Simultaneous travel: Starting from returning to the main god space.

Chapter 384 Emperor Yuanjing: Beauty is not as important as immortality (Seeking monthly votes! Seeking follow-up subscriptions!)
Two quarters of an hour ago, at the Changsheng Hall of the Dafeng Imperial Palace.

This is the palace where the current Emperor of Dafeng, Emperor Yuanjing, usually resides, and it is also where he practices Taoism.

Originally, this palace was named Yangxin Hall, but since Emperor Yuanjing practiced abstinence and Taoism twenty years ago, it was renamed Yangxin Hall. He also stopped having concubines to serve him in bed, and even replaced the palace maids who served him with eunuchs, thus proving Emperor Yuanjing's firm belief in and desire for immortality.

Undoubtedly, the concubines in the harem complained bitterly about Emperor Yuanjing's behavior of standing in the toilet without doing anything, but Emperor Yuanjing never paid any attention to them.

Beauty and lust are nothing compared to cultivating immortality and achieving longevity.

Quit!

Of course, this was also because Emperor Yuanjing had enough offspring. In addition to the crown prince and the empress's son, he had several other princes who had already come of age.

Otherwise, when Emperor Yuanjing announced his ascension to Taoism, it's likely that all the civil and military officials of the Great Feng court would have risked their lives to dissuade him, and it's not impossible that they would have done something similar to "purging the court of corrupt officials."

However, the officials of Da Feng were unaware that the once diligent and ambitious Emperor Yuan Jing, who had suddenly become obsessed with Taoist cultivation, had actually passed away twenty years ago.

Or rather, Yuan Jing is not the real Yuan Jing now, but was assimilated and possessed by his father, Zhen De, the previous emperor of Da Feng, using the method of One Qi Transforms into Three Pure Ones, and became a kind of clone.

The reason this happened was that forty years ago, the elderly Empress Joan of Arc had her soul corrupted by a demonic Taoist master, who developed a strong obsession with immortality. At the same time, she was unable to relinquish her power and wanted to become an immortal emperor.

However, in this world, those who possess great fortune cannot live forever. This was true for the once invincible Confucian sage, and it was also true for the emperor of a nation.

Therefore, in order to achieve this goal, under the influence of the evil thoughts of the leader of the Earth Sect, the Empress Zhende's mentality became more and more distorted. She even extended her evil claws to her two sons, who are now the Yuanjing Emperor, and the Prince of Huai, who was born of the same mother. She used the technique of "One Qi Transforms into Three Pure Ones" to assimilate the two of them one after another and refine them into clones.

Then, Joan of Arc used the nation's resources to cultivate the Taoist system while constantly weakening the fortune of the Great Feng through Emperor Yuanjing. When the fortune was weakened to a certain extent, she would cooperate with the Witch God Cult to cause the Great Feng army to suffer a crushing defeat on the battlefield. Finally, with "no other choice," the Great Feng would surrender to the Witch God Cult and become its vassal state.

In this way, Emperor Joan of Arc could dedicate all of the Great Feng's fortune to the supreme sorcerer, while he would be freed from the shackles of fortune and exist forever as the emperor of the Great Feng.

Unfortunately, while Joan of Arc's idea was wonderful, its implementation was extremely difficult. Neither the Grand Supervisor, who was the guardian deity of the Great Feng Dynasty, nor Wei Yuan and the court officials would agree to her plan. Therefore, she had to proceed slowly and make arrangements in secret, which would undoubtedly take a very long time.

Fortunately, heaven rewards those who persevere. Through Emperor Yuanjing's tireless efforts, the Great Feng Dynasty is now riddled with holes and teetering on the brink of collapse. Once the Witch God Sect launches a war, his long-cherished wish will be fulfilled.

Thinking of this, Emperor Yuanjing, who was sitting cross-legged on the futon cultivating, couldn't help but smile slightly, as if he had already begun to imagine the future when he would live forever and transform the Great Feng into a divine kingdom on earth.

I wonder when my wish will be fulfilled.
"Ok?"

Just then, Emperor Yuanjing frowned slightly, opened his eyes, and revealed a look of doubt.

Joan of Arc has three bodies, with her original body having the highest cultivation level, currently at the second rank of the Daoist Tribulation Transcending Realm.

The Prince of Huai is next, a martial artist at the peak of the third rank, just half a step away from stepping into the second rank.

As for Yuan Jing, because most of the resources he has used over the years have been devoted to his main body, the cultivation level of this clone has only reached the Golden Core realm of the fifth grade of the Daoist sect. This is also why the outside world believes that he has poor talent.

