An external enemy to foster unity.
Listening to the cold wind howling past her ears, Tianyan fell silent for several breaths before slowly lowering her eyes.
Every family had its own skeleton in the closet.
The imperial family, the Sect Alliance, and the Prime Minister’s Manor were all the same.
The imperial family faced the turmoil of a transfer of power; the Chancellor's Manor bore the bloat brought on by rapid expansion; and the Sect Alliance, the mightiest among them, was utterly fractured within, like a tray of loose sand.
And as the Saintess, Tianyan knew all too well that the crisis currently confronting the Overseeing Heaven Pavilion was worse than what any of the other factions faced.
The calamity drew near, yet they were no longer as glorious as they had been ten thousand years ago. Even if they wished to call upon humanity to unite, how many would believe them?
The world’s reverence and fear toward the calamity had long since been eroded by the passage of time.
Amid this age of prosperity, people had long forgotten the despair of bygone days when nine out of ten homes stood empty.
Only when the blade of the calamity was pressed against their very throats would those factions likely react.
Yet beyond these external factors, the internal troubles of the Overseeing Heaven Pavilion were like a bomb waiting to be detonated at any moment.
Ten thousand years of forbearance and development behind the scenes had indeed given the Overseeing Heaven Pavilion the chips needed to sit at the board as a player. Yet equally, across those ten millennia of lying low, the Pavilion’s power structure had grown into a deformed monstrosity.
The world was vast, and clever minds were many. For absolute secrecy, the sects under the Overseeing Heaven Pavilion were nearly all independent entities with no connection to one another.
Pull any single one out at random, and it possessed its own complete, self-sustaining system—
from the grooming of talent to its sources of revenue, and all the way to industries manufacturing military supplies.
The primary means by which the Overseeing Heaven Pavilion restrained and controlled these people stemmed from its very foundation—the Heaven-Deducing Art.
And now, the future had faded into pitch-black ink.
In other words,
the thickest iron chain the Overseeing Heaven Pavilion used to tether these people had already snapped.
Heavy, tangled thoughts churned in her chest. Tianyan drew a deep breath, her delicate bosom beneath the court gown rising and falling slightly.
“Master... are you saying those people are making unusual moves?”
A sigh surfaced upon Tianyuan’s peerlessly serene face. She answered softly, “A short while ago, the Sect Master of Xuanyin Pavilion made probing remarks to the Sect Master of Tianxin Sect.”
Tianyan pondered for a moment and asked, “Master, none of these sects know one another’s allegiance. Was the Sect Master of Xuanyin Pavilion probing whether Tianxin Sect belongs to our Overseeing Heaven Pavilion?”
It was for the very same reason: to maintain absolute secrecy, the higher-ups of the sects subordinate to the Overseeing Heaven Pavilion maintained only single-line contact with the Pavilion itself. Among peers, few ever knew whether the other belonged to the Overseeing Heaven Pavilion.
Tianyuan replied softly, “Yes.”
Having received confirmation, confusion flickered in Tianyan’s eyes. “Since we have chosen to reveal ourselves and claim our voice in the world, this is something you will proclaim to the realm sooner or later anyway. What is wrong with that?”
“...” Tianyuan stared quietly at the young maiden before her.
As the Saintess and the sole successor to the Overseeing Heaven Pavilion Master, Tianyan’s current political acumen was clearly not sharp enough.
Breathing out a sigh, Tianyuan softly asked in return, “Since your master will proclaim it to the realm sooner or later, why do you think that Xuanyin Pavilion Sect Master was so impatient to test others and learn the result in advance?”
Hearing this, understanding immediately flashed across Tianyan’s eyes, and her delicate brows furrowed. “Master, do you mean... the Sect Master of Xuanyin Pavilion wants to band together with other sects?”
Tianyuan’s tone was gentle, yet her words carried immense weight:
“By the time your master makes a full proclamation to the realm, thorough preparations will already be complete. If they harbor disloyalty, they naturally will not sit by and wait for death.”
