42: The Emperor's Question: The Mortal World as a Game of Chess!

"Fellow Daoist, what is the intention of your Myriad Dao Divine Sect in coming to my Zhao Kingdom?"

Zhao Zheng's voice was not loud, yet it carried an indisputable imperial majesty.

The air inside the Lanyue Pavilion seemed to freeze in an instant.

Outside the pavilion, those imperial guards who had originally kept their heads bowed all looked up at once. A surge of iron-blooded Evil Qi rose into the sky, echoing with the Dragon Qi of the imperial city, forming an invisible net that shrouded the entire Imperial Garden.

Eunuch Fu's seemingly cloudy old eyes narrowed slightly, and his withered hands quietly tucked into his sleeves.

As long as this young man before him made the slightest unusual movement, he would launch a thunderous strike without hesitation.

However, facing this formation that would make an ordinary Soul Transformation Cultivator tremble with fear, Chu Xuanjin's face remained completely calm.

He did not even look at Zhao Zheng, merely lowering his head to gaze at the tea leaves bobbing in his cup.

"Emperor Zhao, this tea of yours is not bad."

He answered irrelevantly.

Zhao Zheng's brows furrowed slightly.

He did not understand why the other party still had the mood to discuss tea at a time like this.

"What a pity."

Chu Xuanjin added.

"Pity what?" Zhao Zheng asked subconsciously.

"It is a pity that this tea was brewed incorrectly."

Chu Xuanjin raised his eyes, his gaze finally landing on Zhao Zheng's face; his expression was as calm as if he were looking at a child learning the art of tea.

"The Seven Treasure Glazed Flower is warm in nature and requires water from the Nine Heavens that has never touched the ground, brewed slowly over a low fire, to fully stimulate its calming effect."

"Yet this tea of yours uses spiritual spring water from the mortal earth veins and was forced with a high fire. While the tea's fragrance is overbearing, it lacks gentleness and falls into a lower grade."

With every word he spoke, Zhao Zheng's expression grew more solemn.

These tea-brewing methods were secret imperial techniques; besides him and the Crown Prince, it was impossible for any outsider to know them.

Yet the other party had revealed it in a single breath.

"You..."

Zhao Zheng was about to speak.

Chu Xuanjin casually splashed the tea from his cup onto the ground.

He looked at Zhao Zheng and spoke slowly.

"The Tea Dao is like this."

"Governing a country is also the same."

"Your Great Zhao Dynasty seems to have a prosperous national fate, with Dragon Qi suppressing all directions, but in reality... it is strong on the outside but weak on the inside, riddled with flaws."

Boom!

This sentence, like a heavy hammer, slammed hard into Zhao Zheng's heart.

The imperial majesty on his face could no longer be maintained, replaced by deep shock.

"Fellow Daoist Chu, what do you mean by this?"

His voice now carried a hint of imperceptible trembling.

Chu Xuanjin extended a finger and lightly traced a line on the table stained with tea.

A water trail divided the table in two.

"In your Great Zhao, to the east, the Blazing Fire Sect is eyeing you covetously; to the west, the Hundred Beasts Manor is sharpening its blades. The sects in the south are outwardly compliant but inwardly disobedient. The Yao Race in the north is stirring restlessly."

For every force he mentioned, he tapped a point on the table.

"These are all just external threats."

Chu Xuanjin's fingertip then drew a circle in the center of the table.

"Your real trouble lies within."

He looked at Zhao Zheng.

"In my court, there are no treacherous officials. Among the princes, there is no struggle for the throne. Where would internal strife come from?" Zhao Zheng retorted in a deep voice.

"Is that so?"

Chu Xuanjin smiled.

That smile, in Zhao Zheng's eyes, was filled with an indescribable eeriness.

"Emperor Zhao, have you ever heard a saying?"

"The Imperial Family is the most ruthless."

"You and the Crown Prince are a loving father and filial son, the envy of others. But you have forgotten that besides the Crown Prince, you have other sons."

Zhao Zheng's pupils constricted suddenly.

He thought of something, and his complexion instantly turned extremely ugly.

"You... are referring to Wuyou?"

His voice was extremely strained.

"That third prince, born foolish, imprisoned by you in the Scripture Pavilion, ostensibly for care but in reality abandoned?"

Chu Xuanjin's tone remained flat.

