Shady Business

I took the emperor's words to heart and excused myself from the crowd. The competition continued and apparently with me removed from the venue, many of the alchemists felt more confident about their own ability. The later parts of the competition were bound to become heated up.

An imperial guard came over and asked me to follow after him. And once I was in the presence of the emperor, he clapped his hands and everyone left the area leaving me and the emperor alone.

"Shen Bao, may I ask how old are you?" the emperor asked.

"About eighty-four," I said.

"Hmm, Eighty-four and still stuck at the Foundation Establishment, such waste of talent." The emperor said. "But I doubt it has anything to do with your own talent, you have prodigious talents, a genius mind, still I can't understand how you can't go beyond your current level."

I shook my head at the emperor, "Unlike the kids you saw today, I only started cultivating less than a year ago."