https://novelcool.info/chapter/Chapter-792-Sects-Emerge-Diverse-Thoughts/12852884/
https://novelcool.info/chapter/Chapter-794-The-Solution-to-Breaking-the-Stalemate-Follows/12852888/
Chapter 793: Sect Flourishes, Pursued from All Sides
Chapter 793: Sect Flourishes, Pursued from All Sides
The imperial court's actions came swiftly, and Qin Muye, of course, was aware of this. Initially, he had doubts about whether the sects he had forcibly promoted with external forces could withstand the pressure, but it turned out they could.
On one hand, Qin Muye had siphoned a large amount of the Daoling Dynasty's national fortune through the sects, causing the officials within the system to become disloyal. On the other hand, he had colluded with noble families and used bribery to buy off the Qingyi Guard, which had been less effective in the past due to the strict policies in place.
However, now that there were more corrupt areas, the situation had changed, and the Qingyi Guard's commander had also become involved.
Emperor Ling was somewhat helpless about this. He had detected Qin Muye's actions through some means within the imperial court, which forced him to halt the originally planned massacre to minimize losses.
Qin Muye actually hoped Emperor Ling would be more ruthless, as the emperor's actions were depleting the Daoling Dynasty's vital energy.
Otherwise, would he really just kill indiscriminately? Emperor Ling was indeed the core of the Daoling Dynasty, but the dynasty could not be sustained by the emperor alone.
This was why Emperor Ling was hesitant and dared not act, as the Daoling Dynasty was a tool he used to gather resources. If it were destroyed, it would take a long time to rebuild.
One shouldn't cremate a person just because they have a cold, even if the cold might be fatal; one should at least try to save them.
"However, it's not impossible that Emperor Ling might act recklessly in the end. After all, if the Daoling Dynasty is completely ruined, the emperor would have no constraints left," Qin Muye understood that the Daoling Dynasty was not just a tool for Emperor Ling but also had its own value, which made the emperor cautious. This was a form of mutual leverage.
Despite the support from noble families, the Daoling Dynasty remained resilient. While the noble families backed the sects in secret, they were still fundamentally aligned with the Daoling Dynasty. The support for the sects was mostly a hedge, as they recognized the issues with the sects' rise.
Thus, they provided minimal support to the sects. If the sects truly took over and became a new ruling institution, the noble families would still maintain their status. If the sects were eradicated by the Daoling Dynasty, it wouldn't affect the noble families much, as they were only providing secret support without concrete evidence.
Noble families were very skilled at this, rarely leaving any traces. Unless someone was determined to destroy a noble family, it was usually impossible to pin anything on them.
"I hope my main body acts quickly and completes the experiment before I destroy the Daoling Dynasty," Qin Muye said with a sigh. From the moment he started promoting the sects and forcibly elevating them with external forces, he had been in a struggle with Emperor Ling.
He couldn't confront the emperor head-on, so he had to strike indirectly. There were many ways to win, and the best way would be to kill the emperor, but since he couldn't do that, he had to use other methods.
"You run fast, but the sects have slowed you down," Emperor Ling's voice echoed.
This time, the emperor didn't bring many spirit beasts, only the Heavenly Azure Holy Tree. Even with just the Heavenly Azure Holy Tree, Qin Muye, who was a blank slate, couldn't win.
Usually, he ran very fast, and Emperor Ling couldn't catch him.
But this time, he was a step slower and was caught up by the emperor, who had been relentlessly pursuing him, with only a few brief respites.
"I actually had a very good impression of the Daoling Dynasty until Emperor Ling decided to kill me," Qin Muye shrugged, implying it was all the emperor's fault.
"The one who spread the spirit refining method was you, wasn't it?" Emperor Ling didn't believe a word of Qin Muye's. If he did, he would be a fool.
"Oh? You figured it out. It must have been the commander of the Qingyi Guard who told you," Qin Muye said slowly. The great demon and the situation with the spirit refining method were also deduced by the commander of the Qingyi Guard, whom Qin Muye considered a talented individual. However, the commander seemed to have developed ulterior motives and was recently dismissed by Emperor Ling.
