Voume #2


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    Bright sunlight illuminated thegreatcapital of the Dynasty. The townspeople were waking up and going towork,while officials were still sleeping despite the warmth of the sun shining on their fat butts.


    "Finally..."a tired sigh was heard.


    Thiswas the Phoenix Pavilion, the personal quarters of Xie Qing.He wassitting on the bed in the lotus positionandlookedverytiredasif he hadn''t slept for a month.


    For two days,he had been diligently cultivatingandit had paid off.He had broken through to the fourth stage of the Nascent Soul.


    Once again, breaking cultivation records, the young man was still unhappy, as the feeling of slowing down in cultivation was still a burden on his heart.


    "Haha. Anyone would strangle me to death if they knew I was unhappy with my slow progress," thought Xie Qing and smiled, finally shaking off his gloomy mood: "Maybe I am in too much of a hurry. After all, I''m not alone."


    For two days,there had been no new news about the devilish cultivators.Xu Mei had only reminded him to be careful with the Empress andto try to gain experience in cultivation.


    Although theMaster''swords sounded somewhat mysterious and unclear, Xie Qing did not dare to ignore her advice, so he promised to make every effort.


    "Now... I don''t even know what to do with myself. The Empress is always waiting for my answer, but she doesn''t insist or pressure me, which is already at odds with what my older sister told me," thought Xie Qing, scratching his head in puzzlement: "Maybe it''s because of my great beauty?I must admit,even the Empress can''t resist my charm."


    ...As expected, his shamelessness could anger the Heavens themselves.


    "Alright, I think I''llgo for awalk around the courtyards. It''s boring anyway,"hethought and, crackinghisneck, stood up.


    The Phoenix Estate wasrgeandthere were many servants. Seeing that the youngmasterhade out of his room, the maid respectfully bowed.


    "Young master... good morning."


    "Good morning, Xiao Yu," nodded Xie Qing.


    The maid smiledand, looking at Xie Qing''s facefor a moment, shetold him about recent events.


    "Hm?"


    Xie Qing listened carefullyandin the end, he couldn''t help but raise an eyebrow.


    "The righteous sects have startedto strictly control their disciples?Moreover,it seems that they aremaking every effort to raise their level..."


    Thiswas very unusual. After all, there was always only one rule that decided whether you would get resources or not.


    Strength. Talent. Contribution.


    If you are not strong enough, you will not have a chance to get valuable resources; if you are not talented enough, you will not receive attention; and if your contribution is low, you will not be a priority.


    However, nowtheserules have be somewhat blurred. Temporarily, the sects have begun to invest all their resources in all their disciples.


    Of course, the most talented ones received more, but even what fell into the bowl of the weak disciples was iparable with the usual support of the sect.


    "You don''t have to be a genius to understandthe reason for this. The devilish cultivators are putting a lot of pressure on the righteous path. TheMasterand the others cannot interfere too much because of the restrictions, so all hope is on us..." thought Xie Qing and frowned: "Which means the situation is shitty."


    There was no problem with helping the sect and even the whole world.Xie Qing did not consider himselfarighteousperson, but neither was he evil.So, he wanted to participate as much as possible.


    "Alright, you have to look for the positives in everything, even if you''re looking in a room full of smelly horse shit," thought Xie Qing, and although his analogy was simply terrible, his thought was correct: "The Imperial Censor..."


    Xie Qing thought about the Empress''s offer. If he became a shining star in theworld of cultivation,a lot of attention would be focusedon him.


    Thismeant possible assassins, troubles, and the like, but...


    "Hm... when have I ever been afraid of trouble? If assassinse, I''ll just kill them. And if I can''t kill them, I''ll run away!" thought Xie Qing proudlywith a smile.


    Let''s ignore the part where he nned to run away andjustadmire the youngmaster''scourage...Sigh.


    ***


    Early in the morning, Xie Qing met with the chief eunuch Xian. Theold manwas pleased to hear of Xie Qing''s intention.


    "Youngmaster, I swear by my ancestors, you will not regret your decision to move forward with the Dynasty! If you are worried about your status as the future head of the sect, it doesn''t matter. The Dynasty will support you on the contrary!" assured Eunuch Xian, smiling brightly: "Be assured, this old man will be happy to shake his old bones to help you.


    I am sure Her Majesty will be delighted with your wise decision!"


    "Eunuch Xian tters me," nodded Xie Qing with a kind smile, but in his thoughts, he thought: "No wonder you are the chief eunuch. Even though your bird has lost its head, your ability to tter pierces the Heavens!"


