Chapter 857: Are You Unwilling?

Chapter 857: Chapter 857: Are You Unwilling?

Western Niu Continent. Xuanwu Kingdom.

Gloomy, heavy clouds blanketed the capital of Xuanwu Kingdom. Cold gusts of wind swept through at irregular intervals.

Inside the Imperial Palace. The Yishizheng Hall.

Li Junzi looked even more gaunt than before. She stood at the threshold, draped in a thin blanket. A gust of wind blew past, stirring several loose strands of white hair she had not pinned up.

Inside the hall, Emperor Zhao Xuan of Xuanwu Kingdom saw this and immediately spoke:

"Sir Li, the wind outside is strong."

Li Junzi stood straight. Hearing Zhao Xuan’s gentle admonition behind her, she was silent for a moment before smiling:

"It’s nothing. Lingyu keeps sending pills on schedule — I’m practically eating pills for every meal. Falling ill would be harder than you’d think."

Zhao Xuan walked over to Li Junzi’s side with a respectful expression, his tone earnest:

"Sir Li devotes herself to affairs of state with little time to rest. My counsel does no good — and we are not cultivators. How can the body endure such constant overexertion?"

Li Junzi pulled the blanket tighter and looked at Zhao Xuan, whose expression was humble:

"There is no need for the Emperor to be so deferential to me."

Zhao Xuan answered promptly: "I am not being deferential to you as a person, Sir. I am deferential to your talent and courage."

These were his honest words.

Li Junzi wrapped in her blanket and walked back into the hall, gesturing for Zhao Xuan to take a seat:

"There is no need to say that. I merely spend some mental effort — there is little I stand to lose. You, Emperor, have staked an entire kingdom. If we speak of courage... I am humbled."

Zhao Xuan sat as directed, then spoke with firm resolve:

"I believe only in your ability to succeed, Senior. And I believe this will allow Xuanwu Kingdom to leap over the gate of dragons — to have all nations pay tribute!"

Li Junzi’s gaze involuntarily drifted to the towering stack of writings piled on the desk beside her.

The New Policy in Xuanwu Kingdom had already shown remarkable results — and naturally, this owed in large part to Zhao Xuan’s wholehearted support.

The Three Slaughter Families. The blade had turned inward.

The name of tyrant would hang in the histories forever.

Beneath the New Policy lay a road paved with the blood of the great families.

Zhao Xuan had been the sharpest blade. Li Junzi had wielded it to strike at the most vital points.

The resistance to the New Policy would not vanish just because Li Yingling and Lin Luoyu had departed. This was a path that tested one’s will to the limit and allowed no slack.

The cultivators’ Chapter had merely opened the initial door for Li Junzi.

Zhao Xuan had become the tyrant. Li Junzi had become the blood-soaked Confucian minister.

But the New Policy had pushed Xuanwu Kingdom to the pinnacle of literary prosperity.

Various schools of thought surged forth in its wake, and the great families were swept along by the current.

The New Policy was complete within Xuanwu Kingdom, and it had become an irreversible trend.

The New Policy’s enormous ripple effects led many to speculate that Li Junzi intended to accomplish this to achieve the Sub-Sage realm.

Most did not believe Li Junzi could reach Sub-Sage.

Not because they thought the New Policy couldn’t be implemented.

But because merely implementing the New Policy — even if it offered a different beginning, more opportunities for the common people — could not truly transform the era.

Otherwise, how many more Sub-Sages would there be in the world?

The work was useful. But too small.

Yet as the New Policy took complete effect, Li Junzi was — just as they expected — still at the Great Confucian Realm.

Some lamented. Others sneered.

Their mockery was directed not only at Li Junzi but also at Zhao Xuan, the tyrant who had forced the New Policy through. The verdict was remarkably uniform — you think you can latch onto a Sub-Sage’s coattails early? You grabbed the wrong leg.

Regarding the outside commentary.

Li Junzi did not care. Neither, for that matter, did Zhao Xuan.

