Chapter 606: Monarch and Subject

On the Altar of Heaven square, the solemn and grave ceremony continued, with the vast Dragon Qi of the Son of Heaven hanging high in the sky, swallowing and replenishing the national fortune.

The two people with the highest cultivation realms present were the "God of War" Wenren Zheng and Prince Li, both Martial Saints.

One was suppressing the national fortune, while the other was "assisting" the Emperor.

All fifteen True Persons of the Law Enforcement Pavilion were exerting their full strength to operate the grand array, seeking to ensure that the river of fortune coming from the Great Luo Sect could enter the "Dragon's Mouth" without the slightest waste.

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

However, the official from the Cease-War Pavilion who suddenly jumped out to assassinate was too weak.

A mere Dao Foundation realm.

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

The Cease-War Pavilion alone had four Grandmasters and over twenty Martial Arts Masters present, and there were also strong members of the Imperial Guard and several eunuchs with unfathomable cultivation around the Altar of Heaven.

For a Dao Foundation realm martial artist to jump out and 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 the vast sea!

As this audacious assassin leaped high into the air, at least seven divine abilities landed on him, and several martial arts domains were blooming.

As for the high-level force he struck toward the Altar of Heaven, it annihilated in mid-air after flying less than ten meters.

Along with it, the assassin himself was annihilated!

This scene frightened the Martial Arts Masters who had attacked until their faces turned bloodless, and those who had not yet had the chance to attack also stopped one after another.

No one dared to directly kill this assassin!

The power that killed the assassin came from within himself.

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

This was a meticulously planned—suicide, with every step calculated with extreme precision.

Without prior knowledge, even a Grandmaster could not stop such a suicide, but power that reached the pinnacle of the mortal world could.

The annihilation of the assassin's body happened in the blink of an eye, but in this instant when no one could intervene, a force forcibly inserted itself!

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

Below the Altar of Heaven, Wenren Zheng withdrew his gaze.

This "God of War" was the strongest person in the imperial court; even Prince Li, who was also a Martial Saint, was considered half a student in front of him.

Thus, while both were exerting their full strength to use Dao principles to ensure the national fortune did not go wrong, Prince Li could not spare the effort to act, but Wenren Zheng could divide his attention to "pinch" a mosquito, then withdraw his power and steadily continue to suppress the national fortune.

Without a single ripple.

The assassin, whose body had been frozen by Wenren Zheng using Dao principles, fell from the air.

He was already dead, but the broken corpse, annihilated halfway, had been forcibly preserved.

As the corpse hit the ground, the surrounding Martial Arts Masters subconsciously dodged to the sides, avoiding it like a venomous snake or scorpion.

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

On the Altar of Heaven, given the Emperor's reaction speed, it was not until the assassin's corpse hit the ground that he realized what had happened.

His expression remained unchanged; he glanced at it coldly, then withdrew his gaze and continued to maintain the Dragon Qi of the Son of Heaven.

This caused many in the Cease-War Pavilion who wanted to kneel and beg for forgiveness to forcibly restrain their knees.

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

Prince Li's expression was cold and stern, and he did not say a word.

Thus, the sacrificial ceremony continued.

If not for the half-corpse that had suddenly appeared on the ground and the fact that the formation of the Cease-War Pavilion was clearly a bit chaotic, it would have been as if nothing had happened.

But the state of mind of the civil and military officials was already completely different from just a moment ago.

Everyone had surging waves in their hearts!

The schemes of Qingxu and the tragedy of Mingsheng were already known to these ministers in the court.

Even if they did not know all the inside details and the loss of the Dragon Qi of the Son of Heaven, they were aware of the news that over nine hundred thousand people had died in Mingsheng and over a dozen cities had been burned down.

This damage was second only to the national war nineteen years ago!

Relevant news was naturally to be sealed off; the imperial court was doing its utmost to reduce the turmoil caused by this disaster.

Today's sacrificial ceremony, which was clearly different in scale from the past, was obviously also one of the means to "make amends."

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

An assassin of the Dao Foundation realm.

Everyone knew that it was absolutely impossible for this assassin to successfully assassinate the Son of Heaven; he could not even get within a hundred paces of the Altar of Heaven.

Yet he still jumped out and shouted such rebellious words.

Then the purpose of this assassination was also very clear.

He did not intend to strike at the dragon body of the Son of Heaven, but to strike at the state of mind of everyone!

The national war nineteen years ago was naturally a disgrace to the Great Lan Dynasty and had brought huge damage to the Great Lan Dynasty.