However, because Joan of Arc is now hiding in the dragon vein of the Great Feng Dynasty, her main body and her clone can share some of their senses.

Just now, the main body sensed an incomparably powerful aura suddenly appear and intrude into the capital city, and its target was...

"Zhang Feng's residence?"

Emperor Yuanjing was puzzled, but then his mind turned to the matter of Princess Pingyang.

Indeed, the matter of Princess Pingyang's elopement was also related to Emperor Yuanjing. It was Emperor Yuanjing who sent the Earl of Pingyuan to inform Zhang Feng, exploiting Zhang Feng's ambition for the position of Minister of War to orchestrate this tragedy. It was because Prince Yu was too outstanding and already qualified to enter the cabinet. Given his status as a prince of the imperial clan, if he were to enter the cabinet and wield great power, it would give the increasingly weakened nobility a chance to rise again, which was not what Emperor Yuanjing wanted to see.

What he wanted was for the Great Feng Dynasty to be in decline and its fortunes to be waning, not for it to be revitalized and for things to turn around.

Wei Yuan and Wang Zhenwen were already difficult to deal with, and he didn't want another virtuous prince who was both literate and martial to hinder his plan to achieve immortality.

"Could it be that Lao Liu found some martial arts master to help? But this aura has clearly reached the third rank. I have never heard of such a person in the martial arts world."

After thinking for a moment, Emperor Yuanjing summoned the Grand Eunuch of the Directorate of Ceremonial and ordered him to investigate whether anything strange had happened outside.

After waiting for about half an hour, the chief eunuch who had followed Emperor Yuanjing since childhood rushed into the Hall of Longevity in a panic, his legs gave way and he knelt down.

"No! Your Majesty, something terrible has happened!"

Emperor Yuanjing's heart skipped a beat, but his face remained calm.

"What's the matter that you're in such a panic? Tell me slowly."

The head eunuch wiped the sweat from his brow and carefully replied in as calm a tone as possible:

"Your Majesty, the night watchman, Yinluo Wuxian, just now led Vice Minister Zhang of the Ministry of War, the Supervising Secretary of the Ministry of Revenue, and the Earl of Pingyuan to the execution ground at Caishikou. They used Confucian magic to force them to confess to the kidnapping of Princess Pingyang, and also... and also..."

The head eunuch paused here, secretly glancing at Emperor Yuanjing. Seeing his gloomy expression, he gritted his teeth and continued:

"Lord Zhang Feng said that his years of dealing in military equipment and passing off inferior goods as superior ones were all under His Majesty's orders, and that the slave trade of the Earl of Pingyuan was also under His Majesty's orders..."

"presumptuous!!"

Before the chief eunuch could finish speaking, Emperor Yuanjing flew into a rage and slammed his hand on the table beside him, smashing it to pieces.

"Wu Xian? That's the little poet genius who can compose a few poems?!"
"A mere night watchman, Yin Luo, dared to arrest a court official without my imperial decree and even interrogate him… Who gave him the audacity? Wei Yuan?!"

Emperor Yuanjing had already stood up from the prayer mat, his expression twisted and ferocious as he roared, "Issue my imperial decree: dispatch the Imperial Guards to capture this fiend! If he dares to resist, execute him on the spot!!"

"And Wei Yuan, let him deal with his men personally! If he doesn't handle this matter well, I'll execute him too!"

After saying that, as if recalling that powerful aura, Emperor Yuanjing's eyes flickered, and he added, "After delivering the imperial edict, go to Lingbao Temple again and tell the Grand Preceptor that someone wants to rebel. Please come to the palace, otherwise the fortune of the Great Feng Dynasty may be lost."

A third-rank martial artist already possessed the ability to commit regicide, but unable to reveal his true strength, he could only place the safety of this body in the hands of the second-rank Taoist national advisor.

As for the supervisor...

Emperor Yuanjing glanced in the direction of the Imperial Observatory, his face darkening considerably.

With such a commotion, it was impossible for that old geezer, the supervisor, not to notice, but he never intervened, letting the clueless Wu Xian run wild.

Or was this all part of his and Wei Yuan's plan to test my true intentions?
On the other side, while Emperor Yuanjing was beginning his battle of wits with thin air, things were much more lively in Wu Xian's area.

Sigrún has taught at the Iceland University of the Arts as a part-time lecturer since and was Dean of the Department of Fine Art from -. In – she held a research position at Reykjavík Art Museum focusing on the role of women in Icelandic art. She studied fine art at the Icelandic College of Arts and Crafts and at Pratt Institute, New York, and holds BA and MA degrees in art history and philosophy from the University of Iceland. Sigrún lives and works in Iceland.

Second update at noon!
(End of this chapter)