Chapter 111: Queen Shuoyue’s Decision

Chapter 111: Chapter 111: Queen Shuoyue’s Decision

「Shuoyue Royal Palace」

The Queen, who should have been celebrating her wedding night, was instead sitting anxiously at the royal desk. Jing’an stood behind her, gently massaging her temples.

"He’s just a young man. Why do you trust him so blindly?" Jin Chuhong asked, perplexed.

"It all goes back to when I first met him. But I can’t tell you the details, not even you, my wife."

"Why?"

"I’ve actually died once. I was resurrected by a wisp of a remnant Divine Soul from an Immortal. That soul fragment gave me a Divine Bone and taught me a supreme Cultivation Technique and Martial Technique. The price I paid was signing a Celestial Dao Contract with the Lord, pledging my lifelong loyalty to him."

Jin Chuhong looked at Jing’an, unable to understand. She couldn’t comprehend why he would sign such a humiliating contract.

"It might be hard for you to believe, but that was truly an Immortal. With a single thought, he could turn oceans into fields. For Cultivators like us, the Celestial Dao Contract is the most sacred of oaths. If I defy it, my Divine Soul will be obliterated. Of course, signing the contract has even greater benefits for me. Whenever the Lord’s Cultivation advances, my own Cultivation automatically increases, even without me training. I’ve searched through all the legends of the Cultivation Realm, and the Lord’s talent is absolutely peerless. With my own talent, even if I cultivated with all my might, I’d be in the Heartbeat Realm at best right now."

"But when the Lord first met me, he was only in the Heartbeat Realm. In just a few short months, he has already advanced by two Great Realms. His talent is heaven-defying."

Jin Chuhong didn’t fully grasp Jing’an’s explanation. He had to give her a detailed account of a Cultivator’s Realms, explaining how forming a Golden Core or reaching the Nascent Soul Realm was a feat only one in ten thousand could achieve. Only then did she begin to understand.

"Including me, there are eight of us who signed the Celestial Dao Contract with the Lord. After we parted ways, the Lord assigned each of us to work toward a goal in a different direction. We are to have our results reviewed in three years. The man in black who appeared today is one of them."

Upon hearing this, Jin Chuhong looked astonished. "Are you saying he’s even more powerful than that man in black?"

"You only need to remember one thing: our powers are all directly tied to the Lord’s. Even without the Celestial Dao Contract to suppress us, the eight of us combined could never withstand a single blow from him, not for all eternity."

"How old is he?"

"Twenty-four."

Jin Chuhong fell silent.

Jing’an continued, "The Lord must have had a very good first impression of you. He gave you those two items not just because of me. He said he would get you precious Elixirs and Cultivation Techniques in the future, and he will definitely do it. That’s what I care about most. A Cultivator’s lifespan increases with their Realm. With the Lord’s talent and the foundation that Immortal gave him, it’s very likely he will achieve Ascension to Immortality one day. When that happens, we will surely follow him to the Divine Realm. If you remain a mortal, our time together will be limited to a few decades at most. But if you can cultivate too, it will be much, much longer. Don’t you want to be with me for all eternity?"

Hearing this, Jin Chuhong blushed. She stood up and hugged him tightly.

"So, are we really going to listen to Lord Chu and set our sights on the entire Eastern Domain?"

"Are you... afraid?" Jing’an asked.

"I’m more afraid of having no one to rely on, like in my first thirty years."

"Don’t worry. Even if the Lord can’t find a Cultivation Technique suitable for you, I will ask him for life-extending Elixirs."

"Alright. Then I, Jin Chuhong, will cast aside my ancestral legacy and throw caution to the wind with you." Jin Chuhong’s resolve was set.

「The next day, the Shuoyue Kingdom issued a series of royal decrees.」

The decrees covered three main points. First, all children in the Shuoyue Kingdom over the age of six must attend school. The Ministry of Civil Affairs was ordered to establish more schools. Not only would tuition and fees be waived for all students, but breakfast and lunch would also be provided. All necessary funds and provisions were to be allocated by the Ministry of Finance.

