Meeting The Emperor

As Zhongming disembarked from the transport, his eyes soaked in the majestic view of the imperial palace of Ru.

The sun's golden rays seemed to reflect off the impressive architecture in an almost obscene manner. From the stairs to the pillars, every part of the palace was constructed with some of the highest quality materials available.

The palace was large, overwhelming so, the pearly white steps that led to the palace seemed to stretch all the way up to the heavens. Even the columns that held up the immense structure looked impressive; each one seemed to be large and sturdy enough to single handily support the weight of Mount Tai!

Such an opulent display of wealth, indeed as the largest and wealthiest state, only Ru could afford to build such a lavish living space for the royals.

As the awe wore off, a sense of disappointment filled the young disciple of the Mo Sect. The State of Ru was considered to be the state that produced some of the most influential philosophers. The words benevolence and righteousness were never far from their lips.

Yet, the reality was too far away from the ideal. In the State of Ru, there was still plenty of abject poverty, malnutrition, and death by starvation was, unfortunately, the reality that too many of the peasants had to live with.

For the country's rulers to live in such extravagance, while the common folk suffers from lack of material necessities. In Zhongming's mind, there were very, very few things that could be more diametrically opposed to the concepts of benevolence and righteousness.

Yet, Zhongming could hardly lay all the blame on the rulers. Ultimately it was more about the system that was in place than anything else. Due to the discrepancy in power between the ruler and the subjects, given enough time, such an outcome was bound to happen.

The oppressor eventually takes the oppressed for granted. The way forward, therefore, cannot be to merely change the people in power. Instead, the existing power structure must be rooted out and replaced with a system with checks, balances, and accountability to the ordinary man.

So lost in thought, Zhongming almost didn't notice that they had already reached the top of the enormous flight of stairs.

As the Mo Sect duo neared the inner chamber of the palace, the eunuch who was leading the way abruptly turned around and said.

"May you both please wait here patiently while I announce your arrival to the Emperor."

Hastily making his way into the court, the eunuch knelt down before the Emperor.

"Your Majesty, the two emissaries from the State of Ming Mo Li and Bai Zhongming, have arrived."

"Summon, Mo Li and Bai Zhongming." The head eunuch who was attending to the Emperor announced.

Mo Li and Zhongming made their way into the palace; the duo knelt before the Emperor of Ru and simultaneously spoke, "Greeting, your Majesty."

"Please rise."

The two simple words that the Emperor or Ru uttered were neither loud nor demanding.

Yet to Zhongming, those simple words carried an almost unbearable presence. Power. Might. Authority. Awe. Many powerful emotions were invoked in the disciple of the Mo Sect. It was likely that even if he had the intention to defy the Emperor's commands, he would find himself physically unable to do so.

This was indeed the difference in power between a Dao Immortal and a late-stage Core Formation cultivator who was merely a half-step away from the Nascent Soul realm.

A Nascent Soul cultivator was an existence that was already devoid of any physical restrictions. Having become a spiritual existence, their mortal body was no longer an anchor that tied their soul to the mortal realm but rather became a mere physical manifestation of their existence.

Once in the Nascent Soul realm, any physical concepts such as age, hunger, ailments, fatigue, and injury became meaningless. Cultivators at this level also begin to embody certain concepts.

For instance, a cultivator who embodied the concept of the sword could sever the distance between the sword and its target, creating an instant attack unfettered by the concept of speed. One could also sever from the target the concepts of defense and avoidance.

In essence, a Nascent Soul cultivator who embodied the concept of the sword could unleash an instant, unblockable, and unavoidable attack. And while rare, some could even sever their targets from deeper metaphysical concepts.

One example would be to sever the concept of interaction from the target, yet by simply existing interaction occurs, the logical nature of the universe would then resolve the contradiction by erasing the existence of the target.

Before a Dao Immortal, however, the difference is like the heavens and the earth. To a Dao Immortal, a Nascent Soul is of no more significance than an ant, with a mere thought a Dao Immortal could extinguish countless Nascent Soul cultivators.

For Zhongming, who, while close, wasn't in the Nascent Soul realm, the mere aura that the Emperor before him passively projected was almost unbearable.

"Your Majesty," Mo Li began, "Today, we have some come to convince you to call off your military ambitions against the State of Ming."

"Indeed, your reputation proceeds you Mo Li. You don't beat around the bush." The regal Emperor Ru Xian drawled, "Then let me also be direct. By what right do you have to stand here to bargain with me?"