Empress: Your Majesty, please respect yourself, I don't want to be promoted

In a daze, Lu Chen suddenly felt that he was in an incredibly warm place.

There was no chilling cold of death, no sinister cold of evil.

There was not a trace of malice in it.

It's as if only beauty remains in this world, inexplicably captivating people.

"Hmm."

In a state of extreme comfort, he subconsciously murmured something, and then slowly opened his eyes.

The next second, the scene before my eyes came into view.

"Ok?"

In the hazy state of just waking up, he suddenly let out a soft exclamation.

"here it is"

Before your eyes lies a vast and boundless sea of ​​stars.

In the endless darkness, there were countless points of light.

The lights shimmered and the stars twinkled.

There is no bottom in this small space.

Lu Chen instinctively looked around and found that there was no place to stand, and he could not even feel the presence of matter. However, his body was strangely suspended in mid-air without any magical support.

A moment later, as consciousness gradually returned, memories from before losing consciousness began to flood back into her mind.

He remembered.

At the cost of tens of thousands of soldiers, the Chu King's army set up the Immortal Slaughtering Formation, encompassing the entire city of Luyang. The Cangming Saint King countered with his supreme secret technique, and then the Luyang garrison split into four groups to destroy the center of the formation.

His perception was disrupted by the Holy King of Cangming, and he traveled eastward. While destroying the core of the formation, he was attacked by the enemy, and then...
As the memory became clearer, a thought suddenly flashed through my mind.

"Is this the fairyland?"

His eyes widened suddenly.

"Did I die in battle and receive a system reward to ascend to the celestial king?"

Upon realizing this, his face showed no joy whatsoever; instead, it turned rather ugly.

If my guess is true, judging from the situation, I'm afraid I'll leave the world where Great Xia is as soon as I receive the system reward.

This is not exactly the outcome he wanted.

Although he wanted to ascend to immortality, and this was his initial obsession, and even now he still yearns to become a Celestial King, he did not want to end everything for him in the Great Xia Dynasty in this way.

The Holy King of Cangming traveled westward.
Fu Xuan's divination and prophetic texts.
The results of the celestial divination have never been wrong.
All of this was like thorns, deeply embedded in the deepest part of his heart.

If possible, he would prefer to stay in the Great Xia for a while after ascending to the Celestial King and obtaining his power.

Even if it's just an hour, half an hour, no, even a quarter of an hour, it would be better than leaving Great Xia immediately.

He couldn't help but frown when he thought about these things.

And at this moment——

"You're awake, Huaiyu."

A familiar voice suddenly came from behind.

Upon hearing this voice, Lu Chen's heart skipped a beat, and he turned his head sharply.

The next second, his eyes inexplicably narrowed slightly.

"Your Highness, the Holy King?"

A familiar figure came into view; it was none other than the Cangming Saint King, clad in heavy black armor.

As usual, he wore a metal mask of unknown material on his head, with an incomparably majestic sacred beast pattern on it, which instilled in people an inexplicable sense of awe.

Even Lu Chen, who held a high position, was no exception.

"Well, it's me."

The Holy King Cangming nodded slightly, then smiled gently.

"How do you feel? Do you feel uncomfortable anywhere?"

Upon hearing this, Lu Chen did not respond immediately, but secretly breathed a heavy sigh of relief.

At this time when the court most needs the protection of the Holy King, as long as the Holy King does not encounter any mishaps, with the help of the new policies and the terrifyingly innovative creativity of the Heavenly Crafts Bureau, it will only be a matter of time before the world is unified under the Holy King.

Just like he had said to Fu Xian before.

The Great Xia Dynasty can do without Lu Chen, but it cannot do without the Cangming Saint King. So, exchanging his life for the Cangming Saint King's absolute suppressive power is a huge win.

Although we don't know the current situation, as long as the Holy King Cangming is still alive, that's all that matters.

The rest are not very important.

As for Fu Xian's divination, the reason why both he and the Cangming Saint King survived can only be speculated to be that Fu Xian's divination was wrong, or that he, as a transmigrator, possessed some characteristic that the Heavenly Prophecy Compass could not predict.

Although this possibility is not high, this is the only assumption we can make for now.

Thinking this, Lu Chen took a deep breath, calmed himself down, and then spoke softly.

"I'm fine, thank you for your concern, Your Highness."

As he spoke, he looked around and then asked:

"Your Highness, where is this? How long have I been unconscious? Also, what happened while I was unconscious?"

Although the Cangming Saint King appeared unharmed, it was likely that the Saint King had arrived just in time to save him at the critical moment when he was about to be devoured by the black dragon, and had also dealt with the enemy in the process.

But it's better to ask clearly to avoid any unexpected situations.

The Cangming Saint King shrugged and casually gave an answer similar to Lu Chen's guess. Facing a Saint King whose strength was above the Unity Realm, even if not at the Saint Realm, the being in that black mist would not be a match for him and would be easily annihilated.

Lu Chen didn't even know what the enemy looked like or what his name was before that person was already dead.

He was unconscious for less than 15 minutes before waking up.

As for this place…

The tone of the Cangming Saint King became inexplicably subtle.

He suddenly turned around, gazing at the endless sea of ​​stars, his eyes reflecting the infinitely extending darkness on the horizon.

