The Empress's Gigolo

Translator: Atlas Studios Editor: Atlas Studios

Ren Baqian took a break in a room while pondering over how he could find an opportunity to contact the empress. At that moment, he heard the ringing of a bell coming from the center of the village.

“12 rings. All of the honored ones are coming! They actually think so highly of you!” Yun Yuhan was leaning against the door when her face suddenly changed.

Ren Baqian opened his eyes and smiled, saying, “I asked you yesterday if you wanted to know what I said to Wen Xiaosheng… Now, it’s too late!”

She walked to Ren Baqian and asked softly, “Why is it too late? Unless you don’t want to tell me…”

He slid his finger across Yun Yuhan’s face and said, “I really don’t have much interest in telling you now!”

Her arm started moving, but it stopped almost instantly. Her palm paused a few centimeters away from his face, and he could feel the wind from it.

“Don’t be so anxious! My face wouldn’t look good if it was swollen!” Ren Baqian smiled and pushed her hand away.

“Humph!” Yun Yuhan swung her hips as she walked back to lean against the door frame.

He wasn’t sure what Wen Xiaosheng had said to her, but it did have some effect.

“Come with me. The temple chief and the honored ones want to see you!” An hour later, Wen Xiaosheng came back and walked into the house.

Ren Baqian nodded faintly, tidied up his clothes, and went out with him.

They acted unexpectedly fast, which showed how much they valued his words. This gave him quite a bit of confidence.

“What’s the name of your organization?” Ren Baqian asked casually along the way.

“Temple of Heaven!” Wen Xiaosheng replied frankly. He felt that it was no longer necessary to hide their identities.

“Who are the honored ones?”

“Sub-temple chiefs that abdicate become honored ones.”

Ren Baqian nodded. Sub-temple chiefs, honored ones, and the temple chief. It seemed like they had quite a lot of experts.

“Are you a sub-temple chief?”

“Yes!”

During the ten minute journey, Ren Baqian managed to get quite a lot of information from Wen Xiaosheng. It seemed that he stopped withholding information after arriving at the headquarters.

This organization was called the Temple of Heaven. It was said that a group of people established this organization after the human race retreated to this area. Their objective was to protect the human race. However, something happened later. Some people discovered that the human race’s strength not only failed to recover, but also continued to weaken. From then on, the Temple of Heaven knew that if there were no major changes, the human race wouldn’t be able to get out of the land of exile.

Since then, the Temple of Heaven had another task, which was to ensure that no one would leave the land of exile.

The Temple of Heaven consisted of eight sub-temples and totaled about 10,000 members.

Wen Xiaosheng didn’t mention the number of the honored ones, but Xu Wuming was one of them.

This so-called Temple of Heaven was an underground organization.

Behind the village was a Sea God Shrine. There was a passageway behind the temple that led to hundreds of flights of stairs. At the bottom of these stairs, they walked along a tunnel filled with oil lamps on both sides before coming to a huge empty space.

There were dozens of huge statues in this space, forming a circle.

Each statue was about ten meters tall, and they were either holding a book, a sword, or a spear. Each of them was like a warrior, making people look at them with reverence.

Ren Baqian silently counted and found that there were 42 of them.

There were people sitting on the shoulders of 17 of the statues.

There were both men and women, and almost all of them were elderly.

These people were the honored ones, the temple chief, and the deputy temple chiefs of the Temple of Heaven.

In other words, there were at least 14 honored ones in this organization, and Ren Baqian wondered if Xu Wuming was present.

Wen Xiaosheng brought him to the center of the hall and greeted everyone sitting on the statues. “Temple chief, deputy temple chiefs, and all honored ones, I have brought him!”

“You can return to your rightful place,” said the voice of an old lady.

In a flash, Wen Xiaosheng landed on the shoulders of one of the statues and sat cross-legged.

Ren Baqian looked at the tall statues in front of him. He had to lift his head high to be able to clearly see the faces of those people.

He subsequently closed his eyes, chuckled, and said, “Guys, this isn’t the way to treat guests. Besides, I don’t have the habit of looking up to people this way!”

“Kid, what did you say?” one of the elders asked. His voice sounded like a huge bell being rung. As it echoed in this space, the vibrations made Ren Baqian’s eardrums hurt. It also contained a power that struck fear in people.

