Raring to Go

"Your Majesty, please find someone more suitable for this position. I truly cannot do it!"

Jin Chang was carrying loads of goods at the King of Huainan's Household, while Zhang Xuezhou was carrying loads of goods at the Imperial Palace.

At this time, the court was still controlled by the Empress Dowager's faction. The new emperor could attend court if he wanted, or make his own arrangements if he didn't.

Zhang Xuezhou successfully found the new emperor in a side hall of the Weiyang Palace.

"If you can't do it, then don't. You'll come with me to the main hall in a bit. I'll mention a few things, and someone should impeach you. Then I'll just go through the motions and proceed with the formalities!"

The new emperor dodged and weaved through the side hall, wielding a sword and weaving back and forth.

He had not yet finished practicing his swordsmanship, but when Zhang Xuezhou entered the palace, he readily stopped practicing and also readily agreed to Zhang Xuezhou's request.

"I thought you'd just hold out for a few days and then come to the palace to protest and resign, but I didn't expect you to persist for three months," the new emperor laughed.

"Too little time would be disrespectful to His Majesty and Anle Palace," Zhang Xuezhou said, spreading his hands. "I can only hide away for three months before coming back!"

"That's enough time!"

The new emperor nodded, thinking that Zhang Xuezhou was quite adept at handling personnel matters.

Even if it's a resignation, it's not something you can just do on a whim. Losing your official position is a minor matter; what's serious is smearing the face of the emperor and the empress dowager.

To resign immediately after being assigned a position is undoubtedly disrespectful to the person who assigned the position.

However, after dragging it out for three months, and having already given Zhang Xuezhou the face he deserved, it would be perfectly reasonable for him to then claim that he was not competent for the position of Grand Master of the Palace.

Zhang Xuezhou's prolonged absence from his post was sufficient grounds for officials to submit a memorial impeaching him.

With his own voluntary resignation and the combined effect of officials kicking him while he's down, Zhang Xuezhou was destined to lose his position.

"That treasure you gave me is really useful!"

Everything was back on track, and the new emperor was extremely pleased, mentioning the wondrous uses of the Tai-level Six Symbols.

"I'll let you in on a secret: I've attained Divine Ability!"

The position of "Governor" undoubtedly indicates a very close relationship with the emperor. Furthermore, since the Six Symbols of the Tai Rank were provided by Zhang Xuezhou, the new emperor couldn't help but excitedly mention his own changes.

A 21-year-old cultivator at the Divine Ability Realm is extremely rare, even extremely uncommon. Only the holy sons and daughters of large Sacred Land or certain emperors in times of great fortune have this possibility.

Once one attains Divine Ability, one transcends the middle three realms and begins to possess the qualifications to stand at the starting point of the latter three realms.

This is a sign of becoming a great cultivator. Even though the new emperor's mindset is already very mature, he still needs to keep such matters secret and strive to maximize the benefits. He can't help but confide his little secrets to those close to him.

"Congratulations, Your Majesty," Zhang Xuezhou said in a low voice.

"This is all thanks to you," the new emperor said happily. "Without the gathering of Spiritual Qi by the six Tai-level runes, I would only have had a one or two out of ten chance of success. I wouldn't have dared to risk gambling on the Divine Ability Realm!"

"Your Majesty's ability to control the pace of cultivation is a wise and courageous move; it is all thanks to Your Majesty's skill," Zhang Xuezhou complimented.

Zhang Xuezhou's words were flattering, but his praise was also genuine.

There aren't many cultivators at the Divine Ability Realm, but they're not few either. However, when it comes to age, Zhang Xuezhou has never seen many cultivators at the Divine Ability Realm who are younger than himself.

Now, a cultivator with Divine Ability who is significantly younger than him has appeared, which has completely dispelled any trace of the slight arrogance that Zhang Xuezhou once had.

"Your Majesty, could you share your experience of attaining Divine Ability?" Zhang Xuezhou asked in a low voice. "I also greatly admire Divine Ability!"

"I long for it! I long for it!"

The new emperor was extremely happy after sharing his joy.

He thought he was probably a very weak cultivator in the Divine Ability Realm, but he had indeed stepped into the Divine Ability, thus possessing Divine Ability Techniques. He could also combine the power of his Qi and Blood and qi to suppress and intimidate cultivators in the Consciousness Creation Realm, thus being able to defeat cultivators of this level in a short time.

Only when they reach this level do they possess the basic ability to instantly kill low-level cultivators, and even begin to be unafraid of being surrounded by ordinary cultivators for a short period of time.

