Even though the Imperial College Sacrificial Officer wasn't truly on the opposing side, and even halted Earth Uncle, he indeed no longer walked the same path as Jiang Li.

Imperial College Sacrificial Officer Mo Yiling revered the Great Zhou governance system, tested over eight hundred years, with the Emperor at the pinnacle, balancing the world, governing the country with utmost fairness.

Thus, when the Emperor was found lacking, he responded directly to Tianxuan's invitation, forcing the Emperor to abdicate.

Furthermore, it could be anticipated that the Imperial College Sacrificial Officer and his students, followers, will always uphold this heart, striving for the Emperor's restoration.

Because the Dao Fruit embraced by the Imperial College Sacrificial Officer is a classic Confucian branch, his progress to third grade in this branch represents a quintessential Confucian mindset. This point indeed differs vastly from the so-called Great Scholars of Jiang Li's previous life's ancient times.

The Great Scholars here truly possess corresponding integrity.

Even Zhu Hui'an, who shifted halfway from the Human Species to the Divine Attribute, carried ideals to change the world. Though his minor faults may undermine, it's hard to alter his pursuit of ideals.

This disposition, spoken positively, is with integrity, persevering despite opposition; negatively, it's somewhat stubborn.

Since the Imperial College Sacrificial Officer reveres a governance system tested by time, he wouldn't change easily, and might stand against Jiang Li in the future.

There's no choice, for Jiang now is the greatest Powerful Minister, taking the script of Cao Sikong.

"Yes, I shall return to report to the teacher."

Xiao Zhi, neither humble nor arrogant, followed the protocol, leaving no opportunity for exploiting a rhetorical question, saluted, "I take my leave."

Upon speaking, he retreated a few steps, turned and departed, neither hurried nor sluggish in pace.

"The Great Sacrificial Officer has a good student." Jiang Li remarked emotionally.

Yet he, a young man in his twenties, thus evaluating Xiao Zhi, an older man by decades, indeed seemed reverse in order. Those unaware would think Jiang Li actually was the elder.

But in Zhu Hui'an's view, Jiang Li's demeanor did not appear awkward or peculiar. When he spoke, even Zhu Hui'an and Xiao Zhi naturally exhibited a proper respect, as if it was expected.

'Sikong's Realm is ever more inscrutable.' Zhu Hui'an thought silently.

This battle in Yong Province apparently greatly benefited Jiang Li, Zhu Hui'an pondered that this Jiang Sikong most likely achieved Fourth Grade Perfection. If he could advance to third grade, even if not bearing the Emperor Dao Fruit, he probably could reach the apex of third grade.

"Sikong, how fares the battle in Yong Province?" Zhu Hui'an inquired.

"Manjusri is dead, the Buddha Country should withdraw next," Jiang Li said slowly, "It's unfortunate that unforeseen events happened in Divine Capital, making it difficult to leave, otherwise, I could have retained more people from the Buddha Country."

With Feng Manlou's identity exposed, the one affected most was the Princess, followed by Jiang Li, who was friendly with Feng Manlou.

Whether the Princess can retain the regency is uncertain, if Jiang Li is not in Divine Capital, the court's direction might immediately shift.

It's precisely for this reason, Jiang Li suspects the reveal of the good elder brother's identity might be the handiwork of the Heavenly Monarch, who excels at imbuing scenes into millions of people's minds.

Yet claiming the Great Venerable does not bear suspicion seems overly conclusive. With the Great Venerable's divine skills, not many in the world can make him suffer in conflict.

Even among Supremes, it's difficult to make the Great Venerable suffer in battle.

"Earth Uncle is definitely seizing the opportunity, but it's regrettable that the Yin Law Department is too patient, having not acted yet." Zhu Hui'an lamented.

Don't be misled by the pervasive Yin Qi before, it was all thunderous noise with little actual rain, just sending Yin Qi everywhere, without seeing the Yin Law Department take action. Meng Jun even stormed the Imperial City with the Eldest Prince, and yet the Yin Law Department remains as turtle-like, unmoving.

