Chapter 501 - 499:'So… what did I miss?'

Chapter 501: Chapter 499:“So... what did I miss?”

A/N: one more Chapter until our big 500.. man, I won’t bore you guys with a long messge now. I’ll leave that for tomorrow, but know that I am forever grateful to all of you that have stayed this long and I hope you stay till wherever we stop with this story.

Thank you and please, enjoy...

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The throne room went deathly silent as everyone was trying not to pay much attention to the little interaction between the emperor and the delegates from the Spirit Ascension Sect, all whilst simultaneously trying to understand just what the hell it was that the man was wearing.

Su Yin once again found herself fighting to bite down the sighs bubbling up her lips as she felt the incredulous gazes being thrown their way by the audience within the throne room.

As for Lin Xuan himself,

"Must I repeat myself?" The man didn’t give a fuck. He was comfortable, and now these fools were wasting his time.

Were they trying to irritate him after he’d just calmed down? Because they were doing a very good job.

The atmosphere within the room froze over as the man’s irritation threatened to spill out, but,

"Ahem!" A not-so-subtle cough caught everyone’s attention as Shen Wu Zhen finally rose from his embarrassing bow.

"Your Majesty, please quell your anger. We do not mean to waste your precious time; we are merely here for some important matters." The man spoke out in a diplomatic manner, yet the underlying attack within his speech wasn’t so well hidden, as the man had just implied that the emperor was irritated by the presence of his subjects.

Lin Xuan, as usual, cared not for the man’s theatrics as he waved him on. "You may speak."

"As you wish, Emperor." Giving a false bow, Wu Zhen cleared his throat once more as he finally got straight to the heart of the matter.

"Your Majesty, it came to my notice a few days ago that you had killed one of my grand elders during their visit to the palace—a visit meant to be one of showing respect to you, the Emperor, yet ended with a grand elder of my sect getting cruelly beheaded by your own hands. I merely wish to understand why Your Majesty sought such a violent option rather than having a proper audience with the sect and the nobles gathered here today."

The man spoke fluently, mixing respectful words with subtle undermining words aimed at ruining the emperor’s image and painting the man as a naturally violent tyrant as he continued fluidly, "One must know, O Emperor, that the man was a Law Dominion stage powerhouse, and figures like those take a significant amount of resources to develop, as I hope the Emperor can explain himself properly and hopefully compensate the sect for her losses." The man concluded as he gave a subtle bow and stepped back a few feet.

The whole throne room remained silent as everyone waited for the emperor’s response.

They weren’t fools. They could clearly tell what the sect master was doing, but this wasn’t their place to speak.

"Sect Master Wu." Lin Xuan’s calm voice echoed through the silence as he called out.

"Yes, Your Majesty." Wu Zhen replied.

"Who am I?"

"The emperor of the High Planar Galaxies."

"And what does such a status entail?"

Wu Zhen’s brows furrowed as he didn’t like where this was heading, yet he answered nonetheless, "Such a status implies that you, O Emperor, are supreme ruler over these lands."

"Indeed. That’s what it implies. So now, tell me. What punishment should be accorded to one who dared to spite such a status in disrespect? Daring to go against the emperor’s words?"

Wu Zhen’s expression had gone completely ugly at this point, yet still, he was forced to answer, "Death, O Emperor, would’ve been mercy for such a spiteful act."

"Then you should be thanking me for being merciful, Sect Master Wu, yet I hear no words of appreciation and only hear ungrateful drivel from your lips. I am disappointed."

The silence this time around was loaded as everyone just watched the emperor force Wu Zhen into countering his own arguments all while making the man look like a child throwing a tantrum where he should be thanking in gratitude.

The gathered nobles subtly reaffirmed the rules within their minds as they were reminded that the man wasn’t just a powerful tyrant. He was a powerful tyrant with an equally powerful mind and social awareness.

"Your Majesty, whilst your words are true and reasonable, I dare say there’s a slight difference this time around." Wu Zhen didn’t relent; he wasn’t going to back down—not this time, not when he had proof.

"A slight difference? Please, enlighten me." Lin Xuan asked with a raised eyebrow.

