Chapter 841

Xiao Sanxiao made a stunning appearance, smoothing over the hole in the sky.

Afterwards, Huang Tian's Buddha-body perished and his Dao vanished, Tie Muzhen in despair committed suicide, and so on — all such matters.

The Black Ice Terrace naturally had no way of learning this, and within this Black Dragon secret scroll, naturally it was not mentioned either.

It could only be vague and sketchy, and apart from letting Ying Zheng sigh in admiration, it had no other use.

The ministers of Great Qin, hearing this news, all fell silent and speechless.

Great Tang, Great Ming Palace, within the Bright Hall.

This time, the civil and military officials of Great Tang were all gathered within this Bright Hall.

In splendid robes and ornate crowns, solemn beyond compare.

The pomp was far more lavish than the annual Heaven-Worshipping Grand Rite, which required the Empress to personally preside over.

The civil officials were led by Di Renjie, the military officials by Su Dingfang.

Upon the vermilion steps, Empress Wu Zetian sat upright and solemn.

Three ceremonial cannon-shots rang out, and a chief Eunuch, in that distinctive duck-like voice, shouted at the top of his lungs,

"Welcome the Palace Master of Yihua Palace, Yaoyue, to audience!"

Layer by layer the announcement was passed down, and the next moment, the chief of the female officials, Shangguan Wan'er, personally led a tall, cold, and handsome beauty in palace attire as she walked in.

"The Palace Master of Yihua Palace, Yaoyue, pays respects to the Great Tang Empress!"

If it had been before, Yaoyue would likely have had to perform the full great rite of obeisance.

But this time, she merely offered a light, graceful curtsy, treating the assembled lords upon the Bright Hall as if they were not there.

Wu Zetian did not take it amiss in the slightest; instead, she gently raised her hand in a supportive gesture,

"Palace Master Yaoyue, you need not stand on ceremony. Please, come up and sit."

As she spoke, she pointed to a chair beside her Long Yi.

Upon the vermilion steps, none but the Son of Heaven may sit.

Yet today, this one chair had been set out, and not a single lord of the court said a word against it.

For Yaoyue's coming this time represented not merely Yihua Palace.

Yaoyue's visit was, in truth, on behalf of the Qinglong Society!

Seeing that an empress, of all people, should be so courteous to her,

Yaoyue's understanding of the Qinglong Society's might deepened further in her heart.

Her face showed neither arrogance nor timidity.

Accompanied by Shangguan Wan'er, she slowly ascended the vermilion steps and sat down steadily upon that chair.

"In the past, there were many misunderstandings with the Qinglong Society and Yihua Palace.

Today, Palace Master Yaoyue has not hesitated to come in person; this puts my heart greatly at ease.

As the saying goes, no fight, no acquaintance. Whatever has passed between us, I ask Palace Master Yaoyue to be magnanimous."

As she spoke, Wu Zetian lightly clapped her hands twice.

The next moment, pairs of palace maids walked in, bearing trays.

Upon those trays were either spiritual medicines, or treasured swords and divine weapons, or even Wu Gong secret manuals — all manner of things, too many to enumerate.

"Compared with the treasured collections of the Qinglong Society and Yihua Palace, these gifts naturally cannot compare.

But they are also a token of Great Tang's sincerity; I ask Palace Master Yaoyue to kindly accept them."

Wu Zetian said with a faint smile, speaking generously.

Not a single one of these spiritual medicines was less than three hundred years old.

As for Wu Gong manuals, treasured swords, and divine weapons, none were below the Mystic grade.

Among them were not a few of the Earth grade, and even one or two items of the Heaven grade!

Within the Qinglong Society, naturally these would count as nothing remarkable.

But here at Yihua Palace, these gifts already surpassed the entirety of Yihua Palace's own collection.

Even though Yaoyue had visited the Qinglong Society, at this moment she could not help being moved by Wu Zetian's generosity.

"Your Majesty is far too courteous! Whatever has passed between us was truly all a misunderstanding.

I can only blame myself for having lived long in the jianghu and caught too much of its air."

Yihua Palace was, after all, within the Great Tang Realm, and now Yaoyue herself had received such a grand gift at the very heart of Great Tang.