It's uncertain whether to credit the patience of the Yin Law Department's ruler King You, and Earth Uncle, or suspect they're long premeditated.

Jiang Li leans towards the latter, as Earth Uncle and the Heavenly Monarch are closely associated. If the reveal of the Great Venerable's identity truly was the Heavenly Monarch's doing, then perhaps he informed Earth Uncle beforehand.

Even if King Shu fails on one side, Earth Uncle could continue to constrain Jiang Li, or overtly launch an attack.

In truth, Earth Uncle only wants to control the court, he doesn't desire the Emperor Dao Fruit to reappear, supporting the Second Prince as a puppet Emperor, rather than genuinely wanting an Emperor above him.

Compared to Meng Jun, Earth Uncle indeed doesn't need to rush.

Considering this, whether the Eldest Prince or the Second Prince succeeds, for the Heavenly Monarch it's a win, if not the Eldest Prince, there's the Second Prince to continue at the forefront.

Such thoughts make Jiang Li somewhat believe it truly was the Heavenly Monarch's doing.

Could it be this time the good elder brother wasn't stirring trouble, but instead got stirred up by others?

"Let's first capture the rebels."

Jiang Li pondered for a moment, and said, "As for Earth Uncle, he couldn't win before, he cannot win now either."

Upon hearing this, Zhu Hui'an no longer dwelled on it, it's all indeed like soldiers coming to build the dam with earth.

He nodded slightly towards Jiang Li, then turned to handle the remnants of Meng Jun.

Now seeing Jiang Sikong grow increasingly strong, approaching his ideals, Zhu Hui'an, the Palu chosen by Jiang Li, was immensely elated, his enthusiasm brimming.

As for Jiang Li, he gently exhaled, dense Primordial Qi forming a gust, cleansing the Imperial City, extinguishing leftover Fire Force and thunderstorms post-battle. Subsequently, Jiang Li's figure flickered, with his ancestral-level accessory, he moved to the Ghost Gate.

At this time, Xiao Tian had returned, continued guarding the Ghost Gate, upon seeing Jiang Li arrive, he opened his dog mouth, spitting out a radiant stream, the Eldest Prince's Dao Fruit.

However, Jiang Li was truly uninterested in a fourth-rank unable to beat a dog, merely waved his hand, letting Xiao Tian continue keeping the Dao Fruit.

Meanwhile, he sat cross-legged before the Ghost Gate, his divine thought delving inward, following the invisible link, communicating with distant Master and Sister.

The Ghost Gate opens in Yong Province, Jiang Li's divine thought traverses Yinming, using himself as the center, connecting both sides' divine thoughts.

He himself seemed to be asleep, with his eyes closed, a dream realm was born, and the Tianxuan and Gongsun Qingyue, who possessed the ability to enter dreams, simultaneously responded, their consciousness entering Jiang Li's dream realm.

In a trance, heaven and earth changed, from the recent battle in the Imperial City to the Tianxuan Hall, the dignified master and the bright senior sister simultaneously manifested their forms.

Upon first meeting, Tianxuan's gaze fell on Jiang Li's shoulder and asked, "Injured?"

Jiang Li's shoulder was somewhat unnatural, not very noticeable but instantly clear to Tianxuan, who knew Jiang Li intimately.

Jiang Li: "······"

"Just a little weary, that's all."

Jiang Li relaxed his shoulder and smiled, saying, "Manjusri is indeed a formidable enemy. If it weren't for laying a hidden trap in advance and having Shen Hou lurking beside Manjusri, I truly couldn't have defeated him."

Manjusri was undeniably strong; if his Tathagata Undestructible True Body had no flaws, Jiang Li had no chance of winning against him.

This also shows Shen Hou's ability, since even a powerhouse like Manjusri couldn't withstand Shen Hou's incense.

However, Jiang Li's shoulder being unnatural wasn't because of Manjusri, but due to having a master-level accessory on his shoulder at the moment.

In order to let the Yinglong Dragon transformed by the Master of Rain sleep soundly, Jiang Li subconsciously adjusted himself, causing even his posture in the dream realm to remain slightly unnatural.

