Emperor's Reckoning

Their sincerity was unmistakable. They bowed not only with their bodies, but also, their souls. The three leaders had no trouble showing extreme courtesy to the young man.

He had slapped First Heaven's face without showing mercy. None of them came to this place that was so oppressing toward Mortal World's cultivators with such a result. His presence alone destroyed two of the strongest four kingdoms. Effectively ruined the balance of power in First Heaven. Not even the combined power of the three leaders could do it, let alone a full-scale war approach.

However, there will be no repercussions as long as the youth in front of them stay alive and leaned on the Mortal World. His status alone withheld the survivability of the Mortal World.

Cecile chuckled amidst their honorable bow. She tugged Lyon's elbow, "Aren't you going to tell them to stand up? They are old, they might their spine if you keep them hanging."

"Huh?" Lyon raised his eyebrows (Oh, right). "No need to bow that long, er, two old men and one lady?"

The old men and the matriarch of the Yuki Clan got up with varying expressions. Carius was a bit disappointed while Tael was laughing. Their contrasting personality was visible but the matriarch merely smiled back.

"What do you want to ask then?" asked Cecile as she crossed her arms with a smirk on her face.

(Cecile, this woman is the one that actually controls him) said Carius inwardly. He nodded. Cecile was not just anybody, she was an actual empress, though, rarely even for him to see her in action. She was famous for not being out of the room much, but once she did, the world waved.

"Hoho," Tael laughed, "Young master Lyon is perhaps the most outstanding youth that ever existed in the history of the Mortal World, or even First Heaven!"

"Get to the point," said Lyon as he chuckled.

"Ah, well, regarding this, I wonder what you're going to do with the Mortal World?" asked Tael.

"Hm?" Lyon raised his eyebrows, "What do you mean?"

"Young master Lyon," called the matriarch of the Yuki Clan, "Let's not pretend now. You currently have the power to flip the Mortal World upside down. Roughly speaking, even if you kill the three of us now, we had no way to resist you."

The matriarch had her icy eyes turned sharp before she muttered, "Let me say this, you are above us."

Carius nodded, "It means that whatever you do, you might implicate the cultivators in the Mortal World or even, the longevity of the Mortal World, so to speak."

"Hmm, sounds heavy," said Lyon as he nodded.

"Please take this seriously," said Carius as he furrowed his eyebrows.

"You are depending on my husband a little too much there, he didn't have to carry such weight, and he will never will," said Cecile as she stepped forward. She didn't exude any aura, but her bearing alone was enough to suffocate the room.

"The state of the Mortal World is still a mess," Cecile shook her head before letting out a stern glance against the three leaders.

"A mess?" asked Lyon. "What mess?"

Cecile turned around and looked at her husband before smiling, "Let me ask you this, which one do you think is bigger, First Heaven or our Mortal World?"

"Err..." Lyon pondered. He had never questioned himself about the difference between the lands. In fact, he didn't know the difference between the two as they looked entirely the same in general. It was just one that had more density of mana than the others, which didn't prove any different.

"They are different?" asked Lyon with one of his eyebrows raised.

Cecile nodded with a smile. "The Mortal World is bigger than First Heaven, however, due to unprecedented circumstances, it looks smaller."

Lyon only dived further into confusion, but he noticed that the three leaders also had their eyes slightly widened except for Carius.

Carius furrowed his eyebrows, "Do you know what happened to the Mortal World of old?"

Cecile shook her head, "The exact event of what happened, I don't know for sure, but all records are still kept."

"Really?!" exclaimed Carius as he lost his calm. "Where?!"

"Calm down Carius!" said Tael as he grabbed his friend's shoulder.

"The moving library, better known yet as the Library of Ark," said Cecile. "You need some type of fate to encounter that place."

"Ah..." Carius lowered his shoulder. "So the legend is true then?"

"Legend?" asked Lyon. "What legend?"

The matriarch answered, "It is said that the moving library, or the Library of Ark, contained all the knowledge of the three worlds. Heaven, Hell, and then our Mortal World."

"You mean internet?" exclaimed Lyon as he furrowed his eyebrows in doubt. He quickly regretted saying that word.

"Hm?" Cecile raised her eyebrows, "What's that? What's 'internet'?"

Lyon let out a sigh, "It's something that you can use to... well... look for any kind of information in the world. Forget it, you won't get it, but I appreciate you trying to though."

"Sounds intriguing if you say it like that," said Cecile. "But I will leave it to you to tell me or not, maybe over a family dinner."

Lyon nodded. "Back to the main topic, what kind of mess is the Mortal World having?"

"Right," said Cecile. "Have you noticed why the leaders of the Mortal World, are all humans?"

"Hmm? Now that you mention it," Lyon looked at the three of them.

Carius let out a sigh. "Indeed, we are self-proclaimed, but there are more than just humans in the Mortal World. There are demi-humans as well. However, for whatever reason we are divided, hated each other, and prompt to kill at sight in extreme cases."

"Classic," said Lyon as he shrugged, "Now why did this happen?"

"The answer to that will have to wait," said Cecile before she averted her glance back to the three leaders. "The question is, what do you want?"

The three leaders stood silent before Carius was the first one to speak, "The Mortal World will need a leader of the latter generation. Coincidentally, the fourth seat is empty."

Cecile smiled, "You mean that spot where my great-grandfather used to sit?"

Carius made a fake cough, "I-Indeed, the Treas's spot."

"I refuse," said Lyon flat out.

The three leaders had their eyes opened wide in disbelief. It was an open invitation to rule a portion of the Mortal World.

"You might be sitting on the fourth seat, but your power will be greater than all three of us, besides, our next generation will lead instead of us, the three of them would follow you.... why?" asked Carius as his pupils trembled.

"I just don't want to," Lyon let out a sigh. "It sounds like a pain to have that kind of influence over people. I know very well that I'm not suited for leading people."

"B-But, you have your wife with you," said Carius as he seemed adamant for Lyon to take the position.

(This old shit, he didn't even pretend to say that my wife is better at ruling than me) thought Lyon as he squinted his eyes.

"I will reject the offer too," said Cecile as she shook her head. "The matter regarding the state of Mortal World is no concern of me nor my husband. You should sort out the problems yourself."

"Are you sure?" asked Carius. "Don't you want to be idolized? Immortalized? Your glory will be passed on for generations, you will be known, even to demi-humans."

Carius threw all of his pitches, but the youth still shook his head.

"I don't care for such things, there are more pressing matters that I need to deal with," said Lyon. "And those matters are more important than just sitting on the throne all day and being admired."

"Ah..." Carius was defeated.

"Just like what my husband said, and let me reiterate," said Cecile as she furrowed her eyebrows. "There are pressing matters that he and I need to deal with, eventually not even you, but the Seventh Heaven, Paradise, and the Seventh Hell, Purgatory, will know about it."

The three leaders were taken back by her response. They could judge from Cecile's sharp eyes that she was serious. She was not overhyping it.

(What?! Really?!) thought Lyon as he opened his eyes wide in disbelief. He immediately felt his goosebumps rise as his spine had a crawling cold to his nape.

"We will visit the other side of the Mortal World of course, but it won't be a diplomatic venture," said Cecile as she nodded. "It will be of a personal matter."

Cecile turned around and left immediately after she said that. The atmosphere was beneath her feet as her eyebrows furrowed. The unlucky staff that she passed by immediately fainted on the spot.

"Well, that's that," said Lyon before leaving the room with Lumina followed close by.

The three leaders were left speechless as their offer was turned down.