Chapter 183: Tian Mo Inheritance, Xuan Emperor

"Prefect!" Inside the Chang'an Yin Earth Wei Chenghuang Temple, a Night-Wandering Yaksha came to report. That Yaksha had blue skin and held a steel fork, and his cultivation was even deeper than the one Qian Chen had killed. Two patrolling night ghosts knelt fearfully before a Ghost King who was wearing red robes, had a golden fish bag at his waist, a full beard, and a ferocious face, and reported.

The Ghost King spread a piece of silk on the desk, writing with a flowing style, each character showing quite a bit of foundation.

The handwriting was full, the spirit was smooth, and although it was written by a Ghost King, each character seemed to have flesh and blood, the points and strokes were beautiful, the flow was smooth, drifting like floating clouds, vigorous like a startled dragon, and it was worthy of being the calligraphy of someone who could point out a top graduate in the past.

I saw lines of running script flowing down on the paper, writing: "In my childhood, I did not know the moon, calling it a white jade plate. Again, I suspected it was a Yao Terrace mirror, flying in the blue clouds..."

The handwriting was drifting like an immortal, and it seemed as if each character was blooming with light, turning into a jade plate round moon, sprinkling the essence of the Taiyin.

Zhong Kui wrote while listening to the Night-Wandering Ghost's report.

"Eerie things happened in the Lingxian Tianwang Temple... The Heavenly King statue in the temple collapsed, and there was an extra tomb of General Xue! The monks in the temple found it strange!"

"Prefect! Ananda Temple was struck by lightning. After we went over, we found that the whole temple had been slaughtered, and not even a chicken or dog was left..."

"Oh?" The Ghost King stopped his brush. The whole piece of calligraphy had been written, arranged in order, and permeated with a sense of elegance.

"Good poem... good poem! Although it lacks a bit of reflection on objects, the drifting and carefree spirit in the poem is full of immortal energy... truly a banished immortal!"

Zhong Kui sighed and looked up: "Everyone in Ananda Temple is dead? Do you know who the murderer is?"

A Night-Wandering Ghost trembled slightly: "The murderer was truly too fierce... Every living thing in Ananda Temple was slaughtered. I have never seen such a ruthless person in my life. So..."

Another Night-Wandering Ghost was better at speaking and hurriedly found an excuse: "At the entrance of Ananda Temple, there is even a one-horned thunder-light dragon coiled on the mountain gate, its whole body faintly covered in purple electricity. If you get even a little closer, it will cause the thunder-light dragon to move. So I didn't dare to go up and check!"

Zhong Kui stroked his messy beard and laughed: "In a few days, it will be His Majesty's Thousand Autumn Festival. How can such a big case happen in Chang'an? Hide the news first. You all intensify your patrols and must find out the appearance of the murderer and report it to me. Remember, do not cause trouble."

The ghost messengers were dumbfounded. They had to investigate the murderer, but they couldn't disturb the people of Chang'an?

What kind of case-handling method was this?

That is to say, even if they found the murderer, they could only observe his appearance and then report it to the Wei Chenghuang? The Night-Wandering Ghost saw that such a big pit had been planted on his own head, and he could only hate himself for being meddlesome.

After the two ghost messengers went down, a ghost woman slowly turned out from behind.

The ghost woman had a good appearance, completely different from Zhong Kui's leopard head and ring eyes, iron face and bearded beard, but she said softly: "Brother, you cannot listen to that treacherous prime minister. Ananda Temple and the many temples in Chang'an are related to the Chang'an Grand Array. It is the life of the people of the whole city."

"In the past, the Supreme Emperor sealed you as the Chang'an Wei Chenghuang to protect Chang'an!"

"Sigh!" Zhong Kui sighed: "Zhong Hua! Brother knows..."

"That Yang Guozhong is just using the fake tiger skin of the Xuan Emperor to act. If it weren't for the fact that those demons lurking in the temples are obeying the Emperor's orders and haven't done much evil, why would I have to endure? I would have long since pulled off their arms and legs and dipped them in sauce to eat!"

"Yang Guozhong was originally a party member of the Great Tian Mo Li Linfu. At that time, the four great demon generals—An Lushan, Geshu Han, Gao Xianzhi, and Shi Siming—which one of them wasn't trembling in fear of Li Linfu, fearing him like a tiger? Seeing this Tian Mo Prime Minister, they respectfully called him Tian Mo Prime Minister? If it weren't for Li Linfu's deep control over the demonic path, making the Emperor wary, he secretly instructed the demons under his command to kill Li Linfu outside the city, and he himself became the Great Tian Mo."

