Chapter 1237 Judgment Day for the Emperor Race
The [Emperor's Roar to Oppose Heaven]. But what Ye Qingyu remembered did not hold any particular meaning. If he had to put a meaning to it, then he would be targeting the Sky Emperor. "Since you call yourself the Sky Emperor, then let my Emperor's Roar oppose Heaven." Ye Qingyu's intention to dominate the Sky Emperor could be considered as him being hellbent on going against the latter. He believed that once the Emperor's Roar reached the Sky Emperor's ears, he would understand his intention.
The roar that signaled a rebellion reverberated throughout Royal City.
In the sky, the awe-inspiring Way of the Emperor continued to traverse.
Ye Qingyu went looking for Lin Nanzhu and the others. Fortunately, Mo Weinan's mother was not caught up in the conflagration. He could finally be at ease now.
The next day, Ye Qingyu visited all of the critical points of Royal City throughout the day.
He inspected and altered the various formations in the city.
The number of defensive and offensive formations of Royal City, as well as various formations within the city, was uncountable under the guidance of the Guardian camp over the span of ten million years. It was a gathering of great accomplishments in the formation martial way of that time. Many of the formations from that time were personally laid down by the successive Martial Emperors. Some of them might even be the work of the Sky Emperor.
Ye Qingyu carefully inspected and altered all of these formations one by one to prevent the Sky Emperor from leaving via escape routes in the formations in the city. If they counterattacked someday, the city would instantly collapse without being able to put up a fight.
His ideas proved to be correct.
Having traversed through the pivots of the defensive formations, he truly discovered many flaws and clues that typically would not be evident. The formations would not react abnormally when activated either. However, once someone manipulated these flaws, the majority of the principal defensive formations of the city would be rendered useless in an instant. It was to such an extent that destructive explosions would go off, blasting the entire Royal City into ruins.
Ye Qingyu spent an entire day examining the formations one by one.
He went so far as to inspect the pivot of all of the formations three or four times and amended all of the flaws and clues that he found.
Throughout the process, he found ten flaws that seemed to be the Sky Emperor's work. He went through several rounds of inspections before discovering them. If not for his superior and peerless cultivation in formations, he would truly have been fooled. This exercise also gained him new knowledge of the Sky Emperor's cultivation and strength. Obviously, the Sky Emperor's skills in formations were not beneath his own.
The inspection exercise was also a learning experience.
It was particularly valuable for Ye Qingyu, a present-day great master of formations. He was able to see with his own eyes the different kinds of formations that the Martial Emperors of the Guardians' camp amended and reinforced over several million years. He felt as if he was looking at the evolution of the formations from different denominations and schools of thought over millions of years. The several hundreds of denominations appeared before him, presenting him with a great opportunity to learn and master his skills. It was a way for him to bring his skills in formations to inconceivable heights.
That one day had greatly rewarded Ye Qingyu.
When dawn arrived, he showed up at the military headquarters of the Great Hall of Policy.
Right then, the hall was so packed that the stairs and the small public square outside were filled with fighters from all races. It was the first time in the past thousands of years that the military headquarters was this boisterous.
Ye Qingyu ordered all the nobles above the rank of marquis to come to court, regardless if they held true authority, de jure power, or a hereditary rank. The might of the new Emperor was upon them. No one dared to play any tricks knowing it was the first time the divine Great Emperor was holding court. Even large noble clans like the Sky-reaching, Dark Feather, and Lofty Mountain representatives were all present. Thus, the entire Great Hall of Policy was swarming with people.
The large noble clans were all nervous about the arrival of the new Emperor.
The members of the great Emperor clans, in particular, had questioned their respective ancestors for advice last night but received no response. When their ancestors entered into seclusion to cultivate, they upheld their silence regardless of what was asked of them. They found this strange, but they dared not barge into their ancestor's seclusion ground. They had no choice but to return in resentment and come here to pay their respects to the new Emperor.
The only happy faces belonged to the marquises of the Sun clan.
Great Commander Sun Yi, who had become the current master of the Sun clan, was the focus of everyone's attention.
The main families of the Emperor clans of Royal City had their own information network. By the end of the day, they also came to know that Sun Yi had gained the new Emperor's trust and become the new Emperor's unofficial spokesperson for the military headquarters. His meteoric promotion was essentially set in stone. Moreover, the "ten new nobles" serving the new Emperor got their positions through Sun Yi's selection and recommendation. Just two days ago, the Sun clan had been on the brink of extinction. Sun Yi was also the laughing stock of the nobles. However, he had practically become the new Emperor's right-hand man overnight.
Of course, this was because the new Emperor's other favored subordinate, Marquis Tingtao, Lin Xuan, was not in Royal City.
Without a doubt, Sun Yi and Lin Xuan would remain household names for a very long time.
The sun rose, illuminating the dignified and solemn Great Hall of Policy.
Everyone was waiting patiently.
Suddenly, someone inside the hall cried out, "Your Majesty!"
