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"We pay respects to the Emperor!"
Every single one of them that kneeled down called out and greeted the Emperor simultaneously with the utmost reverence and respect used in their tone.
Just what kind of existence is the Emperor?
One had to know that majority of the mere commoners would never be able to set their sights upon the shadow of the Emperor in their whole lifetime, much less the Emperor"s face.
Even for the cultivators themselves, they would only be able to catch a glimpse of the silhouette of the Emperor from afar at best during rare moments, such as new year eves, where the Emperor would have to make an annual grand public speech from the Royal palace"s balcony.
After all, the Emperor was a figure equal to the heaven of the Jiu Empire itself!
Thus, not just anyone could have the chance for a proper audience with such a holy-like existence!
The fact that Duan Li and his party had managed to see the Emperor up-close and personal like this was a very rare thing that could never happen to someone of their low status before.
The Emperor, Jiu Xian Ping, had obvious wrinkles on his face due to his old age, but rather than making it look like he was some fragile elderly man, those wrinkles instead had accentuated his legitimacy as an Emperor with a boundless amount of wisdom over time, experiencing behind him the many intricacies and countless vissicitudes of life both tangible and intangible!
His white hair and long thin beards, possesses a natural radiance of dominance, that when one look at him, would instinctively reverre to give him the utmost amount of respect he deserves!
His pair of sharp brows, shaped like the most powerful sabers in the world, would instantly shroud those who looked at him with the feeling of trepidation and anxiousness in their hearts!
Those pair of piercing eyes of his, appearing both mysterious and enchanting at the same time, were as if able to peer and discern through every lies and truths in the world!
The golden silk robes that was donned onto his majestic figure, embroidered with the depiction of a single, coiling dragon that inter-weaved through the clouds, was a symbolic of his undisputable authority that encompa.s.sed the whole Jiu Empire in its entirety!
And finally, that inviolable aura he exuded, mighty and indefensible, would gave the citizens of the Jiu Empire the feeling of being in a safe haven, secured and shielded from any sorts of danger, while the enemies would soil their pants and cower in fear!
"Liu Sheng Juan, I never thought that you would bring forth to me such a number of people this time around.. this had me truly intrigued with today"s agenda.." said the Emperor as he sat casually on his throne, with one arm supporting his chin from the armrest.
"I was actually planning to just bring along this kid here, but the Princ.i.p.al of the academy here, insisted that I brought all of them along to you." Liu Sheng Juan replied.
Shiingg!
A blade was unsheathed in an instant as a tall man donned in full black armor with golden cloak behind him appeared right in front of Liu Sheng Juan, pointing the tip of the blade towards the latter"s neck!
"To address the Emperor so casually, do you want to die right now?"
This was from the figure beside the Emperor, and from his voice, appeared to be the one that had deployed the immense amount of pressure onto Duan Li and his party previously for making inappropriate movements!
The full black armor he was wearing was similar in design to the golden armor that the t.i.tled-Knights were donning, but other than the different color theme, the armor itself had intricate symmetrical patterns all around it. Furthermore, the cloak that he wore was golden in color instead of red, with the symbol of the Jiu Empire on it.
Because his face was covered with a helmet, like all the other Knights as well, his facial appearance could not be seen at all.
"To point your blade right in front of my neck, not to mention that it would not be able to do a single thing to harm even a hair of mine, had already showcased that you are nothing but a barbaric savage, all brawns and no brains, isn"t that right, oh Supreme Knight, Fei Jin Fang?" Liu Sheng Juan answered with a tone full of sarcasm.
When Duan Li and his party heard this, they were rattled once more!
To think that they could feast their eyes upon the highest ranked Knights, whom sits at the very top of of them all, the Supreme Knight, Fei Jin Fang here, they must have been blessed with great fortune today!
But it was only logical that the Supreme Knight would be here, after all, he was the one and only personal body guard of the Emperor himself!
"Indeed. Let us kill each other and get this over with." Fei Jin Fang replied as he snorted and then tightened his grip on his sword.
"Fine by me." Liu Sheng Juan said with a disdainful sneer.
Right before they were about to unleash their might, a sudden ominous feeling had the both of them retreating backwards instinctively, creating a distance away from each other as their backs were drenched in sweat!
Huuu!
This feeling!
The both of them went silent for a while and then returned back to their previous position without saying anything at all and just dropped the matter entirely.
This situation caused the spectators to become confused, after all, they expected a brawl was about to begin between the two strongest power in the Jiu Empire, and had them excited for a while, only for it to end abruptly.
Fei Jin Fang went back to the Emperor"s side while Liu Sheng Juan to Duan Li"s party beside the Princ.i.p.al.
