Chapter 36: Inscription in the Sky
Fan Li could also clearly sense that the Han Emperor’s “Ten Thousand Thunders True Dragon Slash” possessed extraordinary might!
He even wondered to himself—could this sword strike slay the Jiajing Emperor?
The answer was no.
This answer sprang from Fan Li’s intuition, and he trusted his instincts absolutely.
After all, Fan Li had once come in close contact with the Jiajing Emperor.
His intuition told him that the “Ten Thousand Thunders True Dragon Slash” could never kill the Jiajing Emperor—not even gravely wound him!
Liu Xie’s body hovered in midair, both hands gripping the sword as lightning crackled, filling the air with shrill, ear-piercing sounds.
Time and again, he cast his gaze toward Jiajing, his expression growing ever more twisted.
A tumultuous urge surged in Liu Xie’s heart—to seize this very moment and strike down Jiajing with a single blow!
“Damn, Han Emperor, don’t be reckless!” Fan Li was alarmed.
If the Han Emperor acted, it would spell the end of the surface-level peace between the three factions.
And with the weaker party making the first move, would that not hand the Jiajing Emperor a perfect excuse to declare war?
“Do you wish to act?”
The Jiajing Emperor resembled an old Daoist about to enter meditation.
Seated cross-legged upon the high dais, he regarded Liu Xie with half-closed eyes, his expression as calm as ever.
In Jiajing’s eyes, the Ten Thousand Thunders True Dragon Slash seemed hardly worthy of mention.
Liu Xie bristled under that gaze!
He knew—Jiajing Emperor held him in contempt!
“This sword was passed down from the Han Dynasty’s founding emperor. It once slew the Serpent Ancestor of the mortal realm and established our Han’s thousand-year foundation!”
Liu Xie’s proud voice resounded throughout Lü City.
Three thousand scholars seemed to see, with their own mind’s eye, the majestic might of the Han Dynasty’s founder.
The great wind rises, the clouds surge!
Jiajing nodded. “Indeed, a true and genuine Imperial Sword.”
Upon hearing this, Liu Xie’s pride grew even more pronounced.
But Jiajing continued, “Yet this sword has grown feeble, like an old man at death’s door. What right does an ancient dragon have to roam the world?”
“You—!”
Liu Xie was furious, his murderous urge surging beyond restraint.
With a sudden motion, he slashed the Imperial Sword toward Jiajing!
But at the next instant—
A sharp crack rang out between heaven and earth!
To Fan Li’s ears, it sounded exactly like shattering glass.
Everyone—Fan Li and the three thousand scholars alike—witnessed a marvel:
The Imperial Sword, charged with the might of ten thousand thunders, snapped in midair, breaking into several pieces.
The myriad bolts of lightning, falling from the rift in the heavens, instantly lost their master. They coalesced into a giant dragon, which began to circle and roam the sky.
Yet the thunder-dragon immediately showed signs of exhaustion, writhing and howling in anguish.
At last—
Accompanied by a final, mournful dragon’s cry, the thunder-dragon perished at the edge of the sky.
A single thought flashed through everyone’s mind:
The Dragon of Han… is dead?!
A violent spurt of blood burst from Liu Xie’s mouth atop the dais—whether from the sword’s shattering or a surge of fury, none could say.
He still clung to the broken hilt, but his body tumbled heavily from the dais to the ground below.
“Your Majesty!”
“Your Majesty!”
“Your Majesty!”
Three voices called from three directions; three figures leapt forward, catching the Han Emperor just in time.
“Cough!”
Liu Xie’s face was streaked with tears, blood spilling from his lips and staining his collar red.
“I… am powerless…”
Cao Cao, Liu Bei, and Sun Quan rushed to help him, checking his condition and finding it was just a fit of rage—nothing serious.
Yet everyone present knew that with the shattering of the Han founder’s sword, Liu Xie’s defeat was complete.
This was not merely a loss at the alliance; it was a failure more crushing than that suffered by the Young Emperor of Han.
None of the three thousand scholars dared imagine how Liu Xie would face his ministers upon returning home—
Especially Dong Zhuo.
