"Not bad."
Regarding Chen Junting's success in passing the God of Greed's trial, both the God of Destruction and the Goddess of Life were highly appreciative.
However, the points they appreciated were not quite the same...
What the God of Destruction appreciated was Chen Junting's overall disposition. What the Goddess of Life appreciated more was his heartfelt compassion for the weak.
"Next is the following trial."
Saying this, the God of Destruction looked at the other six Original Sin Gods. "Who's going first?"
The six Original Sin Gods looked at each other, and then the God of Lust gracefully stood up. "My Lord, let me go first."
However, the God of Destruction frowned slightly. He glanced at the God of Lust, then looked down at the black screen. For a moment, he was silent for a long time.
Seeing this, the Goddess of Life couldn't help but ask: "Destruction, what's wrong?"
In front of these subordinate gods, to maintain the dignity of the God of Destruction as a God King, the Goddess of Life didn't use their private nickname, but directly called the God of Destruction's name.
This call also seemed to bring the God of Destruction back to his senses.
"No, it's nothing."
Presumably having sorted out his thoughts, the God of Destruction first looked up at the God of Lust, and then his gaze successively fell upon the God of Pride and the God of Sloth, the other two Original Sin Gods.
"I roughly understand this kid. Perhaps all the original sins in his disposition—Lust, Sloth, Pride, and even Envy, Gluttony, and Wrath—these six are relatively low. Therefore, a single one alone might not have that great of an effect on him."
With the words spoken to this extent, the God of Lust and the others weren't fools; they couldn't fail to understand their Lord's simple implication. Thus, hearing this, the remaining five Original Sin Gods also stood up.
"My Lord, then we shall bestow the trial together."
"Destruction."
At this moment, the Goddess of Life wanted to speak out to stop them. In her view, if the six Original Sin Gods gathered the trials they were bestowing all together, the difficulty would be far too great.
Because as long as a living being possessed even a little intelligence, they would absolutely have the original sins in their hearts aroused. And once the other six great original sins besides Greed were aroused all at once, let alone that young man from the lower realm, even they, the God Kings, wouldn't be immune.
"I know."
Presumably because of their mutual understanding as a couple, without the Goddess of Life needing to explain everything, the God of Destruction had already understood her meaning.
After giving the Goddess of Life a reassuring glance, the God of Destruction's gaze successively fell upon the God of Lust, the God of Sloth, and the God of Pride, these three Original Sin Gods.
Clearly, he had already thought this through.
"This trial will be handed over to the three of you."
Saying this, the God of Destruction paused slightly, seemingly recalling something, and looked at the God of Lust as he said: "This kid already has a lover, so there's no need for you to split your focus and descend to the lower realm to actively intervene like Greed did earlier. You only need to stir his heart, and then slightly guide it so that it happens naturally."
"Yes, my Lord."
Although she agreed extremely readily, the God of Lust couldn't help but feel a bit of pity. She originally wanted to see for herself the true quality of this newcomer whom their Lord valued so much.
After all, simple guidance couldn't compare to personally stepping in.
...
"Junting."
"Boss."
"Jun..."
Amidst the voices of concerned calls, Chen Junting strenuously opened his eyes amidst a patch of darkness. But he saw that the place he was currently situated in was actually his Spiritual Sea. Surrounding him were precisely the four great soul spirits and his teacher.
"How did I..."
Still in a daze, Chen Junting had subconsciously opened his mouth to ask a question, but his voice abruptly stopped.
Because he was now completely awake, and similarly, he recalled everything that had happened previously.
When he brought those two sticks called "scepters" into contact with each other, he heard the content of the second trial given by the Rakshasa God Seal: pass through the stages within his state of mind and overcome the Seven Deadly Sins.
Then, he lost consciousness.
And then...
"So that's how it is, and then I fell into an illusion."
"Actually, to be precise, that wasn't an illusion." Hearing Chen Junting's mutter, Electrolux spoke up to correct him at this moment.
"Not an illusion? Oh, right, it was a state of mind."
"Correct."
Electrolux nodded slightly, "Although the two sound similar, they are fundamentally different in essence. Everything in an illusion evolves based on your thoughts, but everything inside it besides yourself is fake. However, a state of mind is different. Inside it, with a few exceptions, everything is you."
"For example..."
"That old man who gave you the jade, he was definitely a god."
"Oh—Teacher, you were all watching."
Inexplicably, Chen Junting felt a wave of embarrassment.
This first experience was still fine to talk about.
If his judgment was correct, the original sin of this first stage was Greed, and that old man was most likely the God of Greed among the Seven Deadly Sin Gods. But regardless, in the state of mind he displayed during the stage of Greed, there was nothing that made him embarrassed.
The problem was the ones that came next?
Sloth?
Or Pride?
Or Envy... especially Lust!
