Zhang Qiuxuan fell in front of his opponent.

He felt more tired, powerless and weak than ever before, but he still struggled to raise his head with all of his strength. Before raising his head, he coughed and said, “You actually had the guts to come to Sanskrit Passage.”

In this world, only ‘Big Black’ could shoot down the Divine Wood Flying Crane from this type of distance, only ‘Big Black’ could completely defeat all of his strength.

That was why this stranger who was standing in front of him right now could only be that Tangcang officer[1] who killed a Green Luan Academy Windstalker, and then after seizing ‘Big Black’, was too scared to remain in the military, could only hide in Tangcang’s Quicksand City.

“Even though Tangcang is large, there is no place for me. I can only stake it all.”

His opponent slowly replied in a desolate manner.

The person who appeared in Zhang Qiuxuan’s view was a face that already had all heroism and fighting spirit erased from a long period of hiding, all sharpness erased, not a trace of valiant spirit or might to be seen, only sentimental emotions and disappointment. His temples were entirely white, the corners of his eyes also filled with deep wrinkles.

Zhang Qiuxuan didn’t have much interest in this man who had already concealed his identity for many years, to the extent where even most Tangcang people forgot his name. The reason he raised his head with all of his strength was just so he could take a look at this ‘Big Black’ that hadn’t made an appearance in many years.

He saw it.

Then, he was inwardly shaken again, making his entire body start to tremble intensely.

If Lin Xi could see this scene, he definitely wouldn’t feel that this was extremely confusing or shocking.

It was because what was in this man’s hands wasn’t a black bow at all, but rather a black ancient zither.

It was entirely pitch-black, just like that of the darkest night. At the very least, judging from its outer appearance, it was extremely close to a zither, having three black string-like objects.

However, Zhang Qiuxuan had seen ‘Big Black’ many years ago, so he knew that this was precisely the world’s most powerful soul weapon giant bow, ‘Big Black’.

Even if this ‘Big Black’ wasn’t in that person’s hands, Zhang Qiuxuan seemed to still be able to sense that person’s brilliance left on this soul weapon.

Zhang Qiuxuan’s entire body began to tremble, unable to help but say, “You are wrong, you truly aren’t worthy of this weapon.”

The worn out man looked at Zhang Qiuxuan. He could understand Zhang Qiuxuan’s emotions, but the corners of his lips instead produced a feeling of mockery. “Aren’t you and the emperor trying to do the same thing as us?”

Zhang Qiuxuan stared blankly, momentarily at a loss for words.

This weary man gave him a deep look, saying in a profound manner, “Only, what I don’t understand is that the reason we took on Green Luan Academy as our enemy was because we were forced to, left with no other choice, it is something extremely natural. However, how can you and Yunqin Emperor have the courage to deal with Green Luan Academy? Could it be that you all are already sure that Principal Zhang is already no longer in this world?”

With these words, Zhang Qiuxuan’s expression suddenly turned even more snow-white.

Then, he saw that there were people frantically trying to flee from the Divine Elephant Army’s stampede. Some of these people were cultivators dressed in Sky Devil Heavy Armor, some of them heavy armored cavalry.

There were definitely some who recognized ‘Big Black’ among these cultivators. Meanwhile, the ones who didn’t at least knew that this worn out Tangcang officer was a Sacred Expert from that strike. That was why not a single person dared to try to break through, all of them only frantically trying to escape through the two sides.

However, the Divine Elephant Army didn’t seem to be in a rush at all, allowing some people to flee at will.

“Heavenfall Province’s Provincial Supervisor, it was you all?!” He suddenly thought of a possibility. His breathing immediately stopped, looking at this worn out man while screaming out.

“No.” The worn out man shook his head. He bent down at the waist and then patted Zhang Qiuxuan’s body. With a voice only the two of them could hear clearly, he said, “If Changsun Jinse wants to investigate this… he will find that it was Jiang Family’s people.”

Zhang Qiuxuan’s body shook fiercely.

He suddenly understood many things. He opened his mouth, wishing to say something, but under the other party’s pat, his entire body already went rigid, already unable to say anything.

