At night.
Great Shang’s royal palace was fully lit.
Yang Xindi sat on his throne, while Zhou Xuanji and the other nine victors sat on his right, and Great Shang’s high officials and general sat on his left. There were three rows of seats on both sides, and 100 of them were seated there.
Di Yu and Yang Renlong were among them.
“This year’s World Hero Conference really revealed a hero. Phoenix Sword Emperor, you really came to fame with this one battle. From tonight onward, your mighty name will be made known in all of Great Shang.”
An old man, dressed in a black robe, held up his wine cup and said with a smile on his friendly face. His hair was entirely white.
He was Great Shang’s State Teacher, Yang Zhongtian.
Yang Zhongtian was an extremely rare goat from the ancient days who cultivated into a demon. He lived for 10,000 years and his power was unfathomable.
It was said that he was at least on par with the Fury Buddha. No one knew how powerful he really was because he had high authority in his hand, which removed his need to do things personally.
Yang Zhongtian looked at Zhou Xuanji, still smiling, “I shall toast to you on behalf of Great Shang, for having such a hero in Great Shang.”
With this, everyone was surprised.
The State Teacher’s words were heavy with implications.
But Yang Xindi had no anger on his face but maintained his smile.
Zhou Xuanji calmly stood up with his wine cup and said, “The State Teacher is exaggerating. Great Shang has spiritual lands and is full of talented people. The Emperor dominates the Northern Wilderness Region, the Empire is peaceful, and his people flourish with desirable environments. I’m too puny for Great Shang. Today’s victory was because the rest let me win.”
What a d*ck!
* Want to destroy me with excessive praise?*
* No way!*
Yang Xindi heard him and burst out into laughter as he slapped his thigh.
Yang Renlong frowned slightly. He could see Yang Xindi’s attitude toward Zhou Xuanji.
Yang Zhongtian stroked his long beard and said, “The Phoenix Sword Emperor is really good with words. The future of Great Shang still depends on your help.”
After that, he raised and waved his right hand.
Immediately, soldiers walked up, carrying some plates.
A storage ring was on each plate. From the first to the tenth, each storage ring had different looks.
The other nine victors got up with excitement written all across their faces.
“The Myria-annum Thunder Core Grass was the supreme treasure, especially for physical cultivators.” Yang Xindi said with a smile.
Zhou Xuanji’s invincible body showed that he had great talents in physical cultivation.
He was curious; how powerful would a sword cultivator be if he had a terrifyingly strong body?
Zhou Xuanji took over the storage ring that belonged to him. He scanned with his mind and found three Myria-annum Thunder Core Grass inside.
Other than that, there were also a bunch of Level Four spirit stones, some enchanted artifacts, and energy technique manuals.
All in all, the reward was rich.
However, Zhou Xuanji was primarily focused on the Thunder Core Grass.
The rest received their own storage rings too.
Yang Zhongtian said with a smile, “Tomorrow, each of you can visit the different clans and sects. You can join whichever one you choose. Of course, you can join the army and become an official.”
Having heard this, Zhou Xuanji and the rest did not show their excitement.
To reach the top 10, who would be on their own?
Yang Xindi raised his cup with a smile, “Drink first. A great battle has just come to an end, so we must drink and enjoy ourselves.”
He immediately understood what was on everyone’s mind, so he diverted the topic.
Among all of them, he was only interested in Zhou Xuanji.
Next, everyone raised toasts to each other, livening up the palace.
Yang Zhongtian summoned the songstress to celebrate for everyone.
The wines in the royal palace were spirit wines, which were extremely strong. Even with everyone’s high cultivations, some were still drunk because they had too much wine.
Zhou Xuanji, as the final victor, was forced to drink the most.
Seeing the circles of people who surrounded him, he sighed.
Damn, I will compete with all of you till the end!
See who’s the last one to get drunk!
Finally, he fell on the table, drunk.
