Tianwu City, inside the Junior Mentor's mansion.
Li Taian stumbled all the way back. As soon as he landed, he looked up at the current Junior Mentor and gritted his teeth, "My Lord, we cannot hesitate any longer!"
"We must find a way to disband the Imperial City Division."
Hearing this, the Junior Mentor instantly showed a look of difficulty. "What happened? The Imperial City Division was established by His Majesty after all. What can we do?"
"Besides, the matter of His Majesty's assassination hasn't been clarified yet..."
"We can't investigate anymore!"
Li Taian gritted his teeth. "He isn't investigating assassins or Demonic Sect spies at all; he's using the opportunity to eliminate dissidents. If you ask me, he looks more like a Demonic Sect spy."
Speaking up to here, he looked around and lowered his voice:
"I even suspect... he is that Lord from Jiangxi playing his old tricks again, secretly coming to our Dao Court to seek unorthodox gains! My Lord, we must be on guard!"
"That Lord from Jiangxi!?" The Junior Mentor was also greatly shocked upon hearing this. Then he said with a worried face, "But now he has controlled the Five Imperial Military Commanders' Mansion and gained the support of Her Majesty the Empress and His Highness the Crown Prince. With so many officials of the Imperial City Division following him, he has already become a force to be reckoned with..."
"That [One Heart Society] is the biggest problem!"
Li Taian said in a deep voice, "His Majesty was deceived by that demon dragon. His Highness the Crown Prince and Her Majesty the Empress have also been misled. We must find a way to set things right!"
"...What do you plan to do?" the Junior Mentor asked.
Li Taian took a deep breath and stated his idea: "Invite Zhennan King Wu Taian to enter the capital! He is His Majesty's younger brother, his status no lower than the Crown Prince."
"As long as he stands on our side, we will have a firm footing in name."
"But before that, someone must restrict that demon dragon's movements and deter him. We cannot let him continue to be so arrogant."
After speaking, Li Taian turned around. "Pingyi, this matter must be left to you."
At these words, the current Junior Preceptor Zheng Pingyi finally raised his head. He shook his head with a calm expression. "Sorry, I don't want to participate in this kind of power struggle..."
"This is not a power struggle!"
Li Taian abruptly raised his voice. "Can't you see it yet? That demon dragon is suspected to be the World Honored One's hidden hand. One careless move, and the world could be turned upside down!"
"Have you forgotten the fate of the previous dynasty?"
"This..."
Seeing Zheng Pingyi's expression waver, Li Taian took another step forward and grabbed his hand directly. "If this continues, the state will truly no longer be a state."
"The Dao Court is in a moment of crisis, by relying on me alone... I truly can't do anything."
By the end, Li Taian was even somewhat choked up. Finally, he whispered, "Pingyi, you just need to keep an eye on that demon dragon. Don't worry about anything else."
As personal disciples of the Three Excellencies, among the three of them, the Junior Preceptor was the most special. He had absolutely no interest in Dao Court power struggles; all his energy was focused on combat techniques. Therefore, his combat power was also the strongest. At least in Li Taian's eyes, the current Junior Preceptor Zheng Pingyi should be the number one person in Foundation Establishment within the Dao Court.
With him watching that demon dragon, he could be at ease.
Immediately after, he looked at the Junior Mentor: "The Imperial City Division is just a mob. As long as Pingyi can restrict that demon dragon, there is still hope!"
"Besides this, we must also persuade Her Majesty the Empress and make her understand that demon dragon's ambition."
"As long as Her Majesty the Empress and His Highness the Crown Prince no longer support that demon dragon, he will be unable to stand alone. The more glorious he was before, the harder he will fall."
"In short, that demon dragon has already gained the allegiance of the Five Imperial Military Commanders. We absolutely cannot let him obtain the Son of Heaven's Seal. Otherwise, once he controls the Five Armies and combines them with the Son of Heaven's Seal to obtain the status of [Imperial Descent], the trend will truly be irreversible, and no one will be of any use."
"Everyone understands the reasoning."
The Junior Mentor sighed. "But how to do it? The Son of Heaven's Seal is in the Empress's hands, and the Empress is in the Tianwu Hall. Now the Tianwu Hall is blockaded by the Imperial City Division..."
"This is simple."
Li Taian said in a deep voice, "This time the Imperial City Division is scouring the whole city, incurring the wrath of heaven and the resentment of men. I plan to summon all officials to go to the Xuanwu Gate together to remonstrate."
The Junior Mentor's expression changed instantly. "Don't talk nonsense!"
