Forty Millenniums of Cultivation

“But…”

Li Yao’s head was a mess, and his computation ability was blocked, making it impossible for him to say anything.

Never could he have thought that Li Jialing would bring up such a shocking topic!

“Brother Yao, do you want to say that the four families will expose me, or that the royal family can examine my bloodline with advanced technologies?”

Li Jialing smiled and said, “When Li Lingfeng brought me to the Li family, he changed my personal files, and the truth can never be found now that Li Lingfeng is dead. How can the four families find out my real identity?

“Even if they do, so what? It’s only natural that they demean the emperor that their enemy elects as ‘fake emperor’. I know that the propaganda machines controlled by the reformists are about to attack Emperor Chengwu fiercely. The four families’ attack on me will only be the same. Nobody will believe it.

“The bloodline test is even less of a problem. The queen still has her influence. She and General Lei will definitely take charge of the bloodline test, and they can make up whatever result they want. Who will dare to object?

“In the Imperium of True Human Beings, strength is what matters most if you want to be the emperor! Now, General Lei, the queen, Jin Yuyan, and Brother Yao all support me on the reformists’ side. Do you think any idiot would jump out and argue that I’m not qualified?”

Looking at Li Jialing’s confident face, Li Yao tried to calm himself down. He asked solemnly, “Tell me whose idea it is. Did Lei Chenghu come up with it? Why?”

“Yes, it’s indeed General Lei’s proposal.”

Li Jialing said calmly, “Brother Yao, have you not realized yet what kind of person General Lei is? He’s an out-and-out Immortal Cultivator, the most stubborn militarist, and Wuying Qi’s greatest devotee. His admiration for Wuying Qi is deep to his bones, and he dreams to restore the glory in Blackstar the Great’s age!”

“But Wuying Qi is dead!”

Li Yao said coldly, “Also, what he worships is the Wuying Qi in his imagination, which is nothing like the real Wuying Qi!”

“Yes, General Lei realized that too. That’s why he worked with you and disrupted the Next Sun Plan.”

Li Jialing said, “However, joining hands with the Cultivators does not mean giving up his faith. He still believes in Blackstar the Great—not the dead one but a new, more perfect emperor who can 100% represent the true path of immortality!

“Do you see? General Lei believes that he can create another ‘Blackstar the Great’, the most perfect sovereign that rules over mankind! Of course, that is on the premise that this sovereign has got the heritage of the old Wuying Qi so that he can be approved by most Immortal Cultivators including General Lei himself.”

“I-I think I’m getting it.”

Li Yao murmured, “Lei Chenghu always worshiped Blackstar the Great as a god, but he discovered that the god he believed in was a devil. Other people would’ve given up their faith under such circumstances, but Lei Chenghu has crazily decided to create a true god and reshape the faith of all the Immortal Cultivators!”

“Yes, it can’t be helped. It was really sordid of you to play Wuying Qi’s porn videos to the whole Empyreal Terminus Sector, which shook the belief of too many Immortal Cultivators in the true path of immortality. They’re even considering taking the Cultivators’ side.”

Li Jialing said, “Do you really think General Lei, an unyielding Immortal Cultivator, will watch the Immortal Cultivators change sides without doing anything?

“While he would never admit that the devil who initiated the Next Sun Plan was Wuying Qi, it’s not enough. He has to introduce a charismatic new emperor who’s directly related to Wuying Qi so that the collapsing belief of all the Immortal Cultivators can be recovered.”

“Got it. Now, Blackstar the Great has two direct heirs in the Imperium, which are you who got 2.0 and me who got 3.0!”

Li Yao slapped his thigh and said, “Damn it, but it doesn’t mean that he has to go to you, right? You’re too young for such complicated power struggles. Why didn’t he come to me? I can also… Well, I don’t think I’m suitable to be the emperor of the Imperium, right?”

“I’m afraid not…”

Li Jialing nodded slowly. “General Lei is not the only one who needs a healthy, vigorous new emperor who boasts Wuying Qi’s heritage and infinite potential. The young officers in the army also need such an emperor, a person that they can understand and who can renew the Imperium. I’m the best candidate for that. Don’t you think so, Brother Yao?”

“I…”

Li Yao was briefly lost for words.

Though his head went blank after Li Jialing’s proposal, the more he thought about it, the more he realized that Li Jialing was the perfect choice.

Although the reformists won the Battle of Seven Seas and the battle in the capital, Wuying Qi, as a traitor among the reformists, still caused huge losses.

The reformists were now subtly changing from Li Linghai’s age to Lei Chenghu’s age, and the Cultivators, led by Li Yao, had inevitably added to the complexity of the situation despite their help to the reformists.

At a moment like this, it was hard to find a new emperor that everybody was satisfied with, and the reformists might fall apart with a bad choice.

However, ignoring his bloodline, Li Jialing was a rarely-seen candidate for the emperor that everybody could be satisfied with!

For Lei Chenghu, a crazy admirer of Blackstar the Great, it was his lifelong dream to groom a new-generation Blackstar the Great that was more perfect.

The imperial guards who were loyal to Wuying Qi wouldn’t object to the leadership of Wuying Qi’s heir either.

For Li Linghai, as well as Li Linghai’s subordinates who had been fretting that they might be kicked away, it would be most reassuring if Li Linghai’s son became the emperor and Li Linghai turned from the queen to the empress dowager. The power succession of the reformists would be in order!

As for the Cultivators including Li Yao, it went without saying that nobody would be a better emperor than Li Jialing!

However… However…

“What about it?”

Li Jialing stared at Li Yao. “Will you support me, Brother Yao?”

“From the perspective of returns, I will definitely support you. You would be so much better than those unworthy candidates as the emperor!”

Li Yao tried to hold it back, but he failed to. “However, as your big brother, I have to remind you that it wouldn’t feel great when you sit on the throne! I’ve never felt that you’re a man who’s passionate about power. Didn’t you always crave for a free, unrestrained life? Let’s leave aside General Lei and the queen’s attitudes and focus on you. What exactly do you think? Do you want to be the emperor?”

Li Jialing’s eyelashes shivered, and he lowered his head.

In the next second, his lips curved as he smiled from the bottom of his heart.

“Thank you, Brother Yao.”

His eyes glittering, Li Jialing said sincerely, “I know that you care about me from the bottom of your heart, and you want the best for me. You do not want me to shoulder the responsibility that might be too heavy for anyone to bear.

“However, like I told you just now, I’ve turned from a boy into a man, and a man has to shoulder responsibilities that he is expected to!

“It’s true that I craved for freedom in the past, but do you know why? Because I had nothing back then. What else could a man who had nothing pursue except freedom?

“But things are different now. Now, I have a lot of new things. I have friends, I have family, I have you, Sister Long, my mother, and so many other things that I do not want to lose and deserve to be fought for. How can I watch you fight, bleed, and sacrifice while I pursue freedom?

“It was indeed General Lei who proposed the idea that I became the next emperor, but before that, I had been thinking really hard how I could protect my family, my friends, and my home, and how I could fight as bravely as you!

“I couldn’t have made the decision without your teaching. Do you remember what you said to me deep inside the Great Iron Factory? ‘With greater abilities come greater responsibilities’. I’ve grown so much in the past year that I never thought that I could be as strong as I am today. However proud I am, I dare not say that it’s all my own achievement.

“My power was not exclusively cultivated by myself, but more like endowed to me by fate. I cannot waste the power. I must use it to find and carry out my own beliefs. I will use it to change the whole universe!”