There were no eternal friends, only eternal interests. Even after ten thousand years of friendship, the Nine Treasures Glazed Tile Sect could still reassess its relationship with Shrek for the sake of its own future.
But as another saying went, one should keep one's enemies as few as possible. Naturally, the Nine Treasures Glazed Tile Sect would not openly draw a line between itself and Shrek. Constantly shifting its stance, weighing all sides, and choosing what best served its interests was the wisest course.
If Shrek could offer terms impossible to refuse in the future, the Nine Treasures Glazed Tile Sect would naturally embrace them again.
Huo Yuhao knew nothing of the Nine Treasures Glazed Tile Sect's moves. He was currently in Mingdu, joining Jing Hongchen in favoring their allies and purging their opponents.
Though the process was tedious, they encountered little forceful resistance. Jing Hongchen was now practically a law unto himself. Few people had been able to keep him in check to begin with, and with Starry Sky Douluo transferred away and Elder Kong at a critical stage of his secluded cultivation, scarcely anyone remained whose words carried weight with him.
The princes dared to be angry but not to speak out. The Titled Douluo consecrated elders of the Offering Hall were unwilling to provoke him, and the civil officials' protests went no further than their lips. No one could stop Jing Hongchen.
Only the military's Level 9 Soul Engineers could band together to offer some resistance. Jing Hongchen had no authority to mobilize them, but the military could not interfere in affairs of court either.
Officials who had previously colluded with the criminal underworld were arrested or punished, leaving everyone in the Sun Moon bureaucracy fearing for their own safety.
One member of the Cabinet inspired particular