After breaking up with my girlfriend, I became a Great Sage of the Demon Clan.

"So these Heavenly Emperors really exist?"

With a flick of his finger, Zhao Wenhe sent the memorial in Zhou Yan's hand flying to his face. A flash of light appeared before Zhao Wenhe, and the memorial quickly burst into flames, turning to ashes in no time.

Zhao Wenhe watched all this silently, then lowered his head and looked at Zhou Yan, who was sitting in front of the brazier.

Zhou Yan shrugged.

"I can assure you that I didn't do anything just now, but when I tried to burn it, I didn't burn this memorial."

This was the truth. Zhou Yan wasn't afraid that the Empress would suspect something was amiss and had him test her repeatedly.

Zhao Wenhe did not do that; the empress was simply filled with emotion.

“From the moment I was born, my teachers and parents instructed my family to be the supreme Heavenly family, blessed by Heaven and Earth, and of the rightful lineage of the dragon. All people under Heaven should be under our command; this is the Mandate of Heaven.”

Zhou Yan lowered his head, suppressing his strong urge to complain.

Zhao Wenhe's eyes slowly lost their luster, as if he were recalling something.

"Therefore, I respect Heaven and obey its will. I never neglect the major festivals and sacrifices of the year. All the gods and Buddhas have erected golden statues for me, watching over the people every day to prevent them from suffering from diseases and plagues."

Zhou Yan couldn't hold back any longer, and the young man retorted.

"So, you're a good emperor after all?"

Zhao Wenhe stood with his hands behind his back.

"My actions—killing treacherous officials, eliminating national traitors, and providing massive relief to disaster victims—are, if not unprecedented, among the top three in history."

Zhao Wenhe used her lion's roar again, and the woman's voice echoed throughout the room. However, as soon as she finished speaking, Zhao Wenhe's tone weakened.

"But when I came out, the world was no longer something that could be saved by one person."

Zhou Yan nodded.

Zhou Yan had also read the history of the Taisho Dynasty. It was about how powerful families and clans had taken control to the extreme, land was annexed to the point that the people had no way to survive, the national treasury was empty, and the various imperial relatives were all fat and prosperous.

At that time, Zhao Wenhe had no choice but to resort to an old method: using the eunuch faction to check the power of the cabinet officials. During the check, many violent methods were used, such as executing entire families, skinning people alive, and exterminating nine generations of relatives. Later, the interests of the clan were also affected, and it was said that the law should be changed.

Before the law was changed, the country itself died suddenly.

Zhao Wenhe stared at the brazier in front of Zhou Yan.

"When the nation's fortunes declined, I sought out many immortals and sorcerers, asking them to pray and worship the gods to prolong the nation's life. Those immortals and sorcerers came and went in batches, the altars were built higher and higher, and the money demanded was ever-increasing, but my country still suffered from disasters year after year, with war raging everywhere. What kind of blessings were they praying for? What kind of Heavenly Emperor were they reporting to? Why is it that I am so devout every year, offering sacrifices every year, yet this damned Heaven gives me not the slightest reward!"

"At that time, I wondered, is there really a Heavenly Emperor in the heavens?"

Zhao Wenhe himself was the righteous god of the Plague Department, in charge of all plagues and epidemics in the world. He knew that there were gods in the world, but he had never seen or witnessed the so-called Heavenly Emperors who controlled all things and ruled over everything.

Zhao Wenhe shook his head with his eyes closed.

"Do they really exist?"

Zhou Yan pursed his lips.

Of course they exist. I have actually met the Great Emperor Gouchen and the Great Emperor Fengdu. Those two are reliable in their work. They were very effective in bestowing divine titles upon Chaos and granting the Five Ghost Emperors to Little Yama.

People won't listen to you if you want to be emperor.

"And so the nation's gates were breached, and I realized I was powerless to reverse the situation..."

Zhao Wenhe turned around, walked towards the door of the house, and stopped at the door.

The sunlight streaming in from outside shone on the empress, gilding her body. Considering her status and position, Zhou Yan actually felt that the empress did indeed possess a certain imperial aura.

Of course, this era no longer needs an emperor.

"I have come to Penglai. It is said that there is a Great Wu Mountain in Penglai, which is the Daoist temple of the Antarctic Longevity Emperor. The Antarctic Longevity Emperor manifests his divine power and preaches the Dao here every day, attracting all the immortals. I have come to this Great Wu Mountain to see the Antarctic Longevity Emperor and ask him face to face why my piety and respect have not earned me a single word of good advice!"

What else could it be?

Zhou Yan had read that both the True Dragon Spiritual Heart Great Sage and the Phoenix Lady had said that Zhao Wenhe was ignorant of destiny.

