บท 18: Chapter 18 Wusheng Laomu_1
Since the rise of the heretical White Lotus Cult in Huozhou, which slaughtered the imperial army of the Qian Dynasty and sent it fleeing in a crushing defeat, the entire Da Qian Empire had turned its full attention to this matter. The court and the common people alike were all shaken to their cores.
Anyone with a bit of sense knew that Da Qian was in tumult and riddled with undercurrents. Whether the empire could quickly extinguish the White Lotus Cult had become a test of the Da Qian Empire's depth and strength.
The matter of the White Lotus Cult was significant. After defeating Huozhou's army, it rapidly spread in all directions, soon affecting the thirteen provinces of Huozhou. Only those core territories controlled by the major sects were still out of reach for the White Lotus Cult.
This led to Huozhou's major sects temporarily holding back their forces and watching from the sidelines, which was somewhat different from Han Li's predictions.
It had been said before that the previous Emperor Qian, during his reign, had been overly domineering. He had offended too many powers, both inside and outside the empire, including the empire's major sects.
After successfully suppressing Buddhism and driving out the Buddhist Sect's influence, the last Emperor Qian turned against them, wanting to leverage the prevailing momentum to coerce the major powers within the empire to truly submit and not remain in a quasi-independent state.
The true aim of the last Emperor Qian was to strengthen his grip over the internal affairs of the empire. He wanted to emulate the Ancient Empire, having the strong practitioners of the major sects obey the orders of the Da Qian Empire. Moreover, he even expected the sects to offer up their unique skills to enrich the imperial treasury.
This was practically asking for the sects' very lives. Once agreed, they would become completely subservient to the Da Qian Empire, which led the combined forces to resist.
The external threats of the Yinyang Sect, Kurong Sect, and the Da Jing Empire, who were eyeing Da Qian with greedy intentions, suddenly became restless, mobilizing troops and readying to invade Da Qian at any moment to carve up its territory.
Faced with internal strife and external threats, the previous Emperor Qian eventually compromised. The situation had slipped beyond his control. If he truly moved against the sects within the empire, the three great powers would inevitably come crashing in fiercely.
At that point, the Da Qian Empire would likely face destruction at his hands.
In the face of internal opposition, he still allowed the sects to maintain their quasi-independence, even making some concessions and offers of reparation. Externally, however, he continued to be strong-willed, managing to repel the three great threats.
Since he couldn't achieve these goals during his reign, he left this problem for his successor. Whoever would become Emperor Qian would have to confront this issue eventually.
The sects within the empire were originally just a temporary and loose alliance. Seeing that Da Qian had relented, they did not dare push their luck and had bided their time, continuing to coexist peacefully.
More importantly, the sects did not want to become cannon fodder. If they continued to resist, the three great powers would be pleased to see this, and might even add fuel to the flames. If the sects and the Da Qian Empire ended up in a bitter struggle, it would be then that the three great powers would join in to reap the fruits of victory.
Just like the previous Emperor Qian, the leaders of the sects also planned to leave this problem for future generations to solve.
Since they were developing within the Da Qian Empire, a great conflict with the empire was inevitable sooner or later. However, both sides understood that unless one party had an absolute advantage, a large-scale confrontation was unlikely to happen again.
If any sect produced an Emperor Wu of the True Martial Realm, they definitely wouldn't want to remain subservient to Da Qian and would be strong enough to become the ninth great power of Xuan Domain. If a Divine Yuan Realm warrior emerged, overthrowing the Da Qian Empire would be easy, and they might even unify the Xuan Domain.
The Da Qian Empire was the same. If they produced a fighter in the Divine Yuan Realm, the three great external threats—the Yinyang Sect, Kurong Sect, and Da Jing Empire—could be dealt with easily.
Without such power on either side, they were forced into mutual compromises and restraint, unless a good opportunity presented itself.
The current Emperor Qian could not stabilize the Da Qian Empire. There were many dissenting voices within the imperial court, and the suppression of the various sects had lessened. However, none of the sects acted rashly, as the Da Qian Empire had not yet shown signs of actual weakening.
