He said that he was returning to the Divine Capital, but in reality, Chen Chao was still Rainwater Commandery's warden. If he wanted to leave, he needed to wait for the official documents from the Warden Office and the arrival of the new warden Otherwise, leaving without permission would lead to serious consequences. Back then, he did not dare to leave Tianqing County without authorization. Chen Chao had thoroughly studied the laws of the Great Liang and knew what he should and should not do.
Over at the Rongshan Sect, after those cultivators rushed in, they could not find the mountain pass gates. Instead, the white mist began flooding out again, forcing these cultivators to retreat. However, with Chen Chao's departure, this exploration of the ruin came to an end. For many foreign sects, it was a heavy loss, with many individuals they considered geniuses losing their lives inside.
On the Great Liang side, although many youngsters died too, the Lord Warden Commander was not too concerned. As long as Chen Chao was still alive, everything would be fine.
Stepping out of the white mist, a group of cultivators waited for Chen Chao here.
Someone took the initiative to confront him, "Chen Chao, how many cultivators from our foreign lands did you kill in the ruin?!"
It was a cultivator from a small sect, but evidently, stepping out at this moment was not his original intention; there must be a major sect backing him.
Chen Chao did not even glance at him. He had already explained things inside the ruin, and at this point, he did not want to waste any more time to say anything.
Seeing that Chen Chao ignored him, the person was about to make trouble when the Lord Warden Commander walked out from behind Chen Chao.
As soon as the crowd saw this top three martial artist from the Great Liang, they fell silent.
The Lord Warden Commander glanced around and said calmly, "Although the previous rules are no longer valid, there were at least rules. If you truly don't want to adhere to them, how about discussing it with me?"
In the eyes of the foreign cultivators, the Great Liang Dynasty was still that dynasty that was ordinary to the extreme; not much different from the secular dynasties of the past. However, even the most ordinary dynasty, perhaps the smallest sect, could not be underestimated when a Nepenthe Realm was standing before you.
Especially a Nepenthe Realm like him.
The Lord Warden Commander looked towards the Infatuation Daoist Temple's daoist in the distance, the latter also remained silent.
"Although the rules have changes, what happened earlier naturally still follows the previous rules. Why cause trouble?"
The daoist from the Infatuation Daoist Temple opened his mouth. His voice was no loud, but it spread out quickly. The group of cultivators could only remain silent. After that, no one else spoke. Everyone knew that since the Infatuation Daoist Temple had spoken, this matter would be settled like this, and no one could change anything.
The Lord Warden Commander glanced towards the distance and nodded slightly in the direction of the Myriad Heaven Palace.
The daoist from the Myriad Heaven Palace returned the gesture but also remained silent.
Although the Myriad Heaven Palace had become friendly with the Great Liang Dynasty, in a sense, they should be speaking up for the Great Liang Dynasty now. However, in this instance, they chose to remain quiet.
Now that the Lord Warden Commander had spoken up, it was not necessarily just idle talk.
His goal seemed quite clear as well.
The Myriad Heaven Palace's daoists were silent for a long time.
The other cultivators also stayed silent, none of them spoke.
……
……
The Lord Warden Commander and Chen Chao returned to Rainwater Commandery. Inside the Warden Office, when the subordinates heard that the man who did not seem particularly special was the Lord Warden Commander, they became extremely excited. They quickly surrounded the Warden Office.
After several attempts to persuade them, Chen Chao finally managed to disperse the excited subordinates.
The two arrived in the main hall and Chen Chao could not help but sigh, "Big shots like Your Excellency should visit these places more often. It might boost their confidence and it would be good for the locals too."
The Lord Warden Commander glanced at Chen Chao and said calmly, "I can indeed visit these places, even every corner of the Great Liang Dynasty. However, I have many other things to do to during that time. Each of those things is more meaningful than doing something like this, for the Great Liang Dynasty and for the countless civilians."
The Lord Warden Commander looked at Chen Chao, and there was a hint of teaching in his eyes.
Out of all the juniors in the Great Liang Dynasty, he was the closest to Chen Chao. He had also long treated Chen Chao as his successor in training.
He was well aware that after some time, Chen Chao would become increasingly powerful, possibly taking over his own position in the end.
He would become the next Lord Warden Commander of the Great Liang Dynasty.
In fact, this was the reason why the Lord Warden Commander had been reluctant to send Chen Chao to the Northern Frontier prior to this.
Otherwise, Chen Chao would probably be killing enemies on that Great Wall. Of course, he might also very likely die on that Great Wall Chen Chao looked up at the Lord Warden Commander and asked, "Your Excellency, are you returning to the Divine Capital now?"
