Chapter 830 — Elegy of the Imperial Scion
The Herdsman of the Wasteland · Page 1 of 4
"You killed an Unchanging Constant? " Zhe Huali's pupils shrank, and behind him the demon blade's eye snapped open, fixing upon Prince Qiuming.
Lin Xiao, the little man in the lamp, had told them the secret of the Unchanging Constants and stirred up infighting among the boarders; Zhe Huali had himself suspected that the Unchanging Constants could die. He had only never imagined that Prince Qiuming would go hunting the other boarders, and that he would actually kill one.
Prince Qiuming said unhurriedly, "I wished to see whether killing another Unchanging Constant would affect us in any way.
Perhaps it might even leave us one man the more. But I have found that I have come to the edge of turning immaterial. In the last cycle, a portion of my power vanished. I fear I will become void before I can ever test whether the notion holds. " Zhe Huali's heart sank.
He himself did not yet feel himself turning immaterial, which meant the ghost ship judged Prince Qiuming's strength to be above his own; and so Prince Qiuming was being made immaterial by the ship, his power whittled away.
"I dare not cut away my own cultivation, for if I cut it away I would very likely die at another's hands. So I set all else aside and came looking for the two of you. " Prince Qiuming smiled.
"My purpose in descending to the lower realm this time was to rid it of Shen the Overlord Body and the rest of the reform faction, to strangle the threat from below in the cradle. Zhe Huali, you are of the Heavenly Court's Lingxiu Army, and I am a prince of the Heavenly Court.
You are my subordinate. You know very well what you ought to do. After I dispose of Shen the Overlord Body, I will cut away my own cultivation, you will become void, and I will live. Break this monstrous ship, and you may yet have a chance to survive. " Zhe Huali was silent, then suddenly shook his head.
"I do not trust you.
I trust only my blade. " He raised his head and looked far off at Prince Qiuming. "The road beneath me I walked out myself; my cultivation I refined myself; my life was given me by my parents, not bestowed in charity by a prince. I may be of the Heavenly Court's Lingxiu Army, but I am no lowborn mongrel.
The life my parents gave me I will hold fast in my own hand, and give to no one. " Prince Qiuming frowned slightly.
"My method is simple: rid the ship of every other Unchanging Constant, leave myself alone, and then take my own life.
" Zhe Huali stared at him in astonishment. Prince Qiuming said, "With no Unchanging Constants left aboard, the stability of the divine power will fall to its lowest point, and the divine power will collapse. Once it collapses, we will each return to our own eras, and no one need die. Set your mind at ease.
I am confident I have the strength to kill the mighty of thirty-five eras! " He was exceedingly conceited.
"You studied under Luo Wushuang, and then under Vajra, entering the Dao through the blade.
That is no small thing. But what you learned are all wild ways. " Zhe Huali frowned. Prince Qiuming said, "What I learned are the Emperor Throne arts of the Heavenly Court, taught to me under the personal guidance of the Court's Heavenly Masters. Many belittle the sons of the imperial house, thinking us all idle young lords. That is nonsense. We princes are many, and to rise above the rest a man must work harder than anyone, must be more diligent than anyone; otherwise a prince is a phoenix stripped of its feathers, worth less than a Plume-Crested Fire Pheasant Dragon!
And the intrigues within the imperial house are endless in their devices. The perils I have met in this life are no fewer than yours.
" Zhe Huali was filled with solemn respect.
"That a prince should be entrusted with so heavy a charge shows plainly that you cut a bloody road out from among ten thousand princes.
" Prince Qiuming smiled. "Then, Zhe Huali, will you follow me?
" "No.