"At that time, the Heavenly Masters, Holy Monks, and Tian Mos were all officials under His Majesty, and my Wei Chenghuang title was not inferior to them. But after the Emperor became the Tian Mo, they all became the Son of Heaven's students. How am I supposed to clear demons and monsters?"

"This Yang Guozhong only had Core Formation cultivation to his face, and later he obtained the Xuan Emperor's cultivation before he refined his life-bound god-demon."

"This time he ordered people to secretly destroy the Chang'an Grand Array, it should be to destroy a part of the seal, open the Yu Jiuyou rift, and use the Yu Jiuyou demonic qi to refine his life-bound god-demon into an Undying God-Demon, equivalent to a great power of the Dao Sect's Yang Spirit. It is also to inherit the Tian Mo position of the Demon Sect, ask His Majesty to bestow the Tian Mo title, remove the word 'Great', and be a Tian Mo Prime Minister."

"He does everything according to Li Linfu's appearance, but he knows he doesn't have Li Linfu's ability, so he won't cause the Xuan Emperor's suspicion!"

"In this matter, His Majesty should have acquiesced!" Zhong Kui said something unbelievable.

Zhong Kui's sister asked in confusion: "Why? His Majesty finally got rid of one Great Tian Mo, why support another?"

"Originally, during the Yuan Emperor's time, the Li Tang had a very deep origin with the Louguan Dao and the Supreme Dao Ancestor. The Great Tang worshipped the Supreme Dao Ancestor as the master, which has its reasons... This is related to a great power of the Dao Sect, so it cannot be discussed lightly. Let's skip this. When the Li Tang was first established, the Dao Sect put in a lot of effort. Only then did they overthrow the Great Sui created by the Wen Emperor raised by the Fomen."

"The matter of Sui and Tang involves the very deep struggle between Buddhism and Daoism... Your brother is just a small Ghost King. The struggle between Buddhism and Daoism is so cruel, how could I dare to get involved easily."

"Later, when the Li Tang was first established, they worshipped Dao and suppressed Buddhism. By the time the Supreme Emperor ascended the throne, because of the palace coup, plus the Dao Sect was dominant, it was quite unfavorable for the Great Tang and the world. Only then did they choose to support the Fomen again and invited the Master Xuanzang to go west to fetch the scriptures. The Great Tang ruled both Dao and Buddhism, still playing the balance."

"Later, the dispute between Dao and Buddhism became more and more intense. The Gaozong Emperor suffered a lot of anger, so he supported the demonic path."

"Gaozong used the Tian Mo Empress to eliminate all kinds of evils in the demonic path, executed the cruel and bloody old demons of the Demon Sect, replaced them with the new demonic path improved by the Empress, and turned the Demon Sect into his own use. Only then did he start the balance of the three religions returning to one and the three religions parallel. At that time, many righteous people saw the hope of changing the Demon Sect and introducing the demonic path to the righteous path, and even did not hesitate to join the demonic path to improve the various methods of the Demon Sect."

"You know the two most famous ones, Di Renjie and the Duke of Ying."

"Later, no one expected that this Empress would have such great boldness! Originally, she was only one of the three pillars left by the Gao Di. The Zhang Tian Shi was the leader of the Dao Sect, the Holy Monk was the great virtue of the Fomen, and the Tian Mo was the leader of the demonic path. The three religions all respected imperial power! The Gao Di was even afraid that the Empress, as a Tian Mo, could not contend with the three Heavenly Masters and three Holy Monks of the Dao and Buddhist sects, so he divided a part of the Dharma seals of the Li Tang's national treasure, allowing the Empress to use her bone and blood descendants to drive that spiritual treasure."

"Unexpectedly..." Zhong Kui said this, actually revealing a bitter smile of fear.

Zhong Hua was quite admiring: "Unexpectedly, that Empress was truly an incredible talent in the demonic path. On one hand, she joined forces with the Dao Sect to force two of the three Holy Monks of the Fomen to ascend, and on the other hand, she borrowed the two Yu Jiuyou rifts to advance further beyond Nascent Soul, using her status as a Tian Mo to suppress the three Heavenly Masters of the Dao Sect."

Zhong Kui sighed: "Since then, the demonic path has completely flourished, and the high masters of the Dao and Buddhist sects have scattered among the people. They were unwilling to work for the Empress... Fortunately, the Empress indeed had the boldness of the new demonic path, abandoned the various biases of the demonic path, and pushed the demonic path into a new realm unprecedented in history. The foundation of the Great Tang Dynasty, the five hundred years of emperors of the Li family, resulted in an outsider woman."

