Chapter 109: Martial Emperor, Do You Dare to Fight!

"Not bad." Lin Chao nodded.

He discovered that the Everlasting Art, this method of Immortal Cultivation, seemed particularly suited for the puppets he crafted.

For instance, Qi Pinggui, using the Everlasting Art, progressed in his cultivation even faster than he did.

Lin Chao looked at Qi Pinggui and said slowly, "Father, could you do your son a favor?"

Qi Pinggui's expression immediately turned solemn, and a trace of worry flashed deep within his eyes.

"I hope that Father can guard the Wu Dynasty for a hundred years." Lin Chao's expression was calm.

Qi Pinggui's hand was immediately placed on Lin Chao's wrist.

Upon sensing it carefully, his expression changed drastically.

"You..."

From Qi Pinggui's body, countless Spirit Power surged into Lin Chao's body.

Beside them, the Spirit Power within Zhao Cui Yun also surged into Lin Chao's body.

Lin Chao felt a slight warmth in his heart: "Father, Mother, it's useless... *cough*..."

"Mu'er." Zhao Cui Yun's eyes were filled with unwillingness.

Due to the consumption of countless Spirit Power, both she and Qi Pinggui were now very weak.

"Father, could you help me look after the Wu Kingdom for a hundred years?"

"Don't mention a hundred years, a thousand years will do." Qi Pinggui looked at Lin Chao, his heart aching uncontrollably, and finally let out a sigh.

In the eighth year of Wuli, Empress Zhao Ran and Noble Consort Wu Xiangyi fell gravely ill and remained unconscious.

The Martial Emperor was filled with worry and also fell gravely ill, with all physicians at a loss.

In the ninth month, the Martial Emperor wished to appoint his eldest daughter, Qi Yingxue, as Crown Prince, but the court officials opposed it.

In the tenth month, the Martial Emperor appointed Qi Zhao, the son of the Virtuous Consort, as Crown Prince, and the Virtuous Consort as Xian De Empress.

Qi Zhao submitted a petition to decline.

The Emperor appointed him again, and Qi Zhao declined again.

The Emperor appointed him yet again, and Qi Zhao declined yet again.

The Emperor appointed him once more, and Qi Zhao did not decline.

In the ninth year of Wuli, the Martial Emperor could no longer manage the court affairs and often fell into a coma, with the Crown Prince supervising the state and the Xian De Empress ruling from behind the curtain.

In the tenth year of Wuli, the Martial Emperor was unconscious, waking only once or twice a month.

Inside the Palace.

Zhao Ran suddenly opened her eyes.

"Am I still alive?"

She looked over and immediately saw a familiar figure.

Wu Xiangyi had also awakened at this moment.

"Sister Ran, how are we not dead?"

Wu Xiangyi was both pleasantly surprised and puzzled.

Suddenly, thinking of something, their expressions changed drastically.

They were just about to leave the Palace when a maid walked over.

"Your Ladyships, you are awake?"

"What time is it now?"

"The tenth year of Wu'an."

"Two years have passed?" Zhao Ran's body staggered.

A sense of foreboding also flashed through Wu Xiangyi's heart.

"Where is the Emperor?" Zhao Ran asked hurriedly, a look of anxiety on her cold face.

The maid stammered and did not speak.

Just then, a voice appeared; it was Wang Qiyun.

He looked at Zhao Ran and Wu Xiangyi and spoke slowly: "The Emperor... is gravely ill."

"How can that be? My husband is divinely martial and extraordinary, how could he fall ill!" Wu Xiangyi did not believe it.

Beside her, Wang Qiyun let out a long sigh: "Your Ladyships, the Martial Emperor always knew that there was a problem with the Immortal Corpse Bone.

Thus, he established the Yantian Division to study and solve the problem of the Immortal Corpse Bone.

In the end, we devised a method, which is, for a Martial Dao Supreme to forcibly exchange bones, trading life for life."

Tears immediately gushed from Wu Xiangyi's eyes; she remembered that it seemed to be just a moment ago.

Her husband said that with him here, he would protect her and Sister Zhao Ran for a thousand years.

Her husband also said he would trade life for life.

Those sweetest words of love were now like a nightmare.

"He is the ruler of the Wu Kingdom; how could you tell him the results of such research?

If he is in danger, what a great harm it is to the state of the Wu Kingdom!" Zhao Ran asked.

In truth, she never cared about the state of the Wu Kingdom.

What she cared about most was her husband.

"We did not tell His Majesty; it was His Majesty who found out through other means." Wang Qiyun was filled with immense regret, "I should not have researched these things."

"Take me to see my husband!" Zhao Ran's voice was cold, but her body could not stop trembling.

In the eleventh year of Wuli, undercurrents surged in the Wu Kingdom, and the East Sea Venerable declared several times that he wished to challenge the Martial Emperor.

However, he never went to Wangcheng.

At this time, the condition of the Martial Emperor had become even more severe; there were only two or three days in a year when he could wake up.

