56: Chapter 56 Don't stop!

The 'Judgment' within the Land of Judgment was like a courtroom trial, and also like placing pieces on the Starlight Chessboard.

The difference was that the 'pieces' placed on the Starlight Chessboard were [Heroic Spirits] and [wonders].

Meanwhile, the pieces placed in the Land of Judgment were weights representing 'viewpoints'.

Shigemitsu Gendo believed that Chen Aoyun was using 'idle gossip from the old era' to construct the abilities of the Heroic Spirit.

But the truth was, before the [Divine Judgment] began, Chen Aoyun didn't even know that a Heroic Spirit's abilities could be constructed from 'jokes' of the old era.

Raising troops: yes. Curtailing the feudal lords: no. Campaign of Defending the Mandate: gogogo!

The 'Campaign of Defending the Mandate' was neither a 'joke' nor a 'lame meme'!

Initiating 'Judgment' to challenge the [Campaign of Defending the Mandate]?

If it could be challenged away, Chen Aoyun would take Shigemitsu Gendo's surname from now on!

After the massive The Scales were activated, Chen Aoyun, completely unperturbed, waited for his opponent to 'place a piece'.

Shigemitsu Gendo first challenged how [Emperor Zhu Di] could commit regicide and hold imperial power after doing so.

"The [Plot Rule A] stipulates that there is only one emperor in the plot world. The fact that the [Heroic Spirit] summoned by the Dragon Country could control imperial power after committing regicide implies that the Heroic Spirit summoned by the Dragon Country is an emperor himself!

The appearance of two emperors simultaneously in the plot violates the rules.

It must be that the people of the Dragon Country used some 'lame meme' to interfere with the [rules'] Judgment of the Dragon Country's [Heroic Spirit].

Now, I challenge this point!"

In the Land of Judgment, words carry the weight of law. As soon as Shigemitsu Gendo finished speaking, his words transformed into a massive weight that landed on the side of The Scales closest to him.

As the weight landed, The Scales began to tilt slowly.

Chen Aoyun had to answer within the allotted time, using a logical explanation to create a weight on his side to rebalance The Scales; otherwise, Sakura Country would win this 'Judgment'!

Shigemitsu Gendo's challenge was reasonable, and Zhao Hongxiu and Fan Ling, unaware of the historical context of the [Campaign of Defending the Mandate], looked at Chen Aoyun with worry.

Chen Aoyun was not panicked at all; he even had the mood to study the details of the [The Scales] slowly tilting.

He was doing his homework for when he would actively 'Judge' others in the future!

"Five minutes. During a Judgment, when one side places a weight to challenge, the other side has about five minutes to think and answer..."

Seeing that Chen Aoyun had not answered, the viewers in the livestream thought that Sakura Country's point of challenge was reasonable and that the Dragon Country was going to lose.

But just as the massive [The Scales] were about to tip completely toward Sakura Country, Chen Aoyun suddenly spoke up.

"Where are there two emperors?

The skill I constructed for the Heroic Spirit [Emperor Zhu Di] is called: [Campaign of Defending the Mandate]!

In the 'Campaign of Defending the Mandate', [Emperor Zhu Di] entered the capital as a feudal prince. Before the old emperor died, [Emperor Zhu Di] was a prince, and only after the old emperor died did he ascend the throne to become emperor.

There were never two emperors at the same time!

Violating rules?

Where was the rule violated?

The [Campaign of Defending the Mandate] perfectly fits the plot logic, okay!"

With words carrying the weight of law, Chen Aoyun's words also transformed into a weight that landed on [The Scales], and [The Scales] immediately returned to balance!

Seeing this, Shigemitsu Gendo was shocked.

What shocked him was not the content of Chen Aoyun's answer, but the fact that Chen Aoyun's words could transform into a weight and be placed onto the tray of The Scales.

In the Land of Judgment, only 'historical allusions' can transform into weights; answering with 'memes' will not produce weights.

