Emperor’s Domination

Supreme Brother was an unfamiliar title to the young generation. However, the older experts were moved after hearing it, especially the alumni from Duality Academy.

"Supreme Brother? Is this an official title or role?" One youth murmured. [1]

"He's the younger blood brother of Archaic Sun King." A senior nearby answered.

"Wouldn't that just make him a prince then? What's the difference?" The junior quietly responded.

"Supreme as in he's on the same level as the king." The senior elaborated: "Vajra's royal family is thriving and the king has plenty of brothers. He's the only one who has this as an official title."

"Ah, so his status is higher than the other princes." The junior understood and murmured.

"Another title of his is Sword Hero of Vajra." A different expert chimed in.

"I see…" The junior replied. Even a fool could tell the grandeur of this second title.

"Sword Hero was so high-spirited and domineering back then." An alumnus who was now a big shot became sentimental.

One ancestor from that generation said: "Do you remember how people used to say that his talents are above the sacred sovereign?'

"What, if he's so amazing, then why did Archaic Sun King win?" A youth became curious.

The older characters exchanged glances without answering.

Few in the holy ground could answer. This could be considered a current mystery of Vajra.

No need to dwell on Archaic Sun King's incompetence. To put it frankly, some would call him an incapable and unworthy ruler. Nonetheless, Vajra showed no sign of decline under him. This could be attributed to its strong foundation and a robust number of new talents.

Alas, ultimately, it was Archaic Sun King who seized the throne, not Sword Hero.

In the past, Sword Hero was ambitious and certainly wanted to become the next king of Vajra in order to lead it to a golden age. He formed alliances just like the third prince, earning the support of the nobles. He somehow still lost to Archaic Sun King and faded into obscurity.

After the formal coronation, Archaic Sun King bestowed him with an official title of Supreme Brother.

Why did he lose? No one could really answer this question. Back then, at least three divisions at the plateau supported him.

There were several speculations. First, Archaic Sun King was the crown prince. The ancestors at the temple didn't want to change the hereditary tradition so they ignored his inability. This belief was widely accepted because the temple had this power.

Another one stated that Sword Hero was listed as the best candidate for the throne to Sacred Mountain. However, Sacred Mountain disapproved so Archaic Sun King was chosen instead. This rumor was popular as well.

Those who believed in this one had the notion that Sacred Mountain wanted to change the leading power in the holy ground. Letting someone like Sword Hero take charge would only strengthen Vajra, making it harder for Sacred Mountain to change this spot. Thus, Archaic Sun King was the perfect candidate.

Because of this second speculation, numerous powers in the holy ground started losing patience. If Sacred Mountain truly wanted to change the leader, others would have an opportunity to take Vajra's spot.

The third stated that in spite of Archaic Sun King's deficiencies, he had trustworthy brothers such as the guardian of Vajra, National Teacher Ye Mingshi, and Attendant Hong. These three gave him ample power and guaranteed his position on the throne. Even Sword Hero couldn't do a thing to change this.

This one had plenty of supporters as well. After all, the guardian was a grandmaster while some thought that Ye Mingshi and Attendant Hong weren't far off.

This rendered it virtually impossible for Sword Hero to keep up. One could say that Archaic Sun King's camp had the fighting power of at least two grandmasters.

"So can this Sword Hero be the current guardian of Vajra?" A young man lacking information wondered.

This was immediately refuted by a big shot who used to study at Duality: "No chance, they're two different people." His tone contained absolute certainty.

Though no one had a clue who the guardian was, this being was still classified as a grandmaster. Why?

One explanation told the tale of the guardian challenging the other three masters in secrecy. In the end, the battles were relatively even so the guardian won the recognition of the trio, earning a spot at the top.

The other pertained to a belief that the four grandmasters were appointed by Buddha Supreme himself. This alone made the guardian qualified to be in this group.

"I haven't heard anything about Sword Hero in a long time. We're so old now." An old expert became sentimental.

In the past, they were mere juniors. After Archaic Sun King took over, Sword Hero rarely showed up in public. Now, all of them were at the ancestor classification.

After receiving additional advice from Sword Hero, Hu Ben and Phantom came up with a new strategy.

"Li Qiye! Only one of us will leave this place today!" Hu Ben took a deep breath and shouted.

"Yes, I'll be leaving this place just fine." Li Qiye smirked.

"It's too early to gloat now, save it for when the battle is over." Phantom coldly uttered.

Both of them were actually afraid of Li Qiye but didn't want to show it and lose morale.

"Yes, yes, show me what you can do instead of telling me." Li Qiye lazily stretched.

The two nodded at each other before Hu Ben roared: "Activate!"

A treasure flew out of his bright fate palaces. It looked to be a set of three iron gates. They immediately rotated around him.

This was still their dormant state yet they gave him a perfect defense. Nothing could ever get through. They had ancient runes carved on the surface along with mystical star formations. When the three came together, they could seal heaven and earth.

Their aged appearance didn't diminish their majestic and overwhelming aura, seemingly blessed by a peerless king.

"Archaic Sun Temporal Diagram!" One expert from the last generation shouted.

"The strongest weapon left behind by Vajra's Temporal Ancient King, a peak Heavenly Sovereign." One ancestor found this astonishing.

1. A continuation from the previous note - this is why Imperial Brother is inferior to Supreme Brother. Imperial Brother makes it too clear