This scoundrel is a bit of a swordsman.

The Second Sage faced the imperial city directly, meeting Emperor Wu's gaze from afar.

The cold snort had already echoed throughout Yong'an City, causing quite a stir. Many were confused, while those who understood stared intently outside the city.

Emperor Wu never expected that it would be his own crown prince who had angered the sage. After the words of the near-sage were slowly transmitted...

Emperor Wu sighed deeply, then gave Murong Fenghua a bitter smile.

"It seems I must make a trip. Let's discuss what you mentioned later."

"Okay, but remember, no one is allowed to touch that boy's life. If anything happens to him in Yong'an, don't blame me for being impolite."

Murong Fenghua replied solemnly, then rose and left for the Cold Palace. These words caused Emperor Wu to frown deeply, a fire of anger burning within him. However, he quickly suppressed this emotion, leaving Murong Fenghua's retreating figure with an unreadable look.

Sensing the Emperor's icy gaze, Murong Fenghua, who had already turned and left, let out a helpless sigh.

Even now, she can't find any information about that boy and herself, yet she has an inexplicable feeling that she has an unbreakable entanglement with him. It's an intuition, and it's solely for this intuition that she has stood against the Martial Emperor.

She's now somewhat outwardly strong but inwardly weak. Over twenty years of neglect and hardship have devastated her already frail body, and it will be a long time before she can return to her peak condition.

She confronted the Martial Emperor only to buy the young man some time. Although she knew he would be safe with the Demon Emperor by his side, she did it anyway. Of course, there was a price to pay, but none of that mattered.

Emperor Wu's figure slowly disappeared, and when he reappeared, he had already arrived at the ten-mile-long pavilion.

"Second Sage, Old Drunkard, welcome to the Great Qian Dynasty!"

A majestic voice descended from the sky. The crown prince, as if granted a pardon, felt his body relax and collapsed to the ground like a deflated balloon.

But Emperor Wu seemed to have only the Quasi-Saint in his eyes, not even glancing at him. With Emperor Wu's appearance, everything else seemed to vanish, leaving only these two figures.

Silence fell, silence was imposed; the world seemed to be stripped of its hearing and sight. Except for Daji, everyone blinked, but in that instant, it felt as if a great deal of time had passed. When they regained their senses, Emperor Wu had vanished.

"Let's call it a day, everyone go home and find your own mothers."

With a wave of his hand, the demigod caused everyone to involuntarily begin to retreat. Seeing this, they all realized that in that brief moment of distraction, the Martial Emperor and the demigod had exchanged their opinions.

"Take care, Your Excellency. We will now withdraw. Once you enter Yong'an, the master will personally receive you."

The mysterious figure from the Prime Minister's residence was the first to bow and retreat, followed by Madam Chen and the guards, all of whom withdrew. In an instant, the bustling ten-mile pavilion fell silent once more.

The man in golden armor silently lifted the prince, then led his entourage away.

In the blink of an eye, the crisis vanished without a trace.

Is this the power of a sage? Did Emperor Wu reach some kind of agreement with him just now?

Xiao Xingchen witnessed all of this. This was the first time he had experienced the true power of this world, which made him realize that he was still not integrated into this world, and that in some ways, his way of thinking was incompatible with this world.

This served as a wake-up call for him. If he continued to think in the same way he had in his previous life, he would make misjudgments in this world, which was a terrible thing.

For example, regarding his judgment of the Confucian Temple and the Second Sage, he realized he was completely wrong. The scholars there seemed to possess something extraordinary; they were not only skilled in literature but also remarkably capable in martial arts.

After everyone had left, the Second Saint reluctantly sat back down, glanced at Xiao Xingchen, and said,

"Since you call me teacher, it's only right that I shield you from today's calamity. But there's one thing: the Martial Emperor wants to see you."

"What? No way, I absolutely refuse to see you, not even if you kill me."

Xiao Xingchen reflexively shook his head, which startled everyone. His reaction was a bit too much, and even Daji cast a questioning glance at him.

"You seem to be very afraid of Emperor Wu. Have you met him?"

The Saint doubted,

"How could that be? The difference between me and Emperor Wu is like that between an ant and a dragon. I'm just an ant, I can't even get close to him, so I won't go. Can you do it for me, teacher?"

Xiao Xingchen also harbored deep resentment. He wanted to avoid the Martial Emperor as much as possible. He was terrified of being stabbed in the sword again by the Martial Emperor; that thing was too terrifying, and even after being reborn, the shadow lingered in his heart.

"A meeting is definitely necessary. You solved the puzzle left by Xiao Jianxian, and the Martial Emperor intends to bestow upon you the title of king." The next sentence from the Sub-Saint brought Xiao Xingchen to tears.

Is he really concerned about being granted the title of king? After going through all this trouble, isn't it all just to avoid being granted the title of "King of the Mountain" again?

For others, being made a king is a lifetime of wealth and honor, but for him, it was a death warrant. He never imagined that, after all the twists and turns, he would be made a king himself.

He was on the verge of collapse, wondering why things that others could only dream of were so easy for him.

"You seem very unhappy. Being made a king is an honor, so why do you look like that?"

Lan Beitang was also completely bewildered. The title of King in the Great Qian Dynasty was something they wouldn't even dare to dream of, but when it happened to Xiao Xingchen, he looked as if his parents had died, his face extremely pale.

"Yes, if it weren't for the fact that Invincible intended to make you a king, I wouldn't have let the crown prince leave so easily. But what's with that expression? Don't you want it?"

The Second Saint was also quite puzzled by this disciple he had taken for granted.

"Teacher, can I not take it? I just want to live a quiet life with my wife; I don't want to be crowned a king."

With a bitter expression, Xiao Xingchen pleaded.

"It's really strange that you don't want what others are desperately trying to get."

Xiao Xingchen really wanted to say, "It's not that I don't want it, it's that I really don't dare to accept it."

"Teacher, please help me!"

The Saint shook his head.

"This matter is still undecided. Conferring a title of king is no small matter, and it will likely face backlash in the Great Qian Dynasty. So you don't need to worry too much. Perhaps your conferment of a title of king will be rejected?"

"Besides this matter, there's another one: what's your relationship with the deposed empress? This is what Emperor Wu specifically asked me, and it's also what I want to know,"

The thought of this young man's connection to Murong Fenghua gave the Saint a headache. That woman had been aiming for the Ninth Heaven for decades; getting involved with her might bring some great calamity in the future.

"It's okay, I already said I was praying on behalf of a friend, why don't you all believe me?"

"But did you know that she's asking Emperor Wu for something for you?"

"I don't know, this is the first time we've met, I swear,"

Xiao Xingchen quickly assured that his relationship with the late Empress would never be exposed, and that there was no way to say such a thing. Could it be that he was reborn?