The pressure was so great that even the air felt as heavy as mud.
The further w.a.n.g Chong proceeded, the greater the pressure weighed down on him. In just a few moments, the pressure on w.a.n.g Chong’s shoulders had already multiplied several folds.
“w.a.n.g gongzi, you may alight now. We’ve arrived at Taiji Palace!”
At that moment, the impa.s.sive voice of the head eunuch sounded. Dong! A finger lightly knocked on the compartment of the carriage.
The bright rays of the sun glared at w.a.n.g Chong as the door opened. However, the world outside was extremely quiet, and a formless might seemed to linger in the air.
Grabbing the edges of the doorframe, w.a.n.g Chong walked out from the carriage. Gululu… As soon as w.a.n.g Chong alighted, the head eunuch sent the carriage away.
As w.a.n.g Chong looked ahead, he saw an imposing, golden palace towering right before him, and it seemed to reach up to the clouds.
At its corners stood four powerful gold-armored generals who seemed like deities guarding the ma.s.sive palace in the center.
The four gold-armored generals exuded an intimidating aura that made one feel as though one was standing helplessly amidst a huge storm. A large radiant circle shone beneath their feet, giving on the impression that the palace they were guarding was the ‘Home of the G.o.ds’.
“The Dragon Guards of the Son of Heaven!”
A thought flashed across w.a.n.g Chong’s mind. Even dragons had their own custodians so naturally, the Son of Heaven also had his own guards. These four gold-armored generals were the mysterious Dragon Guards of the Son of Heaven.
It was said that every one of the Guards of the Son of Heaven was a Saint Martial realm expert, and each of them was skilled in a top-notch ultimate art bestowed from the royal family.
They were the most loyal subordinates of the Son of Heaven!
The immense pressure w.a.n.g Chong felt earlier came from these Saint Martial realm ‘Dragon Guards of the Son of Heaven’.
Taking a deep breath, w.a.n.g Chong calmed himself down. Lifting his gaze, he saw a white jade stairway that extended right up to the ma.s.sive gates of the golden palace.
In the distance, w.a.n.g Chong could make out majestic, golden characters on a plaque hung above the entrance of the palace:
“Taiji Palace!”
w.a.n.g Chong muttered.
These words carried immense authority and even when gazed upon from afar, they weighed on one’s heart as though a mountain was pus.h.i.+ng down on it.
The personal quarters of the Son of Heaven, the sacred Taiji Palace!
This was the first time w.a.n.g Chong was seeing the Taiji Palace with his own eyes.
The very core of Great Tang was right in front of his eyes!
At this very moment, the most renowned and powerful man in the Great Tang Empire stood just a short distance away from him!
w.a.n.g Chong couldn’t help but feel agitated.
Unbeknownst from when, meeting the n.o.blest Sage Emperor had become w.a.n.g Chong’s greatest wish. However, this wish of his never came true in his previous life.
But starting afresh, w.a.n.g Chong had finally gained a chance to fulfill his wish.
How could someone living in this world not know of its greatest overlord? Regardless of whether it was prosperity or destruction, he was the lynchpin of the empire.
If w.a.n.g Chong wanted to fulfill his mission and change the destiny of this world, he could not possibly overlook the greatest overlord of Great Tang.
“Reporting, w.a.n.g Chong is entering the palace! ——”
While w.a.n.g Chong was standing there in a slight daze, , a loud, crisp voice suddenly reverberated across the entire area.
“Reporting, w.a.n.g Chong is entering the palace! ——”
“Reporting, w.a.n.g Chong is entering the palace! ——”
“Reporting, w.a.n.g Chong is entering the palace! ——”
…
The voice echoed unceasingly through the surroundings.
w.a.n.g Chong’s heart jolted, and he snapped back to reality. Stepping onto the white jade stairs, he began walking up to the high up Taiji Palace.
With every single step w.a.n.g Chong took forward, the pressure on his shoulders ratcheted up a notch. It felt as though ma.s.sive boulders were tied to his body, making every single movement heavy and exhausting.
The Dragon Guards of the Son of Heaven!
No one could approach the Sage Emperor without pa.s.sing through his guards first.
The white jade stairs were the stairs leading up to the Son of Heaven. If one didn’t possess an exceptional will or incredible cultivation, they were not qualified to meet the Son of Heaven.
Countless people had been stopped before these white jade stairs.
w.a.n.g Chong had missed the opportunity to meet the Son of Heaven in his previous life, and he refused to allow this opportunity slip past him once more.
Dah! Dah! Dah!
In the silent Taiji Palace, w.a.n.g Chong’s loud footsteps seemed to be the only sound left in the world.
Time pa.s.sed slowly.
In w.a.n.g Chong’s perception, the Taiji Palace in front of him felt like a huge storm. The closer he approached the eye of the storm, the greater the pressure on him.
Beads of cold sweat dripped down w.a.n.g Chong’s forehead, but he was completely oblivious to it.
The white jade staircase was several thousands of steps high.
w.a.n.g Chong had never walked up such a long stairway before, and gazing upward, he felt as though it would stretch on endlessly to the end of the world. Sweat trickled down his body profusely, drenching his entire white robe.
The pressure weighing on him continued to escalate, as though someone was piling mountains on his shoulders.
