Chapter 340: Monarch and Subject

On the square of the Altar of Heaven, the solemn and dignified ceremony continued, and the vast Emperor's Dragon Qi hung high in the sky, swallowing and supplementing national destiny.

The two people with the highest cultivation realm on the scene were "Military God" Wen Wen Ren Zheng and King Li, two Martial Saints.

One was suppressing the national destiny, and one was "assisting" the Emperor.

All fifteen True Persons of the Zhengfa Pavilion were exerting their full strength to operate the formation, seeking to ensure that the river of national destiny coming from the Great Daluo Sect could enter the "Dragon's Mouth" without wasting a single bit.

Under such circumstances, it was indeed a good time for assassination.

But the seat official of the Zhige Pavilion who suddenly jumped out to assassinate was too weak.

A mere Foundation Establishment stage.

There was no need to alarm the two Martial Saints at the very front.

Just the Zhige Pavilion alone had four grandmasters and over twenty martial arts grandmasters present, and there were also forbidden army powerhouses around the Altar of Heaven, and several eunuchs with unfathomable cultivation...

A Foundation Establishment martial artist jumping out to assassinate the Emperor in such a place could no longer be described as a mantis trying to stop a chariot.

It was simply a mantis trying to stop a vast ocean!

When this audacious assassin leaped high, at least seven supernatural powers landed on his body, and several Martial Dao Domains were blooming.

As for the high-level force he unleashed toward the Altar of Heaven, it flew less than ten meters before annihilating in mid-air.

Along with it, the assassin himself was annihilated!

This scene scared the several martial arts grandmasters who had taken action until their faces turned pale, and the powerhouses who hadn't had time to take action also stopped one after another.

No one dared to directly kill this assassin!

The power that killed this assassin came from himself.

From the moment he suddenly stood up, the power hidden deep in his body began to bloom, and when he unleashed that force toward the Altar of Heaven and shouted those words, the power in his body happened to cut off all his vitality!

This was a meticulously planned suicide, with every step calculated very precisely.

Without knowing the situation, even a grandmaster could not stop such a suicide, but the power that reached the peak of the human world could.

The annihilation of this assassin's body only took a blink of an eye, but in this instant when no one had time to intervene, a force forcibly inserted itself into it!

The half-annihilated body suddenly froze in mid-air, as if a god had cast a glance here, stopping time right here!

Under the Altar of Heaven, Wen Wen Ren Zheng withdrew his gaze.

This "Military God" was the strongest person in the imperial court, and King Li, who was also a Martial Saint, could be considered half a student in front of him.

So both were exerting their full strength to use Dao rules to ensure that the national destiny would not go wrong; King Li didn't have time to take action, but Wen Wen Ren Zheng could divide his attention to "pinch" a mosquito, and then re-exert his strength, steadily continuing to suppress the national destiny.

Without causing a single ripple.

The assassin, whose body had been frozen by Wen Wen Ren Zheng's Dao rules, fell from mid-air.

He was already dead, but the broken corpse that had been half-annihilated was forcibly preserved.

The corpse landed, and the several martial arts grandmasters around subconsciously dodged to the surroundings, avoiding it like a snake or scorpion.

Before the Emperor spoke, no one dared to touch this corpse.

On the Altar of Heaven, with the Emperor's reaction speed, it wasn't until the assassin's corpse landed that he reacted to what had happened.

His expression remained unchanged, he glanced coldly, then withdrew his gaze, continuing to maintain the Emperor's Dragon Qi.

This caused many people in the Zhige Pavilion who wanted to kneel and plead guilty to forcibly stop their knees.

The Grand Secretary was calm and composed, the Grand Marshal of the Military Council was majestic like a mountain.

King Li's expression was cold and stern, not saying a word.

Thus, this sacrifice-to-heaven ritual continued.

If it weren't for the half-corpse that had suddenly appeared on the ground, and the formation of the Zhige Pavilion clearly being in some disarray, it was as if nothing had happened.

