Martial Cultivator

Hearing the excuse Chen Chao came up with, the Great Liang Emperor simply smiled and dismissed it.

“We already felt rather guilty toward you. We even said We would give you the empire, but you didn’t want it. Have you changed your mind now? You don’t wish to be emperor, but that doesn’t mean the girl you like wouldn’t want to be empress.”

The Great Liang Emperor looked at the young face before him and remembered many old things. In the earlier years, he too had been young, and he had never thought of becoming emperor. Later, when he was forced to raise troops, he hesitated at first. He thought that if he entered the Divine Capital, perhaps he could simply let his nephew sit on the throne. After all, becoming emperor had never been something he wanted.

But the moment this thought arose and he told his Princess Consort, she did not become angry. Instead, she looked at him gently and said a sentence he would never forget for the rest of his life:

“Your Highness may not wish to be emperor, but this concubine very much wishes to be mother of the realm.”

Of course, later the Great Liang Emperor understood that it had been a provocation from that woman. He also realized how foolish that passing thought of his had been.

But in this world, few women would dare to speak so directly on such a monumental matter.

The founding Empress might have dared. The second was his own empress, who had accompanied him for half his life.

Thinking of this, the Great Liang Emperor felt some sorrow. In the blink of an eye, as the young man before him slowly grew up, that woman had already been gone for many years.

The Great Liang Emperor narrowed his eyes, hiding the sorrow within them somewhere no one could see.

”She is also not someone who wants these things.”

Chen Chao paused for a moment, then suddenly said, ”If she really were that kind of girl, I would have forced myself to sit on that dragon throne back then.”

The Great Liang Emperor smiled but did not speak. These sorts of after-the-fact remarks, these so-called if it were possible, were actually meaningless no matter how many times one heard them. The person who said it was meaningless, and the one who took it seriously was also meaningless.

The footsteps of these two martial artists, who ranked among the very top in the world, were not slow. In just an hour, they had walked across half a province.

”The northern demon race will probably launch a massive southward invasion soon. We cannot free myself for the time being, but it is possible that for some great battle, We will come intervene again.”

”Compared to the human race, the demon race is still far too strong. Even if you unite those cultivators from outside the world, it will still be a bitter battle. You must take care.”

Chen Chao smiled and said, ”She is the one who worries about fighting. I am only responsible for finding all those cultivators she wants, and sending to the north all those who should be sent.”

The Great Liang Emperor narrowed his eyes and smiled. ”That girl was never ordinary to begin with. If she accomplishes such unparalleled merit again, then if you treat her even a little poorly afterward, you would be committing a grave offense in the eyes of the world. All the people of the Great Liang Dynasty would stand behind her. When that time comes, even visiting a brothel will get you turned away.”

Chen Chao asked curiously, ”Uncle, you have gone to a brothel before?”

......

......

Along the way, the uncle and nephew spoke quite a bit, not in the manner of one speaking while the other only listened.

After roughly two hours, the Great Liang Emperor came to a stop. After thinking for a moment, he said, ”We owe some apologies, but We will not say them. Saying them would make it seem insincere.”

Chen Chao shook his head and said, ”Uncle does not owe anyone anything.”

The Great Liang Emperor said, ”We still owe you something.”

Chen Chao smiled and said, ”Did Uncle not give me a suit of golden armor?”

The Great Liang Emperor did not speak, only smiled. What he owed was not something a suit of golden armor could make up for. But he still did not say more in the end. The Great Liang Emperor only said, ”It’s about time, We are leaving.”

Chen Chao said, ”Your Majesty... do not die.”

The Great Liang Emperor smiled and said, ”How could it be that easy?”

......

......

The surface of the sea was utterly calm. The white-robed girl looked a little bored. Those fellows across from her made no move, so she could only remain here as well.

Only when ripples rose behind her and a man in emperor robes arrived did the white-robed girl lift her head to glance at him, complaining, ”Why did it take you so long just to kill a few people?”

The Great Liang Emperor smiled calmly. ”It is not easy to meet my nephew. Why should We not speak a few more words with him?”

The white-robed girl clicked her tongue. ”Call you sentimental, yet you cannot even spare the time to meet your own son. Call you cold-hearted, yet you cannot set your mind at ease about your nephew.”

The Great Liang Emperor did not intend to linger on this topic. Instead, he asked, ”How is it?”

The white-robed girl shook her head with some disinterest. ”How else could it be? Everyone knows you, Chen Che, have a bad temper, and they were the ones in the wrong to begin with. Right now they can only behave themselves and shrink back like turtles.”

”But speaking of it, that kid is unlucky too. He just picked up a broken saber, and he nearly died over there. He had cultivated all the way to the end of Nepenthe, only to suddenly realize that even at this realm he still cannot run rampant across the world. In his heart, that must feel terrible.”

The Great Liang Emperor gave a faint smile. ”If I recall, the one wearing golden armor was the gatekeeper of Mount Qiuling? A former Great General, who finally reached this realm, yet ended up reduced to guarding someone else’s gate. Do you think he felt good about that in the beginning?”

”Not just in the beginning. Maybe he still does not feel good about it. But...”

Halfway through speaking, the white-robed girl suddenly reacted. ”Wait... Chen Che, can you stop letting your thoughts run wild?”

”We are requesting a day of leave from you.”

The Great Liang Emperor smiled slightly, but his eyes only grew colder.

The white-robed girl frowned. ”Isn’t that kid still alive?”

”Which is why We are only going to take a look.”

The unspoken meaning was that if Chen Chao were dead, he would be doing far more than just taking a look.

The white-robed girl frowned.

The Great Liang Emperor sighed. ”In Our entire life, We have never suffered such humiliation.”

The white-robed girl asked in surprise, ”You were humiliated? Wasn’t it that kid’s problem?”

The one who suffered humiliation refused to say a single word of grievance in front of him. Was that not humiliation enough?

The Great Liang Emperor nodded, his gaze deep. That kid suffered humiliation right under his nose. Was that not his own humiliation?

Someone dared to kill his nephew under his own eyes. To the Great Liang Emperor, was that not the greatest humiliation in the world?

Since We are already so humiliated, how could We not make a trip to Mount Qiuling?