Heaven's Mandate Lies with Jing, the Punishment Head's Inheritance

In the forty-third year of Kaiyuan, Tian Shan Ji Que's end drew near. Before his death, he came to challenge the Martial Arts Myth. You successfully survived his challenge, escaped a deadly calamity, and received a survival reward—the immortal cultivation supreme art, 'Heavenly Heart Thunder Method.'

Jiang Changsheng sat on the bed, the corners of his mouth curling upward.

Worthy of a Grandmaster. The reward truly was extraordinary!

Jiang Changsheng happily began inheriting the Heavenly Heart Thunder Method. As he grew stronger while remaining at Dragon Arising Temple, survival rewards had become scarce, so he always looked forward to them.

In truth, he could choose another path: roam the martial world and fight and kill every day. The survival rewards would surely explode. But that would be far too improper, delaying his cultivation. Survival rewards only granted methods of cultivation; they did not directly make him stronger.

Besides, with too many enemies, he always felt that he might one day overturn his cart in a ditch.

Only those who killed their way to the end were protagonists. Those who died midway were supporting characters, or even villains.

Tian Shan Ji Que died in battle at Dragon Arising Temple and was buried in Hero's Graveyard. Within a single month, the news spread like wildfire through Great Jing's martial world.

Sword Madman and Mad Blade were strong, but they had yet to reach the realm of Grandmaster.

After this battle, Hero's Graveyard's status was thoroughly etched into the hearts of martial artists, and a saying even emerged.

The greatest fortune for one in the martial world was to be buried in Hero's Graveyard.

Of course, even more people scoffed at it. They looked forward to leveling Dragon Arising Temple, trampling Hero's Graveyard beneath their feet, and forging their own Martial Arts Myth.

Autumn arrived.

Jiang Yu led his army back to the capital. After learning of the emperor's arrangements, he flew into a rage and stormed into the imperial palace, confronting Jiang Yuan in the Imperial Study.

Jiang Yuan was now at death's door, lying on the Dragon Bed with his eyes half-closed.

"Father Emperor, you are trying to harm your son! You support Ziyu—aren't you simply creating trouble for Zihan? Once I ascend the throne, I will certainly appoint Zihan as Crown Prince!"

Jiang Yu berated him, not treating Jiang Yuan as an emperor in the slightest.

Jiang Yuan said weakly, "Zihan is too arrogant and ruthless at heart. You do not wish to see your descendants slaughtering one another either, do you?"

Jiang Yu frowned but fell silent.

Though he had fought his brothers, he did not wish to see his own sons fight.

Jiang Yu came to the table and sat down, sighing. "Father Emperor, your son suddenly feels so tired. This throne is not nearly as easy as I imagined."

Two years of campaigning abroad had ground down the pride in his heart.

Jiang Yuan did not answer, as though he had fallen asleep.

Jiang Yu began recounting his experiences over the past two years. Even after inviting experts from Great Vehicle Dragon Tower, they had been unable to turn the tide. Though Gu Han had only three Grandmasters, each was a figure comparable to Zong Tianwu. Great Vehicle Dragon Tower's experts could only hold them in check, while in terms of armies, Gu Han was stronger and had greater numbers.

Most crucially, the Jin Dynasty had actually joined the war, thoroughly defeating Jiang Yu.

Great Jing and Gu Han had battled for years, exhausting their people and squandering their wealth until their national strength declined. Yet the Jin Dynasty had been quietly recuperating all along, and its strength had faintly surpassed both Great Jing and Gu Han.

"Dragon Tower has gone too far, forcing me to restore Chu. If I do not restore Chu, they will not send any more or stronger experts to support us. The same goes for Great Jing's five Grandmasters. Father Emperor, has Great Jing's destiny truly run out?" Jiang Yu gritted his teeth, clenching his hands inside his sleeves, unable to calm himself.

At the mention of restoring Chu, Jiang Yuan still showed no emotional reaction.

He no longer had the strength to think about so many matters. Jiang Changsheng's medicine was merely keeping one last breath in him.

Jiang Yu spoke for a long time, venting the gloom in his heart. Then he stood, looking down at Jiang Yuan on the Dragon Bed. "Father Emperor, it is time for you to pass away. Let me decide whether Chu shall be restored. That way, your prestige will not be tarnished. But if you keep holding on, it will become a stain upon your life as an emperor."

With that, he turned and left.

Jiang Yuan struggled to open his eyes and watched him depart, regret and unwillingness filling his gaze.

"This game of chess... I still... lost..."

At the end of the year, Eunuch Li came to find Jiang Changsheng, saying that His Majesty had summoned him. Jiang Changsheng sensed something and followed Eunuch Li.

