"The Chancellor's proteges and disciples each perform their duties and are pillars of the state. It was My negligence previously. From this day forth, I shall issue a decree: the Chancellor's proteges and clan members may all receive noble titles and substantial official posts based on their past merits." His tender, youthful voice echoed in the ears of the dead-silent officials. Fang Zhiyi closed his eyes and listened. "The Chancellor's eldest son may go to Qiongzhou as the governor to manage the livelihood of the local people. His second son may go to the border to lead the army. The younger generation of his family may also receive titles and be appointed to posts across the realm."
The young emperor took another deep breath and looked toward the Grand Marshal. "After they take up their posts, whether they perform well and whether they can be promoted... well, just report directly to the Grand Marshal. The Grand Marshal will decide."
"Furthermore, I shall reward the Chancellor with a thousand acres of fertile land. That... that is all I can do. Grand Marshal, Chancellor, please do not argue over this matter anymore. It was all because I did not consider things thoroughly..."
Guo Qianyue was dumbfounded. But after a moment of realization, his expression shifted from overcast to bright. This move was incredibly ruthless!
Huang Huaili stood frozen, the smile stiffening on his aged face. How was this a grace? This was clearly cutting flesh with a blunt knife!
Who didn't know that the border passes were Guo Qianyue's territory? Would his youngest son ever have a chance to rise there? The eldest son becoming a governor sounded like becoming a regional lord, but Qiongzhou was far from the capital, meaning he would lose a major source of support. Most importantly, his family members and proteges appeared to be receiving promotions and titles, but they were actually being scattered to the winds, completely stripping away their cohesion.
The most terrifying part was that, from now on, their promotions would have to be reported to Guo Qianyue. Over time, leaving aside his own family members, wouldn't those proteges change their allegiances? Who would still have this Chancellor in their eyes?
He opened his mouth, ready to firmly refuse, but swallowed the words just as they reached his lips.
Huang Huaili looked at the young emperor in astonishment. How did this child come up with such a scheme?
If he refused now, he wasn't afraid of offending the emperor—after all, all the officials knew the boy was just a figurehead. But once the news spread, those proteges and family members who were eagerly anticipating promotions and titles would surely resent him for being selfish and dictatorial! Especially since some of those proteges had obscure ties to the noble families...
Seeing his mortal enemy swallow a bitter pill, Guo Qianyue was overjoyed. He casually cast an admiring glance at Fang Zhiyi. He knew very well that the young emperor could never conceive of such an overt conspiracy. The only person capable of devising such a method had to be Fang Zhiyi.
He really hadn't expected Fang Zhiyi to possess such capability.
"You are nothing but a puppet. Any talk of rewards and titles coming from you is a joke, but you must say it."
"Why?"
"Because even though you are a puppet, you are still the Son of Heaven. You must maximize the value of your position. You cannot fully execute the effects of the Enfeoffment Order, but it is enough to give Huang a headache. Once the news of the rewards spreads, those beneath the Huang family won't be able to sit still. Who doesn't covet fame and fortune?"
"I understand, Grand Tutor. But by doing this, we will have offended the Chancellor."
"It cannot be helped. They are not fools. Swaying back and forth will only temporarily save your life. This day was bound to come sooner or later. Rather than enduring passively, it is better to strike proactively... After all, Huang Huaili knows that Guo Qianyue came to see you last night. Therefore, this debt will naturally be pinned on Guo Qianyue. Although you are detestable to him, he knows the mastermind is not you."
"Grand Tutor, I always feel like you are insulting me."
The young emperor returned to his study, feeling somewhat dizzy. Just moments ago, Fang Zhiyi had been called away by Guo Qianyue. Outside his study, the Imperial City Guards stood at almost every three steps and five paces, forming a standoff with the Black Armor Guards.
He felt a bit panicked, not knowing what to do next.
Despite doing so much, the reality hadn't changed. He was still that puppet emperor, and the Grand Tutor was still someone others could order around. If only he could take the Grand Tutor and escape.
"Grand Tutor Fang, I didn't see it before, but you are quite the talent." Guo Qianyue smiled very happily. The people he sent out had already brought back news: the Huang family was in an uproar today. Some of the younger family members had even run to Huang Huaili, demanding titles to bring glory to their ancestors, making Huang Huaili furious.
Fang Zhiyi simply smiled and cupped his hands in a respectful greeting.
But immediately after, Guo Qianyue's expression changed. "You put on quite an act. I truly didn't see it. For someone as greedy and cowardly as you to harbor such schemes in your heart..."
"The Grand Marshal overpraises me." Fang Zhiyi still smiled easily.
Guo Qianyue raised his wine cup. "To be honest, I am very pleased. You did me a great favor today. This method was absolutely brilliant. As long as the Huang family's foundation is shaken, I can take the opportunity to strike... However, you make me somewhat fearful."
Fang Zhiyi nodded. "What Your Excellency says is true."
Guo Qianyue looked at him. "Are you not afraid anymore?"
Fang Zhiyi asked in return, "Why should I be afraid?"
"Such deep scheming is rare to see. It's a pity. I do not like people who deceive me. Although I very much like what you did, you still have to die. But rest assured, I will give your family a sum of silver."
"Your Excellency, I'm afraid today's events mark the beginning of the showdown between you and Chancellor Huang, do they not?" Fang Zhiyi suddenly asked.