Though the scholars pitied the Han Emperor, they would nevertheless faithfully record everything they had witnessed today and spread it across the realm.
After all, that was their duty.
“Will the Emperor of Chu proceed first, or shall I?”
Upon the dais, the Jiajing Emperor spoke.
Xiang Ning was so tense she didn’t know how to answer—she had never expected such a reversal for the Han Emperor.
The two young sovereigns of Chu and Han were already infamous for their weakness.
Now that Liu Xie had exited the stage in disgrace, even Xiang Ning had lost her confidence.
As for the three thousand scholars, they harbored no hope at all for the youthful sovereign of Chu.
“What’s wrong with His Majesty?”
Though Lü Chunqiu was disappointed by the Han Emperor’s performance, his loyalty belonged to Chu, and he had faith in Xiang Ning.
He believed that as long as Xiang Ning once more displayed the Confucian realm of “Manifesting the World with a Stroke of the Brush,” the majority of Confucian officials in the realm would instantly submit.
But instead, Xiang Ning drew forth the Overlord’s Spear.
“Oh? The divine weapon of Xiang Yu?” The Jiajing Emperor smiled. “In that case, let the Emperor of Chu proceed first.”
Xiang Ning was so nervous she didn’t know what to do.
She had drawn the Overlord’s Spear purely by instinct, with no plan in mind.
What should I do?
What am I supposed to do?
Xiang Ning even took several steps backward.
The scholars below thought she was gathering her strength, but the Jiajing Emperor, standing on the dais, saw clearly—she was afraid.
He smirked inwardly. At this rate, it would take less than ten years for him to unify the world.
A lone figure, leaping again and again, finally managed to clamber up onto the dais.
“Damn, that’s high,” muttered Fan Li.
With his current level of physical cultivation, he couldn’t yet fly.
The dais—over a hundred meters tall—forced Fan Li to make several attempts before he barely made it to the top.
“Who is that?”
“Damn, he’s so weak. What level is that? Is he actually a high minister of Chu?”
“Looks like the Emperor of Chu is even more hopeless than the Han Emperor, having to rely on such a subordinate.”
The scholars whispered among themselves, not recognizing Fan Li, but judging from his movement technique that his cultivation was extremely low.
“Trai—what are you doing here?”
On the dais, Xiang Ning lit up as if she’d grabbed onto a lifeline, her face breaking into a smile.
Fan Li’s face twitched.
This foolish girl—if she dared say the words “traitorous thief,” he’d turn and leave on the spot.
He ignored Xiang Ning and instead bowed to the Jiajing Emperor. “Your Majesty, please go first. My sovereign is still young and should yield out of courtesy.”
The Jiajing Emperor frowned at this.
Before the eyes of all, Fan Li’s excuse was shameless indeed, but unless the Jiajing Emperor wished to disgrace himself, he could hardly fight for precedence with someone so much younger.
“Very well. I’ll grant the Emperor of Chu a little more breathing room,” the Jiajing Emperor said coolly.
He believed that in the face of overwhelming power, all schemes were in vain.
From his sleeve, the Jiajing Emperor produced an object, holding it aloft in his palm.
“The Imperial Seal?”
From a distance, Fan Li could see clearly—it had to be that treasure.
It was said that the Jiajing Emperor’s Imperial Seal possessed the greatest offensive power among the three kingdoms.
Fan Li was now quite curious to see how the emperor intended to flaunt it.
The Jiajing Emperor tossed the seal skyward, its inscribed base now facing the heavens.
“I am the sole True Dragon, Mandated by Heaven, whose reign shall endure forever.”
The Jiajing Emperor’s murmur echoed clearly in every ear.
In this moment, he sought to impress upon the three thousand scholars a single truth: the unification of the realm rightfully belonged to Great Ming!
Boom!
A thunderous roar compelled everyone to look up at the sky.
The Imperial Seal of Ming had stamped its mark upon the heavens themselves!
It was as if the words were being carved into the clouds—into the very fabric of fate.
Across the vault of the sky, eight mighty characters blazed into view: “Mandated by Heaven, may the dynasty endure forever!”