Chapter 467 – Declaration to the World
Shi Hao was clad in golden clothes. On his back was the country guarding divine halberd, and in his hand was the divine magical sword. He exuded an aura of intimidation similar to that of a celestial emperor descending into this world!
Even though he was still young, his appearance still made others feel reverence. The generals, countless soldiers, and even the nobility all couldn’t help but tremble when they saw him, feeling an urge to bow down.
This wasn’t out of fear for his status, but rather from a trembling of the spirit. They felt an indescribable type of feeling towards this young human emperor, as if they were facing a deity.
Shi Hao made his way throughout the city, personally walking through all the main streets. The other noble manors as well as the great powers currently being attacked were all terrified.
That day, the Rain Clan wasn’t the only one that was destroyed; there were a few other clans that put up a resistance, and under the War King, Mountain Splitting King, and other powerful individuals, these old powers were all eliminated.
By roaming about the city, he was also exerting a great intimidation. The entire city was trembling in fear. The great purge was completed.
Soon after, he returned to the imperial palace. The shouts of war within the city gradually ended, and this place became peaceful. It appeared that the imperial city was now completely under his control.
“Emperor, it’s now time to give your declaration,” the War King suggested. His tall body was covered in blood, appearing incredibly valiant. In the battle that happened not too long ago, he had personally killed a group of powerful individuals.
Shi Hao nodded. Even though he ascended the throne, that was still limited to within Stone Country Capital. He hadn’t declared it to the rest of the world yet.
When the great calamity passed, the world was in chaos. Every place was in a state of panic and unrest. News of the Stone Emperor’s fall and how the country was without a ruler clamored through the heavens and stirred up a great commotion.
Right now, they had to immediately issue a decree to inform the world and quickly stabilize Stone Country. Otherwise, there might be terrible consequences.
One could infer that there were powerful feudal vassals everywhere who had been persuaded by the three sects’ cultivators and as a result betraying Stone Country. After all, this even happened in the imperial capital, let alone some powerful nobles that actually possessed great authority.
However, regardless, due to righteousness and the general state of things, most of Stone Country should still respect the decree and be unwilling to rebel.
“The throne has been passed onto Shi Hao…”
The previous emperor’s decree had previously engraved itself in the void. Its symbols were long lasting and did not scatter. The powerful nobles made their own engravings on the golden paper before passing it to various other regions.
The imperial capital’s altar was activated, so through offerings, one could open the transmission formation and proceed towards all parts of the country.
After just a brief period of time, the decree informed the world that the new emperor succeeded the throne, and that it was the little Stone that rose to power. It immediately triggered a huge tempest.
Shi Hao naturally issued his own decree as well. The contents were rather simple. The first was to give praise to the previous emperor, speaking of his valor and virtue, as well as his great merits and achievements. He then directly denounced a few nobles, such as the Rain Clan, Su King, Kun King, and others, stating their wrongs and evils. Finally, he voiced his own resolution.
The world quickly broke out into commotion. The little Stone became the emperor, causing extremely great restlessness.
This was without a doubt a great earthquake. The world was already in a state of unrest after receiving news of the previous emperor’s disappearance during the great calamity and his potential death.
Everyone knew that a new emperor would quickly emerge, so it wasn’t that they weren’t prepared for this piece of news. However, when they learned that it was the little Stone that rose to power, quite a few people were still greatly shocked.
In addition, his decisive and forceful actions also exceeded everyone’s expectations.
One has to understand that the cultivators of the three sects had already entered the Stone Capital. Large numbers of cultivators had gathered to put up a puppet emperor. It was to the point where the plan was practically unchangeable, because they already controlled the general situation.
However, who would have thought that the little Stone would slaughter his way into the imperial capital on his own, utterly defeating all the experts in his way and fight intensely within the imperial palace. After killing many nobles that stirred up trouble, he then suppressed the experts of the three sects, twisting the fate of the world with his own hands.
This type of situation was truly outrageous. It left the entire world shocked!
“The little Stone is truly astonishing! He is exceedingly powerful, defeating all of those cultivators alone and forcing the troops of the three sects to retreat from the imperial capital! He truly is incredible!”
“Even though there were already rumors going around before suggesting that the previous emperor might have fallen and that it had to be a supreme youth like one of the two Stone brothers succeeding the throne, it still is a bit shocking.”
