Chapter 238: Chapter 168: Rename, Wreckage_2
As the news spread, the name Chu Zheng became increasingly well-known on this star of Stars.
The term Tree Root, however, was mentioned by no one.
Chu Zheng traveled down the river, not rushing his journey, and only arrived at the Imperial Capital of the Yuangu Dynasty several days later.
By then, the Imperial Capital was already under full lockdown, with armies of ten thousand stationed on all sides, fully armed and vigilant, patrolling the five districts day and night, the city alight with non-stop lanterns.
The Imperial Court had given considerable attention to this young master who had appeared out of nowhere.
Recently, the soldiers guarding the city had all been replaced by elite Imperial Guards, and Grandmasters personally guarded every gate diligently to prevent any oversights.
The morning was misty with drizzling rain.
As the season moved toward winter, the climate became colder still.
In front of the vermilion gates of the Imperial Capital, the crowd was sparse. In these days, the scrutiny for entering the city had been extremely stringent, causing many merchants and citizens to sense something unusual and gradually reduce their outings.
A figure emerged from the blurred veil of rain and walked slowly towards the gate of the Imperial Capital.
Chu Zheng was clad in a light cyan robe, his hair held up with a wooden hairpin in a Daoist bun, his eyes scanning around with a hint of divine charm.
As his cultivation advanced, his appearance was also changing imperceptibly.
In front of the city gate, there were very few people.
On one side of the vermilion gate, a temporary tea tent was set up, under which sat an old man in his sixties, boiling tea.
Looking up at the rain for a moment, he saw Chu Zheng, and his originally calm expression instantly turned solemn.
The young man emerging from under the rain was dressed in a long robe, without a single wet spot, wearing a pair of fabric shoes that were impeccably clean, devoid of any mud.
These two details alone were enough to show that the young man's martial arts had reached a superhuman level.
Considering the recent rumors, it wasn't hard to identify the identity of the person before him.
Soon, the presence of Chu Zheng was also noticed at the city gate. His age, around fourteen or fifteen, quickly drew the attention of the many Imperial Guards.
The old man under the tea tent slowly stood up, his figure swift like the wind, and in the span of a few breaths, he crossed a hundred yards and landed in front of Chu Zheng.
"I am Zhou Shan, and I have met the young Grandmaster today. I hope you will not hesitate to enlighten me."
Zhou Shan saluted with cupped fists, his eyes full of solemnity. The moment he saw Chu Zheng, he knew the rumors were true.
The young man before him had a realm far beyond that of a Grandmaster.
Chu Zheng did not speak, but slowly extended his hand.
Zhou Shan's expression changed dramatically; the slightly youthful palm expanded rapidly in front of his eyes, in an instant covering the sky and almost obscuring his entire view. There was no escape.
He withdrew swiftly, and after a few moments, he stopped, his back firmly pressed against something.
Behind him was the city wall, with no escape.
The hand still loomed before him, neither far nor near, like a Divine Peak, capable of crushing him to death should it fall.
Chu Zheng slowly withdrew his hand and walked towards the city gate.
Light returned before Zhou Shan's eyes; his back was drenched in cold sweat, his face somewhat dazed as he watched Chu Zheng's retreating figure, leaning against the city wall and sliding down to sit, unable to recover for a long time.
The gap was too vast...
The gap between him and Chu Zheng was as if they were not walking the same path.
He was on the mortal path, while Chu Zheng trod the path of the Immortal.
This was a fundamental gap that could not be crossed.
Seeing the Grandmaster defeated without a fight, none of the numerous Imperial Guards dared to make a move. They retreated to either side, clearing the way for Chu Zheng.
Zhou Shan got up and followed behind Chu Zheng, keeping a moderate distance.
He was a Grandmaster of the Imperial Court; if Chu Zheng were to assassinate the emperor and plunge the world into chaos, even though he was no match, he would have to fight to the death, even if it cost him his life.
The hundreds of Imperial Guards trailed far behind, not daring to step over the boundary.
Passing by a wonton stall, Chu Zheng stopped, sat down, and had a bowl of wontons.
Simple wontons, nothing out of the ordinary, but he always inexplicably felt like pausing here for a while.
Eventually, it seemed to have become a habit for him.
The street was utterly silent; the vicinity had already been cleared by the many Imperial Guards.
Zhou Shan watched Chu Zheng, his brows furrowed tightly; he really couldn't understand what Chu Zheng intended to do.
A moment later, Chu Zheng stood up and headed straight for the Imperial Palace.
News of Chu Zheng entering the city had spread to the Imperial Palace beforehand; many grandmasters had already assembled there.