"Is that so······" Tianxuan slightly furrowed her brows.

Jiang Li's explanation was reasonable, yet she couldn't shake the feeling that something was amiss.

Unfortunately, even after advancing to the third grade, Tianxuan couldn't divine Jiang Li; thus, despite her feeling something was wrong, she had no deeper perception.

Moreover, this Gongsun Family Master was the type to side with outsiders, having full trust in Jiang Li, so she had no further doubts, simply asking then thinking nothing more.

Jiang Li was initially startled within but soon calmed down.

In his life, I never indulged in lust, the Primordial Lord Rain Master was also pure as jade, the two had no unclean relations, what was there to be anxious about?

One could say that as someone who bore the Zhuang Zhou Dao Fruit, his mind was naturally free and unrestrained, slight tension or even guilty conscience could hardly bind his heart, easily discarding it.

He acted extremely naturally, asking, "How are things in Yong Province since I left?"

"Guanyin only stayed in the central road for a moment before leaving, so we gained some advantage, killing three thousand people. However, once Guanyin returned, the battle had to be stopped," Gongsun Qingyue said.

Jiang Li returned to Divine Capital through Ghost Gate, leaving the severely injured Daoist Guang Cheng, along with Guangyuan Daoist and Mo Xuankong.

In terms of combat power, we actually didn't have the advantage and setting off a new fight wasn't advisable. Both Tan Wuwei and Guanyin preferred to preserve their followers, and likewise didn't want further conflict.

After a fierce battle, both sides chose restraint.

"It seems these two have decided to return to Buddha Country."

Jiang Li nodded then asked, "What about the Drought Demon Ba?"

This third-grade entity released by Jiang Li personally caused quite a threat to Buddha Country. If not for Drought's fierce power, Guanyin wouldn't have easily given up so many monks.

Without these monks, the incense Manjusri absorbed reduced significantly.

If possible, Jiang Li considered retrieving Drought, used for next time, also to prevent another severe drought in Yong Province.

"Drought is gone."

Gongsun Qingyue, with an uncertain expression, said, "She seems to have been influenced by something, moving straight west. As for those monks, all died at Drought's hands, leaving no remains."

"Straight west?" Jiang Li frowned.

Straight movement suggests a purpose, but Drought's intelligence was completely lost. Rather than a person, she was more like a full-fledged monster, following instincts with no aim.

Drought's sudden move west was quite bizarre.

For Jiang Li, losing a trump card was one thing, but Drought suddenly heading to the next storm center made her noteworthy.

"Could she be guided by someone else?" Tianxuan also grew cautious, "But influencing Drought's consciousness with Divine Thought Secret Technique or Dao Fruit Divine Power requires at least third grade, and close to the peak level."

Such individuals are very few nowadays; the most famous are Karma Tathagata, Awakened, and Heavenly Monarch.

These three are skilled in consciousness rituals, so slightly affecting Drought could be possible. But controlling Drought? That's unlikely.

The Grand Ancestor of Great Zhou nearly ascended to the second grade Yellow Emperor once. Looking back now, he was a supreme eight hundred years ago. He tried everything to awaken and control Drought's violent consciousness; others, even versed in this arts, basically couldn't control Drought.

Simply put, it's another mystery.

"The water ahead in Buddha Country sure is deep."

Tianxuan sighed and continued, "With Buddha Country's defeat, Daoist Guang Cheng and Guangyuan Daoist should return to Yuxu Temple. With these two back to Kunxu Mountain, the Immortal Queen couldn't continue hunting me. However, her heart is cold as Mysterious Ice, we have thoroughly offended her this time, and she'll certainly strike whenever my location is confirmed."

"The key is she has the Plain Cloud Realm Flag, moving freely, hence trapping her is unlikely, killing her even harder."

This means, henceforth Tianxuan should lay low whenever possible, best to keep others perpetually unsure of her whereabouts.

In other words, Tianxuan finds it challenging to manage the Divine Capital.

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