But the state of mind of the civil and military officials had already become completely different from just now.

Everyone had turbulent waves in their hearts!

Qingxu's plot, the tragedy of Ming Province, these people were all high-ranking officials in the court, and naturally already knew.

Even if they didn't know all the inside stories and the loss of the Emperor's Dragon Qi, they knew that over nine hundred thousand people had died in Ming Province and over a dozen cities had been burned down.

This kind of damage was second only to that national war nineteen years ago!

The relevant news was naturally to be blocked, and the imperial court was doing its best to reduce the turmoil brought by this disaster.

Today's sacrifice-to-heaven ritual, which was clearly different in specification from previous years, was obviously one of the means of "making up for it."

Under such circumstances, on such an important occasion, an assassin suddenly jumped out.

A Foundation Establishment assassin.

Anyone knew that this assassin definitely couldn't successfully assassinate the Son of Heaven; he couldn't even get within a hundred steps of the Altar of Heaven.

But he still jumped out and shouted such rebellious words.

Then the purpose of this assassination was also very obvious.

He wasn't trying to stab the dragon body of the Son of Heaven, but to stab the state of mind of everyone!

That national war nineteen years ago was naturally the shame of the Great Lan Dynasty, bringing huge damage to the Great Lan Dynasty.

But fortunately, there was a pillar of the nation like Grand Secretary Ye Zean to "patch the sky's crack," successfully pushing the Mingxin Reform, continuing a "breath" for the Great Lan Dynasty, and gradually recovering the losses.

A series of actions by the imperial court not long ago, further suppressing Daoism, taking back the power of the Zhengfa Pavilion in various places, and winning over Buddhism, gave the number of baleful weapons a chance to go further.

Seeing that the national strength was flourishing, many people were already fantasizing about the arrival of a prosperous age.

But this earth-shattering change in Ming Province almost reset all the previous efforts to zero!

Overnight, the Great Lan Dynasty seemed to be returning to the state of decay of that year!

Now that such an extremely vicious assassination occurred at the sacrifice-to-heaven ritual, people's hearts were inevitably turbulent.

With feelings of trepidation, panic, and anxiety, the civil and military officials waited for over an hour during the sacrifice-to-heaven ritual, and finally waited for the ritual to end.

The purple-gold giant dragon circling above Lanling City disappeared, and a trace of fatigue appeared on the Emperor's face, but it quickly disappeared.

He walked to the edge of the Altar of Heaven and cast his gaze toward the assassin's corpse.

"Your Majesty, we deserve to die!"

Before the Emperor could speak, Ni Xuan, the Pavilion Master of the Zhige Pavilion, was the first to kneel and plead guilty.

Following that, the three Deputy Pavilion Masters, a group of Pavilion members, and seat officials all knelt down!

The Great Lan Dynasty had always treated martial artists favorably, and Foundation Establishment martial artists could see the monarch without kneeling.

But at this time, Ni Xuan, who was a grandmaster, and the other three Deputy Pavilion Masters all knelt down!

The Emperor stood on the high Altar of Heaven, looking coldly at this scene.

He did not speak, so these martial arts powerhouses kept kneeling.

The atmosphere at the scene began to become solemn.

"What crime do you have?"

After a long time, the Emperor spoke.

"I failed to recognize people, was lax in supervision, allowed rebels to mix into the Zhige Pavilion without knowing, resulting in a huge mistake!"

Ni Xuan knelt on the ground and said, his head always lowered, not daring to lift it.

"You said you were lax in supervision; does the Supervision Pavilion also have a share in this responsibility of supervising the officials?"

The Emperor continued to ask.

"I am guilty!"

As his voice fell, the Pavilion Master of the Supervision Pavilion also knelt down quickly, not even daring to defend himself.

All over a hundred officials of the Supervision Pavilion knelt down.

Below the Altar of Heaven, a large area was already pitch-black and kneeling.

The Emperor didn't even take an extra look at these people and continued to ask:

"The Zixu Hall oversees the Cabinet; do you have anything to say?"

