Li Zhouxuan

Thus, the overall situation in the Pusi Kingdom shifted from a balanced dynamic between the Three Great Sects and the Imperial Court to one with only two great sects.

This change was by no means a good thing for the Imperial Court.

For him, it was even worse.

As an emperor, his greatest wish was to develop the kingdom on a stable foundation, rather than face massive upheavals.

Furthermore, there were not only internal troubles but also external threats.

The Pusi Kingdom was not the only country in the Mortal Realm.

Just bordering the Pusi Kingdom were several nations no weaker than his own, all eyeing each other like tigers, waiting for someone to show a moment of weakness so they could take a bite.

Behind each nation stood several cultivation sect factions.

The so-called Mortal Realm was merely a place where ordinary mortals lived, and where low-level cultivators mingled to enjoy the exalted treatment they could never receive in the Cultivation World.

Almost all royal families were elites who had risen from the masses of mortals in the Mortal Realm. After obtaining the fortuitous encounters to cultivate, they established kingdoms in their own territories and passed them down through the generations.

Because their own strength was insufficient to contend with other nations, they needed to win over nearby sects to maintain their country's comprehensive strength to rival others.

Although, if a major crisis truly befell the country, whether these sects would actually help, and how much effort they would put in, was hard to say.

But even if it was just power on paper, it was something they absolutely had to have.

It was just that helpless of a situation.

Because these mortal kingdoms lacked backing from the Cultivation World, the resources they possessed could not support the operations of a sect.

Therefore, they could not recruit disciples widely like those sects did.

As a result, royal families generally invested their extremely limited resources into the most talented royal descendants of each generation, allowing them to focus entirely on cultivation so they could attain a cultivation base strong enough to become the royal family's pillar of support.

Then, they would select the royal descendant most capable of governing the country to serve as the emperor.

In this way, coupled with their control over the state's administration, they could somewhat stand on equal footing with those cultivation sects.

Those cultivation sects had little interest in governing mortals.

In comparison, they were much more interested in the feeling of standing high above mortals, being treated as immortals by everyone.

Thus, for a long time, the sects and the state had coexisted peacefully and harmoniously.

But this harmony was strictly limited to a state where all sides were balanced.

Once the balance was broken, the scales would inevitably tip.

Human nature is fickle.

What people thought when things were balanced did not mean they would remain consistent once the balance was lost.

Therefore, under the circumstances where the Shangyang Sect's situation was likely irreversible and the tripartite balance of the Three Great Sects was almost certainly going to be broken, this newly emerged sect was, to Li Zhouxuan, a crucial key that could slightly turn the tide.

If their strength was a bit greater, not necessarily too high, just comparable to the newly reformed Shangyang Sect led by those who had broken away, then the balance would not be completely shattered.

So, after probing the truth of this new sect, his next step was to find out its actual strength as quickly as possible.

Obviously, this was not a task that a Qi Refining cultivator like Wei San could accomplish.

Thinking of this, he glanced at Wei San standing below and spoke:

You may step down for now.

Hearing this, Wei San, who had been waiting on standby, immediately bowed and withdrew.

Watching him leave the imperial study, Li Zhouxuan then dismissed the attendants by his side.

Only then did he tear open the envelope in his hand, which bore the words To be opened personally by the Emperor.

Initially, feeling the thinness of the envelope, he assumed it contained a letter of reply.

Unexpectedly, upon opening it, he found a voice transmission talisman inside.

He had seen this kind of thing before.

Although he only had a Qi Refining cultivation base and rarely came into contact with cultivation-related items outside of his regular practice.

The royal family had always provided basic educational courses on cultivation.

All royal descendants received relevant instruction from a young age.

Therefore, he recognized the voice transmission talisman.

Thus, he immediately tore the voice transmission talisman open. The next moment, a somewhat aged and cold voice echoed in his mind.

It was precisely the voice of Liao Pantu, who had been forced to do this task:

No time at the moment, let's meet next year.

Because his voice sounded the oldest, Liu Yunan and Sun Yigao had unanimously agreed that he should be the one to record this voice transmission talisman.

This was to prevent the emperor from hearing their youthful voices and looking down on them.

They wanted the Imperial Court to know that although they were a new sect, they also had elders!

For several breaths after Liao Pantu's voice faded, Li Zhouxuan still had not processed it.

His focus was not even on the content or the cold tone.

Rather.

That was it?

A voice transmission talisman, just to say those few words?!

Li Zhouxuan began to doubt his life.

He still remembered when the royal descendants were in class, the elders had told them that items like talismans were extremely expensive in the Cultivation World. A voice transmission talisman like this would sell for at least five to ten spirit stones.

Although their royal family had cultivators, because they lacked a stable source of spirit stones and corresponding cultivation artisans, like talisman masters, array masters, alchemists, or artifact refiners, they had none of these.

Therefore, these items that required spirit stones to acquire were incredibly precious to them.

While these things were not as rare for the Three Great Sects as they were for the royal family, they still would not be wasted so casually...

Just a few words!

Could they not have just written it on a random piece of paper?!

Just a few words!

Why waste a voice transmission talisman!

Would it not have been better to just gift this voice transmission talisman to him?!

This new sect must be showing off to him, right? They definitely were!

After a storm of roaring complaints in his heart, Li Zhouxuan took a deep breath to calm his emotions.

Forget it, he could not afford to bicker with a newly risen sect.

If they had money and loved to show off, that was their business.

For him, it was a good thing that this sect had power.

With that thought, he stood up, holding the torn voice transmission talisman.

Leaving the imperial study, he walked all the way into the depths of the imperial city.

After passing through one palace gate after another, he arrived in front of a grand and magnificent palace. Facing the empty exterior of the hall, he spoke loudly:

Zhouxuan, the thirty-fifth generation descendant of the Li family, requests an audience with the Ancestor.

Meanwhile, in the capital city.

Song Jusheng, whose sent letters had sunk like stones into the sea without any response, had hesitated for three days and then another three days. Having delayed until now, he finally packed his bags, deciding to return to the Shangyang Sect to find out what was going on.

Unexpectedly, barely two miles out of the city, he ran into a group of Shangyang Sect elders and many elite inner sect disciples who were hurrying toward the capital.

Seeing this group of fellow sect members looking somewhat disheveled, with each person's waist covered in storage bags, Song Jusheng could not help but feel deeply confused.