Chapter 2373: Master Guangcheng’s Summons!
Translated by: Hypersheep325
Edited by: Michyrr
After that incident, Wang Chong and Li Xuantu had become much closer. There was nothing in court to bother them, and they were both Kings, so they had met to have some tea and snacks.
“Right, are you eating your breakfast or not?”
Li Xuantu suddenly extended two fingers and lightly rapped on the table before pointing at the breakfast on Wang Chong’s table.
There were several plates piled high with food, but he had only taken one bite and not touched it again.
“Take it.”
Wang Chong didn’t care that much. With a wave of his hand, he pushed over the breakfast foods and smiled.
Wang Chong was the owner of Taibai Pavilion, and the chefs were also his. Wang Chong had taught these chefs about all the foods from his first life, including these snacks.
But to his surprise, while he was an infrequent visitor to his own establishment, Li Xuantu was a frequent customer. Rice noodle rolls, preserved egg porridge with pork, soup dumplings, roast pork buns, prawn dumplings, shumai, sponge cake…
(TN: These are all foods that you would usually find on a Dim Sum menu, which didn’t start taking shape until the Song Dynasty.)
This new Virtuous King of the Great Tang had completely let go of his inhibitions. Whenever he came to this place, he would order all these things and then slowly enjoy them.
A voice came from behind them. “Your Highness, it’s getting late. Shouldn’t we head into the palace now? His Majesty is waiting.”
Upon hearing this, Li Xuantu put down a prawn dumpling and frowned.
“Alright, don’t make trouble for them.”
Wang Chong grinned and glanced at Li Jingzhong.
Wang Chong had originally had a poor impression of Li Jingzhong because of his original life course and the things he had done in the history that he had come from, but Li Xuantu seemed to hate Li Jingzhong for no particular reason. Whenever Li Jingzhong appeared, he would never have a very good look on his face.
Li Jingzhong had been here for some time. While the two of them had been eating breakfast, he had been silently waiting in the back, his waist bowed.
“Let’s go!”
Wang Chong didn’t want to make things particularly difficult for him. With a wave of his sleeve, he went downstairs with Li Jingzhong.
Their carriage passed through the streets and quickly entered the Imperial Palace.
In Taiji Palace, Wang Chong met with Li Heng.
Li Heng had grown much thinner, and that dragon robe woven specifically for him now seemed slightly too large.
“You’re here!”
Li Heng had been reviewing memorials on his throne, but upon seeing Wang Chong come in, he put down his brush and paper and walked over to welcome him, a smile on his face.
“This lowly subject pays respects to His Majesty!”
Wang Chong tidied his robe and bowed.
“Haha, there’s no need for you to be so courteous before Us.”
Li Heng smiled and helped Wang Chong up.
In the Celestial Palace incident, Wang Chong had saved the lives of the three million residents of the capital. If not for Wang Chong, the consequences would have been unthinkable. Together with the matter of the cold wave, Wang Chong had already saved the world twice.
Wang Chong’s contributions to the world had already transcended the Imperial Court. Li Heng had already announced to the court that Wang Chong did not need to follow the rules of the palace or display the necessary etiquette, and not even the most conservative officials had objected.
“Right, We forgot, you are no longer the King of Foreign Lands, but the Great Tang’s Supreme King. Are those things ready? Bring them in!”
Li Heng heartily laughed.
“Yes, Your Majesty!”
A palace attendant respectfully walked in, bowed at the waist and holding up a golden tray.
The tray had only a few objects: a white dragon robe with golden embroidery depicting a dragon, a document granting a title, and a dragon token that represented Wang Chong’s status as the Supreme King.
Wang Chong couldn’t help but be moved as he looked over the items on the tray.
Not long after the conclusion of the Celestial Palace incident, Li Heng had ignored Wang Chong’s objection and gathered the officials to discuss Wang Chong’s reward.
Li Heng had argued that Wang Chong had accomplished such a great feat that he needed to be rewarded. To reward merit and punish mistakes was a basic principle for a sovereign. If Li Heng did not do this, a sovereign’s word would no longer be trusted. Though Wang Chong had initially objected, these words made him give up on his objections.
In truth, whether it was in terms of government post or noble status, Wang Chong couldn’t be rewarded anything more. But Li Heng felt that though he could not give Wang Chong any substantial rewards, and he was already at the highest rank of nobility, he could still endow Wang Chong with a unique title and special privileges.
At the start, Li Heng had wanted to crown Wang Chong as the ‘Sovereign King’ to express his revered status, but this had caused intense objections from the officials, who believed that this could clash with the status of the sovereign. Later on, after discussing several titles, it was eventually decided to crown him the ‘Supreme King’.
The supreme was the highest, an indication that Wang Chong stood the highest of all the Kings.
