Translator: AnubisTL
"I've waited over twenty years for this moment! It's finally here!"
"Right, how could I have forgotten such an important matter? Let him live a little longer!" Chu Xiu roared at those besieging Gu Feng. "Guards! Prepare for the coronation ceremony!"
"Gu Feng, this coronation ceremony has been postponed until now, just for you, our most esteemed guest!"
A massive procession of drummers and bell ringers poured into the Imperial Palace from all directions. The grand music of drums and bells reverberated throughout the palace.
The officials emerged at the appointed moment, standing in perfect formation. They roared, "Long live the Emperor!" like a tidal wave.
Chu Xiu straightened his disheveled Dragon Robe and took the imperial crown from a maidservant, placing it on his head. Then, he descended to the ground and slowly ascended the jade-carved steps.
"Long live the Emperor!"
"Long live the Emperor!"
"Long live the Emperor!"
Reaching the top of the steps, before the imperial throne, he slowly turned. He spread his arms wide, basking in the boundless glory.
"I, Chu Xiu, am now officially the new Emperor of the Great Chu Dynasty!"
"Long live the Emperor! Long live the Emperor! May the Emperor live ten thousand years!" The entire Imperial Palace, and indeed the entire Imperial Capital, erupted in endless cheers.
Just as he was about to sit on the imperial throne, a thought struck him.
"Shouldn't we establish a reign title?"
He spoke as if to himself, yet also as if questioning the officials below.
The crowd trembled, heads bowed, not daring to utter a word.
In the short time since the new emperor had entered the Imperial City, he had already replaced the Imperial Palace's veteran officials, inside and out, no less than three times.
Each question he posed was a matter of life and death.
"You, speak. What should the national era be?"
Chu Xiu, accustomed to the officials' pretense of being dead, casually pointed at a white-haired elder.
The latter rose shakily, kowtowed to Chu Xiu, and after a moment's thought, cautiously suggested, "Yongchang?"
"Yongchang is too common. This emperor doesn't like it!"
With those words, a sharp palm strike erupted, instantly obliterating the elder's body.
"Any better suggestions?"
Silence fell below. Under such inhuman pressure, one official fainted.
"As officials of the Great Chu Dynasty, you faint so easily? How can I rely on you in the future?"
Boom!
With a single finger, the unconscious official was sent to the Nine Netherworlds in his sleep.
"If you want to sleep, I'll give you all the time in the world!" Chu Xiu smirked wickedly, his finger swaying as he pointed again.
To the officials below, that slender finger was like a death warrant. Whoever it landed on would perish.
"You—"
"Spare me, Your Majesty the Emperor!" The official who had been singled out knelt on the ground, kowtowing frantically and begging for mercy.
"Spare me, Your Majesty the Emperor? That reign title is quite creative, but it's too long!"
Boom!
In the brief span of half an incense stick's time, Chu Xiu had demonstrated the epitome of callous disregard for human life and twisted sadism. Even Gu Feng, whose mind was as resolute as steel, couldn't help but feel a chill crawl up his spine.
After dozens of officials had fallen, Chu Xiu's interest waned. Suddenly, his eyes lit up as he watched Gu Feng, surrounded and teetering on the brink of death, his appearance utterly disheveled. He slapped his forehead.
"How could I have forgotten about you?"
"Gu Feng, you're known for your exceptional intellect and sharp mind. Do you have a suitable reign title in mind?"
"If you come up with a good one, you'll be rewarded! I'll grant you one extra breath of life, hahaha!"
At this moment, Gu Feng was at the end of his rope. The suppression of the Array Formation, combined with the relentless assault of over a dozen Half-Step Origin Palace Realm cultivators, had pushed him to the brink of collapse, despite his formidable Cultivation Method and peerless physique.
Gazing at Chu Xiu, who was laughing maniacally before the imperial throne not far away, Gu Feng's lips curved into a bloodstained smile.
His right pupil swirled with a dark emerald green light!
Seizing the moment, he spat out a few words: "Immortal Eye Forbidden Art. Candle Sun!"
Ghostfire-like flames erupted from hidden spaces all around him.
They consumed the Array Formation, ignited the air, and set the Half-Step Origin Palace Realm experts surrounding him ablaze!
Hiss...
Aaaah!
Screams pierced the air as the Sect Elders stared in horror.
They frantically slapped at the flames clinging to their bodies, but this mysterious fire, with no known origin, refused to be extinguished.
Their pupils dilated, filled with terror.
Shatter!
To save themselves, they decisively severed the limbs touched by the flames.
The Array Formation crumbled, and Gu Feng shot forward like an arrow loosed from a bow, charging toward Chu Xiu!
The latter remained unfazed, as if he had anticipated this. He produced a mystical Earth-Grade Treasure and held it before him, absorbing the surrounding flames.
"Gu Feng, you used this trick in the East Sea before. How could I not be prepared!" Chu Xiu said, a satisfied smile playing on his lips as he gazed at the Magical Artifact in his hand.
He unleashed a punch that turned the white jade steps beneath it into dust.
Gu Feng was sent reeling backward by this world-shattering blow, coughing up blood.
His aura instantly withered. Though he remained standing, his arms hung limply at his sides.
"No Thunder Tribulation, no flames... What else do you have?" Chu Xiu's arrogant voice rang out.
Just then, Gu Feng suddenly raised his head. The emerald light in his right pupil blazed intensely, while his left pupil turned crimson, blood dripping down his cheek.
Immortal Eye Forbidden Art: Sword of Judgment!!
A nearly transparent Divine Sword, shimmering with strange runes, slowly materialized from his right eye.
