Chen Cheng opened his eyes. The next moment, a clamor of shouting reached his ears.
"Extra! Extra! Chancellor Wisdom Shield recently faced the Supreme Council's eleventh inquiry into bringing His Majesty home. Chancellor Wisdom Shield once again exercised his final veto to block it."
"Extra! Ex—"
Chen Cheng stopped a newsboy running past and bought a morning paper from him. The front-page headline was the political news the boy had just shouted about.
"Chancellor Wisdom Shield has once again used his final veto to reject a Supreme Council proposal. This is the eleventh time since His Majesty disappeared eleven years ago that the chancellor has used this power to veto the same proposal.
The chancellor has consistently refused to answer the Supreme Council's questions about His Majesty's safety.
Although Chancellor Wisdom Shield has served diligently, his apparent indifference to His Majesty's safety may prompt the Supreme Council to invoke its power of impeachment."
Chen Cheng read the report. When he saw that Wisdom Shield might be impeached because of him, his heart sank.
He folded the paper and was about to put it away when he noticed an article on a later page about changes to this month's Empire Prodigy Rankings.
Though he had been back for less than fifteen minutes, Chen Cheng could sense that some restraint on the world had been lifted. Magic Energy, laws, and other such powers had all surged by more than one level.
Thinking of the Holy City key head in his possession, he wondered if it was because he had taken the Holy City away.
He opened to that page. It began by explaining the origins of the Prodigy Rankings, recounting how the world had changed after Chen Cheng left and ushered in an age of cultivators.
Whether it was government propaganda or