Checking In for Sixty Years, From Puppet Emperor to Heavenly Emperor – Chapter 44

Ch 44: Execution

The Imperial Edict was issued, and the Imperial Notice was posted in Qian Capital, announcing that the individuals who attacked the Imperial Palace would be publicly executed in two days. Furthermore, their respective sects were labeled as heretical, having committed treason, and the Brocade Guard and local garrisons were ordered to jointly annihilate the heretical rebels.

This news shocked the world. The people of Qian Capital were merely curious, treating it as gossip after dinner.

Within the Demon Suppression Agency, Commander Zhu Zihai, upon hearing the news, revealed a shocked expression. He never expected the Emperor to make such an unwise decision, which was tantamount to declaring war on the Righteous Path within the Qianyuan Empire.

He suddenly laughed and said, “This must be an order issued by the Qianyuan Emperor; otherwise, Shangguan Rong, that woman, would never have such courage. It seems the Qianyuan Emperor is well-prepared. I’m eager to see how this Founding Emperor, who has stepped into the Innate Realm, will contend with the Qianyuan Righteous Path.”

“Commander, what should we do?” the Commander beside him asked.

“Do nothing. Everything remains as usual. Whatever orders come from the Emperor, regardless of what they are, we will comply with them all.”

Zhu Zihai chuckled and walked to the window, looking towards the Imperial Palace, saying, “I’m curious to see how the Qianyuan Empire, now facing both internal and external troubles, will overcome this great calamity.”

The Righteous Path within Qian Capital felt as though struck by a bolt from the blue upon receiving the news. In the eyes of ordinary people, cultivators were akin to deities. Regardless of the dynasty, emperors treated cultivators with utmost respect, not daring to even scold them, let alone punish them. Who could have imagined that they would now dare to publicly execute them, and over five hundred at that?

The cultivators of the Righteous Path currently residing in Qian Capital were in an uproar, with many clamoring to rescue them and teach the Emperor a lesson.

However, Hua Wuyue’s Ten Thousand Flowers Mystic Light Immortal Sword and Dancing Flowers Grand Formation caused everyone concern. The combination of this Immortal Sword and formation was simply too heaven-defying. Over five hundred cultivators, many of whom were at the Innate Third Level, and even two Sect Leaders at the Innate Fourth Level, were easily captured by Hua Wuyue, demonstrating the power of this formation and Immortal Sword.

These cultivators of the Righteous Path became daring in their anger and curses but dared not go to the Imperial Palace again.

In East King Village, in the eastern suburbs of Qian Capital, Great Mystery Elder of the Righteous Oneness Sect and Xing Chenzi of the Jian Sect were seated in the main hall. Beside them were the older generation disciples from various sects, all at the Innate Fourth to Sixth Levels, representing the leading figures of the contemporary cultivation world.

After learning the contents of the Imperial Notice, they all came to find Great Mystery Elder and Xing Chenzi. These individuals were much calmer. Upon hearing this news, they frowned and remained silent.

It was the Drunken Taoist who spoke first, saying, “Those people are truly reckless. Cultivators actually stormed the Imperial Palace to question and condemn, unaware that intruding and attacking the court officials is a crime punishable by extermination.”

Senior Brother, I believe we should not interfere in this matter any further; otherwise, regardless of the outcome, it will only add insult to injury for the Righteous Path.”

“Fellow Taoist Drunken, you are mistaken. The current Emperor is not only licentious and incompetent but has also taken Hua Wuyue as an Imperial Concubine. The union of humans and demons is a violation of Heavenly Order. If the Emperor is unaware, does Hua Wuyue not know?” An elder beside him rebuked.

Great Mystery Perfected Person sighed and said, “In the past, Hundred Flowers Grandmother, our Sect Leader Great Oneness Perfected Person, Tian Chanzi, Sect Leader of the Heavenly Path Sect, and Floating Wanderer of the Ten Thousand Methods Sect all deduced the fate of Hundred Flowers Valley and received the same Heavenly Secret: Hua Wuyue and the current Emperor have a predestined marriage.

