Chapter 185: Sensibility and Reason, A Probe (6k)

But after the wild joy, Zhang Rang's reason was, for the moment, not drowned by that greedy desire.

In a slightly hoarse voice, he asked, "Are you certain you can grant me this power? Or will I end up controlled by you?"

"Exactly so. I am hardly the sort of being who goes back on his word." The black-robed being stretched out one hand forward—a psychological gesture meant to make his words seem a touch more sincere.

"Of course, if you do not trust me, you may also summon a being you do trust to receive my gift. The choice is entirely yours."

The black-robed being gave another option with a light laugh.

Yet inwardly, watching this scene, he could only sneer. He had long since seen through these mortal emperors—when faced with power within easy reach, they would put on that ugly show of both craving it and being torn by suspicion, terrified others might plot against them.

They never thought to consider that a mere mortal ruler would hardly warrant his personal scheming.

It was only a bit of energy. For him, to give was to give—why would he cheat over such a trivial matter?

Even though his current energy dwindled with every use, he would not stoop to tricks in such a small affair. After all, once his strongest avatar could make it here, taking down a mere Legendary-realm giant dragon would be a trivial task.

Once he obtained that dragon's fortuitous encounter, the entire world would be his!

And if he truly helped him complete this grand scheme, afterward, even letting this mortal emperor become a subordinate god within his Divine Kingdom would be nothing to him.

He was not like those treacherous old friends of his—he would never do something so shameless.

If he truly angered him and he grew displeased, a casual strike that destroyed his dynasty along with him would be far more satisfying.

So then, what choice would he make next?

He was quite curious, you see.

Would he, like those other ugly rulers he had seen before, accept his gift?

And at this moment, faced with the black-robed being's suggestion, Zhang Rang also came back to his senses. With an expression of suspicion and uncertainty, he lowered his head and fell into thought.

According to this mysterious being's words, this power was naturally bound to be immensely powerful—at the very least, stronger than he, an Ancient Dragon Human who could transform into a king of giant beasts. So to whom should he give it?

Although this power might be poisoned, it was undeniably a terrifying great weapon. Once obtained by someone harboring ulterior motives, it would surely be a massive blow to his Great Qin.

Thus, he naturally had to carefully consider the most suitable candidate.

Indeed, Zhang Rang decided to hand this power over to someone else.

Although Zhang Rang also wished to obtain this power himself, after a bout of hesitation and deliberation, he decisively refused.

As the saying went, he was the Son of Heaven of Great Qin; he had to be responsible for all the citizens of Great Qin.

And if this power might ultimately be constrained by another, then a puppet emperor would be nothing but a burden and a danger to Great Qin—this was something he would absolutely never permit.

So although he desired power, he could never personally accept this power himself.

In the end, power could only occupy, at most, third place in his heart.

The first was naturally the Great Qin he had built with his own hands; the second was the wife to whom he owed so much. This was also why, over all these years, ignoring the urgings of countless ministers, he had taken only Zhou Qingqing as his Empress and never taken a concubine.

After pondering for a long while, Zhang Rang suddenly realized that, apart from Wang Weiqin and the Empress, whom he currently trusted most, there seemed to be hardly anyone else in his heart he could truly trust…

Since the beginning of the new era, when strong ones began harboring ulterior motives, he had known that once a person possessed power, even if their original nature did not change, they would inevitably be slowly altered by the erosion of Time. He himself was no exception.

And the reason he currently trusted that lad Wang Weiqin was simply because, over these years, amid Great Qin's storms and uncertainties, Wang Weiqin's every word and deed had gradually led him to entrust his trust to him.

However, at present, General Wang alone could not be this candidate—and this was not because he was petty.

Rather, General Wang had long since been assigned his own role in the upcoming punitive campaign—the pilot of the Dragon Machine Soldier!

And this candidate was irreplaceable, because apart from him, no one in all of Great Qin could fully pilot a Dragon Machine Soldier, such a uniquely special weapon.

As for why, it was because the Dragon Machine Soldier differed from other large weapons made purely of various metals or woods.

It was unlike the Dragon Spear, which sat there and could be triggered by just anyone at random.

It was a special weapon somewhere between metal, wood, and flesh and blood. Its mere creation had already cost Great Qin an immeasurable price, employing countless forbidden techniques before it could be born.

And the requirements to operate such a weapon were naturally extremely stringent. At present, only that General Wang could drive it.

As for why General Wang could pilot it, it was all thanks to his having once gone to the deepest part of the Tiandu Feixu, where he obtained a certain fortuitous encounter that altered his own constitution.

Speaking of which, the birth of the Dragon Machine Soldier was, in a sense, precisely the result of Great Qin's scholars, after studying General Wang's body, conceiving the idea of manufacturing such an instrument of war.

