The fake prince was exposed at the beginning, and I took office as emperor on the spot

Chapter 250 Gu Fangchen's Lies
Xie Qian had just returned from the harbor not long ago.

After being forced back by Xu Fu's causal technique, he spent a lot of effort to break free from the seemingly endless entanglement.

Xu Fu truly deserves the title of "Sage of Fate".

The mental clone left behind by Xie Qian was only on par with Xu Fu in terms of cultivation. Given that Xu Fu was prepared, he was unable to break the fate array set up by Xie Qian in a short time.

The time lost was enough for Gu Fangchen and the others to escape into the Sea Kingdom and enter the protection of the [Snail Book] barrier.

When Xie Qian emerged from the karmic destiny chart, he realized he had been tricked and that he wouldn't be able to take Gu Fangchen's life for the time being.

Not only that, but they also lost the vast majority of the high-ranking members of the Demonic Sect, a complete and utter loss.

The original intention was to concentrate forces and kill Gu Fangchen in one fell swoop.

Even knowing that Gu Fangchen had deliberately leaked their whereabouts, they still decided to take the gamble. After all, both sides were clear about each other's intentions, and this was a gamble between the two sides to see who could win.

The outcome of this gamble is now obvious.

Xie Qian had to admit that he had indeed been too hasty.

But he had to gamble; if it weren't for that mysterious woman in the green dress interfering, he might have actually been able to join forces with "Jie" and "Sheng" to take down Gu Fangchen directly.

Therefore, after returning, he also asked someone to keep an eye on the whereabouts of the woman in the green dress.

Xie Qian vaguely guessed that the woman in the green dress might be the "founding father" of the Sword Pavilion named Shi Qingguang. Her identity was mistakenly passed down in later generations, leading people to believe that she was a man.

Even the portrait of the "founding master" hanging inside the Sword Pavilion is a fake...

In terms of seniority, Shi Qingguang was much older than Xie Qian, and should be the last cultivator in the world who came closest to the first rank.

However, she perished because she failed to overcome the tribulation and was unable to advance in rank.

Xie Qian understood best that advancing to the first rank did indeed require undergoing a tribulation, a "Great Dao Tribulation" that was a higher level than the six tribulations experienced in the Refining Tribulation Realm.

To reach the highest level, one must truly see the "Great Dao," endure its trials, and then become one with it...

This process is naturally extremely painful and difficult.

There is indeed a chance of them falling.

But... it now seems that Shi Qingguang did not fail to transcend the tribulation, but rather actively gave up and even escaped the "Great Tribulation".

For some reason, it has reappeared now.

Judging from her behavior that day, it should be that Gu Fangchen refined and fused her sword, and she came to retrieve her own sword.

However, since her sword now belongs to Gu Fangchen, if Gu Fangchen is injured and dies, it would be equivalent to her sword being broken.

That's why she turned around and protected Gu Fangchen, slaughtering all the members of the Demonic Sect.

Such a legendary figure, who has never even entered the chessboard, is now on Gu Fangchen's side, and Xie Qian has no choice but to take him seriously.

Unfortunately, Shi Qingguang's whereabouts have not been found so far.

Just like before, she came and went without a trace, and now no one knows where she has gone.

This port battle was truly a crushing defeat.

"Fortunately, this operation was not without its gains..."

Xie Qian squinted, looking at the distant pillar of light, where a dragon-shaped energy vein was faintly rising, swirling and colliding within it, seemingly trying to break free of the cage.

Unfortunately, the beam of light only swayed a few times before stabilizing and remaining as still as a mountain.

The dragon vein gradually exhausted itself, gave up struggling, and was trapped inside, slowly being refined...

Before long, this last dragon vein will also fall into Xie Qian's hands.

With the five dragon veins converging, and the "Wrathful Dragon Vein" spanning five dynasties, the "Eternal Heaven" grand formation will soon be truly activated.

Xie Qian has already located the beginning of the ancient Zhou dynasty; all that remains is to use the heavens as a chessboard and make his move.

At that time, no matter how much Gu Fangchen struggles, it will be too late to change anything!
Xie Qian also already knew the reason behind Gu Fangchen's recent series of major actions—

"To sever the nation's destiny by replacing the name Xie Qian with the name Xie Qian is to execute Xie Qian!"

Xie Qian knew he couldn't kill Gu Fangchen when Xu Fu and Shi Qingguang attacked together that day.

So he pretended to go all out, but in reality he was using the "questioning of the heart" to intimidate Gu Fangchen and find out his true purpose.