As Palace Master, Yaoyue naturally understood the principle of courtesy demanding reciprocity.

From within her bosom — no one knew where — she produced a secret manual and presented it upon Wu Zetian's imperial desk,

"This is our Yihua Palace's supreme treasure, the 'Ming Yu Gong.'

Practicing this art, one may retain essence and qi without leakage, preserving eternal youth.

Your Majesty's beauty is the very splendor of a golden age; should you obtain this art, I daresay you could claim first place even upon the Heavenly Dao Hundred Flowers Ranking."

It turned out this secret manual was precisely the Ming Yu Gong that Wu Zetian had long coveted!

And it was precisely because of this Ming Yu Gong that Wu Zetian had dispatched the Buliang Ren to Yihua Palace to seize it by force.

Who could have known that the Qinglong Society behind Yihua Palace was far too overbearing — in a single stroke, they purged half of Great Tang's bureaucratic apparatus.

It was precisely this incident that let all the world know of the Qinglong Society's iron fist and overbearing might.

So much so that before any major power could contemplate dealing with the Qinglong Society, they had to think thrice before acting.

"So this is the Ming Yu Gong. Palace Master Yaoyue is most thoughtful."

Even though the Ming Yu Gong had now gradually fallen into the ordinary, Wu Zetian, seeing the divine art she had once longed to obtain, was still slightly moved.

Without any Gu Ji toward Yaoyue being right beside her, she picked it up and flipped through it.

In truth, she knew the reason Yaoyue was being so generous this time was that Yaoyue already possessed an improved version of the Ming Yu Gong, refined by the Great Dragon Head Ximen Wudi.

The improved version of the Bright Jade Art not only preserves eternal youth and noticeably boosts cultivation, but—

it can also make the practitioner's appearance increasingly outstanding!

Take Master Hua Xi, for example — it was precisely by relying on this improved Bright Jade Art that she grew from an ordinary woman to the point of making it onto the Heavenly Dao Hundred Flowers Ranking.

But in Wu Zetian's eyes, none of that mattered.

What mattered most was that the improved Bright Jade Art came from the hands of the great Longshou Ximen Wudi.

How she longed to see just how outstanding the Bright Jade Art improved by the great Longshou Ximen Wudi truly was!

What a pity!

Sighing inwardly yet keeping a smile on her face, Wu Zetian closed the Bright Jade Art.

"Palace Master Yaoyue, may I ask what instruction the Qinglong Society has for us with this visit?"

Yaoyue also broke into a smile — a generation's empress was actually about to heed the Qinglong Society's instruction.

This thigh she'd hugged so casually was truly a thick one!

"Your Majesty! The Qinglong Society wishes to invite important officials of your esteemed nation to ascend the Qinglong Peak in the coming days!"

Yaoyue's words caught Wu Zetian completely off guard.

"What? Qinglong Peak? I…"

Wu Zetian immediately came to her senses, dropped the royal 'zhen' as well, and blurted out on the spot, preparing to say she would go in person.

Shangguan Wan'er was also shaken by Yaoyue's words.

She had never imagined that the Qinglong Society would take the initiative to invite important officials of the Great Tang up to Qinglong Peak.

She too came to her senses at once — with such a fine opportunity, how could her own empress hold herself back?

But if she really let her empress say so before a watching crowd, where would the Great Tang's face be put!

Sure enough, hearing Wu Zetian open her mouth, Shangguan Wan'er sensed something was wrong and immediately stopped her,

"I'll go!"

"Wan'er…"

Wu Zetian gazed at Shangguan Wan'er, who had stepped in front of her and cut off her words, and could not help feeling full of grievance.

Such a wonderful opportunity — why couldn't this close friend of hers understand her?

It was only when Shangguan Wan'er turned back and shot her a look that Wu Zetian finally understood.

This was the Bright Hall, before all the ministers.

"Good! Though my lord Shangguan is a woman, she holds high rank and real authority in the Great Tang, and is indeed suitable."

Yaoyue watched the exchange between this ruler and minister before her and could not help being taken aback for a moment.