Chapter 357: Even a Born Saint Must Submit

The next day, at dawn.

The night-long downpour finally ceased, the dark clouds dispersed, and a red sun rose from the east, bathing the capital in golden light.

After the rain, the capital's air was especially fresh, and the bluestone streets were washed clean.

On the vast square in front of Taihe Hall, crowds already filled the space.

Civil and military officials, clad in brand‑new court robes, lined the two sides of the square according to rank.

Their faces bore a uniform expression mixing awe and fervor, their gazes converging on the white‑marble altar platform at the square's center, which rose ninety‑nine steps high.

At the very top of the platform stood the new emperor Yinzhen, wearing a Supreme Dragon Robe embroidered with nine five‑clawed golden dragons in gold thread, crowned with a twelve‑tassel crown, hands clasped behind his back.

Bathed in the rising morning sun, he exuded an unrivaled aura of ruling the world and being supreme.

He looked down upon the kneeling officials below, upon the magnificent city sprawling at his feet, and felt an unprecedented surge of satisfaction and ambition.

From a constantly restrained, low‑born, unloved prince to now the supreme ruler who commands the lives of billions and whose word is law, he achieved this in less than a month.

All of this felt dreamlike and illusory, yet utterly real.

His gaze swept over the ranks of officials below and finally settled on the figure dressed in a purple‑gold official robe, standing quietly at the front of the civil officials.

Gu Yuan.

A barely perceptible cold smile tugged at Yinzhen's mouth.

Born saint? Ten‑thousand‑foot golden dragon?

So what?

Even now, they must still kneel like dogs at his feet.

Last night, Cui Hong had already sent someone to report that the bottle of Qingxin Powder had slipped unnoticed into the Gu household's well.

The imperial edict from the Grand Temple Sacrificial Officer had also been drafted, awaiting the ceremony's end to be proclaimed to the world.

From today onward, the name Gu Yuan will be erased from Great Yinzhen's power core, reduced to a cultivator who can at most reach half‑step First Rank in this lifetime.

If one does not become a saint, one will still be used for his purposes!

All the achievements he creates and the supreme fortune he possesses will become the brightest gems on his crown.

"My realm is as solid as a golden soup, like an iron bucket!" Yinzhen thought, his heart brimming with ambition.

He was already scheming; once he fully reaped the political dividends Gu Yuan brought, his next step would be how to forge the self‑righteous aristocratic families of Cui Hong.

Co‑ruling the world with the aristocracy?

It's a joke!

In this world, there can be only one master, and that is Yinzhen!

"The auspicious moment has arrived—!"

As the Minister of Rites let out a resonant chant, the melodious sound of bells and drums rang through the heavens.

The coronation ceremony officially began.

The elaborate and solemn rites proceeded one after another.

Heavenly sacrifice, earth sacrifice, ancestral sacrifice.

Yinzhen stood atop the platform, basking in the people's homage, feeling the overwhelming national destiny converging from all directions and merging into his body; he felt he was a god, the sole ruler of this world!

Finally, the ceremony reached its last item.

The National Transmission Jade Seal!

The Chief Counselor of the Cabinet, Kong Qianqiu, who had been enlightened by Gu Yuan, dressed in solemn sacrificial robes, cradled a dragon‑patterned jade box carved from rosewood, and ascended the ninety‑nine steps of the platform.

He approached Yinzhen, knelt on the ground, and lifted the box high above his head.

"Your Majesty, receive the National Transmission Jade Seal and rule the world!"

Yinzhen took a deep breath, suppressing the ecstatic thrill within.

He slowly extended his hands and opened the box.

The National Transmission Jade Seal, wholly carved from a millennia‑old He stone, lay quietly upon bright‑yellow silk.

As soon as he lifted the seal, he would be the rightful, heaven‑mandated Great Yinzhen New Emperor!

His gaze, for the last time, swept over Gu Yuan below, filled with lofty contempt and disdain.

He even mouthed three words silently to Gu Yuan.

"You… are finished."

Gu Yuan seemed not to notice his provocative stare, simply standing there, a faint, ambiguous smile on his face.

To Yinzhen, that smile was blindingly glaring.

He reached out his hands, slowly grasping the National Transmission Jade Seal that symbolized supreme authority.

Yet, at the instant his fingertips were about to touch the seal,

he suddenly felt a faint tremor in the purple‑gold auspicious aura canopy that should have shielded him, a subtle yet heart‑pounding shiver.

It was like a solid dam developing an almost imperceptible crack.

"Hm?"

Yinzhen's movement halted, and he abruptly looked up at the sky.

The sky was a deep blue, endless and cloudless.

The auspicious golden dragon coiled above the Forbidden City still loomed majestically, showing no sign of abnormality.

"Is it an illusion?"

Yinzhen frowned, forcibly pushing the unease aside.

He thought it might be a hallucination born of his excitement at about to ascend the great throne.

He withdrew his gaze, once again looking at the nearby National Transmission Jade Seal, his eyes reigniting with fierce flame.

He gave Gu Yuan one final glance.

Yet he discovered that the smile on Gu Yuan's face had vanished, replaced by a pity that looked as if he were gazing at a corpse.

Yinzhen's heart suddenly sank, an unprecedented chill shot from his tailbone straight up to his celestial crown!

Something's wrong!

Absolutely something's wrong!

He abruptly withdrew his hand, trying to pause contact with the jade seal.

But it was already too late.

The moment he entertained retreat, the anomaly surged!

Beneath the high platform, among the officials, the one who had been as still as a statue, Gu Ziyuan, moved.

He made no earth‑shaking gesture, just extremely casually stepped forward.

One step.

That step seemed to tread upon the heartbeat of heaven and earth.

The entire Taihe Hall plaza, the whole capital, even the laws of the Great Yinzhen Divine Dynasty froze in absolute stillness at that instant!

Time, space, wind, clouds, the expressions on the officials' faces, the horror on Yinzhen's face… everything solidified.

The only one who could move was Gu Yuan.

He looked at Yinzhen's pupils, which had suddenly contracted from extreme fear, and the corner of his mouth lifted the smile that made Yinzhen's departed soul tremble.

"Your era has ended."

Gu Yuan's voice rang clearly in Yinzhen's mind.

The next breath, time resumed its flow.

"No—!"

Yinzhen let out a desperate roar in his heart.

The moment his palm touched the jade seal, the purple‑gold aura canopy symbolizing imperial authority above his head exploded with a thunderous crack!

"What's happening?!"

Yinzhen lifted his head in terror, only to see a scene that tore his liver and gallbladder.

Beneath the high platform, Gu Yuan was walking toward him step by step.

With each step, a blue lotus swirling with chaotic aura blossomed out of nowhere beneath his feet.

Lotus with every step!

This is the legendary phenomenon that appears only when a saint descends to the world!

Yinzhen's mind buzzed, a blank.

He finally understood what kind of being he had provoked!

"Gu Ziyuan! You… what exactly do you intend to do?!"