A middle-aged man wearing a black robe with dragons on his sleeves stepped forward. His hair was perfectly combed in a bun, and a faint aura of a ruler emanated from him. However, anyone with the right perception could detect he was trying his best to hide his aura and look as small as possible.
Such an act was not deemed cowardly by other representatives, and that's because the man was only in the Quasi-Emperor Realm, indicating the Great Jin Dynasty was only a Supreme Dynasty.
"Han Shun has seen Your Majesty the Heavenly Emperor," said the Sovereign of the Great Jin Dynasty.
"I was as surprised as everyone else when I saw your dynasty's name on the list," commented Wang Wei. "I was even more surprised when I checked it for myself."
Han Shun smiled in embarrassment, "It was a unique situation. I was severely injured, ended up in Your Majesty's territory, and was saved from the people. Once I was healed, I had the idea of creating a fortune dynasty and decided to model the way of living of my saviors."
Wang Wei nodded in understanding. The Great Jin Dynasty has such a high position because Han Shun copied many things from the Dao Opening Sect's Spiritual Rune Civilization. As such, the people's lives under his rule are peaceful and prosperous.
"I have to give you some credit," acknowledged Wang Wei. The Great Zhou Dynasty was still recovering after the stunts their First Prince caused. Although they have recondensed their dynasty's Qi Luck and prevented the dynasty from collapsing, they are not in the best shape to be too caring about the lives of their citizens.
The Great Wu Dynasty is in a similar predicament. After Sun Jiaolong's death, their dynasty's luck seemed to have reached the bottom. The secret of their having multiple pseudo-Emperors was leaked, and the surrounding dynasties did not hesitate to attack them, gutting most of the territory Sun Jiaolong occupied for them.
Meanwhile, other dynasties do not dare to copy the Dao Opening Sect's model despite being aware of it, and all because of unwarranted fear. These monarchs feared due to the open wisdom of the citizens from the Spiritual Rune Civilization, they would reject the concept of monarchy and try to overthrow their dynasty.
Of course, this is a high fantasy world, so no matter how much mortals revolt, it will be pointless. One Divine Body Realm cultivator is enough to trample on Wang Wei's Spiritual Rune Civilization, let alone even weaker mortal dynasties.
The main source of fear for these people is that a peerless cultivator genius will appear among these mortals and rise against them. So, most dynasties ignored the changes in the Dao Opening Sect's Domain, while a few wise ones adapted a few things to improve the lives of their citizens and gather more luck.
However, Han Shun was not one of these people. He copied Wang Wei's civilization to the best of his ability while also being a wise ruler that is loved and respected by his people.
"Sovereign Han Shun is a perfect example that our model can be copied and executed," said Wang Wei, looking at the representatives. "As such, you should learn from him."
Everyone secretly looked at Han Sun; however, their emotions and real thoughts were hidden. However, the Great Jin Sovereign was secretly scared. No matter his achievements, it did not change the fact he was only a Mortal in the eyes of these big shots.
Wang Wei waved his hand to condense a golden talisman.
"This is a reward for your effort and dedication."
People were shocked by the power contained in this talisman. A few with dark thoughts immediately extinguished them.
"Thank you, Your Majesty," hurriedly said Han Shun, bowing with his most respectful attitude while also breathing in relief; he knew he was saved and could continue developing his dynasty without any problems.
'I only need to become a Dao Lineage in this generation while preparing for my descendants to become Emperors,' thought Han Shun with great ambitions. He received the talisman and returned to the back of the line.
Meanwhile, Wang Wei's eyes glimmered with mystery as he watched Han Shun's actions. Although the latter looked like a lucky loose cultivator on the surface with no background, the truth could not be hidden from his eyes.
'He is the Human Emperor's next chosen pawn after Sun Jiaolong,' thought Wang Wei, who could see the unique destiny that Han Shun inherited.
'His plan is probably to get the Heavenly Emperor Position from one of the Great Jin Dynasty's descendants.'
Wang Wei's eyes twinkled, but he did not say anything or do anything to Han Shun or the Great Jin Dynasty because he had already figured out the Human Emperor's end goal.
The latter wanted to acquire the three Karmic Positions of Heaven and Earth: Human Emperor, Earth Emperor, and Heavenly Emperor. Then, by fusing their essence, he can reach the realm of Half-Step Transcendence.
'However, such a plan is not so easy to accomplish. The Heavenly Emperor in the Lower Position is not nearly enough for the Transcendent Path, so he will need to acquire it in the upper dimension. The one I leave behind is probably only a key for the one in the upper dimension.
"But, even then, things will not be simple. The Eternal Ascension World's power ceiling is Half-Step Transcendence, so he cannot use my method to become the Heavenly Emperor in the upper dimension.'
