Chu Huang knew that if everything this old man was saying was true, especially with the aura coming from him which at least confirmed it to be 80% true, then he would most likely be able to ruin the empire it had taken him three generations to build with a simple fart from his old butt...

Thus, he dare not think of anything else other than to lowly and humbly placate this man and pray he is not one of those eccentric nuts who would cause a genocide because you nose itched and you scratched it…

​​

"Good… There is someone within your village that I want you to keep an eye on… don't grant him any extra benefits whatsoever, I just want you to keep an eye on him…" The old man briefed as Chu Huang asked politely;

"His eminence, Can you give me any sort of description as to what this person looks like, or at least tell me how to find him?"

Since the old man claimed to have left the imperial throne and also bitterly ignoring how he referred to his own empire as 'village', Chu Huang wisely change his mode of addressing the old man to a more appropriate one…

"You don't need all those… you will naturally hear about him when he is ready…"

"Lastly, your Flame and Water Dao were comprehended using two treasure of equal strength and as a result you will never have what you are looking for due to your greed…"

The Old man said calmly as Chu Huang trembled intensely when the old man made that last statement as he quaked to the old man;

"Venerable eminence, I beg you to please help me…"

He uttered tearfully as a deep sigh came from the other side of the void;

"This was why I called you a weakling… it is the very fear of death that makes shedding ones mortality nothing more than a pipe dream…"

"But I know where your fear are placed, after all, your grandson just like mine still have a lot to learn, thus, I will help you and say this once, so listen carefully…"

The old man leisurely spoke as Chu Huang who wanted to jump and run around his empire naked yelling calmed himself and listened to every syllable this man was about to spurt at him…

"Firstly, it is true that everything must exist in a state of balance…. Good & evil, black & white and so on…"

"But it was never stated that they must be equal, and as a result strong & weak also forms a balance…"

"Thus, since water curbs fire, you should have used a weaker water based treasure to balance out your stronger Flame Dao…"

"But since you greedily went for two strong treasures and water naturally curbs fire, your Flame Dao would always be extinguished by your Water Dao every time you try to create a balance between them to form a Saint Soul…"

"Furthermore, that has already sealed your fate that you will be unable to become a sage in your lifetime, because you have already formed a nascent soul from it…"

"Secondly, the technique you usually use to forcefully merge your nascent souls together have put a huge strain on your nascent souls and you're also currently using it…"

"Unorthodox techniques such as these only serve to do you a 5% temporary good, but on the long run, it destroys 95% of your potential…"

The old man lectured Chu Huang as he calmly smoldered fear and deep reverence into Chu Chuang… this was the way he had ruled during his time as an Emperor…

Using sheer amount of knowledge to control the hearts and loyalty of men…

This was the way of the Scholars!

"Lastly, since there is little I can do to fix your Daos, I can still make sure you have a 45% chance of passing your nirvana test, the rest would be up to your own luck and capabilities…Now stay still and endure…"

The old man said as Chu Huang saw the space in front of him ripple like water and the tip of a cane pierced through the void as a massive and heavy aura that was way stronger than a Celestial Stage expert briefly weighed down on the Imperial castle of the Dogon Empire...

The tip of the cane then touched Chu Huang on his forehead as a sliver of energy flowed into him groveling through his physical body and soul causing Chu Huang to feel the entire insides of his skull bang repeatedly like a thousand demolition tanks were working within his brains…

Then;

Kacha!

He felt something break within his soul as he felt his Water Dao nascent soul weaken significantly as if it was broken in two and instantly his cultivation which seemed to have drowned and refused to rise before finally began to show symptoms of rising…

Boom! He felt the broken part of his Waster Dao nascent soul become unstable and explode as it transformed to pure water Qi which entered his cultivation and washed over all his nascent souls causing them to be healed by the healing properties of water…

Then he finally felt his water and flame nascent soul merge subtly and easily causing the explosion that ensued from their fusion to blast elemental Qi into every nook and crannies of Chu Huang's body spurring his cultivation base to rise and stabilize in the 2 Star Saint stage…

Meaning 2 of Chu Huang's nascent soul has been merged…

Then his inside settled as he saw a brand new red and blue saint soul sitting within his soul realm in a lotus position with its eyes closed in meditation…

Then the cane retreated back into the void as the space around that spot rippled and solidified back to normal before the drifting voice of the old man echoed within Chu Huang's head;

"I have left a brand within your soul and the only way to remove it is to die…"

Chu Huang feared as his soul nearly broke from the heartbreak of knowing that this venerable expert he had known develop such a huge respect for was a bad person…

But the latter part of the old man's statement gave him some hope and joy since the old man assured him;

