Nine Nether Heavenly Emperor
Chapter 199: Do You Think I’m Easy to Bully?

Chapter 199: Chapter 199: Do You Think I’m Easy to Bully?

"Read the decree to me now!" Shi Feng demanded coldly as he glared at Long Xing.

"Very well! Excellent, Shi Feng! I shall not quarrel with you, but your disrespect towards the Holy Emperor of the Great Tianmiao Empire shall be reported to his Imperial Majesty, hmph!" Long Xing snorted, now referring to himself as ’I’—a term reserved for the sovereign. In his heart, Shi Feng was as good as dead. Daring to show disrespect towards the Holy Emperor of the Heavenly Mist Empire meant Shi Feng’s ten heads wouldn’t suffice if the Emperor were enraged.

Long Xing paid no more attention to Shi Feng. He spread open the Sacred Decree and read aloud, "By the mandate of Heaven, the Emperor proclaims that the Emperor of the Yunlai Empire, Long Ao, has slaughtered the commoners, causing widespread misery and despair. Effective immediately, Long Ao is stripped of his title as Emperor of the Yunlai Empire. The Xing Prince Long Xing is to succeed the Imperial Throne. All troops of the Yunlai Empire shall be at Long Xing’s command. Let it be known!"

Upon finishing, Long Xing’s face was filled with even greater pride as he looked down from above.

"Long live our Emperor, long live, long live!" The crowd below shouted in unison.

Long Xing’s face was flushed with triumph, his heart brimming with excitement and thrill. For too long—countless days and nights—he had yearned to sit upon the Dragon Throne, to receive worship from the masses, the call of the sea of followers chanting, "Long live our Emperor, long live, long live."

Today, his dream had finally come to pass, and so effortlessly. He had merely curried favor with Crown Prince Jin Rui of the Heavenly Mist Empire, and with a simple recommendation from Jin Rui to his Father Emperor, the throne he had longed for day and night was his with just a light command, this Sacred Decree. At this moment, Long Xing felt as if he were still in a dream.

"Rise, my loyal subjects!" Long Xing’s voice called out to the people below.

The nobles below looked up at Long Xing with complex expressions, then at Shi Feng, and finally at Long Chen. No one stood up.

"How could this happen! How could this be!" Long Chen stood up shakily from the back of the demon beast Black Crow, staggering, nearly falling off, his face a mask of disbelief and confusion. "How could this be!" He muttered to himself in a daze. It was over, all over. The throne he had struggled so hard to secure was now lost in the wake of Long Xing’s decree. Could this truly be the will of Heaven? I cannot accept this!

Long Xing, fully aware of Long Chen’s expressions, felt nothing but satisfaction. Looking at Long Chen, he bore the victorious stance of one meant for Heavenly Destiny.

As he thought of how easily he had obtained the throne, a sense of loneliness crept upon Long Xing. Alas, the lonely sovereign! Ha-ha, ha-ha-ha-ha!

"Hmm?" Long Xing suddenly noticed that the nobles below were still kneeling and had not yet risen. His face changed, showing the expression of an Emperor. He frowned and, in a voice befitting an Emperor, said sternly, "What is this! Why do you not rise and give thanks for the decree? Do you wish to defy it?"

"This... this..." The nobles below became hesitant once more. Acknowledging the decree and expressing gratitude would mean accepting Long Xing as their Emperor. Yet, the fierce Shi Feng still stood defiantly in the Void above them! If they were to displease such a fearsome figure, they might be subject to slaughter at any moment. The agonizing expressions of Liu Fa and Ming Da after suffering from the Bloodthirsty Demon Art were still vivid in the minds of the nobles, their painful cries echoing in their ears, the two shriveled corpses still lying on the ground.

Following this, every gaze turned toward Shi Feng, some showing defiance against an imperial edict and others resembling executioners. To accept the decree or not was now a dilemma.

