Chapter 263: The Rise of the Emperor Star
(This novel is translated and hosted on BCatranslation.)
“The Nine-Level Pagoda?” Xie Yu Zhou stared at its towering peak.
“Are you crazy? Why would the Nine-Level Pagoda summon you? This is bad. I’m definitely doomed,” Xie Yu Zhou looked at Lu Chao Chao with teary eyes.
“Did I turn her into a fool? Just one cup of wine, and she’s already lost her senses?”
The Sixth Prince swallowed hard.
“It’s true! Chao Chao never lies!”
“It’s really summoning me…” Lu Chao Chao placed a small hand over her chest, feeling an undeniable pull.
“Chao Chao, you can’t go there. The place is heavily guarded. Only Imperial Uncle and the Crown Prince can enter.”
“Oh, and Crown Prince Brother too.”
“But Crown Prince Brother would never bring us inside. Only the heirs and emperors of past dynasties can step into the Nine-Level Pagoda.” The Sixth Prince had been taught from a young age by his mother not to approach it.
Lu Chao Chao shook her head. “Twu twu! You go get Crown Prince Brother!”
“Eh? Where’s Fifth Brother?” She recalled that the Fifth and Sixth Princes were always together.
The Sixth Prince pursed his lips, his mood darkening. “Fifth Brother’s mother, Consort Shu, committed some unknown offense and was sent to the Cold Palace by the Emperor. Fifth Brother fell seriously ill and is still weak.” The Fifth Prince had knelt before the palace hall, pleading for a chance to see his mother, but their father refused.
Lu Chao Chao blinked in a daze, asking whatever came to mind.
Before long, the Crown Prince arrived, having heard the news.
“Chao Chao, have you been drinking?” The Crown Prince drew close, noticing her foolish grin and sniffed lightly—there was a faint scent of alcohol.
Xie Yu Zhou shrank his neck. “I… I couldn’t stop her.” He dared not admit he was the one who had fed her the wine.
The Crown Prince shot him a glance. Both Xie Yu Zhou and the Sixth Prince averted their eyes.
Then, the Crown Prince picked up Lu Chao Chao.
“Chao Chao, did you bring out the Sunshine Sword?” he asked cautiously.
Lu Chao Chao shook her head, her words slurred. “Left… left home… protect family…”
Xie Cheng Xi secretly breathed a sigh of relief.
Truth be told, her constitution was peculiar—despite her high cultivation, a single sip of alcohol would get her drunk.
And when she was drunk, she caused havoc.
One moment, she would be looking bright-eyed and alert. The next… she would be obliterating an entire mountain peak.
And then there was Little Junior Sister Gan Tang, who loved reading forbidden books. Lu Chao Chao had once snatched her treasured collection and read them aloud in public…
Gan Tang went into seclusion for a hundred years after that.
After her ascension, she became the deity governing the Four Seasons.
That incident remained an unerasable stain in history.
A drunken Lu Chao Chao was truly terrifying.
“Summoning… summoning…” Lu Chao Chao pointed at the Nine-Level Pagoda, her large eyes shimmering with an unyielding determination, made even more stubborn by her drunken state.
“If you don’t go, I’ll sneak in myself! You can’t stop me!”
The Crown Prince sighed softly, knowing there was no reasoning with a drunk.
“You two, return to the palace hall and wait. We will discuss your punishment later.” The Crown Prince’s stern gaze made the Sixth Prince tremble.
The two left with bitter expressions.
Inside the hall, the tension was already at its peak.
The Crown Prince dismissed the palace attendants and carried Lu Chao Chao toward the Nine-Level Pagoda himself.
“My head ish… dizzy, Crown Prince Brother… mm…”
“Chao Chao, is there a way to make the guards unable to see us?” The Crown Prince’s voice was soft yet persuasive. The drunken little girl blinked.
“No see Chao Chao…” she mumbled.
A wisp of spiritual energy drifted from her fingertips, spreading outward.
