"Long live the Immortal Emperor! May Heavenly Origin endure forever!"
Many leaders of the various factions, whose faces had been ashen just moments earlier, now flushed with excitement, pumping their fists and shouting. Their eyes burned with fervor, their expressions devout, as though pilgrims had finally beheld their true god.
This was power.
This was the awe and submission absolute power inspired.
Atop the platform, Yun Huang stood with his hands behind his back, his white robes snapping amid the crimson chain fragments raining from the sky, like a god gazing down upon the mortal world.
Behind him, shattered crimson filled the sky, drifting down as brilliantly as flowers.
Before him were countless faces caught between fervor, reverence, and fear.
Yet the Immortal Emperor's gaze remained as indifferent as an ancient icy pool, without a ripple.
Those pale golden eyes passed over everyone and settled on the black-clad figure standing to one side of the crowd, with two fluffy creatures stacked in his arms.
Sensing Yun Huang's gaze, Yun Qing raised his head and gave the Immortal Emperor atop the platform a brilliant, composed smile.
Yun Qing smiled up at him, while Qing Kitty in his arms also raised its little head, gazing at him without blinking through glasslike feline eyes and giving a soft "mew."
Only Little Radiant Chick, who had awakened at some point, stood majestically atop Qing Kitty's head. Its beady eyes surveyed its surroundings with disdain, the enormous words "show" and "off" practically written in its left and right eyes.
Meeting Yun Qing's eyes seemed to improve Yun Huang's mood inexplicably. Then he withdrew his gaze and looked over the assembled crowd again.
The cheers died away instantly.
Because Yun Huang had raised his hand.
That single, simple gesture plunged the entire Ancestral Temple back into