Chapter 156 - The Life Of An Emperor
The lifespan of various races was different. Spirits were the ones with the most extraordinary lifespan. They could live thousands of years even with a shallow cultivation base, but they were also very few and rare between as it took nature a great effort to create them.
Demons were the race with the second-longest lifespan. When a human and a demon were next to one another at the same level of strength, the demon could live more than three times as long as a human.
Beasts and human lifespan were very similar. They were also the races that were the most numerous on the whole continent, and they managed to reproduce at a rapid speed.
Their talents were also, overall, lacking when compared to the spirits and demons, but they were so many that there would naturally be a few highly talented descendants of all races.
When one looked at the top cultivators in the whole continent, the races were almost evenly divided. There were humans, beasts, spirits, and demons, but the very top belonged to the royal family of the Demon Empire.
The main reason for them topping the talent rankings belonged solely to the Emperor and Jiang Yao. The rest of the royal family were decent, but they could not rank among the most talented in the continent.
This was another reason why the Emperor was extra accepting of the trouble that his seventh son might cause.
In fact, he was more than willing to pass the throne to this son of his, but he was also very well aware that there was no interest towards governing the Demon Empire. When one took over the throne as the Emperor, they would be chained to the Tiandi Continent.
Most only saw the honor and might that belonged to the position as the Emperor, but only a few understood that this power was gained by sacrificing one's freedom. Although the Emperor was not bound tightly by the rules, he still understood that he had to prioritize the whole continent over his own feelings, and thus he had always been seen as unfeeling.
There were not many feelings of affection between him and his children. He had always believed that they needed to grow on their own. If he were protecting them too much, it would end in them destroying themselves.
The Emperor had previously given up many things, including the only woman he had ever loved. If he looked back on his life, there were certain things that he regretted as a person, but as an Emperor, there had been no other way to act.
An Emperor was ruthless and unfeeling.
Years had gone by like this, and now he wished to move on. Now he wanted to live life for himself, but he had yet to find a suitable heir.
If Jiang Yao had shown the least bit of interest, he would have reeled him in right away, but since he did not, he had always shown a detached attitude towards the battle between his sons. Hopefully, a suitable heir would emerge eventually.
The auction house had been frightened when the Emperor showed up in person to figure out the seller's identity.
They were unwilling to insult the Seventh Demon Prince, but while everyone feared Jiang Yao, no one would ever want to cross the Emperor.
While Jiang Yao was frightening, the Emperor was much more respected but feared. Even Jiang Yao had to show his father some respect, so when having to choose between the two, they still decided to reveal the identity to the Emperor.
Who would have expected that there was no anger or worry on their ruler's face when he found out. He merely nodded his head to show that he had understood before leaving the building in the same high-profile fashion as he had arrived.
The auction house was well aware that they could not hide the visit from Jiang Yao, so they sent a runner to his palace to inform him of the leakage of his identity.
The errand boy was not aware of the content of the letter he had to hand over. He had worked at the auction house for a long time, but never before had he been given such an important task as to bring a message to a member of the royal family.
When arriving at the gates of the palace, his eyes were widened as he could not help but think of how lucky one would be if they lived inside such a palace.
He knew that he was talented when it came to cultivation, but he came from a humble background. He was looking for a breakthrough point that could allow him to serve a noble family and help him become a true powerhouse within Cloudsoar City, but he had still not found any chances.
His parents had exhausted all their ability and sought out countless of relationships to get him the job within the auction house.
The job was not bad. He was able to encounter many rich cultivators, but he was not satisfied.
The guard in front of the gates could not help but frown as he looked at the young boy standing in front of the door in a daze. He was wearing the uniform that belonged to the auction house, so the guard guessed that the boy had a purpose here, and thus, he did not chase him away, but after waiting for some time, the boy had still not moved.
The guard cleared his throat with a cough. The sound was louder than it usually would have been, and his eyes were somewhat downcast, trying to make it seem natural.
The boy was shocked back to his senses, and he gently wiped his sweaty palms on his uniform before he slowly strode towards the entrance. He was going to fight for an opportunity to become one of the Seventh Demon Prince's men!