Therefore, in this situation, how could General Wang become this candidate? Giving the power to him would only be a waste.

Then, apart from General Wang, what other candidates did he have to choose from?

First, this power absolutely could not be given to an outsider. Even the loyal Shadow Guards he had personally trained since childhood—he did not dare trust them a hundred percent.

If he could not even trust such loyal Shadow Guards, how could he possibly feel at ease with any other being?

Since that was the case, then he could only…

Sigh. A slow sigh rose in his heart, and a flash of guilt passed through Zhang Rang's eyes, but it soon hardened into resolve.

Then, he abruptly raised his head, sternly gazed at the black-robed being who stood quietly opposite waiting for his answer, and asked loudly, "Your meaning is that I may choose the recipient of this power, is that correct?"

The black-robed being was taken aback. Inwardly, he sensed that the development of events seemed to differ somewhat from his expectations, but he still nodded and replied, "Exactly. The recipient of the power is yours to choose."

"In that case, please wait a moment, sir. Allow me to summon someone I trust."

With these words, Zhang Rang gave a satisfied nod and departed.

This…

Watching this mortal emperor truly leave without the slightest hesitation, the black-robed being was genuinely stunned.

Although he had already had a premonition from the earlier words, when truly faced with this moment, he was still somewhat stunned.

This was power he himself was bestowing!

Power capable of destroying heaven and earth!

He could truly resist this temptation and give it up?

Was he not afraid of betrayal by the being he trusted?

Could he still not understand that power is safest only when it is in one's own hands?

Only with power can one possess everything!

After a long while, the black-robed being, who had come back to his senses, gazed in the direction Zhang Rang had left and suddenly let out a light laugh.

Clear, crisp laughter rang out within the great hall, where light flickered between brightness and shadow.

"Interesting, interesting—so someone truly can resist this temptation. Zhang Rang, is it? I'm starting to take an interest in you."

At this moment, the being from another world truly began to look squarely at this weak mortal emperor of another realm.

After so many years, this was the first time he had encountered an existence who chose the second option.

I just wonder—if that day truly comes, and you are betrayed by someone close to you, how wonderful an expression will you wear?

At this moment, the being shrouded in a black robe murmured within.

……

Meanwhile, elsewhere.

Having left the great hall, Zhang Rang headed straight for the inner palace, his target the bedchamber where Zhou Qingqing resided.

That's right—his choice was to hand this power to the person closest to him, and the one closest to him was his bedmate, Zhou Qingqing.

Although perhaps it is a bit unfair to her, but……

Sigh, he truly had no other choice.

He decided that once this matter was settled, he would give her a proper apology.

At the same time, if this power truly was poisonous, then he would mobilize the entire Empire, spare no cost, to launch a retaliation against it—let it taste the wrath of Great Qin.

After that, he did not plan to live alone either; once all of Great Qin was settled, he would go find her. This could perhaps be considered the final duty of a husband.

If this power held no poison, then naturally it would be a happy ending for all.

As for something like Zhou Qingqing betraying him—such a notion had never once appeared in his mind.

Logically speaking, for an emperor who valued the world so highly, this was a very abnormal way of thinking. Such an emperor would basically trust no one by his side, and every hidden threat would be dealt with in advance.

But he truly hadn't thought that much, because in the end, from the very beginning he had never been raised as a Crown Prince or any future emperor.

All that stuff about imperial mind-craft—he knew none of it.

At the very beginning, he was merely an ordinary snake-catcher, and through a series of changes and an impulse budding within his heart, he was pushed step by step to where he stood today.

Everything he did came from that original dream in his heart.

But no matter how grand the dream, he was still a living person in the end; he too had his own selfish desires, and his moments of weakness.

Facing the pressure from countless citizens of an entire Empire, sometimes he too would feel the impulse to cast everything aside and flee.

But he understood he could not do so—on his shoulders rested a weighty responsibility.

Even though he knew that, by letting go just a little, he could easily become a tyrant like the Zhou Tianzi, indulging himself at will.

But… would that still truly be him?

Therefore, within him there existed both a rational side and an emotional side.

If that day truly came, and even the bedmate closest to him chose to betray him—

Then he would accept it too, considering it repayment for all the years he had wronged her.

Sometimes, Zhang Rang also wondered if he had gone mad—wanting to be true both to the world and to his beloved, yet alas, how could one have both in this world?

He could only keep wavering endlessly between the two.

While pondering, Zhang Rang had also arrived at the bedchamber of the Great Qin Empress—Zhou Qingqing.

Looking at the exquisite great doors right before him, Zhang Rang's right hand, raised to knock, froze.

When it truly came to this moment, even he felt some hesitation.

But the fact that he froze did not mean Zhou Qingqing inside the bedchamber could not see.

It was deep into the night now, and under the bright candlelight, the silhouette outside was so conspicuous.