As he moved upward, both his Origin Energy and physical stamina were being drained swiftly. His limbs felt as though they were filled with lead, and his body felt slow and c.u.mbersome. From w.a.n.g Chong’s perspective, this climb seemed to last an eternity.
Weng!
After an unknown period of time, w.a.n.g Chong’s mind suddenly jolted. All of a sudden, the entire world before him changed. An aura carrying the hint of an unparalleled being, majestic, authoritative, austere, and powerful, gushed straight at him, enveloping his entire world.
w.a.n.g Chong heart trembled before it. Taking a closer look, he realized that he had reached the end of the white jade stairs.
And standing right before him was a grand and sacred golden palace.
w.a.n.g Chong felt an inconceivably powerful aura from within the palace. Even though the other party was already trying to restrain his aura, just its lingering force was enough to send him the s.h.i.+vers.
w.a.n.g Chong had gone through innumerable wars in his previous life, and he had encountered innumerable life-and-death situations. His will had already been tempered to become incredibly resilient.
But before this aura, w.a.n.g Chong couldn’t help but feel deep deference. It was like the difference between heaven and earth. All mortal beings couldn’t help but feel inferior and insignificant before this powerful aura.
In an instant, w.a.n.g Chong’s attention drifted away.
Some long forgotten memories seemed to have been dredged up. w.a.n.g Chong suddenly recalled some of the contentions in his previous life:
Who is the number one expert in Great Tang?
Is it the Grand Marshal of the Central Plains? The warrior who shouldered the responsibility of the fate of the world during the catastrophe, leading the remaining troops to stand against the foreign steel cavalries for more than a decade, and eventually slaying Kangya Luoshan in an internecine battle before his death?
Or is it the man who, in the final moments of his life, valiantly slaughtered tens of thousands of foreign invaders, the great ex-war G.o.d, Su Zhengchen?
Or could it be the renowned and powerful experts in the pugilistic world like w.a.n.g Chong’s teacher, the Demonic Emperor Old Man, whom, with their overwhelming might, dominated the lands?
Or perhaps, it was the unkempt but unfathomable enlightened monk who lived in the great snowy mountains in the high plains of Ü-Tsang?
…
In the blink of an eye, innumerable famous figures flashed across w.a.n.g Chong’s head, but eventually, w.a.n.g Chong refuted them one after another. If someone could rise above all of these formidable figures to become the irrefutable number one expert of the world, then w.a.n.g Chong believed that there was only one person capable of doing so:
The unfathomable and unparalleled Sage Emperor of Great Tang!
The words of the elders who helped him to the position of the Grand Marshal of the Central Plains were deeply etched in his head. They once said that if the Sage Emperor of Great Tang was still alive, if the greatest emperor ever known to the Central Plains was still alive…
Then perhaps, the circ.u.mstances might have been completely different!
Because in the long history of Great Tang, there was only one person known to have survived the breakthrough to ‘G.o.d Martial Realm’: The Sage Emperor of Great Tang!
The difference between ‘Saint Martial realm’ and ‘G.o.d Martial realm’ was reminiscent of the difference between heaven and earth, the difference between a mortal and G.o.d. The two couldn’t even be mentioned in the same breath.
Most Saint Martial realm experts didn’t possess the qualifications to try for the G.o.d Martial realm despite trying till their last breath. Even w.a.n.g Chong was unable to reach the boundary between mortal and G.o.d.
There were many contentions regarding the Sage Emperor reaching G.o.d Martial realm back then.
Some claimed that he had failed. However, those elders told w.a.n.g Chong that they had certainly felt the aura of a G.o.d Martial realm expert from the Sage Emperor.
In the end, no one except the Sage Emperor knew whether he had succeeded or failed in his breakthrough. Perhaps, it might even be a half-success half-failure… but n.o.body else would ever know the truth.
“Judging from the time, the Sage Emperor’s breakthrough must be a fairly recent event.”
w.a.n.g Chong thought as he lifted his gaze.
w.a.n.g Chong had once resented the Sage Emperor, but right now, as he walked up to the Taiji Palace, when he was inches away from meeting him, w.a.n.g Chong realized that the only thing left in his heart was respect.
The other party might have erred greatly in his later years, and he might have been the one to send this powerful empire into ruins as well. However, at this very moment, all w.a.n.g Chong could remember was how he ushered in the era of unrivalled prosperity in Great Tang.
The man who most actively turned the wheels of progress in the Central Plains!
The doors of the Taiji Palace opened. w.a.n.g Chong took a deep breath, and withstanding the immense pressure weighing down on him, he stepped into the Taiji Palace.
Boom!
As soon as he stepped past the door, the entire world around him rumbled. It was just a single step, but he seemed to have entered a whole new world.
Instantly, w.a.n.g Chong noticed a powerful aura, an aura that far surpa.s.sed his own from when he was at the peak of his previous life.
An even more unfathomable and unparalleled existence than Su Zhengchen and the Demonic Emperor Old Man.
For an instant, the world fell silent.
All that was left in w.a.n.g Chong’s sight was that towering figure.
“w.a.n.g Chong pays respect to the Sage Emperor!”
At the very end of the Taiji Palace, w.a.n.g Chong knelt down respectfully, and his voice echoed throughout the entire hall.