Chapter Sixty-Four: The Demise of the Sovereign

The moment his voice fell, the imagined divine punishment did not descend. Xu Tianran's tense body and spirit instantly relaxed, and a relieved smile appeared on his face.

He knew he had won this gamble.

Regarding his answer, Du Ya made no expression, merely nodding slightly and saying indifferently, "In that case, Your Royal Highness the Crown Prince, you may leave."

"Right now, you should have very important matters to attend to."

Xu Tianran understood the deep meaning behind these words and knew what he should do at this moment.

In his heart, he felt not a trace of guilt.

The temptation of becoming a god and the opportunity to make the empire great once more lay right before him; the sacrifice of a few things was merely a slight frost.

Presumably, someone would understand him.

His gaze flickered toward Mirror Reddust and the others. Their expressions remained unchanged, as if they had not noticed the underlying meaning at all.

The mechanical ascension project was not only full of temptation for Xu Tianran, but for them as well.

As Soul Engineers, if they could personally participate in the experiment of the artificial mechanical deity, even if the ultimate result was death, they would die with a smile.

At this moment, they had become Xu Tianran's most steadfast supporters!

Watching them leave the laboratory, Du Ya turned back to look at Chun, who was smiling, and asked, "Is it funny?"

"Isn't it funny?" Chun tilted her head and asked.

"Indeed, it is very funny."

Although he said this, there was not the slightest smile on his face; instead, he spoke with utter seriousness.

"Human nature is greed, and this is also the driving force that allows them to move forward. Greed leads them to progress, and following closely behind greed are endless calamities. History has proven this point."

"You may not understand, or perhaps you do, but the fact is just like this. Not only humans, but the vast majority of life on this land is this way."

Chun's smile was fading. She stared expressionlessly at the increasingly fervent Du Ya, and the next moment, she turned around and walked away.

Leaving this cold, secluded laboratory to Du Ya alone.

...

The midday sunlight was exceptionally dazzling and scorching. The frail girl's face flushed red with heat. She retreated into a corner, pulling at her collar to release a bit of heat, but the effect was minimal.

Indignant, she reached out her palm and grabbed toward the sun, as if trying to capture it in her hand. Unfortunately, the girl's hands were too tender and slender, and wisps of lingering light still slipped through her fingers.

Juzi, who had just finished class and planned to go shopping with friends, said angrily, "Why is the weather in Mingdu getting hotter year by year!"

"If it keeps baking like this, Juzi is going to turn into a dried orange!"

Faced with her indignant outburst, several friends, though also hot, teased, "Since you're so afraid of the heat, Juzi, why don't you find a boyfriend with an ice-attribute martial soul?"

Someone nearby chimed in, "Yeah, yeah! Juzi, you're not small anymore. Are you eighteen this year? It's time to find a boyfriend."

"You... you guys!"

Teased repeatedly, Juzi's face, already flushed from the heat, turned an even deeper red. Embarrassed and angry, she let out a few yelps and lunged at those girls.

They laughed and dodged out of the way, the two sides chasing and fleeing, frolicking on the busy street and drawing the gazes of many.

At that moment, the street broadcast suddenly blared.

"Beep—beep—"

Juzi frowned imperceptibly, stopped moving, and instead looked toward the loudspeaker, raising her ears to listen.

After a burst of static, a voice came through the broadcast.

"Sun and Moon subjects of Mingdu, we hereby report a sorrowful piece of news. Last night, our respected Emperor passed away within the palace. Based on his dying decree, the new emperor will ascend the throne in three days."

With that, the sound in the broadcast ceased, but gasps erupted everywhere across Mingdu.

"What? His Majesty has passed away!"

"How is that possible? What are those imperial physicians doing? Didn't they say His Majesty still had at least a decade or two of life span?!"

"With the situation on the continent so severe now, His Majesty passing away so suddenly—will other factions suddenly strike? Will those barbarians in the west suddenly launch a war?"

Various discussions reached Juzi's ears. Her mind buzzed incessantly; she never expected the old emperor to pass away so suddenly.

Yet, thinking of something shortly after, her eyes widened abruptly.

The new emperor ascends the throne in three days? How could it be so fast!

One must know this was not a time of war. Even with the tense situation, a change of emperor could not happen so quickly. According to protocol, the designated heir to the throne would observe at least eighty-one days of mourning, during which time the ministers of the imperial court would manage affairs.

Only after the old emperor was buried would an auspicious day be chosen for the enthronement ceremony.

Yet the broadcast stated the new emperor would ascend the throne in three days. In a mere three days, they wouldn't even be able to set up the venue for the enthronement ceremony, let alone have a new emperor ascend the throne!

There is a problem! The old emperor's death definitely had problems!

Realizing this, Juzi broke out in goosebumps, her heart beating violently as she mustered all her strength and ran toward the Crown Prince's Mansion.

She gave no response to her friends calling out to her.

When she arrived at the Crown Prince's Mansion to request an audience with Xu Tianran, she was told that he had received news in the middle of the night and gone to the imperial palace, and had yet to return.

Hearing this, Juzi's heart skipped a beat, and several pieces of information filtered through her mind.

The old emperor passed away last night, and Xu Tianran went to the palace in the middle of last night...

Could it be!

Juzi's pupils constricted as she thought of that possibility.

Yet this ought not to be! He shouldn't be the kind of impatient person to do such a thing!

An ominous premonition arose in her heart, and she felt that certain events were beginning to exceed her expectations.

Gritting her teeth, she decided to wait inside the Crown Prince's Mansion for Xu Tianran's return to figure out the sequence of events.

Meanwhile, inside the imperial palace, there were plenty of people who shared the same thoughts as Juzi.

The various dukes and ministers, who had rushed into the imperial palace in a panic upon receiving the news, stared at the huge coffin in the main hall, the elderly man resting peacefully beneath the white cloth inside it, and Xu Tianran weeping bitterly before the coffin. Their scalps tinged with numbness.

According to their calculations, although the old emperor's health had always been poor, he shouldn't have passed away so quickly. Clearly, there was something wrong with this.

Generally speaking, calculated by who benefited the most from a death, all suspicions fell upon Xu Tianran.

He was the Crown Prince, the designated heir to the empire, the one destined to be worshipped by millions—he was the ultimate beneficiary.

Coupled with the recent palace bloodshed, anyone with discerning eyes could tell who was responsible; thus, another similar incident orchestrated by him now seemingly mattered little.

Seeming to sense their arrival, Xu Tianran turned around, wiped away his tears, and revealed a pair of bloodshot eyes.

He said sorrowfully, "You lords have finally arrived. Father Emperor passed away suddenly last night. I was the first to receive the news and rush here, and also the first to receive his dying decree."

He produced the old emperor's final decree, which the eunuch beside him carefully took and handed over for the ministers to examine.

The decree was passed back and forth through the hands of the ministers. Everyone widened their eyes and inspected it meticulously, terrified of missing a single word.

After a long while, they looked at each other in dismay, all seeing complex emotions in the eyes of their peers.

Inside the grand hall, apart from Xu Tianran's sobs, there was dead silence. Countless thoughts flashed through their minds before all the ministers simultaneously dropped to their knees, shouting loudly, "We pay homage to Your Majesty! Long live Your Majesty, long live, long, long live!"

Before the coffin, Xu Tianran had stopped crying at some point, standing there with a calm expression, facing the kowtows of the ministers directly.