The entire world began to discuss this topic, and every region was in a state of restlessness. Regardless of whether it was cultivators or ordinary people, they were all talking about the new emperor. Stone Country Capital became noisy for a period of time.
Towards the little Stone’s domineering way of doing things, the people were scared into submission. No matter how you looked at it, he still killed his way into the imperial capital alone and completely controlled everything. From this alone, it proved his power. He had the qualifications to aim for the throne.
However, the feudal vassals felt quite a bit of restraining fear towards his methods, because it was just too fierce. He had just acceded the throne, yet he already wiped out almost ten nobles. Such a thing had never happened before in previous generations.
The world was in a state of clamoring. Most of Stone Country’s major cities surrendered and paid allegiance to the new emperor, and only a few small cities maintained their silence. They did not voice any opinions, and there was temporarily no activity from them.
Despite it being only this so far, Shi Hao’s benefits were still enormous!
That day, within the endless cities inside Stone Country’s borders, strands of thin spiritual essence entered the void, crossing countless li to gather in Stone Country imperial capital.
Shi Hao was shocked. He was originally sitting in mediation, but at this moment, he opened his eyes with shock. Countless fine strands of draconic energy appeared from the void, and they gathered to form a giant dragon before heading in his direction.
He was drowned within the endless draconic energy. Outside of his body, the heavenly dragons condensed even more. The thick and bulky dragons were vivid and lifelike. They raised their heads and shook the heavens with their roars.
In addition, the heavenly dragons were clearly increasing in number. There were already eighty-one of them. They circled about in the air with Shi Hao at the center.
The old guard shivered. Not even the previous emperor brought about a scene like this.
His name was Peng Nine. Back then, he was the ninth disciple of the old commanding Peng, as well as the most powerful disciple. He was already on the verge of becoming a supreme expert. However, due to the great calamity, he forcefully stopped himself.
“When the past emperors succeeded the throne, none of them were able to gather so much draconic aura. It is just too clear! If one were to cultivate in this state and refine it within their body, they could immediately become one of the supreme!” Peng Nine sighed in admiration. Even his voice was trembling.
“This is the benefit of being the emperor. Before the new emperor succeeded the throne, he relied on himself to make his name known throughout all of the wasteland region. Everyone under the heavens is discussing his name. Now that he succeeded the throne, it will naturally cause a huge commotion. The country’s fate energy is closely related to the will of the people,” said the War King after careful contemplation.
Peng Nine nodded. This was the truth.
The little Stone was stunning. His name had long shaken the world, and now, he forced back the three sects’ cultivators, making his name even more brilliant. The entire wasteland region was shaken. Ascending the throne with this kind of divine might will naturally cause a huge commotion.
As a result, the draconic energy was extremely dense, and it was quickly gathering here.
If he wanted to become a supreme expert, this was definitely a rare opportunity. As long as he merged the draconic energy with himself, he would immediately ascend into the next level and truly obtain the benefit of becoming an emperor.
However, Shi Hao didn’t want to do this. Not only would he potentially be slaughtered by the higher realms if he became a supreme expert now, the main thing was that this didn’t agree with his own way of approaching cultivation.
Cultivating like this and becoming a supreme expert in this way might appear powerful, but it would all be because of external influences. He would be relying on Stone Country’s great foundation, so if there was a day he lost Stone Country and left this territory, then he would be like rootless duckweed.
In the following few days, draconic energy continued to surge. Stone Country imperial palace became more and more holy and dignified. The outside of Shi Hao’s body was covered in a curtain of light, making him look like a great golden sun. It was extremely shocking.
In addition, there was some draconic energy that entered the emperor imprint and was stored inside, allowing it to become more and more brilliant.
“Inside Stone Capital, the new emperor can probably fight against a supreme expert on his own!” Peng Nine came to this conclusion inwardly as he observed Shi Hao.
However, Shi Hao naturally wouldn’t be satisfied with just this. He wanted to completely finish all of the preparations needed, so during these few days, he buried himself within the treasury to refine a great treasure.
It was the little black figure. It was only fist-sized, black, and simple-looking. It was known as the Imperishable Golden Body. If it wasn’t damaged, even deities would fight over it.
