“The Saint-Emperor has summoned Heavenspan Realm cultivators Bai Xiaochun and Giant Ghost for an audience!”
1. In this passage I’m trying to keep the spirit of the Chinese, instead of translate it directly. It’s a little bit of rhyming wordplay that sounds silly and funny. If you translated it all directly, it wouldn’t make much sense in English. In the Chinese, the word for Vile-Emperor rhymes almost perfectly with the word for “crab roe”, or at least, the orangeish-yellow soft meat inside of a crab, which is considered somewhat of a delicacy. Then, he picks a word that has a close pronunciation to Saint-Emperor, and also has the character saint as part of the component of one of the characters, but which means “razor clams”. All in all, it’s pretty funny in Chinese, but doesn’t come across in direct translation. Incidentally, Madam Deathblade absolutely loves that orange crab stuff. It’s one of her favorite things to eat.
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Chapter
1055: A Grand Spectacle
The Giant Ghost King’s actual name was not Giant Ghost.
Clearly, in the Saint-Emperor Dynasty, it wouldn’t be appropriate to speak the king part of his title aloud. Actually, few people knew the Giant Ghost King’s real name, even in the Wildlands. As such, he had known all along that something like this would happen.
“My surname is Zhou, fools!” he muttered under his breath. After the imperial decree was issued, Gu Tianjun turned back to look at Bai Xiaochun. For the first time since their initial meeting, he spoke, his voice as cool as ever.
“The battleship can’t go in, Fellow Daoist Bai. Please, follow me.”
Bai Xiaochun looked at Saint-Emperor City, and especially the imperial palace on the lotus flower, and could sense that thousands of streams of divine sense were currently locked onto his position.
Taking a deep breath, he straightened out his robe, then waved his hand to send Gongsun Wan’er into his bag of holding. Followed by the Giant Ghost king, he proceeded onward toward the imperial palace.
Chuckling coldly, Gu Tianjun led the way, and soon the three of them were right outside the imperial palace. As they neared, an astonishing pressure erupted from inside, an aggressive blast that prevented Bai Xiaochun and the Giant Ghost King from entering.
It was not a deadly attack, but it was terrifying enough to make Bai Xiaochun feel like he was being crushed. At the same time, he realized that within the aura was something that reminded him of the Frigid Matriarch. It was a spirit automaton.
“A world treasure….” he thought, stopping in place. There was also a majestic divine sense that swept over him, confirming both his identity and the Giant Ghost King’s. A moment later, the divine sense vanished.
The intense pressure only lasted for a moment, but it caused the Giant Ghost King to begin to sweat profusely, and even gasp for breath. Then he and Bai Xiaochun entered the main gate of the imperial palace to find themselves at the bottom of a staircase so steep and tall it seemed like a mountain!
There were roughly 10,000 stairs, and at the top of them all… was the enormous palace hall!
A huge crowd was gathered, their backs to the staircase. A narrow path led straight through them to a location that Bai Xiaochun could not currently see. However, the aura he could sense surpassed any sort of god, as if that person were the lord of all living things!
“The Saint-Emperor… wait, no. The Paint-Emperor!” Muttering to himself in this way dispelled much of his nervousness. Having calmed himself down, he began to climb the stairs.
As for the Giant Ghost King, his cultivation base was not as high as Bai Xiaochun’s, nor did he have Bai Xiaochun’s tricks to calm his heart. However, he was one of the four heavenly kings of the Wildlands, so despite the pressure, and despite how much he was sweating, he took a few breaths and managed to calm down a bit.
As he followed Bai Xiaochun up the stairs, the palace hall was slowly revealed in full, including the huge amount of people who were gathered there.
When the two of them stepped off of the last step and into the hall, they found themselves in what was essentially a huge square. At the far end were nine columns decorated with extremely lifelike carvings of dragons and phoenixes.
In the middle of the nine columns was a gigantic green cauldron!
Green smoke curled up from the cauldron, rising into the sky to join the clouds….
There were thousands of people making up the group that filled either side of the hall, all of whom stood motionless, looking respectfully toward the front of the hall.
In front of the crowd were two stooped old men, their hands tucked into opposite sleeves, their heads bowed respectfully as they looked at… the person at the very front of the entire hall!
He did not wear imperial robes, but instead, what seemed to be an ordinary green garment. He sat on a throne, reading an ancient scroll. He was middle-aged and handsome, seemingly genial, as though his smile could cause the spring wind to blow gently through the air. In fact, he seemed so friendly that anyone who looked at him would willingly sacrifice their life for him.
Complete silence reigned. Apparently, until this man spoke, no one else in the hall would dare to do so. Not even Gu Tianjun said anything. He simply clasped hands in formal greeting, then stood off to the side, his head bowed.
No one spoke or even moved, and no one looked at Bai Xiaochun and the Giant Ghost King. Everyone was waiting for the green-robed man to look up.
“Well he certainly knows how to show off!” Bai Xiaochun thought, his heart pounding. However, he reminded himself that he couldn’t give in to fear. In fact, this Saint-Emperor seemed to be going too far in his attempt to be dazzling.
Thankfully, he didn’t keep everyone waiting for too long. Once he sensed Bai Xiaochun’s presence, his gaze shifted away from the ancient scroll. Looking at Bai Xiaochun, he smiled radiantly.
It was like the blooming of a hundred flowers, like the most refreshing of breezes. The imperial palace seemed to brighten, and the clouds up above danced in delight. The lotus flower that made up the palace seemed to stretch upward, causing an even more wonderful aroma to spread out. Out in the heavenly pond, the dragonfish swam back and forth in joy.
“I’ve heard quite a bit about you, Fellow Daoist Bai!” His words seemed to thrum with warmth and friendliness, and his eyes shone with a sincerity that made it seem impossible to doubt him.
Bai Xiaochun held his breath as he was reminded of the first time he had laid eyes on the Arch-Emperor back in the Wildlands. Taking a few steps forward, he clasped hands and bowed deeply, then spoke in a loud voice.
“Bai Xiaochun from the Heavenspan Realm is here to offer greetings, Saint-Emperor! I would also like to offer sincere thanks for your magnanimity. You have my gratitude for keeping the people of Heavenspan safe in your territory, and helping them adapt to life in the Eternal Lands.
“Being unable to pay you back for this favor, Fellow Daoist Giant Ghost and I took a trip to the Vile-Emperor Dynasty. Originally, we planned to apprehend the Vile-Emperor himself and deliver him to you. Sadly, I am too unfamiliar with the Eternal Immortal Domains, and got a bit lost. Therefore, I took a random celestial to offer you as a gift. I know the gift isn’t very impressive, but I hope you’ll deign to accept it, Saint-Emperor.”
During his speech, Bai Xiaochun made sure to add appropriate sighing where necessary, and in the end, plastered a look of deep regret on his face.
In response to Bai Xiaochun’s words, the Saint-Emperor’s smile stiffened a bit. Despite being a mighty emperor, even he was a bit taken aback by what he had just heard.