Discussing Alliance Part Two

As he spoke, he swept his gaze over the elders below who disapproved of taking action, and added, "It seems that you elders have gone too long without reviewing the sect rules and ancestral teachings of our Qinghe Sect. In a moment, let us take a trip to the Changdeng Pavilion to brush up on them."

...

A similar situation was playing out almost simultaneously in the Yunyan Cult.

Even in the Shangyang Sect, the entire sect from top to bottom had originally reached a near consensus to not take action.

But after one night passed, for some unknown reason, Elder Luo—oh, he should now be called Sect Leader Luo—who had stayed in his room all night, came out and surprisingly changed his tune, stating that this time their Shangyang Sect absolutely must take action.

Song Jusheng, who had already returned to the sect with the main forces, looked up at Sect Leader Luo, who had suddenly changed his mind overnight, feeling somewhat puzzled.

Meanwhile, Sect Leader Luo, sitting upright in the chief seat of the sect leader, wore a solemn expression, though he felt a bit depressed inside.

No one could see his hand, pale from gripping the sect leader's seal so tightly beneath his wide sleeves.

This sect leader's seal was far heavier than he had ever imagined...

Thus, it was not long before the imperial court received replies from the three sects agreeing to join forces in the crusade against the Huanyou Kingdom.

Li Zhouxuan was somewhat surprised upon receiving the news.

Originally, he had thought that after the three major sects received this message, they would probably spend a good deal of time wrangling and arguing. He had not expected that this time, the three sects would agree so uniformly and swiftly.

Because the Pusi Kingdom had transmitted this information rather covertly, the matter of the crusade against the Huanyou Kingdom had not yet been formally brought into the open.

As a result, the Huanyou Kingdom had not caught even the slightest wind of it.

The current rulers of the Huanyou Kingdom, namely the royal family, were relatively young, with a history of less than five hundred years.

Five hundred years ago, the Huanyou Kingdom experienced domestic turmoil and raging wars.

During those past conflicts, the ancient royal family of the Huanyou Kingdom was replaced by the current one.

It was also during that period that the sects in the Huanyou Kingdom were either defeated or scattered, resulting in a reshuffling of power. This led to the current situation in the Huanyou Kingdom: a multitude of small sects, no major sects, and aside from a few with slightly more capital that could entangle in interests with the current royal family, it was almost entirely a state of disunity.

To the current royal family of the Huanyou Kingdom, the royal family of the Pusi Kingdom had always given them the impression of trying to minimize major issues and avoiding trouble whenever possible.

Therefore, even though their abduction of people to mine Ji Stones had been discovered by the Pusi Kingdom, the Huanyou royal family was not actually particularly worried.

They would never have imagined that the Pusi royal family had already started rallying allies to launch a joint crusade against them.

Even less did they know that the secret letters Li Zhouxuan sent to two other neighboring countries, which shared a similarly long history with the Li royal family, were already on the road, being rushed to their destinations at top speed.

Liu Yunan and Qin Jianghe also arrived at the capital city at this time.

"Wow, Jianghe, this capital city is amazing! It's so much more impressive than our Liaoju Prefecture in Hufang!"

Looking at the exceptionally spacious streets right upon entering the city, the bustling crowds on both sides, the various carriages being slowly drawn by different numbers of tall, sturdy horses in the middle of the road, and the guard patrols marching back and forth, Liu Yunan felt that it truly lived up to being the capital city of their country. This grandeur was simply extraordinary.

It was also Qin Jianghe's first time in the capital, and the curiosity and shock in his heart were no less than Liu Yunan's.

However, the people and events he had encountered over the past year or so had tempered him. Now he was used to keeping a straight face on the outside, not revealing too much of his thoughts, regardless of how he felt inside.

Qin Jianghe transmitted his voice to him, saying:

"Wait until tonight. We'll put on disguises before coming out, and I'll accompany you for a proper stroll. For now, we need to head to the Imperial City first. Yuanjiao has already made contact for us, saying we can just go straight in."

Hearing this, Liu Yunan gradually reined in his excited expression. He stopped looking around, kept his eyes straight ahead, and followed Qin Jianghe all the way to the front of the Imperial City. After presenting the scroll that the Emperor had sent to their sect last year, they were smoothly led inside.

They had their initial meeting and conversation with Emperor Li Zhouxuan and some important court ministers.

As for the specifics of what was discussed, it remained unknown.

Meanwhile, in Yuanling City of the cultivation world.

Yuan Qing, whose body had recovered somewhat, learned that they would be taking a spirit ship to the Talisman Master Assembly in two days. After struggling with himself for a long time, he cautiously recommended himself to Lin Xiao and the others:

"Fellow Daoists, I am quite familiar with Banxiang City, where the Talisman Master Assembly is held. I was wondering... could I go together with you two? I can act as your guide, and I will cover all the expenses along the way."

Lin Xiao was confused.

"Couldn't you just go by yourself? Why do you insist on going with us?"

Sitting propped up against the edge of the bed, Yuan Qing said somewhat embarrassedly:

"Fellow Daoist Lin must also know that one of the organizers of the Talisman Master Assembly is my former sect, the Heaven Profound Sect. For this assembly, the senior and junior brothers who will be heading there to handle various tasks have already been decided. To tell you the truth, among them... is the fellow disciple who framed me."

"I want to go with you two so that, at crucial moments, you can help cover for me a little. If I go alone, I'm afraid it would be too easy for that person to spot me.

I want to try and see if I can reconnect with some fellow disciples I had good relations with, to clear my name of this false charge."

Hearing this, Lin Xiao understood Yuan Qing's purpose for wanting to tag along. As for occasionally helping him maintain a cover, Lin Xiao wasn't unwilling, but he harbored doubts about the 'fellow disciples with good relations' Yuan Qing mentioned.

If there truly were enough of such friendly fellow disciples, Lin Xiao felt that Yuan Qing probably wouldn't have ended up in his current predicament.

Lin Xiao recalled the cultivator named Xu Juan, who had constantly stayed by Yuan Qing's side back in the Green Field Secret Realm, and wondered why this person wasn't with Yuan Qing now.

However, none of this had anything to do with him.

Lin Xiao only said to Yuan Qing:

"I can agree to take you along, but you must also promise me one thing, and you must swear a Heavenly Destiny Oath. How about it?"

Hearing there was a chance, Yuan Qing immediately asked:

"What is it? As long as it doesn't violate the heavens or reason, I will agree to it!"

So Lin Xiao said:

"On this trip, I will be in disguise and will not show my true face. You are not allowed to leak my identity, nor are you to mention what happened between us in the Green Field Secret Realm to anyone."

Actually, when he first encountered Yuan Qing, Lin Xiao had figured that the two sects which had jointly opened the Green Field Secret Realm back then would probably discover that they couldn't enter it this year.

If they were intent on investigating, they would inevitably summon the disciples who had entered the secret realm last year for questioning.

He wasn't too worried about the people he had saved in the secret realm at the time; after all, they had been in a state of exhaustion and stupor. It was impossible for them to know who had provided the exit, nor would they have paid much attention to his appearance.

But this Yuan Qing, and that Xu Juan who had been accompanying him before, were a different story.