Dao Lord's Injury

"Dongfang Shuo, is that the one in the palace?"

The new emperor did not return to his residence with Zhang Xuezhou and the others.

Having confirmed that the Xiong State cultivator who had been burned by the Southern Bright Fire had gone mad Qi Deviation, he was in a rather pleasant mood and parted ways with Zhang Xuezhou and the others at the crossroads.

Gongsun Hong followed behind Zhang Xuezhou. He had been holding back for a long time, but finally couldn't help but ask the question that was on his mind.

"Right!"

Zhang Xuezhou confirmed it decisively.

No matter how the new emperor dresses in the robes of a marquis or carries the waist token of the Marquis of Pingyang, once you spend a long time in close contact with him, it will be easy to discover aspects of the new emperor that are not befitting of a marquis.

The new emperor's identity could not be kept from Gongsun Hong. Rather than letting Gongsun Hong speculate and doubt back and forth until he established himself in the court, Zhang Xuezhou would not want to annoy him and would confirm it directly once he guessed it.

"Your performance in front of His Majesty is quite good. If you can make some progress in the Southern Ming Fire, your future status will not be low," Zhang Xuezhou said directly.

"This... hey... how did you guess that the prime minister's clerk was named Zhang Tang?"

Gongsun Hong guessed the new emperor's identity, and Zhang Xuezhou also guessed Gongsun Hong's actions and plans.

When Gongsun Hong gave an awkward smile, he had no choice but to change the subject.

"I overheard people chatting about this name, so I just grabbed it and guessed. Even if I'm wrong, it's no big deal!"

Zhang Xuezhou shrugged and gave a casual response.

The person who could maintain order when Tian Fen was ill must have been a capable official, perhaps named Zhang Tang, perhaps named Li Tang, or perhaps under some other name.

Zhang Xuezhou has at least a 30% chance of winning by guessing this name. If he guesses wrong, it's not a big deal. After all, some things can't be avoided, and he still has to fulfill the new emperor's requirements in the end.

This was a bit of fun he had when he was dealing with the new emperor, and he just expressed it through the form of a riddle.

"Top-grade pills are difficult to refine," Gongsun Hong cautioned.

"It's not like I'm providing the herbs," Zhang Xuezhou laughed. "If we can't refine it, we'll just keep refining it. As long as there's a supply of herbs, that's fine!"

"That's true!"

After considering things from Zhang Xuezhou's perspective, Gongsun Hong concluded that Zhang Xuezhou was a tough nut to crack, and the new emperor would lose regardless of whether he won or lost.

"Who?"

The mansion was deserted early in the morning. Zhang Xuezhou and the others were the first to leave. Yi Shuo went to the palace to register and get medicine, leaving in the second group. Wei Shao'er and Liu Xuan also ran away for some reason, while Yi Zong went to find a night owl.

Dou Shisan opened the gate to the mansion, and Zhang Xuezhou stepped inside.

As he swept his gaze across the room, he uttered a low shout, and Hongku's blurry figure appeared under the tree in the courtyard.

"We're friends, not enemies, don't do anything rash!"

Hongku whispered.

The terror on his avatar's face wasn't fake; it was genuine.

When the cultivators of the Yedie River Holy Land first stormed the palace, Wu Tu, the genius cultivator who followed Wu Chao and Zhang Xuezhou, fell into a coma. After returning to the Sacred Land, he was in a daze and lost his former reputation as a genius.

Hongku didn't understand how Wutu was traumatized at the time, but this time he witnessed the whole situation.

If he were to be hit, Hongku felt his fate would be much the same.

"You're making things difficult for me by treating me like this," Hongku said.

"It's better to do something difficult than something worthless!"

Zhang Xuezhou glanced at Hongku, speaking with a hint of nonchalance.

"Who do you think will ultimately win the Han-Xiongnu conflict?" Zhang Xuezhou asked.

"What do you mean?" Hongku asked, frowning.

"It was just a casual question," Zhang Xuezhou said with a smile.

