Kong’s confusion. He began to smile, as if Su Chen’s approval had given him the greatest courage.

But they both knew.

The realm was not yet completely stable, the people were not yet completely safe, and there was still one place where the populace remained in chaos, not yet under Daqian’s control.

It was as if Daqian had forgotten that place.

It was a place ravaged by Demon Fiends.

It was once the three fallen commanderies of Great Liang.

That place once had a name.

It was called the Zhu Country!

It was Zhang Gui’s hometown.

Once it was reconquered, the world would be unified, the All Living Beings’ Fortune would reach its peak, and the Celestial Will would strike, sending down a Divine Punishment to utterly obliterate this Dynasty.

It was a fig leaf.

"How much longer must we wait?"

Kong asked.

He was asking if Su Chen’s third sword—a sword like an Immortal, like the Dao, honed for so many years—was finally complete.

Could it shake the heavens in a single strike and slay the Celestial Will?

The two of them had a tacit understanding.

The Celestial Will—that terrifying Celestial Will that had seen off the Great Yu Immortal Ancestor—was for Su Chen to bury.

As for the world-ending, murderous calamity of the Immortal Arrival, that was for Kong to prepare for.

They were both men who held the common people of the world in their hearts.

Otherwise, one of them would not have risen with the tides of fate to establish a worldly Dynasty, becoming the destined great ruler of the realm.

And the other would not have been chosen long, long ago by the Heavens’ Will—which was also the People’s Resentment.

"Soon."

"That place is his hometown."

"That day is coming."

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