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Chapter 459: A Humble Servant in Plain Clothes

Inside the palace, carved from the enormous skull of a demonic beast, the elderly chancellor, dressed in the attire of the previous dynasty, spoke as he walked through the smooth corridor, arriving at a vast hall.

The hall was empty, with only a semi-transparent coffin in the center, resembling white jade. Inside was a faint outline of a small figure clad in a yellow robe.

Even with no one else around, the chancellor of the previous dynasty still bowed respectfully before standing up.

He then fixed his gaze on the jade coffin and began to speak, his voice carrying a solemn weight.

The marks of death had vanished from his face. He was no longer a mere lingering spirit but an elderly statesman, burdened with sorrow and compassion.

He had utterly devoted his entire life to this nation.

"Yet, before the late emperor could even rule the country halfway, the foundation was ruined. The land was engulfed in flames, and the nation was in a state of decline. On the day the nation fell, not even the entire court of officials could turn things around. I could only take Your Majesty and escape to this desolate land. But eventually, we were still overtaken by the rebels, and all our forces were annihilated.

"We exhausted every effort to preserve Your Majesty\'s life. Fortunately, within this dream world, we could revive as lingering spirits. By staying on in this state of the living dead, we can allow Your Majesty to sleep and wait for the right moment. But...

"I hear that centuries have passed in the outside world, and the Yu Dynasty now reigns in peace. The dream of restoring our kingdom might end up being just a dream.

"Not long ago, I may have missed our only chance for restoration."

A hint of struggle and pain crossed the chancellor\'s face, but not a trace of regret remained.

The elderly chancellor continued muttering, "The female demon king promised that if we helped awaken the Nightmare Demon King from three thousand years ago, she would reinstate Your Majesty when the Demon God descended. In our current state, we are neither human nor ghosts. We can\'t even leave this dream world. There will be no greater opportunity than this...

"But I deceived her in the end.

"I directed her to the most dangerous place in this hidden realm, the Blood Crow Cave. With her cultivation level, I don\'t know how long it will delay her. Perhaps, soon she will return to kill us all.

"Your Majesty, I do not regret it."

The old man\'s back gradually straightened as he resolutely said, "Restoring the kingdom has been our lifelong wish, and we refuse to die in peace even as lingering spirits. We are still waiting for that day..."

"But no matter what, we are the rightful rulers of the divine continent, and what we seek to restore is the reign of the human dynasty! How can we become slaves to the demon race? Even if we die in defiance, it is better than living in humiliation!

"Your Majesty, today, I must bury you deep underground once again to prevent that female demon king from finding you. When you wake up, all your loyal subjects might not be with you anymore... Perhaps the human race might not even exist anymore. When that time comes, I hope Your Majesty will not forget the dream of restoring the kingdom.

"Even in the netherworld, we will raise our banners for you, and in our next lives, we will be reborn as your loyal officials again!"

After finishing the speech passionately, his voice quivered, and he could no longer hold back the tears. Tears, hot and unbidden, streamed down his weathered face.

In the vast, empty hall, it was just him and the slumbering figure within the jade coffin.

The soldiers outside, despite having regained their peak physical forms in this dream realm, were mere shadows of their former selves. In life, their cultivation had not been strong enough, and their consciousnesses were now fragmented and incomplete.

The harsh truth was that the chancellor alone had been carrying the weight of the entire force.

For hundreds of years, they wandered back and forth on both sides of the Deep Pool of Dreams as lingering spirits, without any sense of rationality or awareness of their situation. Only when they reentered the dream realm within the Deep Pool of Dreams would their complete form be restored.

Back then, to allow the young emperor to wait for the right moment, the chancellor and a handful of trusted aides had sealed him within the jade coffin, casting him into a deep slumber. And so, to this day, the young emperor remained the only one who was actually alive.

But when he wakes up, would his loyal subjects still exist in this world?

"Haaaa..." The chancellor let out a long sigh as he gazed up at the sky.

The years of solitude had gnawed at his spirit, and perhaps, he thought death would be a good way to free himself from this torment. In those words he had just uttered, he had poured out everything that had weighed on his heart.

As for his unwavering loyalty to the human race...

Even if no one knew, so what? It was merely a matter of staying true to one\'s conscience and not being sorry to the rest of the world.

His gaze shifted toward the Deep Pool of Dreams, a flicker of agitation sparking in his eyes. Suddenly, he raised his finger, trembling with fury, as if he were pointing across the vast land of the nine provinces. "You traitors will never know what this old man has sacrificed... Haaaaaa!

"

...

"He gave up the promise of restoring the kingdom, just to delay that female demon king from resurrecting the Nightmare Demon King?"

After listening to Second Madam Gu explain what she had heard, everyone felt a deep respect for the elderly chancellor of the previous dynasty.

It was truly admirable that the elderly chancellor had endured the circumstances he was in for hundreds of years while staying steadfast to his beliefs, remaining loyal to the human race.

Meanwhile, a flicker of realization sparked in Chu Liang\'s mind.

Caiyi was a demon king with formidable cultivation powers. Could she have been the one who appeared on Mount Shu five hundred years ago? The same one who tricked the Yan Family\'s ancestor into breaking the Demon-Suppressing Pagoda...