After a long while, he spoke again.

"The Sacred Realm, the origin of all things, the place where saints transcend, and also the place where the severed saint kings return."

Upon hearing this, Lu Chen subconsciously frowned.

"Where to go?"

"You can understand this as one of the abilities of the relic."

The Holy King of Cangming clearly had no intention of explaining in detail. Instead, he shrugged and resumed his usual casual tone.

"Alright, let's not talk about this anymore. Now that you're alright, let's leave this place."

After a pause, he added, "The Immortal Slaughtering Formation is still in operation. We need to quickly use your military token to lead the soldiers out."

Lu Chen suddenly remembered the 20,000 soldiers who had fallen after their consciousness was stripped away by the enemy's secret techniques.

"By the way, how are the soldiers?"

His attention was indeed diverted, and he asked with a serious expression, "What did the enemy do to them?"

"Do not worry."

The Holy King Cangming smiled and said easily, "They are fine. No matter how powerful the enemy is, even if they are a Guiyi Realm expert, even with the help of the Zhuxian Formation, they cannot kill so many fully armed imperial elites in an instant. They can only make them temporarily unconscious."

"Really? That's good."

Lu Chen's expression relaxed slightly.

At this moment, the Holy King Cangming waved his hand gently, and Lu Chen felt a blur before his eyes. The next second, accompanied by a sudden feeling of weightlessness, the scene before him changed drastically.

What was once a vast and boundless sea of ​​stars has become the heart of a stone forest formation destroyed by the entire army before he fell into a coma.

Every gesture and movement can cause the stars to shift and the heavens and earth to change.

This is clearly one of the manifestations of the power of a sage, the most powerful force in the world.

Lu Chen was not surprised by this.

The power of a sage is so great that it defies reason; there is nothing surprising about it no matter how far it goes.

It was precisely because the Holy King was powerful enough that the Empress was able to turn the tide in a desperate situation and shatter his grand plan for ascension.

Stepping into the real world, the moment his feet touched the ground, Lu Chen activated the military talisman with his soul and handed it over to the Cangming Saint King.

After receiving it, the Holy King of Cangming did not say much. Instead, he gripped it tightly, dispelling the automatic protective spells on the soldiers and eliminating their resistance to magic. At the same time, he summoned the Nine Netherworlds.

Swish!
As a peculiar force surged, the space surrounding the stone forest suddenly distorted violently. Then, before Lu Chen could even fully perceive it, he felt an even more intense sense of weightlessness than before.

The scene before my eyes changed again in the next instant.

The stone forest, which had been completely destroyed, had vanished without a trace, and in its place was an unfamiliar mountainous area.

Puff.
One after another, heavy objects fell to the ground with a series of thuds, but they were just the soft thuds of soldiers falling to the ground.

Lu Chen glanced at them and saw that, just as Cangming Saint King had said, they were simply unconscious and showed no other abnormalities on their faces, so he withdrew his gaze.

Then he looked around and found that he could not feel the intense pressure from the Immortal Slaughtering Formation. He immediately understood.

"Your Highness, have we escaped the great formation?"

"Ah."

The Holy King of Cangming didn't keep them in suspense and gave a direct affirmative response. Then, he calmly said, "It's safe here for the time being. The enemy won't notice this place for a while. Let's settle the soldiers here first."

Before Lu Chen could speak, he continued, "Although Commander Chai and General Cang Yue destroyed the core of the formation, the enemy forces are too strong. Not only were they unable to escape in time, but they were also surrounded by the enemy and are now engaged in a fierce battle. I need to get there as soon as possible to stop the formation from operating from the outside."

"Otherwise, once the core of the formation is automatically repaired and the Immortal Slaughtering Formation starts operating again, they will likely be in grave danger."

Upon hearing this, Lu Chen's eyes flickered slightly.

He pondered for a moment, then nodded slightly.

"In that case, Your Highness, there's no time to lose, you should set off immediately."

He paused for a moment, then continued, “Although Miss Chai and General Cangyue are not as good as Your Highness, they are still pillars of the nation and the backbone of the Great Xia. Your Highness relies on them a lot, and the court is currently in dire need of capable people. Such good generals must not be lost.”

These words were spoken in a very official, bureaucratic tone, but whether there were other implications was something else entirely, only he himself knew.

Moreover, what he said wasn't entirely wrong; being inferior to a sage king doesn't mean he's unimportant to the court.

A Returning One Realm expert is a top-tier combat force no matter where they are. The imperial court currently only has a handful of Returning One Realm experts, and each one is extremely crucial, especially given that most of the Eight Pillars of State are now rebelling against the country.

If Chai Hongyu were to die in battle, it would be an enormous loss for the imperial court.

The Holy King Cangming nodded, but did not move immediately. Instead, he suddenly turned around, gave Lu Chen a deep look, and then remained silent for a moment before speaking again.

"Then... Huaiyu."

His tone was somewhat heavy for some reason.

"From now on, this place is in your hands."

The moment he finished speaking, his body suddenly emitted a blinding light.

Swish swish!
With a sharp, piercing sound, his body almost instantly transformed into countless particles of light, hurtling towards Lu Yang at incredible speed. (End of Chapter)