The next day, at dawn, a man left the imperial city and spurred his horse towards the Fire Feather Army’s compound outside the city.
“The Emperor of Zhou is really impatient, after only one day, and before even that group of rebellious ministers has been completely dealt with, he has already sent someone with orders to round up the people of the three temples.”
On a tavern not far from the imperial city, a figure with a bare head watched the eunuch with the order ride past from the street in front of the building and could not help but say softly.
“This dim-witted ruler, huh!” Beside the speaker, the same bald-headed figure grunted.
“Faint-hearted ruler? An emperor who can predict this coup in advance and know the details of it like the back of his hand is not a dim ruler.” Shi Jue shook his head gently and said.
“Moreover, this time it is also my Zen Sect that is at fault. Zen Master Baikong and the others were still too impatient and confronted them directly in the most brutal way, and ended up putting their lives on the line instead.”
Shi Jue said and said to another middle-aged monk beside him, “Master Uncle, how are the monks from the three monasteries of the Heart Temple withdrawing?”
If he didn’t say it, it was fine, but as soon as he did, Xin Tan was enraged, and he heard him say in a cold voice, “This dim ruler has actually hired a*sa*sins from the Blood Cloth House to strike early. As early as last night, a*sa*sins kept attacking the monks of the three temples who had withdrawn to the Great Qian. In just one night, dozens of people were killed and their retreat was greatly delayed.
If we let these a*sa*sins go on unchecked, the monks of the three temples may have to die in Northern Zhou.”
“Blood Cloth House, the remnants of the Green Dragon Society? ——” Shi Jue muttered.
As an organization that was born out of the Green Dragon Society, the Blood Cloth House had leveraged on the residual power of the Green Dragon Society to gain a foothold in the a*sa*sin world after successfully completing a few deals. Today, the reputation of the Blood Cloth House in Northern Zhou is close to catching up with that of the original Green Dragon Society.
Moreover, since the Blood Cloth House only deals in a*sa*sins, unlike the Green Dragon Society, which runs amok and kills indiscriminately, the positive reputation of the Blood Cloth House in the a*sa*sin world is actually higher than that of the Green Dragon Society.
When Shi Jue thought of the Green Dragon Society, he thought of that Dragon Head of the Green Dragon Society, Gong Zi Yu, with whom he had worked several times, and the flesh relic whose qi had been completely refined by Gong Zi Yu.
Shi Jue had never believed that Gong Zi Yu would die so simply, die cleanly, and never appear again.
Gong Zi Yu, who was able to escape the lock of Abbot Xin Yuan, had been killed just like that. Such a ridiculous thing was something that Shi Jue would not believe even if he was beaten to death.
“Have someone keep an eye on the Blood Cloth House, don’t let go of any traces!” Shi Jue said.
Although he was a senior uncle, in reality, Xin Tan was very obedient to Shi Jue’s orders, but as he was receiving the orders, Xin Tan still asked curiously, “Senior Nephew Shi Jue, what is this ——”
“Looking for someone,” Shi Jue’s gaze turned to the giant statue of Tong Tian that stood nearly half a body above the walls of the Imperial City in the distance, “looking for a dead person who has died ——”
‘Gong Zi Yu, let the poor monk see how long you can hide.’
While Xin Tan went down to write a letter to inform the Zen monasteries all over Northern Zhou, Shi Jue looked at the tall giant statue in silence.
The giant statue was different from yesterday.
Ever since its sudden activation last night, the giant statue had ceased to be silent and had been gulping in the vital energy of heaven and earth. Even now, in this seemingly silent state, the giant statue had been operating.
It is not as loud as it was yesterday during the day, but it is profound and long, like a river, flowing endlessly.
Shi Jue is also quite knowledgeable about the essence of Taoism, and in response to this situation, he could not help but recall an explicit Taoist saying.
When the sky is alive with water, it is endless.
Since last night, this invisible stirring has continued, and it is expected to continue for a long time to come.
Feeling the invisible yet powerful breath, Shi Jue couldn’t help but look at it with admiration, “Demon Daoist Qing Yu, you really have extraordinary talent.”
This regular fluctuation was clearly an exhalation method. If the people around the Imperial City could synchronise their breathing with this fluctuation, even ordinary people could strengthen their bodies and prolong their lives.
Martial artists like Shi Jue, who was at the peak of the Divine Origin realm, could even use it to spy on the cultivator’s unpredictable cultivation level.
“If this cultivator is a demon, our future path in Northern Zhou will be difficult.”
Dragon veins must not be touched lightly. This truth was clear even to Shi Jue, a person from outside the Fang.
If the Zhou Emperor could allow the demon dao to use the Qi of the Dragon Vein to benefit his cultivation, that kind of friendship could not be matched by the Buddhist Sect. If Qing Yu were to open his mouth to support the Daoist Sect, the Buddhist Sect would have another rival in the Northern Zhou realm.
“The letter is written.” Xin Tan handed the letter to Shi Jue for his perusal.
Shi Jue did not even look at it, but waved his hand and said, “Then send it out.”
Xin Tan did as he was told and went out to send the letter.
“Master Xin Tan ——”
“Hm?” Heartstand turned his head in confusion.
“Senior nephew is leaving.”
“This — Senior Nephew Shi Jue ——,” Xin Tan said with a bit of a jaw-dropping smile.
You were the one who said you were coming to preside over the affairs of the divine capital, but you’re leaving after just under three days, don’t be so capricious.
He just shook his head and said, “I can’t help it, after seeing the methods of the demon dao, my nephew doesn’t have the confidence to fight with this demon dao.”
Shi Jue lifted his finger and pointed to the huge statue in the sky, “If the person who cultivates through the statue is a demon dao, this person’s power must have soared. I don’t have the confidence to deal with such an opponent. Even if he gets the upper hand for a while with his mind tricks, he will be directly pressed back by his strength.”
“Then what should we do?” Heart Altar said.
Although he was also at the True Dan realm, he was not ranked in the True Dan realm in terms of strength, and he did not know how to use any trickery. When facing the demon dao, Xin Tan knew that he would only be worse than Shi Jue.
“Let Senior Uncle Xinhui come.” Shi Jue said.
Xinhui, the new head of the Great Zen Temple’s Luohan Hall, was the sixth greatest expert on the Earth Ranking. He had once harmlessly destroyed Zhang Yuanfeng’s cultivation outside the Divine Capital City, breaking his dantian and shattering his mind, turning Zhang Yuanfeng from a land god at the True Dan realm into a cripple who had to be pushed in a wheelchair to move.
If Xinhui had come, the attack and defence would have changed places immediately. The strength of the sixth in the Earth Ranking is so easy to attain. Although the demon dao was strong, neither Shi Jue nor Xin Tan would consider him to be as strong as Xin Hui.
If they were to go up against Xinhui, the duo could be sure that Zhang Yuanfeng was a precedent for Demon Dao.
“If Brother Xinhui comes, we will have no worries.” Xin Tan said happily.
“Well,” Shi Jue nodded gently, “Senior nephew will depart back today and ask Senior Uncle Xin Hui to come and sit in the divine capital.”
“So urgent?”
“It can’t be done without haste. The demon dao is so intimidatingly powerful, senior nephew doesn’t want to have to go back in disgrace next time.”
“Shi Jue you are thinking of ——,” the heart altar thought of a certain possibility at once.
“Yes, retreat. I vow not to come out of seclusion until I reach True Dan.”
