605 Beginning, Nine Nether Divine Lord
The establishment of the Martial Dao Academy was not a good thing for the “nobles” of the nine countries of the Immortal Land.
These so-called nobles might not be high-ranking rulers.
As their legacies had been passed down for too long, and more and more descendants had reproduced, with most of them having ordinary aptitudes, there were many “nobles” with ordinary statuses and power in many places.
These people usually occupied the positions of some minor officials. They could not be said to have any power, but in the end, they were “nobles” who could cultivate high-level martial arts. They still felt very superior to ordinary people.
Therefore, after the Central Capital Imperial City established the Martial Dao Academy and wanted to spread the cultivation of high-level martial arts to the world, the first to jump was not those with high statuses.
On the other hand, the “nobles” who were minor officials could not sit still anymore.
However, no one dared to openly express their objections.
No one went to ask the higher-ups for help.
After all, from the fact that this news was not restricted and could be spread at will, it could be seen that even the higher-ups did not dare to criticize the matters of the Martial Dao Academy.
One had to know that the peerless expert who established the Martial Dao Academy was surnamed “Cui”!
Legend has it that Cui Feng was Cui Qing’s junior clan brother who had almost destroyed the entire Immortal Land. Moreover, he himself had the cultivation of the Twelfth True World Realm and had reached the peak of the True World Realms.
Who would dare to criticize him?
Unless they were tired of living!
However, these people did not have the guts to criticize the Martial Dao Academy, but they had the guts to find excuses to torture the ordinary people. They were very bold!
For a moment, because of various reasons, the number of ordinary people arrested and imprisoned by the low-ranking officials increased rapidly.
Moreover, they all had real evidence, laws, and witnesses to back it up. There were no problems.
The minor nobles were busy finding trouble with ordinary people to vent their emotions.
The nobles gradually came back to their senses and felt that this matter might not be so simple.
….
In the Emperor’s palace in the capital of the Wu Kingdom.
At this moment, the Emperor of the Wu Kingdom, Fu Cheng, was discussing the matter of the Martial Dao Academy with his trusted aides.
He looked to be a middle-aged man in his fifties with a worried expression.
Around him, Zhao Kang, Feng Taiying, and Zhou Mingyi were all important ministers of the Wu Kingdom. At the same time, they all had cultivation at the Eighth True World Realm and were True Immortals.
Usually, Fu Cheng rarely summoned the three of them at the same time.
Now that these three people had gathered here at the same time, it could be seen that the matter of the Martial Dao Academy was already very serious in his heart.
“What do you think about the Martial Dao Academy in the Central Capital City?” Fu Cheng went straight to the point and asked the three of them without keeping them in suspense. “I think this is our tribulation.”
“I think so too.” Zhao Kang nodded and said in a low voice, “As soon as the Martial Dao Academy opens, the leaders of the nine countries will lean towards the Central Capital’s Imperial City. As time passes, there will be no more people in our country.”
“That’s right, this is a very serious matter,” Feng Taiying said solemnly. “The number of people under our rule determines the depth of the land’s connection with the outer realm. If the number of people is greatly reduced, I’m afraid we won’t be able to cultivate in the future.”
“The most helpless thing is that we can’t do anything at all.” Zhou Mingyi sighed and said, “Not to mention that the founder of the Martial Dao Academy is an expert at the Twelfth True World Realm, there’s also Cui Qing standing behind him. We can’t afford to provoke him.”
Cui Qing!
After this name was mentioned, the entire palace fell silent.
Everyone lowered their heads, feeling deeply helpless.
Cui Qing’s extremely terrifying power was still vivid in their minds. Even if they gathered the power of the entire Wu Kingdom, they probably could not compare to a strand of Cui Qing’s hair.
Resistance?
That was just courting death.
“This is Emperor Hongwu’s open scheme.” Fu Cheng shook his head gently and sighed. “If this continues, it will be a small matter if the number of people in the country decreases, making it difficult for us to cultivate.
The true problem is a million years later, or tens of millions of years later. When this group of people who went to the Martial Dao Academy to practice martial arts grow up and True Immortals or even Paramount True Immortal start sprouting all over the place.
At that time, will they let us go? Will they still let us manage them? Will they still listen to our orders and build a country for us? I’m afraid not.”
“Your Excellency is right.” Zhao Kang said with hatred, “If the ordinary people have a channel to cultivate high-level martial arts, we will definitely be the ones to suffer in the end!
What exactly does Cui Qing want to do? If he wants to deal with us, he can easily kill us with his strength. Why go through so much trouble?”
“I think this matter shouldn’t have much to do with Cui Qing.” Feng Taiying shook her head gently and said, “After capturing the Lord of the Immortals and crippling the Human Emperor, Cui Qing hasn’t appeared again.
Cui Qing’s cultivation level is too high. He should have only come to us for Hongwu. Now that Hongwu has settled down, he has most likely left our humble world.
