Chapter 1959: Debate

Beijia Lingxu City, Qingyun Hall.

This is the main hall where Beijia's ruler and ministers hold court; Lingxu City usually opens court only once every half month or more, and normally the demon emperor takes a few ministers to a side hall for discussions.

Today's court session is still about the old three articles: the High Wall Project, the war against Mou, the imperial elixir, and personnel appointments.

The ministers argued back and forth, while the demon emperor secretly stifled a yawn on the coiling dragon pillar. These humans clearly have short lifespans, yet they enjoy killing time with lip guns and tongue swords, chewing over the same old topics again and again—how strange and peculiar.

The war between Beijia and Mou has been going on for years; recently both sides have shown intentions for a ceasefire, so the situation is now fighting a bit, talking a bit, finding that the conditions proposed by both sides cannot be agreed upon, then fighting again, accumulating more chips before talking again. Wars between great powers can drag people to exhaustion, and in court they quickly become an eternal topic.

This time Mou proposed conditions demanding the return of the three occupied territories of Xuan State.

Beijia and Mou's territories do not directly border each other, with two or three small states in between; Xuan State is one of them.

These small states are both pawns in the great powers' game and bargaining chips in negotiations.

On this matter alone, they argued for half an hour. After listening for a while, the demon emperor suddenly said: "Since the fall of Qianhuan True Person, I see that Ling Mountain and Mou State also do not wish to continue fighting."

The fall of Miao Zhantian and Qianhuan was a major blow to both Tiangong and Ling Mountain, indirectly affecting Beijia and Mou's strategies.

"What exactly happened in the Overturned Sea? Has anyone figured it out?"

Miao Zhantian's death also puzzled the demon emperor. However, more than just He Xiaoyao came out alive from the Overturned Sea, and it's been several dozen days—surely there must be new information by now?

Then someone came forward to report: "Several hundred disciples of Qianhuan Sect are still alive, following He Xiaoyao back to the Shanjin Plains. They have not concealed the events of the Overturned Sea, often mentioning them in conversation, all saying that Miao Zhantian Zun and Qianhuan True Person nearly perished together, which they witnessed with their own eyes."

"If that's the case, the sole beneficiary of the Overturned Sea battle is only He Xiaoyao?" The demon emperor spat out a mouthful of white mist heavily, and the temperature in the hall dropped by several degrees at least.

The ministers knew the emperor was in a bad mood.

In the Overturned Sea battle, the survivor becomes king. Currently, it appears He Xiaoyao has inherited all the legacies of Qianhuan and Miao Zhantian, even the Phantom Sect founded by Qianhuan himself has been taken under He Lingchuan's command, while Tiangong and Ling Mountain got nothing—huge losses.

The demon emperor also knows that Lingxu Holy Venerable has recently been furious with Lei Ting, because Miao Zhantian's death also caused the loss of nearly a thousand Punishing Dragon Pillars among the Lingxu gods.

The entire heavenly realm has only over two thousand such pillars; the Lingxu gods painstakingly collected a stockpile over 150 to 160 years, which Miao Zhantian squandered in one go.

This directly affects divine descent and the distribution of heavenly gods' influence in the mortal realm. With the Lingxu gods' Punishing Dragon Pillars gone, they can only think of other ways—after all, isn't half still in the hands of other heavenly gods?

Thus, as the demon emperor knows, recently the entire heavenly realm has been in extreme turmoil, with life-and-death struggles and scheming not limited to the Lingxu gods alone.

But the focus of Beijia's court debate is not here.

The reason is simple: heavenly life-and-death struggles have nothing to do with Beijia; lower-level officials don't know the details, and daily they still worry only about their own small plots of land.

Qingguo State Priest Nie Xiaolou seized the opportunity to step forward and spoke loudly:

"He Xiaoyao calls himself the Nine Abysses Great Emperor, waving the banner of the reborn dragon god, and now in the Shanjin Plains he is unstoppable. This person's ambition is blatantly obvious, with intentions to annex the entire Shanjin, while the Qingyang Dharma Protector in Yaodi is isolated and helpless..."

He had not finished speaking when a minister interjected: "The Qingyang Dharma Protector is no longer an official of our state, but a Tiangong Dharma Protector. Her dispatch and support should be arranged by Tiangong. Moreover, how far is Beijia from the Shanjin Plains? Even if we send people, traveling by water and land, it would take at least half a year to get there."

Everyone knows Tiangong has its own system and forces; even without relying on Beijia's administrative and military power, it is extraordinarily strong.

Nie Xiaolou said: "He Xiaoyao is recruiting troops and buying horses on the Shanjin Plains, building an army of hundreds of thousands. In this regard, Tiangong is not skilled."

"Recruiting troops and buying horses? Can a veteran army be built in three to five months? Then He Xiaoyao operated in the Yangshan Islands for years, doing business; when he first arrived at the Shanjin Plains, he was merely a merchant, and after returning from the Overturned Sea to the Shanjin Plains, he only had a chamber of commerce. Haha, if a mere merchant could annex Shanjin, then over the past thousand years, the tyrants and bandits of the Shanjin Plains would have died with their eyes open."

"He Xiaoyao's merchant identity is merely a long-standing facade to deceive the ignorant." Nie Xiaolou gave him a cold glance: "He is the chief culprit behind the burning of the Zhaixing Lou, and has countless ties with the Dafang Hu—"

He said word by word: "Anyone in the past connected with the Dafang Hu who was not a major threat to Beijia? If we don't seize him now while he's still weak, in the future his wings will grow full, and he'll become a second Panlongcheng!"

He brought up Panlongcheng, and the ministers fell silent. After all, He Xiaoyao's past hidden record indeed has some irregularities.

Nie Xiaolou secretly sneered.

If the one speaking here today were the not-yet-demoted Qingyang State Priest, these censors would not have so many opinions; they would have simply said "I support the motion" after two or three rounds.

He Nie Xiaolou is the successor of Qingyang; the struggle around the Qingguo State Priest lasted a year and a half, so he only officially took office over two years ago; before that, he was the head of Tongshan Academy. Although his reputation and character are well known in Lingxu City, he still falls far short of the former Qingyang himself.

Not a single word, sentence, stroke, or detail is missing!

After all, he lacks two hundred years of accumulation; taking over the Qingguo State Priest's position, those dissatisfied can be grabbed in handfuls.

Moreover, he was recommended by Qingyang.

Fortunately, the matter of guarding against the false dragon god is finally a shared will of the demon emperor and Tiangong, so these ministers in court will soon have to unanimously agree.

Then they will have to discuss the personnel list for reinforcements.

Nie Xiaolou had just nominated two great demons when the Minister of Agriculture Yao Mao immediately said: "These two—one is presiding over a grand ceremony in Bai Xiang State, the other is somehow linked to the corruption case of Lingxu's High Wall, still under investigation; how can they be sent far away?"

Immediately a minister followed up: "I heard the Crown Prince of Chi Yan State is in the Yangshan Islands, which is already not far from the Shanjin Plains; why not..."

"The Chi Yan Crown Prince has past ties with He Xiaoyao; sending him there—is it to oppose He Xiaoyao or to aid him?"

Another stood up and said: "Be careful! If it weren't for the Chi Yan Crown Prince staying in the Yangshan Islands, Beijia's military power could not extend to Mou's rear!"

As soon as Mou was mentioned, the ministers became energetic, quickly suggesting: "Why not add a condition to our negotiations with Mou, demanding they hand over He Xiaoyao's detailed records? He Xiaoyao works for Ling Mountain, so Mou must have his file."