If the Immortals Won't Move, I'll Demolish It

Wang Xiao’s hands suddenly sank.

The Imperial Dao River.

The fortune of Great Xia.

The faith and aspirations of countless millions.

At that instant,

they all surged into him.

A faint cracking sound came from his shoulders.

Sweat beaded on his brow.

Yet his body did not bend.

Wang Hao looked at him.

“Is it heavy?”

Wang Xiao gritted his teeth.

“It is.”

“Do you want to put it down?”

“No.”

“Why?”

With great effort, Wang Xiao raised his head.

“Because someone has to carry it.”

Wang Hao fell silent for a moment.

Then he lifted a hand

and placed it on Wang Xiao’s shoulder.

“Then carry it well.”

He took a step back.

Holding the Imperial Seal,

Wang Xiao climbed the nine tiers of the imperial stairs,

one step at a time.

At last,

he sat upon the imperial throne.

Rumble—

Above the imperial capital,

Great Xia’s national fortune transformed into a golden dragon stretching ten thousand zhang.

It raised its head and roared toward the heavens.

The Imperial Dao River split in two.

One part continued to circle Wang Hao.

The other

flowed into Wang Xiao’s body.

From that moment onward,

Wang Xiao was Great Xia’s new emperor.

Wang Hao

became Great Xia’s Retired Emperor.

The entire court fell to its knees.

“Your servants…”

“Pay respects to Your Majesty!”

Their voices carried out of Chengtian Hall,

spread throughout the imperial capital,

and finally resounded across Great Xia’s ninety-nine provinces.

Wang Xiao sat upon the throne.

His features still carried a trace of youth,

but there was not the slightest hint of hesitation in his gaze.

He raised a hand.

“Ministers, rise.”

Standing before the assembled officials,

Wang Hao looked at his son on the throne.

For a moment, his thoughts drifted.

Sixteen years ago,

the child he had once held in his arms

had now become capable of shouldering this realm.

At that very moment,

a system notification appeared.

【Special location detected: Great Xia’s Imperial Throne.】

【The host has completed the transfer of the imperial throne.】

【Would you like to sign in?】

Wang Hao answered silently in his heart.

“Sign in.”

【Sign-in successful.】

【Item obtained: Heaven-Illuminating Immortal Mirror.】

【Heaven-Illuminating Immortal Mirror: A single-use immortal artifact capable of revealing all immortal-path beings within a realm, marking their locations, cultivation levels, and degree of corruption.】

【Special intelligence obtained.】

【There are currently eighty-nine immortal-path beings within the cultivation world.】

【Among them are eighty-four Earth Immortals and five Heavenly Immortals.】

【Forty-one show no obvious signs of corruption.】

【Seventeen are in the early stages of corruption.】

【Thirty-one have been deeply corrupted.】

【All five Heavenly Immortals are in self-sealed states. Suppressed by the laws of the lower realm, they are unable to regain their full Heavenly Immortal strength.】

【In three days, the Taixuan Heavenly Immortal within the Northern Abyss Heavenly Ruins will summon the immortals to discuss killing the host.】

【The next sign-in location has been updated: Ascension Platform of All Heavens.】

After reading the intelligence,

Wang Hao raised his head and looked beyond Chengtian Hall.

His gaze gradually became calm.

From the throne, Wang Xiao asked,

“Retired Emperor,

when do you intend to leave the capital?”

Wang Hao took out a blank imperial edict

and placed it on the imperial desk.

“After you issue your first decree.”

Wang Xiao picked up the imperial brush.

“What should I write?”

Wang Hao said,

“Confer titles upon the Empress Dowager,

Grand Princess Zhaoping,

and Prince Zhao.”

Then,

Wang Hao opened another register he had prepared long ago.

On its cover

were only two words:

Immortal Register.

“Notify the entire cultivation world on my behalf.”

“Within seven days,

every immortal

is to proceed to the Ascension Platform of All Heavens of their own accord.”

Wang Xiao asked,

“And if they refuse to go?”

Wang Hao smiled.

“Then I will pay them a visit myself

and help them move.”

On the second day after the new emperor’s ascension,

a grand investiture ceremony was held in Great Xia’s imperial capital.

