Starting with being handed over to the Imperial Concubine, building a family with a thousand-year hi

Moreover, the other party could indeed be the ancestor of the Xiao royal family from ten thousand years ago. If that's true, his abdication would be reasonable. If the other party is impersonating him, given his strength, he wouldn't need to draft an abdication edict at all; he could simply seize the throne directly without going to such lengths.

Xiao Anxun dared not delay and quickly fetched a brush, ink, paper and inkstone, and personally wrote the abdication edict. His handwriting was full of helplessness and resentment.

He secretly pondered to himself that the Imperial Preceptor Su Mu was incredibly powerful, capable of killing a Grandmaster with a single sword strike. Perhaps only the Imperial Preceptor could contend with this "Ancestor" of the True Martial Realm. However, he wasn't certain—Su Mu could kill a Grandmaster across a major realm, but he might not be able to cross two major realms to face a True Martial Realm expert directly.

Xiao Anxun and the others remained completely unaware of Su Mu's true strength. Even though they had witnessed Su Mu's prowess on more than one occasion, they had never seen him go all out, and they were unaware that Su Mu's strength far exceeded their imagination.

They had never seen a True Martial Realm expert before, and only had a vague understanding of the strength of a True Martial Realm expert. They only knew that a True Martial Realm expert was far beyond the reach of a Grandmaster.

Clang—clang—clang—

Within the palace, a rapid and solemn bell tolled, echoing throughout the entire imperial city. Upon hearing the bell, civil and military officials, as well as imperial relatives, knew that something momentous had occurred in the palace and hurriedly entered the palace, rushing to the Qianming Hall.

While everyone was busy, Xiao Anran quietly left the study and quickly returned to the library. Her first thought was to tell Su Mu about the emperor's abdication and the return of the "ancestor" from ten thousand years ago.

"Imperial Preceptor, something terrible has happened!" Xiao Anran said urgently as soon as she entered the library. "My imperial brother has just written an abdication edict, passing the throne to a man who claims to be the ancestor of the Xiao family from ten thousand years ago. That man also claims to be a True Martial Realm expert!"

"A powerful figure from the Xiao family ten thousand years ago?" Su Mu was slightly taken aback upon hearing this, a hint of doubt flashing in his eyes—he had never heard of such a True Martial Realm expert from the Xiao family ten thousand years ago.

A hint of doubt arose in his mind, and he subconsciously activated his divine sense to sense the imperial aura within the palace—sure enough, the concentration of the imperial aura had decreased somewhat compared to before!

That's where the problem lies!

Normally, if the Xiao royal family suddenly gains a True Martial Realm ancestor, the imperial power will inevitably become more stable, and the imperial aura within the palace will become even stronger, with no possibility of weakening.

Now, the imperial aura has only weakened slightly, without a significant decline. This is clearly because he still intends to support the Xiao royal family. With his support, the imperial aura has not completely collapsed.

Besides, the other party seized the throne in the name of an ancient expert from the Xiao family. In the hearts of the court, the people, and the general public, the Great Qian Empire still belongs to the Xiao royal family. It is reasonable that the imperial aura has not completely dissipated.

"Imperial Preceptor, is there something wrong here?" Xiao Anran noticed the change in Su Mu's expression and a hint of doubt arose in her heart. She quickly asked. Although she felt that the identity of that "Ancestor" was suspicious, she was not as perceptive as Su Mu, who could sense something was wrong from the change in the imperial aura.

"He said he left the Xiao family at a young age ten thousand years ago to join the Xuan Gang Sect, before the Great Qian Empire was even established. Since he never contributed anything to the empire's founding, what right does he have to rashly seize the throne ten thousand years later?"

Su Mu pondered for a moment, then slowly spoke: "Let's wait and see! He's most likely a young powerhouse from ten thousand years ago, just like the barbarian grandmaster I killed last night. As for whether he's truly a member of the Xiao family, that's hard to say!"

"The new emperor's enthronement ceremony will be held at noon. Would the Imperial Advisor like to attend the ceremony?" Xiao Anran asked Su Mu softly.

"I'm not going!" Su Mu waved his hand, lazily carrying the gold on his shoulder, and turned to walk into the library. "It's better to absorb more imperial energy and strive to condense an imperial primordial spirit as soon as possible than wasting time watching a new emperor replace an old one!"

As Xiao Anran had just mentioned, the ancient expert who suddenly appeared was quite dissatisfied with the Empress recognizing him as her godfather. Under such circumstances, Su Mu would not take the initiative to go over and give him face or confidence.

At this moment, Su Mu was still unsure whether the person was truly a member of the Xiao family. Therefore, as long as the other party didn't actively seek trouble, he planned to observe for a while longer and saw no need to provoke a conflict.

Moreover, the abdication was initiated by Emperor Xiao Anxun, and the entire Xiao imperial family seemed to have no objections. In fact, many people were overjoyed, believing that the Xiao imperial family had finally ushered in the hope of rising again and would no longer have to depend on others.

This is perfectly normal! The Xiao royal family has indeed been living a particularly frustrating life lately, repeatedly on the verge of annihilation. Now that they have suddenly welcomed a "family expert" who is above the Grandmaster level, they will naturally be overjoyed and see him as a lifeline.

Even though the members of the royal family are grateful to Su Mu for saving their lives, they will ultimately treat him as an outsider. They desperately want a top-tier expert to emerge from their own family to uphold the prestige of the Xiao royal family, which is only natural, and Su Mu understands this.

He knew perfectly well that if he stepped forward now to prevent Xiao Anxun from abdicating, the vast majority of the Xiao royal family would certainly not agree. Rather than expending effort for nothing, it was better to wait and see; there was no need to do such a futile effort.

Of course, if the imperial aura within the palace were to weaken significantly, affecting his ability to condense the imperial primordial spirit, he would naturally not stand idly by.

"If the Imperial Advisor isn't going, then I won't go either!" Xiao Anran bit her lip and turned to walk towards the gatehouse of the library.

Within the entire Xiao royal family, if anyone was unhappy about this suddenly appearing ancient powerhouse, it would undoubtedly be her and her soon-to-abdicate elder brother. However, they only had doubts about the person's identity—if that person truly was an ancient powerhouse of the Xiao family, capable of leading the Xiao royal family to rise again, Xiao Anran and Xiao Anxun wouldn't necessarily find it unacceptable.

……

At noon, under the bright sunshine, civil and military officials, as well as imperial relatives, gathered in the square of Qianming Hall, creating a solemn and dignified scene. Xiao Anxun, holding the abdication edict, personally read it aloud, formally announcing his abdication and handing over the throne to Situ Chengjun.

Subsequently, Situ Chengjun slowly walked up to the dragon throne, sat on it, and officially ascended the throne as emperor.

Seizing the throne was merely the first step in Situ Chengjun's plan. His mission was not only to avenge the Situ family but also to plan for his own future.

Ten thousand years ago, when he left the Xuan Gang Sect, the powerful figures within the sect may have already perished outside and could never return. However, their descendants and disciples might still be able to break free of their seals and return to the world.

If he could establish a solid foundation and take control of the entire Great Qian Empire before his fellow disciples returned, it would be a great achievement—this was the task entrusted to him by the Xuan Gang Sect experts before they sealed him away.