Chapter 401: Take It All!

Yun Yang immediately recalled something. The master Mi Kongqun had mentioned should be this very same eunuch... It seemed that the Four Seasons Tower's Supreme Lord Summer was Ziyou's Minister of Imperial Household. Would it be this man then? If it was this old fellow, he would very likely have a higher cultivation base than Supreme Lord Spring Frost!

Perhaps the Four Seasons Tower's Four Seasons Supreme Lords each had a cultivation base of heaven realm and Supreme Lord Spring Frost was only the weakest among them? He then thought about Supreme Lord Spring Frost being severely injured many years ago...

In Yun Yang's mind, things began to fall into place.

As if feeling Yun Yang's gaze upon him, the old eunuch lifted his head indifferently and glanced at Yun Yang with a dead-eyed stare. Yun Yang nodded at him with a smile as the old eunuch lowered his head humbly and followed the emperor out.

Yun Yang wore a gentle smile and warm gaze, but his in heart, he had viciously killed the old man countless times.

If it had not been this old thing, Yun Yang might already have taken the Empire of Ziyou's emperor hostage in exchange for Old Dugu! Now that this old thing was here, Yun Yang could not afford to act rashly.

Truth be told, he dared not act at all, rashly or otherwise. Not only would he fail, he might only succeed at getting himself killed instead.

Yun Yang, who had lost his manifestation powers, was only a normal cultivator of beginner heaven realm. To contend with a high-level force whose real ability was unknown was utter folly; his chance of winning was a slim one. What was more, he was right in the canter of the enemy country's capital.

Without further interruptions, His Majesty left. The words that had sent him away, though, finally attracted Yun Yang's attention.

"Your Majesty, the capital and the nearby locations have finished assembling the troops."

This was the reason the emperor had left.

It was night now.

What were they doing, gathering the army at night and having the emperor over?

There was only one possibility.

The time for war had arrived.

It was obvious who their enemy would be.

Yun Yang felt a weight in his heart.

Time.

He was trapped here and he could imagine what sort of pressure Yutang would face once the war began.

Yun Yang decided that he had to return as soon as possible.

When His Majesty had left, he left two boxes behind as well, as the crown prince and two expert guards who had come with him.

Lan Wuxin was awash with gratification, utterly honored by this grand gesture.

One of the boxes was the Empire of Ziyou's imperial jade seal! The other box contained the meteorite that had fallen from the sky so many years ago.

The siderite had existed since the Empire of Ziyou's establishment and had just been lying there for so many years. The royal academicians would naturally study it, but it was futile as the only conclusion they had arrived at was that the item was extremely heavy and was at least a hundred times heavier than mystical steel of the same size!

Mystical steel was already heavy, usually ten times heavier than common refined steel, but this siderite weighed a hundred times more. It was only imaginable how hefty it was. There was a subtle feeling of it falling anytime whenever it was placed on a table. The four table legs had already pressed marks into the sturdy floor of the hall.

The furniture in the Residence of Chancellor, especially those in Lan Wuxin's study, was the best of the best. The table that bore the weight of the two boxes was made of top-grade Crimson Wood; it was no chore for it to hold one or two thousand catties of weight, but looking at the current scene, it was obvious that the piece of siderite was a terribly heavy object indeed.

Yun Yang could not help feeling a rush of emotions.

Indeed, a figure who could become an emperor was no simple character.

This emperor of Ziyou had brought along two pieces of exquisite treasure, but he had not at all mentioned it when conversing with Yun Yang!

The generosity and elegance contained within his actions impressed Yun Yang and had him shaken a little.

If he were not Yutang's Supreme Cloud but the true legendary God of Wine, Feng Xiange, he would still be caught off-guard by such treatment.

It was like hearing a strike of thunder where it was soundless.

This emperor's skill in playing with power and manipulating people was remarkable!

"It's hard to doubt why the Empire of Ziyou could maintain its edge all these years. With such a generous leader endowed with such a bold vision, his nation would escalate easily as long as he was adept at governance. Each of these enemies Yutang faces is a hero of their time - it would make sense that these times are chaotic and full of unrest." Yun Yang thought quietly to himself.

A hero would definitely be known in times of war.

There would also be brilliant emperors in such times! However, if each contending nation had brilliant monarchs, then the war for hegemony would definitely be one that endured through the ages and colored the land red!

...

We have both the imperial jade seal and the siderite now!" Sun Chengfeng was beyond delight and a little impatient.

Yun Yang nodded nonchalantly and said, "That's right. Let me check if the core is inside, hopefully, we won't be disappointed."

The people on the spot immediately began to feel nervous.

The presence of the core of siderite was directly relevant to this Old Forefather's longevity and the perfection of Supreme Cloud's trap. It involved the fate of the nation - if Ziyou could prosper and reign for years to come!

