"In that case, I shall take my leave."
In the imperial palace of the capital, after the overall situation was settled, King of Qin and Ziyue formally bid farewell to the emperor.
The Buddhist light in the capital city dimmed, and the city, which had previously been fraught with danger, was now unusually calm.
The emperor looked at the two of them, his feelings complicated.
To be honest, he never expected that one day he would actually cooperate with Chen Qing and put on such a show. But there was no other way. His army was in Jiangnan, and if he didn't cooperate with Chen Qing, it would be a complete loss.
"Your Majesty, one-third of the families in the capital are preparing to leave, but the majority are still grateful for Your Majesty's boundless grace and are willing to stay and continue to follow you."
Kneeling in the palace was the old patriarch of the Yuchi family, the former commander of the Imperial Guard. Even though he was possessed by a spirit and had been ostracized by the major families to the point of being silent in his daily life, he was still the emperor's most loyal follower in the end.
"Thank you for your hard work, my dear minister." The emperor smiled. "You may leave now. I have a word with my two old friends."
The old patriarch Yuchi glanced at the two of them, and finally left in response. He knew that his strength was now insignificant in this chaotic world. Even a lowly soldier in the Emperor's army could easily defeat him. He had never imagined the consequences of not keeping up with the times; the gap between them would be so vast.
He didn't feel sorry for himself. He was already of retirement age. Since his wife passed away, he had no more worries. His children were all successful and he was ready to find a good burial site to be buried with his wife. He didn't even plan to be buried in the family cemetery.
But now he's a little worried about his son.
His eldest son, Yuchi Feihong, has already found a home. Chen Qing is a reliable person, and even if he loses in the future, he probably won't have any regrets.
But his most talented second son was dragged down by him.
He had originally shared a life-or-death bond with Chen Qing and also preferred Jiangnan, but because of his own actions, he had no choice but to continue serving the imperial court.
Also because of his own beliefs, he was unwilling to share a body with an evil spirit.
Once the most promising young man in the Great Jin Dynasty, he is now so dejected that he can only sit in his own courtyard all day in a daze. No matter what waves or how magnificent the world may become in the future, it seems to have nothing to do with him.
He was implicated by himself, and his family was also implicated by him.
After the old patriarch Yuchi left, the emperor looked at Ziyue and asked, "What are your plans now?"
"I don't know," Ziyue shook her head. "We've never come this far. The failure back then led to three lifetimes of Samsara in this world, and also to the tragedy of our world. Now it's time for reckoning. No matter the outcome, there must be an ending."
The emperor nodded upon hearing this. In the past few days, he had inquired about many things from Ziyue. Unexpectedly, Ziyue was very cooperative and told him most of what had happened in that world.
Since learning of their existence, he has honestly barely slept in the past few days.
He knew beforehand that the people of their world had created it, but he never imagined that the outcome would be like this.
What was originally a fantasy was created by a few ambitious people, and because of the ambition of a small group of people, both worlds are now facing collapse.
Looking back now, I realize that this world is sometimes really unfair. So many families, so many people's wishes, so many people just yearning for a peaceful and tranquil life, yet they are always turned upside down by a small group of ambitious people.
Without Elder Long and those Western nobles, perhaps the data world and the real world would be two balanced entities, perhaps even complementing each other.
Although there may be friction, and there may still be war, at least it will not be like today, with both worlds on the verge of destruction.
A single thought, a single ambition—the fate of all living beings is like that of ants. How unfair! How disgusting!
He has always been a strong person, but now, even his inner world is beginning to waver.
He unilaterally wanted to save humanity, but what has been the result?
What is the Central Plains like?
Did I do the right thing?
Do I have the right to decide everyone's fate?
Ziyue felt complicated as she looked at the emperor with his complex expression. They had talked a lot these past few days. In all her years in the palace, this was the first time she had opened her heart to this cold emperor like this.
In reality, the other person was just an ordinary person. If we go back thirty years, he would have been just an ambitious and passionate young man.
What was it that drove a passionate young man with lofty ambitions to become the Ghost King he is today?
Damn this world. Damn those people!
Ziyue had talked with Wang Ye Wang Ye, who, despite being an outsider, was very interested in the world of Data City.
He believes that the technology of today's Data City world has already been able to develop new energy sources that bring about a qualitative change. If we continue to advance along the path of that energy technology, humanity may very well be able to fulfill the dream of our ancestors to establish an interstellar Federation.
Humanity may become the first civilization in the Milky Way to venture beyond its own galaxy.
But this possibility was completely obliterated millions of years ago because of the immortality ambitions of a group of people.
The reason is simple: data life doesn't need that much land or resources; it simply doesn't need to go out into the world.
No matter how harsh the environment is, it no longer matters. They are just a mass of data. Instead of using technology for interstellar development, it would be better to study more virtual technologies for the data world.
See? Because of the actions of a group of people, humanity has almost forever lost a certain possibility.
Technological development is predicated on human needs; when those needs are absent, the technology can never succeed.
This is the law of nature, and also human nature.
He even came to the conclusion that, fundamentally, the data life forms of today are no longer the same as the humans of the past.
Even in this virtual world, the process of a few people's ambitions determining the fate of the world continues to unfold, and no matter the cost, people never learn their lesson.
"Let's go all out," Ziyue said with a smile. "No matter what, we've reached this turning point. You won't stop, will you? Just do what you want. Whatever the outcome, this world won't get too bad. Even if the Heavenly Demon descend and this world really ends, it's not so bad. Right now, we're just like those Heavenly Demon —just a bunch of data. Survival of the fittest, whoever wins wins, doesn't win."
"That makes sense," the emperor smiled immediately, then looked at the King of Qin: "Back then, I wronged you, but I don't regret it."
The King of Qin was taken aback, silently observing the other man for a long time before finally smiling and saying, "I have no regrets."
"You'd better be wary of the Daoist School sect. Although it's the legacy left by your so-called Pu Yunchuan, it's not necessarily reliable. After all, it's ultimately controlled by someone."
"I know," the King of Qin laughed, "And you still have the leisure to remind me?"
Now all three forces have allied with the Daoist School. Although the Buddhist School has withdrawn from the sphere of influence of the three forces as agreed, it has completely occupied the former Cloud Capital and basically recovered the talents of countless Samsara in this era. In addition, with the power of the three Buddhas of the past, present and future, Elder Liu is now the strongest Venerable.
In the battles to come, the threat posed by Buddhist School will be no less than that of the one in heaven, and may even be more exaggerated.
However, none of the three forces are as powerful as these top ancient forces. If they want to contend with them, the assistance of the Daoist School is extremely valuable.
But as the emperor said, Daoist School is unreliable!