The Crown Prince flicked his fingers, sending the energy forth. As it reached them, the shadow guards and sentries collapsed one by one.
With that, the Crown Prince pushed open the grand doors of the Nine-Level Pagoda, stepping inside with Lu Chao Chao in his arms. Under the moonlight, the tower’s solemn interior was faintly illuminated.
Lu Chao Chao clutched her chest, her small brows furrowing tightly. “It hurts…”
“What is that sound?”
“Thump, thump, thump… Something is beating…”
“Crown Prince Brother, can you hear it?” Lu Chao Chao clenched her eyes shut, wincing as pain spread from her chest.
The Crown Prince’s heart ached for her, though he could hear nothing.
Still, he soothed her gently. “I hear it. We’re almost at the top. Don’t be afraid.”
At the ninth floor, the Crown Prince retrieved the key with trembling hands and exhaled deeply before unlocking the door.
A floating mass of light hovered mid-air, pulsating like a living heart.
“It’s this… It’s calling me.”
“Chao Chao is not lying!” she said, feeling wronged.
“I know you’re not lying. I believe you.” The Crown Prince’s voice was filled with reverence. He had always believed in her.
As Lu Chao Chao stepped forward, the glowing orb descended of its own accord, coming to rest before her.
“What… what is this?” The little one was lost in a drunken daze, but the Crown Prince knew she would remember none of this upon sobering up.
“It belongs to you.”
“It has nourished countless beings, and now, the world cannot do without it.”
“Chao Chao, the Three Realms owe you a debt they can never repay. But believe me, one day, it will return to its rightful owner—you.”
The Crown Prince gently pressed his forehead against her chest.
An empty void.
Her body, her soul, had been painstakingly pieced together by countless disciples. But her heart…
Could never be replaced.
“Can I touch it?” Lu Chao Chao gazed at the floating light, drawn to it with an irresistible force.
“Of course.”
She reached out her chubby little hand, but before she could make contact, the light surged forward, diving straight into her chest.
In an instant, her entire being was enveloped in radiant brilliance.
No one noticed the silent arrival of a dazzling new star in the pitch-black night sky.
Beneath it, all other stars paled in comparison.
The National Advisor abruptly opened his eyes.
He looked up at the heavens and trembled violently before falling to his knees, bowing deeply.
“The Emperor Star!”
His gaze locked onto the night sky, filled with disbelief and terror.
“How can this be? Two Emperor Stars at the same time?”
“The Monarch Emperor founded the Divine Realm and ruled the Three Realms. That was the Three Realms’ Emperor Star.”
“But now… How can there be a second? How can a new ruler emerge?!” Master Shi Kong shivered, his aged eyes full of dread.
Moreover, the new star’s brilliance threatened to overshadow the Monarch Emperor’s own.
At that moment, the Crown Prince could no longer hide his joy. He clung to Lu Chao Chao, listening to the steady, powerful rhythm of her heartbeat.
Tears streamed down his face.
“Wonderful… wonderful… Chao Chao… this is wonderful!” He sobbed uncontrollably, embracing her tightly.
All his efforts had not been in vain.
He was a God of Time and Space, having reversed time over and over, burning his cultivation to stay by her side.
Only upon meeting Lu Chao Chao could he regain his memories.
The last time, she had been drowned the moment she was born.
He had to turn back time again.
But now…
Now, she had safely grown to two years old.
“It’s so strange… It jumps! It jumps!” Lu Chao Chao curiously patted her chest, amazed.
The Crown Prince’s heart ached.
He placed her small hand over his own chest. “Chao Chao, this is called a heartbeat. Everyone should have one.”
His voice was choked with tears. His Chao Chao…
Had never known what it meant to have a heart.
Ok I thought this earlier but I denounce the king!
He has so many wives and they don’t get to leave the palace basically ever and he didn’t empower the queen to run the harem and he expects them to all get along without banging each other even a little? Unreasonable! Justice for Consort Hui!
Also be nice to your actual kids!