At the same time Jiang Li was advancing, an astonishing anomaly appeared in the Divine Capital.

Suddenly, auspicious clouds appeared in the sky, shining a golden hue under the sunlight, and in the eastern sky, a purple aura shot up into the heavens.

Within the Imperial City, an invisible majesty suddenly descended, and the restraints that had lost their effectiveness due to the Emperor's absence were slowly recovering.

This change was, of course, immediately detected by the Divination Order's Ji Yuan, who was responsible for divinations. He climbed to the high tower of the Qintian Bureau at the fastest speed, gazed at the heavenly phenomena, and his face changed drastically.

"This is the Purple Qi from the East!"

"His Majesty has passed away... No, His Majesty has passed away again... No, no, it's Jiang—"

The Divination Order's face turned ashen, and his voice stuttered, "Jiang Sikong has accommodated the Emperor Dao Fruit."

Purple Qi coming from the East is an auspicious sign, but when combined with the strange occurrences in the Imperial City, there's almost only one possibility left: a new Emperor has appeared.

Typically, this kind of situation signifies the demise of the previous Emperor. In the eight hundred years of Great Zhou, except for that one buried transfer of the throne long ago, the succession of the new and old Emperors has basically been immediate.

The old Emperor passes away, and the new Emperor immediately bears the Dao Fruit to avoid long nights fraught with dreams.

Purple Qi from the East and the heavenly anomaly are auspicious signs, but in a certain sense, they also signal the Emperor's departure.

However, this generation of the Great Zhou's Emperor has been departed for some time.

When the Emperor departed, anyone in the Ji Family of fifth-rank and above felt something through their bloodlines, and those who needed to mourn have mourned, those who needed to grieve have grieved, leaving only concern for the future.

And now, that concern has become reality.

The appearance of a new Emperor caused nearly all those in the know to think of a powerful minister who held sway over the court and field.

Unless someone in the Ji Family could kill Jiang Li, there was no other candidate for speculation besides him.

The shocking discovery left the Divination Order stunned, and even though he had anticipated such a day would come and prepared himself mentally, when it actually happened, he found that no amount of preparation was enough.

"Princess, I need to find the Princess..."

He hurriedly, just leaped off the high tower, attempting to fly away, but was immediately forced down by an invisible force.

Flight is forbidden within the Divine Capital.

This is the Heavenly Decree left to the Divine Capital by successive Emperors; at this moment, this prohibition had not yet fully recovered, but within the Imperial City, it was already starting to take effect.

After all, the Imperial City is the core of Great Zhou and is closely related to the Emperor.

The Divination Order, forced to the ground, was completely certain of the Emperor's emergence, and he frantically boosted his power, racing towards the Nanli Palace with qinggong.

At the cost of exhaustion, he quickly reached Nanli Palace without waiting for the palace maids to announce him, he rushed into Vermilion Bird Hall in a flurry.

At this time, the Princess was indeed inside the hall, evidently she sensed the new Emperor's appearance and came out from her secluded cultivation.

"Your Highness! Princess Your Highness!"

Seeing the Princess, the Divination Order let out a sigh of relief, and even the dignified fifth-rank nearly collapsed to his knees.

"The Emperor has appeared, Jiang Sikong has usurped the throne, Your Highness."

"What evidence do you have to say Sikong has usurped?" The Princess, however, remained calm and composed, showing no signs of urgency, "Jiang Sikong has merely advanced."

Even if he has accommodated the Emperor Dao Fruit, he, Jiang Li, is still the Regent King and has not openly ascended the throne, how can one say he has usurped?

However, this rhetoric clearly could not settle the Divination Order's anxieties.

He said anxiously, "Since the Emperor Dao Fruit has already been accommodated, the ascension is only a matter of time, Your Highness, our Ji Family is in danger, Your Highness."

"What is there to be afraid of," the Princess replied indifferently, "The Gongsun Family Master and the Primordial Lord Rain Master are both third grade; I am about to advance as well, and by then there will be three third-grades. Our Ji Family not only is not in danger but is actually regaining its energy, about to shine again."

