The Magus Era

Crack!

A dark-ice chain coiled on Gong Sun Xu’s body. A few divine warriors rushed into the group of Gong Sun Family people and dragged Gong Sun Xu up into the sky.

Ji Xia turned his back to Emperor Shun, facing the countless human beings before the altar as said blandly, "People, you don’t want to a disrespectful, arrogant, unruly person to be your emperor, do you?"

No one responded. Even the silliest ones had felt that something was wrong by now.

Things like this had never happened before. Abdication ceremony was a tradition of the humankind, started from the era of Emperor Fuxi. Generation after generation, the most virtuous and capable human being would be selected from all to succeed to the throne.

Everyone had a pair of eye and a heart. Good or bad, virtuous or not, people knew, and people remembered. Therefore, before every emperor abdicated, people mostly knew the name of their new emperor.

This time, Emperor Shun suddenly decided to hand over the crown to Gong Sun Su Su. Who was Gong Sun Su Su? Over ninety-nine percent of people didn’t know who he was. People thought that Emperor Shun was going to pass down the crown to Si Wen Ming, and everyone expected Si Wen Ming to lead the humankind to fight, to strive for a better life, to rise, and to develop.

Because of the great reputation Emperor Shun had for years, countless human beings told themselves that Gong Sun Su Su would be a good emperor. Anxiously, worryingly, people attended this ceremony.

Then, Ji Xia showed up and accused Gong Sun Su Su of rape and murder, and let divine warriors capture him. Right afterward, Emperor Shun immediately nominated Gong Sun Xu, but Ji Xia immediately put a crime on him and captured him too. Watching all this, people realized that something was wrong. Something was wrong with Emperor Shun, very wrong.

Emperor Shun was a wise, capable emperor, so how could he ever do anything so ridiculous? An emperor needed to be selected, not a cabbage, that if one went bad, he could carelessly pick another one. How could he just nominate a random person to be the human emperor, without any preparation?

Including Emperor Fuxi and Emperor Xuanyuan, didn’t every former human emperor select their successor with extra carefulness? Wasn’t every human emperor supervised for years before he ascended to the throne? Didn’t every human emperor make major contributions to the humankind? Wasn’t every human emperor famous before he took over the throne?

How could Emperor Shun point two random young men from Gong Sun Family, and prepare to pass the throne down to them directly?

For the first one, Gong Sun Su Su, Emperor Shun could still argue that he was secretly cultivated and supervised for years, that he had secretly made great contributions to the humankind. He was Emperor Shun, so people would convince themselves to believe what he says.

But the second one, Gong Sun Xu...Was Emperor Shun making a joke? How could Emperor Shun ever dare to say that he would pass the throne down to such an ordinary human being that he randomly pointed at? How dare Emperor Shun do that? How dare Emperor Shun even say that?

People remained silent, but the anger had already been shown on the faces of some elderly people. But, in the meanwhile, they also looked at Emperor in confusion. Emperor Shun was such a responsible, wise man. How could he do this? How could he nominate the new emperor so curtly?

"Just leave!" Ji Xia smilingly bowed to the people around the altar while laughing loudly, "People, please leave...Emperor Shun hasn’t been feeling so well lately, and some decisions made by him are inappropriate. Regarding the future human emperor, we still need to discuss."

Breathing deeply, Ji Xia continued with a bright voice, "Everyone, please go home as quickly as you can...If you have families or friends outside Pu Ban City, feel free to visit them, and stay for a while with them."

Hearing Ji Xia, the expressions of some elderly people changed. After all, they had all been through a lot. They silently cupped their hands and deeply bowed to Ji Xia, then dragged the sleeves of their children or grandchildren, turned around, and walked straight away.

The boundless crowd moved instantly. Over sixty percent of Pu Ban City people began walking away from the altar. Many among these people were Senior-level elites and junior-level warriors. They released their full strength and helped their families and friends leave as quickly as possible.

Emperor Shun looked the ones who had been leaving the scene at their highest speeds gloomily, then burst into a frosty growl. "All human beings, stop. Why are you panicking? Why are you disturbed? Why are you leaving in such a hurry? Stop! The ceremony must go on! Everyone, stop! Anyone who violates my order will be executed right on the spot, on the charge of colluding with the non-humankind!"

Emperor Shun’s words stirred the crowd so badly.

A lot of people, who hadn’t decided to leave, now looked at Emperor Shun’s twisted face in shock. Watching the strands of dark mist rising from Emperor Shun’s head, everyone understood that something was truly wrong with Emperor Shun. Emperor Shun had always been such a kind and generous person, but how could he ever say something like that?

People started leaving the scene even faster. Fortunately, most human beings were currently healthy and strong, able to run as fast as a horse. Mingling with the crowd, Senior Magi and Magus Kings released their powers and helped the others to move quicker. Fewer and fewer people stayed around the altar.

The leaders of large human clans and families stayed on the scene, with a big number of their elite family members. They looked at Emperor Shun and Gong Sun Family people seriously. Many of them struggled in their hearts — Was Emperor Shun possessed by some devil? Did the Gong Sun family do something to him? Was any other large human force involved in this?

They dared even to nominate a random person to be the new emperor, so what did they dare not to do?

A thin crack emerged between all clan leaders on the scene. They glanced at each other, eyes filled with suspicions and doubts.

"Follow my order!" Emperor Shun suddenly stomped his foot and shouted, "Everyone who leaves the ceremony will be executed!"

"Whoo-hah!" With a thunderous growl, troops of human warrior in heavy armors and long spears showed up from all directions, encircling the ones who tried to leave.

"Under the name of the heaven, execute everyone who dares to hinder the civilians from leaving, with no mercy!" Ji Xia immediately raised his hands and gave his order.

"Emperor Shun, don’t you want to wake up? You are the emperor of human beings, so how can you let yourself be controlled by a devil so easily? Wake up now!" Turning around, Ji Xia looked at Emperor Shun coldly and said with a strong voice.

Emperor Shun’s eyes turned purely black. Throwing an expressionless glance at Ji Xia, he slowly pulled out his sword.