    While Eunuch Xian was happily talking with Xie Qing, telling him about the history of the Dynasty and pouring buckets of a mysterious liquid called "propaganda" into Xie Qing''s ears, they finally reached the long-awaited throne room.


    Fortunately, the eunuch stopped talking nonsense and, saying goodbye, asked Xie Qing to visit him to celebrate his appointment.


    "Thank you!" thanked Xie Qing, waving to Eunuch Xian. He thought: "This eunuch is really funny."


    The young man shook his head and approached the doors. He was not as crazy as hisMaster, who would kick the doors open, so hesimplyreleased his Qi.


    Kr-r-r...


    The door creaked open, although it wasvery slow. Perhaps this was due to the weight and material of the door, whichwere specially madeto protect the Empress.


    "Maybe... I should also kick the doors open next time?" thought Xie Qing, restraining his annoyance: "By the time this door opens, I will have a hundred wives, a thousand concubines,andfive thousand children, and a hundred thousand grandchildren!"


    It seemed that even the doors had lost their power of speech, which they did not have to begin with, and opened faster.


    Immediately, the image of the throne room appeared.Behind the curtain sat a slender figure, and onlyhershadow allowed one to understand thatshewas sitting there.


    "Your Majesty."


    Since Xie Qing was not a citizen of the Dynasty, there was no need for a deep bow.It was enough toslightly bow, putting his hand on his heart, to showhispoliteness.


    Nowinthe throne room, he was not alone. The Empress was listening to a servant''s report.


    "Sir Xie Qing..." nodded Yu Longfeng, speaking in a somewhat strange voice: "Please wait a few seconds. I apologize for keeping you waiting so rudely."


    "Don''t worry, Your Majesty. I''ll wait here," replied Xie Qing nonchntly.


    The servant fell silentfor a momentwhen she saw that Xie Qing was standing casually in ce, but feeling the Empress''s gaze, she continued her report.


    "Your Majesty... several officials have expressed their disagreement with appointing someone from outside to the post of imperial censor..." said the servant with an awkward voice – mainly because of the presence of "someone" in the room: "They ask Your Majesty to think carefully about this."


    "Think carefully?" came the cold voice of Yu Longfeng: "Are they saying that I, the Golden Empress, am stupid? That I make decisions without thinking? In other words, are they calling me stupid?"


    "Th-this... I don''t think they meant it that way...Y-Your Majesty..."


    The servant fell to the ground, shivering all over, feeling the cold and pressure that Yu Longfengwas releasing. Xie Qing wasjustwatching the course of events with interest.


    "This is..." His eyes narrowed as he felt the energy that the woman released for suppression: "The Superior Aura of the Ultimate Being..."


    Thiswas more of a characteristic than a skill when your existence reached the highest limits. However, in some races, including dragons, this ability was present from birth.


    After all, in the hierarchy of the Heavens, dragons were the closest to the Heavens, acting as their representatives.


    Xie Qing needed to raise his level tomastersuch an ability.Thiswould help him in battles with superior opponents.


    "Interesting..."


    Yu Longfeng, moreover, did not feel Xie Qing''s gaze. The Empress coldly snorted and gave an order.


    "Tell them that my decision is absolute.Those who disagree will be considered enemies of the Dynasty," coldly replied Yu Longfengand added: "You are free."


    "A-as youmand, Your Majesty."


    The servant stood up and ran as if escaping from the gue. He nced at Xie Qingout ofthe corner of his eye but did not dare to stare. Then, the door opened slightlyandthe poor man squeezed through the narrow opening, heavily leaving.


    Then the door mmed shut. Xie Qing''s face looked somewhat twitchy because he was trying tohold backhisughter.


    "It seems that this servant showed disrespectful behavior that amused sir... I apologize," came the cold voice of the Empress, which brought the young man to his senses.


    "Your Majesty need not worry. That servant wasjustdoing his job, and I am, after all, an outsider," said Xie Qing with a polite smile, finallymanaging to restrainhis desire tough.


    The Empress raised her eyebrows behind the curtain.For the first time,she saw such an unusual and carefree young man...well, except for the restless girl before.


    "Since you havee before me, that means you have a decision? Don''t worry, any decision will satisfy me," continued Yu Longfeng.


    Xie Qing felt her sharp gaze and could not help but roll his eyes in his thoughts.


    "Yeah, yeah, and the spectacle a minute ago was performed by someone else, right? Now that you''re standing up to the officials for me, my refusal will make you lose face," thought Xie Qing, weakly twisting the corners of his mouth,outwardlyhis face was calm: "However, it''s not like I''m against it."