Discussing Joining Forces, Part Two

As he spoke, he glanced at the elders below who disapproved of taking action and continued:

"It seems that you elders haven't reviewed the rules and ancestral precepts of our Clear River Sect for too long. Let's take a trip to the Long Lamp Pavilion in a while and refresh our memories."

This situation was playing out almost simultaneously within the Cloud and Mist Sect.

Even the Shangyang Sect, whose entire sect was almost unanimously in favor of not taking action.

But after a night, for some reason, Elder Luo, who had stayed in the room all night—oh, now he should be called Sect Leader Luo —came out and changed his tune, saying that the Shangyang Sect had to take action this time.

Song Jusheng, who had already returned to the sect with the main group, looked at Sect Leader Luo, who had suddenly changed his tune overnight, with some confusion.

Meanwhile, Sect Leader Luo, who was sitting in the head seat of the sect, looked serious and felt somewhat depressed.

No one saw his white hand, gripping the sect leader's seal tightly beneath his wide sleeves.

This sect leader's seal was far more weighty than he had imagined...

Soon after, the imperial court received a reply from the three sects agreeing to join forces to attack Huanyou Nation.

Li Zhouxuan was somewhat surprised to receive the message.

He originally thought that after the three major sects received this news, they would probably have to spend a lot of time arguing and bickering, but he didn't expect that this time the three sects would agree very quickly and in unison.

Because the news was being passed on relatively secretly within the Pusi Kingdom, the matter of launching an attack on the Huanyou Nation had not yet been officially brought to the forefront.

Therefore, Huanyou Nation has not received a single word from them.

The current rulers of Huanyou Nation, namely the royal family, are relatively young, with a history of less than five hundred years.

Five hundred years ago, the Huanyou Nation was in turmoil, with war raging everywhere.

The ancient royal family of Huanyou Nation was replaced by the current royal family of Huanyou Nation during the war.

It was during that period that the sects of Huanyou Nation either failed or disbanded, undergoing a reshuffling. This resulted in the current situation in Huanyou Nation where there are many small sects but no large sects. Apart from a few with some capital who can have conflicts of interest with the current royal family, almost all of them are in a state of disarray.

To the royal family of Huanyou Nation, the royal family of the Pusi Kingdom has always given them the impression of being someone who downplays major issues and avoids trouble whenever possible.

Therefore, although the Pusi Kingdom discovered that they had captured people to mine the Execution Stone, the Huanyou Nation's royal family was not particularly worried.

They never imagined that the royal family of the Pusi Kingdom had already begun to mobilize troops to join forces and attack them.

Unbeknownst to them, secret letters sent by Li Zhouxuan to two other neighboring countries with equally long histories as the Li Household Imperial Family were already on their way, galloping towards their destinations.

Liu Yunan and Qin Jianghe also arrived in the capital city at this time.

"Wow, Jianghe, this capital city is amazing! It's much more impressive than our Liaoju Prefecture in Hufang!"

Looking at the wide streets as soon as you enter the city, with people coming and going on both sides, various carriages being pulled slowly by different numbers of tall horses in the middle of the road, and guards patrolling back and forth on the streets, Liu Yunan felt that this was indeed the capital city of their country, its grandeur was truly unique.

This was also Qin Jianghe's first time visiting the capital, and his curiosity and astonishment were no less than Liu Yunan's.

But the people and things he's encountered over the past year have toughened him up, and now he's used to being able to maintain a composed demeanor and not reveal too much of his inner thoughts in public, no matter what he's feeling inside.

Qin Jianghe transmitted his voice to him:

"Let's go out in disguise tonight, and I'll show you around. We need to go to the capital first; Yuanjiao has already made arrangements for us, saying we can just go straight in."

Upon hearing this, Liu Yunan gradually suppressed his excitement, stopped looking around, and followed Qin Jianghe straight ahead to the front of the imperial city. After showing the scroll that the emperor had sent to their sect last year, they were smoothly led inside.

He had his first meeting and conversation with Emperor Li Zhouxuan and some important court officials.

As for the specifics of what was discussed, that remains unknown.

Meanwhile Yuanling City, in the other part of the Immortal Cultivation Realm.

Having recovered somewhat, Yuan Qing, upon learning that they would be traveling to the Talisman Master Assembly by spirit ship in two days, hesitated for a long time before cautiously volunteering himself to Lin Xiao and the others:

"Fellow Daoist, I am quite familiar with Banxiang City, where the Talisman Master Assembly is held. I was thinking... could I accompany you two and act as your guide? I'll cover all your expenses along the way."

Lin Xiao was puzzled.

"Why don't you go by yourself? Why do you have to come with us?"

Sitting on the edge of the bed, Yuan Qing said somewhat embarrassedly:

"As Fellow Daoist Lin probably knows, one of the organizers of the Talisman Master Assembly is my former sect, Heavenly Profound Sect Talisman Master Assembly. This time, we have already arranged for my fellow disciples to go to the Talisman Master Assembly to be in charge of various tasks. To be honest, among them... is that fellow disciple who framed me."

"I want to go with you two fellow Daoists so that you can help me cover for me at a crucial moment. If I go alone, I'm afraid that person will discover me too easily."

I want to try and see if I can reconnect with some of my close fellow disciples to clear my name."

Upon hearing this, Lin Xiao understood Yuan Qing's purpose in going along. Lin Xiao wasn't unwilling to occasionally help him cover for him, but he remained skeptical about the 'fellow disciples with whom Yuan Qing had a close relationship'.

If Yuan Qing had a sufficient number of fellow disciples with whom he had a good relationship, Lin Xiao felt that Yuan Qing might not have ended up in his current predicament.

Lin Xiao then recalled the cultivator named Xu Juan who had always been by Yuan Qing's side back in the Green Field Mystic Realm. He wondered why this person was no longer with Yuan Qing.

However, none of this concerns him.

Lin Xiao only said to Yuan Qing:

"I can agree to take you with me, but you have to promise me one thing, and you have to Heavenly Mandate Oath, how about it?"

Upon hearing that there was hope, Yuan Qing immediately asked:

"What is it? As long as it's not immoral or unethical, I'll agree to anything!"

So Lin Xiao said:

"I will be disguised this time and will not show my true face. You must not reveal my identity, nor mention to anyone what happened between us in the Green Field Mystic Realm."

When Lin Xiao first met Yuan Qing, he thought of the two sects that had joined forces to open the Green Field Mystic Realm, and they should have found out that they couldn't enter this year.

If they were to investigate further, they would inevitably have to reconvene the disciples who entered the Green Field Mystic Realm last year for questioning.

He wasn't too worried about the people he rescued in the secret realm, since they were all exhausted and delirious at the time and couldn't possibly know who provided the exit, nor would they pay much attention to his appearance.

But this Yuan Qing is not the same as Xu Juan who had always been with him.