Because Gu Fangchen clearly knows what "Eternal Unity of Heaven" really is, and what he is fighting against is not just the Great Wei.

Even if he helps the Qingman unite with the other two countries and wins against the Great Wei, what good will it do? Once "Eternal Unity" is activated, everything will be in vain.

Gu Fangchen took away a portion of the nation's fortune and kept building momentum for the Qingman, so it's clear that she was definitely not simply manipulating the conflict between the two countries.

His ultimate goal is definitely to break the "eternal unity of heaven" concept.

Therefore, supporting the Qingman should only be one part of the plan.

What Xie Qian wanted to know was Gu Fangchen's true purpose.

"I must say, this method is indeed quite good."

Xie Qian sighed:
“With my name, I will represent the fate of the entire Great Wei Dynasty. The weight of the nation’s fate can indeed be measured by me.”

"To unleash such a massive causal spell, one needs a powerful expert who is proficient in causal techniques."

“Xu Fu… just happens to meet this condition.”

"If I had the mindset I had before, I would have focused all my attention on the 'Eternal Heaven' formation, thinking that as long as the dragon veins were gathered, the outcome of the Great Wei would not matter at all, and I would not have thought about how to protect the entire Great Wei."

Xie Qian's eyes flashed, and he gave a cold smile.

"When that time comes, the Great Wei Kingdom will fall, its fate will be severed... and I will be the one who dies."

Using national operations as an equivalent to replace the causal relationship between the two concepts is a technique that can erase the entire causal relationship of a concept from its very source.

Even if Xie Qian's physical body is not here at the moment, he can still kill.

Without Xie Qian presiding over the "Eternal Unity of Heaven" formation, it naturally could not be activated, and everything was easily resolved.

Gu Fangchen's idea is absolutely brilliant!
Even if Xie Qian himself were to evaluate it, he would think it was absolutely perfect. If he hadn't "asked his heart" and discovered Gu Fangchen's purpose, he might have actually succeeded!

Xie Qian could tell that Gu Fangchen was not lying.

He really could replace the concepts of "Xie Qian" and "national destiny" and then erase Xie Qian's existence...

Even Xie Qian himself felt a chill run down his spine.

Gu Fangchen is truly an existence beyond the realm of ordinary reason.

“Shigu…you have indeed made a good move and found a good piece.”

Xie Qian's eyes flashed with madness as he muttered to himself:
"But the winner of this game will only be me."

He turned around, looked at Xiao Sheng with his cloudy eyes, smiled slightly, and placed his hand on the new emperor's shoulder.

"Your Majesty, from now on, the Confucian disciples of Yaoshan Academy will do their utmost to help you protect this vast Wei empire. You can rest assured and focus on recuperating in the Ziji Palace, awaiting the day when the dragon veins converge—"

Xie Qian said calmly, leaving no room for argument:

“You are the only emperor in this ‘eternally unified’ Peach Blossom Spring.”

After he finished speaking, he rode the spirit deer and disappeared into the Purple Extreme Palace.

The entire Ziji Palace was now completely empty, with no eunuchs left.

Xiao Sheng was left alone, sitting on the dragon throne. He gasped for breath and coughed for a moment before slowly sitting up.

At this point, it could be seen that Xiao Sheng's back was completely soaked with blood.

It wasn't just the blood; his entire back, and even his internal organs, had burst open from the inside, turning into a sticky mass.

How could the power of the Demon-Suppressing Nail be withstood by Xiao Sheng, a sixth-rank martial artist who was already exhausted?
He is now clinging to life only by half of the nation's fortune and the elixirs he possesses.

Otherwise, he would have exploded and turned into a pool of blood.

Xiao Sheng shifted his position slightly, but it had no effect... The back half of his body was almost glued to the dragon throne, and any movement caused many blood vessels to appear.

Xiao Sheng slumped back onto the dragon throne, sitting crookedly, and looked down at the empty hall below, a strange smile spreading across his face.

"Heh...hehehehe...hahahahahaha! The Emperor of All Ages, I will be that Emperor of All Ages! The only one who can sit on this dragon throne is me! Only me!"

After a long while, he laughed until he was exhausted, coughed twice, and slumped back on the dragon throne, staring at the caisson ceiling above.

Only heavy breathing echoed within the Purple Palace.

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.

P.S.: I got solo killed by Milk Tea and am stuck in the bathroom, can't get out...orz

(End of this chapter)