Hua Wuyue becoming an Imperial Concubine is destined by Heaven, and we cultivators should not defy the will of Heaven.”

Those present were astonished upon hearing this. Taoist Wuxiang frowned and said, “The love between humans and demons is inherently against Heavenly Order. It’s not that I doubt the four seniors, but this is truly inconceivable.”

Xing Chenzi of the Jian Sect said, “From ancient times until now, it has never been truly confirmed that the love between humans and demons is against Heavenly Order. It was only because, ten thousand years ago, cultivators and demons considered combining the talents of humans and demons to produce offspring more suitable for cultivation.

Later, almost all offspring were unable to withstand the powerful bloodline of the demons and died in the womb. The few who survived, without exception, fell into madness because they could not control their power and were called Demon Children.

Books record that during that time, the Demon Children grew up with immense power and were tyrannical by nature, causing countless deaths among both demons and humans. This is the origin of the Sky Demons of the demon race.

These surviving Sky Demons slaughtered each other, and the one who ultimately survived called himself the Sky Demon King, who once ruled the entire world. Later, it was the combined efforts of human and demon Great Powers, gathering a large number of Immortal Treasures, that sealed the Sky Demon King.

Only then would the love between humans and demons be forbidden, for fear of the Sky Demon King reappearing. This is a rule set by both the human and demon races, and it cannot be considered a Heavenly Rule.”

“Even so, as long as a Sky Demon is born, it is destined to bring disaster to the world and must be prevented. This is also the duty of us cultivators,” another cultivator said.

“The will of Heaven is unpredictable, and we only glimpse the surface. Now, the Demonic Path is stirring. If we truly fight with the Empire, regardless of the outcome, killing the True Dragon Son of Heaven will result in inescapable karma. I fear that in the next Heavenly Tribulation, none of you will escape karmic retribution.

At that time, the Righteous Path will be powerless to contend with the Demonic Path, and even if demons and monsters reign supreme, the world will surely descend into chaos,” Great Mystery said.

“Are we just going to watch them be beheaded? If this matter spreads throughout the world, then we cultivators of the Righteous Path will truly be regarded as heretics. Won’t this ruin our Dao lineage!”

“Those people cannot represent the Qianyuan Daoist Sect. Moreover, the Qianyuan Emperor’s strength is unknown. He has been hiding for three hundred years. We don’t know how many trump cards he has. Coupled with Hua Wuyue, who has obtained the Ten Thousand Flowers Mystic Light Sword and Dancing Flowers Grand Formation, if we fight them, we won’t be able to take them down immediately. If the demons take the opportunity to attack from behind, it will only ruin the overall situation,” said the Drunken Taoist.

This statement plunged the place into silence again. They all saw that the Qianyuan Emperor was seizing this special period to execute those sects.

“Regardless, I will not sit idly by and watch the lives of five hundred cultivators. You can all do as you see fit,” an Old Taoist stood up and left.

Soon, several others stood up and left. Great Mystery and Xing Chenzi sighed, both revealing worried expressions.

Originally, they had a great chance of dealing with the demons with the people they had gathered, but now, with this development, the variables had increased, exceeding their deductions.

Cultivators spend most of their time in secluded cultivation, so it is very difficult to gather them. This is also why it takes so long to assemble the personnel.

The same is true on the Demonic Path side. Although demons are bloodthirsty by nature, they are not fools. Both sides are testing each other’s strength and trying to increase their own combat power as much as possible.

Two days later, Zhou An finally completed the check-in of the entire Qian Capital. The small maps he obtained only yielded valuable items, but after the entire Qian Capital was completely lit up.

The Qian Capital within Zhou An’s Map of Mountains and Rivers emitted a colorful light, transforming into a holographic map, suspended above the Map of Mountains and Rivers.

