"What is he trying to do? What does he mean by this? Why is he walking toward the seat closest to the dragon throne?"

"What is he thinking? No, look, it seems like he’s sitting down—his courage is enormous, he actually dares to sit in the position right beneath the dragon throne!"

Under everyone’s gaze, Qin An walked unhurriedly to the seat at the very front beneath the dragon throne, sat down slowly, expression calm, both hands resting on his knees, completely at ease and natural.

This scene made everyone present widen their eyes, their faces filled with utter disbelief.

A few people’s fingers twitched slightly; they felt that everything before their eyes was simply inconceivable.

Yu Feng’s face was full of shock; with a swish he stood up from his seat, quickly walked to Qin An’s side, reached out and grabbed Qin An’s arm: "Mr. Qin, don’t be impulsive. Doing this won’t solve any problem, and it will only anger Your Majesty!"

"This is the most critical moment of audience before the throne. How can you be so bold as to sit without hesitation in the position beneath the dragon throne? If in a while Your Majesty comes out and sees everyone sitting behind, and you alone sitting like this, he might fly into a rage on the spot."

"At that time, the wrath of the Son of Heaven will trigger a great crisis. Not only you, even we Unity Realm experts granted audience today will likely find it extremely hard to keep our lives under Your Majesty’s fury!"

But Qin An only shook his head, his fingers calmly stroking the hilt of the blade at his waist. After feeling the change in its patterns, he finally said, "Don’t worry, I have my own way. Just go back and sit."

His tone carried a flavor of clouds drifting and wind blowing, light and unperturbed.

Having been in contact with Qin An for so long, Yu Feng was well aware of what kind of temperament Qin An had.

Although he knew Qin An would never do something that harmed others without benefiting himself, the current situation was simply far too special.

Yu Feng took a deep breath. After pondering for quite a while, he still silently retreated.

He knew that at a time like this, choosing to trust Qin An was instead the best option.

After all, based on his understanding of Qin An, if Qin An truly acted recklessly now, it would do no good to his own life either.

So after much thought, Yu Feng could only grit his teeth and return to his own seat.

That was what Yu Feng thought, but those geniuses from various Tao-level Cities did not think that way.

Everyone looked at Qin An with complicated eyes, as if looking at an incomparably arrogant madman.

A few even turned their gaze elsewhere, not wanting to see Qin An’s arrogant appearance at this moment.

There were also some who sneered coldly in their hearts.

When Your Majesty came out, they would be more than happy to see Qin An punished by the present Holy Emperor, and could not even be bothered to speak up.

The crowd each harbored their own thoughts and began to wait patiently.

After roughly the time of one stick of incense, a steady set of footsteps slowly sounded, immediately drawing everyone’s attention.

A middle-aged man in a yellow robe, with a stalwart build and an aura of nobility that made one unable to look at him directly, walked into the great hall.

This was the most noble and magnificent person in the current Daqian Kingdom, the helmsman of Daqian Kingdom known as Emperor Xuanwu, and also the highest authority in all of Daqian Kingdom.

With a single word from him, he could decide the life and death of countless people, and could also cause the situation in Daqian Kingdom to shift like turbulent clouds.

When Emperor Xuanwu walked out from within, everyone present, Qin An included, rose to their feet in unison and cupped their fists toward Emperor Xuanwu: "Your servants pay respect to Your Majesty!"

Emperor Xuanwu advanced with measured steps, his gaze sweeping across everyone before him.

Those eyes were very calm, yet filled with a sense of time itself, as if, after being squeezed by endless years, they still managed to carve out a place within the river of time.

They also seemed like the extreme stillness and profundity gained after experiencing countless partings of life and death.

Just as Emperor Xuanwu’s gaze swept past and he was about to speak, he suddenly saw Qin An sitting at the very front, and his brows furrowed slightly.

In past audiences, these geniuses from various cities all knew not to overstep and to respect the rules.

Yet today, Qin An alone actually sat at the very front, causing Emperor Xuanwu to feel slightly surprised.

Emperor Xuanwu had read the dossier of every single person here, so he knew exactly who Qin An was.

But Emperor Xuanwu did not speak. Instead, he slowly sat down on the dragon throne.

Even seated upon the dragon throne, Emperor Xuanwu’s back remained straight. He was like a towering tree that held up heaven and earth by itself.

No matter how the years ground against him, he still had not bent his back.

The expressions of everyone present, however, all changed.

They had thought that the instant Emperor Xuanwu appeared, he would erupt in fury and then harshly punish Qin An.

Yet as things stood, not only did he not punish him, it was as if nothing at all had happened.

Many whose thoughts were more agile immediately produced other interpretations.

Could it be that Qin An’s action, by sheer accident, happened to touch upon some idea of Emperor Xuanwu’s?

Once this thought appeared, those present felt quite vexed.

Everyone who came here was intelligent; if Qin An dared to act, he naturally had his reasons.

They should not have viewed it with such shortsighted eyes, but should have thought more about why Qin An did this.

This move now seemed to let Qin An monopolize the advantage, while they, from the very beginning, appeared to be in a weaker position.

Although those present felt some regret, Emperor Xuanwu was already seated upon the dragon throne, and no matter how much regret they had, none of it was shown at this moment.

After pondering for a moment, Emperor Xuanwu slowly spoke: "I have been busy with state affairs today and have indeed come a bit late. You are all top talents of my Daqian Kingdom—do you harbor any resentment?"