During that period, the Sun Moon Empire's upper echelon was utterly bewildered.
Its administrative system had fallen into a state of near paralysis.
After all, their patron had been wiped out without warning. Where were they supposed to go from there?
It was only because Divine Might made no further moves afterward that the Sun Moon Empire's upper echelon finally managed to catch its breath.
Yet Xu Tianran's speculation now left Kong Deming deeply alarmed.
If it had been anyone else—
Even Shi Guang, the Commander-in-Chief of the Nine Dragon Guards, would not have frightened him so much.
At worst, he would die. He was already old, and there were naturally many things he had gradually learned to let go of.
If anyone thought that Kong Deming valued his life more now that he held a high position, they would be gravely mistaken.
He had supported Xu Tianran's ascension not merely for the position of National Teacher.
If he had truly harbored such thoughts, then what he should have done now would have been to turn Xu Tianran into a figurehead.
After all, he was still beneath one person, even if he stood above ten thousand.
But if he sidelined that one person, would he not truly stand above ten thousand?
Kong Deyun had not done so, which meant that, at the very least, he did not have such intentions.
There was no meaning in false pleasantries between the two of them.
From the very beginning, the terms they had discussed had nothing to do with power.
However, if the person he had to face was Xiao Tianyang, then his state of mind would be nothing like before.
To treat life and death lightly and fight anyone who refused to submit—that applied only to oneself.
Xiao Tianyang was simply too