The Lord Warden Commander replied, "With His Majesty absent from the Divine Capital, it's a little troublesome."
Chen Chao frowned, "Since His Majesty isn't in the Divine Capital, isn't it only Your Excellency who can suppress the troubles in the Divine Capital?"
The Lord Warden Commander looked at him, thought about it, and said, "That's the point. It's just that I don't want to deal with it. More precisely, there are bigger troubles that require my attention."
Chen Chao frowned again.
The Lord Warden Commander said calmly, "If you return to the Divine Capital, the troubles will fall on you."
Chen Chao did not understand and ask, "I can't avoid them?"
The Lord Warden Commander said calmly, "Do you think you can avoid them?"
Hearing this, Chen Chao fell silent for a moment, not answering. Given his identity, it seemed that avoiding the troubles might be challenging. However, there should not be many who knew about his true identity right now.
Besides the Great Liang Emperor, how many people knew?
The Lord Warden Commander continued, "Don't forget, you are the Commander of the Lord Warden Commander. How can you avoid the troubles in the Divine Capital?"
Hearing this, Chen Chao was momentarily stunned, only then remembering he still held such a position. He asked, "When will Commander Song return? This lowly official feels rather flustered being put in this position."
The Lord Warden Commander raised an eyebrow and said, "It will be son. The greator battle is about to end. However, if he's unlucky, he might never return. By then, the position of the Commander of the Left Guard will be yours. In just a year or two, you've gone from a small-town warden in Tianqing County to the Commander of the Left Guard—a swift rise in your career."
The Lord Warden Commander looked at Chen Chao and said seriously, "You can't avoid some storms."
Chen Chao asked, "Then can I withstand them?"
The Lord Warden Commander glanced at him, patted his shoulder, and said with a smile, "This sort of thing, you're asking me, but I want to ask you too."
Chen Chao was silent.
The Lord Warden Commander smiled, "Actually, there's no need to worry either, the heaviest burden in the world is being shouldered by His Majesty. The smaller burdens are being shouldered by the rest of us. The storms you encounter won't be too strong, and it won't be too troublesome either. Either way, if the Great Liang Dynasty is really going to collapse, I'll die earlier than you."
He said that he was returning to the Divine Capital, but in reality, Chen Chao was still Rainwater Commandery's warden. If he wanted to leave, he needed to wait for the official documents from the Warden Office and the arrival of the new warden Otherwise, leaving without permission would lead to serious consequences. Back then, he did not dare to leave Tianqing County without authorization. Chen Chao had thoroughly studied the laws of the Great Liang and knew what he should and should not do.
Over at the Rongshan Sect, after those cultivators rushed in, they could not find the mountain pass gates. Instead, the white mist began flooding out again, forcing these cultivators to retreat. However, with Chen Chao's departure, this exploration of the ruin came to an end. For many foreign sects, it was a heavy loss, with many individuals they considered geniuses losing their lives inside.
On the Great Liang side, although many youngsters died too, the Lord Warden Commander was not too concerned. As long as Chen Chao was still alive, everything would be fine.
Stepping out of the white mist, a group of cultivators waited for Chen Chao here.
Someone took the initiative to confront him, "Chen Chao, how many cultivators from our foreign lands did you kill in the ruin?!"
It was a cultivator from a small sect, but evidently, stepping out at this moment was not his original intention; there must be a major sect backing him.
Chen Chao did not even glance at him. He had already explained things inside the ruin, and at this point, he did not want to waste any more time to say anything.
Seeing that Chen Chao ignored him, the person was about to make trouble when the Lord Warden Commander walked out from behind Chen Chao.
As soon as the crowd saw this top three martial artist from the Great Liang, they fell silent.
The Lord Warden Commander glanced around and said calmly, "Although the previous rules are no longer valid, there were at least rules. If you truly don't want to adhere to them, how about discussing it with me?"
In the eyes of the foreign cultivators, the Great Liang Dynasty was still that dynasty that was ordinary to the extreme; not much different from the secular dynasties of the past. However, even the most ordinary dynasty, perhaps the smallest sect, could not be underestimated when a Nepenthe Realm was standing before you.
Especially a Nepenthe Realm like him.
The Lord Warden Commander looked towards the Infatuation Daoist Temple's daoist in the distance, the latter also remained silent.
"Although the rules have changes, what happened earlier naturally still follows the previous rules. Why cause trouble?"
