An Emperor in Every Seat

During the three hundred years Meng Chuan spent in seclusion, he was disconnected from the Chat Group. For The Ancient One, the only person in the Chat Group who had never logged off, only a month had passed.

The flow of time was utterly chaotic and had nothing to do with a world's level. Sometimes Zhang Sanfeng had been offline for only a day while five days had passed for Meng Qi. At other times, it was the other way around.

No one could make heads or tails of it.

A month had passed in the group, and the four remaining administrators had spent the whole month chatting. Even the elderly members had learned to use reaction images with ease.

If someone who didn't know who Zhang Sanfeng was chatted with him, they would never guess he was a man from ancient times, nearly a hundred years old.

Zhang Sanfeng: The emperor's majesty.JPG

The Ancient One: The emperor's majesty.JPG

Daigu Madoka: The emperor's majesty.JPG

Meng Chuan looked at the meme and burst out laughing. They had actually clipped his expression from the memory fragment.

Meng Chuan: Nice one. That deserves a reward!

System notice: Group administrator Meng Chuan uploaded a group gift packet—Nine Secrets: Zhe.

Daigu Madoka: Is this one of the Nine Secrets Xiao Meng told us about? If I remember right, mastering Nine Secrets: Zhe gives you incredible vitality?

While Daigu was speaking, Zhang Sanfeng and The Ancient One claimed the gift packet right away.

Zhang Sanfeng: How generous, Great Emperor! Unfortunately, this old Daoist has nothing to offer in return. All I can do is take the freebie!

The Ancient One: As it happens, I've prepared a few gifts for the Great Emperor.

Meng Chuan's heart stirred as he read The Ancient One's message. The Marvel World had some good things after all. He wondered when the group would offer a way to travel between worlds.

System notice: Administrator The Ancient One uploaded a group gift packet—corpses of Dimensional Demons ×4.

System notice: Administrator Meng Chuan claimed the group gift packet.

System notice: An item-type group gift packet can only be claimed once.

The Ancient One: @Zhang Sanfeng @Daigu Madoka, I'll prepare something for you both when I find the right gifts.

Zhang Sanfeng: Then this old Daoist thanks you in advance, Master!

Daigu Madoka: +1!

Neither of them begrudged Meng Chuan the gift packet. They felt they had taken more freebies than anyone else in the group, and were a little ashamed of it.

Meng Chuan: That's mighty generous of you, Master!

Meng Chuan smiled at the corpses before him. They came from a different system of power, and they were far from weak. To him, they were immensely valuable.

Meng Chuan: How has everyone been? I've been in seclusion for three hundred years. I've missed you all!

Even though Meng Qi had explained the Shrouding the Heavens World to them in detail, the three were still shaken. A single period of seclusion lasted several mortal lifetimes. Without the Chat Group, they would never have encountered someone like Meng Chuan in their entire lives.

Well, The Ancient One aside.

Zhang Sanfeng: Only a few months have passed on my end. But I've made a start on your Dao Beginning Scripture, Great Emperor. I opened my Bitter Sea not long ago.

Zhang Sanfeng: Also, I'll be a hundred soon. Cuishan should return around then!

Meng Chuan: Your talent is truly extraordinary, Master Zhang. If you ever come to my world, we may see the rise of a Great Emperor of Tai Chi!

Zhang Sanfeng: You almost have this old Daoist believing it. Dog-head emoji

Daigu Madoka: There's still no sign of the Dark Giant here, but I've reached the Life Spring Realm.

Daigu Madoka: When I cultivate, another power emerges within me. It strengthens me in every way, and I'm making rapid progress.

Meng Chuan: That should be the light. Daigu, you're both light and human. That makes you very special.

Daigu Madoka: I think so too.

Meng Chuan: Keep it up, future Light Emperor!

Zhang Sanfeng: @Meng Chuan, so everyone's going to be an emperor?

Damn it. Don't think I won't beat you up just because you've learned how to chat.

The Ancient One: I've cultivated your Dao Beginning Scripture to the peak of the Mighty Realm, Great Emperor. I'm now facing the barrier of Severing the Dao.

