Chapter 123: Three Minutes to Quell Prince Fu

That night, Chu Danqing waited for the Imperial Guard Yulin Army to confirm Li Wanwu’s location.

Once confirmed, he would go straight to kill him.

But before he received Li Wanwu’s intelligence, he first received news that Emperor Taichang was critically ill.

When Chu Danqing saw Emperor Taichang, the emperor was weak and filled with regret.

Upon seeing Chu Danqing, Emperor Taichang spoke at once: “I regret listening to your words—that so-called Immortality Pill was poison.”

Chu Danqing internally cursed— he had thought taking the red pill was the end of it.

He had been careless; Li Wanwu could easily have substituted a red pill with a similar color and scent without needing the original.

He was still too young.

Chu Danqing wanted to save him, but he had no antidote consumables; restoring the emperor’s HP would do no good.

His physical attributes simply could not be saved.

“The Gu family has been executed in full—I’ve already sent men to carry it out; you may rest assured,” Emperor Taichang said, then gestured, and a boy of sixteen or seventeen stepped forward.

“The Crown Prince is too young to handle great affairs; I implore both of you to lend your full support.”

Not only was Chu Danqing present, but so was Li Wanwu.

“Your Majesty, rest assured—I will maintain order,” Chu Danqing said calmly.

He didn’t care who inherited the throne; he only cared whether this emperor was human or not.

“But I’m curious—why have you repeatedly tried to kill him?” Chu Danqing cut straight to the point.

“First you used mind-control on Zhang Cai, then bribed Gu Pin—didn’t you fear exposure in the regicide?”

At these words, everyone present froze.

“Commander Chu, don’t speak nonsense—I have sworn loyalty to His Majesty, as clear as sun and moon,” Li Wanwu sneered, refusing to admit anything.

“I suspect Commander Chu merely seeks to monopolize power.”

Li Wanwu struck back again.

Chu Danqing had no intention of arguing with Li Wanwu—he immediately prepared to act.

But outside, noise erupted.

A Yulin Guard rushed in hurriedly.

“Bad news—Prince Fu has rebelled; his forces have reached the palace gates!”

Emperor Taichang’s eyes widened in disbelief: “Impossible—where did he get his troops?!!”

With that shock, he stared wide-eyed and died.

Chu Danqing’s gaze fell on Li Wanwu: “Your doing, isn’t it?”

Li Wanwu said nothing, only smiled—his smile was utterly triumphant and satisfied.

【Hidden Quest: Suppress Prince Fu’s Rebellion within One Hour】

【Trial Difficulty: A-Rank (Heroic)】

【Trial Reward: Paradise Points ×10000, Attribute Points +4】

【Trial Failure: Paradise Points -20000, Random Attribute -1】

The next instant, the Paradise’s hidden quest appeared.

The trial quest had ended; no more side quests would appear.

Chu Danqing immediately accepted: “I’ll deal with Prince Fu first, then settle accounts with you.”

Saying this, he immediately stepped out to mobilize the Imperial Guard Yulin Army for defense.

As for the Crown Prince? Irrelevant—he wasn’t a native of this trial world; righteousness and legitimacy meant nothing.

As long as order was stable, anyone could be emperor.

Even deposing and replacing him was acceptable—what mattered was Humanity Points, not bloodline or legitimacy.

“Damn, over half the Yulin Guard defected? They opened the gates, and the rebels are already inside?” Chu Danqing heard this bad news as he stepped out.

Emperor Taichang had reigned too briefly; Chu Danqing had not held control of the Yulin Guard long enough. For Prince Fu and Li Wanwu to conspire and turn the guard was not impossible.

Li Wanwu had clearly prepared in advance.

Currently, the only forces he could mobilize were his original young officers.

“You all go to the Yangqi Hall—I’ll handle the rest,” Chu Danqing realized he couldn’t win with natives alone.

He could only summon Guo Ming—hope Guo Ming’s Sword Foundation was truly as powerful as he claimed, that it had transformed him utterly, or else this time he truly couldn’t hold out.

【You have summoned your Covenant Partner; their rank exceeds Covenant limits】

【This summon requires 5000 Paradise Points, and consumes 1000 Points per hour】

【Summon?】

【Covenant Partner has responded】

【Covenant Partner’s cognitive rationalization completed】

Chu Danqing relaxed inwardly and immediately spent the points.

“As long as the covenant was signed at Rank 1 or below, even if the partner’s rank exceeds Rank 1 afterward, you may still summon and maintain them by spending extra Paradise Points.”

“Indeed, nothing is beyond what gold can fix.”

Guo Ming stepped out, and Chu Danqing summarized the situation briefly.

“Suppression? Leave it to me,” Guo Ming said, beside him the Zishi Shenhou Sword now joined by a new flying sword, Choushi Daji Sword: “Perfect—I’ve just broken through; let me test my sword.”

Saying this, Guo Ming seized Hanquan Zhi Ying and flew off on his sword.

Chu Danqing followed closely to provide buffs, while opening Guo Ming’s attribute panel.

