1

Meeting The Emperor: Part Two [Cosplay Cultivator Chap 85]NewJust now

Meeting The Emperor: Part Two [Cosplay Cultivator Chap 85]

Of great note, he found several Komainu, which were much bigger than the pup he took care of back at the sect. One day though, it would grow up to be as big as these ones he saw. There were other creatures, like majestic white peacocks which shone as they strutted about in the moonlight, fairy elephants with bright purple wings on their backs, and jade snakes which almost blended into the art pieces kept in various places.

At nighttime, the lamps would be lit, casting the entire place in a low, ethereal light that in Tang Ze's opinion, made it even more majestic than it was during the day.

No matter how beautiful the scenery though, one would eventually get bored of it. Not that he could do much else - he did not dare bring his wizard costume here to see if he could visit Xian Yue and work on finishing her dress. Taking what people thought of wizards aside, he was more concerned that given the heightened security here, he would be caught and interrogated if it was found out that he could someone bend space-time to leave and come back here whenever he wanted. They would without a doubt consider that to be a major security breach.

Speaking of wizards, while walking around the grounds one day, he happened to see one.

His interest was immediately piqued - unlike the other cultivators he had no preconceptions about them. He also wanted to visit the Theocracy of Serragnia one day if he could, preferably after he had made a costume for himself that was more than a fake beard and a robe.

The Theocracy of Serragnia and the Raswatian Empire had fought three wars in the Empire's one hundred thousand year history, though currently the two countries were at peace. It was likely that these conflicts were part of the source of friction between cultivators and wizards, though he was told that their rivalry went back far further than that.

Why was this wizard here? Likely as an ambassador or something, he figured.

Tang Ze figured there was no harm in walking up to him and asking a few questions; after all, he might get some useful information for planning a future trip to the Theocracy of Serragnia.

The wizard was dressed up in a scarlet robe which was adorned with a few golden stars on the back.

"Good morning," Tang Ze called out to him. He turned, and looked to be in his early thirties, though with both wizards and cultivators looks could be greatly deceiving when it came to determining age.

"Mornin'," the man said. He seemed a bit surprised as to why Tang Ze was approaching him and scanned Tang Ze from head to toe. "Cultivator?" the man added, with the word uttered with undisguised disdain.

It looked like the sour feelings between cultivators and wizards was mutual.

"Ah, my name is Tang Ze," Tang Ze said, introducing himself. "I'm an Initiate of the Rising Phoenix sect, and I'm here as a guest of the emperor."

The words 'Rising Phoenix sect' did not seem to mean anything to the wizard, and he just gave Tang Ze a quizzical look, as if he was trying to figure out why Tang Ze had even bothered to speak with him.

Tang Ze, for that matter, was waiting for the man to introduce himself in turn. Even if etiquette varied between wizards and cultivators, surely this had to be the same?

"And what business do you have with me?" the wizard asked, his tone clearly indicating that he thought of Tang Ze as an annoyance.

Tang Ze was a bit flustered, but collected himself. "I have ah… a friend who is a wizard, and he was thinking of visiting the Theocracy of Serragnia. I thought that you also came from there, so I thought you weren't too busy and wanted to strike up a conversation with you…"

"Well, despite appearances, I am rather busy," the wizard said. "If you don't have anything urgent, well, I don't have time for idle chatter."

He then walked away.

Tang Ze was stumped - were all wizards like this? If that was the case, it made complete sense as to why his friends didn't like them.

He shook his head; no, it was likely that this particular guy for whatever reason had a bee in his bonnet.

The only way he would get to know for sure was to visit that country himself. While he had begun to piece together a more respectable spellcaster costume using the money he had gotten from the Novice Tournament, it would still take some more time before he could finish it. Once he was done though, his powers when it came to magic would leave what he got from his current roughshod costume in the dust.

Being unsure of when the emperor was going to call upon him was annoying - the aspect of it possibly occurring at any time was more stressful now than the actual meeting itself. And even if it didn't happen earlier than scheduled, he would also be annoyed if it was later than scheduled, as he really wanted to get this over with so he could go back home.

However, all that worrying was for not, as his meeting with the emperor was not delayed, and when the time finally came, he found himself sitting in a long hall, far away from a throne upon which sat the emperor himself.

Truth be told, Tang Ze was kind of disappointed with his appearance. The third prince had a sharp jawline and looked like a movie star or actor - basically he had looked the part of a hero and also carried himself like that.

