The Cyan Emperor reached the ranks of top-tier Grandmasters at the advanced age of three hundred and fifty.
Now, he was four hundred and sixty-two years old.
He had less than a century of life remaining.
His path of advancement had been severed, and his impending deadline approached—these two realities made his temperament increasingly violent.
No matter how beautiful the women, how exquisite the food, or how extravagant the luxuries, nothing could soothe the anxiety and fear in his heart. However, the more anxious he became, the more he cared about his posthumous reputation.
And this current incident would undoubtedly make him the laughingstock of the world. Even a century from now, those ant-like mortals might dare to disrespect his name.
This was intolerable!
After wreaking havoc in his own Cyan Cloud City for a while, the Cyan Emperor pulverized the corpses of his clan's disciples and surged eastward, riding a fierce gale.
But that was not the direction the sword had come from.
"This world's civilized society is completely twisted," Wei Er said. He and Shen Yun were in a disguised sect base, going over the detailed situation of this world. "To Cultivators, ordinary people who cannot cultivate serve only two purposes: paying tribute and providing fresh blood. Aside from that, they exist as nothing more than slaves with absolutely no status to speak of."
For this reason, the remaining personnel in this disguised base were currently evacuating.
Once a Grandmaster struck, they would undoubtedly become targets for venting anger.
"This is practically digging their own graves," Shen Yun couldn't help but shake his head.
"It wasn't like this when the empire was first established, but after all, two thousand years have passed..." Wei Er nodded with deep feeling, fully agreeing with Shen Yun. "That's why the Cultivation Realm here is constantly declining. According to historical records, there were nearly a thousand Grandmasters two thousand years ago, alongside two or three existences who had even surpassed the Grandmaster realm. Ridiculously, they blame this decline on the Heavenly Dao being too profound and difficult to comprehend."
Cultivators were born from ordinary people. No matter what the ratio was, expanding the ordinary population meant expanding the number of Cultivators. Treating ordinary people so brutally—if this wasn't digging their own graves, what was?
Unfortunately, in a world with such underdeveloped technology, ordinary people had absolutely no ability to resist Cultivators. Two thousand years of oppression had left them thoroughly numb.
"Still, this works to our advantage," Shen Yun and Wei Er exchanged a glance and chuckled.
Everything was understood without needing to be spoken.
In a modern society where productivity was maximally liberated, cheap labor still held immense value.
Not to mention the various cultivation inheritances and Heavenly and Earthly Treasures.
Even if the teleportation portal had daily usage limits and range restrictions, they still had storage artifacts at their disposal.
This world was a massive, untapped treasure trove.
"That Seventeenth Imperial Princess..." Shen Yun suddenly thought of a crucial point. "Is she really trustworthy?"
He had just seen the Empress that Wei Er and the others had chosen to support.
She wore a suit of Soft Armor, possessed a proud figure, and had a resolute gaze. She looked very much like a heroine who wouldn't yield to any man.
But no matter what, ever since he got Little Nine, Shen Yun's resistance to female charm had greatly increased. He certainly wouldn't find her trustworthy just because she was pretty.
There was no shortage of people who became ungrateful after ascending to the throne.
"How should I put it? It's all in her background files," Wei Er could only shrug. "Out of all the potential candidates, no one is more suitable than her."
"It seems she'll need a good tuning... no, education." Shen Yun suddenly looked at Wei Er and teased, "Weren't you a web novel author before? According to those plots, an Empress is always a target for conquest. What's wrong? You saved her from a sea of suffering, and she hasn't offered herself to you in return?"
"I wish," Wei Er jiggled his round belly, creating a ripple of fat. "Do you think that's possible? I don't look like a protagonist at all."
"Don't lose confidence now," Shen Yun shook his head playfully. "Haven't you heard the joke about how guys envy anime pigs and dogs because they still end up with the girl? If even pigs and dogs can be protagonists, there's no reason you can't be."
"Fuck you!" Wei Er raised his middle finger.
Jokes aside, both of them knew very well that in a world driven by immense personal power, bottom-up reform was almost impossible to achieve. If they wanted to expand their influence, they could only do it top-down.
The Seventeenth Imperial Princess ascending to the throne would merely be the beginning.
"I'll go see her," Shen Yun stood up from his chair. "According to this world's concepts, my strength is the highest, so I should possess some level of deterrence."
"You'd better just sit there," Wei Er shook his head helplessly. "According to this world's concepts, she should be the one coming to see you. You need to maintain your majesty."
"Uh..."
Shen Yun gradually understood.
Just looking at the titles made it obvious.
A top-tier Grandmaster could actually grandiosely claim the title of Cyan Emperor.
It seemed the imperial power in this world might not be all that impressive.
They had a long road ahead...
Shen Yun adjusted his posture, sitting in a way that looked highly casual.
Before long, the Seventeenth Imperial Princess pushed the door open and entered.
She walked up to him and fell to her knees.
"Luo Ying greets the two Grandmasters."
This was the universal rule when facing a Grandmaster in this world.
If the Grandmaster was standing, one must lower their head and not look them in the eye. If the Grandmaster was sitting, one must kneel and not sit higher than them.
"Rise and speak. However, isn't your original name Luo Siji?" Wei Er couldn't help but ask.
"To answer Grandmaster Wei, Luo Ying was the name given by my mother. From now on, this will be my true name." Luo Ying stood up, her expression calm.
"Master, she is suppressing intense excitement in her heart," Little Nine easily concluded through a big data comparison of her pupils. "Narrowly escaping death and highly likely gaining the support of a top-tier Grandmaster makes her feel like she's dreaming."
Luo Ying indeed felt as if she were in a dream.
When the edict was issued to send her to the Cyan Emperor, she almost felt that avenging her mother would be impossible and even harbored a death wish. But now, things had taken a miraculous turn in the blink of an eye.
All of this was because of the top-tier Grandmaster sitting right in front of her!
"Do you... love your mother very much?" Shen Yun's words were slow and soft.
He had no choice but to speak slowly; he had to let Little Nine speak first and then mimic the pronunciation as closely as possible.
Love...
Hearing this word, Luo Ying's expression went blank for a moment.
Because she had rarely heard it.
Right before her mother was executed, she had also spoken this word to her.
"Yes, very much." Luo Ying couldn't help but lower her head, her voice carrying a trace of trembling. "She was the best mother in this world."
Shen Yun and Wei Er exchanged a glance. Then, he curled his finger and lightly tapped the armrest of the chair before asking, "Why do you say that?"
He had no intention of exposing someone else's past scars. However, emotion was an important criterion for evaluating a person. If she was a heartless and ungrateful person, they would have to be extra careful in their future cooperation.
As for Luo Ying, although she didn't know why the top-tier Grandmaster before her was asking about her mother, the question did bring back memories.
Her mother was born into a wealthy family of the empire. She was an innocent, romantic woman who had grown up thoroughly pampered, and she was naturally timid and fearful of trouble.
Even now, Luo Ying still didn't know where her mother had found the immense courage to take her and flee the imperial palace.
It was just that...
"My mother said," Luo Ying tried hard to calm her breathing, "she didn't want me to grow up in that place that devours people alive."