【Blood Oath Covenant · #1 (Rank 2)】

【Attributes】

【HP: 100%】

【MP: 9780】

【Strength: 33】

【Agility: 33】

【Vitality: 33】

【Spirit: 33】

【Perception: 33】

【Talents】

【Primordial Yuan Chen Dao Foundation】

【Zishi Shenhou Sword】

【Choushi Daji Sword】

【Skills】

【Twelve Yuan Chen Sword Scripture (Legacy) LV.5】

【Sword Foundation LV.MAX】

【Earthly Fiend Body Tempering (Passive) LV.MAX】

【Heavenly Gang Spirit Refining (Passive) LV.MAX】

【Sword Heart Clarity (Passive) LV.MAX】

【Primordial Qi Nourishment (Passive) LV.9】

【Equipment】

【Hanquan Zhi Ying (? ? ?)】

Chu Danqing stared and muttered: “Terrifying.”

In Guo Ming’s hands, the two flying swords worked in tandem, and with just one man, he shattered the entire rebel force.

As the death toll mounted, morale collapsed.

“Drop your weapons, put your hands on your heads, surrender and you won’t be killed!” Guo Ming declared when the killing was nearly done.

With magical power amplifying his voice, it reached every rebel soldier’s ears.

Yet Guo Ming did not stop—he kept killing those who tried to prevent soldiers from surrendering.

“Looks like the promotion exam is secured,” Chu Danqing muttered, swallowing hard.

A Rank 2 figure, boosted by Covenant Base, was effectively unstoppable.

As for being banned for exceeding limits? Chu Danqing had no mockery aura—why would Paradise target him?

Banning everyone would be absurd—why even have equipment and skill systems if they were meant to be suppressed?

Why weaken your own apostles? Is Paradise stupid?

To make trials more realistic? Apostles have weak phases—they’ve already been tested.

Only after growing strong do they ban you again and call it “refining through worldly trials”? So you gain no experience during growth, just click to level up?

If you’ve already grown, why force a return to the path you’ve already walked?

Roughly three minutes later, Prince Fu was dragged out by Guo Ming.

“Such power… such power… can this truly be achieved through martial skill?” Prince Fu muttered, still incredulous, filled with bitter resentment.

If defeated by Chu Danqing’s strategy and overwhelming force, Prince Fu would have accepted it.

But now? A stranger from nowhere, wielding two flying swords and an unknown weapon, had crushed his army effortlessly.

How could Prince Fu accept this?

“We’ll discuss this later—tell me, where did your troops come from?” Chu Danqing asked.

Prince Fu snapped out of his daze and sneered, “Brother Emperor, he’s dead, isn’t he?”

“Dead. He just breathed his last,” Chu Danqing replied.

“Good, good,” Prince Fu broke into a satisfied smile. “Li Wanwu arranged everything for me—he even turned the Imperial Guard Feathered Forest Army against the throne.”

“I was coerced.”

Chu Danqing believed half of that—especially the last part about being coerced, he didn’t believe a word.

“You want to kill me?” Prince Fu’s smile slowly faded; he sensed something wrong.

“I am a prince. Emperor Taizu’s law states that even if one commits heinous crimes, one is merely stripped of rank and maintained by the imperial family.”

Seeing Chu Danqing’s expression, Prince Fu immediately explained.

He feared Chu Danqing might act recklessly and kill him on the spot.

His earlier question about whether Emperor Taichang was dead had been a setup for this.

If Emperor Taichang were still alive, he would need a different excuse.

But now that he was dead, the Crown Prince should decide—yet Chu Danqing paid no heed.

“I know,” Chu Danqing said, finding an excuse, then Da Bao moved to strike him down.

The A-rank mission ended as simply as that—no difficulty, no complications.

【Mission Complete. Reward: Paradise Points ×10000, Attribute Points +4】

If Guo Ming, a Level 2 cultivator, couldn’t crush an A-rank reserve mission, then his attributes, talents, and skills were useless decorations.

A Superior-grade treasure chest appeared above Prince Fu’s body.

No shimmering patterns.

If Chu Danqing had ordered Guo Ming to kill every rebel soldier, the chest might have been a Fine-grade one with shimmering patterns.

The soldiers died, but the glory went to Prince Fu.

The ones truly coerced weren’t Prince Fu—they were these soldiers, most of them ordinary people.

If anyone must die, it should be the masterminds, the chief culprits.

Killing thousands of soldiers would be truly horrifying.

As long as they didn’t threaten him, Chu Danqing had no desire to shed more blood.

Besides, sparing them would win their loyalty—turning the surrendered soldiers into his own forces for future bandit-suppression campaigns.

Chu Danqing firmly believed: monks may be foolish, but they can be taught; demons and ghouls, however, will always bring disaster.

This was absolutely correct.

The Imperial Guard Feathered Forest Army swiftly arrived with Chu Danqing’s imperial decree, taking control of the capital garrison.

With Prince Fu dead, the rest were no longer a threat.

“It’s not over—Li Wanwu is still alive,” Chu Danqing asked. “Where is he?”

One of the Imperial Guard Feathered Forest soldiers immediately reported Li Wanwu’s location. Without hesitation, Chu Danqing set off with Guo Ming.

Previously, summoning Guo Ming cost at most 1,100 Paradise Points; now it started at 6,000.

He had to seize the opportunity—each A-rank mission granted only 10,000 Paradise Points; after costs, profit was just 4,000.

He had to resolve everything in one go.

(End of Chapter)