They made their way to Jiang Yuan's bedchamber. The Empress was feeding Jiang Yuan medicine. When she saw Jiang Changsheng arrive, Jiang Yuan coughed excitedly.

Jiang Yuan had become little more than skin and bones, his face covered in age spots, the vitality within him on the verge of being extinguished.

"Everyone... leave..."

Jiang Yuan spoke with difficulty. Seeing him wave his hand, the Empress could only lead the palace maids away. As she passed Jiang Changsheng, the Empress looked at him worriedly and sighed. In the end, she left and closed the door behind her.

Jiang Changsheng walked to the bedside.

Jiang Yuan gripped his hand, deeply agitated. His hand trembled without cease, but he could not force out a single word.

Seeing his reddened eyes glisten with tears, Jiang Changsheng could not bear it in the end. He cast the Spring Return Spell on him, granting him a final flash of life.

In an instant, Jiang Yuan clearly felt the pain in his body vanish, replaced by strength he had nearly forgotten. He sat up shakily and said in a trembling voice, "Changsheng, this of yours is absolutely not martial arts... But I am already a dying man... I summoned you because I wish to make up for the regrets and guilt in my heart..."

Jiang Changsheng's expression did not change. "Your Majesty, at your age, you can be considered to have lived out your natural lifespan. Why harbor regrets? The realm has its own destiny. Trust in those who come after."

Jiang Yuan held his hand with both of his, his chest heaving. He tried hard to compose himself before saying, "There is something I must tell you... I did not wish to say it. I wanted to take this secret with me beneath the Yellow Springs, but I fear..."

Jiang Changsheng said, "What do you fear? That you have wronged me, or that someone may target me while I remain unaware?"

Jiang Yuan froze, staring at him in disbelief.

Jiang Changsheng said, "My dear Father Emperor, I have always known. That mysterious person you saw that night was none other than me."

Jiang Yuan was struck as though by lightning, his hands instinctively releasing Jiang Changsheng's.

Jiang Changsheng remained calm.

Jiang Yuan suddenly understood, yet he was still perplexed. "Who told you? Eunuch Li? Or those men I had beheaded?"

Jiang Changsheng said, "Just consider me someone who knows Heaven's mandate."

Upon hearing this, Jiang Yuan's expression shifted between light and shadow before finally turning into a bitter smile.

"None of that matters now... The reason I wished to tell you of your origins is that the Crown Prince's mother also knows of this matter. Originally, it would have been nothing, considering your formidable martial arts... But the Crown Prince wishes to restore Chu. Once Chu is restored, you and your other brothers must all die. The Crown Prince possesses an unmatched divine art that can absorb another's True Qi. I fear you may be caught off guard..." Jiang Yuan said through gritted teeth.

His face was full of remorse.

Jiang Changsheng said, "Thank you for the warning."

Jiang Yuan looked at him again, guilt filling his eyes. "Qian'er... Changsheng, do you hate Father Emperor..."

Jiang Changsheng said, "When I learned the truth, I did hate you. But I have let it go now. I have no interest in the throne. I simply dislike others deciding my fate, so I resisted a little."

Jiang Yuan said helplessly, "Changsheng, you are indeed very strong, and now you are even the Martial Arts Supreme. But Father Emperor still has advice for you: do not underestimate this world. Great Jing's Thirteen Provinces are merely a corner of this vast world. Behind the Crown Prince stands Great Vehicle Dragon Tower, a sacred land that has stood for a thousand years. There may be more sacred lands like Dragon Tower. To monopolize the martial resources of this land, Dragon Tower had the Chu Dynasty issue the Martial Arts Restriction Order. The martial arts of the Thirteen Provinces are not the strongest; they even lag behind other regions. Though Great Vehicle Dragon Tower will not interfere in dynastic succession, my promotion of martial culture enraged them. Thus, they taught the Crown Prince a divine art, had him absorb my True Qi, and then prepared to restore Chu..."

The Martial Arts Restriction Order?

Jiang Changsheng had not known of this, though he knew that the Chu Dynasty had indeed valued literature over martial arts.

"Great Vehicle Dragon Tower is very strong... You are no match for them. Leave the capital early..." Jiang Yuan grew too agitated, and at this point, he could not help coughing again.

Jiang Changsheng said, "Is that so? What if I destroy Great Vehicle Dragon Tower?"

Jiang Yuan froze, feeling that Jiang Changsheng was being absurd. Yet when their eyes met, he felt that Jiang Changsheng was not speaking empty words.

"So what if you destroy Dragon Tower... No matter how strong you are, this world does not belong to you. You have no legitimate claim. Great Jing's realm will still be taken by others..." Jiang Yuan shook his head.

