Covering the Sky: The Years I Was the Empress's Strictest Master

How familiar this scene seems!

In ancient times, didn't these important ministers and right-hand men often act shamelessly and throw tantrums in front of him?

"Now that Your Majesty has returned, although my days are numbered and I, along with Lao Pang and the others, still wish to follow Your Majesty, to be your swords, to be at your command, and to use our last ounce of strength..."

The old man with the black mole looked frail and aged, but his voice was strong and clear, like the clash of metal.

He appeared far more serious than Guo Ziqian, Pang Ya, and others. He came from a prominent human family in ancient times and was once a prodigy.

However, he later encountered the emperor he spoke of on the ancient road, and after being defeated, he followed him to his side ever since.

After the establishment of the Human Emperor's Palace, he served as the inspector in the battlefield, exercising the power of the axe and halberd granted by Tan Lin. He was an upright and incorruptible person.

Back when they went on expeditions beyond the borders, during those marches and battles, Guo Ziqian and others might have dared to act recklessly and foolishly in front of the Emperor from time to time, but they were the only ones who feared him.

“Jixian, my current state cannot last forever and will eventually pass away. I am afraid I will have to let you down.”

Tan Lin looked at Duan Jixian and sighed.

Upon hearing this, Duan Jixian seemed unsurprised. He stepped forward, bowed, and said in a deep voice:

"Then please, Your Majesty, absorb our souls into our former battle banner. In any case, our lifespans are coming to an end, and we will never be lonely as we spend the rest of our lives with countless comrades within the banner..."

He hadn't finished speaking.

The people beside him exchanged glances, and then, as if in tacit agreement, the five old cultivators, including Guo Ziqian, all stepped forward, bowed, and said:

"Your Majesty, please capture our souls and place them within the banner so we can have a long talk with our comrades!"

He entered the banner and had a long talk with his comrades...

A long talk with my comrades...

A lengthy narrative...

The five men's voices, which had previously sounded old, were now strong and clear, each word distinct and full of energy.

The voices echoed continuously within the grand hall.

Tan Lin remained silent and did not respond.

As the sound faded, the hall fell into a deathly silence.

However, outside the palace, the huge banner that had descended from the sky and planted itself in the ground when Tan Lin arrived suddenly moved without wind, and the old battle flag fluttered in the wind.

a long time.

The five former subordinates inside the hall remained in their bowed and clasped postures, motionless like clay or wooden sculptures, their attitude resolute.

Tan Lin frowned slightly and directly picked someone to refute:

"Guo Ziqian, you're a lowly soldier and a piece of trash. You still have hundreds of years to live. Why are you getting involved with them?"

Upon hearing this, Guo Ziqian stared at the ground in front of him, remaining silent as if he hadn't heard a word.

These men were all stubborn and arrogant, having served the Human Emperor since before he rose to power, experiencing countless events and battles. In their daily lives, outside of major events, disobedience was the norm for them.

Although they were subordinates, they were also comrades-in-arms and friends with whom we could share drinks and laughter.

Seeing this, even with Tan Lin's composure, he was almost amused by the group's resolute attitude:

“I just used my divine sense to explore the Human Emperor’s Palace’s treasury. There isn’t much Divine Source Liquid left, but it’s more than enough to seal the five of you.”

"..."

The five remained silent.

At this moment, even Duan Jixian, who used to be most obedient to Tan Lin, remained unmoved, his eyes fixed on his nose and his mind at peace.

As if they had secretly agreed, they all pretended not to hear until their emperor gave his permission.

"Excellent! What a group of loyal ministers and generals! What a group of pillars of the human race!"

On the platform in the hall, Tan Lin truly "smiled":

"After a million years, it seems my words have completely lost their power..."

For the first time since his return, he used the self-reference "朕" (Zhen, meaning "I" or "the Emperor").

Before he could finish speaking, he immediately took action to suppress it.

His imperial aura erupted, and the few Great Saints in front of him, whose blood and energy were declining, were no match for him. They were suppressed in an instant.

Then, with a wave of his hand, the imperial power disregarded the restrictions on the treasury, took the remaining divine source liquid, and sealed it away for each of them.

……

Chapter 47 The day of my return will be a time of peace and tranquility (3K)

"Your Majesty! We are like the hairs clinging to your body. You have passed away, what is the point of us remaining in this world, merely clinging to life? Now that our lifespans are nearing their end, we will eventually perish. It would be better to be enshrined in the banner and reminisce with our former comrades..."

"We beg Your Majesty to grant our request!!"

"His Majesty……"

They were sealed in an instant, and Duan Jixian and the others had no way to resist. Their pleading voices came to an abrupt end as the divine source liquid completely enveloped them.

Wow!

Five humanoid divine source blocks slowly took shape, each radiating a dazzling divine light, and the hall became extremely quiet.

Finally, Tan Lin stood on the platform for a long time and let out a long sigh.

Time is like a knife; even the most powerful beings, ancient emperors, and great emperors, few can escape its blade.

The passing of old friends always brings sadness.

The so-called immortality may be to silently watch the deceased pass away one by one, while you live to the end, all alone.

"When I truly return, I will find an elixir of immortality for each of you, and then we will drink and revel together..."

Tan Lin remained silent.

As long as a wisp of his true soul remains, he can continuously begin the next life. Such a secret concerns the heavens and cannot be openly spoken of.

After a short while, he calmed his mind, rolled up his sleeves, put away the five pieces of divine source, and walked out of the giant hall.

Once outside, one could see that a large number of cultivators in the hall were imprisoned by array patterns.

They were all henchmen of the forbidden zone, led by Gong Xuan, and were unorthodox "hounds" kept by the Supreme. Now bound, they were all ashen-faced.

