Volume One, Chapter Four: Every Word a Truth, A Sage Descends from Heaven

A thunderous shockwave seemed to split the air, leaving the court officials numb with horror.

Emperor Qingli froze in place, staring wide-eyed, veins bulging at his temples. Consumed by such fury that he could scarcely find words to condemn the traitorous son before him, he could only glare in silence.

The civil officials were equally stunned. None had expected that, offhand as ever, Ye Chen would speak yet another Confucian truth none of them had ever heard before.

“Very well, very well. So this is your doctrine: when the ruler is unjust, the minister seeks another lord; when the father is unkind, the son runs to another home. Then let me see how you prove your innocence!”

Grinding his teeth, Emperor Qingli unleashed a vast martial pressure, crushing down upon Ye Chen.

At that very instant, the noble qi surrounding Ye Chen abruptly changed, transforming into a faint violet glow.

To the east of the Hall of Supreme Harmony, violet light rose from the far edge of the world—an eastern purple aura, the advent of a holy son!

Ye Chen had once again undergone sudden enlightenment and broken through, his cultivation reaching the first level of the third rank in the Confucian path.

Seizing the chance brought by his breakthrough, he bore the emperor’s martial pressure and withstood it.

“So soon, and he has already reached the third rank...”

“From an ordinary man to the third rank, never in all history has such a thing occurred. This is the bearing of an emperor-to-be!”

“What nonsense are you spouting? Do you wish to die?”

The official who had spoken out of turn was warned by those beside him and broke into a cold sweat.

Ling Aoxue stared at Ye Chen in a daze, as though everything before her were a dream.

That cripple whose meridians had been damaged had, in the blink of an eye, reached the third rank. This had to be a dream.

Ye Chen, now at the first level of the third rank, looked up with a faint smile.

“Now I can prove my innocence!”

Only then did the crowd remember that Ye Chen, now at the first level of the third rank, could already invoke the power of words made law.

Yet that realization only deepened their worry for him.

Words made law consumed lifespan, and the amount consumed depended on the cultivation of the one upon whom it was used.

The stronger the opponent, the greater the lifespan cost to the one invoking the power.

A moment’s carelessness could drain the caster’s lifespan entirely and kill them on the spot.

Even if he used words made law to swear before heaven and earth and prove his innocence, Ye Chen might still die instantly.

After all, a vow before heaven and earth carried backlash. Throughout history, among all Confucian practitioners who had attempted it, only a handful had survived.

Earlier, Du Lingfu had wanted to do it himself, prepared to embrace death.

“Prince of Yan, you must not. Let this old man do it instead...”

Before he could finish, Ye Chen stopped him.

“Teacher, my mind is made up!”

Then Ye Chen lifted his head high, standing proudly between heaven and earth, and invoked the power of words made law.

“I, Ye Chen, swear before heaven and earth...”

“Enough!”

Emperor Qingli could not bear it any longer. He struck out at Ye Chen from afar with a palm, and a mountain-like martial force forcibly interrupted him.

“You traitorous wretch. You dare conspire in rebellion and still refuse to repent, and now you even dare show such disrespect to me!”

“Guards! Take this traitor to the dungeon. Once the case is thoroughly investigated, mete out his punishment!”

Though he had already reached the third rank in the Confucian path, Ye Chen still could not withstand a single palm from Emperor Qingli, who was at the second rank in martial cultivation.

It seemed the emperor was resolved not to allow Ye Chen to swear before heaven and earth.

All the officials understood that if Ye Chen truly completed the oath and proved he had not rebelled, Emperor Qingli would lose face utterly.

As sovereign, Emperor Qingli would never permit such a thing.

“Pfft!”

Ye Chen’s meridians had been damaged for years, and his body was already at the limit. After taking that distant palm strike as well, he swayed on the brink of collapse.

“Hahaha! I said I would prove my innocence, and I will! If the third rank is not enough, then I shall keep awakening!”

Blood at his lips, Ye Chen laughed wildly toward the heavens, still holding himself rigid and refusing to bow his head.

The court erupted in uproar, voices overlapping within the hall.

“What is the Ninth Prince trying to do? Can he still break through?”

“He wants to continue? Where does he find such confidence?”

