Chapter 134: Betting on the future

The viewpoint Li Chen expressed was indeed not too outrageous, falling within a range that these sect leaders could accept.

After all, if they couldn't accept it, what else could they do? Who dared to speak up?

Just look at the Profound Heaven Sect, whose He He Zongzhu was captured—aren't they cooperating too?

People like True Person Wanfeng and Mu Qingrou had thought they came here to teach the Emperor a lesson, but who knew they would be the ones being lectured by the Emperor the whole time.

After Li Chen finished speaking, True Person Wanfeng spoke up: "Your Majesty, our Spirit Flame Dao Sect is willing to cooperate. The sect cultivators in our region actually prioritize common development, but the friction between us and the Purple Void Heaven Palace is significant. If we go north to participate in the battle, they will take the opportunity to launch a sneak attack on us."

This point was also a concern for the cultivators present.

The reason sects formed alliances was precisely because of the existence of hostile forces.

Their internal struggles were also extremely severe, sometimes even to the point of life-and-death.

In other words, True Person Wanfeng was willing to cooperate with the imperial court, but he had his own concerns. If those concerns were eliminated, then everything would be easy to discuss.

With so many people on the scene, everyone knew Li Chen's strength. It wasn't that he, True Person Wanfeng, was a coward; it was that he truly couldn't win.

Furthermore, if the matter of Lord Dingtian were excluded, the Nine Abyss Sacred Domain and the imperial court had no direct conflict.

The Emperor himself couldn't be bothered to pursue it; who would be bored enough to bring up Lord Dingtian?

The sects of the Nine Abyss Sacred Domain had no reason to provoke a powerhouse like Li Chen. Moreover, the Profound Heaven Sect hadn't said anything and was even actively responding to the imperial court's policies. If they were to resist, wouldn't it seem like they were looking for trouble?

True Person Wanfeng felt that a pertinent statement could interpret the situation: they were just afraid of Li Chen, which didn't mean they were afraid of the imperial court.

The cooperation reached with the imperial court this time was actually all the powerhouses giving Li Chen face; Li Chen had the qualifications to demand this face.

The formation of the Nine Abyss Sacred Domain was also just to band together to resist other sect forces.

"What is the situation with the Purple Void Heaven Palace? Tell me about it," Li Chen said.

True Person Wanfeng explained that the cultivators within the Purple Void Heaven Palace were very complex; it wasn't a collection of sects in the traditional sense like the Nine Abyss Sacred Domain.

The Purple Void Heaven Palace was in the central-western part of the Tian Ce Dynasty. It was said that there were quite a few evil cultivators and demon cultivators present, and they frequently clashed with the cultivators of the Nine Abyss Sacred Domain over resource issues.

Once a mineral vein was discovered in this region, a great master's tomb appeared, or an ancient ruin manifested,

the two major forces would fight to seize these things, which could be said to lead to rivers of blood.

The disciples fought inside the ruins and mystical realms, while the elders fought outside.

The hatred was naturally deep-rooted, even to the point of life-and-death.

Of course, this was just True Person Wanfeng's one-sided story. Li Chen indicated that he accepted this viewpoint and would take time to go see the Purple Void Heaven Palace.

If the Purple Void Heaven Palace didn't give him face, then naturally, he would wipe them all out.

Li Chen just felt that keeping these sects in captivity was troublesome, but wiping them out wasn't troublesome at all, and it wouldn't even leave a mess for future monarchs.

Still the same saying: this is within the territory of the Tian Ce Dynasty. As long as I, Li Chen, want to manage things, you all act like dogs for me. Listen to my words, and I won't bother cleaning you up.

For anyone who is unwilling, there is no room for discussion; there is only the word "death."

The sect masters in the main hall, seeing that the Profound Heaven Sect and the Spirit Flame Dao Sect had already submitted, all expressed their willingness to respond to the imperial court's policies.

Anyway, there were rewards for completing tasks; they weren't working for nothing. They could just treat it as an additional channel for obtaining resources; actually, there wasn't any major problem.