Meng Chuan: !!!

Meng Chuan: You cheat?

Zhang Sanfeng: You cheat?

Daigu Madoka: You cheat?

The Ancient One: ...

The Ancient One: I traveled to different timelines and even sealed time into a loop. I've actually spent nearly a hundred years cultivating.

Meng Chuan: Jealous.JPG

Meng Chuan: Stop copying me!

Zhang Sanfeng: ...

Daigu Madoka: Master, did those thirty thousand jin of Divine Source get you all the way there?

The Ancient One: I found some resources in my world too. Since I had plenty of time, I sometimes worked through the Great Emperor's Dao Beginning Scripture at my own pace instead of rushing to break through.

The Ancient One: The more I studied it, the more unfathomable the Great Emperor's realm seemed. There are powerful beings in my multiverse too, but most know what their powers do without knowing why.

The Ancient One: Only after studying the Great Emperor's ancient scripture for a hundred years did I come to understand the world's Great Dao.

Meng Chuan stared in disbelief. Was this really the taciturn Sorcerer Supreme who had first joined the group?

Was she... flattering me?

Meng Qi: Hello! Wow, everyone's here today.

Meng Qi: Huh? Master, are you flattering the Great Emperor?

Meng Qi: Holy crap, the Great Emperor sent another gift packet! How generous!

Meng Chuan smiled at Meng Qi's rapid-fire messages. Knowing his future in advance didn't seem to have changed him much. After all, the worst that could happen was that he became the Primordial Heavenly Venerable...

Damn it!

Zhang Sanfeng: Little Meng, why are you logging on so late today?

Meng Qi: I was pulled into the Six Paths of Reincarnation today. I just finished the Hidden Emperor Fortress mission.

Meng Chuan: How did it go? Did you show off your divine might and win classmate Xiao Jiang's heart on the spot? ヽ(ω)ゝ

Meng Qi: I did get to show what I could do. I've been practicing Master Zhang's Pure Yang Limitless Art lately, and with your Divine Source too, Great Emperor, I've made a lot of progress.

Zhang Sanfeng: Then how did you explain where those martial arts came from?

Meng Qi: I put them in a cloth bundle and had my junior fellow disciple leave it outside my door. Then I said I'd found it.

Meng Chuan:......

Zhang Sanfeng:......

The Ancient One:......

Daigu Madoka: Isn't that a bit crude?

Meng Qi: The Chat Group covers my tracks anyway. Besides, whatever excuse I come up with would fall apart if the person behind the scenes really investigated.

Meng Qi: Saying I just picked it up might even work surprisingly well.

Meng Chuan: Foolishness masquerading as wisdom!

Meng Qi: Great Emperor, I can tell you're insulting me.

Meng Chuan then argued that it didn't count as an insult if he hadn't used a swear word, that it could only be called something else, and so on. For a while, the Chat Group rang with laughter.

The Ancient One: Everyone, wait a moment.

The Ancient One: I've found something.

The Ancient One: I found a work that seems to tell the Great Emperor's story.

Meng Chuan: ???

Meng Qi: !!!

Meng Qi: Master, upload it! Quick!

System notice: Administrator The Ancient One uploaded a memory copy titled "Heroes."

System notice: "Heroes" meets the criteria. It has been converted into a fate copy. Administrator The Ancient One has set access to administrator Meng Chuan only.

Baffled, Meng Chuan went in to read it. Was there really a story about him? He came out looking perfectly calm.

Meng Qi: How was it, Great Emperor? Was it exciting?

Meng Chuan: It was exciting enough. It's just that the ending...

Meng Chuan: If I hadn't crossed over, the Meng Chuan native to Shrouding the Heavens would probably have lived the life recorded here. But because I did, reality has diverged a great deal from this fate copy.

With that, Meng Chuan opened the fate copy to everyone.

Thanks to Immortal King Taiyi for the recommendation votes. Won't any handsome readers invest...? Please keep voting and adding this to your collections. Also, I should be mailing the contract today.