"But rest assured once you have completed the assignment I have tasked you with, I will naturally remove it…"

"Furthermore, it might be a slap to my face if I kill a mortal like you, but that doesn't mean I can torture your saint soul till I drag it back and forth the line of death and life…" Then the old man's voice faded as a middle aged male figure abruptly materialized behind Chu Huang in a gold/blue imperial robes and asked;

"Grandfather are you okay, I felt a heavy pressure just now and though it took me about three breaths to get here from the moment I sensed it, I knew you are more than capable of holding him back for at least much more than that…"

The middle aged figure who was standing atop a long golden flying sword spoke with concern really audible in his tone as three more figures clad in white robes appeared around them radiating Peak Nascent Soul stage cultivation base and though they might not be too far behind Chu Huang in terms of cultivation, there was a deep chasm between them in terms of the Dao…

"So, you all haven't noticed yet, unh?" Chu Huang smirked as he spoke with a slight smile… "Supreme Elder, of course we knew someone had intruded the-"

One of the three white robed men spoke but before he could finish, he found his next words getting stuck within his throat as his white robed colleagues also had their tongues stuck to the roof of their mouth as they were stunned speechless by the aura Chu Huang had just released…

Of everyone within the Dogon Empire, the total amount of people who knew that the cultivation base of the Supreme Elder had been regressing could be counted on one's hands…

Chu Huang's journey into cultivation regression began about ten years ago when he tried to merge two of his Daos together to become a 'Sage'…

Though, he didn't know if sages exist nor did he know who they were, he just had this gut feeling that, if he was able to merge two of his Daos together, he would certainly become the most powerful expert in all neighboring empires and would most likely be able to stand toe to toe with the 'Old Ghost' of the Meng Dynasty…

But was becoming a 'Sage' something his feeble and mundane mind could comprehend?

Not to talk of the Meng Dynasty, even on this planet or world or dimension that they currently found themselves, the amount of 'Sages' they have would most likely not exceed three, and that is counting those ancient sect or clans or alliances that hide themselves from the rest of the world…

Thus, in lieu of his magnificent foolishness and greed, he had sold all the personal property he had accumulated in his 400 years of cultivation to purchase only two treasures; the essence core of a Saint stage Blood-eyed Shark and a Saint stage Flame-spitting Cobra, two strong spirit beasts just at the brink of achieving immortality…

Then just like the old man in the void said, these two proud and arrogant treasures had their Daos conflict themselves and injure the foundation of his cultivation base and his life force drained drastically…

It had been predicted by the royal healers that he would definitely die within five years, and on the day he was about to die, looking withered with hair falling from his head and chin every minute and eyes that were open but could only see shadows, a mysterious hooded figure came to his rescue then and gave the Imperial Family an alternative solution to the problem…

He had Chu Huang sacrifice one level of his cultivation base every year to prolong his life…

Then, he told the Imperial Family of one medicinal plant that could save him and restore him to his peak, but the problem was that, apart from the location of the plant being almost on the other side of the globe, it was also being protected by a Nirvana stage magic beast…

The hooded figure also offered to help the Imperial Family on the journey to retrieve this plant, because he had recently received assistance from the crown prince a few hours prior to their meeting…

Unwilling to entrust something as valuable and vital as the only known cure into the hands of others, the Emperor of the Dogon Empire had volunteered to follow the hooded figure with three of his strongest and most loyal guards…

Though, they didn't know who the hooded figure was and couldn't confirm if he was saying the truth, but at that current moment, they had no choice but to put their all into the only option that was available, even if the possibility of success is tragically slim…

All in all, with the Emperor himself being in the 5 Star Saint stage at the age of just 52, with his three strongest guards who were all in the 1 Star Saint stage and the hooded figure, they formed a five man team that went to retrieve this treasure they were looking for…

But before he left, the Emperor appointed his son; the crown prince who was the cause of their slim hope as the Interim Emperor till he returned…

If he didn't return after ten years, then the crown prince was to be ordained Emperor of the Dogon Empire, after all, asides the fact that he excelled in every characteristics required of an Emperor, he was also in the 7 Star Nascent Soul stage at the age of just 28…

Thus, the rest of the cabinet of Elders, Grand Elders and the Supreme Elder which was Chu Huang, the Emperor's decision was fully and happily accepted by them…

The only thing the citizens of the empire heard was that, the Emperor was in secluded cultivation and his son, the crown prince, would temporarily fill in the spot till he exits seclusion…

Moreover, they was still the Supreme Elder and the three Grand Elders who on their own could stall the entire force of the East Wind Empire for a full week and still not lose the battle…