If Cui Qing is still in the Central Capital, he can solve all the problems himself. There’s no need to let Cui Feng come over to suppress the situation.
This also means that the construction of the Martial Dao Academy and the spread of martial arts were most likely Emperor Hongwu’s own initiative. Cui Feng was only sent over to help.
In other words, as long as we can convince Emperor Hongwu or reach some agreement with him, we should be able to eliminate this calamity.”
“That makes sense!” Zhou Mingyi’s eyes lit up when he heard that. He smiled and said, “Emperor Hongwu must have an unknown goal in wanting to rope in these lowly commoners.
As long as we can find out his true goal, we can negotiate a cooperation with him from this point. In any case, it’s fine as long as we can help him achieve his goal.”
“I’m afraid it’s very difficult.” Fu Cheng shook his head and said in a low voice, “Emperor Hongwu is not an ordinary person, and neither is Cui Qing. Since he’s doing this now, he must have thought about it carefully and definitely obtained Cui Qing’s approval.
Although I’m also very puzzled about the use of him roping in these commoners, since he has made such a decision, it’s not something we can easily change.”
“Your Excellency, we have to try,” Zhou Mingyi said in a low voice.
“That’s right. Are we going to sit back and wait for death?” Feng Taiying also persuaded.
“Your Excellency, we should give it a try,” Zhao Kang said extremely sincerely. “No matter what Emperor Hongwu’s goal is, it’s only the beginning. We might still have a chance to change it.”
“…” Fu Cheng frowned and sighed. “What if Emperor Hongwu’s true goal is to let those commoners replace us? Then there will be no room for negotiation.”
“That’s impossible.” Zhao Kang shook his head repeatedly and said, “What benefits will this bring to Emperor Hongwu? Those lowly commoners don’t have any inheritances or secrets. Emperor Hongwu has no reason to help them replace us.”
“Your Excellency should be overthinking.” Zhou Mingyi smiled and shook his head. “Emperor Hongwu also cultivated all the way to the True World realm. He doesn’t belong to the ranks of the lowly commoners, so why would he help them? This doesn’t make sense.”
“That’s true.” Feng Taiying nodded and said with a smile, “Your Excellency, you’re overthinking. Emperor Hongwu does not intend to let those commoners replace us.
Moreover, the nine countries of the world have already submitted to him. Every ten years, we will report our political achievements to the Central Capital’s Imperial City. In the past, there would not be such a thing.
From this perspective, Emperor Hongwu’s control over this land has already reached the peak. It’s unprecedented. Could it be that he still wants to destroy the remaining nine countries and swallow everything alone?”
“It’s impossible for him to do such a thing,” Zhao Kang said in a low voice. “Small countries like the Chen and Liu Kingdoms might be swallowed up, but it’s impossible for him to touch the Seven Kingdoms like our Wu Kingdom. Without us, who will help him manage this huge Immortal Land?”
“Your Excellency, we should indeed give it a try.” Zhou Mingyi persuaded again, “At the very least, we have to figure out what Emperor Hongwu wants to do first.”
“…” Fu Cheng fell silent again when he heard this. In the end, he patted the table gently. “Alright, go and investigate. Let’s figure out Hongwu’s goal first. Remember to hide it and not let anyone discover it.”
“Yes!” The three of them bowed in unison.
….
After ending his conversation with Zhao Kang, Zhou Mingyi, and Feng Taiying.
Fu Cheng arrived at a secret chamber deep in the palace.
The ground of this secret chamber was filled with dense and complicated runes.
Every rune symbolized an extremely profound nomological Dao rune, as if it was communicating with a hidden place.
In the surrounding void, faint blue flames floated, illuminating the dark chamber even more sinisterly.
The entire secret chamber was set up as an array formation, or rather, an altar.
Fu Cheng slowly walked to the center of the array formation and knelt down extremely sincerely. He clenched his fists and placed them in front of his chest. He lowered his head with a solemn expression.
“Greetings, Nine Nether Divine God.”
He kowtowed to the void, but there was no response. Only the faint blue flames flickered slightly.
Fu Cheng waited for a while, but there was still no response. He prostrated on the ground and kowtowed. He said respectfully, “The new Human Emperor seems to be about to attack us. If the Wu Kingdom is destroyed, your whereabouts will be exposed…”
Whoosh! Whoosh!
At this moment, a cold wind suddenly appeared in the secret chamber. The faint blue flames began to jump violently, as if they were responding even more intensely.
Fu Cheng did not say anything. He kowtowed sincerely and closed his eyes slightly, as if he was listening to a certain voice.
A moment later, the cold wind disappeared, and the faint blue flames stopped jumping. The secret chamber became gloomy and quiet again.
When everything returned to normal, Fu Cheng finally stood up slowly. The worry on his face had already disappeared, replaced by a confident smile.
“As long as his power can really descend here, not to mention Hongwu and Cui Feng, even if Cui Qing comes personally, he won’t be a threat!”
