551: poor Taoist

After Lu Li left, Chen De spontaneously sensed the system within himself.

However, his cultivation was still just a little bit short of the peak of the Legendary Level.

So he returned to the Alliance and secretly gathered another group of people.

After leading these people out with kind words, he immediately took action against them.

This time, Chen De finally officially reached the peak of the Legendary Level and the Great Perfection of the Earth Realm.

At the same time, upon reaching this step, he also sensed a hidden restriction.

There was indeed something preventing him from advancing further, and this thing did not originate from himself, but from the outside world.

Moreover, it only descended upon powerhouses who reached Chen De's current level.

That was why he hadn't detected anything wrong with this physical body before, because the body itself was fine.

Realizing this, Chen De knew that he probably needed to break through, just as Lu Li had said.

So he returned to the Alliance and requested leave from Lu Li, intending to go to the Imperial Capital to prepare beforehand.

"Oh~, you want to go to the Imperial Capital to prepare first?"

Hearing this request, Lu Li looked at Chen De with a half-smile.

"Yes, Boss. After all, that is a Legendary Level avatar of the Immortal Law Realm.

A being of that level, whether here or outside, is far beyond what this little brother can contend with."

Chen De displayed a look of deep apprehension, earnestly explaining to Lu Li, "Therefore, I hope to familiarize myself with the battlefield beforehand and see if I can make some preparations."

"Otherwise, if I'm instantly killed by the opponent, I would truly fail to live up to Boss's great trust and reliance."

Seeing that Chen De had put it that way, Lu Li nodded, "That makes sense. Go check it out then. It's good to get more familiar."

"Thank you, Boss!" Chen De replied.

"Alright, go down and prepare quickly."

Seeing that Chen De had nothing else to say, Lu Li signaled that he could leave to prepare.

"Understood!" Chen De respectfully bowed to Lu Li, then turned and exited the room.

After Chen De left, Lu Li muttered to himself, "He hasn't given up, huh..."

Of course, he knew Chen De hadn't given up the chance to become a Legend, and he knew he would definitely try to do something.

But it was meaningless. Could a Mortal Realm technique possibly stand up to an Immortal Realm technique?

Mortals know nothing of the power of Immortals!

As for moving against the Emperor prematurely, as long as Chen De still harbored the idea of becoming a Legend, he wouldn't do it.

Lu Li stopped paying attention to him and continued deducing everything related to the upcoming great battle in his mind... Chen De returned to the Imperial Capital, only to find that everything had changed.

Chaos, arson, murder, robbery, and looting filled the place, and the former prosperity was gone.

Seeing this scene, a tear silently slid from the corner of his eye. "The selfishness of a few has brought suffering to the many."

"The world, in the end, belongs to everyone in the world; it is the world of the people, not the world of a single person."

Because of the selfishness of Lu Li and the Emperor, the common people of the Imperial Capital were plunged into misery.

The Descenders appear once every sixty years, meaning such a catastrophe will occur every sixty years.

Not to mention, this is only the prelude, far from the official beginning.

His return this time was to end and remedy all of this.

In just a few steps, he arrived at the Imperial Palace and reached the Imperial Court.

Because the Emperor was not dead, a few people were still gathered here.

They were all members of the Imperial Family, ministers, and military generals below the Diamond Rank... The overall situation was temporarily managed by one of the Emperor's surviving descendants, who was essentially the best of a bad lot.

After all, the Emperor was still alive, and the others didn't have the audacity to seize power without permission.

"Everyone, chaos reigns both inside and outside the Imperial Capital. Do you have any countermeasures?"

The one temporarily managing the overall situation was Prince Yong, the Emperor's thirty-fourth son.

He could sit in this position for two reasons: one, he was unfavored and hadn't been sent away to a fiefdom, and two, his cultivation was low, only Platinum Stage Four.

The former allowed him to stay in the Imperial Capital, and the latter allowed him to keep his life.

Moreover, in an environment where there were no Diamond or higher ranks in the entire Imperial Capital, Platinum Stage Four was already considered top-tier.

These two factors combined made him the best candidate for this position right now.

A minister stepped forward and responded, "Actually, the problems within the Imperial Capital are easy to solve; we could even forcefully suppress them right now."

"The biggest problem lies outside the Imperial Capital: the princes who were granted fiefdoms, the generals and ministers in various regions, and the cultivation Sects."

"Now the Imperial Capital is so empty that we can't even find a single Diamond, and we wouldn't be able to stop anyone with even a little strength."

In fact, the current situation was not much different from Great Firmament having perished.

But this was a world where individual martial power reigned supreme; the strength of one person was enough to reverse the situation.

The reason these people gathered here chose to stay was because the Emperor was still alive.

They believed that with the Emperor's strength, Great Firmament might still have hope.

Once success was achieved, those who had remained loyal during the crisis would surely be heavily promoted.

This was a gamble, but not without a chance of winning, and the rewards would be enormous if they bet correctly.

Prince Yong listened, then continued to ask, "What should we do then? We can't just sit here and do nothing, can we?"

He pondered for a moment, "How about this: as you said, if the issues within the Imperial Capital can be solved, let's solve them first."

That way, even if things outside are messy, once the Emperor emerges from seclusion and sees that the Imperial Capital has been managed well under these circumstances, it will leave a good impression.

While the logic was sound, the question was: who would do it?

Even though there were no Diamond Rank existences left in the Imperial Capital, suppressing the chaos would inevitably require a significant price.

Who would pay this price?

Currently, the strength of the various factions in the Imperial Court was fairly equal. This was already a gamble, and they were seated at the gambling table.

But if they used up all their chips right away, what would they do later?

"Amitabha!"

Just as everyone hesitated, a Buddhist chant was heard.

The voice contained terrifying power, instantly stunning everyone present.

Then, Chen De slowly walked in from outside the main hall.

The hall was completely silent; no one dared to utter a sound.

Clearly, based on this person's display of power, even if he wasn't a King, he was at least a Diamond.

If he were to lose control, no one here would be able to stop him.

"Amitabha." After entering, Chen De bowed to the crowd. "This Daoist offers his greetings."

Prince Yong was the person currently put forward to lead, and he knew he had to speak up. "Daoist, may I ask why you have come here?"

As he spoke these words, Prince Yong felt a surge of anger and humiliation in his heart.

This was the Grand Hall of the mighty Great Firmament. Normally, Diamond Ranks had to wait respectfully, King Ranks dared not show disrespect, and even Legendary Levels would likely have to show some deference.

But now, some mere individual, whose rank was unknown—Diamond or King Rank—dared to barge in without announcement and recklessly release his aura.

Moreover, he had rendered the entire Imperial Court, both civil and military officials, completely speechless.