Rule

"Is it possible that Elder Tan Qingquan wasn't killed by Elder Gu? But... was he murdered by Ye Yiren? Elder Sha is unaware of the truth and has been misled?"

Qin Li's voice echoed in the main hall.

"Oh, go on."

Lu Dengxian said calmly.

"Yes."

Qin Li rallied his spirits and stood up straight.

He organized his thoughts and said in a deep voice, "Elder Gu has worked diligently for our Purgatory Sect in guarding the four cities of Lingxiao, Yuanhua, Changjun, and Luori over the years. He and Baihe City are mutually supportive, and they almost occupy the area south of Star Province. Under such circumstances, it is entirely reasonable for someone to want to sow discord between Elder Gu and our Purgatory Sect."

"Oh? Just like Elder Yang Kan back then?"

Lu Dengxian seemed to be deep in thought.

At the same time, she secretly gave Qin Li an encouraging look.

"Yes, that's exactly it."

Qin Li's eyes gleamed. "Since ancient times, the greatest fear of a general leading an army is being suspected by his superiors when he is out in the field. Countless elders who have been guarding a region have ruined their promising situations because they were framed and lost the trust of the sect's upper echelons. Now, it is clear that this kind of thing will happen to Elder Gu as well."

He quickly said, "According to the information I received, the one who killed Elder Tan was not Elder Gu, but Ye Yiren. Ye Yiren of the Taihe Sword Sect used a scheme to seduce Elder Tan. After lowering Elder Tan's guard, she poisoned his wine, intending to harm Elder Tan first, then deal with Elder Sha, and ultimately achieve their goal of invading Baihe City. After all, Taihe City, which is occupied by the Taihe Sword Sect, is only 400 miles away from Baihe City. If the Taihe Sword Sect wants to develop, Baihe City is the first choice."

Ye Yiren of the Taihe Sword Sect seduces Tan Qingquan, an elder of the Purgatory Sect.

Goodness, they actually made this up.

Lu Dengxian's eyes held a strange look.

Not only Lu Dengxian, but the other palace masters also turned their gazes to Qin Li, looking quite interested... and thoughtful.

"Elder Tan was an upright man throughout his life, so he would not easily fall for Ye Yiren's honey trap. He noticed Ye Yiren's poisoning immediately. However, when Ye Yiren saw that the matter was exposed, she suddenly launched a sneak attack, severely injuring Elder Tan and causing the situation to deteriorate rapidly. In the end, even though Elder Tan's strength was clearly superior to Ye Yiren's, he still fought her to the death."

As Qin Li spoke, he added, "As for Elder Sha Wujin... he may have a misunderstanding with Elder Gu."

"Oh, a misunderstanding?"

Lu Dengxian nodded. "Go on."

"As far as I know, after Elder Tan was ambushed and severely injured by Ye Yiren, he knew he was doomed. Just then, Elder Gu arrived. Knowing that Elder Gu possessed a killing Spirit Artifact capable of annihilating Spirit Transformation cultivators, he disregarded the fact that the killing Spirit Artifact attacked indiscriminately, forcibly entangled Ye Yiren, and tragically sacrificed himself to provide Elder Gu with the opportunity for a fatal blow."

Qin Li let out a long sigh as he finished speaking, "In the end... Elder Gu painfully activated the killing Spirit Artifact, annihilating Ye Yiren, but also causing Elder Tan's death, which led to Elder Sha Wujin's misunderstanding..."

"Is that so?"

Lu Dengxian looked surprised.

"In my opinion, all of this was Elder Tan's own choice, and it was an absolutely correct choice!"

Qin Li's low, sorrowful tone paused slightly, then became passionate and stirring. "Elder Tan knew that Elder Gu's killing Spirit Artifact was indiscriminate, yet, to prevent the loss of Baihe City, he still chose to fight to the death to entangle Ye Yiren, providing Elder Gu with the opportunity for a fatal blow. He died bravely, he died generously, he died gloriously. It was because of his death that the Taihe Sword Sect's conspiracy was thwarted, the reputation of our Purgatory Sect was preserved, and the prestige of our Purgatory Sect was promoted. It let everyone in the world know that even when our Purgatory Sect elders are caught in conspiracies and intrigues, they can still die rather than surrender, and they can still fight to the last moment! He died gloriously, he died a great death!"

"Good! What a glorious and noble death!"

Lu Dengxian said loudly, "I don't know who is right and who is wrong between Elder Sha and Elder Gu, but I have a simple and easy-to-understand method."

He took out a piece of intelligence and said, "This is a letter that Elder Gu sent to our Purgatory Sect overnight. He explained the matter of Elder Tan and Ye Yiren dying together. In addition, in order to prove his innocence, he personally led people to attack Taihe City and uprooted the Taihe Sword Sect. Furthermore, he is willing to hand over Taihe City to our Purgatory Sect and ask us to send people to take over Taihe City."

Finally, he slowly said, "Judging by actions, not intentions."

"So, it really is as Sect Master Qin said, and this is another misunderstanding! Otherwise, it would be impossible to explain why Elder Gu would still offer Taihe City to our Purgatory Sect after killing Elder Tan."

Huo Changqing, the Hall Master of the Elder Hall, had already understood what Sect Master Lu Dengxian meant and was the first to speak up in agreement.

"Elder Gu is in charge of guarding the four cities in Star Province for us. It is indeed easy for others to take advantage of the situation and cause him to become alienated from the sect."