"Hmph!" Just then, a cold sneer resounded in the void, "Laying out the Emperor’s demeanor without my consent, you’re being too hasty, aren’t you?"

"As expected!" Hearing this voice, the lords fixed their eyes on the figure clad in Black Battle Armor, each of them secretly sighing: This calamity really dares to defy anything, even the Sacred Decree of the Holy Emperor of the Heavenly Mist Empire. Judging by his words just now, he didn’t take it seriously at all. Fortunately, I did not accept the decree earlier; otherwise, with a single sword stroke, he would have claimed my small life on the spot.

Hearing Shi Feng’s words, Long Xing’s dignified face immediately became ice-cold as he shouted, "Shi Feng, do you really wish to make an enemy of the entire Yunlai Empire, to oppose the Holy Emperor of the Heavenly Mist Empire?"

"Make an enemy of the entire Yunlai Empire? With me here, you’re not qualified to say that," Shi Feng said, revealing a cold killing intent, "If that old fool of an Emperor from your so-called Heavenly Mist Empire dares to be my enemy, I wouldn’t mind following in the footsteps of your father, Long Ao, and become a ghost under my sword."

"Shi Feng, how dare you be so rebellious and disrespectful!" Upon hearing Shi Feng’s rebellious words against the Emperor of the Heavenly Mist Empire, Long Xing hurriedly bellowed in anger. Yet, his heart was greatly shocked upon hearing Shi Feng’s claim of killing his own father, Long Ao.

Some time ago, Long Ao committed atrocities, indulging in the killing of his royal kin. Having received word beforehand, Long Xing escaped from the Imperial City, later taking refuge in the Heavenly Mist Empire under the Crown Prince Jin Rui. The lords raised their armies to condemn Long Ao, and Long Xing had also heard about this while in the Heavenly Mist Empire.

Recently, Long Xing received the Sacred Decree from the Emperor of the Heavenly Mist Empire and returned to the Yunlai Empire full of excitement, ready to proclaim his ascension and rightfully replace Long Ao to ascend the throne.

On his way, Long Xing happened to come across these lords and Long Chen here, so he immediately approached to announce the will of the Heavenly Mist Empire’s Emperor to them, asking them to acknowledge him as Emperor, then to rally their troops to campaign against his Father Emperor, Long Ao. Unexpectedly, Long Ao had already died at the hands of Shi Feng.

There, amidst the scattered corpses, Long Xing had arrived full of arrogance, not even glancing at whose bodies they were, let alone recognizing his father’s desiccated, pitch-black Demon Body unless they shared profound paternal affection, almost to the point of recognizing each other through ashes.

However, for Long Xing, the matter of who killed Long Ao was trivial. Now holding the Sacred Decree, he believed he controlled the overall situation. Yet here was Shi Feng, daring to show disrespect, so rebellious and disrespectful, in the presence of so many lords—how could he command respect in the future? Such a person truly deserves to die! He should be executed, his head hung upon the city walls to demonstrate my authority and intimidate the surrounding lords!

"Hehe, quite interesting. Long Xing, I never thought your petty Yunlai Empire would produce such a lunatic who dares to be disrespectful towards our Heavenly Mist Empire’s Monarch. Interesting, indeed. It seems my visit to the Yunlai Empire this time has not been in vain," said the young man in white at Long Xing’s side, smiling with a look of scorn.

Hearing the words of the young master beside him, Long Xing hurriedly turned his head and respectfully answered, "You flatter me, Young Master Bai! This madman, merely lucky to have lived until now, is the result of our weak Yunlai Empire’s Martial Artists allowing him to become so rampant."

Long Xing, assuming the role of the would-be Emperor of the Yunlai Empire, found his tone lowered a few notches before the young master in white.

"Hehe, every place has its fools who court death!" The young master in white looked down at Shi Feng and said with a disdainful smile, "Since Jin Rui sent me to accompany you to the Yunlai Empire, I might as well eradicate a few blind vermin for you."