Each realm is a new world, and the Divine Ability Realm brings about significant changes.

Zhang Xuezhou looked on with envy. Even the new emperor couldn't escape the pride of youth, and he took the initiative to introduce his many efforts in breaking through to the Divine Ability Realm.

"Like this... like this... and like this again?"

As the new emperor was being introduced, Zhang Xuezhou would occasionally exclaim in surprise, and then gasp, mentioning that the new emperor faced extremely high risks in his cultivation, and that a single misstep could damage his Qi and Blood.

"In short, I won the gamble!"

Combining multiple conditions such as the Tai-level Six Symbols, Spirit Jade, and Creation Pill, the new emperor took the route of resource accumulation.

This made his combat power somewhat weak, but the difference between the Body Transformation Realm and the Divine Ability Realm was too great, and the new emperor felt that he could bear this 'weakness'.

No matter how illusory the Divine Ability powers of this cultivator are, he is still stronger than he was before.

"What I lack right now is real combat experience. If I could fight my way in and out seven times, my strength would definitely be continuously replenished, and I would be able to find my weaknesses and make up for them, so that I could climb to a higher level," the new emperor said happily.

"His Majesty..."

"You guessed right, I want to go out next!"

After being ambushed by Gongsun Gui in the middle of the night, the new emperor spent some time quietly in the palace.

Once his cultivation reached the level of Divine Ability, he felt he could no longer remain obedient.

"Do you have any enemies? I'll go and kill them for you," the new emperor asked in a low voice.

"I've always been honest and law-abiding in my life, and I've never had any enemies," Zhang Xuezhou replied in a low voice.

"You can't be too honest!"

The new emperor appeared slightly disappointed, clearly dissatisfied that Zhang Xuezhou had no enemies.

Given Zhang Xuezhou's level of cultivation and the fact that he survived, the new emperor figured that Zhang Xuezhou's enemies wouldn't be of a very high caliber, which would suit him perfectly.

But he didn't expect that Zhang Xuezhou had lived for nearly thirty years, still didn't have any enemies.

"Didn't Wei Qing have any enemies?" Zhang Xuezhou, pulling at him.

"Wei Qing had enemies, but before I could even make a move, he was defeated by the combined forces of Qi Lang Gongsun Ao and Wei Qing," the new emperor sighed. "These are just some minor troubles in my harem, and I can't investigate them thoroughly. I regret that such matters are so inconvenient to handle!"

"Then we'll have to keep looking!"

There are no trivial matters when it comes to the emperor's affairs, and the months that Zhang Xuezhou was away were clearly not peaceful, still filled with various confrontations.

The new emperor mentioned matters concerning the harem, which may involve the empress.

Zhang Xuezhou thought about Wei Qing, and then about Wei Qing's older sister who had entered the palace, and felt that there might be some connection between the two.

He couldn't ask for details, but he couldn't help but press Sang Hongyang for answers.

"The little lamb's cultivation is too shallow. Even if he wanted to cause trouble, he couldn't do anything too serious. His level is at most no higher than the Body Control Realm!"

"Well, on our side... oh, we also have Sima Xiangru, I remember his cultivation level is also Divine Ability!"

"Sima Xiangru been in the Divine Ability Realm for too long, and his enemy's cultivation is slightly higher. If I were to intervene, I might be committing suicide," the new emperor said regretfully.

"That's such a pity!"

"The Dong'ou Kingdom was attacked by Minyue and requested assistance. I sent Yan Zhu to carry out the attack, which should provide some opportunities for sword practice!"

"That place is too far away; the round trip would take a long time, and waiting for the opportunity to compete in the war would take even longer!"

After achieving the Divine Ability Realm, the new emperor was extremely restless, even thinking about donning armor, mounting a horse, and participating in the war.

In this state of excitement and overflowing confidence, Zhang Xuezhou finally understood why he had witnessed the imperial court sending troops to wage war.

This is the extreme confidence and eagerness brought about by breaking through the realm. He always wants to test his own strength, which leads to unusual behavior. The new emperor may have risked breaking through to the Divine Ability Realm within the first two or three days after obtaining the Tai-rank Six Talismans, which led to his overflowing confidence.

Not to mention the new emperor, Zhang Xuezhou was no exception. However, he was not skilled in warfare and was often forced to flee for his life. His arrogance and self-importance emerged quickly but also faded just as fast.

Meanwhile, in the palace, the new emperor had been suppressing this feeling for a long time, and it hadn't subsided yet.