This worn out man looked into Zhang Qiuxuan’s eyes, as if feeling a bit of sympathy. He laughed in mockery, saying quietly by Zhang Qiuxuan’s ears, “What you are thinking should be correct. Previously, Zhangsun Jinse wanted to further weaken Huang Family’s power. During the division of Jadewater and Heavenfall Provinces, the appointment and transferring of their officials all went through Wen Xuanshu’s hands. That is why all of this has gone through Wen Xuanshu’s arrangements… Otherwise, without the authority of the Grand Secretary of Yunqin Empire, how could a massive force like the Divine Elephant Army possibly silently appear in Yunqin Empire’s borders? The strength and current influence Wen Xuanshu has displayed have made our Divine Elephant Army feel that it is worth cooperating with him, worth making a gamble on.”

…

In Central Continent Imperial City, Wen Xuanshu slowly walked out of the defense study, calmly returning to his own cabinet’s official residence.

When he thought about the emperor who was gentle and dignified before him in the study just now, he raised his head and looked into the Imperial City’s blue skies. There wasn’t a trace of emotion to be seen on his face, but his pupils were suffused with laughs of cold mockery.

In the past dozen or so years, he always used Grand Secretary Zhou as a mirror, comparing where he was lacking compared to Grand Secretary Zhou.

After all these years of comparison and studying, he was finally sure that if Grand Secretary Zhou was Yunqin Emperor, he would definitely be much harder to deal with than Changsun Jinse.

It was because even in all of Central Continent Imperial City, Grand Secretary Zhou was the one who understood how to maintain balance the most.

The various sectors and senators coexisted in harmony for so many years, moreover, not constantly trying to seize authority from one another was all because of Grand Secretary Zhou’s balancing.

He didn’t incur the powerful retaliation of any one power, moreover able to make all of the power usable by the emperor, even if he didn’t exert all of his energy in doing his, this was still already extremely terrifying.

If someone like Grand Secretary Zhou was Yunqin Emperor, then if something abnormal happened to him, what he would have to face would be all of those powers.

However, right now, even though Changsun Jinse was extremely powerful, even though he understood how to endure silently and store up power, his talent in tactics also seemingly inherited from the late emperor, the entire world had already seen his errors in judgment. His weakest point was precisely check and balance.

Wen Xuanshu understood himself extremely clearly. He knew that on certain aspects, he still couldn’t compare to Grand Secretary Zhou, but for him to cooperate with the emperor, make the balance imbalanced, make the emperor suffer the repercussions of the imbalance, was extremely easy.

Today, the emperor’s mood was extremely good, likely thinking that Zhang Qiuxuan already finished his task in Jadefall City. According to the speed at which news returned, perhaps it would arrive tomorrow morning.

If at the time, he discovered that it wasn’t the news he wanted, even Zhang Qiuxuan who he trusted and was closest to unable to escape, just what kind of reaction would he have then?

Under his rage, dealing with Jiang Family was inevitable.

As early as when the emperor intended to deal with Huang Family, during Jadefall City’s division into provinces, he who started to assume great authority already planted enough threads to frame Jiang Family and the Divine Elephant Army’s collusion. When news arrived in the emperor’s hands tomorrow, all of the following proof, including the testimonies of those who returned alive from Sanskrit Passage, would state that the one Divine Elephant Army colluded with was Jiang Family.

After the crown prince died, Jadefall City, for the emperor, were taboo words.

Anything related to Jadefall City would make the emperor’s judgment ability and rationality greatly decline.

Subconsciously, the emperor might think that Jiang Family and the Divine Elephant Army would rebel just like Wenren Cangyue, that they were trying to occupy Jadefall City.

Moreover, many days ago, Yuhua Family already used the method of taking Lin Xi into Priest Hall as a way of retaliation, so the emperor would naturally believe that Jiang Family and the other influential families would also adopt various methods to retaliate.

That was why Jiang Family’s complete collapse was but already but a matter of course.

“Just how many more pieces of straw will it take to completely break your back?”

Wen Xuanshu turned around. He gave the True Dragon Mountain behind Imperial City a look, inwardly saying this quietly.

He didn’t know how many more straws would crush the emperor.

That was why all he could do was borrow the emperor’s hand to continuously place one straw after another on the emperor’s body.

…

Heavenfall, Jadewater, the high ranking officials of these two provinces were about to go crazy.

The Yunqin officials who received the earliest secret military reports were also about to go crazy.

Tangcang’s Divine Elephant Army was definitely this world’s most powerful heavy armored army.

Some of the top secret information in the military stated that if one wanted to defeat Tangcang’s Divine Elephant Army, there were only three ways.

