Emperor’s Domination

The maid continued to fan Li Qiye while the indistinct sound of tea brewing went on in the background.

The servants were unaware; everything was only a dream of his, or so it seemed.  Alas, the meeting just now had indeed transpired.

He didn’t bother prying into it. The servants here couldn’t notice anything due to their level.

Zhang Jiadi hastily came in and bowed towards Li Qiye: “Your Highness, His Majesty wishes to see you right now.”

“He’s about to die? It’s time to pass down the throne?” Li Qiye smiled.

“...” Jiadi had no comment. This disaster of a master could only be described as insane.

The servants nearby turned pale. This was a crime of impudence - punishable by clan extermination via beheading.

Jiadi looked down and replied: “I don’t know, please follow me, Your Highness.”

“How boring.” Li Qiye shook his head: “Just make me king already instead of wasting time with convoluted and needless ceremonies, ruining my mood.”

Jiadi smiled wryly and could only pray for himself with a master like this around. All he could do was carry out his responsibilities to the fullest.

Li Qiye made it to Lucidity King’s place after following Jiadi.

Lucidity was still laying in bed, sickly as ever. He was a lamp running low on oil. Who knows which immortal medicine he had used to keep him around for this long.

Sun Lengying was naturally there as well, lurking in the shadows just like a poisonous viper. No one would notice him as long as he didn’t attack.

Five more old men were present, of varying height and aura. The only similarity was their obvious, shocking power - resembling five gods. The room was more than large enough but their presence made it seem crowded and oppressive.

Their strength, rather than their stature, gave off this impressive feeling. Not on the same level as Lucidity, but these five Eternals were far beyond Zhang Jiadi.

“Child, you’re here. Meet the Supremes of the five great powers.” Lucidity waved at Li Qiye in a kind manner.

Li Qiye smiled and glanced at the five old men before nodding. He sat down in a chair nearby without any hesitation.

“Wind God, this is the child I’ve told you about. His name is Li Qiye.” Lucidity began the introduction, speaking to the fifth old man: “We are connected by fate.”

The way Lucidity looked at Li Qiye couldn’t be any more gentle and doting. People would actually mistake Li Qiye for being his son. It didn’t seem like they have only met several days ago.

These five old men all stared at Li Qiye, wishing to see through him. They were powerful Eternals, not just in Nine Secrets but in all of Imperial - existences that could blot out the sky.

Li Qiye was impervious to their stares and only sat there in a lazy manner lacking a crown prince’s manner, more like a hoodlum.

This made the Eternals glance at each other. The truth was that they were shocked when Lucidity summoned them for the appointment of a crown prince. 

Of course, this wasn’t surprising since Lucidity didn’t have much time left. He needed to do so before his death.

In the beginning, they assumed Lucidity would support a genius or an ancestor from War Saint Dynasty to be the next successor. However, they have never seen or heard of this young fella before. The king’s doting demeanor made them think that Li Qiye was his illegitimate child.

Lucidity has always been merciless and cruel. No one has seen this type of expression from him before.

A comparable situation would be an old man finally having a son at his late age and over-spoiling the kid.

There was a problem - everyone knew that Lucidity only had a daughter during the previous generation. However, she was brilliant and became a True Emperor, eventually ascending to Immortal and wasn’t heard from since.

Right now, the five were convinced that Li Qiye was his illegitimate son. The world had no way of disproving this. Moreover, the king had too many enemies. Assassinating him might be difficult, but what about aiming for his son? Perhaps Lucidity feared this and secretly hid his son from outsiders. 

The five continued to stare with torch-like eyes. Nothing could escape their gaze.

Li Qiye’s cultivation was too shallow and his constitution was normal. Everyone could see that he had cultivated before but judging by his aura, this little bit of training was negligible. He had no power to speak of.

One even used their divine intents to sweep through him and found a minuscule amount of true energy. It meant that any new disciple could be stronger than him.

They eventually stopped, realizing that Li Qiye couldn’t be a hidden son of his. If this was the case, Lucidity would have groomed him from an early age.

The next step of logic was obvious - Lucidity’s previous trip must have been to find a long-lost son, not to find longevity medicine.

It seemed that he had a one night stand with a woman, resulting in a son. Someone like him wouldn’t accept a child born in this manner but he was on the verge of death now and needed a successor. Thus, he recalled this useless child and brought him back for the throne.

“Child, these uncles are the Supremes, or the ancestors of the great powers in our system. They will aid you in the future.” Lucidity told Li Qiye.

The great powers included Waterfront Pavilion, Bingchi Clan, Calm Lotus Monastery, Myriad Formation Kingdom, and Godstep Sect. They were the strongest and most influential ancestors from these sects.

Their words were laws back there, capable of exerting their will. Normally, they were unreachable existences. Even ordinary ancestors couldn’t meet them.

However, they couldn’t refuse this summoning from Lucidity - the absolute tyrant of Nine Secrets. They needed to go in person as well, not just send a representative. 

There were plenty of powerful lineages in the system, but the ones truly in charge were these five behemoths after Lucidity’s death.

That’s why the king summoned them here for help. He said weakly: “The future won’t be easy, this child is still ignorant and will require your help.”

“Your Majesty, we will do our best to take care of the young prince.” One of the old men bowed and said.

They were obviously excited, unable to resist the temptation of power. If Lucidity were to pass the throne to a powerful ancestor or a genius of War Saint, taking over would be exceedingly difficult. 

However, a nameless and weak junior like Li Qiye? This was a godsend opportunity for them.