As she spoke, Tianyuan retrieved a stack of specially made secret letters from her Sumeru ring and handed them to the young girl.
“In less than half a year, the Sect Master of Xuanyin Pavilion could no longer sit still.
“And that is merely one instance.
“The scouts planted long ago have already reported dozens of similar occurrences to me—ranging from sect masters down to executive elders who know of our Overseeing Heaven Pavilion's existence. Some are internal conspiracies within a single sect, while others are clandestine overtures across different sects.
“And now, our Divine Heaven-Deducing Art has lost its effect.
“Tianyan,
“how do you think this should be resolved?”
Tianyan fell silent for a short while before quietly uttering four words: “Kill the chicken to scare the monkeys...”
“Tianyan.”
Tianyuan’s voice took on a touch of gentleness as she gazed at her disciple, speaking in a low tone. “You have spent too long cultivating inside the Pavilion. Though you have traveled the world, you have still seen too little.”
As she spoke, a faint smile graced the corners of Tianyuan’s lips, her voice clear and soft. “If your master were to personally kill the chicken to scare the monkeys, do you think those people making covert moves would stop, or would they become even more reckless and unbridled because their schemes were exposed?”
Tianyan blinked her beautiful eyes, her breath catching slightly.
This woman before her, who was as familiar as anyone could be, had never spoken of such matters with her before.
A twinge of bitterness gradually spread through her chest. In her clear golden eyes, faint ripples and intense conflict welled up.
Standing from her master's perspective, this assassination was indeed an attempt to end the calamity, but at the same time, it was also a choice born of helplessness.
The Overseeing Heaven Pavilion needed an external enemy to help them purge these individuals.
“B-But... by provoking the Prime Minister's Manor and inviting retaliation like this...” Tianyan’s voice was very soft, as if making one last effort. “Won't it arouse their discontent?”
Tianyuan replied softly, “This matter was carried out by the radicals within the Pavilion. As far as anyone knows, I was unaware of it.
“As for the retaliation from the Prime Minister’s Manor...
“They will come begging to me.”
This time, Tianyan understood her master’s intentions in an instant.
Due to the power structure of single-line contact, the subordinate sects of the Overseeing Heaven Pavilion were each isolated islands.
Once this incident occurred, anyone who wished to continue rallying others to rebel would have to carefully consider whether the people they were trying to recruit remained loyal to the Overseeing Heaven Pavilion.
That the proactive radicals could muster such an enormous force to assassinate the origin of the calamity was undeniably a warning to anyone harboring treasonous thoughts.
Suspicion and the fear of collateral damage would keep those disloyal subordinates from daring to act rashly.
After a quiet moment, Tianyan asked in a low voice, “Can retaliation from the Prime Minister’s Manor truly foster unity within the Pavilion?”
“Of course not.”
Unexpectedly, Tianyuan gave a negative answer to this question, saying softly, “To be precise, your master intends to borrow the blade of the Chancellor’s Manor to excise these malignant tumors within our Pavilion.”
Tianyan’s beautiful eyes flickered briefly, and she asked softly, “The Chancellor’s Manor shouldn't be able to locate these people, right?”
Even sects within the Overseeing Heaven Pavilion could not tell which sects were allies, let alone the Chancellor's Manor far across the realm.
As the question hung in the air, Tianyuan looked at Tianyan for a long while before ultimately choosing to trust her disciple, answering truthfully:
“It would be difficult for the Chancellor's Manor to investigate, but ever since our Overseeing Heaven Pavilion stepped into the open, the Sword Sect has been hounding us relentlessly.”
“Currently, the relationship between the Sect Alliance and the imperial court in the Northern Border has reached the point of drawing blades...”
“Tianyan, only interest is eternal in this world.”
Tianyuan patiently instructed her disciple, her soft voice laced with a smile. “Broad-scale competition does not mean small-scale cooperation is impossible.”
Tianyan bit her lip and asked further, “But Master... why are you so certain the Sword Sect will cooperate with the Chancellor’s Manor?”
Her master no longer possessed the ability to divine the future; such reasoning was purely working backward from an assumed conclusion.