If the Human Emperor attempted such a stupid thing, True Heavenly Dao would obliterate him.
'So, will he go to another Source Chaos World where the power limit is only the Paragon Realm? Unlikely. There is a high chance he reincarnated not only because he wanted to become a Boundless Paragon but because he needed one of the main Source Worlds to become Transcendent.'
Countless thoughts flashed in his eyes as he analyzed the Human Emperor.
'He has already acquired the Human Emperor Position, which True Heavenly Dao acknowledges. What he lacked is the other two. One of the 8 Parasites–the Earth Emperor–is probably one of his pawns for the Earth Emperor Position. However, I have a feeling that guy did not truly acquire the position and is just another key.'
The Earth Emperor's Position involved reincarnation, so Wang Wei did not think the Earth Emperor had control over reincarnation of the upper dimension.
'Then there is Old Man Nether. He has been obsessed with reincarnation for Heaven knows how long. Is this also related to the Earth Emperor Position?'
Wang Wei secretly shook his head as he had too little information to speculate about Old Man Nether.
'Technically speaking, it should be almost impossible for the Human Emperor to acquire the Heavenly Emperor Position. However, with the current political situation of the upper dimension, after acquiring the key, it's not impossible for him to negotiate something with True Heavenly Dao.
'True Heavenly Dao might agree as long as his positions can weaken Supreme Unity's control over the world.'
Wang Wei frowned as he wondered whether the Human Emperor would be an ally, an enemy, or a neutral acquaintance. Ever since he guessed the Human Emperor was the Qin Emperor from Earth, he had an instinctual aversion to the latter. However, he also knew he could not completely rely on his instinct for certain things.
'I should consider my relationship with the Human Emperor based on the situation. The real issue is whether I should use his method to also become a Half-Step Transcendent.'
Wang Wei did not ponder much longer about the situation before rejecting the idea.
'Such a method is applicable to people of the Sovereign Dao. If I use his method, Half-Step Transcendence will be my limit, and I will never truly become detached and become free and unfettered.'
No matter how tempting this method was, it was contradictory to his path and goal. So, he would never use it unless he was forced and had no other choice. Furthermore, this method is only an idea and has no tangible method of success yet, so it's yet to be determined whether it will succeed.
'Such a brilliant idea, did the Human Emperor come up with it?' thought Wang Wei. 'I doubt it. Even people like Wu Hong and Qiyuan did not have a concrete idea of transcendence, so how could he? The Human Emperor was most likely reincarnated during the Qi Dynasty more than 2000 years ago from Earth's modern time.
'So, he did not have access to many ideas and creativity from the internet era.'
Wang Wei has long predicted that the novels and other works of fiction he read on Earth were not simple stories created out of imagination; they might have some deeper secrets. Otherwise, it made no sense for them to contain so many pearls of wisdom, secrets, and ideas applicable to real life.
'So, this must be the work of Hongjun. As a Half-Step Transcendence, he has walked in this path and knows more about how to achieve this realm.
'But, if he already had a method of transcendence, why did he participate in the Ultimate Taboo? He should have known of the danger.'
As soon as he asked this question, he knew the answer.
'Lack of trust. According to history, Ying Zheng was the kind of suspicious Emperor who never truly trusted anyone. So, how could he easily believe in Hongjun and follow his plans without any precautions or preparations?'
Wang Wei shook his head. He would have done the same if he were in the Human Emperor's shoes. He probably would have done worse since Hongjun's portrayal in many stories has not been ideal, so his weariness towards the latter is extremely high.
Wang Wei exhaled slightly as he finished his thought. His analysis was rewarding as he already had one idea for a way to Transcendence. Although only applicable to Sovereign Dao, such an idea is valuable beyond words could explain.
He focused on the room and realized everything had quieted down, waiting for him to wake up from his distractions.
"My apologies for making you wait," said Wang Wei. He knew he did not need to explain, but he still wanted to show respect to these people; to be specific, to the ones with Eternal Strength. He only needed to say a few words, so why not do it?
"The meeting will end. If you want to place something in the Contribution List for others to buy with merit, you need to submit an application. Our next meeting will be 1000 years later; this should be plenty of time for you to work."
People nodded while also secretly speculating what the next meeting would be about. Most people believed it was time for the court to branch out to the Lower Realm, spreading its wings to other worlds in this community.
A few Emperor Lineages have already begun to prepare. Unfortunately, they do not have an ability like Wang Wei's Soul Network, so it's not easy for them to find other worlds.
"Xu Shi, Feng Heng, Ao Shen, and Huo Fenghuang, please stay. Others, you may leave," ordered Wang Wei calmly.
