Alchemy Emperor of the Divine Dao c1-1294

by Flying Alone 孤单地飞

  Ling Han landed his shuttle.

  “Identify yourself!” A group of soldiers instantly surrounded him.

  “I’m Ling Han, a student from the Scarlet Heaven Academy!” Ling Han reported his identity to the soldiers.

  The soldiers didn’t dare believe him unreservedly, and hurriedly went to invite members of the Scarlet Heaven Academy to verify Ling Han’s claim.

  “Ling Han!” Zhao Lun immediately ran over. Upon seeing Ling Han, the expression on his face became indescribably strange.

  Suffering a heavy defeat on his mission to launch a surprise attack on the Golden Lion Nation had dealt a heavy blow to his confidence. It had been his first time leading an army, after all, and such a result was a humiliating stain on his pride as the son of a Great General.

  However, he still consoled himself in his mind, convincing himself that his loss had been justified. After all, the enemy had ambushed them with hundreds of elites at the Sun Moon Tier. Moreover, Ling Han had also been captured by the Golden Lion Nation, and would almost certainly be killed.

  Right now, however, Ling Han was standing before him unscathed, so how could his expression not be dark?

  “How did you manage to make it back alive?” He humphed, and said, “You definitely betrayed us and surrendered to the enemy. That’s why they released you… as a spy!”

  Zhao Lun’s words sent a wave of commotion through the encampment.

  There was one kind of person that soldiers hated the most—traitors!

  Ling Han smiled calmly, and said, “Heir Zhao, through which of your eyes do I look like a traitor? Don’t spout nonsense if you don’t have any evidence. Otherwise, even though you’re the son of Great General Zhao, I’ll still have to go with you to resolve this situation before the empress!”

  Zhao Lun humphed coldly, and said, “We were ambushed, and I was only able to break through the heavy encirclement thanks to the protection of my treasured armor. How were you able to escape? Moreover, you’ve returned several days after me, so is it wrong for me to assume that you surrendered after being captured?”

  Since he hadn’t been able to kill Ling Han on the battlefield, he might as well pin another crime to his name. This was a crime that concerned betrayal! If Ling Han was found guilty, there would be absolutely no need to interrogate him before the empress. Rather, they would be able to punish him according to military regulations and kill him on the spot!

  Ling Han smiled faintly, and said, “Heir Zhao is truly a brilliant storyteller! The situation had been so desperate, and I’m neither at the Sun Moon Tier, nor do I have any treasured armors to protect me. Thus, I could only escape without any regard for where I was heading. I only arrived back here after running around in a massive circle, so it’s only natural that I arrived several days after Heir Zhao.”

  Zhao Lun pointed at Ling Han, and roared, “Enough with the excuses!”

  Ling Han shrugged, and said, “Heir Zhao, you need evidence to back up your claims. Otherwise, I’ll take you to court for defamation.”

  Zhao Lun looked at him intently before saying, “I will find the evidence!” He aggressively swept his robe through the air as he left.

  ‘Headstrong and narrow-minded.’

  Ling Han critiqued Zhao Lun in his mind, and then immediately headed off to find the Ninth King. The matters surrounding the Nine Demons Sword were incredibly important, and had to be reported as soon as possible. Otherwise, the Eternity Sky Emperor would genuinely be able to act as he pleased if he were to obtain the complete Nine Demons Swords.

  “Ling Han!” Shui Yanyu came out to meet him, and tears involuntarily flowed down her face when she saw him.

  The assault squad had been annihilated, and only Zhao Lun had managed to make it back alive. This caused pessimism to permeate through the camp, with everyone believing that those who had failed to return were all dead.

  Although Shui Yanyu was confident in Ling Han’s abilities, she still couldn’t help but become anxious after failing to see him return after one, two, and then three days. Now that Ling Han had finally returned, she felt as if a heavy weight had been lifted off her shoulders. At the same time, a feeling of weakness swept through her entire body.

  Chapter 1070 - The Empress’ Military Expedition

  Chapter 1070: The Empress’ Military Expedition

  Ling Han walked over and hugged her lightly before saying, “Don’t worry. Have you forgotten how many trump cards I have?”