There would definitely be things that made him embarrassed; this was undoubtedly a dark history.
As if noticing this point, even the usually cold-faced Snow Empress couldn't help but tease: "If you feel embarrassed about what's next, then we'll all cover our eyes next. How about it?"
"That won't be necessary."
Although it would be dark history, Chen Junting wasn't so "petty." Waving his hand, he pretended not to care as he said: "Anyway, we are one entity, and besides, those are all fake."
"If we watch, we just won't tell anyone else."
"You can rest assured about that."
The four great soul spirits smiled and nodded.
However, right at this moment, Chen Junting's consciousness body within the Spiritual Sea twisted once again. He instantly realized—
The next stage was here!
Thus, his vision went black once more with a jolt.
...
Great Qian Dynasty, Thirty-Fourth Year of Yuanxi.
At the peak of Mount Tai, the astral winds were fierce at this moment.
Fifty-five-year-old Chen Junting stood on the Fengshan altar, his bright yellow dragon robe billowing in the mountain wind, flapping loudly as it rolled.
Below the Fengshan altar, envoys from ten thousand nations and the civil and military officials prostrated like ants, their voices of praise surging like ocean waves, their sound seemingly piercing straight into the clouds, as intangible waves of sound churned endlessly at the peak of this Dai Mountain.
At this very moment, Chen Junting took a deep breath, allowing the fierce mountain wind carrying a slightly icy, clear air to pour into his lungs.
It had been thirty-five years...
Ever since he was old enough to remember things, his royal father had told him that he was the grandson of Emperor Gaozong of Great Qian, the orthodox bloodline of the Great Qian imperial family. But in his youth, he learned that the current court was not Great Qian, but Great Wu. He was puzzled, so he asked his father. From that time on, he learned from his father's lips that a generation of a demoness empress had usurped power and seized the dynasty that belonged to Great Qian. That demoness empress not only ruthlessly slaughtered loyal ministers but also spared none of Gaozong's concubines or their Chen-Qian imperial clan. His father had no choice but to cast aside his dignity to survive, only narrowly escaping the butcher's knife of the demoness empress.
Under the demoness empress's rule, the Great Wu state engaged in massive construction projects, sycophantic ministers held power, and the demoness empress herself was vainglorious and militaristic, yet failed to secure a single victory, leading to the people living in misery.
Therefore, at the age of twenty, he raised his arm in the name of Gaozong's grandson, raised an army under the slogan to "Restore the Chen-Qian imperial house and execute the demoness empress," formed the Divine Strategy Army, and spent an entire year. On the night of the Spring Festival, he crossed the freezing river in a snowy night, launched a surprise attack on the strategic pass, and his troops pointed directly at the Luo Capital where the demoness empress was entrenched, and then imprisoned her.
Thus, he restored the Great Qian Dynasty.
After that, Chen Junting rose early and went to sleep late, because the revival of the entire dynasty and the livelihood of its people rested on his shoulders.
For thirty-four full years, he was close to virtuous ministers and distanced himself from petty people, prioritizing frugality and diligence. He did not engage in massive construction projects, encouraged agriculture and opened commerce, making the granaries abundant; the grain hoarded in the granaries was enough to feed the people of Great Qian for five years, allowing the national treasury, which had been nearly squandered empty by the demoness empress, to become wealthy once more. All the common people lived and worked in peace and contentment, even achieving a state where no one picked up lost items on the road. Besides this, he deterred the barbarians and expanded the territory, directly doubling the domain of the Great Qian Dynasty, making ten thousand nations come to pay tribute, and all the subjects of Great Qian were proud of it. This era was also known as the "Yuanxi Prosperity."
Precisely because of this, he came to Mount Tai to perform the Fengshan ceremony!
As Chen Junting prayed aloud, his voice was like a dragon's roar, stirring a distant echo at the peak of Mount Tai. The master of ceremonies presented the dark jade tablet; he took it and steadily placed it into the massive bronze cauldron in the center of the altar. Fierce flames roared up within the cauldron, the firelight illuminating his majestic brow.
After the Fengshan ceremony concluded, Chen Junting returned to Chang'an. Sitting within the palace, a trace of exhaustion couldn't help but flash through his eyes.
He was no longer in his youth.
It was also at this time that Chen Junting stared ahead, and a dark green and a dark red light couldn't help but flash through his eyes. These two beams of light were like leaping flames, quietly licking at the exhaustion and desire long buried in his heart. Over thirty years of rising before dawn and eating late, free from worldly desires, reining in the empire's reins like an ascetic monk. Now that his great deeds were accomplished and his spirit relaxed, old age seemed to seep out from the depths of his marrow like a parasite clinging to his bones, and the white hair at his temples seemed to remind him—perhaps he didn't have much time left.
Not long after, the imperial court passed down the emperor's decree.
The era name was changed, switching to "Yongjia."
