I Become a Martial Arts God in the Chaotic Demon World
Chapter 415 - 415 Capital City

The journey from Southern Mountain to the Capital City was a long one.

Southern Mountain lay to the south, while the Capital was in the north, the two separated by no less than four regions, a distance of ten thousand miles.

Ordinary merchant caravans would even need several months to travel to and from Southern Mountain and Capital City.

Han Zheng and his companions naturally did not need several months, but even without hurrying at full speed, it would still take a month to reach the Capital.

In fact, Han Zheng was also somewhat puzzled as to why Chen Baxian would travel neither hurriedly nor slowly, even resting every night when darkness fell.

During the journey, Han Zheng had asked Fang Henge and Wen Tingyun where they had gone.

The team led by Fang Henge, the Patrol Envoy, had vanished without a trace during the time when Han Zheng was in seclusion.

Wen Tingyun said that they had gone to Huainan Road, which was their last stop. After inspecting Huainan Road, they would return to the Capital City to report everything that had happened along the way.

Furthermore, Chen Baxian intentionally did not rush to the Capital in order to let Fang Henge and his team get there first and report everything that had happened in Southern Mountain.

Chen Baxian himself saying Wu Yunfei and others succumbed to greed and violated the laws would feel a bit like tattling.

But coming from Fang Henge, the Patrol Envoy, the impact of these matters would be entirely different.

Only then did Han Zheng realize that Chen Baxian, seemingly a man with bold features, doing things in a straightforward and direct manner, actually had plenty of shrewdness.

His actions were straightforward and direct, but that was because he disliked bother, not because he lacked cunning and strategies.

So they traveled neither hurriedly nor slowly for a month, and finally, Han Zheng arrived on the outskirts of Great Zhou Capital.

When they left Southern Mountain, it was early autumn; due to the climate, it was still covered in lush greenery.

However, by the time they arrived at the Capital, the climate had turned to bitter winter, all things withered, swathed in a blanket of snow, with frail snowflakes leisurely drifting down from the leaden sky.

What Han Zheng saw was a vast and majestic city, its entire body built of enormous grey bricks, measuring several tens of zhang in height, and so long that one could not see to its end.

This grand and colossal city, with the snow falling around, appeared even more majestic and ancient. Faint silver glimmers twinkled atop the city walls, the reflections from the weapons in the hands of the soldiers guarding the city.

Just the front side of the city wall boasted three huge gates, with merchant caravans and pedestrians bustling about like a hive of bees, dense and innumerable.

The entire Capital boasted twelve gates in all, necessary to support such an immense flow of people.

Han Zheng took a deep breath, exhaling a stream of white mist as sharp as an arrow.

"So this is the Capital of our Great Zhou? Indeed, it's majestic and flourishing beyond compare.

But why is the location of the Capital so remote?

According to the locations of the forty-nine regions of Great Zhou, the position of the Capital City seems to be nearly at the border, not in the center."

Chen Baxian looked at the Capital and said indifferently, "That's because, upon leaving the Capital, and heading five hundred li in the northwest direction, there is Demon Suppression Pass.

Should there be any change at Demon Suppression Pass, the Capital can immediately dispatch reinforcements.

When Great Zhou Taizu established the Capital, this place was just a barren wasteland, incomparable to the large cities in the south.

It was precisely to ensure that his descendants would garrison this place that Great Zhou Taizu built this great city from scratch.

The Emperor defends the nation's gate; the king perishes with the shrines.

If Demon Suppression Pass were to fall, the Great Zhou Royal Family would be the first to perish."

Wen Tingyun lamented, "Great Zhou Taizu once swept across the land, expelled the demons, and unified the world; he was a hero among heroes.

Unfortunately, not all his descendants shared his view, and there have been no few incompetent emperors over the years, some even extremely foolish. Otherwise, Great Zhou would not have fallen into such a state."

Han Zheng asked, "It's unrealistic to expect every emperor to be wise and martial. If a subsequent emperor happened to be cowardly and weak, why didn't they consider relocating the capital?"

Wen Tingyun sneered, "They did think about moving the capital, but all possible schemes have been blocked by Great Zhou Taizu.

The Capital is where the Dragon Vein of Great Zhou is located, the culmination of Great Zhou Taizu and Martial Saint Yu Jiu's efforts in capturing the Dragon Vein from among the world's spiritual meridians and mountain ranges, suppressed beneath the Capital.

The reason why the mighty warriors of the Great Zhou Royal Family within the Dragon Martial Bureau advance so rapidly in their cultivation is because they possess the bloodline of Great Zhou and can train on the Dragon Vein."

