An overwhelming pressure instantly enveloped the palace halls. The Eunuch Supervisor, Gao Ruo, trembled, knowing that Emperor Yuan Chen was currently enraged, perhaps even on the verge of misdirecting his wrath.

To serve a monarch is like tending a tiger; even one as trusted as he felt his guts turn to jelly. Daring not to speak, Gao Ruo cautiously presented a jade slip before the Imperial Desk.

Yin Yu shot him a cold glance and snatched it away. A mere moment later, a tiger's roar erupted as he crushed the object in his hand into dust!

This jade slip contained the scene of those three hundred thousand Dao Soldiers being annihilated by a single strike from the Heaven's Will Sword. At this moment, Yin Yu's neck nearly doubled in thickness.

The bearing of a king had vanished entirely, replaced by the image of a wounded male lion. After a long pause, he managed to calm himself slightly, taking a deep breath and glaring fiercely at Zuo Xin, the Grand Scholar of the Hanlin Academy.

"A few days ago, did Your Excellency not claim this battle was absolutely guaranteed?" Zuo Xin’s face was ashen, cold sweat beading on his brow. He hesitated for a long time, only speaking again when Yin Yu grew impatient: "Our sect’s first Sage, Dong Zi, was slain in this battle by the Seventh Sword of the Azure Life from the Azure Life Dao.

This is the second great calamity to befall our Eminent Teachings in eight thousand years. Beforehand, no one could have imagined the divine might possessed by the fully deployed Thirty-Three Heaven Array.

Nor did we ever expect that the Azure Life Seventh Sword could truly slay those at the Zenith Realm—" Before the great war, no one had truly paid heed to the seven divine swords left behind by Xi Zi. And indeed, no one had predicted that the Azure Life Seventh Sword, coordinated with the Thirty-Three Array, would be so flawlessly perfect.

Even figures as mighty as the Grand Beginning were rendered helpless. Yin Yu snorted coldly, then turned his gaze to Chong Xuan.

"Before the battle, did the National Preceptor not assert that victory was certain if there were no variables?" Chong Xuan forced a bitter smile. His entire reputation seemed to have been shattered in a single day.

Years ago, he lost a wager to Kong Rui, miscalculating Kong Yao. This resulted in the foremost talent of the Cloud Realm, the future pillar of the dynasty, defecting from the Great Shang to establish the Great Qian's southeastern dominance.

This time, he erred again—a mistake that cost the Great Shang the three hundred thousand elite Dao Soldiers it had painstakingly nurtured. "This is my fault, Your Majesty!

There must have been a high-level sorcerer intervening, obscuring the trajectory of my derivation of heaven's secrets, preventing me from measuring the fortune and disaster. I did not anticipate the variable that was Zong Shou—" The way of arcane calculation was something even Zenith Realm cultivators could not master.

Peering presumptuously into the secrets of heaven naturally invited divine jealousy. Those who walked this path generally forfeited any hope of eternal life.

Even that individual nine thousand years ago, whose talent was so immense it startled all the realms—who left the 'Fate' character Talismans across the various Dao fields of the Lingyun Sect—was still struggling through cycles of reincarnation, unable to grasp the root of the Great Dao. Therefore, although every Saintly Venerable at the Zenith Realm could occasionally glimpse the secrets of heaven and calculate the past and future, they mostly avoided this path as if it were poison.

It was not an inability, but a refusal—an unwillingness! In truth, he had sensed anomalies before the battle commenced.

But how could he have imagined then that the combined power of nine Zenith Saintly Venerables, five Divine Venerables, and a divine artifact would still result in such a crushing defeat? "A high-level sorcerer?

I have not heard of such a person within the Azure Life Dao." Yin Yu frowned, suddenly thinking of someone: "Could it be that Kong Rui?" Chong Xuan’s mouth tasted bitter as he managed a single, difficult nod. Within the Cloud Realm, the only high-level sorcerer standing beside Zong Shou could only be this one!

In a mere few years, he had not anticipated that this person's mastery of arcane calculation would advance so rapidly, capable of deceiving his own divination methods without him ever noticing. In his estimation, this person might not have predicted the absolute victory of the Azure Life Dao, but merely succeeded in throwing all possible futures into chaos, reducing them to utter confusion.

