He never said such things to his grand-disciples.
That young boy, Ming Yuan, was incredibly quick-witted, but he harbored ambitions of unifying the world, wanting to establish a powerful nation that would encompass the entire Nine Nether Continent.
Meanwhile, the Heavenly Azure Stone was much more stable, creating an academy to cultivate talent.
Qin Ning highly approved of this.
Ming Yuan personally established powerful forces like the Northern Ming Empire, and Qin Ning witnessed it all, even praising him.
It was precisely because young Ming Yuan was too quick-witted that Qing Yun constantly disciplined him.
Once he felt wronged, he would immediately come crying to his grand-master, Qin Ning, and in the end, Qing Yun would be reprimanded by Qin Ning.
Qing Yun, feeling scolded and upset, would then get angry at Ming Yuan. This cycle continued, and this cheerful pair of master and disciple constantly gave Qin Ning a headache.
It was also because of this that Ming Yuan held his grand-master in extremely high regard.
Today, seeing this statue, Qin Ning understood even more the extent to which his grand-disciple from all those years ago revered him.
"The Northern Ming Empire has reached this point today. Ultimately, whether this is the decline of the Northern Ming imperial family, or how you have wronged your ancestors, I don't care about any of that."
Qin Ning waved his hand, "And changing an empire is not something that can be done overnight."
Hearing this, Ming Yong's expression turned grim.
Back then, the ancestor had decreed to future generations that whoever could open the Eight Desolate Fiery Dragon Guardian, at any time, in any generation, must be treated with the same reverence as an ancestor.
For tens of thousands of years, no one had been able to open the Eight Desolate Fiery Dragon Guardian.
But today, Qin Ning had done it.
This was enough to prove that Qin Ning was the person the ancestor had spoken of.
He dared not show the slightest disrespect.
But Qin Ning clearly did not want to help his Northern Ming imperial family rise again.
This made Emperor Ming Yong feel a chill in his heart.
Could it be that the Northern Ming imperial family was destined to decline like this?
"Your ancestor was able to transform the Northern Ming, from a small prefecture, to develop to the point where no force on the Nine Nether Continent dared to disrespect it. Yet, your later generations are worse than the previous ones, degenerating to this extent. I think you should bear the responsibility yourselves!"
Qin Ning said in a grave tone, "But as long as I am here, I will not let your Northern Ming imperial family disappear from the Nine Nether Continent. I guarantee you that! This can also be considered..."
Qin Ning sighed as he spoke.
Hearing this, the Emperor of Northern Ming felt joyful again.
He did not doubt Qin Ning's guarantee in the slightest.
Among those on the Nine Nether Continent who could open the Eight Desolate Fiery Dragon Guardian, perhaps only Qin Ning could.
This person was absolutely intimately connected to the ancestor.
Just as the ancestor had said, the empire must treat the person who could open the Eight Desolate Fiery Dragon Guardian exactly like an ancestor.
That meant that Qin Ning, before him, possessed a powerful ability.
Although Qin Ning was only at the third level of the Spirit Sea realm, being able to open the Eight Desolate Fiery Dragon Guardian was enough to prove everything.
Qin Ning's promise could allow him to comfortably do things he previously dared not do.
In other words, if he forced everything to develop, it would bring destructive blows to the Northern Ming Empire.
That was something the Northern Ming Empire could not bear.
But with Qin Ning agreeing to protect the lifeline of the Northern Ming imperial family, he could boldly step out. The worst outcome would not be destruction, but merely being reverted to its original state.
"Thank you... Young Master Qin!"
Emperor Ming Yong clasped his hands.
"You don't need to thank me. If you truly want to become stronger, you must rely on yourself!" Qin Ning paused for a moment, then continued, "After all, your ancestor back then didn't rely on his master or grandmaster to establish the Beiming Empire; he relied entirely on his own strength and knowledge!"
"Yes!"
Qin Ning looked at the statue and said, "Let the imperial descendants come here often. Get rid of those restrictions that only allow the emperor to enter. This place is very beneficial for the cultivation of the imperial descendants!"
Ming Yong was stunned when he heard this.
He had also noticed this phenomenon.
But it was his ancestor's dying wish, and he couldn't defy it.
Seeing Ming Yong's expression, Qin Ning smiled and said, "Don't worry, I told you, your ancestor won't object."
"Yes!"
Qin Ning flew down and slowly left the main hall.
Ming Yong immediately followed.
Outside the main hall, when Ming Yu and the others saw Qin Ning and Ming Yong emerge safely, they breathed a sigh of relief.
They had been worried that Emperor Ming Yong might have some sinister plot, like King You.
"Young Master, where are we going now?" Ye Yuanjuan asked.
"Ming Yong!"
"Please speak, Young Master Qin!" Ming Yong said with a smile.
"I want to go to the imperial harem and meet... Consort Shu, Ming Yu's mother. Is that alright?"
"Of course it is!"
Ming Yong didn't question him at all.
In some aspects, Qin Ning knew even more than he did.
That alone was enough to make him look at Qin Ning in a different light.
The group headed towards the imperial harem.
Along the way, looking at the roads leading in all directions within the imperial palace, Qin Ning smiled and said, "Your Beiming imperial family is sitting on a mountain of gold and silver, and no one even knows it."
"What do you mean, Young Master? Could you explain further?"
Ming Yong asked respectfully.
"This Beiming Imperial Palace was created by your ancestor. Compared to the Heavenly God Academy in Beiming City, it can be said to be one yin and one yang, mutually beneficial. Moreover, it is the core of a spiritual formation. Cultivating here is like having a Tier 4 Spirit Gathering Formation!"
After Qin Ning finished speaking, Ming Yong was stunned.
He had no idea about this point.
Qin Ning then said, "Alright, I see you're a good emperor, so I'll help you this one time. But you must walk the path ahead yourself. If you cause the Beiming Empire to decline, I won't hesitate to... kill you!"
After Qin Ning finished speaking, Ming Yong nodded. Ming Yu, standing beside them, was completely shocked.
In this entire Imperial Capital, it was likely that no one dared to speak like that in front of Emperor Ming Yong except for Qin Ning.
"Look here!"
At this moment, Qin Ning walked to a corner of the wall and slowly knelt down. Spiritual seals appeared in his hands, slowly dancing like little sprites, then gradually dissolving.
Those spiritual seals adhered to the wall and condensed into a five-pointed star.
Immediately after, three five-pointed stars appeared on the entire wall.
Suddenly, everyone noticed that the spiritual energy in that area had doubled.
Qin Ning withdrew his hand and said, "See? Just follow my method, open all the spiritual seal talismans in the imperial palace, and this imperial palace will become a Tier 4 Spirit Gathering Formation!"
Ming Yong's entire body trembled slightly at this moment.
This entire imperial palace was a Tier 4 Spirit Gathering Formation!
This was unprecedented.
Just imagine, if the imperial guards and the armies from all four directions of the empire could cultivate here, how much would their cultivation improve?
Then the national strength of the Beiming Empire would become strong enough to truly live up to its name as an empire.