Chapter 719: Sitting by the East, Observing the Stars

This event can be called one of the grand ceremonies of the human race!

Unless it is for ancestor worship, the Ancient Emperor Star is rarely activated on ordinary days!

Because every time it is activated, causing the ancient star to awaken from its dormant state, it consumes not only the human race's destiny but also the very foundation of this ancient star!

After all, it was once the imperial palace when the human race unified the Eastern Wanggu, so before the arrival of the Remnant Face, it was a place of pilgrimage for all races.

Even in the murals of many ethnic groups, that place represents divine might and is a well-deserved holy land; even though the Profound Nether Ancient Emperor took his subordinates and left, this star itself still holds a supreme status and extraordinary significance!

Because the star contains the orthodox inheritance of the one hundred and eight Heavenly Marquises who followed the Ancient Emperor back then, as well as paths that could shake the Thirty-Three Heavenly Kings if any one of them were obtained!

For instance, Li Li Zihua also has his inheritance left here!

And what is most anticipated is the imprint of the nine Great Emperors of the human race within it; the era of the Profound Nether Ancient Emperor was the golden age of the human race and the peak of its destiny, which is why an unprecedented nine Great Emperors appeared!

Any human who can obtain a Great Emperor's inheritance will see their status and position rise to the heavens in one step, and their subsequent cultivation will also be extraordinary!

But unfortunately, the Ancient Emperor Star is rarely opened, and each opening is brief, so while there have been insights into the Heavenly Marquis inheritances, and Heavenly King inheritances, though rare, have also appeared!

Yet, no one has ever obtained a Great Emperor's imprint!

What is more often obtained are the Daoist arts of heroic martyrs who died for the human race below the rank of Heavenly Marquis; although there is a gap in level, they are also unique.

At this moment, as the various forces in the Imperial Capital were shocked by this sudden move of the Human Emperor, and vast waves rose in their hearts.

Within the Heaven-Observing Pavilion of the Star Emperor Supreme Sect, the Emperor's son surnamed Peng, who was in the Red Dust Star Tower's Immortal Pool Cave Heaven that day, suddenly opened his eyes while sitting cross-legged!

"The Human Emperor has opened the Ancient Star to let the human race's heaven-gifted talents contemplate the Ancient Dao." A sharp light flashed in his eyes as he leaped up, "Since that Ling Yao has repeatedly refused, her primordial yin is not worth pursuing anyway."

In this Ancient Emperor inheritance, as an Emperor's son from the two Great Emperor lineages, my advantage is immense; if I can obtain it and then regain the Dragon Pendant, I can use the protection of destiny to immediately break through the Spirit Store and step into the Return to Void realm, and from then on, I will soar, and even Spirit Containment is not impossible!

At the same time, located in the northwest of the Imperial Capital, there is a huge temple; this temple looks very ordinary on the outside, full of the mottled marks of passing time!

But inside, there is another world, containing multiple vast and endless cave heaven lands!

Now, in one of the cave heavens, a monk-like cultivator is sitting cross-legged; he is a middle-aged man, with no hair and a face full of tattoos!

Looking closely, one can see that the shape of the tattoos represents the Firmament Remnant Face!

"The Ancient Emperor Star is open, Fen Xing, you may represent my Truth Words to contemplate it!" A weathered voice echoed in the cave heaven; the middle-aged man sitting cross-legged opened and closed his eyes, bowed his head with his hands crossed over his chest to acknowledge, then stood up, put on a white robe that covered his head, and walked forward; his figure blurred in one step, disappeared in two, and appeared on the Rainbow Bridge outside the Imperial Palace in three, waiting silently!

Similar scenes and similar figures appeared in all ten of the human race's super-sects; the one who came from the Red Dust Tower was Ling Yao.

Other sects also had their heaven-gifted talents arranged to participate; if the Jianghu forces are like this, the orthodox human sects are naturally even more so!

