40: Chapter 40 The Sage's Personal Arrival?

In the dungeon, the Ziyang Saint went mad.

His roar instantly spread throughout the Great Xia Imperial Palace.

A Saint descends personally!

An Imperial Weapon is pressing on the border!

Eight words, each weighing a thousand jin.

They slammed into everyone's heart.

The atmosphere inside the Imperial Palace was heavy and silent.

The faces of the palace maids and eunuchs turned pale, their legs so weak they couldn't walk.

Clap.

Another precious piece of porcelain shattered on the ground.

The patrolling Imperial Guards couldn't hold their blades, which clattered to the ground.

A Saint.

That is a legendary existence.

Beyond the Mortal realm, living as long as heaven itself, their words becoming law.

Such a figure could easily destroy a Dynasty.

Now, a living Saint was coming to destroy Great Xia with an Imperial Weapon.

The sky has collapsed.

This is despair.

Inside the Golden Throne Hall.

The Great Xia Emperor Li Zhan was pacing frantically in the hall, his face pale.

Below him were the civil and military officials who had just been summoned.

These high officials who usually pointed fingers at the world had now become mutes.

One by one, they lowered their heads, not daring to breathe.

Fear was spreading.

"A Saint... an Imperial Weapon... what do we do? What do we do!"

Li Zhan's voice was trembling.

He had just ascended the throne, just finished purging the court, and was preparing to make a big move.

And yet.

A monster capable of overturning the chessboard had descended from the sky.

All ambitions, all eternal foundations.

In front of a Saint, they were nothing but farts.

"Prime Minister, Minister of Revenue, say something!"

Li Zhan's voice went out of tune.

The new Prime Minister and the Minister of Revenue looked at each other, their faces bitter.

Their lips moved for a long time, but in the end, they could only kneel on the ground.

"Your Majesty... this is a dead end."

Right.

A dead end.

In front of a Saint, all Mortals are vulnerable.

What can a Mortal use to fight a god?

Li Zhan felt a wave of dizziness, his body swaying as he nearly fell from the dragon chair.

He gripped the armrest of the dragon chair, gasping for air, his mind a mess.

In his despair, he suddenly thought of one person.

Right!

The Old Ancestor!

He still had that Old Ancestor who had long since become a god in his heart!

Last time, when the Marquis of the Ziyang Holy Land came with the Human Emperor's decree, wasn't he also easily dealt with by the Old Ancestor?

This time will be the same.

It must be!

Li Zhan stumbled down from the dragon chair and, using all his strength, rushed towards Zhaoyang Hall in the depths of the Imperial Palace.

"Old Ancestor! Old Ancestor, save me! Save Great Xia!"

The shrill cries spread throughout the Imperial Palace.

...Inside Zhaoyang Hall, however, it was very quiet.

Sunlight shone in, leaving spots of light on the floor.

Li Xuan sat cross-legged on the carpet.

In front of him, two cute little babies were fighting over a rattle-drum.

The older one was his eldest son, Li Changsheng.

He was almost two years old, walking with a gust of wind, his large eyes revealing a hint of sharpness.

He didn't like to talk, but that cool demeanor was exactly like Li Xuan's.

The younger one was his second daughter, Li Qingyue.

She had just turned one, carved from pink jade, but her personality was a bit cold.

She didn't cry or fuss.

Only when she saw Li Xuan would she smile.

At this moment, Li Changsheng reached out his little hand, wanting to snatch the rattle-drum from his sister's hand.

He didn't want to play with it.

He had sensed a trace of Geng Metal Qi from the wood of the rattle-drum and wanted to use it to "sharpen his sword."

Li Qingyue held the rattle-drum tightly, glaring at her brother with big eyes.

A faint flow of Taiyin Qi circulated around her, making the air a few degrees colder.

Nearby, Su Muxue and Yue Chan, having just finished breakfast, were watching them tenderly.

To them, even if the sky collapsed, it wouldn't matter.

As long as they could stay by this man's side and watch the children play, it was the greatest happiness.

"Do not bully your sister."

Li Xuan reached out and flicked Li Changsheng on the forehead.

Li Changsheng covered his head, looked aggrievedly at his father, then at the object in his sister's hand, and finally gave up.

His father was too strong.

He couldn't beat him.

Li Xuan laughed as he watched his son's deflated expression.

This was his life now.

Enjoying family warmth, watching his children grow up.

Occasionally checking in, teasing the kids, and his strength would just rise on its own.

He wouldn't trade this immortal-like life for anything.

Just then, Li Zhan's mournful howling came from outside the hall.

"Old Ancestor! Help!"

After a burst of hurried and chaotic footsteps, Li Zhan came rushing in, stumbling and crawling.

As soon as he entered the hall, he saw this heartwarming scene.

And then he saw Li Xuan's leisurely face.

He was completely stunned.

The sky outside had collapsed.

You, old man, are actually still here teasing the kids like nothing happened?

The contrast was too great.

"Old Ancestor!"

Li Zhan reacted, disregarding any imperial dignity, and fell to his knees in front of Li Xuan with a "thump," crying out:

"Something big has happened! A huge disaster!"

Su Muxue and Yue Chan were startled and hurriedly stood up.

"Your Majesty, what happened? Why are you so panicked?"

Li Xuan asked:

"What is it?"

Li Zhan's face was mournful, his voice trembling.

"A... a Saint! The Saint Old Ancestor from the Ziyang Holy Land has brought their Sect's Imperial Weapon and attacked us!"