As he connected the dots, the entire story became clear. The disappearance of the Demon-Suppressing Pagoda on Mount Shu was no coincidence—it was a conspiracy planned by the demon race to rescue the Demon God.

And now, Caiyi sought to wake up the Nightmare Demon King from three thousand years ago.

Back then, the Nightmare Demon King, gravely wounded and on the brink of death, had entered the dream of the Noble Dream Immortal, using it as a sanctuary to keep itself alive. There, it fell into a deep slumber. Under normal circumstances, it would need to fully devour the entire Kingdom of the Dream Immortal to gather enough spiritual energy to regain consciousness.

But if the demon race awakened it prematurely, they must have discovered a way to rapidly restore its power. And if that happened, they would face yet another formidable demon king that would be extremely challenging to defeat.

"We must hurry," Ji Lingyu urged. "The female demon king was deceived by the former chancellor and led elsewhere in this dream world. That means this might be our only chance. We need to quickly reach the dream in the upper level, escape, and contact people even stronger than us to handle this threat."

"The problem now is that we can\'t get close to the young emperor. How can we enter his dream?" Yan Qihu asked.

"Why don\'t we talk to the chancellor?" Chu Liang suddenly suggested. "It seems that we share the same enemy when the demon race is involved. Perhaps we can discuss it with him."

Everyone looked at him. "Discuss?"

"Yes," Chu Liang said with a nod. "We don\'t have to resort to fighting all the time."

Moments later, someone with a warm smile on his face approached the outskirts of the palace made of bones.

As he faced the soldiers of the previous dynasty who lacked complete divine intelligence, he loudly declared, "Chu Liang, disciple of Mount Shu, requests to meet with the Chancellor!"

From within the army formation, a wave of murderous aura surged, and thousands of soldiers turned their glares toward him. The pressure descended like an invisible mountain, weighing heavily on Chu Liang.

Chu Liang quickly understood why even Yan Qihu, an Eminent One of the Martial Arts, had struggled to break through their defenses. The combined strength of so many martial artists, united in a formidable army formation, was on par with the top figures of the cultivation world.

This type of large-scale military formation was not something that the disciples of the Divine Nine and the Terrestrial Ten were familiar with, but the Yu Dynasty\'s army was well-versed in these techniques.

Moments later, the former chancellor walked out from the Bone Palace. His gaze was cold and commanding as he uttered two words. "Step forward."

The soldiers parted, creating a clear path to the palace.

If Chu Liang called out from outside the army formation, he could escape at any moment. However, once he stepped into the formation, retreating would be as difficult as ascending to the heavens.

Yet, he resolutely stepped forward.

As he stepped deeper into the formation, an oppressive force seemed to descend upon him, growing more suffocating with every step. For those with even slightly lower cultivation levels, they would have been forced to their knees after taking only a few steps.

It was clear that the elderly chancellor was intent on making a display of power.

Despite the heavy pressure weighing down on him, Chu Liang\'s expression remained calm. He still smiled as he walked to the front of the hall and respectfully bowed.

"Mount Shu was once the foremost immortal sect favored by the Great Qian Dynasty," the elderly chancellor said coldly. "Yet, it turned its back on divine grace and sided with the rebels."

The Qian Dynasty was the name of the previous dynasty.

In the current Yu Dynasty, mentioning the Great Qian Dynasty was strictly forbidden.

The final years of the previous dynasty had been marked by corruption and chaos, with the divine continent engulfed in flames of war. Immortal sects, including Mount Shu, had abandoned the regime.

At that time, the Mount Shu Sect still had the Demon-Suppressing Pagoda and maintained its status as the foremost immortal sect, wielding considerable influence in the world of cultivation. Had Mount Shu chosen to support the imperial court back then, many forces in the world of immortality cultivators would probably not have turned against it, or at least would have waited and observed for a while longer.

Mount Shu\'s betrayal was undeniably a crucial factor in the collapse of the previous dynasty.

Therefore, when the elderly chancellor brought it up, his voice carried an undertone of deep-seated resentment.

"Since it was the foremost immortal sect, Chancellor, I assume you have visited Mount Shu?" Chu Liang asked nonchalantly, steering the conversation in a different direction.

"Naturally," the elderly chancellor answered.

"The sect leader of Mount Shu from back then has long since passed away, but the guardian celestial beast, Baize, is still alive. I\'m curious. Did you ever meet Baize?" Chu Liang inquired further.

"The celestial beast Baize is proficient in the profound truths of yin and yang and the teachings of the three schools. I would even consider it a friend," the elderly chancellor said, his voice softening with nostalgia.

"Speaking of the celestial beast Baize," Chu Liang continued smoothly, "you might not be aware of its current situation. While I\'m not particularly close with Baize itself, I\'m a friend of its child...

"Now that they shared a common acquaintance, Chu Liang\'s tone grew animated. He stepped forward and said, "Recently, at our Mount Shu Summit, we had a group of fierce attackers causing trouble...

"And do you know who came to Baize\'s rescue? It was none other than this junior right here. Before you could even blink..."