Since things had been settled, this grand assembly would proceed to the second stage, which was the banquet.

This was also a tradition of the Tian Ce Dynasty: have a meal after the meeting to increase the feelings between each other.

Under Li Chen's signal, various rare delicacies and fine wines were laid out in Cloud Sea City. The sect powerhouses in the main hall could naturally dine together with Li Chen.

Don't think that they were all people who looked down from above, but Li Chen was even stronger. They were also very well-versed in human relationships in front of Li Chen, and many sect masters were constantly offering toasts.

True Person Wanfeng, the He He Zongzhu of the Spirit Flame Dao Sect, drank to his heart's content and even said with great passion: "For our Tian Ce Dynasty to have such an Emperor is truly a blessing for ten thousand generations. To drink with Your Majesty is truly a great fortune of three lifetimes."

It could be seen that he was still very good at speaking. It seemed like flattery, but no one dared to refute it.

After all, in recent years, the Tian Ce Dynasty had only had this one Emperor at the Sage Realm; even Heavenly Abyss Realm experts were few.

Other sect masters also followed True Person Wanfeng's flattery to get on good terms with Li Chen.

In their view, Li Chen was not just an Emperor, but a highly-ranked Sage Realm powerhouse. Knowing such a big shot would also be beneficial for them in the future.

At the very least, if they encountered a danger they truly couldn't handle, they could say they were Li Chen's subjects and kneel to beg Li Chen for some help.

This was a very clever point: if the Emperor's strength was weak, their sects were high and mighty; if the Emperor's strength was strong, they were his subjects.

It was precisely because Li Chen was strong that he was needed by everyone, and thus everyone would support him. This was a matter of reason.

If one were to hang around the main hall, one would discover a point: these sect masters who used to have very stiff backbones were now still quite fluid when kneeling, and they didn't feel it was shameful to kneel to Li Chen.

This was also determined by Li Chen's strength, just like what the Second Imperial Prince said when he first caused trouble: "If there is no powerful cultivation to support it, how can it protect our dynasty for a thousand autumns and ten thousand generations?"

He couldn't achieve this sentence, but it was fulfilled in Li Chen.

The main hall was in this situation, and the secondary hall was also filled with a banquet. Those here were some sect elders and disciples with extraordinary talent. On the imperial court's side were some Ministry of Justice powerhouses and young constables led by Pang Jin.

These young people were all the elite valedictorians from the various combat academies of the Imperial Capital over the years. Their strength and talent were not a bit inferior to the sect disciples. Plus, there was no conflict, so they were soon able to chat together and found common topics.

Whether it was exchanging martial arts or discussing academics, it increased their understanding of each other.

The main hall had already gone through three rounds of drinks, so Li Chen also began to act according to Lady Youlan's plan.

He spoke slowly, his voice deep and powerful: "Everyone, I intend to personally visit and inspect the various sects in the near future, to see with my own eyes how the sects are doing, to understand the development status of the sects, and I also hope to provide some help within my power to the sects."

This tone of speaking was that of a leader inspecting the situation of various departments.

That's right, he was the leader; this was beyond doubt.

Upon hearing this, True Person Wanfeng stood up, cupped his hands, and said: "For Your Majesty to have this heart is truly the blessing of our sects. My Spirit Flame Dao Sect, from top to bottom, will certainly fully cooperate with Your Majesty's inspection and display the style of our sect."

He spoke too fast; the other sect masters' brains hadn't reacted to how to answer, and this guy had already finished licking his boots.

Was this still that He He Zongzhu who insisted on not kneeling for dozens of seconds?

Everyone had thought he had backbone at the time, but now it seemed this guy wanted backbone and also wanted to lick boots; he truly didn't miss a single thing.

As expected of a sect master who develops in all aspects; he's just awesome!

Dai Hongling, the He He Zongzhu's wife of the Azure Abyss Immortal Sect, who was also the sect representative this time, stood up and said: "For Your Majesty to personally visit our sect is our greatest honor. I believe that under Your Majesty's care and guidance, our sect will certainly be able to reach a higher level."

