Chapter 1959: Controversy

**Chapter 1940: Debate**

Azure Cloud Hall, Aura City, Beiga.

This was the main hall where Beiga’s monarch and ministers held court. Aura City typically convened morning court only once every two weeks or more. On other days, the Demon Emperor would usually summon a few ministers to a smaller hall for discussions.

Today’s court session revolved around the usual three topics: the Great Wall Plan, the war against Mu, the Emperor’s Dew, and personnel appointments. As the debates droned on below, the Demon Emperor quietly suppressed a yawn behind a coiled dragon pillar. It was peculiar, he thought, how these humans, with their fleeting lifespans, enjoyed wasting time with verbal jousting, repeatedly rehashing old arguments.

The war between Beiga and Mu had raged for several years. Recently, both sides had shown an inclination towards a ceasefire. The current situation was a cycle of fighting, negotiating, failing to agree on terms, then fighting again to accumulate more leverage for further talks. Wars between major powers could exhaust people both physically and mentally, and this conflict was quickly becoming an eternal topic in court.

This time, Mu’s proposed terms included the return of three occupied territories belonging to Xuan State. Beiga and Mu’s borders were not directly contiguous; two or three smaller states lay between them, and Xuan State was one such example. These minor states served as both pawns in the major powers’ games and bargaining chips in their negotiations.

This single issue was debated for half an hour. After listening for a while, the Demon Emperor suddenly remarked, “Since True Immortal Qianhuan’s demise, it seems Lingshan and Mu no longer wish to continue fighting.” The simultaneous fall of Heavenly Venerate Miaozhan and Qianhuan was a significant blow to both the Celestial Palace and Lingshan, indirectly influencing Beiga’s and Mu’s strategies.

“Has anyone figured out what exactly happened inside the Upside-Down Sea?” The Demon Emperor found Heavenly Venerate Miaozhan’s death inexplicable. Yet, He Xiao was not the only one who had emerged alive from the Upside-Down Sea. Dozens of days had passed; surely there must be new intelligence? A minister immediately stepped forward to report: “Hundreds of Qianhuan’s disciples are still alive and returned to Flash Gold Plains with He Xiao. They have not concealed the events of the Upside-Down Sea and often speak of them, all stating that Heavenly Venerate Miaozhan and True Immortal Qianhuan virtually perished together, as they witnessed it themselves.”

“So, He Xiao is the sole beneficiary of the Battle of the Upside-Down Sea?” The Demon Emperor exhaled a heavy plume of white mist, causing the hall’s temperature to drop by at least several degrees. The ministers knew their monarch was displeased. In the Battle of the Upside-Down Sea, the survivor became king. As it stood, He Xiao had inherited all the legacies of both Qianhuan and Miaozhan. Even Illusory Sect, founded by Qianhuan, had been brought under He Lingchuan’s control. The Celestial Palace and Lingshan gained nothing, incurring significant losses.

The Demon Emperor also knew that the Venerable of Lingshan had recently been furious because Heavenly Venerate Miaozhan’s death had also caused the Lingshan deities to lose nearly a thousand Dragon Punishment Pillars! The entire Celestial Realm only possessed just over two thousand such pillars. The Lingshan deities had painstakingly accumulated their stock for 150 to 160 years, only for Miaozhan to squander it all. These artifacts were directly related to divine descent and the distribution of celestial gods’ influence in the mortal realm. With the Lingshan deities’ Dragon Punishment Pillars gone, they would have to find other means—after all, weren’t half of them still in the hands of other celestial gods? Thus, as the Demon Emperor well knew, the entire Celestial Realm was in extreme turmoil recently, and the internecine conflicts and power struggles were not limited to the Lingshan deities alone.

However, the focus of the Beiga court’s debate was not on this matter. The reason was simple: what did the celestial gods’ internecine conflicts have to do with Beiga? Lower and mid-level officials were even less aware of the details, their daily concerns revolving around their own small domains.

