On one hand, this would assist Xuantian Temple in quelling its internal strife. On the other hand, with the Ye Clan currently unable to maintain its footing in Jinzhou, it was the most opportune mont for the Tang Imperial Court to intervene in the San Jin Territory.
"Your Majesty, the various forces displayed by Longhu Mountain Celestial Master Mansion in this battle were unexpected and quite secretive..." Princess Shanyang Zhang Ying, the only woman among the four ministers and also the sole mber of the Zhang Tang Royal Family, spoke at this ti.
Princess Shanyang, daughter of Taizong of the Great Tang, was the sister of Zhang Qilong and Zhang Wantong’s father. Beyond her esteed status, she was also the foremost female cultivator in the Zhang Tang Royal Family, second only to the Empress herself.
Her point was not Xu Yuanzhen’s personal strength, but the entirety of the Longhu Mountain Celestial Master Mansion. To be precise, her focus was not on the overall strength of the top cultivators of the Longhu Mountain Celestial Master Mansion, but rather on its power—or more accurately, its latent power, its soft power.
"Setting aside other locations, Zezhou, Tianle Mountain, and the ruins of Bodhi Temple are all significant, yet Longhu Mountain Celestial Master Mansion had noticed them all, including the earlier incident with Zhang Rui," Zhang Ying stated. "Moreover, they could mobilize sufficient manpower in a short ti to swiftly conquer these places, coming and going like the wind. It was impossible to determine their true identities and their subsequent movents."
After the battle of Jiangzhou, the Tang Imperial Court had also conducted continuous secret investigations. At the very least, those who assisted Tang Xiaotang and Lei Jun in attacking the Lin Clan Ancestral Land in Jiangzhou were not Confucian Divine Archers from their side, nor were they people from the Mount Shu Sect—or to be precise, not openly from the Mount Shu Sect.
And now, the battle in Jinzhou had once again confird this. Within and without Longhu Mountain Celestial Master Mansion, there might be a hidden force, one not to be underestimated. So much so that Longhu Mountain Celestial Master Mansion itself had virtually resolved the battle in Jinzhou, causing so of the Tang Imperial Court’s arrangents to fall through.
Zhang Ying and other high-ranking mbers of the Zhang Tang Royal Family began to reassess Longhu Mountain Celestial Master Mansion. It was true they had supported Longhu Mountain Celestial Master Mansion to keep the aristocratic families in check. But now, Longhu Mountain Celestial Master Mansion had sowhat eluded their understanding...
"The internal chaos in the Mount Shu Sect back then might have allowed so to fake their deaths and go into hiding," Lu Zhen said slowly. "Perhaps those people are involved. What their plan with Longhu Mountain Celestial Master Mansion might be, I’m unsure. I believe that not only within Longhu Mountain Celestial Master Mansion, but within the entire Taoist Sect, there seems to be an undercurrent beneath the surface."
The Empress said, "There’s no need to rush to conclusions. If there is an undercurrent, they surfaced too early in Jiangzhou and Jinzhou. Let’s wait and see; focus on gathering relevant information."
All four ministers, including Zhang Ying, responded, "We shall follow Your Majesty’s decrees."
The Empress looked towards the youngest among them and asked, "Minister Xiao, how goes the investigation into the matter concerning Pure Yang Palace?"
The young man replied, "Reporting to Your Majesty, we have so leads, but haven’t captured anyone yet."
He was a man of graceful and handso features, though his physique appeared sowhat frail. This was Xiao Chunhui, from the Xiao Clan of Longwai, and the current Academy Libationer. He had received a decree granting him special entry into the Council Hall of the Ministry to participate in deliberations and policymaking.
As several prominent local families encountered setbacks and the Tang Imperial Court continued to expand its reach, the Empress also made significant moves in the political center, dividing the chancellors’ power. The establishnt of the Council Hall marked the beginning of this process.
The Empress’s intelligence network was dispersed, generally controlled by Chu Yu and Xiao Xueting. With both won currently absent from the Imperial Capital, Xiao Chunhui temporarily filled in. His primary responsibility still lay with his role as Academy Libationer, but he was soon to step down. He and the Empress had already identified a successor, ensuring a smooth transition later.
It was commonly said that Xiao Chunhui was ntally agile but physically weak. This was no exaggeration; compared to physically formidable Martial Artists, and even to Confucian Scholars who practiced Chanting, Xiao Chunhui’s physique was far inferior. However, this didn’t an he was always bedridden or breathless after walking a few steps. He appeared normal in daily life, though his complexion was rather pale and his figure thin and frail.
Yet his tone was steady as he spoke smoothly, "Based on our latest information, the traitor within Pure Yang Palace might be soone other than Vermilion Bird Elder Wang Xuan—or at least, not only Wang Xuan."
"Oh?" Shangguan Qing, Zhang Ying, and Lu Zhen all looked over.
Xiao Chunhui continued, "Another person, reportedly dead, also warrants attention: Black Tortoise Elder Gu Han of Pure Yang Palace."
The Empress asked, "Gu Han is still alive?"
Xiao Chunhui replied, "We haven’t found him yet, but there are many suspicious points. It’s possible Gu Han didn’t die."
Shangguan Qing frowned. "Nascent Soul Possession?"
In this world of cultivation, thods of possession or attaching oneself to another’s body existed. Generally, such thods were more common within the southern Witchcraft Sect. In particular, the Witchcraft Worm and Cursed Prayer lineages both possessed related secret thods. The Blood Divine Child, an exceptionally difficult Divine Skill of the Blood River Lineage, also involved a similar thod, albeit under much stricter conditions. Strictly speaking, among the Witchcraft Sect’s traditions, only Gepo Mountain of the Divine Dance Lineage lacked such thods.
The thods of Golden City Stronghold, the sacred land of the Ghost Tao Lineage, differed. They weren’t about the Ghost Tao practitioners themselves possessing or attaching to external targets. Instead, their refined Dark Souls could achieve this, or at tis, Ghost Tao practitioners could infuse their Spiritual Soul into their own Walking Corpse puppets.
Such thods were generally a last resort for cultivators whose physical bodies had been destroyed. If one wished to use this to impersonate soone, High-Level Cultivators could easily see through it. This would lead to many inconveniences and could severely impact one’s own cultivation progress.
Within the Great Tang Dynasty, lineages possessing thods of possession or body-snatching were extrely rare. Generally, there was only one: the Taoist Dan Ding Sect. Practitioners of the Dan Ding Sect focused on cultivating their life force and eschewed reliance on external objects. While developing extrely sturdy and powerful bodies, they also cultivated Spiritual Souls that were both resilient and agile.
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