Immortal Paladin

302 Nongmin's Plan

I leaned back into the oversized chair, letting the weight of it swallow me. Alice's sharp tongue and Nongmin's grim warnings still echoed in my head, both hammering me into submission. As much as I wanted another go at Jia Sen, especially with Alice and Da Ji at my side, I knew better. That wasn't just reckless. It was suicidal. But I knew I had a fighting chance this time.

Still… The last time I clashed with that fox, he tore through a continent like parchment. The Sunspire Continent, the beating heart of the Empire, was smaller than the others, and if Jia Sen unleashed his full might here, nothing would remain but dust and corpses.

The war room held its silence. Maps, carved tokens, and scrolls lay scattered across the table, but no one dared move. They were all staring at me. I could almost hear their thoughts: 'Say something, Da Wei. Lead us. Be the man with the plan.' Or something. Except, I wasn't in the mood to grandstand.

"Alright," I said, raising my hands in mock surrender. "I'm sitting, I'm quiet, I'm not doing anything stupid. Can we proceed now? Hei Ximei of the Shadow Clan, please… tell us what your spies found."

The woman in question opened her mouth. But before a single word left her lips, Nongmin's hoarse voice cut through the room.

"I'm not done yet," he declared, his tone steady despite the strain in his body. All eyes shifted toward him as he walked to the center. "We are yet to address the most important problem we have on our hands."

"What is it this time, Nongmin?"

Nongmin's voice rang with the kind of authority that left no room for jest. "I demand you step up, make it official, and take over."

I slumped a little deeper into the chair, raising both palms. "Fine, fine… I come here as a representative of New Willow, offering aid to the Empire—"

Nongmin's eyes narrowed, his tone cutting me off like a blade. "You know that's not what I mean. We spoke of this yesterday, but since then, you've been dodging the matter." He turned away from me, sweeping his gaze across the table at everyone gathered. The silence thickened, every soul in the room hanging on his words.

"Know this," he declared, "my decision is final. This is a step that cannot be undone. None of my visions foretold this moment, yet fate has led us here regardless. The Grand Ascension Empire has run its course. Its purpose, heralding 'your' arrival, has been fulfilled." His voice cracked slightly but steadied with conviction as he went on.

"I do not know the precise role the Heavenly Dao still holds for me, but I feel it burning within me… my task is not finished. There are greater horizons beyond this empire's borders, greater struggles than the games of power against the Seven Houses, and truths more profound than even the grand laws of this Hollowed World. I intend to step into that greater world, and I would see my people step into it as well."

Every word settled into me like a weight I hadn't asked for. The others were silent, stunned by the finality in Nongmin's tone. His voice lowered, but its impact grew sharper. "For that to happen, Da Wei… Your Eminence… you must choose."

Zhu Shin broke the stillness, his voice trembling. "Y-Your Majesty, what… what are you saying?"

Nongmin's lips curled into a tired smile, yet his eyes carried the fire of resolve. He stood taller despite the exhaustion gnawing at him, and with a breath that sounded like both resignation and triumph, he answered, "It is time I abdicate the throne. Let the era of the Grand Ascension Empire end, and let the era of the Great Guard begin. A new dawn rises, for a world far greater than the one I once ruled."

I knew where Nongmin was coming from because I had lived his life, walked through his memories, and stared into the visions that haunted him. When he spoke of heralding my arrival, it wasn't some flowery excuse to justify his abdication. He truly meant it. I couldn't deny it either. If the Grand Ascension Empire had not existed, I might have already left the Hollowed World behind, drifting aimlessly among the stars of the Greater Universe, chasing a home I might never find.

So I asked him, wary but curious, "What do you suggest?"

Nongmin didn't hesitate. "Take over the Empire."

Alice's lips curled into a sharp smile, her words laced with sarcasm. "The only way to do that is through a hostile takeover. Or do you plan to put on a grand show, crown David in front of your cunning court who've all but betrayed you by their absence?"

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"The Seven Imperial Houses now hold all the power," Nongmin replied, his voice firm, almost cold. "No maneuvering of law or decree would allow me to name him my successor, not when I have sons, daughters, and grandchildren who all qualify for the throne. You will have to conquer the Empire."

I blinked, leaning back in my chair, half in disbelief. "Are we seriously talking about this?"

Da Ji gave me a look that screamed exasperation. "Brother, weren't you the one who promised to behave? And yet here stands the Emperor himself, asking you to conquer his domain. Don't start now, my dear brother. So yes, we are talking about invading the Empire."

The tension around the table tightened. Zhu Shin slammed his palm lightly against the armrest, his face pale. "And with what army?"