The emperor looked far less impressive - he looked quite ordinary, like a regular bureaucrat or salesman, even if he was garbed and dressed like royalty.

'You could find ten people who look just like him walking down any street'- Tang Ze thought, though he didn't let this thought show, naturally.

The hall was designed to slant slightly, so that it was raised before the emperor who sat upon a high throne, while the roof and the walls narrowed as they approached where Tang Ze was sitting, giving it a slightly claustrophobic feel on his end. It was also designed to make the emperor appear as intimidating as possible, though honestly, Tang Ze thought that given the emperor's appearance, that was extremely hard to pull off.

After Tang Ze greeted the emperor appropriately, the emperor responded. "You might be wondering why there is such a distance between us."

Tang Ze and the emperor were sitting separated by a large distance.

Tang Ze had a table laid out with food and drinks, and so did the emperor, though they were greater than a spear's throw distance apart. Despite this, Tang Ze could hear him clearly. The acoustics here were amazing - that or there was some sort of magic involved, which wouldn't surprise him.

The place was also surprisingly empty. The emperor had only two servants with him, while six stood behind Tang Ze to cater to his needs. The numbers seemed to be the inverse of what Tang Ze would've normally expected.

"One hundred and thirty-eight years ago," the emperor continued, "an assassin broke into this palace. He was not very strong compared to the entirety of my forces, but he had honed a technique - [Death at a Hundred Paces] which it was only thanks to good fortune that I escaped from. You, my friend, have not earned the privilege of coming within one hundred paces of the emperor. Not yet."

Tang Ze noted that he was sitting one hundred and ten paces away from the emperor. The emperor had a celestial beast - a golden dragon curled around his throne, and Tang Ze knew there were more wandering around this place. No doubt if anything untoward happened, it would not just be guards, but also those celestial beasts who would burst in.

"The tales of your deeds are quite impressive," the emperor continued before taking a sip of his tea. "And if what my third son says is true, you are possibly even capable of killing me. Such caution must be taken, then, of course. Now, would you tell me more about yourself?'

The question caught Tang Ze off guard - it was common enough if you were going for a job interview, but why here of all places?

Turns out the emperor wasn't interested in knowing what his hobbies were or what his favorite color was - no, he wanted to know about where Tang Ze came from, and who his parents were.

Telling the emperor his parent's names was not difficult, though where he was from was a different matter altogether. He could claim Zhang Long's village as his own, but that would cause its own problems. The biggest issue with doing that was that it would very easily be discovered as a lie and then cast even more suspicion on him.

"Interesting," the emperor said. "When I heard you had defeated Ling Kuang, it was an upset that has not been heard of before in the entire history of the Raswatian Empire - a Qi Condensation cultivator beating a Nascent Soul one? It would be easier to believe an ant had toppled an elephant. It would be unfathomable even if it was a Golden Core cultivator who had prevailed over one at the Nascent Sould realm - and yet, the information came from so many independent sources that I could not doubt its veracity. Ah, that made me quite curious indeed - and I wished to dig further. Yet, as I dug, I found myself running into bedrock almost immediately. This person I was looking into, it was as if they were a mirage - as if they had never truly existed upon this earth before a few months ago. Your parents - I have found those with similar names, but none who could possibly be related to you."

He stopped speaking, and went back to sipping his tea.

The emperor's voice was commanding, but didn't have any special timbre or cadence to it. Tang Ze inwardly thought it was a voice suited for someone like a school principal or middle-level manager.

However, he caught the sudden frigidity that had entered the emperor's words with the last sentence.

The two of them sat there, like that, not speaking at all, for ten minutes.

Tang Ze was sweating bullets during this time.

Was he supposed to answer? It hadn't sounded like the man had ended on a question, and if it was intended as one; more of a rhetorical question. After mulling it over for a bit, he decided that it was safer to keep quiet.

'Do not speak unless directly asked something, and do not engage in meaningless chitchat,' - had been one of the words of advice his teacher on etiquette had told him.

Despite the protracted silence, neither of them spoke. The pressure began to build up within Tang Ze until finally, he felt that he couldn't remain silent for any longer. "Regarding the fight with Ling Kuang - I had some help. And I caught him by surprise."

He didn't say anything further, waiting for a response.

The emperor did not react to his comment, but instead asked, "Tell me, what kind of man has no past?"

"Uh..."

It was clearly a rhetorical question as the emperor answered it himself. "A spy, that's who."

A chill crept down Tang Ze's spine. This was heading towards dangerous territory for him!