It must have it, please have it!

Yun Yang touched the box and said, "This should be fine. The box used to contain the meteorite is actually made of Flamegold. The siderite is most probably equipped with the power of absorption. If so, this old man's confidence of about half has gone up to at least an eighth now that it will have the core inside."

Yun Yang did not slack, opening the box to see a piece of strange metal that was the color of igniting flame. The steel was in crimson red, looking like a ball of crystal flame that was burning all along.

In spite of the radiating blaze, no one near it felt the slightest tinge of heat.

Yun Yang smiled and took a piece of a metal strip over to put it on the steel. Gradually, the crowd realized with a start that the metal bar had shrunk!

After some time, it was entirely gone.

If they had not watched with wide, open, eyes, no one would have realized the process.

A hint of a smile laced Yun Yang's expression as he said, "This is what I meant by the power of absorption. In other words, there is a core within this siderite - a complete core at that too. I can't imagine that I actually found it here."

Lan Wuxin asked, "Elder Yun, can this be of help?"

Yun Yang answered, "Yes, but..."

He looked troubled and rather reluctant he said, "It's just a pity."

"Pity? Is that... not enough?" Sun Chengfeng was anxious as well.

Yun Yang sighed and said, "Of course it's sufficient, but this is something that involves Ziyou's fate as a nation... Once the core is extracted... there's a big chance this national treasure of nation's destiny will be destroyed! It's never a good thing to Empire of Ziyou."

Lan Wuxin said with a smile, "His Majesty has already thought of this when he took it out. He said then that despite the siderite being wonderful, it can only stay a symbol if kept with the Royals. After all, there's no one else other than the late founding emperor who could use the power of this siderite's core... If it could save Eder Yun and add another guarding pillar to the nation, it would be worthwhile, and His Majesty will be content!"

Yun Yang sucked in a long breath and said, "His Majesty is benevolent, this old and useless one is ashamed."

"Old Forefather, please utilize it quickly. It's urgent to recover this as soon as possible," Sun Changfeng said.

Yun Yang nodded and said, "Alight, it'll fine for Chengfeng alone to stay back. For the rest of you, please bestow this old man a little honor and go back to rest. I might take a very long time, at least one whole night will be needed. Absorbing the core of siderite into me will trigger the three-hundred-year-old injury; the collision will erupt dramatically and will result in a mess. Not only will it not be beneficial to watch, it might be harmful. This old man has to give my all to go through this stage and can barely protect the rest of you..."

The group that was there nodded understandingly.

It was something significant to tackle a seasoned injury of three hundred years old and Elder Yun, as a reclusive expert, must not want others to see the lamentable side of him in addition to the lurking danger.

Lan Wuxin excused himself as a head start while the crown prince spoke in a troubled voice, "This... uh..."

Yun Yang understood his expression and said formally, "This old man will take the Globule of People's Volition from the imperial jade seal first. so Your Highness can send it back before taking the core of siderite. The jade seal is an important national instrument, indeed it can't be left in public for long. It's an easy feat to take the globule of volition so it's fine for all of you to watch."

The crown prince blushed and replied, "Thank you for your understanding, Old Forefather."

The crown prince had no doubts about this Old Forefather whom the emperor came to visit - he dared not have any too. It was just that the jade seal held too much power, more so than the core of siderite that no one knew what its power was for!

The imperial jade seal was retrieved.

It was a big square-ish one.

Yun Yang's gaze flickered complexly.

Emmie was also waving about in his divine consciousness space, asking how much of the people's volition it should take.

"Ayaya?"

Yun Yang closed his eyes, before finally making it up in his mind and said, "Take it all!"

"Ayaya!" Emmie was shocked.

Take it all! Would this not be too brutal? This would genuinely shake the core of the Empire of Ziyou. Did you not say that it would take, at most, a tenth?

The people's volition that was contained within the imperial jade seal was intangible, existing almost like it did not, but still, it was something real and present.

Yun Yang did not know it at first and was only talking about it to fool everyone else. Even the methods he mentioned were simply rambles; he was only spewing nonsense while looking very serious. However, Emmie had chipped in inappropriately and said that it could really take the people's volition contained within the jade seal. The people's volition was also an energy - one that was very special!

As for the people's volition in the jade seal, it was all that was accumulated since thousands of years ago when the Empire of Ziyou was built. Once all of it was taken, it would be the same as taking all of the dedication the Empire of Ziyou's people had for their country.

In other words, once the energy was taken, it would make redundant the thousands of years of national fate cultivated by the Empire of Ziyou!

The fate or destiny of a nation was something mystical, yet real and present - one would be dead without breath, while a nation would be gone without fate!