Chapter 483 - 433: Widespread Dissent

Chapter 483: Chapter 433: Widespread Dissent

The Emperor seemed to have gone mad.

In the year Li Chengyuan had been leading the campaign personally, he had buried prisoners of war alive over a hundred times and massacred the populations of no fewer than several dozen cities.

This was no longer a war; it seemed to be nothing but slaughter for the sake of pleasure.

Such cruel methods made it seem that not even Ren Tu—the unparalleled killer who had buried a million people alive at the founding of Xuan Yang—could compare to him.

The Witch Race’s resistance grew ever more ferocious, showing signs of fighting the Southern Garrison Army to the death. Many great scholars from the academies could no longer bear to watch and submitted memorials to admonish him.

The Confucian Family valued benevolence and righteousness above all. Li Chengyuan’s actions undoubtedly violated their teachings, yet he did not even bother to conceal them.

But Li Chengyuan listened to none of it, casting all their advice aside. He continued his slaughter without any sign of stopping.

In the Southern Border, inside a Witch Race city.

The city had been transformed into a city of blood. The phrase "fields of corpses" from the history books had become a horrifying reality, a sight one could not bear to look at for long.

Li Chengyuan, almost pathologically, had slaughtered nearly ten thousand people with his own hands, the very picture of extreme cold-bloodedness.

The King of Qingzhou, Li Kangyan, and the Grand General of the South, Tong Kang, exchanged a glance, each seeing the fear in the other’s eyes. However, neither had any intention of stopping him, because Li Chengyuan had once again reached the Transcendent Realm.

No one knew what methods the Emperor had used, but his combat strength had soared. In just one year, he had overcome the aftereffects of the qi-luck backlash and had nearly returned to his peak condition.

Li Chengyuan sliced off the head of the last Witch Race child, his eyes filled with a craving for blood.

However, his expression quickly returned to normal.

"Royal Brother, General Tong, those not of our race are bound to have different hearts. These members of the Witch Race dared to be the first to rebel. They must be suppressed with severe punishment, or their treachery will never die."

"Yes."

Li Kangyan and Tong Kang were long since unfazed by such situations.

Li Chengyuan took a deep, satisfied breath. The rampaging power within his body enthralled him.

"We have been on this campaign for a year now. It is time to return to the capital. We shall leave matters here to the two of you."

Hearing this, a barely perceptible glint of joy flashed in Tong Kang’s eyes.

’I really don’t want to stay with His Majesty the Emperor any longer,’ he thought.

...

In the Spring of the 53rd Year of Yuanding, the Imperial Palace finally welcomed back its long-absent Emperor.

But not long after Emperor Li Chengyuan returned to the Imperial Palace, a notable incident occurred in the Capital City: the night before the Emperor’s arrival, the Third Prince fled the city. No one knew the reason why.

After returning to the capital, Li Chengyuan’s behavior returned to normal once more.

He even held morning court for seven consecutive days, which made many ministers breathe a secret sigh of relief. As long as Emperor Li Chengyuan remained normal, the rebels in Xuan Yang would not be able to stir up any major trouble.

But just as everyone thought that Xuan Yang would soon return to peace, the Xuankong Temple suddenly made a move.

A piece of news that shook the world began to spread like wildfire.

Emperor Li Chengyuan was cultivating the Evil Refining Technique, using blood qi to replenish his qi-luck!

And the one who exposed this news was none other than the Third Prince, Li Wei.

The eminent monks of Xuankong Temple had the hearts of Bodhisattvas, but they could also display the fury of Vajras. The abbot of Xuankong Temple went so far as to declare that he would lead the temple’s monk soldiers to eradicate this evil for the world and restore peace.

With Xuankong Temple taking the lead, many major sects and prominent clans in the Central Plains and Jiangnan also took action.

They all used the same pretext: that the Emperor lacked virtue and was harming all living beings.

The Third Prince, Li Wei, not only exposed that Emperor Li Chengyuan was cultivating a demonic technique, but also informed the world that Li Chengyuan had deliberately instigated the war in the Southern Border for his own selfish desires. Only then did the people of the world have a sudden realization: no wonder the Emperor’s behavior in the Southern Border had been so abnormal—it was all to heal his injuries.

For a time, the number of people vowing to enter the capital and crusade against him grew ever larger.

This justification was thousands, even tens of thousands of times better than the Celestial Profound Sect’s blatant rebellion.

The world would still belong to the Li Family; it would just be a different person in charge.

The Li Royal Race had never been a monolith, and Li Chengyuan currently had many princes capable of inheriting the throne. The actions of the Jianghu army, led by Xuankong Temple, did not violate the principles of the Confucian Family.

A certain Confucian Sub-Saint once said: "If a ruler has great faults, admonish him; if he repeatedly refuses to listen, then he should be replaced."

Now, with heaven’s anger and the people’s resentment already stirred, adding Li Chengyuan’s world-condemned evil methods to the mix naturally led to cries for a crusade from all corners.

Of course, many among them were opportunists with malicious intent.

Li Chengyuan had been ambitious, wanting to purge the Jianghu. When he was in his prime, naturally no one dared to stand up and resist. Now that he was in decline, they were all kicking him while he was down.

Countless people in the world cultivated evil techniques; Li Chengyuan’s case was simply far more impactful because he was the Emperor.

These people just wanted to replace him with a more obedient Emperor.

「In the great hall.」

Of the hundred or so officials who typically attended morning court, less than half remained.

Even three of the Six Ministers had already resigned from their posts. Although Li Chengyuan had suppressed all their letters of resignation, it was still to no avail.

Such are the ways of scholars.

A gentleman does not stand beneath a crumbling wall.

In the eyes of those officials, neither Li Chengyuan nor the Xuankong Temple, which was currently amassing an army, were good options. A victory for either side would bring them no benefit.

"Bastards!"

Li Chengyuan’s eyes were filled with violence. Gazing at the sparsely scattered ministers in the great hall, he felt an inexplicable surge of irritation.

’It’s the Heart Demon!’

He was abruptly jolted to his senses.

He knew that rapidly recovering his strength would exact a heavy price. An external evil had entered his body—what was commonly known in the Jianghu as cultivation deviation.

Li Chengyuan was gradually starting to lose control.

At that moment, the old Minister from the Ministry of Personnel spoke slowly, "Your Majesty, the only plan now is to issue an imperial edict of self-criticism. Then, recall Grand General Xu, appease the nations of Ximo with benefits, and then we can plan our next steps slowly."

"You want Us to issue an edict of self-criticism?"

Li Chengyuan stared coldly at the old Minister of the Ministry of Personnel.