It was a subtle feeling, but their fingers couldn"t help but to tremble!
Others might not realize, but the Emperor had just riled up his aura for a fraction of a breath. That single small action of his had the both of them feeling gooseb.u.mps, to the extent that they felt they would die had they continued such a farce in front of the Emperor.
Fei Jin Fang was the number one Knight of the Empire as well as the personal bodyguard of the Emperor, while Liu Sheng Juan was an enigmatic figure that controlled the Empire"s economy from behind the scene.
They might be a towering figure, but in front of the Emperor, an existence that was tantamount to the heavens itself, had the other party wished for them to chop off their own head and die, they would not be able to have any other choice than to acede and die a shameful death!
After a while, the Emperor smiled and casted his gaze onto Duan Li, before his expression changed to that of a slight surprise and then chuckled softly.
"I couldn"t see through this kid at all.. Interesting." he remarked inwardly.
"Tell me child, why do you seek to have an audience with me?" he asked Duan Li with a tone used by many amiable elderly people when talking to their grandchild.
Hearing the Emperor spoke to him, Duan Li became nervous for a while, before looking around at the other Knights stationed in the hall.
Noticing this, the Emperor spoke out once more, "Everyone, other than them and my Supreme Knight here, may leave the hall now."
Clang!
The many Knights and hidden figures inside the hall swiftly left without questioning the Emperor"s order even a single bit!
"Is it okay now for you to speak of the matter?" the Emperor said to Duan Li with a smile.
Nodding his head, Duan Li replied, "En! We came here for two purpose. But firstly.. I"m sorry to have to trouble the Princ.i.p.al, but could you please cast an isolation barrier onto my party?"
Hearing this, the Princ.i.p.al brows furrowed and asked, "That"s not an issue.. but may I know why?"
"The first agenda is something that must not be known by many people, except Shen Lu, Princ.i.p.al yourself, I guess Vice-Princ.i.p.al Zhang Shi should be fine, and Liu Sheng Juan." Duan Li replied.
Then he turned towards his party and apologized.
"I"m sorry everyone, but the first agenda is extremely sensitive. There will come a day where I will tell everyone here eventually." he said as they nodded.
"Senior Teacher w.a.n.g Guozhi, Ling Yu and Ran Yang, I need you three to enter the isolation as well." he added with a bow towards the Senior Teachers.
"Silly kid, if you have to do this, then we will just have to trust you! Don"t worry about it!" w.a.n.g Guozhi said as he laughed out loud while Ling Yu and Ran Yang nodded at the side.
Woongg!
Right before the Princ.i.p.al could cast his magic spell, the Emperor flicked his finger and those that needed to be isolated was intantly shrouded with a unique barrier.
"Eh?" Duan Li was surprised.
Meanwhile, the Princ.i.p.al could only find himself to feel horrified and amazed at the same time.
"To be able to cast a high tier spatial magic with just a flick of his finger, how fearsome!"
"I guess.. this should work? Haha!" the Emperor said as he laughed out a bit.
Gulp!
Duan Li nodded as he swallowed his saliva.
To him, that laugh from the Emperor in the last part sounded like, "Hurry it up, I haven"t got all day now!"
Thus, without wasting anymore time, Duan Li waved his hand.
Huala!
More than a hundred Superior quality spirit stones appeared right in front of Duan Li!
BOOM!
This scene had the Princ.i.p.al shocked silly, the Vice-Princ.i.p.al to narrow his eyes, Fei Jin Fang to stagger on the spot, and the Emperor to be in a daze as his posture froze.
Only Shen Lu and Liu Sheng Juan"s face was calm.
"This.. don"t tell me?" the Emperor looked at Liu Sheng Juan as the latter nodded with a smile.
"I see! HAHAHA! The heavens had blessed the Jiu Empire!" for the first time, the Emperor laughed out loud heartily, feeling immensely happy about this fortune that will bless his Empire for a few years to come.
"Who else knew about this?" the Emperor then asked with a serious expression.
"Other than me and this Shen Lu kid here, there was another one, which is my employee at the Jiu Bank company"s branch inside the academy, but I had already wiped off her memory and replaced it with a fake one. She wouldn"t notice a clue." answered Liu Sheng Juan.
"Very good. Now, as for what you intended with all these fortunes child, naturally, I have already understood it. But before I accept your proposal, tell me, how did you managed to ama.s.s such a fortune?" the Emperor asked.
This time, he was observing Duan Li in the entirety of his spectrum with his eyes. Any slight movement or fidgetting of the other party will be caught by him.
And if there was so much as a single lie to be detected coming out from the other party, there will be consequences!
"It"s like this.." Duan Li began to explain.
...