She had a certain status in the sect, so her saying this could naturally represent the Azure Abyss Immortal Sect.

Dai Hongling didn't know if she had drunk too much or what, but her eyes were a bit blurry when looking at Li Chen.

This was the look a married woman gave other men.

Because if it were an unmarried woman, she would compare this man to all the high-quality men in the world to find faults.

A married woman would only compare this man to her own husband; she only needed to compare one.

Lady Youlan on the side saw it all. She felt that it probably wouldn't be long before this woman fell.

Just as Li Chen thought, as long as she saw more people falling, Lady Youlan's heart would feel a bit better, perhaps thinking: Look, it's not just me doing this; other women can't resist either.

This way, her sense of immorality would decrease.

Then tonight, perhaps it was an opportunity!

Regarding Dai Hongling, Lady Youlan had her own methods; other women would need Li Chen to work hard himself.

During the banquet, Lady Youlan began to strike up a conversation with Dai Hongling. The two were old acquaintances who hadn't seen each other for a long time, both "bitter-fated" women, so they naturally had many topics.

Women were just like this; the more they chatted, the more topics they had, as if there were endless things to say, especially when complaining about their own useless Dao companions.

When the banquet ended, it was already night. Some sects were nearby and could return directly; those who were further away and had drunk more stayed in Cloud Sea City to rest for a day before returning.

Some sects were even local to Cloud Sea City.

Lady Youlan invited Dai Hongling to come to her room at night, and the two of them talked all night.

Dai Hongling naturally agreed; she could finally complain about the unhappiness in her heart to a good sister.

Especially since coming to Cloud Sea City this time, she had also had a quarrel with her Dao companion, and she also took the opportunity to ask about Lady Youlan's recent situation.

At this moment, Dai Hongling hadn't realized that this was a trap.

After Li Chen left the main hall, the sect masters of the various sects at the banquet also left with their people.

Dai Hongling, as the leader of the Azure Abyss Immortal Sect, naturally settled the sect disciples and then followed Lady Youlan's address to an inn.

Because they were in different places, they needed to walk a distance.

At this moment, the sky was dark, there weren't many passersby around, and even some petty gazes swept over her.

As a mature woman with an elegant temperament and a full figure, these offensive gazes weren't the first time she had encountered them, but with her Heavenly Abyss Realm strength, after glaring back, these gazes became much fewer.

The inn where Lady Youlan lived was relatively large, and the room she booked was in a more secluded area, which could be considered a relatively quiet place.

This was also very consistent with the consistent style of sect cultivators.

When Dai Hongling arrived at the door of the room where Lady Youlan was temporarily staying and was about to knock, because the surroundings were relatively quiet, she heard the sound of a woman enjoying herself coming from the next room. This sound was a bit familiar, and Dai Hongling, driven by curiosity, quietly walked over to look.

It just so happened that this door wasn't closed properly, which allowed her to see the scene inside.

The scene before her not only made her blood boil but also surprised her immensely.

Why would His Majesty appear here? Why would Lady Yuehua do this kind of thing with His Majesty? Didn't she have a Dao companion!

Dai Hongling said why the voice was so familiar; it turned out to be an acquaintance.

Lady Yuehua's Dao companion had died, and she had been a widow for many years. Dai Hongling, as a woman, could understand, and could even say she was a bit envious.

Dai Hongling still watched for quite a while, and after swallowing quite a bit of saliva, she intended to leave.

But as soon as she turned around, she bumped into Lady Youlan.

Both had huge cushioning, so they wouldn't get hurt.

But Lady Youlan's strength was stronger, and Dai Hongling stepped back two steps, hitting the area near the door, making a sound.

!

The movement inside also stopped instantly, and a light shout came: "Who!"

Lady Yuehua in the room panicked. If it were her senior sister, shouldn't she have come in long ago?