Shigemitsu Gendo was astonished, "Could it be that the Dragon Country was able to complete two plot tasks with one Heroic Spirit, not by relying on 'gossip from the old era', but on legitimate 'historical allusions'?!"

"Impossible, absolutely impossible!"

"How could there be such a perfectly fitting historical allusion in the world? Challenge, I want to keep challenging!"

Once Chen Aoyun could place a weight on The Scales, Sakura Country had effectively already lost this Judgment, but Shigemitsu Gendo was unwilling to accept it. He continued to raise challenges, constantly consuming national fortune to create weights and place them on The Scales.

That is how [Divine Judgment] works; the initiator must constantly pay the price. Every time a challenge is raised, and every time a weight is placed, Sakura Country's national fortune drains like water!

Chen Aoyun, however, did not need to consume the Dragon Country's national fortune. Chen Aoyun was merely a passive respondent; he only needed to provide a reasonable answer to create a weight.

Shigemitsu Gendo, unwilling to give up, challenged him repeatedly:

"According to [Plot Rule C] 'the mandate of the nation has not yet declined', by replacing the old emperor with a new emperor, you have violated this rule! I challenge this!"

Chen Aoyun replied, "They are all children of the Zhu family. The logic of the [Campaign of Defending the Mandate] is to 'clear the emperor's side'. It was just changing the reign title; it wasn't a regime change. The mandate of the nation is still that of the Great Ming. Where was the rule violated?"

The Scales remained balanced, steady as a rock.

Sweat appeared on Shigemitsu Gendo's forehead, and he continued to challenge:

"[Plot Rule B] stipulates that there can only be one target after entering the capital!"

"It is just one, isn't it? Only the old emperor died, that's all."

"Then [Plot Rule D] also stipulates that after solving the target upon entering the capital, power must be returned to the emperor!"

"[Emperor Zhu Di] is the emperor. Returning it to the emperor—isn't that just returning it to himself?"

Whatever Shigemitsu Gendo asked, Chen Aoyun answered, never interrupting, because every question Shigemitsu Gendo asked consumed Sakura Country's national fortune. If they didn't ultimately win this 'Judgment', all the national fortune that Shigemitsu Gendo had consumed would become the Dragon Country's!

Including the national fortune from the 120 sacrifices that this idiot Shigemitsu Gendo had made when initiating the 'Judgment'!

Chen Aoyun was like a good student—you ask, I answer. Meanwhile, having consumed so much of Sakura Country's national fortune, Shigemitsu Gendo was already riding a tiger and couldn't get off; he could only continue to challenge, hoping to crush the [Campaign of Defending the Mandate] skill, which was based on [True Martial] logic!

"How could the Dragon Country's [Heroic Spirit] mobilize the army of the West Mountain Camp?"

"Because he is a feudal prince! A prince entering the capital to serve the king—under the logic of the [Campaign of Defending the Mandate]! It's still two words: super reasonable!"

Sweat was pouring uncontrollably from Shigemitsu Gendo's head.

"Then what about the excuse? A prince entering the capital must have some excuse..."

Chen Aoyun interrupted: "The Campaign of Defending the Mandate is the excuse itself! Defending the Mandate is [Emperor Zhu Di]'s code of conduct!"

Shigemitsu Gendo broke down and threw out his final challenge:

"What about the 'anomaly'? You didn't find any 'anomaly'..."

"Do I need to find it? A new emperor brings new courtiers. In the historical narrative of Huaxia, old courtiers, especially those with malicious intent, cannot survive in the center of power."

Broken, Shigemitsu Gendo was completely broken. He wanted to continue challenging, but there were no more points to challenge.

Chen Aoyun was still not satisfied, "Come on, don't stop, keep challenging! The Dragon Country's national fortune is bottoming out and crying out for more; if you challenge a few more times and send more warmth, that would be great~"

Shigemitsu Gendo almost spat out a mouthful of blood.

The Judgment came to an abrupt halt!

It seemed it wasn't Shigemitsu Gendo's initiative; it was likely that others from Sakura Country's raiding team had forcibly ended this [Divine Judgment]...