"Creak~"

Along with the sound of the great doors opening, a delicate, charming figure appeared within the doorway.

"Brother A Niu, you're back."

In an instant, the beauty smiled brightly, her tone brimming with deep joy.

At this, Zhang Rang also stammered a reply, and—rare for him—scratched his head, seemingly wanting to say something, but for some reason got stuck.

However, to a bedmate who already knew him inside out, Zhou Qingqing needed only a glance to know what was going on.

The understanding her gently stepped forward a few paces to the man's front, took his hand, and said softly, "Brother A Niu, you needn't be like this between us. Qing Qing is listening."

Precisely because of this, I find it even harder to say it.

Zhang Rang looked at his wife, who had never known how to refuse, and said silently within.

But having already come this far, no matter what, there was no turning back.

Otherwise, the first enemy Great Qin might face could well be another mysterious existence similar to the true dragon.

He did not think that, faced with someone who had tricked him, the other party would still be in a good mood.

He slowly let out a sigh, gently took the beauty's slender wrist, and said, "Let's walk and talk—I'll explain everything clearly to you on the way."

"Oh."

Zhou Qingqing replied softly.

……

A quarter of an hour later, Zhang Rang had returned to the previous great hall with Zhou Qingqing, and along the way he had explained everything to her.

Without the slightest hesitation, Zhou Qingqing agreed to his choice, and even comfortingly grasped his hand.

"Sir, I have already decided on a candidate. I wonder how you intend to fulfill what you promised? Do you require me to step aside?"

Upon entering the great hall, Zhang Rang spoke up loudly to ask, and at the same time he raised the beauty's left hand, which he was holding, to indicate that this was the candidate he had chosen.

At this, the black-robed being first shook his head, then nodded, and said, "No need. Since you have already decided, then I shall bestow upon you this mighty power."

The moment the words fell, the mysterious black-robed being, who had just been in the distance, vanished in an instant, and when he appeared again, he was already not far from Zhou Qingqing.

At this, Zhou Qingqing and Zhang Rang's eyes sharpened, and they instinctively retreated a few steps.

It was hard to imagine that, with their current strength, they still could not perceive how the mysterious being before them had appeared in front of them in an instant.

Even so, this display still gave them a measure of reassurance within — for the stronger the power of the black-robed being before them, the more powerful the strength it would later bestow upon them.

While deliberating, Zhang Rang also took a few light steps back, to avoid interfering with the black-robed being's next actions.

But throughout the entire process, his gaze never once left Zhou Qingqing's figure — should he sense anything amiss, he would have to stop it swiftly.

As Zhang Rang retreated, the black-robed being also made a new move.

It was seen that the body shrouded beneath the black robe raised its head.

Within that impenetrable hood, a pair of crimson eyes lit up from the darkness and locked gazes with Zhou Qingqing.

Before she could react, in an instant a beam of light shot forth from the black-robed being's eyes and struck Zhou Qingqing.

In that instant, Zhou Qingqing actually closed her eyes directly, as if she had fallen asleep.

And at this moment, without waiting for Zhang Rang to react at all, it directly raised a left hand — under the influence of gravity, it exposed a part of its body for the first time—

A flawless, jade-white arm.

In the blink of an eye, a faint glow appeared at the fingertip of its raised left hand, transforming into mysterious patterns that gradually began to spread from its fingertip across its entire body.

In just a few breaths, those patterns had spread across its entire body's surface, and at this moment something beyond Zhang Rang's comprehension occurred!

In just a few breaths, the black-robed being's entire body actually began to emit a hazy glow, then slowly and steadily transformed into a vaguely humanoid light-figure with a faintly illusory quality.

At this moment, the black-robed being directly lost its concrete form, transforming into a brilliantly luminous humanoid light-figure within the somewhat dim great hall.

"Th-this, what is this?"

For an instant, this bizarre scene nearly made Zhang Rang cry out in shock — fortunately, at the last moment he came to his senses and suppressed that exclamation within his throat.

But even so, Zhang Rang's heart at this moment was also filled with utter shock; he had never imagined that the black-robed being he had been dealing with all along was actually not human!

At this moment, Zhang Rang was lost.

He had always thought that this black-robed being was mysterious, yes, but at most it was just extraordinarily powerful.

Perhaps an old relic from the bygone era of the destroyed Great Zhou, or even — he suspected it was that founder of Great Zhou, the legendary Zhou Gaozu!

Otherwise there was simply no explaining why It harbored such hatred toward the True Dragon — yet who could have expected that It was actually not human?

What kind of being was he making a deal with, exactly?

Leaving aside Zhang Rang, whose heart was now shaken to the core and lost in a storm of thoughts.

At this moment, the black-robed being — whose entire body had transformed into a light-figure — directly took a step forward, and in an instant its entire light-form body slowly sank into Zhou Qingqing's body.

