Song Qian was speechless. She stared blankly at Chen Xia for a long while before nodding bitterly and replying softly.
"Yes."
Chen Xia was right. Even without Great Song, he could still become another dynasty's State Preceptor, or even something more.
As long as he wished, he could assume any identity in this world.
Chen Xia stretched, then turned to look out the window again. Scattered scenery kept passing outside, and he liked the feeling very much.
Song Qian did not disturb him further. After bowing to Chen Xia, she withdrew and closed the door.
The carriage procession traveling along the road numbered three thousand people, flying imperial banners and displaying the most prestigious five-clawed golden dragon insignia.
This was the equivalent of an emperor's traveling entourage. On the broad official road, no one was allowed within three thousand meters.
Constabulary guards went ahead, dispersing other convoys and travelers on the official road well in advance to make room for Chen Xia's procession.
Beyond that, the logistics for the three thousand people were arranged according to the standards of an imperial excursion, and were even more extravagant.
All the food in the procession was the freshest available, whether Chen Xia ate it or not. Anything even slightly substandard, even if its sheen had merely faded, was discarded outright, and personnel from other relay stations would bring replacements by eight-hundred-li express delivery.
They even transported dedicated ice chambers to store the food, and many long-renowned master chefs of national standing accompanied the procession.
Whenever one of the three daily mealtimes arrived, the master chefs started cooking, regardless of whether Chen Xia ate. They prepared the dishes first, so that the moment Chen Xia asked, they could serve them immediately.
The awkward part was that Chen Xia had not asked for a meal in the past two days.
Once the chefs' dishes went cold, they could only reheat them and give them to the accompanying guards.
The accompanying guards got to feast to their hearts' content, and all silently thanked the State Preceptor.
Besides that, beautiful women and fine wine accompanied the procession, ready to serve Chen Xia at any moment.
But Chen Xia had not called for them either. He simply sat in the carriage, thinking things over.
The higher he climbed and the stronger he became, the more he understood just how terrifying the enormous hand that had destroyed the city upon his arrival had been.
Perhaps figures at the Great Emperor level were simply like that.
After all, even with his strength raised to 35, Chen Xia did not possess such terrifying power. He could destroy a city, but he was nowhere near destroying one with a single palm strike.
And the owner of that enormous hand might even have had their strength suppressed by this world's Heavenly Dao.
Chen Xia rolled over and sat up, making a rough estimate. Perhaps when his strength reached somewhere between 1,000 and 1,200, he could casually annihilate a city with a single palm strike.
He used the most ordinary method of conversion.
Suppose a city measured thirty kilometers across.
With his current 35 strength unleashed in full, he could blast out a crater three kilometers across, ten times smaller than a city.
So he would need at least 350 strength points to destroy a city with one all-out punch.
To reach the point of doing it casually, tripling that strength was hardly excessive. After all, there was quite a difference between going all out and doing something casually.
Thus, by this rough conversion, Chen Xia could fight that enormous hand to a draw when he had 1,000 to 1,200 strength points.
Converted again, that meant roughly a thousand years. It was a long time, and yet not so long, depending on how he looked at it.
If Chen Xia did not want to bother with the outside world, he could choose to remain in seclusion, add several thousand or tens of thousands of points, and only then venture into the myriad worlds.
That was also the safest approach.
After all, the immortals outside were a little too formidable, and there were even Great Emperor figures, their various Divine Abilities and methods impossible to fathom.
Chen Xia exhaled. He was in no hurry; taking things slowly was fine. At least nothing in this world could threaten him now, just as he himself had said.
Even if he had to be an ant, he would be the biggest one.
The carriage procession continued onward. Officials from the prefectures along the route made special trips to meet it. Once the guards clearing the road gave permission, they led their subordinate officials to kneel on either side of the official road and call out respectfully.
"Greetings, Immortal!"
Chen Xia had no intention of responding. Compared with his current life, he still preferred his days as a constable in Weixi Town.
As Weixi Town's outstanding constable for four consecutive years, he had stolen plenty of watermelons from Old Li's family, especially on summer nights, when he would go grab one to eat whenever he had nothing to do.
If a passerby got thirsty and picked a melon to eat, that did not count as stealing.
What they mainly guarded against were zha.
The boy in the melon patch would take a steel pitchfork to stab the zha, but he did not hit them every time. Sometimes, he would stab a watermelon instead.
At such times, Chen Xia would walk over with a smile, holding his unfinished watermelon, and confiscate the boy's steel pitchfork.
Then he would sell it to the village's newly arrived blacksmith.
He could make a fair bit of silver.
Mostly, it was fun.
Later, the boy's family stopped growing melons and switched to selling steel pitchforks. Chen Xia even went to support their business several times, buying pitchforks of all sizes to keep at home as a collection.
Later still, the boy's family made money and moved to the city.
He himself had become an immortal too.
It was all in the past.
But remembering it still amused him.
A smile curled Chen Xia's lips. He missed those summers quite a bit.
After becoming an immortal and embarking on cultivation, he had seen far less of the scenery of the mortal world.
Perhaps that was also why cultivators cultivated strength but rarely cultivated the heart.
After all, they encountered fewer people and events, saw less, and experienced even less. By the time they emerged from seclusion, they were already lofty immortals, judging superiority purely by strength.
Although there was nothing particularly wrong with that, Chen Xia always felt something was missing.
Perhaps it was manners.
After all, he was a very polite person. If he had arranged to kill someone, he would prepare a funeral wreath the day before.
Then he would set out a bowl of rice and stick three incense sticks into it.