  Shui Yanyu remained silent and simply buried her head in his chest.

  Ling Han was especially touched upon sensing this beautiful woman’s care for him. However, this was no time to indulge in love.

  “We need to visit the Ninth King first. I discovered an earth-shattering secret,” Ling Han said.

  He sought an audience with Hu Feiyun, and when she learned that he had returned, she happily invited him over, saying, “Zhao Lun actually dragged you into the assault squad and made me worry for so long! Thankfully, you’re fine!”

  Ling Han smiled, and said, “Thank you for your concern, Ninth King. However, I discovered some astonishing information in the enemy camp, and I must immediately return to the Imperial Capital to report this to the empress!”

  Hu Feiyun blinked her large eyes, and asked, “Is it really that serious?”

  The empress had to deal with a myriad of affairs every day, and she also had to cultivate on top of that. Ling Han was merely at the Mountain River Tier, so what right did he have to request an audience with the empress?

  “Mm-hm, it’s extremely serious!” Ling Han said with a nod.

  Hu Feiyun pondered for a moment, and then promptly said, “Okay, we’ll return right away!”

  If she didn’t go, Ling Han would have absolutely no way of meeting Empress Luan Xing.

  Her personality was fairly rash, and she immediately handed full control of the army to Zhao Lun. She had slacked off the entire time anyway, so this had absolutely no impact at all.

  Although Zhao Lun fervently opposed her decision, how could he stop the Ninth King?

  Ling Han, Shui Yanyu, and the Ninth King squeezed into the Cloud Piercing Shuttle and immediately set off for the Chaotic Stars Majestic Empire.

  They had spent a full two months when marching there, yet they only needed a mere three, four days to return. It could be seen just how quick the Cloud Piercing Shuttle was.

  When they arrived at the Majestic Empire’s capital, Ling Han landed the Cloud Piercing Shuttle before the city gates. No one dared to fly flight treasures into the Imperial Capital. If they did, they would be immediately shot down.

  Hu Feiyun led the way, so they naturally didn’t come across any obstacles, and arrived before the Imperial Palace in no time.

  Hu Feiyun asked the female guards to report their arrival, and after waiting for a few hours, they were finally invited inside by the empress.

  They were given an audience with Empress Luan Xing in a side palace.

  “Big Sister!” Hu Feiyun immediately sprinted over, and shouted, “I’ve missed you so much!”

  Empress Luan Xing was sitting atop a throne, which was elevated one and a half meters above the ground to begin with. She exuded a profound might as she looked down at them. Her beautiful face was still shrouded in a misty aura, making it impossible to see her face clearly. However, her slender and flawless figure still radiated an irresistible charm.

  Ling Han kneeled on one knee, and said, “Ling Han pays his respects, Your Imperial Majesty!”

  Shui Yanyu hadn’t come with him, as there was absolutely no need for her to be dragged into this matter. She had only returned because she was worried about what might happen if she were to remain on the front lines. Zhao Lun was still there, after all, and who knew whether he would become deranged and do something crazy?

  Empress Luan Xing gazed at Ling Han coldly, not calling for him to stand up, either. The pressure from her gaze was like the weight of a mountain.

  Even Hu Feiyun didn’t dar
e speak up for Ling Han at this moment. No one could challenge the empress’ might.

  “You’re a member of the army yourself, so why did you encourage the Ninth King to return?” Empress Luan Xing finally spoke, and there was a hint of displeasure in her voice.

  Ling Han realized that the empress wasn’t angry about them returning without regard for the battle on the front lines. Rather, she was displeased about his influence on Hu Feiyun, who had returned on his whim.

  He had no time to worry about this, and he said, “This subject has discovered an astonishing secret that I must immediately report to Your Majesty. However, this subject’s status is low, preventing me from seeking an audience with you, Your Majesty. Thus, I could only seek help from the Ninth King.”

  “What secret?” Empress Luan Xing finally put the matter regarding Ling Han’s influence on the Ninth King aside—at least for the moment.

