Chapter 1146: Cards on the Table Part 1 (1/2)

The Emperor’s movement shocked all the ministers in the hall.

The Emperor had always followed the previous emperor’s footsteps—he was diligent, attentive, and had always adhered to the rules and customs without the slightest bit of discomposure. The only fault people could find about him was that he was too accommodating toward Lin Xitang, to the point of diminishing his imperial might. However, Lin Xitang was a minister who had been assigned by the previous Emperor and even granted the title of national guardian, so the inspectors only complained about it verbally.

This movement could be considered a loss in composure. A number of old ministers frowned, and some even wanted to criticize the Emperor.

However, a suppressive might akin to raging tides erupted from the throne, and those who wanted to move realized that it was coming right at them. When they looked up hurriedly, they saw the Emperor’s stern gaze as the cold, tangible pressure slammed into their chests.

The Emperor’s figure vanished from the hall before everyone could catch their breath, leaving only the attendant standing submissively beside the throne. The man called out in a drawn-out tone, “Court dismissed!”

The entire hall fell into an eerie silence.

The ministers all reacted differently. The civil ministers at the back were mostly puzzled, while the nobility and powerful ministers wore subtle expressions. There was no lack of divine champion level experts among them, and they had naturally sensed the suppressive might from just now. The problem was that its harshness and power caused even them to feel apprehensive. That wasn’t how everyone remembered it.

The Imperial family was the clan among clans, with most Emperors being powerful and unyielding. To be blunt, the current Radiant Emperor was inferior in birth, talent, and ability. Fortunately, he was extremely demanding on himself regarding national affairs, and that won him a basic level of respect among the major clans.

But the highest-ranking nobles understood that the heavenly monarchs of the Imperial clan considered this Emperor to be mediocre at best. It was easy to imagine that the Emperor didn’t have much of a position in his own family, either. Then, what exactly was that just now? Many major characters thought of the same question: “Does the Longevity Monarch know the Emperor’s true strength?”

What everyone was concerned about right now was the Emperor’s whereabouts. He had vanished under countless eyes, yet no one knew where he had gone.

Zhang Boqian stepped into the ground floor hall and, after observing the surroundings, went straight up to the seventh stratum.

The white-clothed man was sleeping on a couch near the southern window, just like in the projection.

Zhang Boqian walked over.

Zhang Boqian’s gaze was as deep and dark as the ocean abyss. He bent down and grabbed Lin Xitang’s hand, only to find that it was like a piece of thin ice that would shatter when squeezed.

Without a word, Zhang Boqian placed an arm around Lin Xitang’s shoulder and picked him up.

“Boqian…”

Lin Xitang hadn’t finished speaking when the sky outside the windows turned dark for a moment. A powerful and ancient aura descended from the void and engulfed the entire mountaintop. It was a domain! A major domain that had been released within a void-origin power array!

Zhang Boqian looked up at the Radiant Emperor, flames of anger burning within his eyes.

The Emperor of Great Qin stood hovering in the air, black mist surging beneath his feet. The domain on the hilltop had taken shape—the leaden clouds hung so low that one could almost reach out to touch them, almost like the sky before a storm.

The Emperor’s voice was gentle yet reserved.

“Monarch Zhang, this is a forbidden area.”

“So what?”

“Monarch Zhang, are you planning to fight me?”

“Why not?”

Lin Xitang moved with great difficulty, hoping to grab Zhang Boqian’s hand. However, the latter didn’t even look at him, merely moving the marshal's finger away as he flickered out the window and walked up to the void.

The Radiant Emperor looked dignified in court attire. He flew upward as well, his hands clasped in front of his chest and his sleeves hanging below. Cities, in general, did not have the capacity to withstand a fight between two heavenly monarchs, or even between divine champions. The Imperial Capital had stood for a thousand years, with countless arrays woven into the city, but they were but pieces of metal and stone before the might of a heavenly monarch.

Zhang Boqian moved with his hand behind his back, taking step after step as though he were climbing an invisible ladder. With this domain, the Emperor had proven that he had the power to knock on the doors of the heavenly monarch realm. This surprised Zhang Boqian a bit, but he quickly tossed the thought away.

Looking at the Imperial Capital from above, the massive city was like a pond of boiling jade. Countless streams of black mist were gushing out from the earth and spiraling into the skies. The odd thing was that the people and cars traveling through the streets were completely ignorant of what was happening.

Ordinary people could not see these phenomena.

Only those at the divine champion level and above could “see” that the origin power of the entire city was shifting. They recognized the secret art of the Imperial clan, the Emperor Domain! Moreover, it was a supreme Emperor Domain that had activated the entire Imperial Capital!