[Year 758]
[With Crown Prince Fei Heng controlling the Immortal Suppression Department to suppress rebels, and Imperial Preceptor Min—burdened with concern for the nation—diligently managing state affairs, no one dares to disturb the peace of the Azure Dynasty.
Implementing severe laws, the Dynasty has established a thousand rules for worldly factions.
Cultivators above the Divinity Transformation realm are forbidden from using Spiritual power lightly, and major Imperial Prefecture Cities are prohibited from warring with one another.
This has allowed the Dynasty to gradually recover its vitality, making the name of the Immortal Suppression Department something that strikes terror into major factions.]
[Crown Prince Fei Heng has personally led a campaign against the Wu Clan, forcing them to retreat in the Shadowfell Prefecture. Crown Prince Fei Heng has sworn to recover the lost territories.]
"Phew."
In this year, Li Wei exited his seclusion.
To his surprise, the geopolitical landscape of the world had changed once again.
Azure Cloud Prefecture remained much the same.
Under the Li Clan's control, the "Three Families and Six Sects," the Four Great Powers of Azure Cloud, along with the former Sun Family and the Ethereal Immortal Sect, were occupying territories within Azure Cloud Prefecture and gradually strengthening themselves.
Back then, the lands of the two prefectures combined had a total of five Void Refining cultivators and around two hundred Divinity Transformation cultivators.
Presumably, they would still need a very long time to rest and rehabilitate before they could restore their former glory.
Of course, this calculation did not include the Li Clan.
The Azure Cloud Li Clan had long since gone into seclusion, having transcended the scope of Azure Cloud Prefecture's power itself.
Meanwhile, within the Imperial Capital, a grand meeting was taking place inside the Immortal Suppression Department.
Commander Wu Neng of the Immortal Suppression Department could be seen conferring with four individuals present.
Wu Neng, a man who would look completely unremarkable in a crowd, sat at the head seat.
Seated below him on the left and right were four people, and Li Chang'an was among them.
"Thanks to your four factions over these past years, my Imperial Dynasty has been able to enjoy peace, eradicating those forces that commit crimes and do evil."
The three seated below chimed in with flattery without exception, but Li Chang'an remained silent, quietly observing the other three.
Every era shapes its own figures and factions.
Since the great turmoil of the Azure Imperial Dynasty began, major Hidden Factions had emerged from seclusion and had long since carved up the entire Dynasty among themselves.
Most factions originally under the Dynasty's protection had either been exterminated by these Hidden Factions or forced to join them.
Yet, some factions had managed to rise abruptly, eradicating any Hidden Factions that dared to invade them.
The four individuals present represented the rare existences within the Azure Dynasty capable of resisting the Hidden Factions.
They had all aligned themselves with the Imperial Court, wielding the decrees of the Immortal Suppression Department to exercise authority on behalf of the Crown Prince and shelter their respective regions.
"The Heavenly Monarch Dao Sanctuary, the Sacred Sword Pavilion, and the Sunreach Prefecture Zhangsun Clan."
Li Chang'an gazed at the three of them.
The Li Clan was most familiar with the Sacred Sword Pavilion.
That imposing man seated there, wearing a white robe trimmed with gold, was Fang Yunyu, the Sword Master of the Pavilion.
He had once been soundly defeated by Li Yaozu right in front of the Sword Pavilion, where both his Storage Ring and personal sword were snatched away by Li Yaozu.
Back then, a faction possessing Body Integration strength dared to behave insolently at the Sword Pavilion.
The old monsters within the Pavilion suddenly emerged, and one hundred thousand sword cultivators poured out together.
In less than a year, that Body Integration faction was completely annihilated.
As for the Heavenly Monarch Dao Sanctuary: within the Sanctuary, those at the Divinity Transformation realm were titled "Perfected Ones," while those at the Void Refining realm were known as "Heavenly Monarchs."
Rumor had it that the Sanctuary possessed two Heavenly Monarchs.
However, as the Hidden Factions emerged into the world, those "two" Heavenly Monarchs turned out to be six, and a "Sage Monarch" even appeared.