"Jiang Sikong cannot be separated from our clan, and we presently need Jiang Sikong to become a pillar. With the Emperor gone and the Heavenly Monarch turned away, we need a new support to stabilize the situation."

The Divination Order, hearing this, was momentarily stunned, and upon careful thought, it seemed indeed to be the case.

The Emperor was gone, the Heavenly Monarch purportedly long harbored different intentions, and with the loss of these two, the Ji Family and Gongsun Family were only left with Earth Uncle, but later Tianxuan advanced, and now also the Primordial Lord Rain Master ascended, and soon the Princess would ascend too.

If this happens, wouldn't there be four third-grades, including Earth Uncle?

Stabilizing the situation would certainly be enough; even if they could work sincerely with Jiang Sikong, it wouldn't be an exaggeration to say that the clan would be revitalized.

Thinking of this, the Divination Order's mind miraculously calmed.

Earlier, he was overwhelmed by the news that the Emperor Dao Fruit had a new owner, only feeling disaster looming, but now, when he thinks about it, if Jiang Li does not move against the Ji Family, the future path might become easier.

As the saying goes, with a thought towards Jiang, the world immediately seemed vast, the Divination Order put down his worries and discarded his panic.

However, Jiang Sikong's legitimate wife is the future head of the Gongsun Family, which is somewhat inappropriate. Although the Ji Family and the Gongsun Family are of the same lineage, one is responsible for the court, the other for the sects, serving different branches. If Gongsun's bloodline replaces the Ji Family's position in the court, wouldn't the Ji Family be absorbed?

Jiang Sikong likely isn't averse to allowing the Gongsun Family to completely merge with the Ji Family.

Jiang Li's hands are already stained with the Ji Family's blood, and perhaps to prevent anyone from taking revenge, he uses this method to act against the Ji Family.

And this is clearly something the Ji Family cannot accept.

Although everyone is of the same clan, certain matters, when interests are involved, cannot be compromised.

"Your Highness,"

The Divination Order tentatively said, "Why don't you announce a separation from that person."

After much thinking, the only one who could outshine Gongsun Qingyue, and be unafraid of Gongsun Family Master, seemed to be none other than this Princess.

The Princess, suddenly hearing this, her previously unhurried demeanor shattered, and without hesitation, she waved her sleeve, sending a vigorous Flame Wave to knock the Divination Order out.

"Get out of my palace."

The Flame Qi swept the shameless clansman out of the Vermilion Bird Hall, and made him roll for several hundred zhang.

Only when the Divination Order completely disappeared from her sight did the Princess finally calm her anger.

However, in her heart, she was not as composed as before.

'Having embraced the Emperor Dao Fruit, even if he doesn't lose his humanity, he only has one Jiazi of life span. With Jiang Li's realm, if nothing unexpected happens, living another five hundred years is no problem at all, but now there's only one Jiazi of life span left.'

'And then there's Tianxuan, Qingyue, and the Primordial Lord... It's hard to say for the Primordial Lord, but Tianxuan and Qingyue will go mad.'

The Princess, just thinking about it, felt that this was indeed a disaster.

Her unwillingness for Jiang Li to bear the Emperor Dao Fruit, apart from not wanting the Great Zhou to fall into chaos, was primarily due to this reason. Previously threatening Feng Manlou was also to prevent this from happening.

The calmness and composure she had shown before were actually a facade, and inside, the Princess was deeply worried.

A crack had already appeared on the previously solid relationships on her side.

Even the Divination Order could discover the emergence of a new Emperor, let alone Tianxuan.

That woman hasn't lost her sanity yet, which is already her considering the bigger picture.

Or, she may be waiting to see if Jiang Li loses his humanity before deciding whether to seek revenge or do something else.

'Is all of this your doing...'

The Princess thought of Jiang Li's previous refusal of the Emperor Dao Fruit, and she was almost certain that his process of embracing the Dao Fruit was not voluntary, at least partially forced by external factors.

