For King Jiangshan, the approaching car was a foreign object. Had he not, as a high-ranking king, possessed exceptional composure, he might have thought the car a monster that devoured people into its belly.
But having witnessed ladders that could rise and fall automatically, and lamps that emitted bright light without fire, this sort of carriage that swallowed people and then spat them out again was sothing he could accept.
A dozen cars stopped, their doors opened, and dozens of people of various ages stepped out. All were dressed in the yellow garnts symbolizing the royal family, and they ca before Yu Changqing with utmost respect.
"Your unfilial descendant, Yu Changdong, pays his respects to the Ancestor," Yu Changdong declared.
"Descendants of the Yu Family pay respects to the Old Ancestor—" the others chorused.
"All of you are descendants of the royal family? Did the current Emperor not co?" Yu Changqing glanced over and asked indifferently. Although the Emperor held the title of Son of Heaven, it was understandable if he did not personally co to pay respects. Six hundred years ago, King Jiangshan had been imnsely revered; even subsequent emperors, his own nephews, often knelt in homage to him.
Now that he had awakened to life again after sleeping for six hundred years, surely the current Emperor should co to et him, rather than him having to seek an audience.
Nonetheless, King Jiangshan did not grow angry. Six hundred years prior, he was already a Land Immortal who had transcended the mortal world, indifferent to its mundane affairs. Moreover, after six hundred years, he was a figure of the distant past; whether they t or not mattered little.
But upon hearing King Jiangshan’s question, Yu Ruoyun’s heart skipped a beat, and she silently thought, This is bad.
"Ancestor, you must seek justice for us—" one cried out.
"Old Ancestor, the Great Jade Dynasty no longer has an imperial family! We royal mbers have all been demoted to commoners! There is no Emperor in the world today!"
"Ancestor, treacherous officials are in power! They have abolished the Emperor! For two hundred years, imperial authority has been vacant, controlled entirely by powerful ministers..."
Three people, three statents, and King Jiangshan’s expression changed drastically.
"What? Are you speaking the truth?" A murderous intent flashed in King Jiangshan’s eyes. He could disregard the mortal world, he could distance himself from its worldly affairs, but he could not ignore the plight of the royal family, nor could he overlook the welfare of the common people.
The realm of the Great Jade Dynasty was conquered by his ancestors. How could he, a mber of the Great Jade royal family and King Jiangshan of the Great Jade Dynasty, stand idly by?
"Ancestor, it’s not like that," Yu Ruoyun interjected. "The Great Jade Dynasty has never disappeared. The imperial authority has been vacant because, two hundred years ago, the Benevolent Emperor himself decreed the abolition of the Emperor’s position to reorganize the cabinet. No one forced the Emperor. The change was made to conform to the major trends of the world.
The wheels of history keep turning, and the system of absolute monarchic power can no longer adapt to these rapidly changing tis. The slightest misstep, the smallest lag, could set the Jade Country far behind. The Benevolent Emperor, with his extraordinary foresight, made the wise decision to break from worldly conventions and look a thousand years ahead."
"Silence, Ruoyun! Are you still a mber of the Yu Family? How dare you help those traitorous rebels—" Yu Changdong, his face ashen, rebuked her harshly.
Although he had previously sensed that Yu Ruoyun seed out of step with the Yu Family’s interests, her birthright dictated that she should consider matters from the Yu Family’s perspective. Furthermore, the environnt of her upbringing theoretically ant she would not abandon the Yu Family. Precisely because of this, though Yu Changdong harbored doubts, he had continued to trust Yu Ruoyun.
He hadn’t expected that Yu Ruoyun, the legitimate princess of the Yu Family and its future head, truly harbored convictions aligned with the new order. This drove Yu Changdong into a furious rage.
"Ancestor, I am willing to undergo your Spirit Engraving to reveal the entire truth of the cause and effect. I implore you to examine my mories and not be swayed by one-sided accounts. It has been six hundred years; this is no longer the world of the old dynasty," Yu Ruoyun pleaded.
Initially, King Jiangshan remained enraged despite Yu Ruoyun’s explanations, his mind unchanged. But strangely, it was her final sentence that instantly quenched the flas of his fury.
It is now six hundred years later, and I am rely an ancient figure, long gone from this world. Using the mindset of six hundred years ago to judge the people of today is clearly inappropriate. Since Yu Ruoyun is my descendant and is willing to undergo Spirit Engraving, I might as well take a look.
Although the concept of Spirit Engraving did not exist six hundred years ago, the fundantal systems of power shared a common lineage. King Jiangshan had already transcended these systems, so he could understand the so-called Spirit Engraving by analogy, as if by instinct.
As King Jiangshan reached out a palm towards Yu Ruoyun, Wang Lan was about to intervene but was swiftly grabbed by Yu Qing.
Spirit Engraving was potentially dangerous; the slightest mistake could leave the engraved person an imbecile. However, if the engraver was skillful and the subject cooperated willingly, there would likely be no issues.
Yu Ruoyun had not personally experienced the six hundred years of dynastic changes and the shifting of eras, but she had studied and understood them.
What was the state of the Jade Country six hundred years ago? What was the living standard of its people? And now, six hundred years later, what were the living standards and the state of the people?
This was the true Great Harmony, the legendary republic.
Republicanism wasn’t a concept that erged in modern tis; it was proposed and established thousands of years ago, even before the founding of the very first dynasty.
In ancient tis, there had been a Republican Era. Perhaps this was a cycle in the evolution of eras; at that ti, low productivity and slow changes in social structure led to an era of republicanism and joint governance.
Thereafter, absolute monarchies replaced the Republican Era and, for thousands of years, remained the primary political system of human civilization. Now, humanity had entered another Republican Era, achieving a state where the world truly belonged to all its people.