Right now, he was inside the imperial treasury with all types of treasures and even a few divine materials around him, so he was naturally going to refine this strange battle equipment.
Based on what the little pagoda said in the past, this thing could continuously evolve. It could allow his strength to increase greatly. If he recovered it a bit now, it might be able to help him fend off supreme experts.
Only, this thing was too strange. Even if there were divine materials, it might not be suitable, because the materials it needed were bizarre and rarely found in this world.
As a result, after many times, Shi Hao found that even the divine materials couldn’t be used on it due to being incompatible.
Shi Hao frowned. He searched all of the imperial palace, but in the end, he didn’t find a single item that the little black figure needed. This left him feeling rather helpless and gloomy.
“Emperor, there is still another set of materials.” Peng Nine spoke up in a rather timely manner.
“Oh, if you didn’t mention it, I would have almost forgot about it. Let’s go and take a look.” Shi Hao got up.
This time, after eradicating several nobles, they naturally seized their assets. Their treasuries were similarly astonishing, and after being confiscated, they were all moved into the imperial palace and piled up in one of the palace halls.
“Apart from this, we also caught another person. Your Majesty might be interested,” Peng Nine said.
“Is that so?” Shi Hao smiled. Now he wanted to see who this was.
When a shrivelled up and dried up dark figure was brought up, Shi Hao narrowed his eyes. He felt a weird feeling. He felt a dull ache inside, as if he was bleeding internally.
Suddenly, he widened his eyes and revealed terrifying beams of light. In a loud voice, he shouted, “It’s you!”
In the past, he was brought in by Shi Yi’s mother. It was the shriveled elder that operated on him, bloodily gouging out his supreme being bone and planting it inside Shi Yi’s body.
The ice-cold metal bed, helpless struggling, cruel and heartless words, and the cold glint of the blade felt as if they were right there around him.
That day, Shi Hao’s entire life was changed.
Many years ago, under the assistance of the Willow Deity, he was able to once again witness these things hidden in the depths of his consciousness. Since then, it had become something unforgettable.
Shi Hao knew that this was the person that waved the butcher’s knife. He was still able to recall that bloody scene.
“We found him within one of the Rain Clan’s manors. He was carrying out all types of experiments, grafting primordial precious bones and other parts into vicious beasts and unique birds,” Peng Nine reported.
Shi Hao nodded. His ice cold eyes rested on this individual for a long time before saying, “Interrogate and find out everything, then execute him!”
Since this was already a thing of the past, he didn’t dwell on it too much. The pain and suffering from the past had become his motivation to continuously forge ahead, he wasn’t going to look back anymore.
Soon after, Shi Hao entered a palace hall. A bright assortment of colors emerged before him, and all types of materials were piled up like a small mountain. In this place, he found a unique material, a dusky looking stone. It seemed to be curled in mists and was only the size of a fist.
Of course, instead of saying that he found it, it was more accurate to say that it was the little black figure that produced a reaction towards this material.
After striking apart this stone, there was only a fingernail sized substance. It seemed a bit like pine resin, but it wasn’t. It was incredibly spiritual and released dense energy, as if it had its own consciousness.
Shi Hao began to refine it, quickly fusing it together with the little black figure. There was a clear change that happened, granting the Imperishable Golden Body a type of vitality, as if it obtained a bit of life.
He could vaguely hear the little pagoda’s cry. “I just dozed off for a bit, yet I missed such a good item. Unforgivable.”
“What is that? It is just the size of fingernail. Is it really that special?” Shi Hao asked out of curiosity.
“Ten Thousand Law Stone. Being able to reach the size of a fingernail is already quite heaven defying. It would be difficult to find even a single piece after many tens of thousands of years…” The little pagoda released chaotic energy.
The Ten Thousand Law Stone could engrave ten thousand laws, a material used to refine supreme materials. It could even be said that once any magical artifact was refined with the Ten Thousand Law Stone, it would slowly change and evolve. It was a heaven defying material that even deities would go crazy for.
Shi Hao inwardly rejoiced. This time, the Imperishable Golden Body should have recovered quite a bit. It would definitely give him a pleasant surprise in the future.
For the next few days, Shi Hao either continued to search through the treasury or studied techniques to improve his strength to deal with the possible storm.
Five days later, what ought to come finally came. The three sects’ cultivators appeared again, entering the imperial capital!
