Chapter 3108: An Argument of Reason
“Don’t worry, your majesty. I’ve already instructed them. The Divine Guards of the Flame shouldn’t act recklessly,” the advisor below bowed and said respectfully.
However, he soon showed hesitation. He said in complete worry, “It’s just that the king of the Qinhuang Kingdom possesses extremely impressive talent. Despite his young age, he’s already surpassed many senior experts, reaching the Origin realm first. If the king doesn’t die early, it’s extremely likely for him to reach Reciprocity. He’ll definitely bear a grudge against us now that we’ve destroyed the Qinhuang Kingdom. If he comes for revenge after he reaches Reciprocity, it’ll be a colossal problem for our Flame Empire.”
“As a matter of fact, the king of the fallen kingdom might even become an unimaginable disaster for our Flame Empire.”
The advisor was extremely stern. Afterwards, a smear of viciousness and determination appeared in his eyes. “Your majesty, I have a suggestion. We might as well go all the way and have the Divine Guards of the Flame directly kill him before he’s reached Returnance so that we can avoid this problem forever!”
“No, definitely not. I don’t care about the others from the Qinhuang Kingdom, but the king is a good friend of my elder brother after all. If he dies at our hands, my brother will never forgive me when he returns ten thousand years later.” Bi Lian turned down the advisor’s suggestion without hesitation.
“Hmph, so you still remember that you have a brother like me!”
However, as soon as Bi Lian said that, a sneer rang out in the majestic hall. With the voice, two figures appeared silently before the full court of officials and generals.
They were Jian Chen and Shangguan Mu’er.
“Brother!” Bi Lian widened her eyes on the throne, staring straight at Jian Chen. Her eyes were filled with great joy and disbelief.
“Brother, is it really you? Is it really you?” Bi Lian’s voice trembled slightly. She stood up from the throne all of a sudden, about to rush down.
“Hold on, your majesty! Be careful, it might be a scheme!” The advisor’s expression changed. He stood in front of Bi Lian in a flash, also staring straight at Jian Chen. His gaze filled with shock and disbelief also hid a sliver of fear and dread.
As a matter of fact, there was even a hint of hatred!
However, the hatred was immediately drowned out by fear, unable to resurface again.
“Divine Guards of the Flame! Where are the Divine Guards of the Flame? T- this person is a fake!” the advisor called out loudly. Figures immediately flickered through the hall. Divine Guards of the Flame appeared one after another.
“Someone is pretending to be Jian Chen. Divine Guards of the Flame, what are you waiting for? Capture him!” the advisor yelled at the guards.
However, none of the twenty or so Origin realm Divine Guards of the Flame acknowledged his words. They all looked at Jian Chen as their faces gradually became filled with excitement. In the end, they all knelt down on the ground and said in high spirits, “Greetings, old captain. Welcome back, old captain.”
“It’s the old captain. It’s actually the old captain. The old captain has actually returned!”
“Captain Jian Chen, is it really you?”
With the Divine Guards of the Flame kneeling, many people confirmed Jian Chen’s identity. Immediately, the entire court of officials below became extremely excited too.
When the Flame Mercenaries turned into the Flame Empire, the people who held responsibilities in the Flame Mercenaries also changed in status, becoming subjects of the Flame Empire.
Jian Chen discovered many acquaintances among the officials and generals, such as Dugu Feng, Yun Zheng, and Senior An he had met early on. They had all become important subjects of the Flame Empire.
Jian Chen waved his hand to make everyone rise. He stared at Bi Lian and said, “I handed the Flame Mercenaries over to you back then, but take a look at what you’ve turned the Flame Mercenaries into. Bi Lian, you’ve caused me far too much disappointment.”
Bi Lian immediately pushed aside the advisor in her way before jogging over to Jian Chen. Gazing at his sunken face, she also became slightly uneasy. She said nervously, “Brother, listen to me. I did this all for the sake of the people in the world. All of this was for the sake of ushering an age of peace across the entire world.”
“For the sake of the people in the world? For the sake of an age of peace?” Jian Chen snorted coldly. “Why do I only see extermination, corpses, and bloodshed? Is this your so-called ‘for the sake of the people of the world’?”
“This is the age of peace you’ve brought to the world?”
“Have you brought an age of peace? Or is it a living hell?”
With a sunken face, Jian Chen spoke more and more sternly. He was absolutely furious.
Bi Lian was clearly rather agitated. She explained anxiously, “Brother, please calm down for now. Listen to me. Everything you see right now is only temporary, and this is a sacrifice that must be made for the Tian Yuan Continent to completely enter an age of peace. You have to believe me. Once our Flame Empire completely unifies the Tian Yuan Continent, I will issue new laws and set up a brand new system. The primary objective of these laws is to keep those experts under control.”
“You can even say that these laws are for controlling and punishing all bad people. It will be the guardian of all commoners in the world, as well as the protector god of the weak. The weak that don’t possess great power won’t have to suffer from wanton damage and death from experts.”
“Brother, you also climbed your way up slowly on the Tian Yuan Continent, so you should understand even more than me that the brutality of the Tian Yuan Continent has already reached a level enough to leave anyone bristling with anger. Those cultivators that possess great power wantonly kill the weak. The fates of the weak completely depend on the whim of these experts.”
“When some of these weaker people accidentally obtain some treasure or cultivation method, or if they possess wealth that others covet, their only fate will be those stronger experts robbing them. In the end, they’ll just become corpses under the hands of experts.”
“And over the years, the Tian Yuan Continent seemed peaceful on the surface, but it was actually filled with battle and slaughter. The battles between Saint Rulers and Saint Kings were commonplace, and it would be devastating the moment they launched an attack. Often, the consequences of a battle between two Saint Rulers would be enough to destroy a small city. Countless common people die as a result.”
“And that’s just Saint Rulers. The consequences were even more severe when it came to Saint Kings and Saint Emperors who were even stronger. In particular, countless weaker cultivators and common people have died as an unintentional consequence of their battles throughout the Tian Yuan Continent.”
“These experts do suffer from Celestial Decay, but they need to slaughter millions before it takes effect.”
“Brother, whether it’s you or me, or anyone here, we’ve all made it to our current position today step by step as mortals. However, countless mortals living on the Tian Yuan Continent live under constant threat from experts. Some mortals even enter the mountains to pick some medicinal herbs, only for a few fighting experts to suddenly appear above. In the end, the mortals die to the consequences without even knowing what had happened.”
“Countless common people still live in distress. They’re just mortals incapable of cultivation. They do not possess great powers. As a matter of fact, some of these common people can never walk around with their heads held high in some larger cities, just because they’re afraid that something they accidentally do will lead to their deaths.”
“My original intention behind founding the Flame Empire was to set down laws that restrained everyone in the world. I want to stop those so-called experts from acting recklessly again, preventing them from harassing or killing weak existences. It’ll also give the common people who lack power greater courage and greater ease to live freely. Brother, do you still think that everything I did was still a mistake?” Bi Lian said emotionally and with absolute confidence.