"I am guilty!"

Over a dozen high-ranking Grand Secretaries of the Zixu Hall all knelt down.

The Emperor finally looked at the Grand Secretary at the very front.

This made the officials who were already terrified even more horrified.

Could it be that His Majesty even wanted to hold the Grand Secretary accountable?

Was this planning a major purge?!

Admittedly, imperial power was still supreme, but under the current system, if the Emperor really planned to do this, the court would first fall apart, and the subsequent internal chaos of the entire country could also be foreseen!

Some officials couldn't help but want to open their mouths to remonstrate.

Even if they risked the thunderous wrath, they had to stop such a thing that was harmful to the country from happening.

But the Emperor did not give them a chance to speak.

"Grand Secretary."

"I am here."

Until this moment, Ye Zean remained calm and composed, bowing to the Emperor.

Mount Tai collapsing before him without changing color; today, this Grand Secretary showed such demeanor to the officials.

"Just now, the Pavilion Master of the Zhige Pavilion said he made a huge mistake; where do you think this huge mistake lies?"

The Emperor's tone remained cold, making people shudder.

Ye Zean responded calmly:

"Failure to recognize people, lax supervision, allowing people to disturb the grand ceremony, damaging the dignity of the Son of Heaven."

"Oh, arranging such an assassination, just to damage my dignity?"

The Emperor looked at him.

Ye Zean said without hesitation:

"During the period of the Five Kingdoms' Hegemony, the State of Zhou suffered a three-year drought, and an assassin attempted to assassinate the royal carriage on the street, but failed. The King of Zhou was furious, vowing to investigate the assassin, ultimately causing suspicion among the officials, internal chaos in the court, and two years later, it was destroyed by the State of Qi."

He did not answer the Emperor's question directly, but suddenly told a piece of history.

This answer made many officials at the scene break into a cold sweat.

Ye Zean mentioning this piece of history at this time had a very obvious implication:

If the Emperor also wanted to be as concerned about this assassination as the King of Zhou of that year, strictly investigating it, it might ultimately lead to internal chaos in the country, thereby repeating the mistakes of the State of Zhou!

And if the Emperor didn't plan to punish the officials on a large scale, then this assassination could at most damage some of the dignity of the Son of Heaven.

Only Ye Zean dared to say this, and only he, this Grand Secretary, was qualified to say it to the Son of Heaven!

Everyone was waiting for the Emperor's reaction with trepidation.

The Emperor shook his head: "The Grand Secretary is wrong."

These words made everyone's heart jump to their throats.

But the Emperor did not get angry, but laughed instead:

"My dignity is in the land of the four seas, in the billions of people, in the abundant martial virtue, in the gathering of people's hearts; how could it be damaged by the assassination of a mere commoner?"

Ye Zean followed the trend, bowing:

"It is my shallowness, Your Majesty is wise."

Now, how could the officials not understand?

Including Wen Wen Ren Zheng and King Li, everyone bowed one after another, saying in unison:

"Your Majesty is wise!"

Clearly, the Emperor never thought about really punishing the officials heavily from the beginning.

And Ye Zean was the first person to read his mind, so he gave cooperation very tacitly.

This pair of monarch and subject, in one question and one answer, eliminated much of the negative impact brought by this assassination.

The two checked and balanced each other in the court, and at the same time cooperated with each other; everyone knew that the Mingxin Reform was Ye Zean's greatest political achievement.

But this was also the greatest achievement of the current Son of Heaven!

The two cooperated for over a dozen years to have this successful reform.

Today, the two completed another cooperation without any communication.

"Ni Xuan, Zhongli Peng."

The Emperor called the names of the Pavilion Master of the Zhige Pavilion and the Pavilion Master of the Supervision Pavilion alone.

"I am here."

Both remained in a kneeling posture.

"The assassin still needs to be investigated; I want the truth. But, investigating the case is fine, do not involve others at will."

The Emperor said.