Within the Upper Profound Wugong, those who were key targets for cultivation, possessed great merit, and met the qualifications appeared one after another, and the Lower Profound Wugong were the same, along with descendants of various dignitaries! There were also Imperial Princes and Princesses; except for the First Princess and Second Princess who were not in the Imperial Capital due to marriage, the Fifth Imperial Prince who was guarding the Yan Yue frontier following the human race's number one Heavenly King, as well as the First Imperial Prince who was not favored by the Human Emperor and the Eighth and Ninth who voluntarily gave up, all other Imperial Princes chose to participate at the first opportunity!

Others value the Dragon Pendant because it contains the power of destiny which can greatly benefit them, but those Imperial Princes value more the meaning represented by the Dragon Pendant!

After all, this is the first time since the Sister Xuan Zhan Human Emperor ascended the throne that he has taken out the Dragon Pendant, which represents his status as Human Emperor, as a reward!

The meaning contained within is very profound, and those qualified to participate in this contemplation are not stupid, so they each have their own insights.

"The Human Emperor's act of bestowing the Dragon Pendant, could the rumors be true, that the Human Emperor really has the intention of choosing a Crown Prince?"

Regardless, this inheritance seems open to all talents, but in reality, everyone is just a green leaf, and the red flowers here are those Imperial Princes.

The Human Emperor wants to examine his sons to see who is most recognized by the ancestors.

Of course, if someone stands out in this examination of the Imperial Princes' insights, they will surely be the focus of everyone's attention, and this is also an opportunity.

Outside the Imperial Palace, boiling over the Human Emperor's words, figures arrived from all directions and gathered on the Rainbow Bridge; looking out, there were fully several thousand people!

And inside the palace, the Human Emperor, standing on the Ninth Platform, withdrew his gaze from outside the hall, lifted his left sleeve, waved it slightly, and walked forward!

"My dear subjects, follow me to see the pillars of our human race's future; this era is ours, but the future era is theirs!" The Human Emperor's voice rarely held a bit of emotion!

Everyone in the great hall smiled, with various feelings of emotion appearing on their faces, and in a scene of monarch and subjects enjoying themselves together, they followed the Human Emperor out of the hall!

Xu Qing was also among them; Xiang Ningyan intentionally slowed down a bit and came to Xu Qing's side. Xu Qing glanced at Xiang Ningyan and found his expression somewhat dejected.

He knew that Xiang Ningyan feared the Human Emperor, and the scenes that had occurred inside the palace earlier made Xiang Ningyan nervous!

More importantly, the Human Emperor had not looked at Xiang Ningyan once from beginning to end, nor had he asked him a single question!

This was clearly the main reason for Xiang Ningyan's dejection!

"It's fine!" Xu Qing nodded slightly.

Xiang Ningyan breathed a sigh of relief; the feeling Xu Qing gave him was just like his own brother back in the day, and standing beside Xu Qing, he felt a sense of security.

Thus, he moved even closer to Xu Qing!

In his heart, he also felt bitter; on one side was his own father, and on the other was a friend.

But the coldness from his father was like midwinter, high and mighty and full of ice, unable to give him any warmth!

Instead, it was the friend here who was more intimate and trustworthy, and at this moment, as hundreds of people walked out of the hall, it immediately attracted the attention of the heaven-gifted talents on the Rainbow Bridge outside.

They all had solemn expressions and bowed in unison toward the hall!

The Human Emperor nodded, lifted his right hand, and pressed it toward the sky; with this press, the heavens and earth changed color, the wind rose and clouds surged, and the destiny golden dragons from all eight directions roared in unison, rolling with infinite destiny as they flew fiercely toward the huge Ancient Emperor Star behind the Imperial Palace!

Finally, they circled above the Ancient Emperor Star, dragon roars sounding one after another, as if calling out.

That was the call of destiny, and it was also the call of the human race, so the Ancient Emperor Star also responded to this call, the clouds and mist outside it flowing faster, rotating faster and faster.

Until a moment later, a roar that opened the heavens and split the earth echoed!

The Ancient Emperor Star suddenly opened like a huge eye; the moment it opened and closed, the heavens and earth lost their color, and infinite brilliant light and infinite auspicious signs spread out from the Ancient Emperor Star, causing the sea of clouds to churn.

Figures of human sages appeared within the clouds and mist of the Ancient Emperor Star, and a huge vortex rotated, emitting an astonishing suction force that spread outward.