A Hidden Sect that assumed the current Azure Dynasty lacked any major powers truly poked the hornet's nest that was the Dao Sanctuary.
It is said that the Sage Monarch of the Heavenly Monarch Dao Sanctuary chased the opposing Body Integration cultivator all the way to the maritime region, threatening that should that cultivator dare to return to the Azure Dynasty, he would gouge out their eyes and destroy their tongue.
Rumor has it that the Body Integration cultivator remains overseas to this day.
As for the Sunreach Prefecture Zhangsun Clan, their representative was a dignified and graceful woman who carried herself with natural poise.
Her name was Zhangsun Buhuo.
In the Zhangsun lineage, women hold the power, and they are most skilled at forming marriage alliances.
Women from the Zhangsun family have married into every great Immortal Clan and major faction in the world.
People often jest that this family rose to power simply by selling their beauty.
Who could have known?
When a Hidden Faction attempted to seize Sunreach Prefecture, the Zhangsun family simply raised a call to arms, and thousands of factions from all over the Azure Dynasty rushed to their aid.
Even from Azure Cloud Prefecture, over a dozen factions journeyed there, thoroughly scaring off that Hidden Faction.
Within two years, the Body Integration cultivator of that Hidden Faction breathed his last; no one knows how that Mighty One died.
Just how strong the Zhangsun family truly is remains a mystery to this day.
As for the Azure Cloud Li Clan, in the eyes of the world, were it not for their close relationship with Fei Heng, the Li Clan would not be qualified to wield authority equal to the other three factions, nor would they be worthy of being grouped with them as the most powerful factions of the Imperial Dynasty in these past ten thousand years.
"The reason I have called you here this time is to find the Three Corpses of Lingtian."
Wu Neng's words stirred up a thousand waves of shock.
The fact that obtaining the Three Corpses offers a chance for Body Integration had already become common knowledge.
The four major powers present had all been secretly investigating, but mostly without result.
Zhangsun Buhuo's delicate brows knitted tightly.
"The matter of Lingtian's Three Corpses is causing a chaotic uproar in the world.
Are the Immortal Suppression Department and His Highness the Crown Prince also interested in it?"
Wu Neng spoke in a grave voice,
"King Yu desires the Three Corpses of Lingtian; he surely has a major purpose for them.
A few days ago, His Majesty sought me out, stating only that Lingtian must absolutely not be allowed to reappear in the world.
My Immortal Suppression Department has already determined that two factions are connected to the Three Corpses; we need you to suppress them."
"However, someone in the Court harbors different ideas, running contrary to His Majesty's command.
This matter can only be entrusted to you; I must go and contend with the person pulling the strings behind the scenes."
Hearing this, the group began to converse among themselves.
"...."
Li Chang'an remained silent.
These people had no intention of including him in the conversation.
Seeing that he was completely out of place, Li Chang'an simply chose not to utter a single word.
He was used to it. Being an invisible man was actually quite nice.
As expected, after the meeting, he sent a message to the Old Ancestor.
The Old Ancestor replied with just three words: "Do not participate."
At this moment.
Inside the Ancestral Space, Li Wei glared.
"Who do they think they are looking down on?"
"Hmph!"
[Your descendant Li Yaotie has crafted a total of two sets of the 'Void-Soul Exchanging Dao Technique' over the years.]
[Your descendant Li Yunlin, having undergone the inheritance of Ming Daozi from the Myriad Dao Immortal Palace, and aided by the numerous spiritual items and Rule Powers of the 'Skyveil Hall,' has successfully constructed a Void Refining Dimension within the Skyveil Hall!]
[Breakthrough: Early Stage of Void Refining!]
Outside the Immortal Suppression Department, Li Chang'an watched the receding figures of the representatives from the three major factions, who had clearly marginalized him and were now departing together.
Li Wei stood alongside Li Chang'an.
The Old Ancestor looked at the panel before him, gritting his teeth.
"My Yunlin broke through to Void Refining on his own. Just you wait until my descendants grow up."
As he vented his spleen, Li Wei suddenly felt he was being too childish.
He turned his head away fiercely.
"Hmph!"
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