Looking at Zhou Xuanji’s drunken state, Yang Xindi smiled.
As the Emperor, no one dared to force any drink down his throat.
…
The sun’s radiance splashed in from the window, and Zhou Xuanji had a bad headache.
As he slowly regained his consciousness, he gradually opened his eyes.
After he was fully conscious, he jumped up from the bed.
With his hands wrapped around his head, he tried his best to remember what happened before he got drunk.
He looked up and surveyed his surroundings and realized that he was in a spacious and luxurious palace.
The storage ring that he got from the World Hero Conference was still on his right index finger.
He heaved a long sigh of relief.
“Damn… Got myself drunk again…”
Zhou Xuanji felt really scared. Fortunately, no one found out about his real identity, or else, he might have just died in this place.
But back then, he had to drink.
He cleared his mind before getting up to tidy his clothes.
At this moment, someone walked in bursting with laughter.
It was Yang Xindi.
“Hahaha! Zhou Menglang, you are finally awake.”
Yang Xindi walked briskly over, followed by Yang Zhongtian.
Zhou Xuanji cupped his fist but did not kneel down. It was enough to express his attitude.
Facing the Emperor of the cultivation world, he didn’t need to kneel before him.
Of course, one still had to show their respect to the Emperor, or else there would only be one outcome.
“No need for the formalities.”
Yang Xindi walked to the table and sat down. Yang Zhongtian, who was behind him, looked at Zhou Xuanji with a smile.
Zhou Xuanji raised his brow slightly. What happened next must have been trouble.
He walked up and asked, “I embarrassed myself before Your Highness.”
Yang Xindi waved his hand with a smile and said, “The others are still unconscious. You woke up quite quickly.”
At this, Zhou Xuanji could only maintain an awkward, yet polite smile.
“I, the Emperor, want to recruit you to be my personal guard, a Second Rank Official. What do you think?”
Yang Xindi got straight to the point. A Second Rank personal guard was considered the first in Great Shang.
In the other empires, no personal guard had such a high ranking.
Yang Zhongtian smiled as he stroked his long beard, “Great Shang will create a royal sword sect in the future. When that happens, Brother Zhou can be a sword teacher to the royal family.”
Teach the royal family!
When the next emperor came to power, Zhou Xuanji would become the Emperor’s teacher!
Zhou Xuanji was moved in his heart. He did not expect Yang Xindi to be this generous.
But he did not want to stay in Great Shang!
This was troublesome.
Yang Xindi favored him so much, so how could he reject the offer?
Once he rejected, would he be able to walk out of Chaoge Royal City alive?
Zhou Xuanji fell silent.
Yang Xindi poured himself some tea. He shook the cup gently as he casually spoke, “Zhou Menglang? What a good name. You have the same surname as Sword God Zhou. Not long ago, Lin Guanyu came here looking for Sword God Zhou. Such a coincidence, don’t you think?”
Zhou Xuanji squinted his eyes and was prepared to engage in combat at any time.
Yang Zhongtian continued, “Sword God Zhou was wanted by the Great Zhou, but not in Great Shang. We will put in a great number of resources to nurture you.”
“Yes, I admire you. Join Great Shang.”
Yang Xindi looked at Zhou Xuanji deep into his eyes and said with a genuine tone.
He really admired Zhou Xuanji.
Zhou Xuanji hesitated. All he thought about was how he could reject it.
Could he still be carefree if he stayed in Great Shang?
Booom!
At this moment, an earth-shaking explosion could be heard coming from outside the palace. Yang Xindi and Yang Zhongtian turned around to look instinctively.
“Hahaha! Yang Xindi! I’m interested in the Phoenix Sword Emperor too. Hand him over, or else I will turn CHaoge Royal City into a ruin!”
A cold and majestic female voice resounded. Her tone was lofty and intimidating.
It was as though Chaoge Royal City was nothing to her.
“Why is she here?” Yang Xindi shouted and his expression changed drastically.
…