If it wasn't her senior sister, if this matter were spread out, she would be finished.

Dai Hongling was even more panicked. She hurriedly used a "shh" expression to tell Lady Youlan that something seemed to have happened inside, and the two of them should quickly find a way to run.

But Lady Youlan suddenly activated her meridian arts, directly placed a restriction on her, and then pushed her in.

This scene stunned Dai Hongling. She didn't understand what Lady Youlan meant by doing this, but she understood the words Lady Youlan said next.

"Your Majesty, she already knows about our affairs; we can't let her leave like this!"

Hearing this, Dai Hongling finally understood that Lady Youlan was in the same group as them!

She had "accidentally" discovered their secret, and now she couldn't retreat unscathed.

Sigh, if I had known, I wouldn't have been so curious!

Dai Hongling hadn't realized at this moment that the scene before her was a trap designed by Lady Youlan, just waiting for her to take the bait.

Dai Hongling immediately explained, saying she wasn't intentional, and could swear that she wouldn't talk about it outside. If she violated this oath, she would suffer the backlash of her inner demons and be struck by lightning.

For a cultivator, this was already a very big oath.

But today's main target was her; the trap was prepared for her. How could Li Chen let her go?

Li Chen didn't need to do anything; Lady Youlan had already planned it, and he just needed to enjoy it.

During the banquet, Li Chen had observed that Dai Hongling had a stunningly beautiful face, skin as white and delicate as smooth jade, and a well-proportioned and slender figure.

Her willow waist was slender, her chest was full and firm; it could be said that she had all the charm and resentment of a woman.

She was also like a gentle, virtuous, and wise wife and mother, gentle, elegant, and stunningly beautiful!

"Since you have already discovered it, then I can only wrong you."

Li Chen's one sentence announced the handling method for this "accidental event."

Even Lady Yuehua would help, because she knew that only by assimilating Dai Hongling would Dai Hongling not talk about this matter.

What Lady Yuehua didn't know was that she was also one of the people in the game.

The next day, Li Chen left with a satisfied face, preparing for the next work, which was to visit the various major sects nearby.

Anyway, there were people to handle the aftermath; he didn't need to worry.

Dai Hongling sat on the edge of the bed with a wronged face, seemingly waiting for Lady Youlan and Lady Yuehua's comfort, letting the two of them give her a way out.

But Lady Yuehua said: "Sister, stop pretending to be pitiful. Last night, the way you were resisting while welcoming, I even suspected whether you had wanted to do this long ago."

Lady Youlan also kicked her while she was down: "I don't know who was shouting loudly last night that they wanted to serve His Majesty for a lifetime, and even fighting to grab it."

Hearing this, Dai Hongling stopped pretending!

"Fine, fine, fine, the two of you are ganging up to target me, right? I was forced at least. Looking at the two of you, you were mostly actively seducing His Majesty! I used to think you two had integrity!"

The three people inexplicably started arguing in the room, and even at the end of the argument, they all expressed that they would compete again next time in front of Li Chen to see who was better.

Li Chen couldn't stop this kind of thing from happening, so he could only silently enjoy it.

However, it was broad daylight now, and he still had things to do.

Speaking of inspecting the major sects, actually, just inspecting the four major sects was enough; the other sects were too small and didn't have the qualifications for Li Chen to personally go and inspect.

As for after the inspection, the various sects would also send people to dock with Pang Jin to discuss the subsequent tasks and work arrangements together.

These small matters naturally didn't need Li Chen to personally handle them.

Li Chen's first stop was naturally the Spirit Flame Dao Sect, which was relatively close to Cloud Sea City.

As one of the four major sects of the Nine Abyss Sacred Domain, and still a sect with a Sage Realm expert, under the leadership of True Person Wanfeng, it was naturally also flourishing.

When Li Chen arrived, True Person Wanfeng, the He He Zongzhu of the Spirit Flame Dao Sect, had long been waiting outside the sect, and the elders and disciples stood in two rows to welcome the arrival of Li Chen, this Emperor.