Once the capital is moved, and the Dragon Vein is abandoned, what difference would there be between the Great Zhou Royal Family and other Martial World clans? They might even be worse off.

And then there's the Demon Cleansing Bureau's Heavenly Artillery Armory, the entire Capital City's Guardian Array, and even the National Guardian Divine Soldier.

All these things are within the Capital City and impossible to move.

Once the capital is moved, what's being moved is not just the Great Zhou capital but the fate of Great Zhou itself!

Therefore, over the years, even if there were truly incompetent emperors who wanted to move the capital, they were always prevented by other members of the Great Zhou Royal Family, who deposed them from the throne."

Han Zheng said in surprise, "The royal family can just depose an emperor at will? Doesn't the Emperor of Great Zhou have control over the military?

And I seem to have noticed that none of the emperors appear to be martial artists, some with remarkably short life spans, with even some dying in their forties or fifties.

As an emperor, even if one doesn't practice Martial Arts, shouldn't there be an elixir to extend one's life?"

Wen Tingyun was about to explain when Chen Baxian pointed at the majestic expanse of the Capital City and said, "The burden of the Emperor of Great Zhou is not merely one city, but the entire world!

Even if the emperor of Great Zhou had condensed a Martial Arts True Pill before inheriting the throne, under the immense pressure of the Dragon Vein's destiny, it would ultimately turn to nothingness, leaving only the frail body of a mortal.

Under the Dragon Vein's destiny, not to mention one's own cultivation, even those elixirs infused with Spiritual Energy are utterly useless.

Once one inherits the throne and is endowed with the Dragon Vein's destiny, the emperor's Life Span is reduced to that of a common man's natural life expectancy.

However, there is a benefit to this, as all the emperors of Great Zhou have only died of natural causes from exhaustion of their Life Span, with not a single one dying from assassination.

Once endowed with the Dragon Vein's destiny, an emperor becomes resistant to all evil and invincible to all poisons; any assassination attempt would be immediately thwarted by the power of the Dragon Vein.

As such, the Emperor of Great Zhou is invincible within the Capital City; no one can kill him.

But his power comes from the throne, and once he is stripped of his position, he becomes nothing.

Those elders in the Dragon Martial Bureau, who boast impossibly high seniority, live even longer than ordinary martial artists of the same level, nourished by the Dragon Vein.

If an emperor is found to be excessively incompetent and tyrannical, these royal elders can sacrifice their Essence Blood to the Dragon Vein, stripping him of his throne.

However, after sacrificing their Essence Blood, they would not live much longer either; it's an act that injures both parties.

In history, there have only been a couple of emperors that were so unacceptable that these elders would rather destroy themselves than let them remain on the throne."

Wen Tingyun said with a sneer, "There is actually another way for the emperor to have longevity, which is to abdicate and pass on the destiny of the Dragon Vein.

Unfortunately, of the many generations of emperors, not one was willing to relinquish the power in their hands, refusing to pass on the throne until their dying breath."

Han Zheng also noticed that Wen Tingyun seemed to have no good feelings toward the Great Zhou Royal Family; her sense of belonging was only with the Demon Cleansing Bureau.

"Alright, say what you will outside, but once we enter the Capital, remember to speak and act cautiously, and not to criticize the royal family."

Chen Baxian cautioned the two, and led Han Zheng and Wen Tingyun into the Capital City.

The Great Zhou Capital boasts forty-nine workshops, each one astonishingly large, even larger than a State Mansion.

After entering the city, Han Zheng also curiously looked around.

The atmosphere of the Capital City was naturally incomparable to that of Kai Ping Prefecture, the convergence point of the Dragon Vein and the heart of Great Zhou, naturally bustling with activity.

But Han Zheng furrowed his brows slightly and said in a low voice, "I seem to sense some demonic auras."

Within the Capital City, there was a complex mixture of auras, and the coming and going of martial artists was extremely common.

But aside from martial artists, Han Zheng could clearly sense that among them there were many mixed demonic auras, as if a considerable number of demons were roaming around.

Chen Baxian said indifferently, "That's normal. Don't think there are no demons in the Capital. In fact, the Capital is the city with the most demons throughout all of Great Zhou.

Don't forget, the Capital is only five hundred miles away from Demon Suppression Pass. The Pass may stop a large number of demons, but it can't guarantee that not a single demon slips through.

The first stop for demons that escape from Demon Suppression Pass is the Capital.

Moreover, if demons from outside want to understand the Court's movements, their first choice would be the Capital.

Plus, with the immense scale of the Capital, and a multitude of good and evil, it is easy for demonic spirits to emerge.

This Capital may appear bustling during the day, but at night it is overrun by evil spirits."