If someone else were in Ren Baqian’s place, this would probably command some reverence. However, he was already immune to this after experiencing all the commotion in Dayao’s imperial court.

The discussions in Dayao’s imperial court had always depended on two methods of persuading others.

A loud voice and a large fist.

“For a visitor from another group of the human race whose civilization far exceeds yours, for someone who can bring you the future, you need to give me the most basic respect! You think you control my life, but in fact, I control your future!” Ren Baqian was unmoved.

After saying this, the atmosphere in the hall immediately changed with many of the honored ones looking surprised.

In fact, many of them still didn’t know what was happening.

The 12 rings of the bell indicated that something important had happened and that everyone needed to make a joint decision.

Such occurrences were rare throughout the history of the Temple of Heaven.

The last time it happened was more than 100 years ago, when the warriors who were leaving the land of exile were killed.

Li Fu only knew that a group of people were killed by Xu Wuming. In fact, there were also the honored ones who roped in experts from other places.

“What audacity!” the old woman shouted.

“This is just a legitimate request!” Ren Baqian smiled before exclaiming, “Everyone, let me introduce myself again! I’m Zhao Prince of Dayao. Of course, this is only one of my titles. In addition, I’m also the descendant of another group of humans that left the Lancang region, a member of the League of Legends[1.League of Legends: a multiplayer online battle arena game], and the captain of the ONEPIECE exploration team on the ship Nico Robin. I need to be treated in accordance with my identity!”

With his words, the air suddenly stagnated.

The dozens of honored ones were astonished.

With their status, level of cultivation, and so many years of experience, it could be said that nothing could make them lose control.

However, after listening to Ren Baqian’s words, none of them could seem to stay calm.

“What did you say?”

It wasn’t a single person speaking out, but a question raised by several people at the same time.

Ren Baqian spread his hands and said, “Do you still want me to look up and speak to you?”

“The 42 statues here are the 42 predecessors who created the Temple of Heaven!” someone said with a gentle voice.

“So what? That didn’t stop you from stepping on them! Otherwise, can you guys come down?” Ren Baqian gave a kind smile.

“Outrageous!” a voice volleyed over like a mountain that was trying to suppress Ren Baqian.

The smile on his face remained unmoved.

Another voice then sounded to defend him.

“Ning Yujiang, this isn’t in line with our rules of hospitality!”

“What kind of guest is he? A kid full of nonsense!”

“Whether it’s nonsense or not, it’s not something that you alone can decide.”

“Humph!”

“Whether or not I’m spouting nonsense… There’s always a way to prove it. Do you have the courage to face it? Or is there something that some of you are afraid of?” Ren Baqian spoke in a timely manner.

“Absurd!”

“Ning Yujiang!” The old lady stopped Ning Yujiang before continuing slowly, “These 42 statues each represent an ancestor who founded the Heavenly Alliance. The reason why we are standing here is because we have each inherited the will of an ancestor.

However, as you said, you are a very important guest. If it turns out that what you said is true, then you are naturally worthy of courtesy. If what you said is proven false, you will definitely not be able to bear our rage!

Now, I’ll give you a choice. Are you still asking us to treat you according to your status? I can tell you that if you still have time to come clean now!”

Ren Baqian sneered. Child’s play.

If he made an ignorant blunder now, wouldn’t it mean that his words weren’t credible?

He immediately opened his mouth, but at that moment, he felt a slight sting at the back of his head. It was as if he had been bitten by something.

As Ren Baqian opened his mouth again, his face suddenly changed. He realized that he couldn’t make any sound at all!

The old woman in the distance felt contemptuous.

However, almost instantly, he managed to speak again.

“I demand treatment according to my status!”

The old woman’s face changed. How was this possible?

Did the soul worm fail?

A soul worm could travel through different realities, enter Ren Baqian’s sea of knowledge, and control his consciousness. This was one of the most precious miracle worms in the world. There were none them in the land of exile. There were only three that had been left behind back then, and this one the only one that remained after so many years.

Since this was a significant matter, the old woman actually took it out, yet it actually failed?

At this time, on a planet in his sea of knowledge, a thumb-sized worm that looked like a silkworm crossed a gray line in the sky.

It looked at the ocean, mountains, fields, forests, and rivers below… The worm was confused.

Where is this?

Is this the sea of knowledge of a human? How can it be so vast?

Where is the pearl of knowledge?

I’m lost!