(Second update)
Xue Qinghe thought no one knew about his little maneuvers inside the imperial palace. Little did he know that another pair of eyes watched him at all times there. Those eyes belonged to Prince Xue Xing.
No one would ever have imagined that Prince Xue Xing, a high-ranking noble, was actually a senior member of the Sky-Blasting Gang. Still less would anyone have imagined that Yang Ming had read through the script long ago and knew about many of the major events to come.
To prevent Spirit Hall from poisoning Xue Ye and seizing the Heaven Dou Empire's supreme authority as it had in the original story, Yang Ming had begun delegating authority to Prince Xue Xing early on, allowing him to send people out and cast a net that stretched from heaven to earth. The slightest stir from Xue Qinghe would never escape his notice.
Even the conversation Xue Qinghe had with his liaison that day had been recorded in a notebook by Prince Xue Xing and was now presented to Yang Ming.
The intelligence that Qian Daoliu, the Elder Hall's Grand Consecration, had returned genuinely surprised Yang Ming.
After all, he had joined forces with Tang Chen back then and used Chibaku Tensei to create an enormous asteroid, sealing Qian Daoliu inside it before sending him beyond this world. By all rights, even if Qian Daoliu could break the seal, he should have died outside the world. There should have been no way for him to return alive.
Yet now, not only was he alive and well, but his strength seemed to have risen further. Otherwise, he would never have conspired with Pope Bibi Dong to lay this trap. Without absolute confidence in his own strength, he would never have done such a thing.
"It looks