"Thus, schemes spread through the court. Alchemists brewed poisonous elixirs, while generals and soldiers grew ever more hungry for military glory and war."
As Jeanne followed Zhou Yun and the surging crowd toward District One, she continued telling the story:
"Yet though the passage of years, burdensome state affairs, and conflicts with his descendants wore down the Emperor's strength, he remained as fierce and sharp as a wolf or eagle."
"In the end, he resisted the most vicious corruption and saw through many of Chaos's schemes."
"He burned corrupted books, buried alive the scholars who secretly worshipped the Changer of Ways, and used ignorance to ward off the erosion of knowledge."
"He executed the alchemists who offered false elixirs, rejected the Plague God's blessing, and instead built great ships to sail overseas in search of the secret of immortality."
"He built towering walls across the border, reined in the Blood God's martial edge, and used walls that would stand for a thousand years to protect his empire."
Jeanne said softly:
"Chaos still harassed him and his empire at every moment. He often woke from nightmares in the middle of the night, often searched for truth amid endless illusions, and often sifted through bamboo slips for traces of corruption. Chaos inflicted great harm upon his empire, yet he still held on through exhaustion and hardship."
"He even defeated the madness constantly pouring forth from the Empyrean, personally using an ancient psychic bow to banish a Greater Daemon that had invaded from the Sea of Souls."
Personally shot down and banished a Greater Daemon.
When Zhou Yun heard that, the corner of his eye twitched slightly.
He could practically see an emperor clad in black standing at the prow of a ship battered by waves, drawing a bow glittering with psychic light