This Divine Sword was truly astonishing, not of this world. It radiated an irresistible pressure that made everyone's souls tremble.
Chu Xiu stood frozen, his eyes bloodshot. He frantically channeled all his Spiritual Power, divine energy erupting from every pore, yet his feet remained rooted to the spot, unable to move an inch.
His pupils dilated, his arrogant smile petrifying into a mask of terror.
"Gu... Gu Feng, let's talk this through!"
"I was wrong! You can't kill me! If you do, Great Li and Great Wei will immediately invade and destroy the Great Chu Dynasty!"
"You've always loved helping people. I've come so far, just a step away from success. Can't you help me one last time?"
"..."
Chu Xiu's previous arrogance had vanished, replaced by a trembling, desperate scream.
But Gu Feng remained unmoved, guiding the Divine Sword closer to Chu Xiu.
Blood streamed from his left eye, and his life force burned away at an alarming rate.
A vast, overwhelming pressure and surging energy enveloped the entire Imperial Palace in an aura of divine holiness.
The Sect Elders were utterly terrified, collapsing onto the ground one by one.
Before the horrified gazes of the crowd, the Divine Sword pierced through Chu Xiu's imperial robes and plunged into his body.
"Gu Feng!!!!"
"Why would you do this!!!!"
"Twenty years! This was my twenty-year plan!!!"
"I refuse to accept this! I, Chu Xiu, have defied the heavens!!!"
"..."
Chu Xiu watched helplessly as the Divine Sword pierced his body, shredding his meridians.
The Origin Palace that had only recently formed in his Dantian was now crisscrossed with spiderweb-like cracks.
His aura dwindled with each passing moment. Just as his Origin Palace was about to shatter, the Divine Sword vanished without a trace.
"Gu Feng, are you... are you sparing me this time?" Chu Xiu's face lit up with joy.
But in the next instant, a bloodcurdling scream tore from his throat.
"No... no—"
Gu Feng plunged a palm into Chu Xiu's Dantian, using a Secret Technique to extract his Martial Dao Foundation.
"This belongs to Youhuan. You are not worthy of it!"
Gu Feng spoke coldly. Stripped of his Martial Dao Foundation, Chu Xiu collapsed to the ground. His life force rapidly drained away, and in the blink of an eye, he withered into an ancient, frail figure.
"Reign Title: Fall of the Empire!"
Gu Feng spoke coldly and turned to leave.
The officials and the gravely wounded Sect Elders instinctively parted to make way.
Chu Xiu, who had never experienced the throne, collapsed the moment Gu Feng stepped out of the Imperial Palace. He was dead.
The people of the Great Chu Capital stared blankly at the retreating figure.
Soon after, a mournful cry echoed from within the Imperial Palace.
"His Majesty the Emperor of Great Chu has fallen!"
"It's over! The Great Chu Dynasty is finished!"
Even with the Grand Marshals of the Northwest desperately trying to maintain order, they couldn't prevent chaos from erupting across all the counties and Sects of the Great Chu Dynasty.
The Great Chu Dynasty had lost too many of its top experts, and the royal bloodline had been completely wiped out. Now, they couldn't even find an heir!
Three days later, Great Li and Great Wei simultaneously launched an invasion of the Great Chu Dynasty. Vast swathes of territory fell.
From that moment on, demons ran rampant. The students trained at the Grand Harmony Academy stepped forward, organizing scattered resistance forces to fight against the invading cultivators of the two kingdoms, struggling to survive in the cracks between the warring factions.
For a long time afterward, they spoke of Gu Feng's name in hushed tones, as if it were taboo.
Yet his image remained etched in their minds, impossible to erase. They couldn't bring themselves to hate the man who had plunged the Great Chu Dynasty into utter ruin. Perhaps, deep down, they even held a grudging respect for him.
Having walked countless times on the brink of death, they were not crushed. Instead, leaders emerged one after another.
Standing under the night sky, Wu Qi and the others often reminisced about their days following Gu Feng.
Sometimes they would wonder: If not for Chu Xiu's betrayal, he would surely have become a hero of the Great Chu Dynasty.
But alas—
It was too late to say anything now.
"I wonder how Senior Sister Chu is doing?" Qi Tingting sat alone in the valley, gazing at the sparse stars in the sky, her thoughts drifting to the Sect Leader who had once led them.
Chu Youhuan was a radiant woman, once their idol. Qi Tingting didn't know the specifics of her situation, only that from others' accounts, it was dire.
"The Sect Master will return, and Senior Sister Chu will be fine," Dou Xiaojian whispered beside her.
Shortly after becoming the Sunset Glow Sect Master, war had erupted. Dou Xiaojian had led the Sunset Glow Sect in a desperate struggle against the combined forces of two enemy kingdoms.
"Yes!"
Author's Note: The author has not changed!
Regarding the Great Chu Dynasty, I had originally planned two vastly different endings. I knew a happy ending might be more widely accepted.
After much deliberation, I decided to change the narrative.
The result was clearly less than satisfactory.
But there's a surprise in the next chapter!
(End of the Chapter)
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Hey there Guys, Anubis here. I am here to rant. So recently I translated the chapter 395 of this novel, and I was utterly disgusted by what I read. So far, you know he has been collecting women like pokemon, that's not that bad if he treats them right. Where it starts to get worse is when he is secretly sleeping with a new woman whom one or two of his other women are hostile with. He is going behind their backs and actively lying to them about it too. Now, I feel like dropping it right where it is and not do anymore chapters... But if one month from now, someone comes to me on pa.treon as a paid member and tells me to keep doing it, I will restart the translation. That's all I wanted to say... hope you have a lovely day... There's a public poll on my pat.reon so please go and check it out...