"Learning from history, we must open our eyes wide, distinguish right from wrong, and never do anything that would cause pain to our loved ones and joy to our enemies, thus becoming a sinner burdened with eternal infamy."

The other temple masters quickly realized what was happening and followed suit.

Suddenly...

The oppressive atmosphere in the room transformed into a friendly and harmonious one once again.

That is...

It's very strange.

Even Qin Li, who had sworn to speak for the Gu Jinlai, found it very strange, let alone the others.

Another deputy sect leader, Dongfang Xue, shook her head inwardly.

I don't understand.

As the deputy sect leader, she had absolutely no idea what was going on with the Purgatory Sect.

Seemingly finding it too strange, the lively atmosphere of the various palace masters speaking up lasted only a moment before mysteriously subsiding.

It's as if that bustling scene just now was all an illusion.

"Then this matter is settled. After Elder Sha returns, I will have someone properly persuade him and clarify the misunderstanding so that he will not be deceived by villains again. As for the selection of the garrison commander of Taihe City..."

Lu paused for a moment.

"I recommend Elder Zhao Qian."

Huo Changqing said in the Elder Hall.

"Elder Zhao?"

Lu Dengxian seemed to have thought of something, "Then let's go with him. However, Elder Zhao's status Black-Robed Elder seems insufficient to govern a city... Let's promote him to Gold-Robed Elder and put him in charge of all matters, big and small, in Taihe City and even Star Province."

Given the Gu Jinlai situation in Star Province, it's unlikely any elder would want to go there again, as for the senior members...

As long as one is not Spirit Transformation cultivator, it makes no difference whether one is a Red-Robed Elder or a Black-Robed Elder.

After much thought, Zhao Qian is indeed the most suitable candidate.

"Sect Master, since the matter between Elder Gu and Elder Tan is a misunderstanding, should we accept his offer of the merits of Taihe City...?"

At this moment, Situ Yi of the Reward and Punishment Hall carefully considered his words before seeking instructions.

"Taihe City..."

Lu Dengxian rubbed his temples.

After a long while, he said again, "Then I will bestow upon you another scroll of the Celestial Master's Secret Method."

The palace masters exchanged glances and simultaneously cupped their hands, saying, "Our sect leader Sagacity."

As for Baihe City...

It was as if everyone had tacitly forgotten at the same time.

Do you really want back what has already fallen into the hands of the Gu Jinlai?

Let's talk about it after the Divine Sword Tournament at Canglang Mountain.

When the elders are free to act, what is rightfully theirs will eventually be theirs.

Baihe City.

By this Gu Jinlai had already returned from Taihe City.

He never intended to occupy Taihe City and take away all its resources and artisans. After High Antiquity Chaoyang took over the city's defenses with three thousand men, he returned to Baihe City to take charge.

Compared to Taihe City, where life and death were disregarded, Baihe City was the city they truly wanted to expand into and conquer.

At this time, the person in charge of all matters in Baihe City was Gu Xiangyang, who had rushed over from Lingxiao City with four thousand men to provide support.

His beloved disciple.

"Based on our statistics of Baihe City and its subordinate counties over this period of time, the total population of the five cities we currently occupy— Lingxiao City, Changjun City, Yuanhua City, and Sunset City —has reached 11.49 million. In other words, one-fifth of Star Province has fallen into our hands."

Gu Xiangyang, full of energy, reported to Gu Jinlai, "If we occupy Taihe City again..."

"Taihe City".

Gu Jinlai shook his head. "Our strength is insufficient."

Gu Xiangyang said with some regret, "To ensure the safety of these cities, we have expanded our army by 30,000 to 20,000 elite troops and 50,000 regular troops. We will then have a total of 100,000 troops, of which 30,000 will be elite troops..."

Listening quietly Gu Jinlai.

At the same time, I felt a bit emotional.

Without realizing it, he had built such a large empire.

It governs five cities and dozens of counties, with a total population of 11.49 million.

One hundred thousand troops obeyed his orders.

In addition, they have quite a few experts among them.

If we use the near-defense artillery as Spirit Transformation stage and the Thunder Gatling gun as a Spirit Refining stage, the combined power...

Looking across the entire Qian Heaven and Earth Realm, they are already among the top.

If we compare it to Blue Star...

It's roughly equivalent to countries whose overall strength ranks around 50th, such as Portugal, the Netherlands, and Iraq.

As the absolute ruler of this land, his power surpasses that of the kings, prime ministers, and presidents of these countries.

They truly possessed the power of life and death over the entire country.

"Baihe City needs to restore order as soon as possible. As for the counties below... have your intelligence department compile a list as soon as possible. I'll take some time to go there and eliminate some troublemakers so that you can take control of these counties as quickly as possible."

This Gu Jinlai.

"Yes."

Gu Xiangyang Road.

"Also... did you bring my mount?"

"I brought it."

Gu Xiangyang quickly replied.

"Good."

Gu Jinlai stood up and quickly headed towards the nearby Pet Warhouse.

There, a ferocious-looking velociraptor was lying on the ground, resting quietly.

During this operation in Baihe City and Taihe City, he fully realized the drawbacks of being unable to move around easily.

In addition, the Eternal Furnace has been partially completed, giving rise to the characteristic of transfer and transformation.

He wanted to try and see if he could use this characteristic to enhance his mount and make it quickly evolve from a raptor to a tyrannosaurus.