Furthermore, the system prompted that he had obtained the Imperial Book. After Zhou An used it, the time required for this automatic evolution in his mind was much longer than before, taking a full half an hour for him to comprehend it.

It allowed him to truly understand the True Dragon Energy and the True Dragon Son of Heaven. This Imperial Book was the method to control the True Dragon Energy and the Heaven-bestowed Imperial Mandate. It can be said that this was one of the Heavenly Path’s Imperial Path Heavenly Arts.

After consuming the elixirs refined from Zhu Fruit, Imperial Concubines Ziyan, Ziqiong, and Zixuan had reached the Houtian Tenth Level. From the captured cultivators, they interrogated and obtained many cultivation methods. They each chose a suitable one and began secluded cultivation to break through to the Innate Realm.

Near noon on that day, over five hundred cultivators were brought to the execution ground by the Imperial Guard, who were responsible for maintaining order at the execution ground. The outer perimeter was guarded by the City Guard, all replaced with archers, totaling as many as five thousand people.

Right Prime Minister Shangguan Yu personally oversaw the execution. At this moment, more and more people were watching. The area around the execution ground was soon crowded, and many people were standing on the surrounding rooftops.

Fortunately, the army was present, and the order on the scene was still very good. No one dared to act rashly. After all, the Imperial Family dared to execute even these Immortals, let alone ordinary people.

After these five hundred-plus cultivators were brought up, a full 513 executioners stood beside them, which was quite a spectacle.

It was unknown what the Purple Guard had done to these people, but each of them had a deathly pale complexion, completely without any resistance, quietly kneeling on the ground with their heads lowered, waiting to be executed. This also made the people watching below feel incredible.

Shangguan Yu sat in the position of the execution supervisor. Although he looked calm and composed, he was actually very nervous, even anxious.

He kept looking at the time. The several officials beside him were the same, already in early winter, yet they were sweating while sitting there.

Everyone knew that this time would definitely not be peaceful, and the enemies who came were still completely unable to resist them. Although they knew that Hundred Flowers Goddess was now in the Imperial Palace, who could guarantee that the aftermath of the battle would not destroy them all?

Most of these officials were not even Houtian Martial Artists, so they would be injured if touched and die if hit, so naturally they were afraid.

As everyone waited nervously, the time arrived. Shangguan Yu stood up and nervously scanned the surroundings. When he didn’t see any enemies coming, he shouted, “Execute.”

The executioners all raised their blades. At this moment, countless flying swords flew out of the surrounding buildings. With a flash of sword light, all the executioners’ butcher knives were cut off, leaving only the handles.

All the executioners panicked and dropped the handles, rushing off the execution platform as quickly as possible. They had long been mentally prepared that if they encountered an Immortal attack, regardless of the situation, they would slip away at the first opportunity.

Shangguan Yu broke out in a cold sweat, and the officials beside him were all frightened. Flying swords killing people was a matter of moments. Even if they were surrounded by the Imperial Guard, it would be useless.

Fortunately, Shangguan Yu was, after all, the Right Prime Minister, and he still had some courage. He took a deep breath and roared, “Cultivators, with a vision higher than ordinary people, should be even more self-disciplined. Yet, you openly defy the laws of the country, violating Heavenly Order. Quickly retreat, lest you be tainted by karma and incur Heavenly Punishment from the Heavenly Path.”

These words were found by Shangguan Yu after consulting a large number of documents. Saying these words was to make the cultivators have some scruples and also to let the Emperor know that he was working very hard.

“Hmph, mere mortals dare to speak of the Heavenly Path. The Emperor is fatuous and incompetent, licentious and incompetent, disregarding the overall situation, and killing righteous people. Know that without us cultivators fighting against the Demonic Path and the Heretical Path, where would your peaceful and prosperous world come from?” At this time, seven cultivators soared into the air, surrounded by hundreds of disciples from various sects, even disciples from some of the major sects.