When all people understand that they are a part of their nation and know they must make decisions for themselves, any power group that presus to tower above them will begin to tremble.
No matter how solid or powerful any group might be, amidst incessant tremors, it will eventually fail to withstand the pressure and crumble apart.
The Benevolent Emperor, with his foresight, recognized this fundantal truth. That is why, seizing the opportunity of the Demon Clan’s invasion, he decisively reorganized the cabinet and devolved power to the masses.
Just as a line from his abdication edict read, "From this day forward, no one may stand above the citizens of Great Jade. No one may presu to discuss nobility or lowliness with the citizens of Great Jade. We are born as humans and should live for ourselves, for our families, and for our country—not for a monarch, nor for a master!
"The Demon Clan’s armies have arrived! Listen, n of Great Jade! In this battle, you fight not for , nor for the Great Jade Dynasty! You fight for yourselves, for your loved ones, and for the Huaxia lineage that has been passed down for millennia, its fla burning ever bright!"
Seeing this scene from her mories, Yu Changqing was visibly moved, his chest burning as if suppressing a great fla.
Why did I awaken so late? Why couldn’t I have witnessed the Benevolent Emperor reading the abdication edict from atop Tianann himself? What incredible breadth of mind one must possess to make such a decision!
Releasing his hand from Yu Ruoyun, King Jiangshan noted her consciousness was still sowhat blurry. He stood with his hands behind his back, gazing up at the sky. After a long while, King Jiangshan sighed deeply.
"You may all return."
"But Ancestor—" Yu Changdong instantly grew anxious. They had plotted painstakingly to release King Jiangshan, hoping he would lead them to restore the dynasty. What does King Jiangshan an by this? Is he disregarding it all?
"No need for further words," King Jiangshan said. "The Great Jade Dynasty has not perished, has it? The current Jade Country is the forr Great Jade Dynasty. It’s not that the dynasty has disappeared, but rather that your royal privileges and wealth are gone.
"The world is well as it is today: the people live in peace and prosperity, and the country is strong and flourishing. This is precisely the grand ambition of our Great Ancestor. Since the world will only improve under the current system, why seek to change it? Let it be... Ruoyun."
"Present!" Yu Ruoyun responded.
"From now on, you will accompany . Once this matter is settled, find a place to settle down."
"Yes!"
King Jiangshan departed, his manner utterly carefree. Leader Number One and other national leaders, who were watching the events unfold via a live satellite broadcast, also collectively sighed in relief. If King Jiangshan had truly listened to Yu Changdong and the others and attempted to restore the dynasty, they genuinely wouldn’t have known how to respond.
A powerful being, against whom no modern weaponry could prevail, truly possessed the ability to overturn a nation’s governnt.
Now, all was well. King Jiangshan had no interest in ddling with the mundane world, and the Jade Country had gained a formidable protector. Their worries were assuaged, their spirits lifted.
"Mission: Guardian completed. Reward: 3,000,000 experience points, 300,000 skill points..."
After King Jiangshan’s departure, the prompt sounded in Wang Lan’s mind just in ti.
With matters settled, Wang Lan and the Qing Emperor’s group returned to report to Leader Number One. However, the mbers of the Yu Family who remained at the Star Sea seed frozen in place, like statues.
Their ticulous plans had crumbled. They hadn’t anticipated King Jiangshan suddenly abandoning the idea of restoring the throne. This was an outco they had utterly failed to predict. It wasn’t that they had underestimated King Jiangshan’s breadth of mind; rather, he was an ancient from six hundred years prior, an era when the ideology of imperial sovereignty was deeply entrenched.
Even if King Jiangshan was otherworldly, how could his consciousness, shaped by that era, transcend the concept of imperial authority? Coupled with the pleas of us, his descendants, he should have led the imperial scions to restore the Great Jade Dynasty! Yet King Jiangshan rely glanced at Yu Ruoyun’s mories and then simply left?
"Yu Ruoyun... she truly is... unworthy of being our descendant!" After a long silence, Yu Changdong spoke with bitter resentnt.
Grumbling, the royals of the Yu Family got into their cars, preparing to leave. What else could they do? Everyone else was gone. It wasn’t as if the endless yellow sands were a scenic view, or that the terrifying crater before them was a magnificent spectacle, was it?
「Dragon Tiger Mountain, Zhengyi Sect.」
As the cradle of Taoism and the verifiable progenitor of organized Taoism, Dragon Tiger Mountain held a special place. While all Taoist paths might revere Lao Tzu as their founding grandmaster, Taoism in its true sense began with the establishnt of the Zhengyi Sect.
Six hundred years ago, King Jiangshan had ford a close bond with the sect leader of the Zhengyi Sect. Now, six centuries later, everything had changed; the seas had turned into mulberry fields and, while so things remained, the people were all different. The only familiar landmark King Jiangshan could still find was Dragon Tiger Mountain, a place he used to frequent.
Given King Jiangshan’s status and Yu Ruoyun’s influence, Dragon Tiger Mountain naturally welcod him with open arms. Moreover, as a place of Taoist purity and serenity, it was indeed an excellent place to settle down.
"Ancestor, have you now achieved true longevity?" Yu Ruoyun asked curiously, looking at King Jiangshan, who stood in the courtyard gazing up at the sky.
"The very era that forged is also what has now left adrift," King Jiangshan began. "While I was granted the chance to rejuvenate after six hundred years, I also, because of it, lost the opportunity to truly seek immortality and enlightennt. Every drink and every peck is tied to cause and effect.
"Though I feel a sense of reluctance, this turn of fate is actually a blessing for . If it hadn’t been for that Longevity Elixir you ntioned, I would have already perished, my Dao extinguished. To live again is a great fortune in itself. It is rely a pity... I was so close to the path of immortality, yet it was not my destiny."
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