CHAPTER 1146: CHAPTER 336: EMPEROR’S DECREE (1/5)

Sovereign’s edict.

Regardless of how the sects and forces outside the Great Chen Dynasty perceive it, the Heavenly Sect of the North Mysterious Sacrifice Continent ultimately sees it as a kind of ’Heavenly Revelation’ when the Emperor of the Great Chen Dynasty issues the most formal decree.

Even though Ye Po True Lord has little regard for Da Chen in her heart, she still, with the most formal etiquette, brought the decree back to the Bright Mirror Sect, placed it inside the grand hall of Bright Mirror Mountain, and waited for the return of the patriarch and others such as An Jing.

All the survivors within the Bright Mirror Sect witnessed the scene of the decree’s return to the mountain.

Due to the Nirvana Tribulation, now within the Bright Mirror Sect, only a small portion of the young generation guarding the mountain still have their physical bodies; the great majority exist as souls, relying on the Spirit Land of the Great Formation to remain.

However, thanks to Jin Yanhua and Jiang Ziji’s reverse analysis of the Feather Transformation Dao of the Tianyuan Realm along with the Heavenly Mechanism Feathered Battle Armor provided by An Jing, they roughly developed a basic version of the ’Feathered Body,’ allowing some deceased disciples of the Bright Mirror Sect to possess a Feathered Body based on ’Evergreen Wood.’

Although this Feathered Body is far inferior to the Heavenly Mechanism Armor of the Tianyuan Realm and cannot be mass-produced due to insufficient raw materials, it has at least temporarily alleviated the manpower shortage within the sect by reviving some of the most needed technical personnel.

"Sovereign’s edict..."

"Could it be that the sect is going to cooperate with the Great Chen Dynasty?"

"Indeed, the Shangxuan Sect’s plans targeting the Chenli Domain and the Northern Domain heavily provoked the dynasty’s authority. I bet the southern empire (dynasty) wants us as their banner."

"Yes, not to mention that Immortal Fall Array, which will definitely incur the wrath of other Heavenly Sects. We are the living evidence of its existence."

"Hopefully, we’ll get some more benefits... As a grand Heavenly Sect, we must not be stingy."

The discussions were rife, and everyone saw through Da Chen’s intentions.

However, they did not mind and hoped for tangible benefits from Da Chen.

After all, Bright Mirror Sect could be said to be facing its most difficult time in history, or rather, it is the most challenging period for the entire Chenli Domain.

Everything was in ruins, and resources were extremely scarce—while Nirvana brought the sect new life, it also exhausted everything. With their own strength, Bright Mirror Sect and Chenli need at least a thousand or two thousand years to fully recover Yuan Qi.

If Feather Transformation Dao is added to the mix, this might accelerate the process, but it would still take at least several hundred years to restore the sect’s stature to that of an Upper Gate.

The people were not afraid of challenges and hardships, but if a benefactor was willing to provide some assistance, the martial artists of Bright Mirror Sect would not mind becoming the excuse and flag for Da Chen Dynasty to attack the Shangxuan Sect.

On the surface, though, most smart people could see the apparent intentions, perhaps only a few could detect the deeper implications and hidden messages beneath the edict.

Gu Yeqi was considered halfway there.

Recently, Gu Yeqi always followed Ye Po True Lord, learning the fundamental Dharma Gate of Bright Mirror Sect, ’Void and Self Traveling Spirit Chapter,’ which An Jing had passed to her as an important part of the ’Bearing Spring Color’ Martial Meridian Array Diagram.

Having already accomplished part of it, validating both, she gained a deeper understanding of the essence of the Martial Meridian Array Diagram and became more respectful towards the Eldest Senior who could easily create numerous Martial Meridian Array Diagrams.

This edict explicitly invited An Jing to Shenjing; how could Gu Yeqi not take it seriously? Her instincts told her something was amiss, but when she inquired with Ye Po True Lord, she could only receive a resigned response of ’wait for An Jing and the others to return.’

Clearly, while Ye Po True Lord might be adept at cultivation, her political acumen was not high.

Helpless, Gu Yeqi returned to Mingguang Peak, deliberated for a while, then took out a talisman from her Great Void Magical Instrument.

The talisman was dark gold, with rusty red ink, and faint shadows flowed along the fibers and ink traces on the Talisman Paper. It was Cang Linzu’s creation, based on his own Divine Skill, combined with the ’Divine Talisman Secret Text’ of the Great Chen and the bloodline of the Gu Family, able to ignore regional distances and directly contact someone in the family.

And that someone in the Gu Family was, naturally, none other.

Only the Beijiang General, Gu Yunzhi.

Her grandfather.

[Ye Qi, I’m waiting for you]

Gu Yeqi used her Soul and Spirit to activate the talisman and sensed a kindred soul waiting for her from afar. Evidently, Gu Yunzhi had anticipated that Gu Yeqi would contact him after learning of the edict: [I bet your thought now is ’what’s going on?’]

"Stop betting, old gambler!"

Gu Yeqi, who was a soft and supportive assistant to An Jing, showed no leniency towards her grandpa, and said sternly, "The Shangxuan Sect, those unfilial brats, crossing continents to interfere in our internal war; Da Chen has to retaliate, or it would be called a coward."

"Our excuse is us; it’s normal for them to seek us out, but... why is it the emperor? That Mysterious Heaven Imperial Lord, if I recall, shouldn’t he be just a few years older than my Eldest Senior and me? He shouldn’t have even assumed power yet; why is he personally proclaiming this edict?"

That’s where Gu Yeqi felt the unease.

After all, Bright Mirror Sect is just an Upper Gate, while Great Chen Dynasty is a Heavenly Sect, and the enemy and ally of a Heavenly Sect can only be other Heavenly Sects.

This time, when the Great Chen Dynasty takes on the Shangxuan Sect, their ally should be other Heavenly Sects. Being a living testament and flag is acceptable for Bright Mirror Sect, but considering the Imperial Court’s attitude... are they perhaps overvaluing Bright Mirror Sect?

Gu Yeqi detected the subtlety in this attitude and further pondered to find something bigger amiss: the current Mysterious Heaven Imperial Lord hasn’t even ascended to power yet, so what’s the story with this edict?

Is it in a personal capacity? But the emperor is the ruler of the Imperial Court, there isn’t such a thing as private as public, so what are the two Lingxiao ministers’ thoughts on this edict?

Internal strife in the Imperial Court, them attacking each other left and right is their business, but don’t let it affect our Bright Mirror Sect!

Since she was quite unaware of the situation within the Imperial Court, Gu Yeqi had to seek the counsel of her grandfather, who was an Imperial General.

[Indeed, theoretically, the Imperial Court should dispatch a diplomatic mission led by a Town King to have discussions with Bright Mirror Sect, and that Town King would likely be Prince De, who has ties with your Bright Mirror Sect.]

Gu Yunzhi nodded slightly, very satisfied with Gu Yeqi’s keen insight: [Both parties would meet, discuss and come to a result, followed by Bright Mirror Sect sending representatives to Shenjing for the grand banquet procession.]

[Such a conference is merely a public gesture; the truly important matters are decided long before the meeting even begins.]

"...Which means."

Gu Yeqi became a little enlightened: "This time, the Imperial Court, or you could say that Little Emperor, isn’t planning to decide ahead of time?"

"Then what exactly is he planning to do?"