As the news spread, ordinary citizens and low-ranking cultivators merely sighed, marveling that even someone with the Imperial Preceptor's cultivation could suffer a mishap.
The various powers who knew the inside story, however, erupted in an uproar.
This was tantamount to stripping Master Huiming of all his authority and placing him under house arrest!
"What a Zhao imperial clan. Decisive and ruthless indeed."
When Li Yunjing received the news, he was leisurely sipping tea in a teahouse.
With this move, the imperial family had swiftly quelled the threat posed by the disturbed spirit veins, purged an unstable element from within, and barely preserved the outward dignity of both the imperial family and the Buddhist Sect.
Yet the rift had already formed.
The Buddhist Sect's influence in the Zhao Kingdom had suffered a devastating blow, while relations between the imperial family and the Imperial Preceptor's faction faced a crisis of trust that would be difficult to repair.
"The inside half of an attack from within and without is already in place."
Li Yunjing set down his cup and gazed northwest through the window. "Now all that remains is the attack from without."
He could sense that Heavenly Zhao City must harbor scouts from the Primordial Yang Dao Sect, perhaps even powers that had pledged allegiance to it.
Before long, this news would surely reach the Primordial Yang Dao Sect.
When it did, the Primordial Yang Dao Sect would naturally know what to do.
He reckoned war would break out between the two sides within three to five years.
However, Li Yunjing had underestimated the Primordial Yang Dao Sect's determination-and the hidden pieces they had planted long ago.
They needed nothing like three to five years.
Late on the seventh night after word spread of Master Huiming's disguised house arrest, upheaval struck!