Each time he woke, it was for no more than a hundred breaths.

Within the Imperial Palace, Zhao Ran and Wu Xiangyi stayed by Lin Chao's side at all times, and they also slept by Lin Chao's side, terrified of missing the time when Lin Chao would wake.

Princess Yingxue also stayed in the Palace the entire time, accompanying Lin Chao.

However, at this moment, the Princess's eyes no longer held their original liveliness, and she looked even more gaunt.

In the twelfth year of Wuli, the Martial Emperor remained in a coma.

The ministers submitted a petition for the Crown Prince, Qi Zhao, to ascend the throne and for the Martial Emperor to become the Retired Emperor, but the Crown Prince refused.

The East Sea Venerable wrote a letter, inviting the Martial Emperor to a battle in the East Sea.

In the thirteenth year of Wuli, the Martial Emperor had not woken for a year and a half.

The entire Wu Kingdom seemed to be teetering in the wind and rain, with all eyes gathered on Wangcheng.

It was unknown how many people were just waiting for news of that person's death.

Wu Xiangyi and Zhao Ran stayed in the Palace, living as they always did.

One day, the sky was clear for ten thousand miles, and the bright sun shone high.

Lin Chao's hand moved, and he opened his eyes; his eyes were half-squinted.

"Husband!"

Zhao Ran and Wu Xiangyi grasped Lin Chao's hands, their faces filled with surprise and also some heartache.

"To be able to see the person one loves the moment one opens one's eyes is truly a joy in the human world." This time, Lin Chao did not speak in fits and starts; instead, he was particularly clear.

"Husband..." Wu Xiangyi could not speak.

She naturally knew that this was not because her husband had recovered.

Her husband's body had already reached the extreme of deterioration.

"However, I always feel a bit cold; has it snowed?"

"Daddy, it has snowed. Look, these are snowflakes."

A cluster of snowflakes appeared in Qi Yingxue's hand, just like the year she fell from the silver-clad, snow-covered tree.

Lin Chao smiled with difficulty.

Zhao Ran held back the tears in her eyes: "I will warm you up, Husband."

She unfastened her clothes, using her own body heat to warm Lin Chao.

"I will too." Wu Xiangyi also took off her clothes.

With warmth and fragrance in his embrace, Lin Chao was incomparably quiet at this moment.

"Husband, you said that with you here, you would keep me and Sister safe." Wu Xiangyi's eyes were filled with tears, "You cannot go back on your word."

"Daddy also said that no matter when I fell from a tree, you would catch me."

"I also said I would trade my life for yours." Lin Chao reached out with difficulty to wipe the tears from their faces.

However, his hand was exceptionally weak at this moment; even lifting it was very difficult.

"Our lives are not worth you trading yours, Husband."

"I have many lives; I am not afraid."

"Husband... I want to stay with you forever."

"Your lives were traded by me.

You must become immortals and see the wider scenery on my behalf."

As Lin Chao spoke, his hand still wanted to wipe the tears from the faces of those two people.

But his lifted arm fell again; this time, it could not be raised again.

Time froze at this moment.

"Husband... I won't cry..." Wu Xiangyi hugged Lin Chao tightly, one hand clutching Lin Chao's arm, using it to wipe the tears from her own face.

Zhao Ran was half-dressed in red, cold as frost, her gaze resolute: "Husband, I will definitely become an immortal and find you within the cycle of reincarnation!"

In the thirteenth year of Wuli, the Martial Emperor passed away, and the world mourned together.

Crown Prince Qi Zhao ascended the throne as Emperor.

One day, with heavy snow falling, Princess Yingxue wore a plain white dress and jumped from the city tower.

"Daddy, you said I was still young and didn't understand many things, and that there was still much beauty in this world I hadn't seen."

"But Daddy, you don't know that I was born for you; without you, I truly cannot bear it."

"I'm sorry."

"Daddy, can you catch me this time?"

Yingxue's figure fluttered, like a butterfly.

Her figure did not hit the ground, but her Divine Soul and body dissipated, vanishing from this world.

The new Emperor ascended the throne, and the imperial court remained harmonious, yet undercurrents surged in the dark.

It seemed they were waiting for an opportunity.

In the second year after the Martial Emperor passed away, the East Sea Venerable entered Jingcheng.

He sat atop a high building and roared: "Martial Emperor, I have now stepped into the supreme realm.

I challenged you to a battle, but you never dared to come to the East Sea.

If you will not come to the East Sea, then I shall come to Kyoto.

Martial Emperor, do you dare to fight!"

This voice resounded through Jingcheng, causing countless ripples.

There were those who cursed loudly, and there were those who hid in the shadows, waiting for the right moment to act.

The Martial Emperor's might oppressed the world, and his prestige was so great that many people did not believe he could have suddenly died of a serious illness.

Consequently, the East Sea Venerable arrived in Kyoto to challenge the late Martial Emperor.

(End of this chapter)