As he approached the grand gates of the Imperial Palace, there stood hundreds of figures, with no fewer than thirty grandmasters among them, the rest being experts who had developed their Inner Strength.
It was unsurprising for an empire at its peak to have such a foundation.
Gazing at the crowd blocking his path, Chu Zheng took a deep breath. His Yuan Qi lightly stirred, and a great fire ignited behind him, soaring more than ten zhang. In the next instant, the flames condensed into a human figure, like a deity overlooking the palace walls.
Facing such a mystical scene, the many grandmasters' faces were filled with shock, retreating again and again, unable to comprehend.
In their eyes, this was not martial arts, but Immortal Law.
In the next instant, before Chu Zheng could speak, the figures in front of the palace gates suddenly dispersed, revealing a middle-aged man dressed in imperial robes.
Chu Zheng glanced at him and recognized his identity.
The Son of Heaven of the Yuangu Dynasty, Liao Shizhao.
"Please, Superior Immortal, restrain your Divine Skills."
Liao Shizhao bowed deeply, "May I ask, Superior Immortal, what brings you here? Should there be any orders, none in the Yuangu Dynasty will disobey."
The appearance of this blazing deity had already proven the gap between them, mere mortals, and Chu Zheng; there was no need for further futile efforts.
Chu Zheng dissolved the great fire behind him and spoke slowly,
"Open the Imperial Palace's treasury; let me take a look."
Such an understanding reaction suited his intentions exactly.
Upon hearing this, Liao Shizhao was stunned but promptly ordered someone to open the treasury.
As Chu Zheng had expected, the treasury indeed contained some Heavenly and Earthly Treasures and several hundred-year-old medicines, which were quite useful to him at this time.
After browsing around, Chu Zheng gained quite a bit. After leaving the treasury, he used the Divine Skills 'Transmute Stone to Gold' and gave Liao Shizhao a gold palace, worth as much as the items he had taken.
"Arrange for someone to help me search for some old medicines; you won't lack Silver."
Chu Zheng casually remarked, and before Liao Shizhao and the grandmasters could react, he had already left the Imperial Palace. Sitting on the city walls of the Imperial Capital, he began using the Heavenly and Earthly Treasures and the many old medicines to enhance his Cultivation.
...
...
In the blink of an eye, a year had passed.
This past year, Chu Zheng had been sitting on the city walls of the Imperial Capital without moving an inch, becoming a unique part of the scenery.
His actions within the Imperial Palace had spread throughout the world, even becoming exaggerated, and everyone began to regard him as an Immortal descended to earth.
Consequently, no one dared to come here to challenge him.
Chu Zheng had no interest in the imperial throne, which was more than good news for the Yuangu Royal Family.
They naturally met all of Chu Zheng's requests; over this year, numerous grandmasters and many Imperial Guards had been tirelessly searching for old medicines and precious treasures for him.
Besides these, Liao Shizhao, fearing Chu Zheng might grow bored, occasionally sent him some peculiar tales to pass the time.
Chu Zheng would read these messages, though most were of little use.
Until one day, a piece of news caught his attention.
A squad of Imperial Guards, deep in the mountains, had discovered a depression full of Divine Iron.
For the people of this planet, anything that could not be damaged by weapons was termed Divine Iron, essentially just high-density metals.
The presence of so much 'Divine Iron' must have a cause.
Ten to one, it had something do with the Tianyao Federation.
Chu Zheng thought for a moment and immediately set off, leaving the Imperial Capital. It took him half a month, but he finally arrived at the depression mentioned in the message.
Before him was a vast pit thousands of zhang in radius, scattered with many metallic wreckage, all overgrown with moss, obviously having been there for some time.
Hidden deep in the mountains, this pit was rarely visited; if not for the Imperial Court spending a great deal of effort in gathering information and conducting visits, it would have taken many years before anyone discovered it.
The moment he touched the metallic wreckage, the panel quickly gave a prompt.
[Patrol Ship (Fourth Order/Incomplete): Mounted on the Tianyao Federation's 'God of the Starry Sky' flagship, equipped with an Intermediate Energy Core, Advanced Search Radar, Advanced Firepower Deployment, loaded with two Tianyao VII Type Bombing Missiles, capable of suppressing lower rank Stars on its own, repairable (0/1000) (Details)]
[Detailed Information: Crashed three hundred years ago due to a shattered central core, emergency escape system was not activated, all crew members perished, missing high-grade alloys and some precision components.]
Chu Zheng glanced at the information on the panel and gathered all the wreckage in the depression in one place, reducing the repair count to three hundred.
In less than a year, he would be able to repair this patrol ship and use it to leave this star.