"According to reports from my elders, there was also a youth that had dared to go against the emperor’s orders. In fact, he had been audacious enough to lecture the emperor himself about the Dao before his subjects, and yet you, O Emperor, did not punish this audacious youth, but instead welcomed him with open arms."

Whispers began filling the throne room as Su Yin’s beautiful face frowned. Luo Yao, sitting beside them, couldn’t help but frown as well, as she had been against her brother’s behavior back then, too.

"Shall I assume that the emperor’s words are partial to who he favors and not to those who have served these lands with their sweat and blood? Please, Your Majesty, enlighten this humble one, for I am truly baffled."

The temperature within the room slowly froze over as everyone could feel the tension in the air.

Lin Xuan didn’t answer immediately. He merely stared at Wu Zhen with no emotion on his face before his gaze shifted to behind the man.

There, now pale and shivering as she felt the emperor’s gaze on her body, was the elder that had taken charge of the candidates after Lin Xuan beheaded the white-haired old man, and before anyone could react,

BOOOM!!!

SHPLAT! SHPLAT! SHPLAT!

An explosion rang through the room as blood splashed everywhere, Wu Zhen taking the brunt of it as he stood stunned.

"I applaud your audacity." Lin Xuan’s indifferent voice cut through the silence as he began speaking, almost as if he hadn’t just annihilated a Law Dominion stage powerhouse with nothing but a thought.

"Have I, Lin Xuan, become so soft-handed with my subjects that I have now become a topic to be discussed? My decisions questioned by whoever feels it necessary to do so?" His voice hadn’t changed from his indifferent tone, and yet, the entire room dared not utter a single word.

"I am the emperor. I am the sole supreme of these lands. Whomever I choose to spare shall be spared. Whomever I condemn shall be condemned. Since when were my decisions things any rabble can discuss?" His gaze settled upon the figures of Wu Zhen and the ancestor by his side.

"Has the Spirit Ascension Sect forgotten on whose lands they take refuge? Have they forgotten under whose dominion they thrive under? Shall I visit the Spirit Ascension Sect and have a deeper conversation with the ancestors? For I believe I am the one owed an explanation for this gross disrespect I have been shown." The entire hall held its breath as nobody spoke; hell, nobody dared twitch.

They’d just seen a Law Dominion powerhouse get deleted with none of them knowing how. And now the emperor had given up trying to explain anything as he now was demanding an explanation for their audacities instead.

Shen Wu Zhen stood stunned, speechless.

An elder had just been killed before him, and he couldn’t even do anything. Neither him nor the ancestor had even been able to sense anything before it happened.

"Has he truly become so far removed from my sights?" Wu Zhen’s heart bled as he thought of this fact.

He had come here in full bravado seeking an explanation for his dead grand elder, yet all he got was condescension, disrespect, and, worse of all, another elder getting killed.

A boiling well of rage welled up from within the man as he approached his limits.

"Damn it!" He cussed.

"Who does he think he is?" His aura began bubbling as it threatened to burst out.

He wasn’t going to have it. He wasn’t going to take it anymore.

"Consequences be damned!" He yelled internally as he got ready to attack, but,

"Don’t!" The aged voice of the ancestor stopped him cold as he turned to the side, only to see his ancestor breaking out in a cold sweat.

He followed the man’s gaze and found Lin Xuan’s unflinching stare locked onto them.

A deep chill washed through his being, touching even his soul as the elder’s words came again,

"If you do not wish to cause a calamity, then DO NOT MOVE!" The elder worded emphatically as a strange scene suddenly played out within the throne room.

Everyone either sat frozen or stiff as none was willing to be the one to break the ice and incur the emperor’s wrath, yet just when things looked like there wasn’t any change in sight,

BANG!!!

The double doors to the place got blasted off their hinges as all eyes turned towards the entrance.

"What’s up, bitches! The true main character has arrived." An obnoxious voice shattered the tense atmosphere as soon after, a large man appeared.

He was tall—at least 8 feet—unbearably handsome, and with a permanent condescending expression in his eyes.

The tension had reached an all-time high, and now, finally, he had made his appearance. One could only wonder what the white-haired menace had planned as his smile widened the moment he felt the tension in the air,

"So... what did I miss?"

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A/N: welp, the bastard has finally entered the scene, time for the chaos to begin, hehehehe.. anyways,

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Thanks for reading...