Before dawn had even broken,

the Ministry of Rites officials were already rushing about before the Imperial Ancestral Temple, so busy their feet scarcely touched the ground.

Sacrifices to Heaven.

Reports to the ancestors.

Proclamation of edicts.

Bestowal of seals.

Every part of the ceremony followed elaborate protocol.

Wang Hao sat in a side hall of the Imperial Ancestral Temple,

looking over the ceremonial procedures sent by the Ministry of Rites.

There were a full three hundred and sixty-one pages.

He flipped through only two pages.

Then closed it.

“Too troublesome.”

The Minister of Rites said quietly,

“Your Majesty, the Retired Emperor.”

“It is ancestral custom.”

Wang Hao said,

“If the ancestors were still alive,

“and saw all these procedures,

“they’d find them troublesome too.”

The Minister of Rites said earnestly,

“Your Majesty, this minister has consulted Emperor Taizu’s personal notes.”

“Emperor Taizu did indeed find such matters troublesome.”

Wang Hao asked,

“Then why keep them?”

The Minister of Rites lowered his head.

“Because Emperor Taizu found them troublesome,

“he entrusted the entire system of rites to the Ministry of Rites.”

“The ministers of rites who came after him wanted to prove they had not been idle.”

“So they expanded it to more than three hundred pages.”

Wang Hao was silent for a moment.

“Cut it all.”

“Keep three pages.”

The Minister of Rites went pale.

“Three pages?”

“Page one: invest the Empress Dowager.”

“Page two: invest the princesses and imperial princes.”

“Page three: open the banquet and eat.”

“Your Majesty, the Retired Emperor—”

“That is not in accordance with protocol.”

Wang Hao glanced at him.

“If you like,

“you may go through the remaining three hundred and fifty-eight pages

“yourself.”

The Minister of Rites immediately put away the ceremonial procedures.

“This minister believes

“three pages would be excellent.”

“A return to simplicity.”

“In harmony with the Great Dao.”

One hour later.

The main hall of the Imperial Ancestral Temple.

Bells and drums resounded in unison.

The new emperor, Wang Xiao, wore a black-and-gold imperial robe.

Upon his head rested a twelve-tasseled ceremonial crown.

His sixteen-year-old face,

behind the jade beads hanging from the crown,

appeared exceptionally composed.

Civil and military officials stood in ranks on either side.

Wang Hao did not sit beside Wang Xiao.

Instead, he casually had a chair brought over

and sat on the right side of the hall.

The Minister of Rites had originally intended to point out

that the Retired Emperor’s seat did not conform to protocol.

But the words reached his lips

and were swallowed again.

After all, the ceremony had been reduced to only three pages.

One extra chair

could not possibly matter much.

The ceremonial official unfurled the imperial edict

and proclaimed in a loud voice,

“By the Mandate of Heaven, the Emperor decrees:

“Empress Ren Mingyue,

“whose virtue matches Heaven and Earth, who governs the inner palace and assists in affairs of state beyond it—

“upon the new emperor’s accession,

“is hereby honored as the Holy Mother Empress Dowager.

“She shall reside in Changning Palace

“and be sustained by the fortune of Great Xia.”

Ren Mingyue, dressed in a crimson-and-gold phoenix robe,

walked forward at a measured pace.

She received the golden investiture tablet and the phoenix seal of the Empress Dowager.

She looked up at Wang Xiao upon the imperial throne.

She did not perform the full formal bow,

merely inclining her head slightly.

“Thank you, Your Majesty.”

Wang Xiao rose

and personally helped her up.

“Mother Empress, no ceremony is necessary.”

Outside the hall,

the phantom image of a golden phoenix stretching ten thousand zhang

spread its wings above the imperial city.

A thread of Great Xia’s national fortune

separated from the whole

and descended into Ren Mingyue’s body.

Her cultivation did not surge dramatically.

Yet beneath the nourishment of the national fortune,

her lifespan rapidly lengthened.

Among her lustrous black hair,

the few strands of white brought on by years of labor

quietly returned to black.

From his seat nearby,

Wang Hao applauded softly.

The Minister of Rites reminded him in a low voice,

“Your Majesty, the Retired Emperor,

“applause is not required during an investiture ceremony.”