Taking the opportunity, Imperial Advisor Nie Xiaolou of the Azure Palace stepped forward and declared loudly: “He Xiao has proclaimed himself the Great Emperor of Nine Hells, operating under the banner of a reincarnated dragon god, and is now running rampant in Flash Gold Plains. This man’s ambition is clearly revealed, as he intends to annex the entire Flash Gold region. Guardian Qingyang is fighting a losing battle in Yao Land…” Before he could finish, a minister interjected: “Guardian Qingyang is no longer an official of our nation, but a guardian of the Celestial Palace. Her deployment and support should be dispatched by the Celestial Palace itself. Moreover, Beiga is tens of thousands of miles away from Flash Gold Plains. Even if we send reinforcements, traveling by both land and water, they would not arrive in less than half a year.”

Everyone knew that the Celestial Palace had its own system and personnel, and was exceptionally powerful even without Beiga’s administrative and military assistance. Nie Xiaolou stated, “He Xiao is recruiting soldiers and acquiring horses in Flash Gold Plains, assembling an army of hundreds of thousands. The Celestial Palace is not adept at this kind of operation.”

“Recruiting soldiers and acquiring horses? Can a veteran army be assembled within three to five months? He Xiao spent several years operating in Yangshan Archipelago, conducting business. When he first arrived in Flash Gold Plains, he was merely a merchant, and after returning from the Upside-Down Sea, he only had a single merchant guild. Haha, if a mere merchant could annex Flash Gold, wouldn’t the powerful lords and bandits of Flash Gold Plains from the past thousand years die restless?” “His merchant identity is merely a long-standing facade He Xiao uses to deceive the uninformed,” Nie Xiaolou retorted, giving him a cold glance. “He was the mastermind behind the burning of Stargazer Tower back then, and he has intricate connections with the Grand Cauldron—” He emphasized each word: “Which individual associated with the Grand Cauldron in the past has not become a grave concern for Beiga? If we do not capture him now, before he gains strength, he will become another Dragoncoil City!”

When he brought up Dragoncoil City, the ministers fell silent. After all, He Xiao’s hidden past certainly contained some radical elements. Nie Xiaolou sneered inwardly. If it had been Imperial Advisor Qingyang, before his demotion, speaking here today, would these verbose ministers have had so many objections? They would have agreed in an instant. Nie Xiaolou was Qingyang’s successor, and the competition for the position of Azure Palace Imperial Advisor had lasted a year and a half. Therefore, he had only officially assumed the role for just over two years. Prior to that, he was the headmaster of Tongshan Academy. While his prestige and character were well-regarded in Aura City, he was still far inferior to Qingyang himself. After all, he lacked two centuries of accumulated influence, and many were disgruntled when he took on the Imperial Advisor position. Furthermore, he had been recommended by Qingyang.

Fortunately, the matter of being wary of the fake dragon god was a shared will between the Demon Emperor and the Celestial Palace. Thus, the ministers in court would not be able to object for long and would soon have to agree. Then, they would have to discuss the list of personnel for reinforcement.

No sooner had Nie Xiaolou nominated two great demons than Grand Minister of Agriculture Yao Mao immediately interjected: “One of these two is presiding over a grand ceremony in White Elephant State, and the other is implicated in a corruption case concerning the Lingshan Great Wall, which is still under investigation. How can they travel far?” Immediately, another minister followed up: “I heard that the Crown Prince of Chiyan State is in the Yangshan Archipelago, which is not far from Flash Gold Plains. Perhaps we could…” “The Chiyan Crown Prince has a past connection with He Xiao. If you send him, will he be confronting He Xiao or helping him?” Another person stepped forward and said, “Watch your words! If it weren’t for the Chiyan Crown Prince staying in the Yangshan Archipelago, Beiga’s military power would not have been able to extend behind Mu’s lines!”

At the mention of Mu, the ministers’ spirits lifted, and soon someone proposed: “Why don’t we add another condition to our negotiations with Mu: demand that they hand over detailed information on He Xiao. Since He Xiao works for Lingshan, Mu must have a dossier on him.”