"The Ancient Emperor Star is open; you talents of our race have only one day, if you do not go to contemplate the Ancient Dao now, when will you?" The Grand Chancellor, standing behind the Human Emperor, shouted toward the head of the Rainbow Bridge!

As his voice spread, the thousands of human heaven-gifted talents from all sides on the Rainbow Bridge flew out rapidly, and the moment they ascended, they were captured by the suction force emitted by the Ancient Emperor Star.

Like meteors, they headed straight for the Ancient Emperor Star; soon, thousands of figures, some sitting on the clouds and mist, some within the clouds and mist, all closed their eyes and began to contemplate!

Here, Imperial Princes and heaven-gifted talents were mixed together, hard to distinguish from one another!

And after the Ancient Emperor Star opened, it was divided into multiple levels; what is currently open is only the first level!

Those who remain at this level cannot step onto the star itself and can only contemplate within the clouds and mist outside!

The focus of the contemplation is the various inheritances drifting on the Ancient Emperor Star; they exist in different forms, some active outside the star, some dormant within the star!

So this contemplation is actually more of a two-way journey!

While the cultivator themselves must be excellent, it also depends on which inheritance on the Ancient Emperor Star recognizes them more!

Xu Qing looked up at the thousands of figures on the Ancient Emperor Star, then looked at Xiang Ningyan beside him and said, "You go try it too!"

Xiang Ningyan hesitated, looked at Xu Qing, then looked solemnly at the Human Emperor in the distance, gritted his teeth, leaped up, and was pulled into the air, heading straight for the Ancient Emperor Star!

Soon, his figure appeared on a cloud, his expression solemn and persistent, while the Human Emperor sat cross-legged with his eyes closed.

The Human Emperor's gaze swept across the Ancient Emperor Star and did not pause on anyone; the moment he finally withdrew it, he spoke indifferently with his back to Xu Qing, "Minister Xu, given your age and cultivation, if you wish to participate, you may also go!"

Xu Qing calculated the time; for this kind of contemplation, if it were any other time, he would be willing to participate, as it was an ancient inheritance, and if he could obtain it, the benefits would naturally be immense!

But now, he had other important matters!

The blood pill he was refining for Zi Sister Xuan had been in progress for several months, and the day of completion was near; before the pill was completely refined, he needed to go and reinforce his cultivation every so often to keep the pill in a state of refinement!

In two hours, he had to go back to reinforce the pill furnace, otherwise, all previous efforts would be wasted.

Thinking of this, Xu Qing bowed to the Human Emperor in front!

"Thank you, Your Majesty, but my comprehension is ordinary, so I will not consume the human race's destiny!"

Hearing this, the Human Emperor did not persuade him further but glanced at the guards beside him; the guards understood and went to make arrangements. Soon, tables appeared outside the hall for the Human Emperor to sit, and hundreds of ministers sat down one after another!

Immortal fruits and fine wine were also brought over, and the monarch and subjects drank together while watching the younger generation contemplate in the clouds and mist; the atmosphere was very pleasant!

Some even laughed and commented on the various heaven-gifted talents, their words filled with praise!

Here, beside Xu Qing, an old man in blue court robes bowed to him with a gentle smile!

"Lord Xu, it is a pity you did not go to contemplate; this opportunity is very rare!"

Xu Qing returned the courtesy and spoke politely!

"My aptitude is limited, so it is indeed a pity!"

The old man was just about to continue speaking, but at this moment, the Human Emperor's voice came!

"Everyone, today we speak not as monarch and subjects but with frank words; which Imperial Prince do you think is suitable to be the Crown Prince?"

As soon as the Human Emperor's words fell, the place immediately went quiet; after a long while, the Grand Chancellor said softly!

"The Imperial Preceptor observes the celestial phenomena and measures destiny, so he should be the one to speak."

The Human Emperor turned his head slightly to look at the empty space on the right!

"Imperial Preceptor, what do you think?"

As soon as these words were spoken, Xu Qing suddenly raised his head to look to the right of the Human Emperor!

There, amidst the flickering of the void, a figure was looming!