And besides him, there should be no one else capable of accomplishing this, right?

Upon this thinking, the Vermilion Bird Hall instantly ignited with raging flames.

······

······

Meanwhile, inside Suhua Palace of the Imperial City.

The stars appeared all at once, pressing down so heavily that the whole Suhua Palace turned to dust under the crush of the Star Battle.

Elder Yuheng, seeing this from outside, couldn't help sighing lightly, "Senior Sister is angry. Understandably, Nephew Jiang is both her beloved disciple and Qingyue's husband, whom Senior Sister raised as a daughter."

The elders of the Dinghu Sect naturally knew well what the Purple Qi Eastward signified and sensed the changes occurring in the Imperial City.

The two elders simultaneously concluded that Jiang Li had already embraced the Emperor Dao Fruit.

While they didn't know the true secret of the Emperor Dao Fruit, they were clear about the limitation on the Emperor's life span.

After one Jiazi, Nephew Jiang will fall.

"In truth, that might even be for the best," Elder Tianquan said softly.

"Hmm?" Elder Yuheng sharply turned to stare at Elder Tianquan.

"In this way, even if Jiang Li ultimately reverses the situation, suppresses the Gongsun Family and the Ji Family, or even takes over the Sect, it's just a matter of decades. Someone like him hasn't appeared in the Jiang Family for the past eight hundred years and likely won't again in the future. A few decades—worth waiting."

Elder Tianquan's voice lowered further, yet his words grew more rational and calm, "Some people within the Ji Family and even parts of the nobility will choose to endure for this reason—they may not be able to deal with the Emperor, and all they need is to wait a Jiazi. This is actually the best outcome."

As Elder Yuheng listened to these words, his expression gradually stiffened, even turning cold and hard, finally retorting coldly, "That's too heartless."

"Indeed, a bit heartless, but where in this world isn't the truth heartless," Elder Tianquan remained calm, further lowering his voice, "Moreover... didn't you notice the anomaly? Senior Sister, by nature, flows calm as water, far more so than you or I, and she even maintained her composure after losing to the Sect Leader in the past. But now..."

"I refuse to believe that Senior Sister hasn't thought of this point." This sentence was transmitted via Divine Thought.

Tianxuan's intelligence indeed surpassed Elder Tianquan's, and even her depth of thought and shrewdness exceeded Tianquan's.

Back when she lost to the Heavenly Monarch, she could still remain calm and composed. Why has she lost her composure now?

Elder Yuheng caught the meaning behind the words, his eyes showing a sharp intent, his brows slightly raised, coldness rising on its own, "What do you mean by that?"

"What I mean, you should well understand; don't you feel that Senior Sister cares a bit too much for Nephew Jiang?"

As Elder Yuheng heard Elder Tianquan's intention, icy sword energy slashed off a strand of his hair.

"Shut up."

Elder Yuheng drank in a low voice, "Utter such reckless words again, do not blame me for being merciless with my sword."

Elder Tianquan's words had already crossed the line, to the extent of harming Tianxuan's reputation. It's just because he's a fellow disciple, otherwise, Elder Yuheng would have already sought life and death with him.

Facing the gradually revealing killing intent of the Sword Intent, Elder Tianquan didn't continue to provoke Elder Yuheng, softly saying, "Then let's pretend I said nothing."

"It better be so."

Elder Yuheng snorted coldly, then looked towards the Star Domain that had already manifested.

Elder Tianquan did the same, but when Elder Yuheng wasn't looking, his face could no longer maintain a calm demeanor, twisting with deep malice.

Also at this moment, the stars in the Magic Realm started to rotate, unleashing a burst of Yin energy.

"Senior Sister has opened the Yin World?" Elder Yuheng exclaimed in surprise.

This aura undoubtedly came from the Yin World; Tianxuan actually broke through Earth Uncle's seal to once again open the Yin World.

But why open the Yin World at this time?

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