Chapter 338: Emperor

Chapter 339: The Emperor

That night.

Chen Ling, dragging his bandaged body, knocked on Club K's door.

“Come in.”

A cool voice came from inside. Chen Ling grasped the doorknob and pushed the door open.

The bright moonlight outside the window spilled onto the room's floor, as if coating it with a layer of white frost... A figure stood silently in the moonlight, her black hair coiled into a bun with a hairpin, revealing a fair neck like that of a swan. Her tall, graceful figure remained still in a poised stance, combining strength and softness, like a female general about to step onto a battlefield.

In her hands, she held an old, well-worn script, held out level with one hand as if reading.

As Chen Ling entered, she merely glanced at him before looking away.

“You’re recovering faster than I expected.”

“Divine Doctor Chu said I still can’t engage in strenuous activity, but walking a bit is fine…” Chen Ling stared blankly at Club K in the moonlight, a hint of confusion flashing in his eyes.

What was she doing?

If she was just reading, she wouldn’t need to hold such a posture… Wouldn’t her back and arm get tired?

“For an opera actor, physical posture is a fundamental skill. Only by integrating a character's essence into one's posture can one portray their soul,” Club K said indifferently, turning a page in her book. “You’ll understand later.”

“Later?” Chen Ling was startled, not understanding what those two words meant.

Club K didn’t waste time on the matter. Instead, she got straight to the point: “I hear you want to see the Red King?”

“Yes.”

“What about?”

“It’s about the era archive… I feel something is off.”

Club K frowned, put down the script in her hand, and looked at Chen Ling. “What exactly happened to you in the era archive?”

Chen Ling’s sudden explosion at the time had startled everyone on the tractor. After that, he fell into a near-death state, and to this day, they still didn’t know the reason. Only Club K could guess it was likely related to the era archive.

“I…”

Chen Ling opened his mouth, too many things he wanted to complain about, but for a moment, he didn’t know where to start.

“The Nine Monarchs seem off. There appears to be some kind of conflicting relationship between them, and I even found traces of what might be the Nine Monarchs’ actions in that era… Perhaps some of them can travel through time.”

“That’s normal,” Club K said, unperturbed.

“The Nine Monarchs’ power exceeds our imagination. Since you saw them in the archive, it means someone indeed went back. And conflicts in personality and ideology naturally exist between people; the Nine Monarchs might not be a monolithic entity… Is there a problem with that?”

“I seem to have interfered with their exploration, causing the Scarlet Star Shard to explode, and a large portion of its energy entered my body,” Chen Ling added.

“That’s also normal. Since you returned to that era, it was bound to trigger a series of chain reactions. As you personally participated in the exploration, getting caught up in it was expected. However, an archive is just an archive; those energies are ultimately fake and can’t truly turn you into one of the Nine Monarchs,” Club K said calmly, picking up the script to read again.

“So, is it also normal that I met another person who possesses an era archive?”

“There are three era archives in total, and they are all connected to each other. It’s natural that you would meet other owners there… Did you meet the Red King or the Gray King?”

“Among the Red King and the Gray King, does anyone refer to themselves with the imperial ‘We’?”

Club K’s hand, in the act of turning a page, suddenly froze in mid-air.

“You… what did you say?”

“I met someone,” Chen Ling said in a deep voice. “He also possesses an era archive, is about twenty-six or twenty-seven years old, and his divine path carries an unprecedented aura of supreme dominion. He can also use the Heavenly Wolf skill of the Military Divine Path, and possesses power seemingly akin to the Nine Monarchs…”

Club K’s expression subtly changed. She put down the script in her hand and frowned, pondering by the window. This was the first time Chen Ling had seen such a “grave” expression on her face.

After a long moment of thought, she murmured to herself:

“…Emperor Divine Path?”

“What is the Emperor Divine Path?”

“In the current world, there are a total of fourteen paths to divinity, but in more ancient times, there were actually eighteen,” Club K began slowly. “Over the course of the eras, four of these divine paths were lost to the world. One of them is the Emperor Divine Path…”

“This divine path corresponds to the supreme profession that transcends all fourteen other divine paths and rules over the world: the Emperor.”

Chen Ling had heard Han Meng mention the four lost divine paths before, but he never expected to encounter one himself one day… His mind instantly recalled the countless dynastic emperors he had read about in history books, and the fervent slogan that brought an end to it all: “Abolish the feudal imperial system.”

Speaking of which, the mysterious person he encountered in the era archive truly possessed an imperial aura… It wasn’t just because he referred to himself with the imperial 'We'; his appearance, his movements, his every gesture, all exuded an inexplicable imperial majesty.

“The existence of the Emperor Divine Path is highly unique. It has only one path: that of the Emperor. Furthermore, unlike the other fourteen divine paths, an Emperor does not have a fixed rank…”

“No fixed rank?” Chen Ling frowned in confusion. “What does that mean?”

“It means his realm is fluid… The Emperor’s realm depends on the ‘forces’ under his command. If he subjugates a fifth-rank individual, his own realm will be fifth-rank. If he subjugates three fifth-rank individuals, he will display combat power close to sixth-rank, and so on…”

“Moreover, he can employ the divine path skills of his subordinates. For instance, if he has a fifth-rank Heavenly Wolf, a sixth-rank Asura, and a fourth-rank Borrowed Moon as subordinates, then the Emperor himself becomes a sixth-rank expert with a total of fifteen skills from Heavenly Wolf, Asura, and Borrowed Moon combined. Ultimately, the stronger his subordinates are, the stronger his own combat power becomes.”

“However, if he is isolated and alone, or only has a group of ordinary people under his command, his strength is almost nonexistent; even a random second-rank individual could kill him.”

Shock appeared in Chen Ling’s eyes.

No need to cultivate spiritual power, no need for arduous training, no need for step-by-step rank advancement… An Emperor can achieve rapid progress simply by recruiting subordinates. Isn’t such an existence too monstrous? If he were to recruit someone of the Nine Monarchs’ caliber, wouldn’t he instantly become ninth-rank?

However, this also means that if his subordinates are killed, or if he isn’t given the chance to build up his forces, his own strength becomes pitiably weak.

Extremely high ceiling, extremely low floor… This is the Emperor, one of the four lost divine paths.