There was originally no distinction of rank between Kings. This was the first time in the history of the Great Tang that a special title was granted superior to all the Kings of the imperial household, and this was even for someone who did not belong to the imperial household.
Besides this, Li Heng had also ordered the Bureau of Rites and Chamberlain of Dependencies to create a special robe and token for Wang Chong. That white and golden-threaded dragon robe was unique in the Great Tang.
Even Li Xuantu’s treatment could not compare in some aspects.
“Thank you, Your Majesty!”
“Hahaha, there is no need to be polite before Us!”
Li Heng patted Wang Chong on the shoulder, not holding himself like an Emperor at all.
“This is a joyous day that should be celebrated. At the very least, the Bureau of Rites should hold a ceremony. Alas, you insisted on something simple. If Xu Qiqin were here, she would definitely…”
Li Heng seemed to realize something and immediately shut his mouth.
Alas, he was just a little too slow…
All fell silent. Upon hearing Li Heng’s words, Wang Chong went stiff, pain appearing in his eyes.
Heaven had captured many people: the Demonic Emperor Old Man, the Wushang Village Chief, Su Zhengchen, Zhangchou Jianqiong… but Wang Chong’s fiancée, Xu Qiqin, had seemingly completely disappeared.
When the Celestial Palace collapsed, Wang Chong had originally believed that Xu Qiqin had been imprisoned with the Demonic Emperor Old Man and the others. But even after everyone else had gotten out, there was still no sign of Xu Qiqin. It was like she had completely vanished.
Everyone knew about this, and they knew of Xu Qiqin’s special place in Wang Chong’s mind. If Heaven had not appeared, they would already be married. Thus, they had all tacitly agreed to not mention this matter in front of Wang Chong.
“My apologies. We misspoke,” Li Heng apologetically said.
“I know.”
Wang Chong shook his head, his eyes dim.
Wang Chong absentmindedly left the Imperial Palace, not even caring which direction he went.
After the Celestial Palace was taken care of, Wang Chong had dispatched all his subordinates and tried every method at his disposal to find Xu Qiqin. But all of his efforts had failed. Wang Chong knew that Heaven had definitely taken away Xu Qiqin, perhaps even before he had entered the Celestial Palace. He would not be able to find her unless he found out where Heaven’s original body was sealed.
But now that Heaven’s avatar was dead, everything had gone up in smoke. He didn’t even know where Essence Supreme and the others had run off to, let alone where Heaven’s original body was.
The Sage Emperor had already spent several decades doing the same, trying everything in his power to find out where Heaven was sealed, but he had failed.
The Sage Emperor had spent several decades in fruitless effort, so how could Wang Chong do much better?
After leaving the Imperial Palace, Wang Chong grew more and more depressed and melancholy. It was like there was a large stone on his chest, squashing his lungs.
Whoosh!
Finally, after traveling several hundred feet, Wang Chong began to sprint for all his worth in a single direction.
After a long, long while, when he felt like his Stellar Energy was beginning to flow less evenly, he stopped.
Around him were mountains and lush forests. Wang Chong had no idea where he was, but there was no doubt that he was far away from the capital.
At Wang Chong’s level of cultivation, it was no easy task to consume all his Stellar Energy, and exhausting himself like an ordinary person was simply impossible. But he had managed to release some of the pain and pressure on his heart.
Qiqin, no matter what, I will save you!
Wang Chong looked up at the sky, clenching his fists as he mentally swore an oath.
After a long while, once his heart had calmed down, Wang Chong prepared to head back to the capital. There were many things he needed to take care of.
“Wang Chong, do you have time? I have something to discuss with you!” A voice rang out in Wang Chong’s ears.
Wang Chong was taken aback by this voice, but he quickly realized that it was Master Guangcheng.
“Senior?”
He was more than one thousand li from the capital, and Master Guangcheng had lost his physical body a long time ago. Wang Chong had never imagined that he would be able to sense his location over such a long distance.
Wang Chong immediately spread out his Psychic Energy, but he found no sign of Master Guangcheng’s energy signal in the surrounding several dozen li.
This was simply unbelievable!
Despite his confusion, Wang Chong quickly responded.
“Okay!”
A golden Halo of Spacetime appeared, and Wang Chong stepped through this spacetime passage and vanished.
Four hours later, beneath the Western Mausoleum, Wang Chong met with Master Guangcheng once more. This time, Master Guangcheng seemed to have an even more solemn expression than at their first meeting.
“Senior, you wanted to see me?” Wang Chong asked.
“I don’t have much time left.”
Master Guangcheng’s first words scared Wang Chong out of his wits.
“Senior, you…”
Wang Chong instantly turned nervous.
“Don’t misunderstand. In my current state, I’m not easy to kill, even if countless epochs pass. But this sort of immortality comes with a price. In helping you enter the Celestial Palace, I exhausted my soul. I will probably have to enter a state of hibernation soon,” Master Guangcheng sternly said.