"This Empress, I am afraid that after ascending, she can become a Demon Lord!"

"After the Empress was forced to ascend by the heavenly decree of that great figure in the upper realm during the Shenlong coup, the Rui Emperor continued the policy of the three religions being divided. With the help of Zhang Tian Shi Ye Fashan, he invited the Holy Monk Yixing back to court, and at the same time vigorously gathered the hearts of the demonic path, inviting his sister, Princess Taiping, to succeed as the Great Tian Mo."

"Later, because of the old events of Shenlong, Zhang Tian Shi Ye Fashan had to ascend. Before leaving, he looked around and felt that although the demonic path was powerful, it had no Nascent Soul, so he took the Holy Monk Yixing away! At the same time, he left two Zhang Tian Shi Dharma Seals to suppress the Yu Jiuyou rift, preventing the demonic path from appearing with Nascent Soul again."

"This created a strange scene where none of the three families of Dao, Buddhism, and Demon had a Nascent Soul. Although there must be hidden Nascent Soul masters within the Nine Provinces, except for the Zhengyi Zhang Tian Shi who governs the world according to the decree of the Primordial Dao Ancestor, other Nascent Soul masters cannot enter the court. The Fomen also has corresponding heavenly decrees, just to avoid disputes between Buddhism and Daoism from getting out of control at the imperial court level."

"And stir up a tribulation like the God-Conferring Tribulation of the Wei Jin years!"

"During the Ruizong years, because Princess Taiping's Demon Sect strength was too strong, the Xuan Emperor, who was still the Crown Prince at the time, was suppressed by her. Finally, the Xuan Emperor staged a coup, asked the Rui Emperor to be the Supreme Emperor, and executed Princess Taiping. After the Xuan Emperor ascended the throne, he continued the policy of the three religions being divided and the three religions being one, and appointed the demon cultivator Li Linfu as the Tian Mo Prime Minister."

"Since then, the Great Tang has completely gotten rid of the influence of the three religions, with the Son of Heaven as the supreme being worshipped by the three religions. The three religions of Buddhism, Daoism, and Demon have turned into the hundred schools of cultivation, and there is no longer any distinction between Dao, Buddhism, and Demon. There are only the Military School, Confucian School, Daoist School, Buddhist School, Legalist School, and even painting, calligraphy, music, chess, five elements, and yin-yang schools."

"The Great Tang has entered a flourishing era!"

"It can be said that the Xuan Emperor's move to stop the three religions and flourish the hundred schools has truly laid the foundation for ten thousand generations. He is worthy of being a holy and wise monarch of a generation. If the three religions of Buddhism, Daoism, and Demon were allowed to fight endlessly, how could there be this era of flourishing hundred schools? I, this Ghost King, can only survive under the Dao and Buddhist families, being called a left-path side-door, either taking refuge under the two families to be a protector, or I can only take refuge in demons."

"Left-path side-door... these four words, when Buddhism and Daoism were flourishing in those years and only the demonic path could contend with them, do you know how bitter it was? Now that they have reached the Great Tang, they have truly stood up... The hundred schools contend... all can achieve righteous results!"

"After the seniors of the Dao and Buddhist families ascended, they became more and more reclusive. Those high masters of Buddhism and Daoism, how could they endure the anger of mixing in the imperial court? Can they serve the emperor?"

"On the contrary, the demonic path never cares about these. Therefore, after the hundred schools flourished, the influence of the demonic path gradually grew, while the Dao and Buddhist families retreated from the imperial court. Gradually, the Xuan Emperor realized that the foundation of the three religions governing together was no longer stable, so he decisively divided the demon cultivators under Li Linfu and supported An Lushan and Yang Guozhong. A portion of the demonic path inheritance influenced by the Emperor was handed over to Crown Prince Li Heng."

"Let these three families strike and kill the Tian Mo Prime Minister Li Linfu."

"At the same time, he concurrently served as the Great Tian Mo, continuing to divide the strength of the demonic path. Now the demonic path is divided into three, one part headed by Yang Guozhong, one part under the Crown Prince, and the last part is the demon general An Lushan, who concurrently serves as the Military Zhong Zhong Fujun of the three towns, with the strongest strength. But the Xuan Emperor trapped An Lushan in the local area, and in the court, the Crown Prince and the Prime Minister both saw him as a thorn in their side."

"At the same time, locally, demon generals like Geshu Han and Gao Xianzhi were also at odds with An Lushan. Instead, they were loyal to the Xuan Emperor himself."