All around, countless cultivators from the Emperor's Palace who had previously endured humiliation due to the prevailing circumstances were now filled with rage and were beating and cursing those people.

The people from the Ziwei Star Region, including Suiren Lianlei and Suiren Hong, stood far to the side, not getting involved, but occasionally whispering among themselves.

Upon seeing the Human Emperor emerge, everyone instantly fell silent, and the arena became eerily quiet.

Tan Lin's deep gaze fell on each face, taking in their excitement, repression, fervor, trepidation... all sorts of reactions.

He remained calm about this, which is only human nature.

"My current state will eventually pass away, but Gong Xuan's life is still alive. It is not unreasonable for him to continue to lead the Human Emperor's Palace after his return. You are all free to choose whether to stay or leave. Those who stay can decide for themselves..."

In the dead silence, Tan Lin slowly spoke:

"If you wish to leave, you can follow the Ziwei lineage to the outer realms, far from this place of trouble. Where you settle down can be within the Ziwei, or you can decide for yourself where to go..."

His voice was calm, yet carried an invisible authority.

He knew that after the incident of the stubborn Supreme's surprise attack on the Five-Colored Immortal Egg, the Undying Daoist would not be able to leave the core of that ancient star and return before his true body had completely completed this Nirvana.

This period of time is very long, long enough that he might be able to return to his peak in his next life.

But that was all the arrangements he made.

If he can return again, everything will be reversed, the black fog will dissipate, and the seas and rivers will be calm and peaceful. There will be no need to focus on the details.

If he were to perish here, or die prematurely, then all that is left to chance, and it would simply be a repeat of the same mistakes.

"His Majesty……"

After Tan Lin finished speaking, countless cultivators from the Human Emperor Palace around him burst into tears.

"We wish to go beyond the realms! With His Majesty gone, we may leave this Northern Dipper Human Emperor's Palace behind!"

Some elderly people, who have been burning incense and worshipping the Emperor's seat every day at Chenshi (7-9 AM) since entering the Emperor's Hall for a thousand years without fail, had tears in their eyes.

"His Majesty……"

"Thank you for your grace, Your Majesty!"

Within the array's confinement, those cultivators who had thought their lives were nearing their end felt as if they had been granted a pardon upon hearing Tan Lin's words.

Overjoyed, they felt as if they had been given a second chance at life, and tears welled up in their eyes.

"Your Majesty's virtue surpasses that of all emperors and sovereigns throughout history..."

Thump... Thump...

After the array patterns dissipated, they knelt down in front of Tan Lin and bowed in heartfelt worship.

At this moment, in their hearts, throughout history, perhaps no one is more deserving of the title "Human Emperor" than this Emperor!

Their magnanimity and far-sighted vision are awe-inspiring, making it impossible not to admire them.

On the other side, the cultivators of the Human King Palace lineage in the Ziwei Star Region were even more shaken, and the gazes of Suiren Lianlei and others toward Tan Lin became even more devout.

Among them, the old man Wang Suiren Hong suddenly had a moment of enlightenment, and his aura surged at that moment.

Only now does he understand what it means to be a king or an emperor.

Boom...

High in the sky, calamity clouds gathered.

Suiren Hong leaped up to face the heavenly calamity.

He felt that he had never made such a correct decision in his life as to come and pay homage to the Beidou Human Emperor Temple.

Looking at the actions of the former Human Emperor, it is clear that in his later years he made even greater progress, stepping from the sixth minor step of the Great Saint Realm to the seventh step!

Rumble!

The calamity swept across the land, alarming other major Daoist sects in the Central Plains, which were located within a radius of hundreds of thousands of miles around the Human Emperor's Palace.

At first, they looked up at the distant sky in the direction of the sound, thinking they would see the Emperor, but they never expected to see an old man.

Like a withered tree blossoming in spring, it takes another step forward.

After a while, the calamity clouds dispersed.

"Thank you for your great kindness, Your Majesty the Emperor!"

Suiren Hong descended from the sky, knelt before Tan Lin, and bowed deeply once again.

Tan Lin nodded slightly to him, and then gestured with his hand.

Immediately, a "hum" was heard not far away, and the Emperor's Banner flew up and landed in his hand, but he handed it to Suiren Hong in an instant.

shuh...

At this moment, countless eyes converged on the scene. Their gazes burned with desire, not greed, but rather a longing for the symbol of the position that had always been the master of the Human Emperor's Palace.

"Your Majesty...Your Majesty, this...this..."

Upon seeing this, as if realizing something, Suiren Hong's body trembled as he knelt on the ground.

"I'm temporarily entrusting this old battle flag to you. You can accept it, and when that younger generation becomes accomplished, you can pass it on to her."

Tan Lin said it casually.

Each time he activated the Soul Pearl of All Causes, he could not determine the exact location and time of his reincarnation.

The previous three lifetimes spanned thousands or even tens of thousands of years, so he didn't know when the next life would begin.

This battle flag and the souls of the soldiers and generals within it had been dormant for nearly a million years under the restrictions of the Immortal Daoist, only occasionally emerging to see the light of day again. Furthermore, this item is too symbolic; it is not suitable for him to use it in his next life before he regains his peak.

He did not want it to remain in disrepair for long, so he simply placed it in the hands of the Ziwei King lineage for the time being.

This is also a reward for the descendants of the Emperor's Palace who left Beidou, to be cared for by the Ziwei lineage in the future.

"Thank you for your generous gift, Your Majesty! We will certainly safeguard this divine artifact carefully, and even if we are reduced to ashes, we will never allow it to be lost!"

Suiren Hong knelt before Tan Lin, his hands trembling as he carefully raised the Emperor's Banner.

On the other side, Suiren Lianlei was also extremely excited, her pretty face flushed red.