Imperial Palace · Hall of Eternal Stability
In the vast hall, only one man's roar could be heard.
A dark mass of people knelt in the hall, all with their heads lowered, holding their breath as they listened to the Emperor's furious bellowing.
"...Still need to investigate? Investigate what? What have you all been doing these past few days? I pay you salaries so you can sit in your estates eating and drinking like pigs every day? Incompetent! Useless trash!"
"If Monsters can enter the Capital City, will the next step be Demon Race members barging into my Imperial Palace and standing before me? Huh?"
"So many officials—I do not usually expect great ability from the lot of you, but for you to be this useless is simply astonishing! If I were you, how would I still have the face to kneel here and beg my forgiveness?"
The roaring Emperor was no small threat. With that one mouth, he spat "sharp blades" that made the officials lower their heads until they nearly touched the ground, ashamed enough to wish they could smash themselves to death against a Pillar on the spot.
But if they truly did so, they might be dead and done with it all, yet their families would likely be implicated and punished in their stead.
Thus, while the Emperor roared above, the crowd kneeling below kept their heads bowed. Not one of them dared make a sound.
At a glance, several Daoist priests were mixed among them, including Liu Zhan and Huo Wuyong. These two bore the brunt of it and were thoroughly berated as well.
Huo Wuyong no longer hoped to gain the Emperor's reward through the matter of refining pills and bring glory to his sect. He only prayed that his two consecutive failures would