Chapter 459: Spirit Hall's Action: The Plan for Consolidation

Inside the Imperial Study, with the assistance of Nan Feihuang and Ge Long, Xue Ke sat on the throne that had previously belonged to Great Emperor Xue Ye, looking at the mountain of government affairs piled before her, her mind a complete muddle.

"Brother Feihuang, Ke'er's head hurts so much!"

She looked at her husband with teary eyes; despite the immense dignity she had displayed yesterday, she was finally completely unable to hold on any longer at this moment.

She could sing and dance, but how could she possibly handle these things? Although Great Emperor Xue Ye had tried very hard to teach her over the past three months or so, he had basically just let her watch how he did things right in front of her.

Xue Ye was an emperor, not a teacher.

Now that she had to handle it herself, and with such a heavy workload, it immediately made her head spin.

"Ke'er, you must learn to do this yourself. Although I am the Regent, I am also the Crown Prince of the Gu Lei Kingdom; I cannot be here to help you every moment, as I have my own responsibilities," Feihuang said earnestly.

Xue Ke nodded solemnly, "Brother Feihuang, don't worry. Since I have promised Father Emperor, then no matter how difficult it is, Ke'er will strive to overcome it."

"Well said," Feihuang said with appreciation. Xue Ke might not be good at other things, but once she was determined to learn something, she would never put in any less than her full effort; that was why she could achieve such high attainments in music.

"By the way, Marshal Ge Long, I also have a matter to discuss with you," Feihuang said, looking at Ge Long.

Ge Long immediately cupped his hands, "Please give your orders, Your Highness the Regent."

"Good. The matter I want to speak of concerns the military power of the Heaven Dou Empire," Feihuang said straightforwardly.

Ge Long felt a subconscious shock in his heart. Had it come so soon? Great Emperor Xue Ye had just passed away, and Nan Feihuang was already going to seize the military power of the Heaven Dou Empire? If that were the case, he would rather die than submit.

"Your Highness the Regent, what do you mean..."

"My meaning is that you should send men to garrison the borders, especially Jialing Pass; it absolutely must not have any issues. From now on, you and Ke'er shall each continue to hold half of the Military Talisman. Now that the empire is waiting to be rebuilt, we really shouldn't put our energy into other places. I think that unless the Spirit Hall army attacks, the Heaven Dou Empire's military forces must not be moved lightly, including you and including me. How about that?" Nan Feihuang said.

By saying this, it seemed as if he were deliberately guarding against Ge Long.

However, this was also a normal thought to have. After all, no matter how loyal Ge Long appeared, he was ultimately an outside official. If all military power returned to his hands, what would happen if he developed ulterior motives one day? Although Feihuang knew that this blindly loyal fellow would not rebel, it did not hinder him from using this as an excuse.

Ge Long did not expect that Nan Feihuang was actually guarding against him, but that did not matter; he knew his own loyalty.

Or rather, Nan Feihuang's suggestion hit the mark for him, and he immediately agreed, "The Regent is righteous, and this humble official naturally respects it. Rest assured, Regent; unless the Empress's Imperial Edict and the Military Talisman arrive together, our Heaven Dou's million-strong army will only be mobilized when protecting our home and country. At other times, no matter who it is, they will be unable to command it."

"Good, I naturally trust Marshal Ge Long's reputation," Feihuang smiled slightly.

This fellow Ge Long had already fallen into the pit of a "public conspiracy" that Xun Yu had dug for him. In the future, he would regret the promise he made before Xue Ke today! In fact, Feihuang's goal in wanting Xue Ke to be Empress and himself to be Regent was never for the military power of the Heaven Dou Empire; he had no interest in that thing at all.

Xun Yu had also long anticipated that even if Great Emperor Xue Ye passed the throne to Xue Ke, he would definitely guard against this move. Since Nan Feihuang could not take action against his own wife, he had aimed only to restrict the million-strong army of the Heaven Dou Empire from the very beginning.

At this moment, Nan Feihuang was somewhat similar to Cao Cao's situation back then of "holding the Emperor to command the disloyal," but there was one point where the two were completely different.

It was this one point of difference that would cause the subsequent situation to change drastically as well.

"Uncle Ge Long, then Jialing Pass is entrusted to you. Brother Feihuang has always warned me of its importance; it is a place that military strategists must fight for, and it must absolutely not be lost," Xue Ke kept Nan Feihuang's words in mind. Jialing Pass was a specially constructed city, and its walls were said to be able to block the attacks of a Title Douluo. In the original story, it was because Jialing Pass was lost that the Heaven Dou Empire could only engage in open-field combat with the Spirit Hall's Spirit Master Legion.

The Heaven Dou Empire claimed to have a million-strong army, but the heavy armored cavalry that could truly contend with Spirit Masters were, after all, in the minority.

Those ordinary spearmen, swordsmen, and light cavalry, when facing Spirit Masters head-on, how could they be opponents?

They could only rely on the advantage of city walls and hold their ground to be effective.

"Yes, Your Majesty, this humble official will certainly not fail Your Majesty's trust!" Ge Long did not shirk the responsibility; how could he not know the importance of Jialing Pass?

It could be said that if this pass were lost, the Heaven Dou Empire would be equivalent to losing half of itself.

It seemed that Nan Feihuang truly cared for Xue Ke very much, and therefore had no reservations toward her, teaching her everything he should.

Nan Feihuang did not stay in the Heaven Dou Empire for too long. After accompanying Xue Ke for a period of time, he prepared to leave, as he still had many of his own things to do.

However, he left Long Gong and She Po behind this time to protect her.

The current Dragon Snake Combined Attack of Long Gong and She Po was comparable in power to a Level 95 Super Douluo, and when added to the Spirit Fusion Skill "Ten Thousand Buddhas Worship the Ancestor" of the Heaven Dou Imperial Family's two Royal Knights leaders, Zhang Wanfu and Zhang Chaozong, the power was also enough to reach the level of an ordinary Title Douluo.

With two bodyguards of Title-level strength, Nan Feihuang probably did not need to worry about Xue Ke's safety for the time being.

Just as he set off to return to the Gu Lei Kingdom.

The Spirit Hall's actions were also progressing in full swing; the Lower Four Sects began to frantically incorporate large and small sects across the entire continent.

Whether through threats or inducements, they used unscrupulous means to incorporate them. If they really could not be incorporated, then they would let that sect, just like the Upper Three Sects, suffer an attack by an "unknown force" on some late night and disappear completely.

For a time, many sects on the continent were in a state of panic, and many people, under pressure, had no choice but to choose to compromise.

In addition, there was the integration plan for various academies, which was the responsibility of Xie Yue and the others. After all, besides the Spirit Hall and the continent's sects, the places where Spirit Masters gathered the most on the continent were those large academies.

The Spirit Hall Academy sent people to various well-known academies across the continent, proposing to integrate all academies together.

Outside of Wuhun City, they would build the largest and most luxurious super academy in history, which would accept anyone, whether noble or commoner, as long as they had the ability.

This could also be considered a good excuse for benefiting the continent.

Indeed, if the Spirit Hall could achieve this, it could truly benefit the continent, but the various academies understood that this was currently just a concept; it sounded nice, but wasn't it just to annex them?

It was fine for small academies, but how could academies like the Element Academy, which had spanned hundreds of years on the continent and had a long history, be willing to just hand over their family foundation like this?

(End of chapter)