"It was him. He was indeed very capable, but he was disloyal to me. He was a talent, nonetheless."
Emperor Ling completely ignored Qin Muye's covert provocations, as the people involved had already been dealt with by him.
"Hmph, indeed, serving an emperor is like living with a tiger. No matter how many past merits you have, they can't compare to a single day of suspicion," Qin Muye said sarcastically. The profession of emperor was more constrained than that of a lord. If he solely relied on brute force, how many people would be willing to serve him? This time, due to his iron-fisted methods and high-pressure policies, the entire official system of the Daoling Dynasty faced issues with resource distribution.
Since everything was in the hands of Emperor Ling, the other officials received less. It was like having only 3,000 yuan; who would be willing to fight to the death for you, let alone raise a spirit beast, when they can't even afford to feed it, let alone cultivate it.
This led to a confrontation between Emperor Ling and the entire court of the Daoling Dynasty. Whatever Emperor Ling said, the officials would just nod and agree, but they would procrastinate on their work, avoiding anything that wasn't their responsibility. Power became a burden, and no one wanted it. They came to enjoy power, not to be slaves to the emperor.
This gave Emperor Ling a massive headache, and Qin Muye's recent actions had nearly driven him to the brink of fury.
"You've been talking all this time, just to delay. Even if you delay for a day, what difference does it make?" Emperor Ling looked at Qin Muye, having already sealed off the surrounding space. Qin Muye's Mirror of the Immortal's teleportation and spatial cutting could not break through.
"That's not it. Mainly, can't we just sit down and have a proper chat?" Qin Muye sighed. He knew that delaying time was futile; Emperor Ling's Heavenly Azure Holy Tree had already sealed the area, and the longer it lasted, the more solid the seal became, making it increasingly disadvantageous for him.
"It's too late. Today, you will die."
Initially, Emperor Ling only wanted to eliminate Qin Muye as a potential threat, but now, it was out of hatred. Qin Muye's forced promotion and expansion of the sects had caused significant losses, making Emperor Ling want to tear him apart.
His reforms of the Daoling Dynasty were already fraught with potential problems, which he had managed to suppress. But Qin Muye had ignited the powder keg, making the originally manageable problem skyrocket in difficulty.
Worse still, Qin Muye had profited from it, and these profits had come at his expense. Anyone in his position would be unable to tolerate such actions.
"Maybe not. I've been having good luck lately." Qin Muye said, and with a flick of his Mirror of the Immortal, a golden light instantly pierced through a weak point in the surrounding space.
"What?!" Emperor Ling's expression changed. This was impossible: "Luck? Damn it!"
He quickly understood that the damage the sects had inflicted on the Daoling Dynasty's fortune had all fallen on Qin Muye's luck.
"Farewell!" Qin Muye immediately slipped into the crack in the weak point and vanished in a flash.
Seeing this, Emperor Ling calmed down. He knew he couldn't catch him.
The Heavenly Azure Holy Tree's cosmic path attributes focused on confinement and isolation. Against Qin Muye's expertise in escape, it was difficult to catch him.
More importantly, the spirit beasts under Qin Muye's control had become even more powerful. For example, the golden light from the mirror, which initially only had the power of the Golden and Fire paths, now had an additional cosmic path. Otherwise, it wouldn't have been able to easily breach the space.
As for the sudden appearance of the weak point in space, he didn't think too much about it. Luck was intangible yet real, and similar instances of turning misfortune into fortune had happened before.
"Golden path, Fire path, Cosmic path, Causal path, Fortune path. This great demon is extraordinary. A mere Mirror Beast can cultivate five path attributes." Compared to Qin Muye's hasty escape, Emperor Ling was more interested in the methods used to cultivate the spirit beasts.
Generally, most spirit beasts had one or two attributes, and occasionally, a mutation might produce three attributes, which were rare and unpredictable.
Five attributes, however, were unheard of. Emperor Ling, who had lived for so long, had never seen a spirit beast with five attributes, let alone four.
He had seen spirit beasts with three attributes, but the third attribute was often weak, leading to internal imbalance. Their fate was usually early death or the removal of the third attribute through other means.
(End of Chapter)
Chapter end
Report