He could not possibly announce to the world that Jiang Changsheng's status as Crown Prince had been restored. If he did, his name would stink for ten thousand years, and his entire life would become a joke.

Jiang Changsheng felt somewhat disappointed. He continued, "It does not belong to me, but it can belong to my son."

"Your son?"

Jiang Yuan's eyes widened as he stared at him in disbelief.

"Who is your son... Prince Wei? Impossible... I was the one who had you become Prince Wei's master... How could you possibly have planned this..." Jiang Yuan asked in a trembling voice.

Jiang Changsheng said expressionlessly, "I merely followed your example, my respected Father Emperor. The two useless fools from Great Vehicle Dragon Tower noticed nothing at all. Tell me, what threat can such a Great Vehicle Dragon Tower pose to me?"

Jiang Yuan trembled all over.

Jiang Changsheng said, "You should count yourself fortunate. I have left you a grandson. Great Jing can thus stand for another hundred years. Consider it my repayment for the grace of giving me life."

He turned, preparing to leave.

This was enough said.

Jiang Yuan raised his hand, instinctively wanting to keep him, but a thousand words clogged his throat. He could only watch as Jiang Changsheng pushed open the door and left.

Jiang Yuan slowly lay back down. He suddenly smiled, tears mingling with that smile.

"Who would have thought that in my life, Jiang Yuan would ultimately rely on the child I abandoned... Hahaha, Heaven's mandate lies with Jing..."

Jiang Yuan's gaze changed. The Great Emperor Kaiyuan of old seemed to have returned.

At the end of the forty-third year of Kaiyuan, Jiang Yuan, the founding emperor of Great Jing, passed away. He was granted the posthumous title Martial Ancestor, Jing Martial Ancestor, and the entire court wept in grief.

Crown Prince Jiang Yu ascended the throne as emperor and established a new era name: Zhenyu.

A new year arrived—the first year of Zhenyu.

This year, Jiang Ziyu was fifteen years old.

Dragon Arising Temple.

Eunuch Li came to visit. He had already been expelled from the imperial palace and demoted to a commoner. Though his status had fallen, he was at least a Peerless Expert, so he would not need to worry about food or clothing in the future.

Wang Chen led Eunuch Li to Jiang Changsheng's courtyard.

When Eunuch Li saw that there was another person in the courtyard, his eyes widened.

He hurriedly knelt and bowed. "Empress..."

He had never expected the mysteriously vanished Empress to be at Dragon Arising Temple. He had thought she had been killed by Jiang Yu's subordinates.

The Empress, dressed in a plain Daoist robe, stood and said, "I am no longer the Empress. You two may speak."

She turned and returned to her room, her steps unsteady. The reason was that she, too, had reached an advanced age. She had merely taken a Youth Preservation Pill. Had Jiang Changsheng not refined pills for her, she likely would have followed Jiang Yuan into death. Yet even so, she would not live much longer, for her heart was already dead.

Though Jiang Changsheng's medical skills were superb, he could not grant others immortality. He himself was merely a cultivator, not a true immortal.

Eunuch Li walked before Jiang Changsheng. Ping'an, Jiang Ziyu, and Xu Tianji were all absent; they had gone into the city together that day.

Jiang Changsheng sat at the table, toying with a teacup as he smiled. "Eunuch Li, now that His Majesty has passed away, you still dare to seek me out. Are you not afraid of death?"

Eunuch Li's expression shifted. He immediately understood the implication, and stormy waves rose in his heart.

"So it was Your Majesty..."

Eunuch Li knelt in terror and kowtowed. "Your Highness the Crown Prince... Back then, this old servant was only following His Majesty's orders..."

The box in his arms fell with him.

Jiang Changsheng frowned and asked, "What is this?"

He sensed a trace of an extremely yin aura. He suddenly recalled the mysterious black qi he had seen when his soul left his body that day. Its aura was identical to that of this box.

Eunuch Li raised his head and hurriedly said, "This is His Majesty's gift to Prince Wei, which he hoped you would pass on to Prince Wei. It concerns the foundation of the realm. Does Your Highness know of the Punishment Head?"

Jiang Changsheng snorted. "Do not call me Crown Prince. I do not want that identity. I know of the Punishment Head. And then?"

Eunuch Li answered, "The Punishment Head is inside the box. He is not human, but a malevolent entity born from the wilderness. Back then, His Majesty had Four Seas Sage save his life, and from then on, he served His Majesty. In ordinary times, he used illusions to take human form. Precisely because he is a malevolent entity, the world knows only his name, not that he truly exists. He was His Majesty's hidden blade, his sharpest blade. Now His Majesty has passed this blade to Prince Wei, to help Prince Wei..."

"Save the Great Jing Dynasty!"

This could be considered the beginning of a new arc!