  Ling Han organized his thoughts before reporting to the empress. He started from how the assault squad had been ambushed by the Eternity Sky Majestic Empire and recounted all the way until how the Eternity Sky Emperor had obtained the Nine Demons Sword.

  “Ah!” The color immediately drained from Hu Feiyun’s face. She shook Empress Luan Xing’s arm, and frantically said, “Big Sister, what should we do?”

  Empress Luan Xing remained calm and composed. She said, “I had heard that an Imperial Empire[1] had existed on the Joint Peace Planet countless years ago. This empire was ruled by the ancient ancestors of the Chang Clan. However, a large battle erupted, resulting in the destruction of the empire that was ruled by the Chang Clan. The empire that usurped their place was the Jade Drop Imperial Empire.

  “However, the Jade Drop Imperial Empire also suffered several great calamities, which caused all of their elites to die. There was no young generation to replace them, causing their overall power to fall dramatically. In the end, the Chang Clan rose again and established the Eternity Sky Majestic Empire, which remains hostile toward the Jade Drop Majestic Empire to this day.”

  Ling Han couldn’t help but feel surprised upon hearing this. ‘So there’s actually so much history and deep hatred between the two other Majestic Empires.

  ‘If that’s the case, that means the Jade Drop Majestic Empire and Eternity Sky Majestic Empire have both had supreme elites at the Eternal River Tier. The Chaotic Stars Majestic Empire has the weakest origin, and has only existed for a mere one million years or so.’

  This was an incredibly long time if placed in the small world, yet in the Immortal Realm, one million years was genuinely not a long time. Which of the two other Majestic Empires didn’t have a history of over one hundred million years? If one were to take their preceding empires into account, this number would increase to an even more frightening amount.

  Empress Luan Xing ferociously stood up, and said, “I’ll personally lead a military expedition!”

  “Big Sister, the Eternity Sky Emperor has already obtained the Nine Demons Sword, so why don’t we ask the Jade Drop Emperor to target him together with us? Otherwise, it’ll be too dangerous!” Hu Feiyun immediately tried to dissuade the empress.

  “No need!” Empress Luan Xing was brimming with confidence.

  Ling Han knew that part of her confidence stemmed from the Absolute Beginning Stone—a stone that could absorb all attacks.

  Although the Nine Demons Sword was powerful, it was only at the Eternal River Tier, which was far below the upper limit of what the Absolute Beginning Stone could absorb. With this stone in hand, Empress Luan Xing naturally didn’t need to worry about the Nine Demons Sword anymore.

  Empress Luan Xing glanced at Ling Han for a short moment. It was evident that she had guessed his thoughts.

  Ling Han wore a serious expression and didn’t show a hint of smugness.

  Empress Luan Xing retracted her gaze upon seeing this. Heavenly bodies undulated behind her as she took a step forward and shot into the sky. She immediately became a small dot that disappeared in the distant sky.

  This empress was extremely swift in her decisions, and she immediately set off upon saying that she would lead a military expedition.

  “Let’s head off too!” Ling Han hurriedly ran out of the Imperial Palace with Hu Feiyun. However, they weren’t Empress Luan Xing, so they obviously didn’t dare to fly in the Imperial Capital. They left the Imperial Capital before retrieving the Cloud Piercing Shuttle and flying toward the Eastern Rain Nation.

  The Golden Lion Nation had already retreated by the time that they arrived.

  No one on the frontlines knew that Empress Luan Xing had already fought a battle against the Eternity Sky Emperor—they were all stumped as to why the Golden Lion Nation had suddenly retreated. They could only speculate that it was because the secret of the Golden Lion Nation having the support of elites from the Eternity Sky Majestic Empire had been revealed. Perhaps they were afraid that the Chaotic Stars Majestic Empire would launch an all-out war, and thus they chose to retreat to avoid this scenario.

  The war suddenly concluded.

  However, Ling Han knew that Empress Luan Xing had definitely won. At the very least, she had had the advantage.

  ‘The Absolute Beginning Stone is so kickass!’