The entire process was like two drops of ink gradually merging into one as they drew near, or as if the two had originally been one entity — there was simply no obstruction whatsoever.

And with that, the bright light throughout the entire great hall vanished, and the hall once again plunged into dimness, leaving behind only Zhang Rang and Zhou Qingqing, who remained with her eyes closed.

Zhang Rang surveyed his surroundings, still unable to figure out what exactly had happened — where had that black-robed being gone just now? Had it entered his wife's body? And had the bestowal of power been completed or not?

At this moment, countless questions arose in Zhang Rang's mind; he both wanted to approach Zhou Qingqing and feared interrupting that strange ritual, and for a time he found himself in an extremely conflicted state.

Originally, had he not witnessed the scene of the black-robed being transforming into a light-figure, he would have known nothing of these profoundly mysterious oddities, nor would he have paid them any mind — he would never have imagined that such a peculiar being could exist in this world, given that even something as powerful as the True Dragon still belonged to the category of living creatures.

After hesitating for several minutes, Zhang Rang tentatively called out in a low voice:

"Qing Qing?"

Unfortunately, no one responded to him at all.

Just as he was mustering his courage to step forward.

At this moment, thread after thread of light once again emerged from Zhou Qingqing's body, and then — within Zhang Rang's astonished gaze — a humanoid light-figure, its radiance now countless times dimmer, detached itself from Zhou Qingqing's body, and in the next moment slowly transformed back into the mysterious being shrouded in a black robe.

The instant it resumed its black-robed form, the black-robed being suddenly staggered and nearly fell.

At this moment, anyone could see that It was in an extremely weakened state.

And at the same time, with the black-robed being's departure, Zhou Qingqing's body likewise went limp and began to topple toward the ground.

And this scene was naturally also witnessed by Zhang Rang, who had rushed over to catch Zhou Qingqing.

After hurrying a few steps to catch his wife, for a moment his gaze also became somewhat strange.

Precisely at this moment, the beauty in his arms also slowly awoke, opening a pair of crystal-clear, sparkling beautiful eyes.

"How do you feel? Are you alright?"

The moment his wife awoke, Zhang Rang could not wait to lower his head and inquire about her condition, fearing some mishap had befallen her.

In response, feeling the concerned gaze of her husband, Zhou Qingqing's heart also warmed, and she then shook her head.

She did not pull away from his embrace, merely raising one palm — and instantly a ball of light materialized in her palm.

The moment that ball of light appeared, it emanated a startling aura, causing the air around it to subtly assume a distorted posture.

At this moment, anyone could see from this just how terrifying that seemingly unremarkable ball of light truly was.

And only then did Zhou Qingqing speak: "I do indeed feel that my power has grown countless times stronger now, and I sense nothing amiss with my body — it seems he was not lying."

After saying this, she then looked toward the black-robed being, who appeared somewhat weakened, and then toward Zhang Rang.

The meaning within needed no words to be understood.

The moment their eyes met, Zhang Rang understood his wife's intention.

In response, he too was somewhat tempted, but after a brief deliberation and a glance at the wife in his arms, he ultimately shook his head faintly.

Although he did not know the true purpose of the black-robed being before him, he, Zhang Rang, was after all not the sort of ungrateful wretch who would slay the donkey once the millstone was no longer needed.

Call him soft-hearted, call him indecisive — his fundamental nature had ultimately not changed entirely.

He did not release the wife in his arms, merely turning his head to look at the somewhat unsteady black-robed being and saying:

"I thank you for the assistance you have provided. Since the transaction between us has been completed, thereafter your going or staying is entirely up to you."

"Rest assured, I, Zhang, am not one to go back on my word. In some days' time, once everything in my Great Qin is prepared and in order, we shall naturally begin the campaign against the True Dragon. Zhang, along with my wife, takes his leave."

Having said this, he directly gathered Zhou Qingqing's body into his arms in a princess carry and departed without further ado.

……

"Interesting — I'll let you pass, for now."

Gazing at the two figures who had already vanished into the distance, the black-robed being that had previously stood in the great hall appearing somewhat weakened — its aura also shifted, no longer bearing that former weakness.

He lightly raised a hand to rub his own chin and muttered to himself with great interest.

It was obvious that his earlier weakness had all been feigned, everything was merely a test.

And now, this mortal emperor from another realm had passed the examination he had momentarily devised, and his disposition was indeed rare in his lifetime.

Of course, there was also the possibility that it was due to differences between the two worlds — one couldn't be sure; perhaps the people of this world were still in a simple, unsophisticated stage, unlike the humans of his own world, whose dispositions were dark, cunning, and sly.

Thinking on it, the black-robed existence also let out a soft laugh, then slowly vanished from sight.

……

(End of chapter)