“Let’s not talk about him any more. The reason I asked Master here today is to discuss the current prospects for the imperial selection.”
Feng Yinshan steered the conversation to the crucial matter.
“The present situation is that Your Highness’s prestige is at its absolute peak. Thanks to recent events, you have played an excellent move, but that is still far from enough.”
Zhou Yun shook his head. “You must be aware that the Righteous Alliance controls an army capable of forcibly changing the choice of Emperor.”
“You mean that mysterious ‘Lingyue Legion’?”
“Exactly. Back when Ji Fuling and Yu Xuanyue founded the Lingyue Legion, it was to quell the chaos on the Divine Phoenix Continent. Even then, the Lingyue Legion was extraordinarily powerful. Wherever they appeared, they were unstoppable.”
Zhou Yun nodded. “Later, after those two left, the Lingyue Legion was handed over to the Righteous Alliance and renamed the ‘Divine Guardians of Justice’. The name is a bit vulgar, but the purpose became clearer: an army that exists solely to defend justice.”
“There is a common saying among the people, ‘The Army of Justice rules the realm’. Many do not realise that ‘Army of Justice’ does not refer to any army in general, but specifically to the Divine Guardians of Justice.”
Feng Yinshan also nodded. “The reason the Righteous Alliance holds higher authority than the imperial family across the entire Divine Phoenix Empire is precisely because of the existence of these Divine Guardians of Justice.”
…
After returning to Qingxu Academy, Ling Xiao dealt with some personal matters and took the time to consolidate his cultivation.
Three days later, once his cultivation had stabilised at the early Ninth Heaven, he packed lightly and set off for East Commandery.
This time he brought only Yue Nu, Leng Mei, Ji Mingkong, and members of the Shadow Assassins.
The others, such as Lan Yuer and Dai Yuling, remained at the academy to train.
The gap between them and Ling Xiao had grown ever wider. Following him now would only render them unable to help, so they were better off staying behind to train hard and properly absorb the gains from the battlefield.
The duration of this trip to East Commandery was uncertain. He would definitely return, but exactly when was hard to say.
After all, Ling Xiao intended to thoroughly shake up this eastern realm.
By now, tales of Ling Xiao’s deeds had already spread like winged rumours to East Commandery, carried by wandering martial artists.
Everyone knew that their new city lord, the Tianlong King, was a young hero. The two battle songs he composed had already become widely sung.
His exploits on the battlefield and in the imperial capital were praised everywhere by storytellers and martial artists.
In taverns, teahouses, and even on the streets, one could hear the legendary stories of “Ling Xiao”.
He was an enigmatic figure.
Some people looked forward to his arrival.
Naturally, others disliked him.
Although East Commandery had a small population, it bordered the sea and was plagued by pirates. As a result, almost everyone here was a martial artist, though their cultivation levels varied greatly.
Outside East Commandery City, a great river flowed into the sea, naturally forming an alluvial island.
The martial artists of East Commandery called this island “Turtle Island”.
Turtle Island was not large, but interestingly, its overall shape resembled a gigantic sea turtle. More importantly, cultivating on Turtle Island yielded results four or five times better than elsewhere.
Because of this, it had become a place every martial artist fought to enter.
Yet such a fine location was not accessible to just anyone.
It was controlled by the Marquis of East Commandery.
The Marquis of East Commandery was not the true ruler of the region. He had merely inherited his father’s title, but thanks to his vast family wealth and his status as imperial kin, nobody in this land dared to deny him face.
Originally, the highest official in East Commandery was the prefect.
However, the last several prefects had either died without explanation or become puppets of the Marquis.
This allowed the Marquis of East Commandery to wield power that blazed like the midday sun. He was, for all intents and purposes, a local emperor.
It was even rumoured that the Marquis had once declared, “For wine, women, and pleasure, give me East Commandery. I wouldn’t take an imperial post if you offered it!”
What was an imperial post?
A position in the imperial capital. Such posts carried far better benefits and greater authority than local ones, yet he refused them.
He was no fool. In East Commandery he was emperor. In the capital, someone like him would be nothing.
At that moment, many martial artists were queuing at the entrance to Turtle Island, waiting to complete the registration process.
To enter Turtle Island, one either possessed a special privilege token bestowed by the Marquis, or one had to pay a sufficient price.
It could be spirit stones.
It could be magical treasures.
It could be beauty or secret martial manuals.
In short, whether the offering was valuable enough was not for the payer to decide. The Marquis decided.
Lin Qian was a martial artist from Tianlong Continent.
She had been relatively fortunate. She had not been captured and sold into slavery. Instead, she stayed in East Commandery and became one of its many wandering martial artists.
What were wandering martial artists?
Martial artists with no sect or clan. They purchased their martial skills with money, paid others for guidance on cultivation, or figured things out on their own.
Such martial artists had no ties and enjoyed considerable freedom, but they lacked resources and backing. Their position was actually quite awkward.
Lin Qian had just turned sixteen this year, yet her cultivation had already reached the First Line Heaven realm. Not only was that exceptional among wandering martial artists, even among sect disciples she would be considered a genius.
Unfortunately, her progress had recently hit a bottleneck. For a long time she had felt no sign of breakthrough, so she wanted to try her luck on Turtle Island.
Today, after much hardship, she had finally scraped together the spirit stones required for entry: one hundred thousand low-grade spirit stones.
That was only the entry fee. Afterwards, she would need to pay ten thousand per day of cultivation.
She calculated that she could train for about ten days.
Every single stone had been earned by risking her life against pirates. It had not come easily.
“A human? Have you been hiding at home and never come out?”
Lin Qian was stopped by the guard at the checkpoint. “One hundred thousand low-grade spirit stones is the price for martial artists of our Divine Phoenix Empire. As for you humans, the minimum is one million low-grade spirit stones.”
“This is outright robbery!”
Lin Qian said angrily.
“So what if it is robbery? A mere human thinks she can train on Turtle Island? Who do you think you are?”
The guard glanced at Lin Qian, then his eyes lit up. He smiled and said, “However, you’re rather pretty. Our Lord Marquis loves beautiful women the most. If you’re willing, you can try your luck. Serve Lord Marquis well, and entering Turtle Island will naturally be no problem at all.”
“Exactly. With looks like yours, wouldn’t it be a waste not to use them?”
A female martial artist nearby smiled sweetly. “Aren’t you little vixens all fond of seducing Lord Marquis anyway?”
There was a hint of jealousy in the woman’s voice.
Probably because she was past her prime. At over forty years old, the Marquis was unlikely to take any interest in her.
Lin Qian’s expression turned ugly. “You people are going too far. Just wait. City Lord Ling Xiao will soon arrive in East Commandery. When that time comes, not only you lot, even the Marquis of East Commandery will be finished.”