Because what truly drove Zhao Xuan to raise the butcher’s knife was not the so-called New Policy.

If it were merely the New Policy, Zhao Xuan would never have been so resolute, never have left himself no retreat.

After all, Zhao Xuan was already a monarch with white hair growing ever thicker and a body that moved sluggishly. Gone was the reckless fire of youth.

What made Zhao Xuan act without hesitation was the great undertaking to follow the New Policy.

An undertaking that...

If accomplished, would rival a Sub-Sage splitting open the sky.

Zhao Xuan sat on the throne, reached out to touch the imperial seal beside him, and looked at Li Junzi:

"Now the road is paved. All that remains is for you to walk it, Sir Li."

Li Junzi reached out to touch the stack of writings beside her, feeling the literary qi within.

Some burned like the dawn sun — young but fierce and pure.

Some shone like a full moon — cold and impartial, yet casting a thread of light through the dark night.

Some flowed like spring water — unbinding all things, knowing all things.

Writings from every school. Achievers from every tradition.

The New Policy had ultimately drawn countless ambitious scholars and great Confucians.

Li Junzi made her decision. She raised her eyes to Zhao Xuan:

"How can you say I walk this road alone? The path is already crowded beyond measure."

"We Confucian scholars — some call us stubborn, others scoff and dismiss us."

"But today, Confucian scholars have our own backbone."

"Let it be today."

Zhao Xuan’s eyes shook. He looked at Li Junzi, whose face carried traces of exhaustion, and his throat tightened. Every part of him wanted to ask — couldn’t you rest first?

But he understood. Sometimes, resolve was an intangible thing — something you could not touch or grasp.

Even when the body was exhausted, that spark of will could cut through thorns.

But without it, even a person in peak condition would surely fail.

Zhao Xuan suppressed his voice and answered in a low tone:

"Good..."

He lifted the lid of the box covering the imperial seal.

The State-Stabilizing Imperial Seal lay exposed — cracked and bearing fine fissures. Zhao Xuan lifted this seal, heavy as ten thousand rivers and tens of millions of lives, and pressed it onto the decree that had been prepared for longer than anyone could remember.

[In gratitude for Heaven’s grace above, in protection of all people and lands below]

[Today, the Xuanwu Kingdom of Southern Zhanbu Continent]

[In the name of the Emperor, with the State-Stabilizing Seal as witness]

[We hereby invoke the National Fortune of Xuanwu Kingdom — all scholars and officials of Xuanwu Kingdom, whether serving in court or living among the people, who sincerely wish to benefit the common folk, resist foreign enemies, serve the nation with sincerity, cultivate themselves, order their households, and govern the state]

[Shall partake in Xuanwu Kingdom’s National Fortune — martial artists with deficiencies shall have their roots cleansed, Confucian scholars who fail to awaken shall have their puzzles unlocked]

[Stationed upon official platforms, bearing the National Fortune upon their persons]

[Confucians shall not falter, warriors shall not decline]

The seal seemed to possess a spirit of its own. It could see that every word written below would cost the entire nation its fortune.

Zhao Xuan could lift it — but pressing it down, even across the thin gap between the seal and the parchment, took every last ounce of his strength.

"If Xuanwu Kingdom today can bring eternal prosperity to the human race — so that mortals no longer need to beg the immortals alone," Zhao Xuan’s low voice spoke, "I am willing to cast aside my royal life and become dust, to kowtow to my ancestors in the afterlife. Now — are you unwilling?"

The words fell.

The seal, which had been moving sluggishly, pressed down.

In the next instant.

The already-cracked seal shattered completely, transforming into pale yellow National Fortune that soared upward — becoming a five-clawed golden dragon that pierced through the sky.

Zhao Xuan’s hand went suddenly empty. He pressed it down onto the decree.

He drew a deep breath and lifted his hand slightly.

There, beneath the decree.

The imprint of Xuanwu Kingdom’s State-Stabilizing Seal had been stamped.