To this question, Tianyuan’s reply was simple:
“If they do not cooperate, the Chancellor’s Manor can only swallow their resentment.
“Without the Sword Sect providing cover within the sects, even if they possess their own intelligence, they lack the audacity to indiscriminately assassinate people of the Sect Alliance.”
At this point, a touch of a sigh entered Tianyuan’s voice.
“If the Chancellor’s Manor truly chose to swallow this grievance... then our Overseeing Heaven Pavilion would likely have to carry out the purge ourselves. But doing so would come at a tremendous cost.”
Raising her eyes toward the northern vault of heaven, Tianyuan shifted the topic again.
“However, the Chancellor’s Manor and the Sword Sect have likely already reached a cooperation by now. Upon entering the capital, the Imperial Preceptor immediately went to visit Chancellor Xu, and the two held a secret discussion in the manor.
“Everything should proceed according to plan.”
Listening to these vital pieces of intelligence, Tianyan remained silent for several breaths before suddenly speaking up: “Then can we use this opportunity to drive a wedge between the Sword Sect and the Sect Alliance? There must be people in the Sect Alliance who know about their secret discussion.”
Tianyuan looked at the girl with a faint glimmer of surprise in her eyes, followed by a pleased, clear reply: “Rest assured, your master has already arranged for people to actively leak clues to the Sword Sect—both regarding those disloyal traitors and genuine members of the Sect Alliance.
“If all goes smoothly, this endeavor will not only purge our Overseeing Heaven Pavilion from within, but also pin a label on the Sword Sect for borrowing someone else’s blade to eliminate rivals.”
Speaking to this point, a divine gleam flashed through Tianyuan's clear, beautiful golden eyes as she looked toward the northern sky.
“Once this matter concludes,
“a portion of the Sect Alliance will stand on our side, and our Overseeing Heaven Pavilion will no longer have any disloyal subjects within, allowing us to thoroughly reclaim the authority delegated over the past ten thousand years!”
“But Master, if you wanted to borrow a blade to kill someone, why did it have to be him?” Tianyan asked.
“...” Tianyuan fell silent.
Silence descended over the mist-shrouded tower summit for a time.
Tianyan gazed at her master, her golden eyes woven with complicated, conflicted emotions.
From her master's perspective, this assassination was indeed an attempt to end the calamity, a choice born of helplessness, and a method to break through the perilous crisis the Overseeing Heaven Pavilion currently faced.
Yet...
she still found it difficult to accept.
After a few breaths, however, the maiden silently lowered her head under that gaze.
Aside from that bastard who served as the inception of the great calamity, there really seemed to be no second choice in the world.
The Emperor treated his sons like breeding venomous insects, and the Sect Alliance was too fragmented to organize an effective assassination. As for the foreign races beyond the borders, it was impossible for them to penetrate deep into the southern reaches of Great Yan.
Only Duke Xu of the Prime Minister's Manor would lay out a million corpses in fury for the sake of his own flesh and blood.
“Hoo...”
A gentle sigh sounded upon the silent summit. Tianyuan looked at her disciple and said softly, “Tianyan, since you have returned to the Desolation Guard Tower, you need not go to the Imperial Capital again.”
Hearing this, Tianyan’s delicate, slender frame trembled slightly, but she did not answer.
She knew her performance today had deeply disappointed her master. Being grounded was something she had anticipated.
As the Saintess, she truly should not be so swayed by romantic sentiment, but... but there were some things beyond her control.
Looking at the girl with her head bowed and eyes downcast, Tianyuan shook her head gently.
“Your master does not intend to ground you. There is a need for you to make a trip to the Great Desert.”
Tianyan raised her eyes upon hearing this, though her gaze did not change much.
She knew what her master was thinking: to separate her and that bastard—physically separate them.
Since that was the case, going anywhere was the same.
After a brief pause, however, she collected her emotions and asked softly, “Did something happen out in the Great Desert?”
