The Sun Moon Royal Family.
The Crown Prince's Residence.
Xu Tianran had been toiling for three years.
For those three years, he had worked far beyond his limits, taking over the various organs of government in the Sun Moon Empire, sorting out his network of connections, and bringing the official forces of one city after another under his control.
Even though he had kept a low profile, avoided conflicts, yielded on every other front, and thrown the doors wide open for the Blacksmith Association's development, he still had not fully brought the Sun Moon Empire under his control.
It was too difficult.
Without the Holy Spirit Cult's help, bringing the entire Sun Moon Empire under his control was no less demanding than throwing himself wholeheartedly into a war against an evenly matched opponent, with numerous outside factors interfering.
Most of those outside factors worked against him, especially the Holy Spirit Cult's retaliation.
Having grown accustomed to the Holy Spirit Cult handling his dirty work, Xu Tianran felt powerless after abruptly parting ways with them.
He discovered that the Holy Spirit Cult had infiltrated far too much of the power he had once controlled.
If Su Ming's Evil-Illuminating Mirror had not appeared, he truly would not have dared to use the trusted subordinates he had cultivated before. Without them, he would have had no leverage to control the empire, and the process would have dragged on endlessly.
Fortunately, everything was moving in his favor.
Both Mingde Hall and the Blacksmith Association were expanding aggressively without encroaching on imperial authority. They had also made the continent's current situation much more favorable, providing Xu Tianran with an excellent platform.
The Star Luo Empire was developing, while Sun Moon was undergoing a transfer of power.
The water in the well did not interfere with