But fortunately, there were pillars of the nation like Senior Grand Secretary Ye Ze, who "patched the cracks in the sky," successfully pushed for the Mingxin Reform, continued a "breath" for the Great Lan Dynasty, and gradually recouped the losses.

A series of recent actions by the imperial court had further suppressed the Daoists, reclaimed the power of the Justice Academies in various places, and won over the Buddhists, giving the number of evil-suppressing weapons a chance to advance further.

Seeing the national strength rising day by day, many people were already dreaming of the arrival of a prosperous age.

But this shocking upheaval in Mingsheng had almost wiped out all previous efforts!

Overnight, the Great Lan Dynasty seemed to be returning to the state of decline of those years!

Now that such an extremely vile assassination had occurred at the sacrificial ceremony, it was inevitable that people's hearts would be unsettled.

With feelings of trepidation, panic, and anxiety, the civil and military officials waited for over an hour during the sacrificial ceremony, finally waiting for the ceremony 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 disappeared quickly.

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 ten thousand times!"

Before the Emperor could speak, Ni Xuan, the Pavilion Master of the Cease-War Pavilion, was the first to kneel and beg for forgiveness.

Subsequently, the three Deputy Pavilion Masters, a group of pavilion members, and officials all knelt down!

The Great Lan Dynasty had always treated martial artists favorably; a Dao Foundation realm martial artist could see the monarch without kneeling.

But at this moment, 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 experts remained kneeling.

The atmosphere at the scene began to become heavy.

"What crime do you have?"

After a long time, the Emperor finally spoke.

"I failed to recognize talent, was negligent in supervision, and allowed a traitor to infiltrate the Cease-War Pavilion without knowing, leading to a grave mistake!"

Ni Xuan said while kneeling on the ground, his head kept low, not daring to lift it.

"You say you were negligent in supervision; does the Supervision Pavilion not also have a share in this responsibility of supervising the hundred officials?"

The Emperor continued to ask.

"I am guilty!"

As his voice fell, the Pavilion Master of the Supervision Pavilion also quickly knelt down, not even daring to argue a single word for himself.

All hundred officials of the Supervision Pavilion knelt down as well.

Below the Altar of Heaven, a large area was already covered in black as people knelt.

The Emperor did not even glance at these people, continuing to ask:

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

"I am guilty!"

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

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

This made the already terrified ministers present even more horrified.

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

Was he planning a great purge?!

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

Some ministers could not help but want to speak out and remonstrate.

Even at the risk of the Emperor's thunderous rage, they had to prevent such a thing that would harm the country from happening.

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

"Senior Grand Secretary."

"I am here."

Even at this moment, Ye Ze remained calm, bowing with composure.

With Mount Tai collapsing before him, his expression did not change; today, this Senior Grand Secretary showed such demeanor to the ministers.

"Just now, the Pavilion Master of the Cease-War Pavilion said he committed a grave mistake; where do you think this grave mistake lies?"

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

Ye Ze replied calmly:

"Failure to recognize talent, ineffective supervision, allowing someone to disrupt the grand ceremony, and damaging the dignity of the Son of Heaven."

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

The Emperor looked at him.

Ye Ze said without hesitation:

"During the era of the Five Kingdoms' struggle for hegemony, the State of Zhou suffered a three-year drought. An assassin attempted to assassinate the King's carriage in the street but failed. The King of Zhou was furious and vowed to investigate the assassin, which ultimately led to suspicion among the ministers, internal chaos in the imperial court, and the state's destruction by the State of Qi two years later."

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

This answer made many of the ministers present break into a cold sweat.

The implication of Ye Ze bringing up this history at this moment was very clear:

If the Emperor were to be as fixated on investigating this assassination as the King of Zhou was back then, and strictly prosecute it at this critical juncture, he might also end up causing internal chaos in the country, thereby repeating the mistakes of the State of Zhou!

And if the Emperor did not intend to severely punish the ministers, then this assassination could at most only damage some of the Son of Heaven's prestige.

Only Ye Ze dared to say such things, and only he, as the Senior Grand Secretary, was qualified to say it to the Son of Heaven!

Everyone was anxiously waiting for the Emperor's reaction.

The Emperor shook his head: "The Senior Grand Secretary is mistaken."

These words made everyone's hearts jump into their throats.

But the Emperor did not get angry; instead, he laughed:

"My prestige lies in the lands of the four seas, in the hundreds of millions of people, in the abundance of martial virtue, and in the unity of people's hearts. How could it be damaged by the assassination of a mere commoner?"

Ye Ze followed the lead, bowing and saluting:

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

How could the ministers not understand now?