Ni Xuan and Zhongli Peng felt relieved, hurriedly accepting the decree and thanking him.

The rest of the officials also breathed a sigh of relief.

Thus, this heart-pounding sacrifice-to-heaven ritual finally ended here.

Thousands of miles away, in the Great Daluo Sect, the grand ceremony of sacrificing to heaven also ended.

Li Fei first thanked Yunshu, thanking the opponent for giving him the opportunity to "attain Dao."

"Dual cultivation of technique and martial arts has been a dangerous path since ancient times; only one person has walked through it in a thousand years; you don't need to be discouraged, nor do you need to belittle yourself."

Yunshu took the initiative to comfort Li Fei.

Just a little bit, and Li Fei could have leaped over the "Dragon Gate," his mental power reaching the "realm of communicating with the divine," but ultimately failed due to "dual cultivation of technique and martial arts."

Yunshu was worried that this "First in History" would have his state of mind covered in dust.

"Many thanks for the Imperial Preceptor's concern; being able to have this improvement is already a fortunate event; I am very content."

Li Fei said calmly.

Yunshu looked at him seriously, confirming that his state of mind was indeed not affected, so he nodded with satisfaction:

"Not bad."

Next, Li Fei returned to his room to organize his gains.

His mental power had completely crossed the limit of the Foundation Establishment stage, only half a step away from stepping into the Grandmaster realm.

"Dual cultivation of technique and martial arts" ultimately prevented him from breaking through the realm, but it also allowed him to have huge progress on another path:

Transforming mental power into virtual thoughts, Li Fei immediately felt different from the past.

He felt the "breathing" of the Dream-Commanding Order in his arms!

This was a very unique rhythm; as long as he let his virtual thoughts keep up with this rhythm, he could resonate with the Dream-Commanding Order.

Resonating with a magic treasure was the key to the Possession stage, not only making one's own virtual thoughts stronger but also making the magic treasure more formidable. For the same technique, using the same magic treasure to unleash it, the power at the Possession stage could be increased several times!

Feeling the "breathing" of the Dream-Commanding Order meant that Li Fei could break through to the Possession stage at any time!

Breaking through with the help of a ready-made magic treasure was a "shortcut" means, but the difficulty of resonance would be very great.

The more powerful the magic treasure, the greater the difficulty of resonance.

After not daring to easily enter the "Dream Realm," Li Fei wanting to resonate with the Dream-Commanding Order became even harder.

But this breakthrough in mental power, combined with the progress of "dual cultivation of technique and martial arts," allowed Li Fei's virtual thoughts to also take advantage of the situation to complete a breakthrough, successfully sensing the "breathing" of the Dream-Commanding Order.

Li Fei touched his chest with his hand, suppressing the urge to resonate with the Dream-Commanding Order right now.

The Dream-Commanding Order would not cause others to sense it in a "sleeping" state, even if a True Monarch was face-to-face, they wouldn't discover it.

But it might not be the case in a resonant state.

Not to mention that people from the Nightmare Sect might still be spying in the dark.

So Li Fei held back.

Not now.

Martial arts cultivation, even breaking through from the Qi-Transformation stage to the Foundation Establishment stage, before incorporating the second type of implant, the increase in combat power would not be very obvious.

And the increase in combat power next had to be step by step; there was no possibility of soaring into the sky.

But technique cultivation was different.

After entering the Possession stage, one only needed a formidable magic treasure, and the combat power of a mage could undergo a earth-shaking change!

A Great Mage who had entered the Possession stage for many years with profound cultivation being defeated by a Great Mage who had just entered the Possession stage but resonated with a formidable magic treasure.

Such situations happened from time to time.

And the magic treasure in Li Fei's hand was a True One magic treasure left by a True Monarch, the supreme treasure of the Nightmare Sect, the strongest of the tier below magic treasures.

This meant that once he entered the Possession stage, he would immediately be the top Great Mage!

PS: One update today, will make up for it tomorrow, sorry.

(End of chapter) ===== CHAPTER 341 =====