Three days later, Imperial Palace
Xu Jing lay on the bed, two attendants guarding his side.
The two looked at the still-unconscious Xu Jing and couldn't help but let out a sigh.
One of them subconsciously reached out and touched the pentagram mark on his forehead, his face pale, filled with despair.
This pentagram was no good thing; it was the master-servant contract planted by Wang Chen. The master-servant contract was the most tyrannical type of soul contract.
With just a single thought from Wang Chen, their master, he could make them unable to control themselves, completely at his mercy, obeying his every command.
From this moment on, although their hearts still belonged to Xu Jing, their bodies were loyal only to Wang Chen.
Not just them—every ninth-rank soul mentor who had been unwilling to submit, including Xu Jing himself, had been branded with the same master-servant contract. From then on, they had become nothing more than Wang Chen's tools, their lives and deaths no longer their own.
Just as the two attendants were sighing and drowning in despair,
the eyelids of Xu Jing, who lay on the bed, trembled slightly.
The two attendants noticed it immediately and revealed expressions of joy.
"Your Majesty is waking up!"
"Shh, keep your voice down, don't startle His Majesty."
A moment later, Xu Jing slowly opened his eyes. Looking at the familiar dome of the palace, his expression was somewhat dazed.
Then, with a hoarse voice and a hint of confusion, Xu Jing said, "So it was just a dream.
Of course, only in a dream could someone single-handedly suppress all the top experts of the Sun Moon Empire, as well as the combined forces of the five Guardian Hands soul mentor legions and the Mingdu defence system.
It seems we are truly getting too old to have such an unrealistic dream. How could such a person exist on the continent? If someone like that really existed, they wouldn't be human."
The reason Xu Jing treated what happened three days ago as a dream was simply because he was still alive.
In Xu Jing's view, if it hadn't been a dream, he would already have been killed by that treasonous thief Wang Chen. How could he possibly still be lying safely on his bed?
"Your Majesty…" Hearing the words from Xu Jing's mouth, the two attendants hesitated to speak, sorrow welling up within them. They wanted to say something, but couldn't bear to.
Xu Jing's voice was weak yet carried the majesty of an emperor. "Help Us up."
The two attendants hurriedly stepped forward to support him and helped Xu Jing sit up.
Seeing the hesitant looks on their faces, Xu Jing asked, "How long have we been asleep? While we were unconscious, has anything major happened in the Sun Moon Empire?"
The two attendants hemmed and hawed, truly unsure how to begin.
To tell the truth would risk shocking His Majesty; to stay silent would probably displease him. They were truly caught between a rock and a hard place.
Seeing them stammer and remain silent, Xu Jing frowned. "You two have been with Us for so long—what is there that cannot be said?"
These words were not empty. The two attendants had been personally raised by Xu Jing. Even when he was still a young prince, they had never left his side.
Their relationship was closer than that with his own sons, daughters, or consorts. His trust in them far exceeded that in anyone else.
The two attendants looked at Xu Jing, tears streaming down their faces.
"Your Majesty!" One of them suddenly knelt, pressing his forehead firmly to the ground, his voice trembling.
"It wasn't a dream. Everything was real. Three days ago, that treasonous thief Wang Chen rebelled. With his strength alone, he suppressed all the top experts of the Sun Moon Empire.
Now, he has obtained the submission of the vast majority of the empire's high-ranking officials and controls the entire Sun Moon Empire."
Hearing the attendant's words, Xu Jing felt as though he had been struck by lightning. His ears rang, his pupils contracted sharply, and his withered fingers clenched the silk quilt with a death grip.
'It was real… everything was real, not a dream! That thief Wang Chen actually dared to rebel against Us!!'
'We treated him well—how dare he rebel against Us!!'
Seeing Xu Jing's furious expression, the two attendants immediately tried to comfort him. "Your Majesty, please take care of your dragon body. Do not let that treasonous thief Wang Chen make you angry."
"Your Majesty, one day the Sun Moon Empire will surely return to the hands of the imperial family. This is only temporary."
