Chapter 916: Palace Examination

"Bai Qi?"

Sun Bumian looked at Bai Ye in surprise. "You also know that the one inside him is..."

Sun Bumian was very surprised. When he had probed Jian Changsheng's fortune before, he had vaguely guessed the source of the murderous aura in his body. He had thought this was Jian Changsheng's secret, so he had always pretended not to know, but he didn't expect Bai Ye to know about Bai Qi's existence.

Bai Ye looked at him, his expression somewhat strange:

"In the Twilight Society, except for Little Jian himself, almost everyone knows..."

Sun Bumian: ...

A secret known to everyone except himself, right?

As expected of you, [Spade 6].

"This is trouble," Bai Ye said in a deep voice. "No wonder he had to capture Little Jian to the monument in advance... It seems these emperors' lingering thoughts were long prepared to subdue Bai Qi.

The current puppet emperor, no matter how strong, is just a lone person. It's fine in the Imperial Dao Ancient Treasury, but if she leaves here, she will only have the third rank left. Those emperors' lingering thoughts have no patience to subdue subjects one by one, and just at this time, Bai Qi appeared...

Once they can take this God of Killing under their command, their own rank will be enough to rival a demigod. In the Imperial Dao Ancient Treasury, they can even exert several times the power of a demigod... Coupled with a submissive God of Killing Bai Qi, Lord Xuanyu would not be a match at all, and even two Lords might only be able to barely contend."

"Would the God of Killing Bai Qi submit to a puppet emperor?" Sun Bumian didn't seem worried. "When Bai Qi became famous, the [Emperor] hadn't even appeared in the world."

"If it were Bai Qi in his prime, naturally it would be impossible, but the one in Little Jian's body is after all..." Bai Ye hesitated for a moment, then spoke again, "Moreover, this is the home field of the [Emperor], and the intensity of the Palace Examination is doubled. It just depends on whether Little Jian himself can hold on."

……

Mighty, irresistible imperial might drilled madly into Jian Changsheng's mind!

Jian Changsheng held his head in pain, feeling as if his whole head was about to split open. The world drifted away from his senses, and a magnificent throne rose from the void before his eyes!

"The Emperor knows that you have requests..." A voice like a divine decree rang out like a bell from above Jian Changsheng's head.

"Submit to the Emperor..."

"The Emperor will grant you everything you want."

The next moment, Jian Changsheng's past and future flew past his eyes like a movie.

He saw himself born in an abandoned grass hut, saw his mother die of illness; he saw himself living under the eaves of the Yan family, living by looking at people's faces with his father; he saw himself unlucky and dying again and again, yet surviving and living on...

The past years reappeared before Jian Changsheng's eyes and also swept across those indifferent eyes full of imperial might, as if they had already seen through the regrets in Jian Changsheng's heart.

A moment later, Emperor Wu's voice came leisurely from above:

"The Emperor already knows what your heart seeks."

Emperor Wu waved her sleeve, and the surrounding scene changed rapidly, evolving from the reproduction of Jian Changsheng's miserable past into a future with rolling mist.

"Although your mother passed away many years ago, there is a Ghost Gate deep in the Ghost Dao Ancient Treasury, and behind the Ghost Gate is an ancient well that can summon the souls of blood relatives... If you submit, the Emperor will take you to step into the Ghost Gate one day and let you see your mother again."

As Emperor Wu's voice fell, the surrounding mist rolled and instantly transformed into the appearance of the ancient well behind the Ghost Gate...

In that future, Jian Changsheng saw himself stepping into the Ghost Gate under the leadership of Emperor Wu and dripping blood into the ancient well... After a while, he saw himself meeting and crying with the soul of a strange woman.

Deep in Jian Changsheng's heart, he moved slightly.

"Your early experiences were miserable, and you suffered torture... The past cannot be changed, but if you submit, the Emperor will confer you as the 'Marquis of Martial Arts of the Heavenly Frontier.' From now on, when the Emperor conquers the world, you will be below one person and above ten thousand, and no one will dare to disobey you again."

As Emperor Wu's voice sounded, the scene around Jian Changsheng changed again.

He saw the world change hands, Emperor Wu in an imperial robe, reigning over the world. At this time, there were no longer nine major domains of humanity on Earth, only a magnificent and huge super-empire standing on the wasteland.

And he himself was wearing golden battle armor, walking on the frontier of the Gray Realm. Wherever he passed, the people and soldiers knelt down like a tide, their shouts of "Long live" resounding through the sky.

"The Emperor is the Son of Heaven. If you follow the Emperor, the Emperor will naturally resolve the blood evil in your destiny for you, and you will have a smooth career and get everything you want."

After saying this, the palm Emperor Wu pressed on Jian Changsheng's head exerted a slight force, and a strange aura drifted from her body, as if it could easily stir people's hearts.

"Jian Changsheng..."

"Now, are you willing to follow the Emperor?"

Jian Changsheng's heart and mind were shaken by this voice. Emperor Wu's three promises just now began to take root and sprout in his heart, gradually occupying all his thoughts...

His regrets and desires were madly magnified, the people he had walked with along the way gradually faded, and instead, a figure wearing an imperial robe increased in weight in his heart, as if it were about to become the only thing in his life.

As Emperor Wu's hand pressed down gradually, Jian Changsheng's head lowered more and more, as if he were about to kneel completely on the ground...

Just then,

Jian Changsheng's body suddenly became like steel, unable to go down any further.

Feeling the resistance coming from the palm, Emperor Wu's brows furrowed slightly...

"...Just by these, you want me to kneel and pledge loyalty to you?" Jian Changsheng's voice rang out. His body was like carrying the pressure of a mountain, and under Emperor Wu's palm, he used all his strength to tremble and lift his head bit by bit!

His eyes were full of bloodshot veins.

In an instant, the surrounding mist surged silently once more. The past and future that the Martial Emperor had originally displayed were torn apart as if by invisible hands, and images from the depths of Jian Changsheng’s heart were projected into the void!

"Spade, do you want that Heaven-Reaching Star Position, or not?"

A figure draped in theatrical robes stood within his memories, frowning as they spoke to him.

“……”

"Put it on. We’ve changed your fate for you."

“……”

"Spade 6 doesn't need to bow to anyone."

“……”

"This time, thank you."

“……”

Under the weight of those voices etched deep into his soul, Jian Changsheng’s body seemed to draw upon a certain power. Pushing hard against the Martial Emperor’s palm, he slowly stood up...

At the same time, his peripheral vision swept across his surroundings. In his most profound memories, almost every scene featured that vibrant, annoying bright red theatrical robe... from the Ancient Treasury of the Military Path to Aurora City, to the Red Dust Realm, to the Heavenly Pivot Realm... and of course, there were a few appearances of a Tang suit, which had only surfaced recently.

"Sorry... that unlucky, near-death fate you spoke of? Someone has already changed it for me."

"And as for having a miserable early life, suffering all kinds of humiliation... there was an annoying Awakening Lion who stood up for me, so I haven't taken any of that to heart..."

"As for that ancient well behind the Ghost Gate..."

"In the future, Heart will take me there."