Chapter 1093: Drawing Closer
Chapter 1093: Drawing Closer
Having finally reunited after so much difficulty, she was naturally reluctant to part from him again. But Tang San still had to act under the identity of Jin Miaolin within the Ancestral Court, and he still faced constant danger. Frequent teleportation would easily expose flaws.
"I'll make arrangements, don't worry," Tang San said gently as he looked at her.
Following her reincarnation to this realm, bringing her back and reuniting their family had always been his top priority. And now, that goal was drawing closer and closer. Fewer and fewer powers remained that could stand in their way. What could be more wonderful than that?
This Battle for the Throne had also deeply influenced Tang San. Holy energy and life-annihilation were in fact both rooted in the Divine Realm. The reason he had been able to produce and control them was that his strength was getting closer to full restoration, and his past life's influences were beginning to resurface. When he reached the level of Emperor, all of his past abilities would return in full. For now, what he needed to do was organize all he had gained in this realm and prepare to reconnect with everything from his former life.
In truth, the Battle for the Throne was even more complicated for him than becoming an Emperor. Every seemingly coincidental victory had been earned by taking tremendous risks. He couldn't use his true abilities, yet still had to defeat powerful foes; how could that have been easy?
But once he began his assault on the Emperor level, he would no longer have to hold back. At last, he would be able to unleash his power without restraint.
By now, the carriage had arrived at the White Tiger Grand Hotel. Both sides of the street were packed with people, and waves of cheering erupted.
The Battle for the Throne had come to an end, and the final ranking of the Crown Princes had been officially announced. That the Peacock Demon clan's Mei Gongzi had formed an alliance with the Blue Gold Tree clan's Jin Miaolin through marriage was a piece of news that would have far-reaching consequences not only for their clans and cities, but for the entire continent.
Tang San and Mei Gongzi stepped down from the carriage one after the other. After greeting the crowd, they entered the hotel. However, Tang San didn't follow Mei Gongzi to the top floor. At a time like this, he had to maintain some distance between them to avoid raising suspicion.
Returning to his room, Tang San immediately focused, releasing his divine consciousness to probe far into the distance from within the Ancestral Court.
Before, he wouldn't have dared to do such a thing. There were countless powerhouses above the tenth order in the Ancestral Court who possessed divine consciousness, and in a place where Emperors resided, who would dare casually sweep the surroundings with divine consciousness? Disturbing an Emperor could mean death.
But now, his status had entirely changed. As a newly acknowledged Crown Prince, he had not only been granted permission to fly within the Ancestral Court, but the constraints he faced were also far fewer.
Tang San soon located his target. "Your Majesty, are you available now?"
—Mhm, came an unhappy response from the other side.
"Then I'll come pay my respects now," Tang San replied immediately.
—Mhm, the other answered with a curt grunt.
Tang San changed his clothes, covered his face with a cloak, and quietly slipped out of the White Tiger Hotel. Soon, he arrived at a palace.
The palace was empty. Inside, a lone figure stood facing away from the door, hands clasped behind his back.
"Your Majesty," Tang San greeted with a slight bow.
The Sunborne Nymph Emperor turned around. His face was still obscured by mist, as always, but his mood was clearly sour.
Tang San said nothing more, simply waiting silently.
After a long pause, the Sunborne Nymph Emperor finally sighed and said, "We old schemers got beaten by a little girl. That's something no one could have predicted. Even the old fox miscalculated, so I can't complain much. But this has messed up our well-laid plans."
He didn't ask what choice Tang San would've made if Mei Gongzi hadn't intervened, because that no longer mattered.
In the short span of this one-month-long Battle for the Throne, the Blue Gold Tree clan leader standing before him had grown to the point that even Sunborne himself was beginning to regard him as an equal.
Tang San gave a bitter smile. "I didn't expect this outcome either. But Your Majesty can rest assured. What I promised before still holds. Once Jin Miaolin becomes Emperor, the first Blue Gold Fruit will be offered to you."
Well, that's when Jin Miaolin becomes Emperor. As for when that will happen, or rather, if that will happen… Eh. Not my problem.
Sunborne Nymph Emperor waved his hand. "I've still got some good years left. I'm not in a rush. I had Jiang Chenchou deliver that message to you not just to pursue an alliance through marriage; I genuinely hoped things would work out this way. If in the future you become the ruler of the Ancestral Court, it would be a great blessing not just for the Court, but for the entire Daemon Continent. Our realm is rich in resources, and that's why Emperors like us could rise. But whether we want to go even further, or want our cultivation to evolve, it's not something that fortune alone can achieve. Fortune is limited to our own plane. True evolution, whether it's for us or for the plane itself, requires power that reaches far deeper than that.
"You know about my relationship with Earthshade. We often discuss what kind of force might lead to a real breakthrough. If my pure yang and her pure yin could truly merge, perhaps it could give rise to some essential force of the universe. But that fusion is extremely difficult; no matter how much we tried, we could not get it to work. During this tournament, however, your fusion of life and annihilation gave me a glimmer of hope. That power rivals even our yin-yang fusion and touches upon the most fundamental laws of nature.
"From now on, you must focus more on developing that. If you need anything, the Solstice Empire will fully support you. If you can master that power of life and annihilation, then the future leadership of the Ancestral Court will be yours. Your clan's neutral stance is a stroke of genius. It will greatly reduce resistance from the Empyrean Dominion. But you still must tread carefully. One wrong step could ruin everything."
Listening to this analysis, Tang San was shaken. This Emperor truly lived up to his reputation as the strongest; his insight was truly something else.
"Yes, Your Majesty," Tang San replied.
Sunborne Nymph Emperor sighed. "Perhaps, in the end, it's a good thing the marriage didn't go through. When the Celestial Fox announced he would provide you with four eight-tailed foxes for support, I couldn't even object. If your fiancée had been Jiang Chenchou, you would have been marked as one of ours. By contrast, although the Celestial Fox rules the Empyrean Dominion, due to his mastery of fortune, he has to maintain a relatively neutral stance, which all sides can accept more easily. Now that I think about it, he must be even more frustrated than I am. What he thought was in the bag ended up being disrupted by a little girl. I have to say, she is quite the smart one. Once you marry her, be sure to control her well. She will be an immense asset to you. I trust that with your abilities, that won't be too hard?"
Tang San rubbed his nose helplessly. Anything else, maybe—but his own wife? He honestly didn't dare say he could control her. And even if he could, he didn't have the slightest intention to do so.
"I'll do my best, Your Majesty."
Sunborne Nymph Emperor scowled. "What do you mean, your best? If you can't manage your own household, how can you rule the world? Don't tell me you can't handle even that. Her divine item may be strong, but don't you have plenty of your own methods? You even fooled all of us. No one realized you'd inherited the Crystal Demon Emperor's full legacy. That alone is enough to set you above the rest. Well, anyway, that's for later. Next, the Ancestral Court will formally confirm your clan's neutral status. If you need my help with anything, say so now."
Tang San immediately responded, "The Ancestral Court will probably require me to stay here after that, right?"
"Of course. You won't be allowed to leave easily before you become Emperor. And even after, you'll need to remain stationed here most of the time. Didn't you hear Celestial Fox say it? We old folks are counting on you."
Tang San nodded. "I have no problem with that. But I do hope the Ancestral Court will ensure the safety of my clan members as they travel to the major cities. That is of utmost importance.