Martial Cultivator

The Crown Prince spoke in a low voice, “I have always regarded him as an elder brother. But beyond that, I must also look after Great Liang. We are ultimately not ordinary brothers, there are still the roles of ruler and subject in the court.”

Prince Ning said with vicissitudes of emotion, “No matter what, his heart is with Great Liang. Your Highness must understand that.”

After saying this, Prince Ning hesitated no longer, turning and walking away.

In the past, he had also competed with the Second Prince for the throne. But there was a clear difference between them: the Second Prince had been willing to collude with the foreign lands, doing anything for his own gain. But Prince Ning had always been clear about his role, what he could do and what he could not.

Hence, after the matter of the Crown Prince's position was settled, Prince Ning let go of such ambitions and focused on fulfilling his duties properly.

In this respect, he might not have been the kind of son the Great Liang Emperor favored. But even so, not even the Great Liang Emperor could find fault with him in this regard.

At the very least, he had not dishonored the surname Chen.

Prince Ning slowly walked toward the palace gates, coughing all the way.

“Cough, cough, cough...”

Prince Ning could not stop coughing, forcing him to cover his mouth with a handkerchief.

After a long time, when the coughing finally ceased, and he lowered the handkerchief, it was already soaked in blood.

Prince Ning let out a self-deprecating laugh, put away his handkerchief, and did his best to straighten his posture.

However, his frame was too bulky, making it difficult to tell whether he had truly straightened up or not.

……

……

Three days later, a group of cultivators representing several sects from the foreign lands finally arrived in the capital.

Among them were primarily daoist cultivators dressed in daoist robes of yellow and purple, their styles varying.

Officials from the Ministry of Rites stood to one side of the city gate, welcoming the cultivators from the various sects.

However, the long street lay desolate, with not a single commoner in sight.

At the forefront of the group stood a purple-robed daoist from the Infatuation Daoist Temple, looking at the empty Divine Capital with an unreadable expression.

This purple-robed daoist was named Zhenye. Years ago, he had already reached the Nepenthe Realm and was well-known in the world. However, he was not from the same lineage as the previous temple master and Chief Enforcer, but belonged to a different lineage.

That lineage of daoists had always been at odds with the Temple Master and Chief Enforcer's lineage. In the past, when the master of those two was still alive, he had competed for the position of temple master with their lineage. Ultimately, their master had prevailed, and Zhenye's lineage had since fallen into decline.

By now, although Daoist Zhenye still enjoyed some renown in the world, within the Infatuation Daoist Temple, his influence had long waned.

Taking this opportunity to come to the Divine Capital, Zhenye sought to restore the reputation of his lineage.

Looking at the Assistant Minister of Rites beside him, Daoist Zhenye suddenly smiled and asked, “May I ask where His Highness the Crown Prince is?”

Hearing these words, the Assistant Minister of Rites' expression changed, but he quickly replied, “His Highness the Crown Prince is busy with state affairs and may not be able to come and greet Daoist Master.”

Daoist Zhenye let out an “oh” and pretended to be confused. “This penniless daoist seems to have forgotten. At this moment, it is the Crown Prince who is in charge of the Great Liang, but in the past, when we entered the Divine Capital, if His Majesty the Emperor could not come, one of the princes would come instead. How is it that now, this rule seems to have disappeared?”

Daoist Zhenye's voice grew colder, and the tone of someone who had long held a high position in the world naturally emerged, giving off a strong sense of oppression.

The Assistant Minister of Rites became somewhat awkward. Before today, they had been summoned by the Crown Prince and received special instructions regarding today's events, with the most important being to avoid any conflicts with the foreign lands.

Just as the Assistant Minister of Rites was about to speak, Daoist Zhenye suddenly smiled and said, “It's one thing to not meet His Highness the Crown Prince now, but when will Your Excellency arrange for us to enter the palace?”

The Assistant Minister of Rites broke out in a cold sweat and trembled as he spoke, “In a few days, we will arrange for Daoist Zhenye to enter the palace to pay respects His Highness the Crown Prince?”

"Pay respects?"

Daoist Zhenye had a smile that was not a smile.

The Assistant Minister of Rites sweated profusely.

Fortunately, Daoist Zhenye simply patted the Assistant Minister's shoulder before turning and boarding the carriage.

Seeing this scene, the cultivators from various places smiled with amusement.

As for the officials of the Great Liang Dynasty, they were all enraged but dared not voice their anger.

……

……

The matter of foreign cultivators entering the Divine Capital naturally could not be kept a secret. The public outcry grew louder and louder, nearly threatening to tear the rooftops off. The academy had originally thought there would be no major ripples, but to their surprise, feelings ran high everywhere.

Many students gathered together, displeased with the foreign cultivators' words at the city gates that day. Although they were all students of the academy, and it had been unclear exactly when, a good number of them had come to see themselves as part of the Great Liang.

After all, their current dean was already at the Northern Frontier.

Xie Nandu had spent most of these past days in the academy. She had just finished a discussion with several seasoned tutors and, feeling somewhat fatigued, walked out and made her way to the banks of the South Lake. Upon seeing the students gathered, and discussing the events of that day, she stopped to listen for a while.

Wang Kuan, who had arrived here at some point in time, looked at Xie Nandu and said with vicissitudes of emotion, “The academy really has changed from before.”

In the past, students would generally not pay much attention to such matters, but now they even take the initiative to discuss them.

Xie Nandu said, “When His Majesty was still around, they often voiced discontent with His Majesty, thinking that His Majesty's methods of governance were too iron-fisted. But in reality, they'll soon realize that without His Majesty, although the Great Liang won't collapse immediately, it will be very difficult for it to stand tall as it did before.”

Wang Kuan nodded. “They didn't know how good things were in the past. Now that the world is worse off, they'll surely begin to long for the world in the past.”

Xie Nandu said, “The current state of the world was brought about by His Majesty's efforts. As for the future, it will be up to us to work hard.”

Wang Kuan remained silent for a moment before speaking, “If those cultivators cause any trouble in the Divine Capital, should our academy do something about it?”

“It should, but it can't.”

Xie Nandu stared at the lake and said, “The academy can share in the burdens of Great Liang, but at the moment, it can only remain silent. It's because they are still hesitating about how to choose. No matter how much we do, the Great Liang will inevitably end up as the weaker side.”

“Without His Majesty, I really don't know what they can do.”

Wang Kuan sighed. After all, besides being a student of the academy, he was also a subject of Great Liang.

Xie Nandu smiled and said, “When His Majesty isn't here, it will naturally be up to him to take action.”

“He was never someone with a good temper, so whatever he does, I won't feel surprised. I'm just curious when he'll step forward and do something.”

Xie Nandu rubbed her head. “If the academy wasn't so tied down right now, I'd go ask him myself.”

Wang Kuan gave a wry smile. “Right now, he's just at the Great Beyond Realm. What can he possibly do?”

Xie Nandu said, “But even when he was just an unknown martial artist, he dared to kill those qi refiners.”