Upon hearing this, Xu Tianran's already cold gaze darkened even more, becoming like a frozen pool.
He frowned deeply. Kong Deming's words were tantamount to a direct rejection of the olive branch he had been offered, indicating his unwillingness to support his future grand ambitions.
He clenched his fists tightly on the armrests of his wheelchair, his knuckles turning white, as he desperately suppressed the anger that was about to erupt.
Finally, he could no longer restrain himself and, abandoning all subtle probing, asked directly, "So, Lord Kong, you are not supporting my future war of unification?"
He needed a definite answer, even if it was an answer he didn't want to hear.
Faced with this almost interrogative directness, Kong Deming remained as steady as a rock, slowly saying, "Your Highness, you must understand that the original purpose and duty of the Sun Moon Worship Hall is to dedicate itself to the research of the Great Dao of Soul Guidance, enhance the foundation of the Empire, and safeguard the heritage of the Sun Moon Royal Family."
"However, the royal lineage protected by the Worship Hall is the foundation for maintaining the stability of the empire, rather than being loyal to a specific emperor or a particular branch of the royal family."
He raised his eyes, his gaze as calm as a still pond, yet carrying an undeniable warning. "Otherwise... the palace coup your father launched more than a decade ago could not have been accomplished so smoothly."
Xu Tianran's face turned ashen, but what Kong Deming said was indeed true.
If the Worship Hall had intervened more than a decade ago, Xu He would be the current Crown Prince of the Sun Moon and Moon!
Kong Deming, unwilling to waste any more words on this topic, gave his final answer directly.
He said calmly, "What Your Highness wishes to do is a decision made by Your Highness and the Imperial Court; the Worship Hall ' stance will not change."
"If Your Highness insists on waging war, the Worship Hall will not stop you, but it will also not provide any support."
According to the deductions of Kong Deming and his Kong Xuan, it would be extremely difficult to implement the Federation they envisioned under the current highly centralized imperial system.
However, after a large-scale war, the wounded populace and the Soul Master World may grow weary of endless conquest and yearn for peace and recuperation. That would be the best time to implement a new system.
This cold and realistic decision was a strategy jointly formulated by Kong Xuan and Kong Deming after discussion.
At the time, Kong Xuan even secretly mocked himself. "To tacitly approve of and even exploit an impending war for a longer-term goal, it seems I'm not exactly a purely good person."
Upon hearing Kong Deming's reply, Xu Tianran, on the other hand, felt an even stronger and more uncontrollable surge of excitement in addition to his initial anger and disappointment!
Because he had gleaned a crucial signal from Kong Deming's words.
That's the Worship Hall; it seems they won't interfere with his succession to the throne!
For him, the most crucial and pressing issue right now is whether he can successfully sit on that dragon throne!
As long as the Worship Hall remains neutral on this fundamental issue and does not stand up to oppose it, then his ascension to the throne is a foregone conclusion!
As for war...
While the lack of the full support of the Worship Hall would be a huge loss, making the path to conquest more difficult and lengthy, it is not entirely impossible.
The empire's massive regular Soul Engineer legion and pro-war nobles remain forces he can rely on.
Once he becomes emperor, he will always find a way to gradually integrate resources and power the war machine.
"Very well! Lord Kong is a man of few words, I understand!"
Xu Tianran forcibly suppressed his excitement, his expression returned to calm, and he even managed a smile that seemed to show understanding.
"I will respect the Worship Hall ' position. I have troubled you for too long today, so I will take my leave now."
He stopped arguing, called out towards the door, and when the conference room door opened, Ju Zi returned to his side and pushed the wheelchair.
Kong Deming remained seated at the table and did not rise to see him off.
Kong Deming's gaze deepened as he watched Xu Tianran's departing figure.
He knew that a storm sweeping across the continent was already unavoidable.
In the blink of an eye, half a year has passed like sand slipping through my fingers.
In the short span of six months, some major events also occurred in the Sun Moon Empire.
Firstly, there was the power shift in the Sun Moon Empire, with the ailing old emperor passing away and Crown Prince Xu Tianran officially ascending the throne.
However, his death occurred a full six months earlier than the original timeline in Kong Xuan's memory.
Kong Xuan speculated that this was probably closely related to Xu Tianran's visit to the Worship Hall six months ago.
Perhaps it was from Kong De that Xu Tianran received the assurance that the Worship Hall would not interfere with the succession to the throne, thus clearing away his last concerns. This is why Xu Tianran was so eager to accelerate the process, allowing the already ailing old emperor to pass away on his final journey.
Secondly, shortly after Xu Tianran ascended the throne, he announced to the world that he had reformed the "All-Continent Advanced Soul Master Academy Soul Fighting Tournament," a tradition that had lasted for ten thousand years.
Eligibility for participation is no longer limited to academies; all sects on the continent are welcome to send their disciples to participate.
From this day forward, this grand event in the Soul Master World was officially renamed the Continental Youth High-Level Soul Master Soul Fighting Tournament!
For Kong Xuan, the past six months have also been spent in a state of high-speed operation.
Aside from his unwavering cultivation of Soul Power, he devoted most of his energy to the construction and planning of the Spirit Pagoda.
From the establishment of the organizational structure, the selection and training of personnel, to the communication and coordination with the Star Dou Great Forest, he personally oversaw and made decisions on everything, no matter how small.
With his vision ahead of his time, the strong support of Kong Deming and the Worship Hall, and his own strong execution ability, the framework of the Spirit Pagoda has become clear and its foundation has been laid.
Now, everything is ready except for the final push.
This favorable wind was the upcoming Continental Youth High-Level Soul Master Soul Fighting Tournament.
However, compared to the smooth progress of the Spirit Pagoda project, the Worship Hall has fallen into an expected stalemate in the development of another core project, " Battle Armor ".
The development of the Three-Word Battle Armor has stalled.
The root of the problem lies in the most basic step—forging.
To create Three-Word Battle Armor, the metal needs to be imbued with a higher level of spirituality. Only metal that has undergone Soul Forging can bear a more complex and powerful Core Array and resonate more deeply with the Soul Master.
The Worship Hall brings together the most outstanding Soul Engineer of the Sun Moon Empire, whose expertise in Soul Tool Design and Magic Array Construction is unparalleled.
However, in the relatively traditional field of forging, which requires unique talent and inheritance, the foundation is somewhat lacking.
Although the research on " Soul Forging " technology has made some progress in recent years thanks to massive resource investment and countless experiments, it is still a long way from being able to stably forge Soul-Forged Metal that can be used to make Three-Word Battle Armor.
According to Kong Deming's estimate, even if the entire Worship Hall were to exert all its efforts, it would probably still take at least three to five years of painstaking work to overcome the difficulties of the " Soul Forging " technology and achieve stable output.