Wang Hao said,

“I’m happy.

“Is that not allowed either?”

The Minister of Rites closed his mouth.

“It is.”

“Please continue.”

The next imperial edict was unfurled.

“Imperial daughter Wang Wan,

“courtesy name Lingyu,

“wise and upright, discerning in law and steadfast in principle—

“is hereby granted the title of Grand Princess Zhaoping.

“She is awarded a golden investiture tablet,

“shall establish her own princess’s residence,

“and is permitted to participate in deliberations on affairs of state.

“She shall oversee and investigate all officials and sects.

“Except in cases of treason or grave crimes,

“she shall not be subject to joint trial by the Three Judicial Offices.”

As the proclamation ended,

a faint stir immediately ran through the ranks of court officials.

Permission to participate in state deliberations.

Authority to supervise officials and sects.

This was no longer the authority of an ordinary grand princess.

It was more like placing a blade capable of watching over the realm

directly into Wang Wan’s hands.

A censor hurriedly stepped forward.

“Your Majesty.”

“Grand Princess Zhaoping is only sixteen years old.”

“To participate in state affairs—”

“I fear that would be inappropriate.”

Wang Wan stood in the hall.

Calmly, she looked at the censor.

“Censor Zhou.”

“Last May.”

“Your nephew forcibly occupied three hundred and seventy mu of farmland belonging to commoners.”

“Last July.”

“Your nephew, under the pretext of recruiting disciples for his sect—”

“illicitly collected eighty thousand spirit stones.”

“Last September.”

“Your household steward colluded with salt merchants from the Western Prefecture.”

“Trafficking in government salt.”

“None of these cases—”

“have yet been closed by the Inspectorate.”

Censor Zhou’s face turned deathly pale.

“Your Highness.”

“This minister was merely speaking of the matter at hand.”

Wang Wan said,

“So am I.”

She drew a command token from her sleeve.

“The Inspectorate.”

“Arrest him.”

Two Inspectorate officials entered the great hall.

They seized Censor Zhou and began dragging him outside.

Censor Zhou hurriedly looked toward Wang Xiao.

“Your Majesty!”

“To arrest a court official during the investiture ceremony—”

“is a breach of propriety!”

Wang Xiao sat upon the imperial throne.

He glanced at the Minister of Rites.

“Do the ceremonial codes—”

“contain any rule forbidding arrests during an investiture ceremony?”

The Minister of Rites flipped through the three pages of abridged ceremony procedures.

“Replying to Your Majesty.”

“No.”

Wang Xiao nodded.

“Then drag him away.”

Censor Zhou was dragged out of the Imperial Ancestral Temple.

Only then did Wang Wan step forward.

She accepted the golden investiture tablet of Grand Princess Zhaoping.

“Your subject and younger sister—”

“thanks Your Majesty for the investiture.”

Wang Xiao looked at the case files in her hands.

“From today onward—”

“the matter of supervising the sects and immortal clans—”

“will be entrusted to you.”

Wang Wan said,

“Your subject and younger sister accepts the decree.”

Outside the hall—

the golden fortune of the realm condensed into a radiant sun.

Beneath that great sun—

a black sword of law slowly took shape.

The laws of Zhaoming.

Steadying the four corners of the realm.

At that moment, the title of Zhaoping became bound to the Great Xia’s national fortune.

Several elders sent by the Ice and Snow Divine Palace—

stood behind the civil and military officials.

Their expressions were complicated.

One elder looked toward Shen Xue.

He sent a quiet transmission.

“Saintess.”

“Grand Princess Zhaoping bears the bloodline of the Ice and Snow Divine Palace.”

“Now that she also holds the authority to oversee all under Heaven—”

“if she could return to the Divine Palace and inherit its legacy—”

“the Ice and Snow Divine Palace would surely rise above all sects.”

Shen Xue glanced at the elder.

“What is her surname?”

The elder paused.

“Wang.”

“Then that settles it.”

“She is the Grand Princess of Great Xia.”

“Not a tool for the Ice and Snow Divine Palace to use in its struggle for power.”

The elder frowned.

“But she is, after all, your daughter.”

Shen Xue’s voice was icy.