Yet, even achieving this much was an act of supreme skill. This level of cultivation progression was practically heaven-sent— Heaven-sent?

A thought stirred in Chong Xuan’s mind. He borrowed the destiny of the Great Shang to cultivate and dissipate calamities.

Kong Rui, as the Chief Administrator of the Great Qian's Celestial Bureau and Zong Shou’s most trusted sorcerer, could certainly do the same. But it shouldn't be this fast— What was the true reason?

"Traitorous rebel!" Yin Yu let out a cold snort and slammed his hand heavily onto the corner of his desk, nearly causing the Imperial structure to collapse. "Issue an edict!

All members of the Kong clan shall have their official status stripped immediately and be thrown into the Prison of Death. Those under the age of ten shall be exiled to the Northern Wilderness Army to fend for themselves.

They shall not return without my pardon!" He hated the Kong family to the core. This punishment served both as an outlet for his fury and as chastisement for the entire clan, offsetting Kong Rui's failure.

Such earth-shattering talent, yet he could not know it, could not employ it for himself! And then there was Kong Yao, that ill-omened person whose arrival signaled disaster.

If he had commanded such a fierce general, would he have any worries now? She could have been a pillar minister for the state!

Even a catastrophe involving immense bloodshed—so what? That would be a disaster for another country, but a blessing for the Great Shang.

Damnable! Annoying!

And worthy of death! Gao Ruo, standing nearby, felt as if he had been granted amnesty.

He hurriedly summoned the Secretary of the Central Secretariat waiting outside the hall to draft the decree. Yin Yu, however, found his anger and resentment still unappeased.

More potent now was a chilling sense of fear that washed over him. Those three hundred thousand Dao Soldiers represented the core of his authority and his greatest leverage against the numerous noble families within the empire.

With the entire army annihilated, how could he now suppress those within his own borders? Though the Central Cloud Continent appeared outwardly tranquil, countless individuals and sects eyed the newly emerged spirit stone veins with avarice, even deliberately instigating peasant uprisings because of them.

The great noble families and the powerful ministers who governed various regions harbored sinister intentions, covertly coveting the Imperial Throne of the Great Shang. At this moment, the Great Shang was clearly tottering in the storm.

What was he to do? His mind grew increasingly heavy, and Yin Yu felt his blood run cold as if it were flowing backward.

But then he heard Zuo Xin bow and speak: "Your Majesty, you need not worry! Although we have suffered defeat this time, the promise made by the Sage Zhu Zi of our Confucian school to the Sovereign remains valid.

Your Majesty is a brilliant monarch for all ages; this loss of troops and generals is due to our own failings. All of us in the Confucian school feel deep shame—" Yin Yu’s spirits lifted slightly, but he remained noncommittal about Zuo Xin’s words.

The Confucian school could be the pillar of the Great Shang, but it could not be given free rein. If he truly relied entirely upon their strength and became beholden to them, the Great Shang would likely not be far from ruin.

Just then, Yin Yu and the others in the hall all looked up, catching sight of a vast golden light rushing toward them. "—Hereby I announce to all Confucian scholars under heaven, the Great Qian's Demon King Zong Shou, in the ten years since he took the throne of our Eminent Teachings, has repeatedly acted against the natural order, engaged in all manner of absurd deeds, and pursued ruinous military campaigns—burning books and burying scholars, annihilating our Eminent Teachings!

He is the enemy of our Confucian school!" The enemy of Confucianism? While they were stunned, Yin Yu watched the golden light cleave through the air and descend into his very hall.

The document, ten thousand zhang in size, shrank down to two chi, hovering before him. The text within was different from what the voice had just proclaimed.

"Dispatch troops against the Great Qian?" Yin Yu felt his scalp tingle, and a bitter surge of foul air built up in his chest. At this moment, how could he possibly have the desire or the strength to conquer the Great Qian?

What about the chaos brewing domestically? Should that be ignored?

Zuo Xin glanced at the golden document and showed a slight joy: "This is good news, Your Majesty! I request Your Majesty summon the forces of the various vassal states and lead the campaign against the Great Qian personally!" (To be continued)

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