“Have none of you noticed? The Confucian truths spoken by the Prince of Yan are all things we have never heard before.”

“Could it be? Is the Prince of Yan the heavenly sage foretold by the Founding Emperor?”

Hearing the officials’ whispers, Emperor Qingli’s fist tightened unconsciously.

When the Great Yu dynasty was first founded, the Founding Emperor had left behind a prophecy.

Eight hundred years later, a sage would descend from heaven for the imperial house of Great Yu and extend the dynasty’s fate by three hundred years.

At that thought, Emperor Qingli turned toward a dark corner of the Hall of Supreme Harmony.

There stood a masked man in black robes and black armor, the chief of the shadow guards, known as Swift Hawk, an unmatched first-rank assassin.

Meeting the emperor’s gaze, Swift Hawk silently melted into the darkness.

At the same time, Ye Chen spoke again.

“The timing of heaven is not as good as favorable terrain; favorable terrain is not as good as human unity. A city of three miles, a fort of seven miles...”

This was the famed chapter on the aid of the righteous from the Mencian classics, a timeless masterpiece of Confucian thought.

As Ye Chen recited it with flawless diction and sonorous clarity, violet qi surged in the sky, and auspicious clouds coiled about.

Around Ye Chen, violet radiance swelled and drifted like mist, making him seem almost immortal.

And in the midst of this, wave after wave of enlightenment and breakthroughs rippled through the civil officials.

“A fine saying indeed: to confine the people does not depend on borders, to secure the state does not depend on mountains and rivers, to awe the world does not depend on weapons and armor.”

“The righteous receive much aid, the unrighteous little. How does the Prince of Yan know such Confucian truth?”

“Heavens! Could the Prince of Yan truly be... the heavenly sage foretold by the Founding Emperor of Great Yu?”

Du Lingfu trembled all over with excitement. “The entire assembly of scholars has entered enlightenment. Could it be that Great Yu is to witness two sages at court today?”

This time was even more astonishing. Before Ye Chen had even finished reciting, he had already broken through to become a second-rank Confucian sage.

“The Ninth Prince is already a second-rank Confucian sage? So this is Confucian cultivation? The speed of his breakthroughs is absurd beyond reason!”

General Huang Shihu stared with bulging eyes, speaking with naked envy.

Looking again at Ye Chen, a ring of pale white light had appeared behind him, violet clouds swirling around his body, his aura vast and overwhelming.

"...By taking the obedience of the world and striking at those who are estranged even among kin, the gentleman therefore need not fight; and if he does fight, he will surely win."

At that same moment, Ye Chen finished reciting the final line.

The entire imperial palace was nearly swallowed by violet qi, lingering without dispersing.

A faint whistle broke from the roof of the Hall of Supreme Harmony.

“Your Highness, be careful!”

Du Lingfu’s expression changed drastically, but age and frailty left him able only to warn.

He could only watch helplessly as a shadow plunged into Ye Chen’s chest. Crimson blood seeped out and stained the front of his robes.

“An assassin! Protect His Majesty!”

Someone in the hall shouted and threw themselves in front of Emperor Qingli. In an instant, the scene descended into chaos.

Ye Chen stared in disbelief at his chest, his face filled with shock.

Just to prevent him from proving his innocence, Emperor Qingli had actually sent men to assassinate him!

The memory of the physician whose throat had been slit flashed through Ye Chen’s mind, and his eyes reddened at once.

The emperor’s behavior was too similar to that murderer’s. In a blaze of fury, Ye Chen cast everything aside.

“I just want to live properly, to heal people properly, to live a decent life. Why is it so hard?”

“You don’t want me to swear before heaven and earth? Fine then. I’ll make sure none of you get your way!”

Enraged beyond restraint, he seized upon the moment of his breakthrough to the second rank and forcibly expelled the hidden weapon embedded in his chest.

Whizz!

Snap!

The projectile flew out and pinned itself to a pillar in the great hall: a black needle dark as ink.

Then Ye Chen immediately invoked words made law and began his oath before heaven and earth.

“I, Ye Chen, swear before heaven and earth: if I have the heart to rebel, I am willing to suffer the punishment of heaven and earth, and have my soul scattered to the winds!”

Du Lingfu was horrified and tried to stop him, but it was already too late.

“Your Highness, why must you go this far!”