"He... he said he wants to raze my Great Xia to the ground, leaving not a blade of grass!"

Boom.

As soon as these words were spoken, Su Muxue and Yue Chan's faces turned pale.

A Saint!

An Imperial Weapon!

Although they were women of the inner palace, they knew what this represented.

It was an absolute power capable of destroying the world.

Su Muxue's body swayed, and she nearly couldn't stand.

She had just spent a few days in peace; was all of this about to be gone?

"What are you panicking about?"

A calm voice rang out.

Li Xuan was still sitting cross-legged in the same spot, his posture unchanged.

He casually picked up a grape from the fruit plate nearby, peeled it, and popped it into his daughter Li Qingyue's little mouth.

The world-ending crisis Li Zhan spoke of seemed less important than his daughter wanting to eat a grape.

"But... that is a Saint!"

Li Zhan raised his head, staring blankly at Li Xuan.

"A Saint?"

After feeding his daughter, Li Xuan patted the head of Li Changsheng, who was looking at him eagerly, before raising his eyelids to look at Li Zhan.

On his face, there was no gravity, but rather... something strange.

"Who told you a Saint descended personally?"

He asked.

Li Zhan was stunned:

"It... it was that Ziyang Saint in the dungeon! He went mad and confessed everything!"

"Oh, it's him."

Li Xuan nodded, then said something in a matter-of-fact tone that left everyone stunned.

"That is not a Saint descending personally."

Before Li Zhan could ask why, he heard Li Xuan's next words.

"It is my delivery, arriving."

"De... delivery?"

Li Zhan was completely dumbfounded.

His brain couldn't process this.

What is a delivery?

Is it edible?

He completely didn't understand the term, and even less did he understand why the Old Ancestor would use such... a relaxed and casual tone to describe a national catastrophe.

Su Muxue and Yue Chan were also confused.

"Stop kneeling, get up and talk."

Li Xuan waved his hand at Li Zhan.

"What a small matter, look at how scared you are, you don't have the bearing of an Emperor at all."

Li Zhan was lifted by a gentle force; he looked at Li Xuan and stammered:

"Old Ancestor, that Saint... that delivery... what exactly..."

"Literal meaning."

Li Xuan explained.

"A few days ago, didn't I just ascend to Human Emperor, and the Dynasty also promoted to a Royal-level Divine Dynasty?"

Li Zhan nodded repeatedly.

"At that time, the System rewarded a new feature called 'Luck Altar'."

"Luck Altar?"

Another new term.

"You can understand it as a furnace, or... a recycling bin."

Li Xuan thought of an easy-to-understand analogy.

"Anything of value—Magic Treasure, Spirit Medicine, even enemies—can be thrown in and sacrificed. After sacrificing, it can be converted into the purest Luck to enhance our Great Xia's foundation."

"As the owner of the altar, I can also receive rewards."

Li Xuan said it very plainly, but to Li Zhan and the others, it was shocking.

Sacrificing everything to enhance Luck?

And being able to receive rewards?

What kind of powerful feature is this.

"So..."

Su Muxue was very clever; she instantly thought of something and asked tentatively:

"Does my husband mean... you intend to use that... Saint as a sacrifice?"

As soon as the words left her mouth, she felt it was absurd.

Using a Saint as fuel to burn?

This idea was too crazy.

Li Xuan nodded approvingly, looking at her and smiling.

"My beloved consort is indeed clever."

He stood up, walked to the window, and with his hands behind his back, looked at the sky outside.

Outside the borders of Great Xia, a powerful Saint's Aura had already swept in.

The entire Imperial Capital of Great Xia was shrouded in that pressure.

The sky darkened.

There was dead silence between heaven and earth.

Ordinary people were directly pressed into unconsciousness, and low-cultivation Martial Artists were vomiting blood and kneeling on the ground, unable to even lift their heads.

Only the Imperial Palace, protected by the Nine Dragons Heaven-Locking Grand Array, remained relatively calm.

But everyone could feel that powerful Divine Might.

Yet in the face of this power, not a hint of tension could be seen on Li Xuan's face.

He just said:

"I just ascended to Human Emperor and was worrying about not finding a suitable sacrifice to open this 'Luck Altar'."

"Just as I was nodding off, someone brought a pillow; that old guy from the Ziyang Holy Land is truly a good person."

"A Saint, plus an Imperial Weapon."

"The weight of this first sacrifice is barely enough."

His voice was very light, but it carried an Aura of looking down on everything.

Li Zhan, Su Muxue, and Yue Chan were all stunned.

They stared blankly at Li Xuan's back.

That back became their only reliance.

They couldn't think for a moment.

So, from the very beginning, in the Old Ancestor's eyes, that national catastrophe and the Saint pressing on the border were just a... "delivery" to be delivered to his door?

Or a consumable for testing a new feature?

This... this was no longer arrogance; it was not taking the Saint seriously at all.

Li Zhan's body stopped trembling.

It wasn't that he wasn't afraid.

It was that he had been rendered unable to think by this huge shock.

His perception had been hugely impacted, turning into fanatical worship.

"Pass on my decree."

Li Xuan spoke without turning his head.

"Order all Imperial Guards to return to their posts; there is no need to panic."

"Additionally, have the Imperial Kitchen prepare a feast; I am in a good mood today."

"I want to drink wine while watching to see exactly what the quality of this long-awaited delivery is."