Including Wenren Zheng and Prince Li, everyone bowed one after another and said in unison:

"Your Majesty is wise!"

Clearly, the Emperor had never thought about truly punishing the ministers severely from the very beginning.

And Ye Ze was the first person to read his mind, so he cooperated with great tacit understanding.

Through this exchange of questions and answers, the two monarch and subject eliminated much of the negative impact brought about by this assassination.

The two checked and balanced each other in the imperial court while simultaneously cooperating; everyone knew that the Mingxin Reform was Ye Ze's greatest political achievement.

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

It was only after the two had cooperated for more than a decade that this successful reform came to be.

Today, without any communication between them, they completed another act of cooperation.

"Ni Xuan, Zhongli Peng."

The Emperor separately called the names of the Pavilion Master of the Stop-Weapon Pavilion and the Pavilion Master of the Supervisory Pavilion.

"Your subject is here."

The two remained in a kneeling position.

"The assassin must still be investigated; I want the truth. However, while you may investigate the case, you must not implicate others at will."

The Emperor said.

Ni Xuan and Zhongli Peng felt a huge weight lifted off their shoulders and hurriedly accepted the decree to express their gratitude.

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

Thus, this breathtaking Heaven-Worship Ceremony finally came to an end.

A thousand miles away at the Great Luo Sect, the Heaven-Worship Grand Ceremony also concluded.

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

"Dual cultivation of Dharma and Martial Arts has been a perilous path since ancient times. In the past thousand years, only one person has walked it through. You need not be discouraged, nor should you belittle yourself."

Xiang Yunshu took the initiative to comfort Li Fei.

Just a little bit more, and Li Fei could have leaped over the "Dragon Gate," with his mental power reaching the "Realm of Connecting to the Divine," but he ultimately failed due to the "dual cultivation of Dharma and Martial Arts."

Xiang Yunshu was worried that this "first in history" would have his state of mind clouded.

"Thank you for your concern, National Master. Being able to have this progress is already a blessing; I am very content."

Li Fei said calmly.

Xiang Yunshu looked at him earnestly, confirming that his state of mind was indeed unaffected, and then 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 Dao Foundation Realm, and he was only half a step away from entering the realm of a Martial Arts Master.

The "dual cultivation of Dharma and Martial Arts" meant he ultimately failed to break through his realm, but it also allowed him to make huge progress on another path:

Transforming his mental power into virtual thoughts, Li Fei immediately felt something different from before.

He felt the "breathing" of the Dream-Command Token in his bosom!

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-Command Token.

Resonating with a magic tool is the key to the Possession Realm; it can not only make one's own virtual thoughts stronger but also make the magic tool more powerful. For the same technique, when performed with the same magic tool, the power in the Possession Realm can be increased several times over!

Feeling the "breathing" of the Dream-Command Token meant that Li Fei could break through to the Possession Realm at any time!

Breaking through with the help of an existing magic tool is a "shortcut" method, but the difficulty of resonance is extremely high.

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

After not daring to easily enter the "Dream Realm," it became even harder for Li Fei to resonate with the Dream-Command Token.

But this breakthrough in mental power, coupled with the gains from "dual cultivation of Dharma and Martial Arts," allowed Li Fei's virtual thoughts to also complete a breakthrough, successfully sensing the "breathing" of the Dream-Command Token.

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

The Dream-Command Token would not attract others' attention in its "slumbering" state; even a True Person standing right in front of him had not discovered it.

But that was not necessarily the case in a state of resonance.

Furthermore, people from the Nightmare Sect might still be lurking in the shadows.

So Li Fei held back.

Not now.

In martial arts cultivation, even when breaking through from the Qi-Transformation Realm to the Dao Foundation Realm, the increase in combat power would not be very obvious before incorporating a second implant.

Moreover, the subsequent increase in combat power had to be taken step by step; there was no possibility of soaring into the sky in one leap.

But cultivation in the way of techniques was different.

After entering the Possession Realm, one only needed a powerful magic tool for a sorcerer's combat power to undergo a earth-shaking change!

A Great Sorcerer who had been in the Possession Realm for many years with profound cultivation could be defeated by a Great Sorcerer who had just entered the Possession Realm but had resonated with a powerful magic tool.

Such situations happened from time to time.

And the magic tool in Li Fei's hand was a True-One magic tool left behind by a True Person; it was the supreme treasure of the Nightmare Sect and belonged to the strongest tier below magic treasures.

This meant that once he entered the Possession Realm, he would immediately be a top-tier Great Sorcerer!

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

(End of chapter)