“Then you should count yourself fortunate.”

“That I am the one standing here today.”

“If she had heard those words—”

“the Inspectorate would have taken you away already.”

The elder immediately fell silent.

The third investiture edict was unfurled.

“Prince Wang Yan.”

“Clever and well-versed in military affairs, with a keen eye for strategy.”

“Bestowed the title of Prince Zhao.”

“Granted a golden tablet of princely investiture.”

“Authorized to establish the Prince Zhao’s Residence.”

“Permitted to observe affairs at the Ministry of War.”

“Given command over patrol and defense across the three northern frontier provinces.”

The court officials erupted once more.

A vice minister of war could not help but raise his head.

Keen eye for strategy?

This Prince Zhao—

had stolen a Godslayer Cannon only the day before yesterday.

And blown up half his own princely residence.

Letting someone like that into the Ministry of War—

was he there to observe government affairs—

or to see which cannon would be easiest to steal?

Wang Yan stepped out from the ranks.

His face was full of delight.

“Your younger brother thanks Your Majesty.”

Wang Xiao said,

“Don’t thank me just yet.”

Wang Yan’s heart tightened.

“For the patrol and defense of the three northern frontier provinces—”

“all military supplies entering or leaving—”

“must be recorded in the registers.”

“If even a single cannonball goes missing—”

“it will be deducted from your stipend as Prince Zhao.”

Wang Yan asked,

“How much is this younger brother’s annual stipend?”

The elderly Ministry of Revenue official immediately opened the ledger.

“Prince Zhao’s annual stipend.”

“Thirty thousand spirit stones.”

Wang Yan asked again,

“How much does a single Godslayer Cannon shell cost?”

“One hundred and sixty thousand spirit stones.”

Wang Yan fell silent.

“Then how much do I still owe?”

The elderly Ministry of Revenue official turned another page.

“Including the Prince’s Manor you destroyed.”

“And the three streets damaged by the shockwave.”

“You will need to serve Great Xia for another one hundred and seventy-two years.”

Wang Yan looked toward Wang Hao.

“Father.”

“When you owed money to the imperial treasury back then…”

“How did you deal with it?”

Wang Hao replied calmly,

“Ascend the throne.”

Wang Yan’s eyes lit up.

Wang Xiao, seated upon the imperial throne, gave a light cough.

Wang Yan immediately dropped to his knees.

“Your subject-brother harbors no such intention!”

Inside the hall,

the civil and military officials struggled to keep straight faces.

None of them dared laugh aloud.

Yun Meng stood at the back of the crowd.

She raised a hand to rub her forehead.

She was already beginning to doubt

whether allowing Wang Yan into the Ministry of War

had truly been the right decision.

The investiture ceremony ended.

But Wang Xiao did not immediately declare the court dismissed.

From atop the imperial desk,

he picked up another edict—black in color.

Above the Imperial Ancestral Temple,

the atmosphere, which had only just relaxed,

instantly turned grave.

Everyone knew

that the truly important matter

was only beginning now.

Wang Xiao unfurled the edict.

His voice rang throughout the Imperial Ancestral Temple.

“By decree of the Retired Emperor of Great Xia—

“Effective immediately,

“all immortal cultivators throughout the cultivation world shall be investigated.

“Any Earth Immortal or above,

“regardless of origin,

“regardless of sect,

“regardless of whether they are in sealed seclusion,

“must, within seven days,

“report to the Ascension Platform of All Heavens for registration.

“After verification,

“they shall return to the Immortal Realm.

“No sect, imperial dynasty, or forbidden zone

“may conceal any immortal cultivator.

“Violators

“shall be punished as accomplices in harboring illegal crossers.”

Within the great hall,

one could hear a pin drop.

The Ice and Snow Divine Palace.

The Illusory Sea Immortal Sect.

Hundred Burial Mountain.

The Dragon-Slaying Lineage.

Representatives from every major power

all showed a change in expression.

For behind many ancient factions,

there were, more or less,

some old ancestors who had already ascended to immortality hidden away.

Those ancestors

were the true foundation of their sects,

the basis upon which they had stood in the cultivation world for countless ages.

And now,

with a single word from Wang Hao,

all immortals were to be sent away.