# 378
Chapter 378: The Emperor of Fengdu
Three minutes ago.
Outside the Imperial Palace of Fengdu.
Li Deyang stood on the fifth levitating stone slab. He lifted his head to the palace above, endless vicissitude welling in his eyes as long-sealed memories surged from the depths of his soul—pain and conflict written across his gaze.
“So it was you…
You who manipulated the Six Paths of Reincarnation so I’d be born in Anta County, the place nearest here;
You who, every night after I fell asleep, called my name and drew me back to Anta County;
You who led me to that abandoned tree farm, let me witness the worker ant with my own eyes, and urged me to petition the higher-ups for rescue…
In the primeval forest you hinted I should press on with the others, and even after we entered Fengdu you guided me step by step, all the way to the foot of this palace…
My entire life has unfolded under your influence.”
He slowly moved forward and stepped onto the sixth slab.
Hum——!!
A low drone echoed across the sky outside the palace.
The weariness in Li Deyang’s eyes deepened.
“Must it truly be this way…?” he murmured.
“I only wanted to quietly guard the border, buy a house for my old man to retire in, find my daughter a decent husband, give them a happy life… then die like a soldier in front of the masses.
Your duty, your Great Way—they’re far too heavy for me.
If I become you… will I still be Li Deyang?”
His voice was soft, as though questioning himself—or someone else.
He lifted his foot and set it on the sixth slab.
Another tremor rolled out like muffled thunder over Fengdu.
Fragmented memories not his own gushed from the deepest part of his soul and flooded his mind…
In a trance he heard the pleas of ghosts again.
“Please, save us!!”
“…If this goes on, I too will become a vengeful spirit!”
“You can do it—why? Why won’t you?!”
“Please… even if it’s only my child, I beg you…”
“……”
Startled, he opened his eyes and looked back. Standing on the floating slab he gazed down at the desolate ghost city beneath him.
At his feet lay a city that held countless souls.
They had waited here a hundred years.
“So that’s it… so that’s what you meant.”
Looking down, a light slowly blossomed in his eyes; having grasped something, the corners of his mouth lifted.
He spread his arms as though to embrace the ghost city.
“They… are also the ‘masses’!”
Li Deyang pulled a gleaming medal from his pocket. He rubbed its surface carefully with his thumb, staring at the neatly engraved name “Li Deyang,” reluctance written across his face.
With a flick of his thumb—
Clink——!!
The medal that had accompanied him twenty years—a symbol of glory and duty—spun into the air. Its surface clearly reflected the ghost city below and Li Deyang’s calm face… then fell into the city and vanished.
“When the final darkness falls, I will stand before the millions…”
He watched it drop and whispered,
“Today, if I, Li Deyang, must die for these millions… so be it.”
He turned and strode toward the seventh slab.
Without the slightest hesitation he stepped onto the eighth, ninth, tenth!
Boom-boom-boom-boom——!!
Four thunderous crashes exploded over Fengdu, instantly drawing every ghost’s gaze upward to the palace they had watched for a century…
In a courtyard, the ghost who had once spoken with Lin Qiye stared at the figure standing before the palace, lips trembling. Its knees buckled and it prostrated itself, tears streaming.
“Welcome back, Great Emperor!!”
Behind it, its wife and daughter also knelt, kowtowing deeply toward that silhouette.
Throughout Fengdu, every ghost who still retained humanity fell to the ground, gazing excitedly at the figure before the palace, shouting in silence:
“—Welcome back, Great Emperor!!”
No one could hear the cry, yet Li Deyang could.
Standing on the final slab, he looked down at the bowing ghosts. Hesitation, confusion, conflict—all vanished, replaced by a serenity he had never known.
“From this day forward, the Night Watchman Li Deyang is no more…
I am
The Emperor of Fengdu!”
Bang——!!
The palace gates behind him burst open; a vast black imperial robe shot out and whirled around him as though rejoicing!
Seeing the familiar garment, Li Deyang smiled, raised a hand, and the robe draped itself over him, billowing without wind. Golden patterns blazed with unprecedented light, and a mighty imperial might descended.
Inside the palace, Lin Qiye and the other three stood behind the doors, mouths agape…
“L-Li-Uncle is…” Baili Pangpang stammered, unable to form a coherent sentence under the aura radiating from Li Deyang and the swirling imperial robe.
Lin Qiye gazed at Li Deyang’s back. Though shocked, he was calmer than the rest.
“He is the reincarnation of the Emperor of Fengdu.
I should have realized sooner—Fengdu is the legendary realm of the dead; how could its gates simply open for us?”
“But… how can he be the Emperor?” Baili Pangpang still couldn’t believe it. “He’s just a kind, ordinary uncle—where’s the imperial bearing?”
“Before the memories of the cycle awakened, he was simply Li Deyang,” Cao Yuan sighed, emotional. “But now… that may no longer be true.”
Outside the palace.
Clad in the imperial robe, Li Deyang slowly closed his eyes as his cultivation soared.
Pool Realm, River Realm, Sea Realm, Infinity, Klein… When the final shackle of Klein broke effortlessly, his entire temperament seemed to transcend into an unfathomable state.
Then his aura halted.
He frowned at his hands and shook his head helplessly. “I can only recover this far…”
At that moment he sensed something and looked sharply at the sky of Fengdu, expression turning grave.
The dark vault above suddenly rippled with eerie crimson waves. A sinister aura descended; every ghost trembled beneath it.
From the blood-red ripples a black hand emerged—then an arm, shoulder, head, torso…
It stepped out and hovered silently in the air.
A black, bare-chested god.