Chapter 972: An Ordinary Office Worker

Hahahahaha!

"Excellent! This is truly a splendid artifact!"

"Just a quick examination of this divine object reveals it could not have been created by those other worlds that rose alongside us only a few years ago!"

"This is a heaven-sent divine artifact!"

The ministers in the grand hall were stunned to see Emperor Dongqing beaming with such delight. This sagacious and determined emperor, a powerful and ambitious figure who was always serious and diligent in his rule, had never been seen so astonished. What could it be that caused such a reaction in him?

In the third year of the Dongqing Divine Dynasty, a strange event occurred. After a mysterious meteor fell from the sky, the diligent Emperor Dongqing ceased attending morning court. He seemed to be completely engrossed in immortal arts, spending day and night in his imperial harem, oblivious to outside affairs.

Throughout the court, numerous ministers murmured amongst themselves, their anger boiling over. "That's an evil object!" they exclaimed. "Our diligent Emperor, how wise and brilliant he is! Yet his mind has been corrupted by such a thing! We must risk our lives to petition him!"

In the seventh year of the Dongqing Divine Dynasty, the Emperor still paid no heed to outside matters. With the nation in turmoil and fear, the Prime Minister took charge of all state affairs. The Prime Minister, dedicating himself wholeheartedly to governance, diligently implemented the Emperor's previous 'universal martial arts training' policy, remaining loyal until death. He hoped that when the Emperor finally returned to his senses, he would still find a stable dynasty.

In the tenth year of the Dongqing Divine Dynasty, the entire realm remained in complete turmoil, teetering on the brink of collapse, with local vassal kings showing clear signs of rebellion.

"Hahahaha! I, your Emperor, have finally emerged! I have truly mastered this unparalleled divine skill!"

On that day, Emperor Dongqing reappeared. With bloody methods, he suppressed the entire dynasty, purging any dissenting voices, and once again asserted his rule over the land. Seeing this, the Prime Minister couldn't help but burst into tears. "Your Majesty," he sobbed, "you have finally turned over a new leaf and returned to the right path... It is good that you are back, so good. Please do not indulge in that evil object again."

Other ministers also wept, some choking back sobs. "However, Your Majesty's power has greatly deteriorated, retaining only seventy percent of his former strength," one minister lamented. "But it is good that he is back, so good... Our dream of conquering the great worlds beyond can begin anew."

In the eleventh year of the Dongqing Divine Dynasty, the Emperor's return marked a new era of diligent governance. Simultaneously, his power began to gradually recover, even increasing beyond its previous peak, as he ascended into the Mid-Level Divine Realm.

Ten years later, the Emperor led his grand army across to a higher plane—the Great World of Buddhism.

An earth-shattering battle erupted. A Buddhist powerhouse from the Great World of Buddhism proved to be a deity no less formidable than the Emperor himself.

"I, your Emperor, have tolerated you on the forums for too long," Emperor Dongqing's voice was cold and commanding, as if he had known this being for a long time. He uttered words incomprehensible to his subjects: "You have indeed come as agreed. See you at the log-out point, at least you're not a coward."

The Buddhist powerhouse, resembling a wrathful Vajra, retorted, "If you want a fight, you'll get one! You may be sharp-tongued and mock my lack of eloquence, but when I conquer your world, I will forcibly execute you, cut out your tongue, and put it on public display!"

"Sharp-tongued, are you? Is a level four account so impressive?" Emperor Dongqing sneered, "Your high level merely means you broke through to godhood in your world a step earlier than I did in mine."

"You seek death!"

The battle shattered an entire mountain. A powerful pressure swept across the land as the two peerless beings fought to the death, holding nothing back, as if driven by a deep-seated hatred. The battle lasted for three days. Both sides ultimately exhausted their strength, and in a final desperate struggle, they perished together.

"What?"

"Has His Majesty fallen?"

The entire dynasty's army, along with its elite warriors and those on the other side, were inexplicably shocked. All of this was simply too incredible to comprehend.

Meanwhile, elsewhere, within a secret room that seemed to belong to the Haidong Dynasty.

In an elegant living room, a slovenly middle-aged man in a loose-fitting bathrobe sat in front of the television, wearing slippers. He looked like a jobless, down-on-his-luck office worker.

"Huh? A mutual destruction?" The middle-aged man scratched his head, a complex expression, half-serious, half-amused, crossing his face. "I didn't expect that fellow to be so formidable," he mused. "His cultivation was indeed a level higher, but I, your Emperor, am not easily bullied. I self-destructed and took him with me... But now I'll have to re-form a body, and who knows how long that will take."

"Daddy, Mommy says it's time to eat," a little girl's voice called from nearby.

"I know, I know..." Though he said this, the man's eyes remained glued to the screen. "I need to conjure at least a phantom image first... to prove I'm still alive, otherwise the dynasty will fall into civil war."

"Daddy, hurry up and eat, Mommy's getting angry!" the little girl shouted.

At the nearby dining table, a beautiful middle-aged woman gently pulled the little girl closer and softly said, "Let's eat first, darling. Don't call your daddy; he's at work."

The little girl looked puzzled. "Work?" she asked. "What kind of work? Daddy never leaves the house; he always works from home. Is he a network operator? Or a programmer?"

The little girl had never experienced the outside world, but her parents had used special means to acquire many 'real-world' books for her entertainment and to pass the time. These books covered all genres: science fiction, realistic fiction, urban fiction, and fantasy. She gradually learned about what the outside world was like from these books.

"Your father is indeed working," the beautiful middle-aged woman paused, then sat at the dining table and said softly, "It seems I must finally tell you the truth. Our family has never left this room because your father, for our safety, used special means to shield the entire space... After all, your father has many enemies."

The little girl's eyes widened in surprise and excitement. "Daddy, is he a national spy? Does he do secret underground work? How amazing!" Her father, who was usually so carefree, wearing baggy shorts and big slippers, it turned out he wasn't just an ordinary office worker! What little girl hasn't dreamed that her father is actually a very handsome, unfathomable, and powerful figure?

"No, no," the beautiful middle-aged woman put some food on her daughter's plate. "I told you to just read those fictional books for fun. Don't believe them; they're all made up... Things like supermarkets, nine-to-five jobs, televisions, computers, a scientific society... those are all fictional worlds that don't exist."

"So my daddy is just a very ordinary... office worker?" The little girl's eyes flickered with disappointment. No wonder he was always so free, spending all day playing with her, reading books, discussing stories, and playing with toys to make her happy.

"Not quite. He's a rather special kind of office worker." The mother pointed to the slovenly middle-aged man in slippers sitting on the sofa in the living room, intently watching television. She said gently, "Your daddy, out there, is actually the Divine Emperor of a great Qi Cultivation Realm—Emperor Dongqing. He rules over hundreds of millions of cultivator subjects and is a supreme, great deity! One of the strongest in the entire realm!"

The little girl, sitting at the dining table in the living room, simply blinked: "???"