Imperial Cultivation

Two large sandalwood chests were quickly brought before him.

Zou Fang stepped forward and opened them.

Inside were rows of Venerable statues, arranged neatly.

In Chu Zhiyuan's eyes, these Venerable statues were filled with dense red lines.

This was completely different from the sparse red lines in his current Venerable statue.

He smiled and said, "Not bad."

The red lines on these Venerable statues varied in thickness, length, and size.

He would have to see the progress on Xu Haode's side.

The three women, having heard the news, rushed over and saw him examining the Venerable statues in the chests with great interest.

Shen Hanyue curled her lip and said, "These Venerable statues are truly ugly."

Xu Yingying said, "Yet they all have human faces. Are these the true appearances of those Venerables?"

Xiao Ruoling gently shook her head, "Probably not, right?"

She faintly felt that these were not their true appearances, and they probably wouldn't reveal their true faces.

Chu Zhiyuan closed his eyes, then opened them again, shaking his head, "These shouldn't be their true faces—they are transformations based on their cultivation methods."

This was purely his intuition.

Xu Yingying tilted her head and said, "Then, through these statues, can you discern the characteristics of their cultivation methods? But that's not very useful, is it?"

"It's not useful to me, but it's useful to ordinary martial artists."

In front of him, they would die in an instant, without any power to resist.

But for ordinary martial artists, they were still very powerful and terrifying.

Knowing their details and martial arts techniques was indeed very important.

Xu Yingying said, "Otherwise, you could write a book about their martial arts and spread it around."

"Good idea!" Xiao Ruoling clapped her hands.

Xu Yingying winked her big eyes at Shen Hanyue triumphantly, her smile curved like a crescent moon.

Shen Hanyue snorted, "Consider yourself smart!"

She also thought this was a good idea.

Chu Zhiyuan nodded, "Very well, I'll try to write something."

He looked at Xiao Ruoling, "I'll return to Yujing for a while. Is there anything you want me to bring back?"

"Return?" The three women were all surprised.

Chu Zhiyuan said, "I'm going to launch a surprise attack and sweep through Yujing again."

He remained vigilant about the abnormalities of these evil sect demons and was constantly pondering what they were up to.

They were bloodthirsty by nature, but suddenly stopped assassinating and remained still and patient, which meant they were brewing an even bigger plan.

"That's great!" Xu Yingying exclaimed, "A couple more rounds and they'll be completely terrified."

He laughed, "Ruoling, tell the guards outside that a lot of evil sect demons have poured into Tianjing City and are likely to cause trouble. Tell them to be prepared."

"These demons want to kill other people?" Xiao Ruoling frowned slightly.

Chu Zhiyuan said, "Most likely. They should have received the news."

The agreement he pushed forward between the three dynasties to jointly exterminate the evil sects should have spread.

The evil sect demons were bloodthirsty and unafraid of death, but that didn't mean they were stupid.

They also had smart people, and those Venerables were even smarter.

They were definitely trying to sabotage it.

One way was to kill him, and the other was to force Great Meng to disagree and put immense pressure on them.

What would they rely on to put pressure on Great Meng? Naturally, it was killing.

This was their specialty, a skill they used at the drop of a hat.

Xu Yingying frowned slightly, "They want to kill people indiscriminately in Tianjing City?"

Shen Hanyue gritted her teeth and said, "These inhuman bastards!"

Xu Yingying snorted, "They were never human to begin with—so what do we do?"

"I'll clean things up before I leave," Chu Zhiyuan said, "But—"

He pondered, "I'm just afraid that Great Meng won't appreciate it and will instead become angry out of shame."

The evil sect's move was risky. It could either scare the officials of Great Meng or anger them, prompting them to push forward the three-dynasty joint extermination agreement.

If they killed people in places other than Tianjing City, it definitely wouldn't scare the officials, but would instead anger them.

So they would inevitably create a large-scale massacre in Tianjing City.

"Then—" Xiao Ruoling said softly, "Wait and see?"

If they acted before the evil sect demons started killing, the people and officials of Great Meng wouldn't have experienced the pain firsthand and would indeed blame him for meddling.