The first was for several Sacred Experts to attack together with many cultivators.

The second was an ambush with large amounts of powerful military equipment.

The third was to use a tremendous army to wear them down.

However, the first and second method didn’t even have high chances of success.

It was because the Divine Elephant Army’s terror didn’t lie in the power of the golden armored giant elephants’ strength, but rather in their endurance and speed. Some military equipment that were heavy and difficult to transport, for this troop, it wasn’t that difficult at all. That was why this Divine Elephant Army could always carry large amounts of powerful military equipment as long-range aid. They weren’t only a heavy armored army, they were also a heavy military equipment army.

Even if Yunqin really could gather some Sacred Experts, when facing this type of army, they would have to prepare themselves for the price of losing many of these Sacred Experts and cultivators, let alone the fact there was still a Sacred Expert level Tangcang commander with Principal Zhang’s ‘Big Black’ in his hands!

This type of army, if they didn’t take the initiative to attack a city, they could easily fight in one place after another while carrying large amounts of military equipment. However, if Yunqin’s military wanted to transport large amounts of military equipment to carry out an ambush, it wouldn’t be that easy.

That was why the most feasible way was to use tens of thousands of soldiers to surround and wear them down.

In the eyes of Tangcang and Yunqin’s military, the Divine Elephant Army that didn’t number a thousand in total was equivalent to a powerful army with the strengths of tens of thousands to begin with.

In the past, when Wenren Cangyue guarded Jadefall City, an enemy troop of tens of thousands wasn’t much either.

However, right now, it was precisely when Yunqin and Great Mang’s war raged endlessly, the frontlines were already extremely tense. If Jadefall City experienced a great battle, then it would be like the backyard of Yunqin Empire suddenly catching fire!

Moreover, the most crucial point was… through the description of the military intelligence, this might even involve a dispute between Jiang Family and the emperor.

A struggle between the emperor and one of the empire’s pillars, would this cause another corner of the tower to break?

While this secret report transmitted towards Central Continent Imperial City, some officials and powers who already knew the contents, out of shock and helplessness, started to prepare a contingency plan.

Meanwhile, a carriage from Auspicious Virtue’s farm traveled to the newly established Auspicious Virtue Town in Jadewater Province, entering a shop that exclusively sold soaps.

In Jadewater Province, apart from Wuren City where the Provincial Supervisor Manor was, the other towns of over ten thousand inhabitants were all built up with Auspicious Virtue’s assistance. These towns of over ten thousand populations were originally made up of seventy to eighty percent Auspicious Virtue employees. Even though now, as more and more people entered Jadewater and Heavenfall Province, Auspicious Virtue’s people already only occupying thirty to forty percent of the population, for the sake of satisfying the various lifestyle needs of Auspicious Virtue’s employees, Auspicious Virtue’s plans were extremely detailed, all types of shops opened up by themselves. That was why even now, in Jadewater Province’s various towns, all of the shops that satisfied daily needs and even some medical clinics were Auspicious Virtue’s.

Behind this soap shop, the taverns, restaurants, large workshop, the shop specializing in soy bean oil next to it, as well as the noodle shop, rice store, north and south commodity shop across the street, all hung Auspicious Virtue’s banner.

As more and more foreigners appeared, these shops that originally only served to satisfy the basic needs of Auspicious Virtue members, some even going in the red, also began to make money. As the scale became larger and larger in the future, they might instead bring Auspicious Virtue quite a good profit.

This shop that specialized in selling soaps was Auspicious Virtue’s largest soap store in Jadewater Province. Right now, all of the soaps in Jadewater Province came from the workshop behind this shop. There were several warehouses in the workshop, the shopfront only serving as a display and selling small quantities.

𝕗𝚛𝚎𝚎𝐰𝗲𝗯𝗻𝚘𝚟𝚎𝗹.𝕔𝐨𝕞

When he saw that the carriage parked at the front of the store had Auspicious Virtue’s banner, a shopkeeper in the shop immediately greeted it. After seeing that the one who walked out from the carriage was a gorgeous embroidered clothed woman, this shopkeeper was immediately stunned, exceptionally moved as he showed this woman a deep bow of respect.

The shop assistants who recognized that this woman was the great shopkeeper of all of Auspicious Virtue were immediately so moved they forgot what they were doing, all of them freezing in place, at a loss for what to do.