Did Ancestor Immortal Heavenly Frost take him for a three-year-old?
Zhou Qing frowned deeply as he looked at the two options that had appeared in the simulation.
They would rally behind him as their new master and help him become the new regent. How wonderful that sounded...
If he really were just a member of the royal family who had lived only a few hundred years, he might actually have believed it.
But Zhou Qing, who understood the rules of the Nine Directions Chaos Kingdom all too well, knew that with the Third Prince ahead of him, he had not the slightest chance of becoming regent.
First of all, his status gave him no advantage. Although he was the previous regent's eldest legitimate son and the King of Nine Directions' grandson, the Third Prince was the king's own son.
Second, and most importantly, when it came to strength, his simulated self was a hundred and eight thousand miles behind the Third Prince.
As far as he knew, the Third Prince's strength had already surpassed that of an ordinary peak Ancestor God.
His simulated self, on the other hand, was only an Empyrean God and a first-class Celestial Immortal. Wasn't it ridiculous for him to compete with the Third Prince for the position of regent?
Besides, his goal in this simulation was to survive for one chaos cycle.
In Zhou Qing's view, if he wanted to survive, it was best not to get caught up in the storm of power struggles in the Nine Directions Chaos Kingdom.
As long as he stayed out of those struggles, it should not be difficult for him, the sole surviving descendant of the First Prince's line, to lie low through a chaos cycle under the King of Nine Directions' protection.
With that thought, Zhou Qing decisively chose option two.
[You remained unmoved by Ancestor Immortal Heavenly Frost's tempting offer and politely declined.]
[After Ancestor Immortal Heavenly Frost left, you pondered the matter through the night. The next day, you requested an audience with the King of Nine Directions.]
[When you met the King of Nine Directions, you gave your grandfather a full account of your conversation with Ancestor Immortal Heavenly Frost the previous day, leaving nothing out.]
[The King of Nine Directions was greatly gratified to see that you understood the bigger picture. He assured you that the actions of your father's former subordinates would not implicate you.]
[You thanked the King of Nine Directions for his grace, but a trace of foreboding arose in your heart.]
[Sure enough, one day three years later, a number of experts among your father's loyal followers, led by Ancestor Immortal Heavenly Frost, brazenly launched a rebellion.]
[They proclaimed that your father's death several hundred years ago had not been the work of the Cold Mountain Chaos Kingdom, but the result of a shameless attack launched by the Third Prince to seize power.]
[They therefore declared that they would kill the Third Prince to avenge your father, while calling for you to be installed as the new regent.]
[When this news broke, the entire Nine Directions Chaos Kingdom was shocked. Those who believed the rumors in particular clamored for your father to be avenged.]
[When you heard the news, your vision went dark. You felt as though you had been sitting at home only for a pot of blame to fall on you from the sky.]
[After causing such an uproar in the Nine Directions Chaos Kingdom, Ancestor Immortal Heavenly Frost and the others, knowing the mighty power of a World Realm expert, had long since made their way to the border between the Nine Directions Chaos Kingdom and the Cold Mountain Chaos Kingdom.]
[Just as they were looking for those from the Cold Mountain Chaos Kingdom who were to meet them, they were surrounded by the Nine Directions Chaos Kingdom's army, which had long been lying in ambush.]
[Faced with the army's assault, Ancestor Immortal Heavenly Frost and the others put up a struggle, but in the end, two fists were no match for four hands, and they were all caught in one sweep.]
[Although Ancestor Immortal Heavenly Frost and the other rebel experts were physically destroyed, the effects of their actions spread throughout the Nine Directions Chaos Kingdom.]
[Because Ancestor Immortal Heavenly Frost and the others had launched their rebellion under the banner of avenging your father, the people of the Nine Directions Chaos Kingdom split into two camps in their attitudes toward them.]
[One camp spoke up for Ancestor Immortal Heavenly Frost and the others, believing that the Third Prince really was responsible for your father's murder and that their rebellion to avenge him was understandable.]
