Chapter 417: Chapter 257: The Crown Prince Commits Regicide, The Death of Emperor Yong’an, The Emperor Orange Fate Grid: Python and Sparrow Swallowing Dragon

Then I will become emperor.

His tone was calm and matter-of-fact.

Effortless and casual.

As if he were stating the simplest thing in the world.

Yet it held an undeniable dominance.

Yuan Xuangang was stunned for a moment, then his gaze sharpened. "On what grounds?"

"Do you have any idea the afflictions facing the Central Plains World today? You’re just a brat in his early twenties. What do you know!"

"Insolence! Do not be disrespectful to the Crown Prince!"

Lu Mingyuan didn’t know the details of the afflictions and truths of the Central Plains World, but he had a crystal-clear understanding of National Fortune and Destiny.

Since the Yong’an Era, after Great Yan’s Destiny reached its zenith, it had begun a gradual decline. The entire Dynasty was trapped in a bizarre five-hundred-year cycle of reincarnation.

Had Emperor Yong’an—that peerless, ruthless figure—not appeared, Lu Mingyuan suspected the Central Plains World would have already plunged into a chaotic era of warring states.

Ever since his Father Emperor began relying on that mysterious Longevity Life Extension Method, the National Fortune had grown increasingly weak. The nation’s strength had waned year after year, plagued by either droughts or floods. One could still recall how in the Sixty-Seventh Year of Yong’an, seven prefectures and fourteen commanderies were completely submerged by a great flood that fell from the heavens.

He had obtained Destiny, which was why he had been able to turn every crisis into an opportunity, experiencing one fortuitous encounter after another. In just three short years, he had ascended to the Eleventh Realm. On the surface, it seemed he had received the help and favor of many powerful figures, but in truth, it was because he had been secretly absorbing the Destiny from the Nine Dragons Struggle for the Throne.

All other dragons were dead. Only he remained.

If his father sacrificed all the Destiny of the Dragon Vein in his pursuit of longevity, the consequences would be unimaginable.

Great Yan had been on a constant decline.

Meanwhile, other nations were transforming by the day, constantly improving.

The Great Frost Dynasty had ended a century of division. Its Three Kingdoms had unified, and it had been renamed the Silver Frost Empire.

In the Golden Crow Country, a new king had ascended the throne, launching a palace coup that ended the decades-long regency of Princess Jinwu. He had appointed members of the Confucian Temple Legalist Family and initiated new reforms.

The Great Sui Dynasty had accumulated wealth managed over five generations of emperors. They were collectively striving to cast off the label of "Barbarians" and had long since appointed a Crown Prince, grooming a successor. They posed a grave threat.

The Nanli Dynasty was recruiting talented individuals from all over and had long become the new secular destination for disciples of the Confucian Family.

The Desolate Demons were sharpening their blades, viewing the Human Race as mere two-legged sheep. Not a day passed that they did not dream of crossing the Great Wall to invade the Central Plains.

The Northern Demons watched with greedy eyes. To seize the Destiny of the Central Plains and ascend to the ranks of Divine Beings, the Great Nether Empress was fighting with desperate abandon and could launch a new invasion at any moment.

Yuan Xuangang was right. Great Yan’s current situation was indeed dire.

’It’s time for Great Yan to change.’

"I have no need to argue with any of you."

Lu Mingyuan stood before the Nine Stone Tripods at the entrance to Holy Bright Palace, the very center of the world, gazing indifferently at the assembled Imperial Experts.

"All you need to clarify right now is who the true master of Great Yan is."

At his words, hesitation flickered in the eyes of the many Imperial Experts from the Dragon Guardian Pavilion.

They ceased their Sword and Halberd Divine Techniques.

If Emperor Yong’an were still alive, they would not have hesitated. Loyalty to the Royal Family and service to the Royal Family—that was the duty of the Dragon Guardian Pavilion.

But now that Emperor Yong’an was dead...

Everything had changed.

It was not without precedent in the laws of their ancestors.

The ancestors’ final interpretation of the law was this:

They obey whoever is the Emperor.

As long as the throne remained in the Lu family, it didn’t matter.

Lu Mingyuan watched their expressions shift and knew he had achieved his goal.

He turned his head, thinking, ’Father must die. As long as he lives, I’ll never know a moment’s peace.’

So he turned to the Imperial Expert with the lowest Cultivation—a woman with a ponytail, dressed like a Female Knight—and demanded:

"Tell me how to disable the Imperial Palace’s Guardian Array. Tell me, and I will name you the foremost Imperial Expert of Great Yan and bestow upon you an Innate Treasure."

"Th-this..."

The pony-tailed woman was taken aback, tempted. She stammered, "Y-You need the... Great Yan Dragon Seal."

Lu Mingyuan glanced toward the pile of gore on the ground and chuckled. "I see."

’Something as important as the Great Yan Jade Seal... Father didn’t keep it in the palace, but on his person, inside his Jade Pendant.’

With Lu Mingyuan’s current Cultivation, a casual clench of his fist was enough to shatter the Jade Pendant he’d retrieved from the gore.

CRASH!

Its contents scattered across the ground. Among them, Lu Mingyuan spotted a White Jade Dragon Seal. Carved on its base were the words for "Long Life and Eternal Reign."

Seeing the Crown Prince take hold of the Great Yan Jade Seal, some of the Imperial Experts turned on the pony-tailed woman and roared:

"Chu Youli! You dare betray the Holy Emperor!"

The pony-tailed woman looked bewildered, her voice weak with guilt. "But the Holy Emperor is already dead! Are we supposed to follow him to our deaths?!"

Lu Mingyuan ignored their argument.

He took the Jade Seal to the entrance of Holy Bright Palace. A gentle curtain of light descended, and the Grand Array dissolved.

Lu Mingyuan transformed into a streak of light and vanished into the depths of the Imperial Palace.

"What is the Crown Prince doing?"

The White-robed Celestial Master, Xu Changqing, asked in confusion, his hand gripping an Eight Trigrams Compass.

He had been using his Qi Observation Skill and Divination.

He had detected something unnamable. The trigrams showed no ill omen, yet the future was uncertain. It felt as if something powerful was about to emerge.

Seeing this, Sui Yuqing said softly, "He must have his reasons."

"Fairy, can you see the outcome of this battle?" Xu Changqing asked, his voice grave.

Sui Yuqing shook her head. "The Crown Prince’s Celestial Secret has been sealed by the Yuqing Ancestor Master. No one below a Great Power of the Fourteenth Realm can possibly probe it."

"But the Holy Emperor’s divination reading is strange. It doesn’t look like he’s dead. He still has a reading. I expect the Crown Prince has gone to clean up the loose ends."

"Should we go take a look? Just in case something unexpected happens."