"Don't even think about turning me against you. If the war really escalates to a head, or if the Xiong State temporarily loses, then your Han Dynasty will be in real trouble!"

Please enlighten me, teacher!

"No one wants to see the Han Dynasty grow too powerful. If the Xiong State loses, those forces will inevitably support Xiong State, or even directly intervene!"

"Oh?"

"What they want is a weak Han Kingdom that can barely maintain its rule, which they then gradually replace; they don't want to see a powerful Han Kingdom that is difficult to replace!"

"If you're referring to the Immortal Court, then the Immortal Court is no longer viable!"

"As long as the people are there, the interest groups won't change, and it won't matter who's in charge!"

Zhang Xuezhou inquired very politely, and Hongku responded earnestly.

Even with the threat of the Southern Brightness Fire Technique, Hongku did not dare to entertain the thought of betraying the Yedie River Holy Land.

Even if Daojun falls from power in the future, there will be new forces to take his place.

One restraining technique is not enough to make Hongku; at worst, he can simply refrain from using the Yang Soul Transformation Technique in future battles.

In war, the most hated person is not the enemy, but the traitor. Hongku did not want to die without a burial place in the future.

There was only one King Qin in the world who was not afraid of powerful figures. He was the only one who dared to kill both foreigners and his own people. His reputation as a tyrant terrified countless people, forcing them to flee far beyond the Great Wall to avoid disaster.

Hongku indeed had little confidence in the Great Han Dynasty.

Even though Zhang Xuezhou mentioned that the Immortal Court was no longer as powerful as it used to be, Hongku knew very well that the emperor who used to rule the Three Realms would make a comeback.

If the Great Han Dynasty were willing to restore the systems of the previous Zhou and Shang dynasties instead of governing the world according to the Qin system, there might still be room for discussion. However, the Emperor Qin set the precedent for imperial autocracy, and the emperors, like wild horses, were unwilling to be restrained or manipulated.

The fate of each school of thought provides the answer: the Great Han Dynasty could not tolerate any school of thought having power beyond that of the emperor.

This will inevitably lead to hostility, and many forces will not choose the Great Han Dynasty, but will instead assist the Xiong State that allows the Sacred Land model to exist.

Hongku offered several words of advice before bowing to thank Zhang Xuezhou and the others.

Regardless of Zhang Xuezhou and his group's motives, the other party did indeed help him, thus making Hongku the sole envoy for the transaction.

There will be more than one person restraining Hongku; the Yedie River Holy Land will inevitably send other cultivators in the future.

Hongku hoped they could work together to kill him again, while he needed to perfectly clear himself of suspicion.

"Lies are not tolerated before the Dao Lord. As long as you have this intention, you cannot escape the Dao Lord's investigation and will inevitably be exposed," Zhang Xuezhou warned.

"That was true before, but not now," Hongku shook his head. "As long as things succeed, my contribution is genuine, and he won't hold a grudge over the past because of a dead person!"

"Oh!"

Zhang Xuezhou whispered.

He suddenly recalled that when Hongku ascended to the Venerable One, he had slaughtered many people, leading to the deaths of several other Venerable Ones.

Living Venerables are very useful, but Venerables who have died legally and justifiably are indeed worthless, and Daojun will not dwell on this.

As long as the person wasn't killed by Hongku, Hongku will pass the test.

Hongku's simple response not only proved that Daojun was indeed injured, but also allowed Zhang Xuezhou to roughly guess the extent of Daojun's injuries.

Putting everything else aside, the fact that it's difficult to determine Hongku is lying means that Daojun has lost his ability to observe things closely.

If we use real-world standards as a reference, the opponent's strength has dropped from the domain level of the Ninth Sequence to the control level of the Eighth Sequence.

If Daojun's Flying Knife Technique hadn't possessed exceptional lethality during its mastery phase, and if his cultivation primarily relied on treasures, resulting in minimal reduction in strength when injured, his opponent might very well have been crippled by Zhang Xuezhou's staff strike.