But if they acted after the evil sect demons had already killed people, they would be grateful.

Chu Zhiyuan thought for a moment and shook his head, "I can't bear to do that. Let's try anyway."

Xiao Ruoling breathed a sigh of relief and quickly said, "Then let's tell Li Hongzhao first."

Acting after the evil sect had killed people was indeed more secure, but it required a colder heart.

The young lord was still kind-hearted.

Chu Zhiyuan nodded and asked Zou Fang to prepare paper and ink. He wrote a letter.

Inside the Chengtian Hall, Li Hongzhao, wearing a yellow robe, sat upright behind the dragon desk, her beautiful face stern.

She originally had an extraordinary aura, but now, wearing the yellow robe and putting on a straight face, she instantly possessed the full majesty of an emperor.

Below the dais, several middle-aged or old men in purple robes were arguing fiercely.

The argument was precisely about the terms of negotiation with Great Jing and Great Zhen.

Li Hongzhao watched coldly.

She saw a delicate eunuch enter the hall and stand motionless behind a coiling dragon pillar.

An old eunuch with white hair and beard beside her slowly walked over.

The little eunuch handed a letter to the old eunuch, and then quietly retreated.

Li Hongzhao glanced at the old eunuch.

He came close to the dragon desk, his lips moved slightly, and then he presented the letter.

Several important officials were still arguing, but as they argued, their eyes and ears were everywhere, and they saw what was happening there.

Li Hongzhao opened the letter, and after scanning it, she frowned her delicate eyebrows.

She glanced at the purple-robed officials and said lightly, "Esteemed officials."

The officials immediately stopped arguing.

"Chu Zhiyuan has sent a letter saying that the evil sect demons are preparing to carry out a large-scale massacre in Tianjing City, reminding us to pay attention and respond."

"The Fourth Prince of Great Jing, Chu Zhiyuan?" A round-faced old man said slowly. Li Hongzhao nodded.

The round-faced old man said in a deep voice, "He is saying this to put pressure on us, wanting us to agree to the three-dynasty joint extermination agreement, right?"

Li Hongzhao looked at the others.

A middle-aged man with a square face and dignified appearance cupped his fist and said, "Lord Qi, I have quite a good understanding of this Fourth Prince. He acts openly and honestly and wouldn't make false statements to intimidate us. There must be a basis for what he says."

The round-faced old man snorted, "He's not an evil sect demon, how would he know what the evil sect demons are going to do?"

He had always felt that the evil sect demons were fleas in dark corners, with limited threat.

There was no need to make such a big fanfare, which would only create turmoil among the people. It would be better to simply order the Flying Divine Arresters to focus on cracking down on these demons.

Issuing a few more arrest warrants would be enough to extinguish the arrogance of these demons.

The evil sects could never be completely eradicated. They were like chives, cut down one crop after another.

There was really no need to sign any agreement with Great Jing and Great Zhen. It would only give these demons too much face.

Li Hongzhao looked at the others.

"Your Majesty, this minister believes that the Fourth Prince's letter may be killing two birds with one stone, both putting pressure on us and being well-intentioned. Perhaps he really saw that the evil sect demons are preparing to cause trouble."

"It's just unknown how much good intentions and how much utilitarianism there is."

Li Hongzhao chuckled, "Esteemed officials, your words are indeed wise. So how should we respond?"

"Mobilize the city guards and increase manpower in important places everywhere to serve as a deterrent."

"Try to clear out the demons in advance. Let the Flying Divine Arresters get moving."

"Or we can ask the Fourth Prince for assistance," the middle-aged man with the dignified appearance said, "and also invite some extraordinary talents to help."

Li Hongzhao smiled, "Wonderful!"

She had intentionally wanted to invite Chu Zhiyuan to help.

She knew how sensitive Chu Zhiyuan was to the evil sect demons.

But it would be too weak to show it now, making it seem like there was no one in Great Meng.

If she also invited other extraordinary talents, it would show that she loved her people like her own children, was open-minded, and was good at using talents from all sides.