"Since then, the demonic path has been divided into three, fighting each other, and its strength is no longer unified. Only then can the Xuan Emperor hold great power. Don't let anyone become too big!"

"The means in this cannot be said to be exquisite. The demonic path is divided into three families, each of which must rely on His Majesty to contend with the other two... Yang Guozhong as the Tian Mo Prime Minister, Crown Prince Li Heng as the Tian Mo Crown Prince, and An Lushan as the Tian Mo General. The Great Tian Mo position unified by the Empress has been divided into three Tian Mos in His Majesty's hands, and His Majesty, as the Great Tian Mo, controls the balance!"

"Even I and the current Zhang Tian Shi Sima Ziwei, and the current Holy Monk Jianzhen, cannot say anything!"

"Plus the hundred schools of cultivators loyal to the Great Tang, the three religions bow their heads, the hundred schools return their hearts, how can this Great Tang perish? Where is the reason for chaos?"

"Even An Lushan, who has the strongest cultivation, is only a Yang Spirit demon cultivator who has refined an Undying God-Demon. Yang Guozhong and the Crown Prince are one Yin Spirit demon cultivator, and one doesn't even practice demonic arts, but practices pure Daoist heart methods, and only barely reached Core Formation. In order to let the Crown Prince contend with those two great demon cultivators, the Xuan Emperor even granted the Crown Prince a part of the Dharma seals of the Li family's town-clan spiritual treasure, which is also the Great Tang's national treasure—the Shangqing Pearl!"

When the Crown Prince was a child, he was valued by the Xuan Emperor. Every time he sat in front of him, he looked at his appearance and said to Consort Wu Hui: "This child has a very strange appearance, and he will be a blessed Son of Heaven in my family in the future." He ordered to take the Shangqing Jade Pearl, wrapped it in crimson gauze, and tied it to his neck.

Zhong Kui whispered: "It is also because of this that His Majesty held great power and lost his sense of crisis. Over the years, he has gradually indulged in comfort. Although his political means are still superb, he has lost the boldness of dividing the three religions and establishing the hundred schools when he was young!"

"In recent years, the Xuan Emperor heard that An Lushan's cultivation was growing, and the Crown Prince and Yang Prime Minister had been saying that An Lushan's power was growing, with countless demon generals under his command, so he intended to continue the policy of division. On one hand, he promoted Shi Siming under An Lushan, and indulged him in gathering demon cultivators. On the other hand, he supported young military cultivators like Guo Ziyi and Li Guangbi under An Lushan."

"An Lushan has become more and more rampant recently, also because he is anxious and forced by the Xuan Emperor."

"The Xuan Emperor continues to show him favor... He is really training demon cultivators like dogs! An Lushan seems to have great power, but he has no support in the court and is a lonely minister. The Crown Prince has great potential, but he is constantly being beaten. Yang Guozhong relies entirely on His Majesty's power and cannot become a climate. Plus the growing hundred schools of cultivators, this is the key to His Majesty's peace of mind."

Zhong Hua whispered: "Since this is the case, why is brother worried?"

"People of insight in the court saw the general trend of the hundred schools rising and the three religions declining, and also felt that the demonic path was trained by His Majesty like a dog and could not start any great trend. But His Majesty has not seen the scene of the demonic tribulation rampant at the end of the Wei Jin years. It is truly a tragedy that is hard to describe even one ten-thousandth of for those of us who have experienced this tribulation. If it weren't for the great power who passed down the Li Tang saving the heaven from collapse, whether the Central Lands is still the human world today is a matter of two opinions!"

"Demons are not dogs, they are wolves!"

"Dogs will jump over the wall when they are anxious... Wolves will bite their masters when they are anxious!"

Zhong Kui looked at the night of Chang'an and whispered: "So even if His Majesty allows the demons under Yang Guozhong to destroy the Chang'an Grand Array, this act of righteous cultivators guarding Chang'an, even if it is offensive, I should support it! The Yu Jiuyou rift is more terrifying than anyone imagines! The Empress could control it in the past, but the Xuan Emperor may not be able to!"

"Yang Guozhong will report to His Majesty immediately, and even the Crown Prince will come to rescue the demons under his command. You need to be faster, faster... I... cannot delay for too long!" Zhong Kui gazed at the night sky and said silently. ===== CHAPTER 184 =====

"Yang Guozhong will report to His Majesty immediately, and even the Crown Prince will come to rescue the demon lords under his command. You need to be faster, even faster... I... cannot delay them for too long!" Zhong Kui stared at the night sky and said silently.