Guo Qianyue no longer hid his intentions. "Exactly. I have long grown tired of playing house with that little emperor. If the Huang family is not eliminated, I cannot sleep or eat in peace. You have given me a good start. I toast you."
Fang Zhiyi smiled brightly. "Your Excellency, would you care to guess why I dared to attend this banquet?"
Guo Qianyue shook his head in confusion. "Fang Zhiyi, stop bluffing. You are merely a fifth-rank official. You have no factions and no power, only a belly full of petty tricks. Remember, you die today because your cleverness has doomed you."
"No, what I mean is... if Your Excellency were to die by the blade today, who would the Guo family think the murderer is?"
"What do you mean?"
Fang Zhiyi slowly stood up. The guards behind him tried to reach out and hold him down, but the moment they touched him, their arms were snapped.
"It's been too long since I've fought. I call you 'Your Excellency' and you really think I'm a pushover?" Chatting and laughing, Fang Zhiyi took down the four guards. Guo Qianyue's face was filled with terror. A censor with martial skills like this?
"I wanted to kill you last time, but dying back then would have had no value."
"You, someone come..." Guo Qianyue was terrified, but the next moment, his throat was slit open.
"Being a powerful minister is fine, but you should at least do something humane." Fang Zhiyi looked at him clutching his neck and struggling desperately, shook his head, and then slashed his own arm with the knife. The calm on his face instantly morphed into panic.
"Somebody come!!! The Grand Marshal has been assassinated!!!" He even crawled under the table, trembling in fear.
transmigrates into the world as the sect master of the Heavenly Yan Sect, which is on the verge of being wiped out. He binds a system that grants him cultivation power based on the number of disciples he has: for each disciple, he automatically gains a year's worth of cultivation every single day! Take one disciple: every day he gains 1 year of cultivation power. While others struggle through a year of bitter training, he gets the same just by sleeping through a single night. Take ten disciples: every day he gains 10 years of cultivation power. Foundation Establishment, Core Formation, Nascent Soul—he breezes through all bottlenecks without lifting a finger. Take one hundred disciples: every day he gains 100 years of cultivation power. Even a Soul Transformation Venerable before him can’t survive a single blow. Take ten thousand disciples: every day he gains 10,000 years of cultivation power! With a wave of his hand, he topples empires. With a single step, he crushes the sacred grounds of the universe. ... While others fight tooth and nail for secret techniques, Lin Yan casually hands out Nascent Soul-level cultivation manuals as beginner textbooks. While others strain to find talented recruits, Lin Yan opens his doors to anyone—so long as they’re human. In just three short years, the Heavenly Yan Sect went from a backwater sect made up of three crumbling huts to a sacred land that every cultivator under heaven would kill to enter. ... One day, otherworldly demon gods invade, with a million demon soldiers pressing down upon the realm. Lin Yan, yawning, rises from his lounge chair and glances at the system panel: [Current Disciples: 1.28 million] [Daily Cultivation Increase: 1.28 million years] He waves his hand casually, and the countless demon soldiers are reduced to ashes in an instant. “So noisy… interrupting my fishing.”
ut it can buy an entire year of absolutely perfect training results! Su Yu stared at his empty wallet and decisively opened up various online loan platforms. “Borrow a thousand bucks! Recharge my vitality!” Boom! His vitality broke a hundred points, shattering the limits of the human body! “Borrow ten thousand bucks! Recharge my combat skills!” Boom! A basic punching technique so common it was everywhere instantly maxed out, revealing the ultimate assassination technique of Five Elements Unity—Inner Force! When a rich kid hired assassins for a midnight ambush, aiming to break both of his legs, they instead ran headfirst into a monster—a human-shaped tyrannosaur, brimming with dragon-like vitality. With just two fingers, Su Yu snapped a steel staff reinforced with alloy. Staring at the killer’s stash of stolen cash—a staggering quarter-million dollars—he showed a corporate-sincere smile: “Thanks for the pre-exam gift pack, Mr. Zhao! I’m gonna go re-invest this!” Three days later, at the National Martial Arts College Entrance Exam, while everyone else struggled just to reach the passing line, Su Yu threw a single punch—and more than a thousand vitality points literally detonated the entire arena!
ing gift was a patch of barren land, and disciples were all picked up along the way. He spent fifty years diligently building three "ramshackle little sects," thinking he could finally live a carefree life relying on his disciples. But right at the fifty-year mark, he was suddenly swept away by a spatial rift and exiled to the Chaos Desolation, the Disorderly Ruins. There was no spiritual energy there, only slaughter. Relying on the cultivation feedback from his disciples, Gu Changyuan hacked his way through a sea of blood for eleven hundred years. When the system finally fished him back out, he discovered the ramshackle little sects he'd built back then had developed a rather... unusual style. Hold on... I vanished for a thousand years, so how did my ramshackle little sects become holy lands?!
lity and could only live as an ordinary mortal. He only wished to live a peaceful life. Yet he didn't know— The dog he adopted, because it ate his food, became a legendary demon king. The kitchen knife he casually forged became a peerless divine weapon, causing numerous experts to fight desperately for it. The young disciple he took in became an immortal lord that led an era, due to cultivating the techniques Ye Feng taught him. Even the skeletons he looked down on the most were ominous demon kings that suppressed countless worlds. Many years later, looking at the void shattered with a punch, Ye Feng murmured to himself: It turns out the peerless kings were myself all along...