The daoist from the Infatuation Daoist Temple opened his mouth. His voice was no loud, but it spread out quickly. The group of cultivators could only remain silent. After that, no one else spoke. Everyone knew that since the Infatuation Daoist Temple had spoken, this matter would be settled like this, and no one could change anything.
The Lord Warden Commander glanced towards the distance and nodded slightly in the direction of the Myriad Heaven Palace.
The daoist from the Myriad Heaven Palace returned the gesture but also remained silent.
Although the Myriad Heaven Palace had become friendly with the Great Liang Dynasty, in a sense, they should be speaking up for the Great Liang Dynasty now. However, in this instance, they chose to remain quiet.
Now that the Lord Warden Commander had spoken up, it was not necessarily just idle talk.
His goal seemed quite clear as well.
The Myriad Heaven Palace's daoists were silent for a long time.
The other cultivators also stayed silent, none of them spoke.
……
……
The Lord Warden Commander and Chen Chao returned to Rainwater Commandery. Inside the Warden Office, when the subordinates heard that the man who did not seem particularly special was the Lord Warden Commander, they became extremely excited. They quickly surrounded the Warden Office.
After several attempts to persuade them, Chen Chao finally managed to disperse the excited subordinates.
The two arrived in the main hall and Chen Chao could not help but sigh, "Big shots like Your Excellency should visit these places more often. It might boost their confidence and it would be good for the locals too."
The Lord Warden Commander glanced at Chen Chao and said calmly, "I can indeed visit these places, even every corner of the Great Liang Dynasty. However, I have many other things to do to during that time. Each of those things is more meaningful than doing something like this, for the Great Liang Dynasty and for the countless civilians."
The Lord Warden Commander looked at Chen Chao, and there was a hint of teaching in his eyes.
Out of all the juniors in the Great Liang Dynasty, he was the closest to Chen Chao. He had also long treated Chen Chao as his successor in training.
He was well aware that after some time, Chen Chao would become increasingly powerful, possibly taking over his own position in the end.
He would become the next Lord Warden Commander of the Great Liang Dynasty.
In fact, this was the reason why the Lord Warden Commander had been reluctant to send Chen Chao to the Northern Frontier prior to this.
Otherwise, Chen Chao would probably be killing enemies on that Great Wall. Of course, he might also very likely die on that Great Wall Chen Chao looked up at the Lord Warden Commander and asked, "Your Excellency, are you returning to the Divine Capital now?"
The Lord Warden Commander replied, "With His Majesty absent from the Divine Capital, it's a little troublesome."
Chen Chao frowned, "Since His Majesty isn't in the Divine Capital, isn't it only Your Excellency who can suppress the troubles in the Divine Capital?"
The Lord Warden Commander looked at him, thought about it, and said, "That's the point. It's just that I don't want to deal with it. More precisely, there are bigger troubles that require my attention."
Chen Chao frowned again.
The Lord Warden Commander said calmly, "If you return to the Divine Capital, the troubles will fall on you."
Chen Chao did not understand and ask, "I can't avoid them?"
The Lord Warden Commander said calmly, "Do you think you can avoid them?"
Hearing this, Chen Chao fell silent for a moment, not answering. Given his identity, it seemed that avoiding the troubles might be challenging. However, there should not be many who knew about his true identity right now.
Besides the Great Liang Emperor, how many people knew?
The Lord Warden Commander continued, "Don't forget, you are the Commander of the Lord Warden Commander. How can you avoid the troubles in the Divine Capital?"
Hearing this, Chen Chao was momentarily stunned, only then remembering he still held such a position. He asked, "When will Commander Song return? This lowly official feels rather flustered being put in this position."
The Lord Warden Commander raised an eyebrow and said, "It will be son. The greator battle is about to end. However, if he's unlucky, he might never return. By then, the position of the Commander of the Left Guard will be yours. In just a year or two, you've gone from a small-town warden in Tianqing County to the Commander of the Left Guard—a swift rise in your career."
The Lord Warden Commander looked at Chen Chao and said seriously, "You can't avoid some storms."
Chen Chao asked, "Then can I withstand them?"
The Lord Warden Commander glanced at him, patted his shoulder, and said with a smile, "This sort of thing, you're asking me, but I want to ask you too."
Chen Chao was silent.
The Lord Warden Commander smiled, "Actually, there's no need to worry either, the heaviest burden in the world is being shouldered by His Majesty. The smaller burdens are being shouldered by the rest of us. The storms you encounter won't be too strong, and it won't be too troublesome either. Either way, if the Great Liang Dynasty is really going to collapse, I'll die earlier than you."