Zhao Wenhe slowly turned around.

"But I arrived too late. By the time I arrived, the Antarctic Emperor of Immortality had already left. However, if we can persuade the dragon and phoenix of Mount Dawu, there is hope for the restoration of the kingdom."

Zhou Yan said with a strange expression.

"So Your Majesty, you deliberately approached the Great Sage Lingxin."

Zhao Wenhe said angrily.

"That bastard, despite my repeated hints that I was willing to share the world with him, he actually abandoned me!"

Zhou Yan understood why the Great Sage Lingxin had run away; it turned out that Zhao Wenhe had invited the Great Sage Lingxin to restore his kingdom.

"Let the bug go. Without this obstacle, I can do what I want."

Zhou Yan tentatively asked a question.

"For example, forcing Elder Crane and Elder Deer to open the Gates of All Heavens and invite the Antarctic Longevity Emperor down?"

If Zhou Yan hadn't figured out what had happened at Dawu Mountain before, after hearing Zhao Wenhe's words, he could now guess what had happened there back then.

Zhao Wenhe's Great Zheng Dynasty perished due to historical limitations. For decades, Zhao Wenhe prayed to Heaven, but Heaven ignored her. After the fall of the dynasty, Zhao Wenhe came to Mount Dawu to ask the Antarctic Longevity Emperor why Heaven ignored her, the Son of Heaven.

As for why they sought out the Antarctic Longevity Emperor instead of the more suitable Gouchen God and Ziwei Emperor, Zhou Yan guessed it was because the Antarctic Longevity Emperor of Mount Dawu had recently manifested his divine power, and since the Antarctic Longevity Emperor was also a Heavenly Emperor, the effect of asking him questions would be similar. At worst, they could have the Antarctic Longevity Emperor act as a messenger to inquire about the thoughts of Gouchen God and Ziwei Emperor.

Unfortunately, when Zhao Wenhe arrived, the Antarctic Longevity Emperor had already fled. Only Elder Deer and Elder Crane remained at Mount Dawu to oversee the Antarctic Longevity Emperor's territory. Zhao Wenhe was furious about the destruction of his kingdom, and since the True Dragon Spirit Heart Great Sage was unwilling to help him restore his kingdom, this Plague God began to poison Mount Dawu.

After all, he was a righteous god of the Plague Department. After poisoning the area, he really turned the fairyland of Mount Dawu into a mess, with divine beasts and immortal beasts dying everywhere.

As Qing Mama said, both Crane Elder and Deer Elder were discussing whether to invite the Antarctic Longevity Emperor to solve the problem.

After that, Mother Qing led the Nine-Colored Deer away to avoid the disaster. After that, the Antarctic Longevity Emperor probably couldn't be persuaded to come down, and Elder Crane and Elder Deer both died.

As for Zhao Wenhe...

It looks like it was killed; it was only recently released if it hadn't been sealed away.

But why did I have to run into myself when I came out of such good luck?

Zhou Yan felt that this was an extremely unusual coincidence, and it was possible that it was arranged by someone.

But who would arrange something like this?

A shadow fell over Zhou Yan's face. Zhou Yan looked up and saw that Zhao Wenhe was already in front of him. The strong fragrance of a young girl wafted over him, but Zhou Yan only felt a chill in his heart.

This woman poisoned the entire Great Wu Mountain in order to see the Heavenly Emperor...

"The Antarctic Longevity Emperor did not descend to earth."

Zhao Wenhe's expression was so cold it was almost frozen.

"Gu Du killed all the immortals and mortals on Mount Dawu and destroyed this Daoist temple. Elder He and Elder Lu did not invite the Heavenly Emperor to descend to the mortal realm, and that Heavenly Emperor did not do anything to me. At that time, I even thought that the Heavenly Emperor was a fake. Above gods and humans, how could there be a Heavenly Emperor in charge?"

"And Minister Bai..."

"You can't burn the memorials."

"The Heavenly Emperor has finally paid attention to you..."

Zhou Yan: "..."

Why do I feel like the Ziwei Emperor doesn't want to talk to me?

Chapter Twenty-Five: Man Will Conquer Nature

"Write it again."

Zhao Wenhe snapped his fingers, and four gold-inlaid memorials fell one after another in front of Zhou Yan.

"The content I said before remains unchanged. Write down all of them again: the Great Emperor of Longevity of the South Pole, the Great Emperor of the Upper Palace of Gouchen, the Great Emperor of the Earth who inherits the law and has great virtue, the Great Emperor of the Earth who inherits the law and has great virtue, the Supreme Emperor who opens the heavens and holds the talisman to govern the calendar, the Golden Palace of the Cloud Palace that contains the truth and embodies the Dao, the Nine Heavens that govern the calendar, the Myriad Daos that are inactive, the Great Dao Ming Palace of the Great Heaven, the Supreme Jade Emperor who pardons sins, the Great Heavenly Venerable who leads the high God of the sky."