But every word was like a sharp knife stabbing into Zhao Zheng's heart.

Zhao Zheng's body trembled violently.

This was the greatest pain in his heart, and a taboo he never wished to mention to anyone.

Wuyou...

His third son.

Born different from ordinary people.

He did not understand language, was ignorant of worldly affairs, and his Divine Soul was naturally incomplete, like a three-year-old child.

He had invited all the famous doctors in the world and sought countless Medicinal Pills, but it was all to no avail.

In the end, he could only be disheartened and place this son who brought him shame under house arrest in the Scripture Pavilion, keeping it hidden from outsiders.

Out of sight, out of mind.

Yet he did not expect that this secret he had deliberately forgotten would be revealed in a single sentence by this mysterious young man before him.

"You... who exactly are you?"

Zhao Zheng's voice carried fear for the first time.

The other party not only knew the secrets of his imperial family but even knew Wuyou's situation like the back of his hand.

This could no longer be explained by simple Divine Ability.

This was insight into the secrets of heaven!

Chu Xuanjin did not answer his question.

He merely stood up, walked to the edge of the pavilion, and looked at the inconspicuous Scripture Pavilion in the distance.

"Innately foolish, Divine Soul incomplete?"

He chuckled, the laughter filled with endless mockery.

"Emperor Zhao, you sit upon the Luck of a nation, yet you cannot even recognize the True Dragon right under your nose."

"Do you know what Bloodline flows within your so-called foolish son?"

Zhao Zheng's mind was blank.

He stared blankly at Chu Xuanjin's back, feeling his worldview being ruthlessly overturned.

"He is not foolish."

Chu Xuanjin's voice drifted over, as if coming from above the Nine Heavens.

"He is... the Primordial Dragon God."

"His Divine Soul is not incomplete; rather, it is too powerful and has been firmly sealed by the Origin power of his own Bloodline."

"Once the Seal is broken, the Dragon will roar through the Nine Heavens. How could your tiny Zhao Kingdom possibly contain him?"

"At that time, this Crown Prince of yours, this throne of yours, in his eyes, will be nothing more than child's play."

Zhao Zheng's body felt as if struck by lightning.

He stumbled back two steps and sat heavily on the stone bench behind him.

Primordial Dragon God...

Dragon roaring through the Nine Heavens...

Every one of these terms exceeded the scope of his understanding.

He wanted to refute it, to say this was nonsense.

But looking at the other party's calm and detached manner, as if stating a fact, he could not say a single word.

Because his intuition told him.

Everything the other party said was true.

"Then... then what... what should I do?"

He spoke in a daze, like a lost child seeking help from Chu Xuanjin.

He forgot that he was the Emperor, forgot that he had just been questioning the other party.

Chu Xuanjin turned around slowly.

He looked at this mortal Emperor who had completely lost his composure, and the corners of his mouth curled into an arc.

The fish has taken the bait.

"Very simple."

He held up two fingers.

"Two paths."

"First, kill him. Before he Awakens, eliminate future trouble once and for all."

Zhao Zheng's face instantly turned pale.

Kill... kill Wuyou?

That was his own son!

"What is the second path?" He asked with a hoarse voice.

Chu Xuanjin's smile became inscrutable.

"Take me as his master."

He looked at Zhao Zheng.

"Let him enter my Myriad Dao Divine Sect."

"I will naturally unlock his Bloodline Seal for him and guide him onto the true path to the heavens."

"As for this tiny throne of yours, whether you pass it to the Crown Prince, pass it to him, or let him conquer a vast empire of his own..."

Chu Xuanjin paused, his tone becoming playful.

"That will depend on my mood."

Zhao Zheng stared at him blankly, his mind in chaos.

He felt that he was not talking to a person.

But to a chess player who treated the entire world as a chessboard.

He, his Dynasty, his sons, were all just insignificant chess pieces on the other party's board.

"You... what exactly do you want to do?" He asked with difficulty.

Chu Xuanjin smiled.

He walked to the chessboard and gently picked up the black piece that had been placed on the Tianyuan position.

"I said it."

"I am just a spectator traveling through the Mortal World."

"Occasionally, when I see an interesting chess game, my hands itch, and I just want to place a few pieces."

He placed the black piece in front of Zhao Zheng.

"Emperor Zhao, it is your turn to move."