"…"
At this moment, the two attendants were terrified that Xu Jing might do something rash and faint again from rage.
Xu Jing looked at the concerned expressions on their faces, waved his hand, and his complexion returned to calm.
As an emperor, Xu Jing possessed an extremely tenacious will. Fainting earlier had only happened because he personally witnessed ministers who had once been loyal to him immediately turn and grovel before Wang Chen—the shock had been too great.
Now, without witnessing it firsthand, the impact was not enough to make him faint again.
Xu Jing suddenly threw off the silk quilt and stepped barefoot onto the cold floor tiles.
Hunched over, he walked to the window. Outside, the setting sun dyed the entire Mingdu blood-red.
"Tell us everything in detail," Xu Jing's voice was unnaturally calm, as if he were merely discussing tonight's dinner. "Start from the moment we fainted."
The attendant swallowed hard. "After Your Majesty fell unconscious, under the overwhelming power of that treasonous thief Wang Chen, the majority of the empire's high-ranking experts submitted to him.
Anyone who did not submit immediately had a pentagram mark branded on them by Wang Chen, falling completely under his control, their lives and deaths no longer their own."
As he spoke, the attendant pointed to the pentagram mark on his own forehead.
"Afterwards, Wang Chen seized the controller for Your Majesty's high-energy compression array soul tools and took complete control of Mingdu's entire defence system.
He then installed a member of the imperial clan on the throne as the new emperor.
He appointed Jing Hongchen, the Master of the Illustrious Virtue Hall, and several other ninth-rank soul mentors as regents to govern all aspects of the Sun Moon Empire.
Then, Wang Chen issued orders to gather provisions, mobilise the army… preparing to attack the three countries of the Douluo Continent in one month and unify the world."
After hearing everything, Xu Jing's face darkened like still water. He quickly walked to the mirror.
When he saw the pentagram mark glowing on his own forehead in the reflection, his expression changed drastically.
He immediately tried to use his spiritual power to remove it, but it was useless. The pentagram shone brightly, as if silently mocking him.
Xu Jing's face turned ashen, despair enveloping his heart.
At this moment, he completely abandoned any thought of contending with Wang Chen for power. Even putting aside Wang Chen's personal strength,
the fact that every high-ranking expert in the Sun Moon Empire had either submitted to Wang Chen or become his puppet—and that he himself was now the same—how could he possibly fight back?
After all, his very life and death were held in Wang Chen's hands. How could he contend under such circumstances?
"Hahaha… hahahaha…"
Xu Jing threw his head back and laughed wildly, his voice hoarse like the cawing of a crow.
"Wang Chen, you have stolen Our Sun Moon Empire—why didn't you kill Us? Why didn't you kill us?!"
"We understand now. You, the victor, want to watch the loser make a fool of himself! You want Us, the defeated, to personally witness you conquer the three countries of the Douluo Continent and unify the world—just to satisfy your desire for conquest!"
The two attendants watched the frenzied Xu Jing, tears streaming down their faces. In the face of Wang Chen's god-like demonic power, who could not feel despair?
…
At the same time, at the Wang family residence.
Wang Chen was currently sitting cross-legged in meditation, his entire person having entered the space within the Black Book to cultivate.
That's right—he had entered the Black Book with his physical body, not just his consciousness as before.
After Wang Chen took control of the Sun Moon Empire, the Black Book had undergone further restoration. In this latest restoration, one of the spaces that belonged to the Black Book itself had been repaired.
This space was extremely vast. Wang Chen could freely enter and exit it, and he could also bring people and objects inside.
As the master of the Black Book, he could expel anyone or anything from the space at will. Moreover, once inside, no one from the outside could attack Wang Chen through the Black Book space.
In other words, inside the Black Book space was an absolutely safe refuge. At least in the world of the Douluo Continent, no one could breach it.
Furthermore, by consuming spiritual power, he could accelerate time within the Black Book space—
making one day outside equivalent to ten days, one month, or even longer inside!
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Here are the chapters for today (づ￣3￣)づ╭～
"The novel is already finished on Patreon."
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