"Cultivating this life?"
The Xiao Household siblings looked at each other. The current situation was quite unfavorable for them. Their army was blocked in Jiangnan by that King Level giant python, and the leading general might rebel at any time. The loyalty of the civil and military officials in the court to the Xiao Household was also very weak, and they were actually very easy to be swayed.
Imperial power relies heavily on the support of powerful families. If these families are completely swayed and led astray, then the emperor becomes a figurehead, utterly meaningless.
The most urgent task is to stabilize the capital, then use the Imperial Guard in the capital to create a large army and find a way to bring back the Ghost Army from Jiangnan. This is the only solution.
"Yes," Zhang Zhengyuan replied, "The four ancient powers are mainly Buddhism, Daoism, Demonism, and the Heavenly Court Heavenly Court. The Heavenly Court has the largest regular army, but its forces are also the most mixed. The other three are relatively pure. Daoist School emphasizes the dual cultivation of body and spirit. The golden bodies of those Dao Venerable have remained incorrupt for hundreds of millions of years, buried in various grotto-heavens. Once their souls return, they can gradually restore their former peak."
"I don't actually know much about Daoism." Zhang Zhengyuan racked his brains, trying to recall what information he knew.
There is actually very little information about this world's game data. Elder Liu and his group have a lot of it, but they are willing to share very little with them, especially regarding the top-tier ancient content from the third version. Since all the nobles were involved, they were naturally worried that their subordinates might find some loopholes, so they kept all the intelligence themselves.
"All I know is that these Daoists have many guardian soldiers, which can generally be controlled by Dao Venerable through divine thought. And if they are willing to cooperate, given His Majesty's considerable number of elite troops, there is still a chance."
"Is that so?" The emperor frowned. "But you yourself said that the so-called Daoist School have their own guardian soldiers, so why do they need my cooperation?"
"No," Zhang Zhengyuan shook his head, "The guardian soldiers of the Daoist School sect are not living beings."
"Not a living thing?" The emperor and his sister's eyes lit up, as if they had realized something.
"Yes, the Daoist School excels in mechanisms and arithmetic. Most of their so-called Daoist soldiers are puppets, but puppet soldiers require powerful divine sense to control. If you want to control them precisely, you either need to rely on a sorcerer and use their divine sense to control them. However, this method is not very efficient. For large-scale battlefield troop deployment, sorcerers who are not skilled in military affairs are actually very unsuitable, and it also wastes the sorcerer's own abilities. The best way is still to control them manually."
"Can it be manipulated?" the emperor asked hastily.
"Most of them are possible. Human control is more flexible and can maximize the effectiveness of those puppets, but they need to be activated with Qi and blood. His Majesty's ghost soldiers are one of the strongest armies in the world today, and they are very compatible with the Daoist School. If they cooperate, they can form a powerful force in a short time, and at least they will have no problem resisting the Buddha Kingdom."
The only problem is
What is it?
"Hard to find"
"Difficult to find?" The emperor was taken aback, but then he understood. The Daoist School puppets were so powerful that they would naturally prevent others from stealing them. In Daoist School, the golden bodies of the so-called Dao Venerable also needed to be protected in hidden locations, so finding them might be quite troublesome.
Do you have any leads?
"There are very few clues in this regard," Zhang Zhengyuan shook his head. " The Daoist School is extremely mysterious. We don't even know who's behind it. As for information about them, let alone me, even other old monsters who have lived for so long probably don't know."
Regarding the Daoist School, Elder Liu had begun to secretly investigate it long ago, because it was hard to imagine that such a powerful force could contend with them without the presence of super-intelligent life.
However, the distribution of those nobles had already been completed long ago.
The Central Federation noble group, led by Elder Long, now relies on the ancient power of the Heavenly Court. The ancient nobles in the West are Demonic Sect. Elder Liu has risen to prominence and is using the power of the Buddha Kingdom to counterbalance them. However, the Daoist School is the most mysterious, as none of the other three families know who is behind it.
But it's certain that they are veterans of the Data City, because a lot of information about the Daoist School was completely deleted back then.
This is one of the reasons why Elder Liu employed the design team; these designers were the ones who knew the most about the information in the game back then.
"If that's the case, how can we cooperate?" The emperor frowned.
"The situation of the Daoist School is special. They can even wait until the spiritual energy has fully recovered before leaving the mountains. Relying on puppet soldiers, they can still occupy a place even without controllers. It is said that this was the case in the last era. But I believe that they will not remain so passive forever. Your Majesty is the best partner. It cannot wait until it comes to you. Perhaps it has already begun to observe you a long time ago."
"A long time ago?"
The emperor frowned. How come he didn't sense anything at all? If it was about investigation, etc.
He suddenly remembered something.
--
"I never expected you to save me."
In the far south, where the weather is even colder and harsher than in the far north, Ziyue, dressed in thin clothes, is activating her spiritual power and manipulating exquisite spatial techniques amidst this cold current.
Teleporting from the far south to the far north and confirming safe coordinates requires extremely complex calculations. Fortunately, Ziyue wandered the entire Central Plains and recorded coordinates in various locations, which is why she is now extremely proficient in the map and directions of the Central Plains.
Even so, teleporting to a safe place without attracting attention, and calculating Chen Qing's approximate location are all extremely difficult operations.
Amidst this extremely complicated calculation, a discordant voice irritated Ziyue.
"Shut up!" Ziyue said coldly, "If you speak again, I'll rip your tongue out."
The speaker was none other than the head of the guard.
There was a clear spatial seal around the guard captain's neck, preventing the regeneration of his powerful body.
Clearly, at this moment, he was completely under Ziyue's control.
"I'm already in your hands, what can I do to you? Can't I even resist?" The captain of the guard smiled slightly. "Am I not even allowed to die knowing the truth?"
"Why would it work?" Ziyue sneered, "When you tortured me like that, did I ever ask why?"
"Because you know," the captain of the guard chuckled, "It's just the lust for power."
"That's them, and what about you?" Ziyue turned and looked coldly at the other person. "You, a member of one of the Four Great Guilds, enjoying the right to immortality, really betrayed your guild just because you fell in love with the queen of the Ancient Demon Clan? If you are such a sentimental person, would you really be willing to let her bloodline suffer such humiliation?"
Chief of the Guard: "."
"Even if you hate me and want to kill me, you shouldn't have made me suffer like that. Something's wrong with you. You joined the Ancient Demon Clan; you definitely have another purpose."
"Oh?" The captain of the guard laughed even harder. "Then tell me, what's my reason?"
" Daoist School!"
The moment those two words were uttered, the captain of the guard's smile froze.
"Just as I thought." Ziyue looked at him with a cold smile, "That sinister ancient being is your true master, isn't he?"