Divine Essence Assessment! A True Test of Wisdom!

Much of the time, when others oppose you, it is not because they bear you a grudge, but because you have not given them a way out.

Of course, there could be no compromise on certain matters involving fundamental interests, such as rulership.

But the Emperor-Making Plan did not involve the fundamental interests of the other Imperial Clans. Unless Hun Tiandi plainly declared that, after becoming Emperor, he intended to slaughter every Imperial Clan, most of them would step down gracefully as long as they were offered sufficient benefits.

The Soul Clan's current situation had not yet reached the worst possible point of life-or-death conflict. It was simply that the other Imperial Clans did not see the Soul Clan that way. In particular, the Soul Clan's willingness to stop at nothing to achieve its goals had only deepened the other Imperial Clans' distrust of Hun Tiandi.

Yet although the other Imperial Clans distrusted Hun Tiandi, the existence of the Soul Craftsman reflected the complexity of their feelings.

Just as Jiang Lin had previously calculated, the Soul Craftsman had fairly good relationships with all the other Imperial Clans. Jiang Lin had even considered using the Soul Craftsman's connections to establish an entirely new Community of Shared Interests, thereby preserving themselves amid a new crisis.

The Thunder Clan, Yan Clan, and other Imperial Clans both feared and hesitated over the Soul Clan. They feared that the Soul Clan was too powerful, and because the two sides had lacked communication over the years, they worried that the Soul Clan might turn around and sacrifice them. But why did they hesitate? Because the Soul Clan was powerful enough, and anyone with eyes could see that Gu Yuan, that useless man who had lost his drive, did not stand the slightest chance. In other words,