Then the position of Emperor, grand marshal, and prime minister will be empty for three whole months? Cha Ming asked, worried.
The Empress Dowager will rule until the successor is chosen, Gong Shuren answered. Conveniently, all participants are either her natural children or naturalized children. As for the roles of the prime minister and grand marshal, these roles shall be presided over by their appointed deputies.
Cha Ming nodded, but he was still worried. The city could turn very chaotic if Zhou Li had arranged for some surprises in their absence. Before he could think to warn his disciples, however, the crowd grew still. The Sea God Emperor, who’d been sitting this whole time, stood up, and the entire hall grew silent as a graveyard.
“Thank you, everyone, for coming to see us brothers off,” the Emperor said. Two other men stood beside him, seeming every bit his equal. While the Emperor wore a golden crown, the one on his left was large and wore a shell-like buckler on his arm. The one on his right held a set of golden weighing scales in his right hand. The two platforms resembled two translucent blue fish scales. All three artifacts emanated transcendent pressures much stronger than anything Cha Ming had ever felt.
“We would like to thank the Empress and our wives for delivering children to succeed us and enrich our lives,” the Emperor continued. “We would like to thank our children, both those participating in the succession and not participating, for bringing much happiness to our long reign. Finally, we would like to thank Haijing Academy for continuing our long tradition of research and education for the plane. We ask that the headmaster continue to serve Haijing Academy during the transition until a replacement is appointed.”
This development also surprised Cha Ming; he hadn’t thought so much upheaval would occur during the selection of the next emperor. Haijing Academy had never taken sides, but if the new emperor and prime minister were so inclined, they could marginalize the Alabaster Group without much effort and allow the South to thrive. Moreover, Haijing’s City Guard was far stronger than any army on the continent. He couldn’t help but feel a noose being tightened around his throat.
There’s no way Zhou Li being here during such a sensitive time is a coincidence, he thought. The upcoming trial was too important. Failure was not an option.
“Finally, I would personally like to thank everyone present,” the Emperor said. “What I said before was in my capacity as emperor. But now, I thank everyone from the bottom of my heart.”
“As do I,” the grand marshal said.
“And I,” the prime minister said.
“Please accept our bow of thanks,” the Emperor said. They only bowed down forty-five degrees, but the gesture was as heavy as a mountain.
Cha Ming noticed many others were moved. Children and adults cried, and Gong Shuren was no exception.
“If you would be so kind, brother,” the Emperor said as they straightened up. The man beside him nodded and held up the scales. They shimmered with gray light, and a large portal appeared behind the throne. “This dynasty is over, and a new one is just beginning. I invite all members of the younger generation to step forward with their champions to witness the end of the era and usher in the next. No matter what happens in the Sea God Trials, I hope you all remember that you are children of the Sea God, and above all else, you are family. You must stay united under the leadership of your new emperor.”
“As the Emperor commands,” the princes and princesses near Cha Ming shouted. That included Gong Shuren.
They followed the Emperor and his two brothers through the gray portal and appeared directly on the Heaven Ascension Platform. When the last person walked through, the portal closed, and the pressure coming from the Emperor and his brothers increased.
Thump. Thump. Thump.
Where three men once were now stood three completely different individuals. They seemed untouchable, unreachable. Their skin took on a gold-and-blue luster, and Cha Ming felt a mounting pressure crashing down on him in waves.
Thump. Thump. Thump.
He soon realized what that thumping sound was. It was the sound of a beating heart. The blood in his body urged him to bow in worship. He sensed a trickle of divinity in those three men, a drop of kingly might. The three men gathered their potential, and with a loud crash, they broke through to demigodhood and the initial stage of the Blood Awakening Realm.
The moment they did, the heavens roared. Lightning crackled in the skies as a tribulation unlike anything Cha Ming had ever seen appeared over their location. Unlike before, the heavens didn’t take their time accumulating clouds and lightning. They sent their entire army upon the three men like desperate generals.
There were no white bolts or colored bolts. There were no black bolts like before. Instead, the clouds immediately produced gray strikes that threatened to tear the world asunder. Whether it was the nature of their ascension or the fact that three people were undergoing tribulations simultaneously, the heavens were angry. They wanted nothing more than to wipe these men from existence.
As the storm grew more violent, the prime minister was the first to act. He calmly took out his scales and summoned a gray spatial barrier. The dome surrounded them, and though it shuddered with every strike of gray lightning, it stood strong. The storm intensified, and the number of bolts doubled and caused the barrier to shake.
“Looks like it’s my turn,” the grand marshal said. He lifted his arm, and the golden shell-like shield glowed. As it did, a golden field superimposed itself on the gray one, tightening their defenses. Enraged, the heavens intensified their assault. The number of bolts doubled once more, and soon their combined defenses began to waver.
“Cease your struggles,” the Sea