The nobles waiting on the stone steps and in the public square beneath shivered on the inside, knowing that the heaven-defying Great Emperor who opposed heaven itself was about to arrive. They immediately stopped their hushed discussions and kneeled down, shouting, "Your Majesty!" There were too many people in the audience at this time. Those who were given the right to enter the Great Hall of Policy and occupy a seat were all leaders from the Emperor clans as well as former bigshots of the military headquarters.
Second by second, time slipped by.
The deadly quiet Great Hall of Policy slowly became filled with noise, but those waiting outside could not hear it too clearly. Nearly an hour later, the crowd saw more than ten people walking out of the hall. They were the leaders of the Emperor clans. With resentful expressions, they climbed onto their flying vehicles and left without delay.
"What has happened?"
The nobles kneeling outside the hall were dumbfounded. They had the feeling that something bad had happened.
The sun gradually climbed higher.
The heaven-defying Great Emperor's first court proceeding lasted approximately six hours.
The proceeding only ended when it was nearly midday.
The nobles outside the hall did not meet the heaven-defying Great Emperor as per their imagination and anticipation. They remained in confusion until the morning court was over, not knowing what had taken place inside the hall. The proceeding this time was indeed strange. The celebration that they imagined would happen to celebrate the new Emperor was nowhere to be seen. Instead, the entire process took place in a silent yet thrilling atmosphere. This slowly became a demonstration of the new Emperor's distinct style.
One of the "ten new nobles" emerged from the hall and declared the end of the morning court proceedings.
The nobles kneeling outside, important and unimportant alike, exchanged looks before slowly rising to their feet.
What they saw next was the mass of princes, commanders-in-chief, and clan leaders walking out with grim expressions. Their solemnity carried a hint of anger that they were afraid to express. Some even looked so despondent that they looked like their souls had left them. They all looked somber and said nothing. Some smiling marquises and sovereigns went up to greet and pay their respects, but most were given the cold shoulder. They ended up making fools of themselves.
"Just exactly what has happened?"
"It seems like the first meeting between the new Emperor and the bigshots of the Emperor clans didn't go very well."
Some of the nobles started getting anxious.
However, the mystery did not last long.
Soon enough, the truth of what happened during the heaven-defying Great Emperor's first court proceeding started spreading throughout Royal City like the descent of a storm.
The new Emperor had suppressed the Emperor clans by depriving them of their prerogatives in Royal City.
He even imposed a heavier tax on them. Moreover, they would be subject to a new tax percentage to make up for the tax arrears of the past hundred years.
Besides this, the military headquarters was also under the new Emperor's reformation plan. Sun Yi of the Sun clan took the helm and became the new commander of the military. Tingtao, who was out of the city, was named his right-hand man. Nie Tiankong of the Nie clan was also given an important position. These were well within everyone's expectations. What shocked and agitated them was certain measures taken in the reformation plan. Aside from Sun Yi, Lin Xuan, and Nie Tiankong, the bigshots who were previously commanders in the military headquarters were all fired. Even the hierarchy system and operation manner of the military were not spared from changes.
Once the news broke out, everyone's first thought was: "Is the new Emperor mad?"
The methods the new Emperor used in reforming the military headquarters were brutal but were still acceptable to the nobles in the city, no matter how unwilling they were. Simultaneously, it was effective enough to suppress the Emperor clans. Even so, it seemed as if the new Emperor was testing everyone's patience. The Emperor clans had sovereigns of the Hidden Epoch backing them up. If the new Emperor's suppression impacted one, two, or even three families from the Emperor clans—such as the Sky-reaching clan and the Dark Feather clan—it would have still been acceptable. However, he was now suppressing all of those in the Emperor clans in Royal City. Was he trying to push the sovereigns of the Hidden Epoch into being his enemies?
Wouldn't the new Emperor's position be threatened if all the sovereigns of the Hidden Epoch came out to protest him?
"Hmph, what a country hick. Doesn't he know how grave court matters are? He lacks reverence for the Emperor clans. Does he think he can dominate everything just because he's the current Martial Emperor? Once the sovereigns of the Hidden Epoch speak out against him, this will all become a joke!"
Some nobles in the city were mocking the new Emperor behind his back.
Most nobles thought that the new Emperor lacked a strong foundation and a proper structure. It was too easy for him to fail if he insisted on being this tyrannical. It seemed that he would enjoy only a short tenure on the throne. Essentially, he was courting disaster. When all the large Emperor clans truly demonstrated their power, the new Emperor would have no choice but to bow his head and be forced to admit to his mistakes.
Countless nobles were waiting to see the new Emperor fail.
To be frank, the nobles in Royal City did not really approve of him.
However, something unexpected happened. They had anticipated the new Emperor to be forced into admitting to his mistakes, but what they received instead was news of the new Emperor's tyrannical methods subduing all sixteen families of the Emperor clans—including the Sky-reaching clan, Dark Feather clan, Lofty Mountain clan—right at the roots.
In a single day, the residences of all sixteen families were breached, their members imprisoned, and their arsenals seized. The direct and core members of the families were all reduced to prisoners. Those who dared to rebel were all swiftly and mercilessly killed by the new Emperor's methods.
The entire Royal City was reeling in shock.
"What's going on? What gives the new Emperor the confidence to be this tyrannical? What is happening?"
Everyone was asking the same question.
