Chapter 1341 – Gaia Descends

At times, even brutish men were gentle. A ruler was not a heartless person.

Ouyang Shuo could step out without hesitation, revealing his domineering aura to the outside. However, he could not face the worry of his family and the separation from his children.

It was true that the world was cruel.

Song Jia understood her husband. Before sleeping, she muttered, "Do not worry and go. The kids and I will wait for you." She believed that her husband could solve all challenges in his path and create yet another legend.

"I am looking forward to the day that you welcome the three of us to Planet Hope in a grand manner!" Song Jia said.

Ouyang Shuo did not say anything or make any promises. He only held his wife's hands a little tighter. With such a wife, what more could he as a husband ask for?

Night, quiet.

...

In the blink of an eye, the 9th year of Gaia concluded.

Winter once again descended upon the land, and the world fell silent. This winter was much colder than the previous ones. The destruction of Hope City was like a giant mountain pressing down on everyone to the point where they could not breathe.

During this period, the House of Tudor, the Gaule Dynasty, and the Ottoman Dynasty all took turns to express their recognition of Great Xia.

On the global scale, only the Dawson Dynasty did not say anything.

Looking at the situation, it was only a matter of time before Jack acknowledged them too. In all likelihood, he had not done so yet because there was still half a year till the deadline that Gaia set.

Jack did not want to let Great Xia benefit too much from it.

Silver Hand and Azure Badge probably wanted to use this chance to continue to cause problems.

The public opinion was slowly starting to move in the direction that they desired. Ouyang Shuo, the strongest emperor, had risen and was molded into the global leader.

Ouyang Shuo was being immortalized.

Regarding this matter, Great Xia itself was in huge debate. Some agreed, some opposed, some kept silent, and some clamored; everyone had their own opinions.

The emperor palace that was at the center of this spiral was terrifying. It was like a giant beast lying in wait, quietly in its deep sleep as it paid no attention to the noise on the outside.

Even the Imperial Court officials held back their words.

Great Xia's silent admission aided the embers that Silver Hand and Azure Badge had started, making it easy and effortless to propagandize.

Ouyang Shuo's authority and prestige were growing by the day.

Apart from this, on the global battlefield, everything stopped, including India. Perhaps it was because of the winter or for some other reason. The world became silent once more like night had descended.

...

12th month, 15th day, Imperial City.

As they approached the New Year, Ouyang Shuo became more and more busy. There were many places and functions that he needed to attend. There were many things he needed to approve and many matters he had to make the final decision on.

Meeting after meeting, tour after tour.

Amongst all the hard work and buzz, he practically tossed all the worries of Planet Hope to the back of his head.

No matter what, one still had to live on.

Ouyang Shuo had been making plans with regards to the second batch of AIs instantiate to prepare for the impending exploration. Who to choose and who to keep; naturally, a lot of thought had to go into it.

3pm, Ouyang Shuo was reviewing memorials in the reading room. Suddenly, his face froze, and he revealed a surprised but complicated expression. After that, he said, "Men!"

"Present!"

The Divine Martial Guards captain on duty walked in.

"Pass on my order. From this moment on, without my summoning, no one can come close to the Imperial Reading Room." Ouyang Shuo gave this rarely given clearing out order.

The captain's eyes turned serious. He did not dare to disagree and only said, "Understood. The Divine Martial Guards will be on alert in the surroundings. If you have any orders, we can rush over right away."

Ouyang Shuo nodded before waving his hand to ask the guard to leave.

Along with him, the maidservants serving him in the room and the Secret Document Pavilion advisor on duty left.

Soon, only Ouyang Shuo remained within the huge reading room. Even the blinds were shut, totally blocking off any peeking eyes from the outside.

No one would be able to find out what was happening within the reading room.

In the blink of an eye, right after the Imperial Reading Room was cleared out, a goddess dressed in court lady attire emerged from thin air in front of Ouyang Shuo. Her cheeks were perfect, and her body followed the golden-ratio, completely flawless.

Even the creator himself would probably give endless praise.

The only lacking aspect was her eyes, which were calm like the deep abyss, cold and completely devoid of emotion.

This was Gaia.

Outsiders probably could not imagine Gaia personally visiting a player.

Even Ouyang Shuo was surprised, and he laughed awkwardly as said, "I did not think you would come."

Gaia did not say anything. A finger on her right hand swung, and a chair appeared. Gaia sat on it, sitting at the same height as Ouyang Shuo as she said, "There are some things better discussed in person."

Ouyang Shuo could roughly guess the reason behind Gaia's visit.

Others might not know about his choice, but as the god of the game, Gaia definitely knew.

"I will take up the responsibility." Ouyang Shuo did not hide anything.

"That's good!"

As Gaia said that, she suddenly used her hand to flick her hair. The beauty of that moment distracted even Ouyang Shuo. The temptation of a god was not something a normal person could resist.

"Even if you did not want to go, I would make you go." Gaia said.

Ouyang Shuo smiled awkwardly and said, "You have too high hopes of me."

Gaia said, "You are the son of destiny. Just like you said, you cannot hide from your fate."

Ouyang Shuo's eyes froze, and his heart rate even slowed by half a beat. A thin layer of sweat appeared on his hands, like the deepest secret in his heart had suddenly been revealed by someone.

He was a little panicky, but he also felt an indescribable sense of excitement.

"I do not understand what you're saying." Ouyang Shuo calmed himself before looking sternly at Gaia. Beneath his seemingly calm exterior, a volcano-like energy was building up; it could explode at any moment.

Ouyang Shuo's cultivation of the Five Emperor True Manual had entered a high realm. In the entire Great Xia, not many people could compete with him in terms of martial arts.

He was low-profile and kept his skills hidden, but that did not mean he did not possess explosiveness.

On the contrary, despite the heavy administrative duties, the struggles in his heart, and his daily contemplations, his cultivation plan had remained undisturbed.

His persistence on the martial path stunned Song Jia on several occasions.

In truth, even if the current Ouyang Shuo walked through the wilderness without any guards, no one would be able to hurt him. However, he did not reveal this.

This was his strongest trump card.

Based on his calculations, Ouyang Shuo felt confident about giving the titan a go, not to mention the normal beasts. Although he was not confident about winning against the titan ultimately, he could at least achieve a not losing position.

This was also one of the reasons behind his confidence and determination to explore Planet Hope.

If one did not possess skill, how would one dare to try?

If an expert was present, they would definitely notice that the current reading room was covered by a mysterious energy; this revealed that Ouyang Shuo's cultivation had reached an extremely profound level.

Consequently, this revealed how wary and alert he was right now.

Gaia suddenly smiled and said with satisfaction, "Your cultivation is not bad, but it's ineffective on me."