Second, the Shuoyue Kingdom would expand enrollment at the Imperial College, with numbers increasing annually. Anyone who passed the examinations would enter the Imperial College as an official-in-training and would receive a stipend from the moment they enrolled.

Third, a military expansion. All citizens of Shuoyue, from the Princes down to the common people, so long as they were not National Academy Students, must join the military upon turning sixteen for three years of training. If anyone refused, their entire family would be sentenced to ten years of hard labor upon being discovered.

The moment the decrees were announced, the entire nation was in shock. At the royal court, memorials of opposition flooded in like a snowstorm.

But Queen Jin Chuhong ruled with an iron fist. She offered no explanation; anyone who objected was dismissed from their post.

In an instant, from the royal court to the common streets, nearly everyone was discussing the matter. Some even secretly grumbled that the Queen must have been bewitched by Jing’an, that her temperament had changed, leading her to become a warmonger who squandered the nation’s people and resources.

To support the Queen’s decrees, the Celestial Heart Hall selected a group of disciples to oversee their implementation, forcibly ensuring the new laws were carried out.

Chu Fan was in the Capital City for the announcement and implementation of Shuoyue Kingdom’s decrees, so he was naturally aware of everything. However, he did not interfere.

After all, he knew nothing about such matters.

At this time, Chu Fan and Yun Xi were in their courtyard, sparring. It was mainly Chu Fan guiding Yun Xi.

Cultivation was the main theme of their lives.

Strength was the ultimate trump card for survival in this world.

Without strength, one could do nothing. Forget about revenge; if his identity were exposed, just staying alive would be difficult.

After all, Chu Fan’s enemies weren’t limited to just the Red Blood Mansion. If half of the Six Sects and Eight Gates knew he was still alive, they wouldn’t spare him.

’The Divine Separation Realm... Only when my Cultivation reaches the Divine Separation Realm will I truly be qualified to walk openly in the Eastern Domain.’

’And only by reaching the Divine Separation Realm can I truly begin my plan for revenge.’

’Furthermore, I must reach the Divine Separation Realm to have a chance at unsealing the third layer of the Juntian Mirror.’

’As for comprehending three Supreme Daos, I’m still missing two. Comprehending a Supreme Dao depends on serendipity; it can’t be achieved through hard work and effort alone.’

’But reaching the Divine Separation Realm is something I can achieve through my own efforts.’

Therefore, Chu Fan never slacked in his Cultivation. The path of Cultivation was, by its very nature, an act of defying the heavens. If one did not advance, one would regress.

"Your last strike was a bit too deliberate. With the Yifeng Sword Technique, the form isn’t the most important part," Chu Fan said, demonstrating the move Yun Xi had just performed.

But halfway through the move, he suddenly stopped. He looked up at the sky and called out in a clear voice, "Which senior has come to visit?"

As soon as Chu Fan’s voice faded, a Falcon was seen circling in the sky. It transformed into a streak of black light and landed in the courtyard. Then, the Falcon shifted its form, turning into a middle-aged man with an aquiline nose.

His sharp, hawk-like eyes scrutinized Chu Fan.

Chu Fan instinctively pulled Yun Xi behind him, staring in surprise at the "man" before him.

"You are...?" Chu Fan asked, unable to tell if this was a person who had used a Transformation Technique to become a Falcon, or a Falcon spirit that had learned to take human form.

"I am Ying Di, Vice Commander of the Flying Beast Department, under the command of the King of Ten Thousand Beasts," the middle-aged man announced.

"The King of Ten Thousand Beasts?" No matter how self-possessed Chu Fan was, he still couldn’t help but exclaim at the name.

’Does that mean this "man" is actually a Profound Beast?’

’Why would the King of Ten Thousand Beasts send him here? How did the King of Ten Thousand Beasts know I was here? Or rather, how did this Profound Beast find me?’