According to the sects' conjectures, the heretical White Lotus Cult was undoubtedly a pawn, used to test the mettle of the Da Qian Empire.
If the Daqian Empire were to eradicate the White Lotus Cult with the swiftness of thunder, then the hidden hand behind the scenes might lay low for a while, waiting for another opportunity; if the Daqian Empire couldn't deal with the White Lotus Cult promptly, it would indicate that the Empire's strength was somewhat lacking.
Then, the mastermind would increase support for the White Lotus Cult, thoroughly disrupt the inner workings of the Daqian Empire, hastening its decline before seeking an opportunity to overturn and carve up the territory.
The major Sects of Huozhou, and even the major factions from other provinces, all began to watch and wait, seeking to discern the depth of the Daqian Empire's reserves.
If the Daqian Empire were really on the ropes, they wouldn't mind switching allegiance to other top powers from the Xuan Domain, jointly partitioning the Daqian Empire and taking a hefty bite of the spoils during the overthrow.
The interests of the Sects and those of the Daqian Empire were not the same; they wouldn't fight to the death for the Empire. Within the Daqian Empire, their Sects were only nominally subject to the Empire.
In the following months, the situation underwent new changes.
With the major forces of Huozhou looking on, the strengthened White Lotus Cult truly launched an attack on Huozhou City.
In that battle, the White Lotus Cult unveiled two Gurus in the Void Realm and eight God Refining Realm experts, shocking the Daqian Empire.
A cult emerging out of nowhere suddenly possessed four Gurus in the Void Realm, seventeen God Refining Realm experts, and over a hundred in the Gangyuan Realm...Such a lineup was incredibly lavish.
Although Huozhou City was the largest city in the entire province, there were only three Gurus in the Void Realm within the city, one being the Protector General of Huozhou, one the leader of the Jingye Office, and the last, a recluse Grandmaster.
The Jingye Office was a military agency of the Daqian Empire, used to strengthen imperial control, answering only to Emperor Qian and overseeing the entire Daqian Empire.
The lowest rank within the Jingye Office was the Pihai Realm. When Han Li broke through to the Pihai Realm, the Jingye Office extended an invitation to him, which he refused. He had no desire to sell his life for the court.
When the White Lotus Cult attacked, intent on seizing Huozhou City, the Daqian Empire was enraged. The rescript of Emperor Qian reached the ears of the Protector General and the leader of the Jingye Office on the very same day, ordering them to eliminate the White Lotus Cult with utmost speed.
The battle erupted; the White Lotus Cult launched a fierce assault, while the forces of the Daqian Empire defended behind the great city formation. Even after they persuaded the reclusive Grandmaster to take action, their strength was only on par with that of the White Lotus Cult.
Huozhou City also housed the Godslayer Army, Huozhou's most elite force, under the command of the Protector General. Using the battle formation, they could unleash the Combat Ability of a Guru in the Void Realm, holding back a Dharma King of the White Lotus Cult.
Otherwise, the city's great formation would not have lasted long under the sustained bombardment by a Guru in the Void Realm and several God Refining Realm experts.
Unable to breach the city after a prolonged siege, the head of the White Lotus Cult, the Ageless Mother, jumped into action, breaking the city's defensive formation in three moves and displaying the terrifying combat prowess of a Grandmaster Wanxiang.
But in the end, the White Lotus Cult was defeated, suffering countless casualties. If the White Lotus Cult had a Grandmaster Wanxiang, wouldn't the Daqian Empire have one too?
The Grandmaster Wanxiang in charge of protecting Huozhou, Leizhou, Qingzhou, and other provinces, had already rushed to Huozhou City, just waiting for the Ageless Mother to make her move. His strength was far greater than hers; after all, she was merely an early stage Grandmaster Wanxiang.
In this battle, most of the seventeen protectors of the White Lotus Cult died, three out of the four Dharma Kings fell, and the gravely wounded Ageless Mother fled with the last remaining Dharma King, going into hiding within the Daqian Empire.
When the news reached Han Li in Lingjun City, Leizhou, he was shocked.
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