When killing, he tried not to get blood on his hands.
Do not ask why.
Because elegance never went out of style.
The carriage carrying the immortal would arrive early tomorrow morning!
Within half an hour, the news spread throughout the capital. Even three-year-old children knew the immortal State Preceptor was coming.
The common people were all right. Though excited and pleasantly surprised, they were not panicking.
The officials, however, panicked completely. They did not even dare sleep, spending the night organizing affairs within the city and dividing it into designated areas.
They also stipulated that only one person per household could go out. The streets absolutely could not be crowded and had to remain clean and tidy. All citizens had to wear their newest clothes, and kneel and kowtow upon seeing the State Preceptor.
Officials and constables in the capital went door to door, knocking and explaining these rules, requiring every household to obey them strictly.
They had to present a capital where everyone lived in happiness and contentment.
And it was not just the officials who could not sleep. The emperor was even more sleepless, tossing and turning in bed as he kept pondering how to speak to the State Preceptor tomorrow and how to win his favor.
He kept feeling that he was not ready, that something was still lacking, but could not think what it was.
Time cared nothing for that. With the rising sun, morning arrived.
It was time for morning court.
The emperor hurried out of bed. Despite not sleeping all night, he felt no drowsiness at all. He hastily had the maids dress him and prepared to attend court.
The carriage carrying Chen Xia finally entered the capital as well. Amid heavy hoofbeats, with imperial guards clearing the way, it traveled alone along the official road.
Around it, the common people bowed with their foreheads to the ground, constantly calling out the State Preceptor's title.
Chen Xia lay asleep inside the carriage. He had used Flood Dragon Qi to block out the surrounding sounds, which meant he heard nothing at all.
He slowly approached the imperial palace.
In the court hall, the civil and military officials had arrived early. The emperor, too, sat steadily in his place, but no one spoke. They craned their necks toward the doors in anticipation.
They were all waiting for one person.
"The Eldest Princess has arrived!"
The eunuch outside called out loudly.
Dressed in sumptuous yellow robes, Song Qian entered the court hall with steady strides and a valiant air.
The emperor hastily asked, "Sister, has the State Preceptor not arrived yet?"
"He should be here any moment," Song Qian replied, walking to her official position and standing there to await the start of court.
Everyone was ready and waiting.
Chen Xia was still asleep.
"State Preceptor, it is time for court! State Preceptor!"
The guards outside called anxiously, but Chen Xia did not emerge, and they did not dare climb straight into the carriage.
They were truly frantic now.
"Why don't we carry the State Preceptor up there?"
One guard proposed.
The proposal was quickly approved.
Thus, several dozen guards shouldered the enormous carriage cabin, climbed over a hundred steps, and entered the court hall.
"The State Preceptor has arrived!"
The eunuch guarding the door announced loudly.
The civil and military officials inside hastily straightened themselves and rallied their spirits.
But what entered was an enormous sedan chair.
Even the emperor stared in a daze. Only after a long while did he ask.
"The State... where is the State Preceptor?"
The guards pointed at the sedan chair, not daring to speak.
They meant that the State Preceptor was inside and refused to come out.
"Have you slighted the State Preceptor?" the emperor demanded, glaring.
The guards shook their heads and waved their hands in alarm. One explained.
"We said we were coming to have an audience with Your Majesty, but the State Preceptor still refused to come out."
"Useless fools!" the emperor cursed furiously. "How could you say he was coming to have an audience with me? I should be the one seeking an audience with the State Preceptor!"
The civil and military officials all fell silent.
After finishing his rebuke, the emperor hurried down, respectfully cupped his hands outside the sedan chair, and said sincerely.
"I, Song Wei, request an audience with the State Preceptor!"
There was still no movement inside.
Song Wei's expression grew tense. He bowed a little lower and continued respectfully.
"If anything displeases you, State Preceptor, please explain it to me in detail. I will do everything in my power to correct it!"
There was still no movement inside the sedan chair. It was extraordinarily quiet.
The atmosphere in the court hall grew tense. Song Wei stood at the sedan chair's entrance with his hands cupped and his back bent, cold sweat seeping from his forehead, terrified that something he said might displease Chen Xia.
A quarter of an hour passed.
Only then did sounds slowly emerge from within, and the door slowly opened.
A languid figure in green robes climbed out, frowned as he surveyed his surroundings, then looked at the figure bowing before him with cupped hands and asked in confusion.
"You are?"
Seeing his opportunity, the emperor hastily bowed again and replied respectfully.
"I am the State Preceptor's loyal supporter, Song Wei, Emperor of Great Song."
In his wording, he had already placed Chen Xia first.
Chen Xia nodded and praised him. "Not bad. Very polite."
Song Wei spoke solemnly and seriously. "This is only proper when addressing the State Preceptor. To our Great Song, you are the parent who gave us life anew!"
Chen Xia casually surveyed the court hall and made an equally casual joke. "Does that make me your father?"
The civil and military officials instantly grew tense. After all, this was a weighty matter involving the late emperor.
The veteran officials hoped the emperor could show a little backbone, rather than lowering himself so much before the immortal.
The newer officials hoped the emperor could endure it and not clash with the immortal over this remark. That would be like smashing an egg against a rock. He could gloss it over as a joke and let it pass.
The atmosphere in the court hall was very tense.
The emperor abruptly raised his head, a sharp gleam bursting from his eyes. His expression was utterly serious as he stared straight at Chen Xia, swept his wide sleeves aside, cupped his hands, and called out.
"Adoptive Father!"
Now both the veteran officials and the newer officials fell silent.