Tianyuan retrieved an exquisite jade slip—a rarity in this day and age—from her Sumeru ring. Handing it to Tianyan, she said softly:
“Because of the battle achievements that Barbarian Heterodox King achieved early on in the Northern Border, both the Great Desert Royal Court and Guyuan grew ambitious, directing their spearheads toward several key strongholds in the west. But you know the outcome.
“The Barbarian King was slain, and the barbarians were nearly wiped out.
“Lacking the northern barbarians to coordinate with them, Guyuan retreated immediately by taking advantage of the terrain of the Wanxing Mountain Range. But the terrain of the Great Desert left them nowhere to run, and they became entangled with the Marquis of Zhenxi.”
Tianyan accepted the jade slip and extended her intent-soul to probe it slightly. After browsing the contents, a trace of astonishment flashed across her eyes.
“This is intelligence sent by that newly emerged Divine Maiden?”
“Yes, it was personally handed over by that woman to scouts of our Overseeing Heaven Pavilion to send out.”
Tianyuan nodded gently, her voice tinged with solemnity. “Due to the presence of that divine beast, the Linlang, this Divine Maiden holds an aloof, transcendent status within the Great Desert Royal Court. However, because of her growing desire to seize power, she has already placed the master of the Royal Court under house arrest. If not for that Linlang accompanying her at all times, this Divine Maiden likely would have already ‘succumbed to illness’ and perished.”
Tianyan’s brows furrowed slightly. Setting the matter of Xu Yuan aside for the moment, she asked in a low voice, “Master, do you mean...”
Tianyuan answered softly, “When our Overseeing Heaven Pavilion emerged, the Great Desert Royal Court sent an invitation. Now is the perfect time for you to represent the Overseeing Heaven Pavilion as an envoy to the Western Regions and attempt to bring that Divine Maiden back from the Great Desert Royal Court.”
Hearing this, Tianyan hesitated slightly. “Just me on this journey?”
“Yes.”
“...”
A touch of astonishment appeared in Tianyan’s beautiful golden eyes.
Although her current cultivation could be considered among the rarest in the world, trying to penetrate deep into the capital of a nation and steal its ‘greatest treasure’ was still somewhat beyond her means.
Even with the concealment art from the Heaven-Deducing Art, she would probably need to break through to the Transcendent Realm before she had a sliver of hope.
Seeing Tianyan’s expression, Tianyuan softly explained:
“Currently, the elite forces of the Great Desert are almost entirely tied down along the border contending with the Zhenxi Army. The Royal Court is exceptionally vacant at this moment; its strongest expert is merely a Semi-Saint. If our Overseeing Heaven Pavilion were to dispatch a Transcendent Realm cultivator to accompany you, it might arouse suspicion and make things inconvenient instead.
“Moreover, the candidate originally chosen will also accompany you.”
Hearing that, Tianyan’s eyes flickered. “The candidate originally chosen?”
Tianyuan spoke no more. A surging qi aura instantly rippled outward.
Seeing this, Tianyan knew her master was using voice transmission to notify someone below.
Master and disciple stood on the tower summit for about a quarter of an hour before soft footsteps drifted up slowly from the deep staircase passageway.
Hearing the sound, Tianyan swept her clear golden eyes over immediately.
Entering her view was a woman.
A woman with peach-blossom brows, possessed of an innate charm, dressed in plain clothes that nevertheless could not hide her voluptuous curves.
The woman approached, curtsying gracefully. The cold wind brushed against her plain attire, outlining soft, towering contours, while her voice seemed to carry an intoxicating allure capable of dragging one under:
“Greetings to the Exalted Pavilion Master and the Lady Saintess.”
“...”
Looking at this peerlessly beautiful, plain-clothed vixen, Tianyan felt an inexplicable trace of wariness rise in her heart.
After a brief silence,
Tianyan asked in a cool tone, “Third Rank cultivation?”
Tianyuan glanced at Su Jinxuan and explained softly:
“The Bewitching Soul Fiend Physique. A person borrowed from the Qin family. Her name appears to be Su Jinxuan.”
Chapter 451