My Crazy Upgrade System

Yi Tianyun’s voice wasn’t loud, but it carried across the entire area. Everyone heard him, and all eyes turned first to him, then to the Dragon Chancellor.

Such crude words. He wasn’t talking about Bloodline, but claiming the Celestial Dragon Treasure could identify the Dragon Chancellor as a traitor! If that were true, it would be miraculous indeed. What kind of mystical power did the Celestial Dragon Treasure possess?

This was, of course, a bluff on Yi Tianyun’s part. The real reason he knew was that he had seen the Dragon Chancellor was proficient in the Netherworld Divine Palm and the Netherworld Divine Technique. Both were Absolute Skills belonging to the Netherworld Emperor. If he wasn’t one of the Emperor’s trusted confidants, how could he possibly have learned these Martial Arts?

After all, had the Dragon Celestial Divine General learned them? What about General Feng and the others? None of them practiced these techniques.

There was only one possibility: the Dragon Chancellor had always been an agent for the Netherworld Empire, and a high-ranking one at that. Otherwise, it would be absolutely impossible for him to have learned these two Absolute Skills.

"And just who are you, boy!" the Dragon Chancellor demanded, staring at him coldly.

"Does it matter who I am?" Yi Tianyun replied calmly. "You’re nothing more than a spy sent by the Netherworld Empire. You have been from the very beginning, so why act as if the Celestial Dragon Empire owes you something? Your very presence in the Celestial Dragon Empire has been a mistake from the start."

The Dragon Chancellor’s eyes narrowed; the accusation had clearly struck a nerve. Within the Imperial City, a clamor arose as many began to glare at him with fury. There was a world of difference between the two scenarios. This accusation could incite mass outrage. Even if he succeeded in conquering the city, the people would inevitably rise up in rebellion.

"Nonsense! If you hadn’t forced my hand, I never would have done this!" the Dragon Chancellor sneered. "I’ve had enough of the Ren Family’s unfair treatment! I will completely overthrow the stubborn traditionalists of the Ren Family and build a new, fair, and just Celestial Dragon Empire! An Empire where anyone with ability can rise to the top! Not a position one can only hold because of some bullshit Bloodline!"

His words made the eyes of many generals behind him gleam. Even some Cultivators inside the Imperial City looked intrigued. This had indeed long been a point of contention. Why was it that only the Ren Family could gain ultimate recognition? What gave them the right? So many had performed great deeds, only to be held back by the power of a Bloodline.

It had to be said, the Dragon Chancellor’s powers of incitement were formidable. It wasn’t without reason that so many powerful experts had chosen to stand with him. He must have offered them greater benefits or made them grand promises. Otherwise, why would they possibly side with the Dragon Chancellor?

"You’re the one spouting nonsense!" Ren Long retorted coldly. "I admit that my abilities are inferior to yours in many ways, but that is only because you are my senior. Do you truly believe someone who can control the Celestial Dragon Treasure would have poor talent? Furthermore, the Ren Family has always appointed people based on merit, promoting them to important positions as long as their abilities were sufficient! I ask the ministers on our side: has the Ren Family ever treated you unfairly?"

The Patriarch of the Hua Family nodded in agreement. The Ren Family had indeed not treated them unfairly. In fact, they had been treated very well. Rewards and punishments were always clearly delineated, and they never acted recklessly.

"As for the position of Great Emperor, that has always been the rule of the Celestial Dragon Empire! Don’t forget how the Celestial Dragon Empire came to be! It rose to power relying on this very Bloodline Power! Besides, if someone else were to become Great Emperor, only to find they couldn’t control the Celestial Dragon Treasure... would they ever be at ease?" Ren Long said gravely. "We have long considered this. It is not that we are stubborn, but that the Celestial Dragon Treasure—the Celestial Dragon Empire itself—chose us!"

"The previous emperor spoke of this very matter. He said that if I were a mediocre talent who knew nothing, the position of Great Emperor would absolutely not fall to me! It would be given to someone else, like you, for example. In the end, it may have seemed that I won because of my Bloodline Power, but did we ever truly treat you unfairly? Your ambition is simply too great!"

"The previous emperor even mentioned that he feared your ambition was too great, and he hoped it was just his imagination. But whether we forced your hand or you were a spy all along, you are now leading the forces of the Netherworld Empire to besiege our Imperial City, plunging the Celestial Dragon Empire into the flames of war! This is nothing short of high treason!"

Ren Long vented all his inner fury. His expression was one of bitter disappointment, as if scolding someone who had failed to live up to their potential. He was utterly enraged by the situation.

Whatever the circumstances, he had brought the National Preceptor of the Netherworld Empire here. No matter his reasoning, it was already an act of treason. All this bullshit about being ’forced’? Does being ’forced’ give you the right to lead the Netherworld Empire to attack the Celestial Dragon Empire?

"If I hadn’t done this, would you have handed the title of Great Emperor over to me?" the Dragon Chancellor sneered.

"Yes!" Ren Long declared without hesitation. "I would rather give up the title of Great Emperor than see the Celestial Dragon Empire engulfed in the flames of war! I would rather give it up than see our own generals slaughtering one another! And I most certainly do not want the Netherworld Empire to profit from our conflict!"

Ren Long’s words stunned the crowd. Was he really willing to give up the position of Great Emperor? Even the generals on the Dragon Chancellor’s side were deeply shaken.

The Dragon Chancellor’s face fell. He had originally intended to sway public opinion and sow chaos in the loyalist ranks, but Ren Long had turned the tables on him in an instant. Whether he was forced or not, his actions were wrong—gravely wrong.

It was like asking if being poor gave someone the right to rob others at will.

"Long, why waste so many words on them?" The nearby National Preceptor’s eyes glinted with a bloodthirsty light. "You’re just trying to ease the pressure so it’s easier to govern after you take the Celestial Dragon Empire. History is written by the victors. Just kill anyone who resists. Have you been here so long that your heart has gone soft?"

The Dragon Chancellor’s expression was complicated for a moment before his resolve hardened. "It seems I have been here too long," he said in a low voice. "My heart has indeed grown soft... In that case, kill them all! Death to all who resist! Let us completely overthrow the Ren Family’s Celestial Dragon Empire, and I will become the new Great Em—"

FWOOSH!

A beam of frigid light shot toward them with incredible speed. The Dragon Chancellor had only just begun to react when it was already upon them. The National Preceptor, being the strongest Cultivator present, reacted instantly. He waved the banner floating beside him, and in a flash, a grand formation materialized in mid-air to intercept the chilling ray.

BOOM!

The earth-shattering explosion was followed by a wave of intensely cold energy that swept over and enveloped them. The surrounding generals couldn’t react in time and were instantly Frozen by the frigid blast. One or two of them, experts at the Core Transformation stage, were too slow to defend themselves and were turned into frozen statues.

The statues then plummeted from the sky, shattering into dust with a loud CRACK. They were utterly and completely dead.

"Are you done with the pointless chatter?" Yi Tianyun sneered. "Ren, I told you before. They’ve brought an army to our doorstep, so stop wasting your breath on them. Do you think they’re going to leave just because you talked to them? No matter what’s said, this ends in a fight, unless we just roll over and surrender. We’re not going to surrender, and they’re certainly not going to leave. So forget about reasons. Their motto is ’death to all who resist.’ Ours is ’death to all invaders’!"