Chapter 912: The Yellow Robe Added to the Body

Chen Ling looked at Jiang Xiaohua, who was trying to slack off at a critical moment, and was speechless for a moment.

"Really not going?"

"...I won't go." Jiang Xiaohua looked down at his battered body, his eyes full of reluctance, but he seemed too embarrassed to refuse directly. "I want to rest for a while, be alone and quiet."

Seeing this, Chen Ling didn't force him. After all, Jiang Xiaohua had already done too much along the way, and he had no reason to drag him into danger.

"Fine, then you rest here."

Jiang Xiaohua finally revealed a trace of a smile, his whole body relaxing. He picked a nearby dirt pit and lay down, as if intending to bury himself alive again.

Just as Chen Ling was about to leave, Jiang Xiaohua's voice suddenly came from behind:

"Wait a minute."

Chen Ling looked back and saw Jiang Xiaohua, as if remembering something, take off the imperial robe he was wearing and throw it to Chen Ling.

"What are you doing?" Chen Ling asked in confusion.

"It's uncomfortable to wear clothes in the dirt, giving it back to you."

“……”

Jiang Xiaohua thought for a moment and added, "And I feel... you would look more suitable wearing this."

Chen Ling looked at the imperial robe in his hand, then at the enthronement path leading to the firmament. After hesitating for a moment, he sighed, stepped onto the stairs, and draped it over himself casually as he walked.

Whoosh—

A breeze blew from the end of the enthronement path, and the gilded imperial robe was lifted by invisible hands, automatically layering itself over the vermilion theatrical robe. One gold and one red, the hems swayed silently in the wind.

The moment Chen Ling put it on, the imperial aura in the dark became a bit heavier, as if layers of halos were shrouding him...

Chen Ling looked down at his palms, a flash of surprise in his eyes.

First, Jian Changsheng conferred the title with his words, then Jiang Xiaohua added the yellow robe to his body. As Chen Ling walked through the Imperial Dao Ancient Treasury, fate seemed to be pushing him toward becoming an "Emperor." And as Chen Ling, wearing the imperial robe, stepped onto the stairs of the enthronement path, this feeling in the dark became even stronger.

"What is it... that is pushing me?"

Chen Ling pondered for a moment, as if he had guessed something, and looked up at the void above his head.

That was above "Flying Dragon in the Sky," a place higher than where the many emperors' lingering thoughts resided. There was no physical entity there, only a vague and ethereal will... That was the Dao foundation of the Imperial Dao Ancient Treasury itself.

"...Is it you?" Chen Ling muttered to himself.

Why would the Dao foundation of the Imperial Dao Ancient Treasury not help those lingering thoughts of emperors from past dynasties, but instead choose to help him, who had "stolen" the imperial destiny?

Chen Ling pondered for a long time without figuring out the logic, but since things had come to this, the reason was no longer important.

He took a deep breath and stepped onto the enthronement stairs one by one. With every step he took, he could feel a force resonating with his imperial destiny, and the higher he went, the stronger this resonance became!

A faint imperial aura drifted from the stairs, circling around Chen Ling like golden mist, like the rising morning sun;

The actor, draped in an imperial robe, slowly ascended to heaven.

……

"Huh?"

In the middle section of the enthronement path, in the last quasi-emperor team to step onto the road, the few people trailing at the back looked back in confusion.

"Is it my imagination? Why do I feel like the stairs below are shaking?"

"No way, we should be the last batch to climb the stairs, there shouldn't be anyone behind us..."

"Time is running out, Wu Qiong and the others should be almost at the top, let's hurry up and go up!"

"Push a little harder! Walk faster!!"

“……”

Everyone quickened their pace, climbing toward the end of the sky. They didn't know how many steps they had climbed; sweat soaked their bodies, and they were reaching their limits.

As they climbed higher, corpses soaked in pools of blood gradually entered their field of vision.

They could no longer tell which team these people belonged to; it seemed there were people from every team. Some had ferocious expressions, as if they had just experienced a slaughter; some showed despair, as if they had long since given up resistance; some had expressions of shock, as if they had suffered betrayal and attack.

The higher they climbed, the more their hearts sank... They didn't know what had happened above, but there was no doubt that the teams in front had gradually abandoned mercy and self, and they had gone mad with killing.

They carefully bypassed these corpses, their soles already stained with blood, and deep fear lingered in everyone's hearts.

"After we go up... will we be killed like this too?"

"So scary, they've really gone crazy!"

"No... I don't want to go up anymore, I'd rather go down and hide, I don't want to kill anyone."

"Anyway, we are the last ones, there's still a chance to retreat."

"That's true, then..."

Pfft—

Before one of them could finish speaking, his chest was pierced by a sword blade, and blood splattered onto the faces of the remaining few.

Everyone was stunned. They watched helplessly as the man's heart was pierced and he collapsed weakly to the ground... Behind him, the "quasi-emperor" they followed had bloodshot eyes, held the sword hilt, and said fiercely:

"We are already the last ones. At this critical juncture, whoever dares to desert, I will kill them!!"

[Emperor's Admonition: If people's hearts are not united, it will be difficult to accomplish anything. If there is no benefit to seek, use fear to gather people's hearts]

The followers stared blankly at this scene, feeling that this "quasi-emperor" was somewhat unfamiliar, but under the pressure of the imperial might, they dared not disobey and could only step over their companion's corpse and silently climb upward.

Seeing this, the quasi-emperor's expression finally softened. He turned and walked a few steps, but his brows furrowed again...

Thump.

Thump!

A clear vibration came from beneath their feet, as if a giant beast was stepping heavily on the stairs below, walking toward them.

Everyone couldn't help but look back, only to see at the end of the long stairs, a figure with a theatrical robe layered over an imperial robe, like a brilliant sun, approaching them step by step...

"That is..."

"The Actor Emperor?!!"

"Why did he appear again at this time?!"

Exclamations erupted from the crowd, and the followers' faces were incredibly ugly. The terrifying pressure the opponent had brought when they were on the snowfield lingered in their hearts like a nightmare.

Fear made their bodies tremble involuntarily, and a few people couldn't even climb the stairs anymore and collapsed on the ground.

The quasi-emperor, who had finally stabilized the situation, saw this, his eyes widened in anger, and he scolded while holding his long sword:

"What are you afraid of! Now I am also a 'King'! As long as we unite, we won't necessarily be afraid of him!"

Seeing this, the few who had collapsed gritted their teeth and climbed up shakily. Under the quasi-emperor's command, they picked up the weapons in their hands and aimed them at Chen Ling from top to bottom, like a wall.

His voice traveled across the long stairs and fell into Chen Ling's ears. The latter leisurely raised his eyelids and glanced upward...