Zhou Yan was taken aback.

"The last one, what?"

The titles of the Antarctic Longevity Emperor, Gouchen God, and Houtu Niangniang are alright, but isn't the title of the latter a bit too long?

Zhao Wenhe repeated the full name of the Jade Emperor.

Zhou Yan picked up the memorial with a bitter face. The Jade Emperor truly lived up to his reputation as the head of all the Heavenly Emperors. Damn, the number of his divine names alone was almost as many as the combined divine names of all the other Heavenly Emperors.

Is this what the cards look like?

Upon reaching his desk, Zhou Yan laid out the memorials and began writing them down one by one. After finishing all of them, Zhou Yan presented the memorials to Zhao Wenhe.

Zhao Wenhe nodded his chin toward the brazier next to Zhou Yan.

"Burn them one by one, starting with the Jade Emperor."

Zhou Yan walked to the brazier, lit a few pages of paper, and then grabbed the memorial that hoped the Jade Emperor would make Zhao Wenhe the ruler of humanity and threw it into the brazier.

The memorial, engulfed in flames, remained unresponsive.

Zhou Yan picked up Gouchen God.

It's the same as that of Emperor Gouchen.

Just as Zhou Yan picked up Houtu Niangniang's offering and was about to throw it in, an unexpected event occurred.

Zhou Yan suddenly felt the same chilling sensation he had when he was targeted by Chi You during his last trip to the Abyss Underworld to rescue Little Yama. But this time, the feeling was a thousand times stronger than when Chi You had targeted him.

Chi You only wanted her to bear him a child, but this Houtu Goddess...

Should we give birth to a race for Him ourselves?

No, Empress Houtu, are you really that cruel?

I was merely forced to write the memorial.

Zhou Yan put Houtu Niangniang's memorial aside and picked up the one from the Antarctic Longevity Emperor.

He picked it up but felt nothing. Zhou Yan threw it into the brazier, where flames licked the surface of the memorial, but there was no reaction.

Zhou Yan breathed a sigh of relief.

Of all these Heavenly Emperors, Houtu Niangniang has the most explosive temper. She submits a memorial to the throne, but how exactly will this Heavenly Emperor punish her?

Zhou Yan pointed to the memorial from the Goddess Houtu that he hadn't thrown in.

"You can't throw this in, people will die."

Zhao Wenhe didn't ask, but just glanced into the brazier. The fire in the brazier blazed brightly, and the memorials quickly dried up and burned under the new flames, turning into clumps of ashes.

Zhao Wenhe glanced again at the memorial of the Goddess Houtu beside Zhou Yan, and the memorial of the Goddess Houtu also caught fire.

Zhao Wenhe's eyes were full of mockery.

This last empress always had the feeling that she had entrusted herself to a group of scumbags who played with her emotions.

Moreover, those scumbags didn't just ignore him; at least they glanced at the memorials Zhou Yan threw in before turning a blind eye, but when he burned the memorials, they didn't even look at them.

Zhou Yan suddenly spoke up.

"Your Majesty, Bai Ze came from the foot of Mount Dawu. On his way, he passed by Phoenix Nest, where the Phoenix Queen wrote something that mentioned Your Majesty..."

Zhou Yan fell silent.

Zhao Wenhe waved his hand, and his long sleeves snapped open with a loud "snap".

"Say!"

Zhou Yan lowered his head and said.

"Your Majesty, you do not understand the will of Heaven."

Zhao Wenhe's expression remained unchanged, but an extremely strong killing intent erupted from his body, and the surrounding environment inexplicably became gloomy.

Zhou Yan hurriedly replied.

"This timing might not be to please the Heavenly Emperor, but rather..."

Zhou Yan pointed to his chest.

"Popular support".

Zhao Wenhe nodded slightly.

"I have indeed heard that the people are more important than the ruler, and that water can carry a boat but also capsize it, but who said that I have not treated the people well?"

Zhao Wenhe opened the national treasury to provide disaster relief back then, and she was troubled by the people's livelihood every day. She believed that she cared more about her people than the previous monarchs. The only problem was that the entire political environment was rotten back then. The cabinet was full of officials who "pleaded for the people" and were just waiting for the emperor to punish them. There was also a malignant tumor of land annexation in the clan.

Even Zhao Wenhe's use of the eunuch faction to kill people every day could not frighten the civil officials who kept coming forward.