  If it hadn’t been for the Absolute Beginning Stone, it was extremely likely that Empress Luan Xing would have suffered a defeat. Moreover, if it weren’t for the fact that the Eternity Sky Emperor only had the hilt of the Nine Demons Sword, it was possible that even the Absolute Beginning Stone wouldn’t have been able to block his attacks.

  The Absolute Beginning Stone was only the size of a palm, after all, so how many strikes could it block?

  The Eternity Sky Emperor had already been severely wounded, so his strength had definitely been affected. Add to that the might of the Absolute Beginning Stone, and Empress Luan Xing was able to defeat him.

  However, no one knew what the result of their battle was. Was the Nine Demons Sword still in the Eternity Sky Emperor’s possession? Or… had it been snatched by Empress Luan Xing and become her spoils of war?

  It was worth noting that the Nine Demons Sword was a God Tool at the Eternal River Tier, so even Empress Luan Xing wouldn’t be able to refine it. This was because her bloodline wasn’t related to that of the sword, and her cultivation level was also far from being strong enough to suppress the sword.

  [1] An empire level higher than Majestic Empire. Blame the author for his naming.

  Chapter 1071 - Crime of Treason

  The war ended, and after everyone returned to the Imperial Capital, Zhao Lun immediately handed an indictment over to the Ministry of War, reporting Ling Han’s action of defecting during the war.

  Zhao Lun was Deputy Commander of the troops, so the indictment he handed in naturally was taken seriously by the Ministry of War, what more when Zhao Lun was also the only son of the Great General Zhao. His status was considerably noble, so no one would dare to treat this as a small matter.

  Hence, a large-scale investigation was immediately launched.

  The situation was indeed quite suspicious.

  Ling Han might be extremely genius—this was a publicly acknowledged fact. However, no matter how much of a genius you were, your actual cultivation level was there to be seen. You were only at the peak stage of the medium extreme, and even if you could exceed five stars in actual battle, that would only be battle prowess worth the early stage of the consummate level.

  There had been so many students in the middle stage, late stage, and peak stage of consummate level, and they had all been captured. How was it that only he managed to escape?

  Following the end of the war, the captured students were naturally released. Some of them swore that they had seen with their own eyes that Ling Han had been summoned to be interrogated by the enemy soldiers, after which he was no longer imprisoned together with them.

  It seemed like there were also witnesses as well.

  “False accusations, these are all brazen false accusations!” After Shui
Yanyu heard it, she was naturally incredibly furious.

  She knew some of Ling Han’s secrets. With the Black Tower, how could Ling Han have been captured? Furthermore, Ling Han had discovered the conspiracy of the Eternity Sky Majestic Empire, allowing the empress to move personally.

  That showed how important the information that Ling Han had brought back was!

  Ling Han was a subject that had done outstanding service for the empire, yet Zhao Lun was presently making use of his public office to avenge a private grudge. He had also collaborated with others to frame Ling Han. This was really the style of a vile character, shameless to the extreme!

  Ling Han chuckled, and said, “I have snatched his favorite, so he is using underhanded means to pay me back. The more shameless and contemptible his means are, the more it shows how much he is hurt!”

  Shui Yanyu rolled her eyes at him, and asked, “You are actually not the slightest bit worried?”

  Zhao Lun was now boosting support for his campaign, building up the public opinion that Ling Han was a traitor to the empire. Once everyone believed Ling Han was a traitor, then no matter what the truth was, it would no longer be important. By that time, would the Shui Clan still be willing to marry their daughter off to Ling Han?

  Ling Han smiled, and said, “If worrying was useful, then I would worry. Who asked me to be isolated and without help?”

  “You can ask the Ninth King for help!” Shui Yanyu piped up immediately.

  Ling Han shook his head. Empress Luan Xing had already expressed displeasure over the relationship between him and Hu Feiyun. If he went to ask for the Ninth King’s help at this moment, he was afraid that the empress would really do something to him.

  “Don’t,” he said. “Zhao Lun is only a clown performing his antics. As long as one person speaks up, then no matter how much these people are jumping all over the place, it would be a waste of effort.”