Hei Ximei let out a delicate cough that carried far too much meaning. Her lips curved in a shadowed grin as she said, "The Shadow Clan would gladly lay down our lives for you, Your Eminence."

Da Ji followed quickly, her eyes gleaming with sly pride. "And the city of New Willow has the Guardians. Do not forget its cultivators… many of them trace their bloodlines back to the False Earth, home to Ancient Souls older than the Hollowed World itself."

Alice raised her hand like she was counting beads. "And we have three Ascended Souls in our ranks. Five, if we count the Heavenly Demon and the Foolish King. That's more than enough to shake the balance of power."

The words struck Zhu Shin like thunder, and realization washed over his face. He muttered, half in awe, "Add imperial citizens and patriots we can sway to our side… and we might actually have… a fighting chance…"

But Nongmin only shook his head, his gaze fixed somewhere far away, as if seeing the tides of war already crashing. His voice carried the weight of certainty. "No. You will have more than a fighting chance… If my grandson, Ren Xun, succeeds in holding his ground in Riverfall, then we'll have a decisive victory in our hands."

I understood with horrifying clarity just how real our chances were. Either we did this, or we chose to do nothing and let the Seven Imperial Houses and the Heavenly Temple carve the Empire into whatever grotesque shape suited their power.

"I don't mean any offense," Zhu Shin began, his voice even but heavy with doubt, "but the industrial and technological gap between the Empire and whatever forces we can muster would be too steep. The monopoly on warp technology alone gave the Empire a massive advantage, and even if you, your majesty, work around the clock to build more warp arrays, it would require massively non-replenishable resources that the Empire had exhausted and doesn't currently have."

Nongmin just stared at me.

"I think you underestimate our chances."

"Hey," I cried out. "I don't have the answers to everything!"

If we were going to take over the Empire, it couldn't be a grinding war of attrition. We lacked the factories, the fleets, the endless resource mines the Empire once commanded. We would be buried alive in their sheer scale. No. Our only hope lay in velocity, like a blade striking before the shield was even raised.

We had to be swift as lightning splitting stone.

If we failed to take the Empire in a short span of time, then the Heavenly Temple would stir from their sanctimonious towers, summon their legions, and claim "divine intervention." And once they moved, the Martial Alliance and the Union wouldn't be far behind, each eager to set their own hooks into the chaos.

My gaze softened, but my voice did not. "Nongmin, you're asking men and women to leap into a chasm without knowing if there's ground on the other side."

"Maybe," said Nongmin evenly, "but if we don't leap now, we fall all the same."

"Okay, I'll bite," I stood then, my voice rising, the weight of truth pressing against my ribs. "The question, then, is not whether we fight. We already know the alternative: subjugation, dismemberment, and ruin. The question is how. So, riddle me this… How, in the shortest time possible, am I supposed to invade the Empire?"

The truth was, I didn't want to wage war. It was the last thing I wanted to do.

I leaned forward in my chair, half-expecting Nongmin to drop another vague statement, the kind that made me want to smack him upside the head. But this time, his tone was steadier, like he had been holding onto this card for a long time.

"One decisive battle," he declared, his voice calm but carrying a weight that settled over the war room. "Tempt them in a single battlefield, where all pieces would be laid bare."

Alice tilted her head, clearly unimpressed. "And how are we going to achieve that?"

Nongmin's lips curved into a bitter smile. "The Hollow Star."

I frowned. "And what is… the Hollow Star?" It felt almost absurd to ask. After all the lives I had walked, the memories I carried that weren't mine but his, this was the first I was hearing of it. If Nongmin was only just now bringing it up, then I already knew it wasn't going to be something I'd like.

He folded his hands together, his eyes losing focus, as though remembering something from far away. "An unfathomable treasure, symbolizing dominion over the Hollowed World. It's the accumulated providence of every realm that fell upon this land. I have no idea what shape it took, only that it is a very potent item, capable of moving the Hollowed World itself as its wielder pleased."

The silence that followed made the air heavier. My mouth went dry before I asked, "Where is it?"

Nongmin exhaled, almost reluctantly. "It's too dangerous an item. I wiped its existence from my mind. If not for the meddling of the Xun Patriarch, I would've never remembered it existed at all. I entrusted its location to the one person I trust most not to use it, and to make sure it never falls into the wrong hands."

I narrowed my eyes. "Who? Nongmin, I admire your ability to make small talk now, but please, stop keeping us in suspense and spill already."

His gaze finally met mine, and he said plainly.

"Zai Ai of the Ten Thousand Tools."

My brain stalled. Then it clicked, and I felt my face twist into pure disbelief. Ah, shit. Why did it have to be her? This introverted Emperor's ex!?

Fuuuuck…