[The other camp believed that Ancestor Immortal Heavenly Frost's rebellion while powerful enemies were closing in was an unforgivable crime. They also came to despise you, the person the rebels had supported.]
[The two camps argued endlessly in the Nine Directions Chaos Kingdom, leaving you caught in the middle and unable to please either side.]
[Only later, when the King of Nine Directions discovered that the Cold Mountain Chaos Kingdom had been fanning the flames of the public uproar and cracked down heavily on discussion of the matter, did public opinion gradually calm down.]
[But because of this affair, your continued presence had become extremely awkward. For as long as you remained, ambitious people in the Nine Directions Chaos Kingdom would stir up trouble under your and your father's banner.]
[With this in mind, the King of Nine Directions decided to send you away until the storm passed, and gave you two choices.]
[The first was to serve as warden of the seventeenth World Prison, which was currently in need of a warden, for a term of one hundred million years. The second was to serve for the same term as an inspector in the Great Wilderness Chaosworld, which was under the rule of the Nine Directions Chaos Kingdom.]
Looking at the two options on the simulation panel, Zhou Qing fell into thought.
Both assignments the King of Nine Directions had chosen for him were posts given to the powerful and privileged of the Nine Directions Chaos Kingdom when they made mistakes. They were called punishments, but in truth they amounted to a penalty of three cups of wine, and they came with considerable benefits.
There was no need to say much about being a World Prison warden. For ordinary members of the elite, the chance to learn the seven arts on the World Prison's stone steles and obtain a bottle of Chaos Spirit Liquid was a heaven-sent opportunity.
The second option, serving as an inspector of a chaosworld, was also a lucrative post. It was like going to the chaosworld as an imperial envoy, with plenty of benefits to be squeezed out of it.
Both options were good, but after much deliberation, Zhou Qing chose to be a World Prison warden.
There was no other reason than that the World Prison was designated number seventeen.
As everyone knew, Zhou Qing's true body was currently imprisoned in the seventeenth World Prison.
Several chaos cycles had passed since he was imprisoned there, and he had encountered no danger.
That was enough to prove that the seventeenth World Prison would remain safe for the next few chaos cycles.
And safety was far too important to him when survival was the goal of the simulation.
[After considering the choices offered by the King of Nine Directions for a long time, you chose to serve as warden of the seventeenth World Prison.]
[Seeing that you had accepted his arrangement, the King of Nine Directions felt somewhat ashamed. You had clearly done nothing, yet an undeserved calamity had befallen you.
[To make it up to you, the King of Nine Directions promised that you could choose any one treasure from the Nine Directions Chaos Kingdom's treasury.]
[Led by the King of Nine Directions, you entered the Nine Directions Chaos Kingdom's treasury.]
[Row upon row of neatly arranged Chaos Wonders, several enormous Ancestor God golems, and several small Ancestral God Formation plates...]
[The sight of the treasures piled as high as mountains in the treasury left you dazzled for a moment.]
[After a long while, you calmed your excitement and began choosing a treasure you currently needed.]
[After spending half a day looking, you settled on three treasures that particularly caught your eye.]
[The first was a set of supreme-grade Chaos Wonders made up of five wheels, called the Heavenly Wheels of Annihilation. The restrictions on this magic treasure were all related to the Path of Destruction, making it highly suitable for you.]
[The second was a supreme-grade Chaos Wonder called the Grand Primordium Void-Breaking Boat. This flying boat moved at tremendous speed, capable of reaching the limit of the Heavenly Dao, and was nearly impossible for anyone below the World Realm to catch.]
[The last was the Dijiang Golem, one of the enormous Ancestor God golems in the treasury. When powered by Chaos Crystal Stones, it could unleash the strength of a top-tier Ancestor God. If it burned the Chaos Crystal Stones powering it, it could even unleash the strength of a peak Ancestor God for a short time.]
[Of these three treasures, you chose: one, the Heavenly Wheels of Annihilation; two, the Grand Primordium Void-Breaking Boat; or three, the Dijiang Golem.]