"Court of Judicial Review is here for official work, and all people uninvolved stand to one side." The low and serious tone gave the speaker an air of authority. Dozens of his men stood at the doors with sabers hanging by their waists. From their official dress, however, they were evidently from two different departments. Most of them were obviously bailiffs from the Luoyang Court of Judicial Review, while the rest strangely seemed to be important personnel from the military department. Since the past, civilians never fought with officials. Even though they might have their own ideas, and might not be willing to give way, not many of them had the guts to protest to the bailiffs. A passageway wide enough for two people to pass through quickly emerged from the path from the entrance of the seminary up to the platform. Everyone's gaze was fixed outside the doors. As the Right Vice Minister of the Court of Judicial Review, He Fei actually did no

Thanks to Li Jianqi's interference, what was supposed to be the arrest of a serious criminal turned into a farce? However, a perceptive person would realize just how powerful Divine Sect Seminary was. No one would cause trouble for the Seminary from now on, at least not in Luoyang. Who would dare to provoke the so-called "brother" of the beloved Princess of the future Emperor? The brave ones were welcome to try; the Princess had promised not to beat the perpetrators to death, after all. Just the fright alone was enough to kill. The bailiffs of the Court of Judicial Review and the officers of the Ministry of War came in high spirits but left dispirited. Irrepressible sneers escaped from the apprentices of the Seminary. The laughter was quiet but landed like an intangible slap on the officers' faces. He Fei didn't know about the rest but he swore not to conduct business in the vicinity of the Divine Sect Seminary. He would be too

Serenity Palace, the imperial palace of Tang State. Li Chunzhi sat upright on the wooden bench with Huang Shan standing beside him. The servants inside the hall had been excused. "Your Majesty, it's indeed a wise idea to have our citizens learn cultivation but a faraway well can't cure our current thirst. You Prefecture has declared itself a state without permission and created mountains of dead bodies everywhere. The Cultivation World is under attack and experiences a constant internal turmoil. The Immemorial Copper Gates have been opened, smoke signals have risen throughout the four thousand kilometers of the west border, and six states have declared war against us. We should prepare and plan ahead of time or our Tang State will fall to a state of peril," Huang Shan said in a deeply worried voice and a solemn expression. "Then do you have a plan in mind?" Li Chunzhi asked. "The incident in the You Prefecture is a known fact.

The city of Luoyang was shrouded in fog. The entire sky darkened. Li Jianqi stayed in the palace while Ye Que returned to the Divine Sect Seminary with the censer that he handpicked. In his hand was also a box filled with keys to the General's Manor and some twenty shops facing the Yong'an Street. Li Chunzhi's support of the Seminary caught Ye Que by surprise. It was evident how much the Emperor thought of his people that he was able to see the purpose of a small seminary and its future development. Of course, it also indicated just how serious the country's crisis was that he was forced to depend on the force of the people. The soon-to-be Emperor must be worried about being besieged by enemies from all sides. Ye Que put the censer away in the Yin-and-Yang Pouch with plans of examining it later. He left the keys to the shops with Lin Dashu at the Seminary, ordering him to make the renovations as soon as possible. He wanted to k

Inside the quiet General's Manor, a black-clothed man was shouting himself hoarse. Ye Que didn't think he would be ambushed on his first official return to the manor or that the assassins would be survivors of the Ye Army. These people must have mistaken him for being a Devil Seed after he used his Sword Qi to bind them. Perhaps the battle in You Prefecture left too deep a trauma in them that they would mistake anyone with supernatural powers as a cultivator, a devil, and the culprit behind their brothers' massacre. "Did all of you run from the city of You Prefecture?" Ye Que had released the bind his Sword Qi placed on them. The group of men remained deeply wary of him even after they were freed. However, they refused to let Ye Que distort the truth out of principle. "I'll repeat this again. We didn't flee from the battle. We broke out of the siege under Chief Wu's orders. We didn't run." The person repeated hims