Meaning: Eternal harmony and prosperity.
...
"It's really difficult."
A female voice seductive enough to arouse the lust in one's heart rang out, "Sloth, how many times did you intervene in total over these 'thirty-plus years'?"
"..."
"Sloth!?"
"ZZZ—"
"Stop sleeping! I'm asking you, how many times did you intervene?"
"Umm... three times, once a decade."
"Hah!? You only intervened three times! I knew it! I intervened a full twenty times, giving him over thirty stunningly beautiful concubines. But speaking of which, this kid's willpower is really strong; he didn't indulge in the land of tenderness at all, nor did he neglect his government duties in the slightest. Fortunately, this time, the two of us can be considered successful."
"It's just Pride, who tried twelve times and still hasn't succeeded."
"But it should be soon. Right, Sloth?"
"ZZZ—"
"Alright, talking to you is a waste of breath."
But right at this moment, the God of Pride's voice rang out.
"No, right after you two, I succeeded as well."
...
First Year of Yongjia.
Before the embers of that grand Fengshan ceremony had even cooled, a nearly vengeful desire for pleasure had already broken through the soil in the depths of Chen Junting's heart and grown madly.
After all, in Chen Junting's own words:
'I have risen early and retired late for this country, even acting as a beast of burden for such a long time, and I probably don't have much time left to live. So in these final years, can't I enjoy myself for a bit!?'
Thus, less than a month after returning to Chang'an, following the change of era to "Yongjia," another imperial edict shook the court and the public: transfer the treasury silver to the inner palace funds to build a mountain villa for escaping the summer heat in a cool region.
And in the year after that...
"Your Majesty!"
Old Prime Minister Han Xiu trembled from beard to hair. At this very moment, he knelt persistently before the Zichen Hall, holding high the "Memorial on the Ten Gradual Declines" in both hands.
The ink was dripping on the silk, every word written with weeping blood—
"Gradually relaxing the dynastic discipline, gradually becoming extravagantly wasteful, gradually distancing from the virtuous and capable"!
Then his hoarse voice echoed in the spacious hall: "Your Majesty! The precedent of the demoness empress is not far behind; this is the beginning of a disaster for the state! Your Majesty!"
Chen Junting sat high on the dragon throne, his gaze sweeping over the scroll of remonstrance as if sweeping over a speck of obnoxious dust. A cold curve hooked up at the corner of his mouth as he flicked his wrist lightly. The scroll traced an arc through the air, landing precisely into the gilded bronze brazier with coiled dragons not far away.
Crimson flames suddenly leaped up, greedily devouring the silk, the inked characters twisting and charring within the flames' tongues, and the faint crackling sound of the fire burning the silk was like the echo of the old minister's breaking heart.
"You pedantic old man are truly noisy!"
Chen Junting's voice was not loud, but it carried the sharpness of metal and stone, piercing through the sound of the burning flames. "I have ruled the world for over thirty years, creating the Yuanxi Prosperity all the way to Yongjia. Could it be that besides a place to rest, I am not even worthy of a forest park?"
His eyes were as sharp as a dragon looking down, piercing straight into the old minister below the steps.
"Minister Han, you are advanced in years; it is time for you to enjoy your old age."
Between his words was an unquestionable tone.
Han Xiu's cloudy old eyes stared fixedly at the leaping flames in the brazier... until he took a deep breath, as if wanting to carve the last trace of clarity in this hall into his lungs, and then he kowtowed heavily, the dull thud of his forehead hitting the cold golden bricks clearly audible.
"Your Majesty, this old minister... begs to retire."
His voice was hoarse, draining all his strength.
Chen Junting remained expressionless, only waving his hand lightly.
"Granted. Someone, escort the old Prime Minister out."
Two eunuchs stepped forward silently, supporting the old minister who had exhausted his life's blood for the empire. Han Xiu's hunched back hobbled out of the Zichen Hall, and then disappeared into the glaring daylight outside the hall.
It wasn't until he left the Zichen Hall that he encountered the Crown Prince, Chen Shuo.
"Prime Minister, you are..."
"Crown Prince, this commoner is no longer the Prime Minister."
Hearing this, Crown Prince Chen Shuo was instantly shocked!
"Prime Minister, why is this!?"
"Sigh—"
After a sigh, Han Xiu informed the Crown Prince of the entire sequence of events. Even at the end, he directly entrusted the Crown Prince with a request.
"Crown Prince, whether His Majesty can change his mind depends entirely on you, Your Highness. Simply building a mountain villa to escape the heat is harmless. But His Majesty wants to build another forest park; I am afraid that from now on, the trend of extravagance and waste will run rampant!"
"Please rest assured, Prime Minister."
The Crown Prince raised his eyes, gazing at the Zichen Hall. "This is our Great Qian's empire; I will admonish my imperial father!"
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