"That Du Huan is ruthless. If he gets vicious, it's not impossible for him to wipe out all the remonstrating officials in one breath. People will die..."
"Dead people are exactly what we want!"
Li Taian said fiercely, "If people don't die, how can Her Majesty the Empress and His Highness the Crown Prince see that demon dragon's ambition and understand that he is definitely not a loyal and righteous person?"
Under the rules of the Dao Court, the Imperial Family and the officials had always complemented each other. So Li Taian was very certain that even if Empress Xiao wanted to suppress them, she couldn't possibly go on a killing spree.
So if the officials made a scene like this, if nothing else, at least Empress Xiao and His Highness the Crown Prince would have to show their faces.
This way, Lu Yang would be put on the spot.
If he sat by and did nothing, they could publicly remonstrate with Empress Xiao, informing her of Lu Yang's ambition. If not driving a wedge, at least they could make Empress Xiao wary.
But if he intervened and prevented Empress Xiao from meeting the officials?
Then without their remonstration, Empress Xiao herself would become fearful of Lu Yang... Therefore, this move of Li Taian could be called an open and upright overt plot.
The only drawback was that people might die.
But a thousand deaths is a statistic; ten thousand or a hundred thousand deaths is also a statistic. If they die, so be it. So be it; their hearts were with the entire nation.
"Anyway, official positions can be bestowed again. The more who die, the better!" Li Taian said sternly. "The state has nurtured scholars for fifteen thousand years, and now is the time to uphold righteousness and die for our principles!"
...
Five Imperial Military Commanders' Mansion.
Lu Yang sat upright on a grand armchair, his eyes slightly closed, forming a hand seal. His originally fair skin actually glowed with a dark gold color.
On that hand, the dark gold color gathered, finally transforming into lines of patterns engraved between Lu Yang's five fingers as if carved by knife and axe. If one looked closely, one could clearly see these radiant talisman patterns combining with each other to form the names of divine abilities.
[Heaven-Severing Sword Technique], [Heartless Annihilation Slash].
[Lawless and Thoughtless], [Dust-Cleaving Form-Severing Cut].
[One Thought Divine Blade].
These were the Life-Bound Divine Abilities of the Five Imperial Military Commanders. Now, however, they had all been stripped away by Lu Yang using [The Wise Ruler] and merged into the [Gilded Gold Commanding-Arms Talisman].
Incredible...
Feeling the Gilded Talisman suspended in his palm, a look of surprise and joy appeared in the depths of Lu Yang's eyes— The power of this dao art... probably exceeds my imagination even more!
Empress Xiao contributed greatly to this.
The Life-Bound Divine Abilities of the five Imperial camp commanders complemented each other. After being unified by the [Gilded Gold Commanding-Arms Talisman], the stature of the divine abilities grew almost exponentially.
That is secondary.
The most important thing is that I still have [Tribulation Waves]. Combined with Sword Intent and blessed by the [Gilded Gold Commanding-Arms Talisman], the power erupted will inevitably reach the peak of perfection!
Besides this, Lu Yang had another unexpected delight.
That was because Lu Yang had successively cultivated three dao arts, deepening his understanding of [Heavenly Fire]. Coupled with his power-seizing actions in the Dao Court attracting [Heavenly Fire]'s attention, the difficult barrier that had plagued Lu Yang since Foundation Establishment Perfection finally loosened slightly.
[Heavenly Fire] embodies the transformations of Yin and Yang, the division of Sun and Moon.
In the sun, it is resolute, its brilliance bound to the firmament; in the moon, it is gentle and pliant, its clear glow sinking back into the seas. When sun and moon hang together in the heavens, warmth spreads across mountains and oceans alike, and light suffuses the vastness of the universe, leaving no corner unilluminated…
Massive amounts of knowledge flowed through Lu Yang's heart.
These were all his Dao comprehension , his understanding of [Heavenly Fire]. Under the filling of Dao comprehension, Lu Yang only felt his soul becoming harder and harder.
Under the scouring of Dao comprehension, the solid soul was also oscillating violently, like climbing a perilous peak and nearly falling midway, but Lu Yang persisted through it all. Until he thoroughly walked onto the summit, the accumulated Dao comprehension mixed with divine sense finally poured out like a flood bursting a dam.
"Ah!"
The next second, Lu Yang opened his eyes and suddenly let out a long howl. At the same time, within his soul, a golden light slowly emerged:
The first strand of Golden Nature... Golden Nature uniquely belonging to me... has been refined!