The second meeting was relatively familiar; Li Chen and True Person Wanfeng had also drunk quite a bit of wine last night, so they started chatting as soon as they met.

True Person Wanfeng confidently stated that when he took over this sect, it was still a third-rate sect, and now it was a first-rate sect; that was all developed by him slowly.

Li Chen believed this point very much; a Sage Realm expert could indeed drive the development of a force.

It was also enough to show that True Person Wanfeng's ability was very strong and he did things very well, which could be seen from how smooth his flattery was last night.

When the two arrived at the entrance of the magnificent sect hall, True Person Wanfeng said: "Your Majesty, let's shake hands here, and then look in that direction."

Li Chen looked in the direction he indicated and saw a cultivator who looked like a painter waving his brush and ink on a drawing board.

Many days later, a picture of "The Emperor at the Spirit Flame Dao Sect" appeared in the core position of the sect hall.

Not only could passing disciples see it, but it could also be admired by visiting cultivators from other sects.

In the painting, Li Chen's posture was upright, looking at the Spirit Flame Dao Sect with an appreciative face, and shaking hands with He He Zongzhu Wanfeng. True Person Wanfeng also had a face full of righteous spirit, welcoming Li Chen's arrival.

As long as Li Chen didn't fall, this painting could become the treasure of the Spirit Flame Dao Sect.

Even True Person Wanfeng didn't expect that many years later, this painting would actually appreciate in value!

Since it was an inspection, True Person Wanfeng naturally followed the process and took Li Chen to roughly tour the Spirit Flame Dao Sect.

Those so-called "forbidden areas" usually weren't issues at all. Since Li Chen came, what forbidden areas were there? As long as Li Chen wanted to visit, it was the honor of the Spirit Flame Dao Sect.

Especially when arriving at the alchemy room, True Person Wanfeng explained it endlessly and even personally refined alchemy for Li Chen to see.

He was a Sage Realm powerhouse with dual attributes of wind and fire, a top-tier alchemy talent that was one in a billion.

It could also be said that he showed off a little, directly refining a Heavenly-grade low-tier elixir, and when the elixir was formed, it even stirred the heaven and earth.

Actually, True Person Wanfeng was also very puzzled. He usually wasn't this powerful when refining alchemy; most of them were Earth-Grade high-tier elixirs. How could it be so smooth this time?

Could it be that he basked in a little of His Majesty's glory?

After touring around, it was almost noon. Li Chen could be considered to have a rough understanding of these sect forces.

Next, according to the process, if Li Chen wanted the Spirit Flame Dao Sect to completely stand on the side of the imperial court, he had to handle a woman here.

According to the original plan, he would use the excuse of testing the disciples of the Spirit Flame Dao Sect to contact that woman.

But before he could say it, True Person Wanfeng spoke up: "Your Majesty, this commoner has a presumptuous request."

Li Chen asked suspiciously: "Go ahead."

At this moment, True Person Wanfeng called over a stunningly beautiful young girl, and the beautiful girl stood timidly on the side.

"This commoner's daughter has always wanted to go to the Imperial Capital to develop and see the world. I ask Your Majesty to provide some guidance," True Person Wanfeng explained.

He wanted his daughter to go to the Imperial Capital to get a position. As for whether she would get into the various departments of the Imperial Capital or the inner court of the Imperial Palace, that was up to her.

To put it bluntly, at True Person Wanfeng's age, he could indeed maintain the sect for a period of time.

But what about after a hundred years? The sect would decline without a Sage Realm expert.

Generally speaking, his daughter would be betrothed to the strongest young man in the sect to continue the sect's development.

This was a bet, betting on what level this young man could cultivate to in the later stages.

But this Emperor was young and was also a Sage Realm expert. He was already at the full level; there was no need to bet. Why not just directly latch onto his backer?

Li Chen was also slightly stunned. His goal was this woman; he didn't expect True Person Wanfeng to send her for free?

(End of chapter) ===== CHAPTER 135 =====