Chapter 1146: Middle Domain Power Distribution

Although the Central Imperial Family is merely a nominal ruler of the Yingzhou Continent, I don't believe their lineage can stand against the combined power of the four great regions. With your current influence and strength, a single call to arms would bring aid from all directions. Even a direct confrontation with the Central Imperial Family might not be unwinnable!"

Xu Yang smiled and shook his head. "Of course, I'm not afraid of them confronting me head-on. However, the top priority right now is to find the remaining two fragments of the ancient jade. Based on my assessment, the Central Imperial Family holds at least one, possibly even two, of these fragments. If we expose our intentions too early, it would complicate my search for the fragments. What if the Central Imperial Family, in a desperate act, destroys one of them, making it impossible to assemble a complete ancient jade? Then my ultimate goal in coming to Yingzhou Continent would be unachievable. Failing to find the path to Wuyue Tian would mean that my decades of journeying across Yingzhou would have been meaningless."

Having followed their leader Xu Yang for so long, the members of the Glory Dragon Cavalry team had a general understanding of his origins and his true purpose for coming to the Yingzhou Continent. Everyone clearly knew that the ancient jade fragments were of paramount importance to Xu Yang.

"In that case," Xue'er suggested, "I propose that Brother Shi Tiandao directly takes over the leadership of the Emperor Soul Legion. Nominally, he would still work in coordination with our Glory Legion, maintaining a facade of mutual containment and hostility. After all, currently, only a handful of people know about our alliance with Brother Shi Tiandao. Outsiders are unlikely to discover the truth quickly, which would allow us to rest easy, wouldn't it?"

Xue'er's suggestion received unanimous approval from Xu Yang and the others. "That's an excellent proposal. Let's proceed with that for now. Shi Tiandao, you can begin preparing to re-integrate the internal system of the Emperor Soul Legion. Consolidate all power firmly in your own hands to prevent any unexpected complications during this period of instability."

Shi Tiandao nodded, clasped his hands in front of Xu Yang, and immediately set about his task.

In just three days, Shi Tiandao had thoroughly reorganized the entire Emperor Soul Legion from top to bottom. All crucial positions were filled by his own trusted associates whom he had personally promoted. The pawns and lackeys who had originally been loyal to the Elder Council were completely purged by Shi Tiandao. The high-ranking members of the Emperor Soul Legion clearly understood that the era of the Elder Council was now definitively over, and the entire legion would, from then on, follow Shi Tiandao's guidance.

However, to everyone's surprise, events unfolded faster than anticipated. On the very next day after Shi Tiandao had completed his full consolidation of control over the Emperor Soul Legion, a royal summons was issued by the Central Imperial Family. At this point, the Dragon Cavalry team, including Xu Yang, had not yet left the Emperor Soul Legion headquarters, but instead, they were met by this wave of unexpected visitors.

"Damn it, this is big trouble!" In the back hall, as Xu Yang stepped through the entrance, Shi Tiandao and the entire Dragon Cavalry team stood up to collectively greet their leader.

"Everyone, please sit down," Xu Yang said. "I've already heard about the royal summons. It seems the Central Imperial Family is more anxious than we initially thought. They must have developed a sense of crisis, or perhaps they've already anticipated the situation's development."

Gugelas nervously patted his large belly and asked, "So, Boss, what should we do next? We can't just let those pawns of the Central Imperial Family walk all over us, can we?"

Xu Yang smiled and waved his hand at Gugelas. "Sit down for now, there's no need to rush. Everyone, please calm yourselves; there's always a solution. Tiandao, could you first explain the royal summons and the system and governance of the Central Imperial Family? Although I've been here for many years, I'm not very familiar with the Central Imperial Family's system and power dynamics. Please give me an overview."

Shi Tiandao nodded with a solemn expression, then stood up and began to explain the situation regarding the Central Imperial Family. The Emperor Soul Legion's increasing prestige and rapid development in the Western Region of the Yingzhou Continent over the years were largely due to the Central Imperial Family's backing. According to the information Shi Tiandao had found in the legion's confidential archives after overthrowing the Elder Council's rule, the Elder Council of the Emperor Soul Legion had maintained very close ties with the lineage of the Seventh Prince of the Central Imperial Family for many years. It could be said that the Seventh Prince was one of the true behind-the-scenes controllers of the Emperor Soul Legion. The royal summons was issued to the Emperor Soul Legion so swiftly precisely because the Seventh Prince's faction had made its move. They were unwilling to relinquish this significant asset, into which they had poured years of effort. Since the Elder Council was gone, they intended to take full control, asserting their authority as the Imperial Family.

After all, within the entire governing structure of the Yingzhou Continent, all forces in the four regions—East, South, West, and North—were unconditionally bound to obey the Imperial Family's commands. No matter how powerful a faction became, if the Imperial Family issued an order, its ruler was obliged to surrender their authority to a core bloodline member of the Imperial Family. While the system of the Hall of Enforcement might not have been fully extended to the Western Region of the Yingzhou Continent, the underlying principle of authority remained the same. Any defiance of the royal summons by the Emperor Soul Legion would be tantamount to declaring war against the rulers of the entire Central Imperial Family, and the consequences would be unimaginable.

According to the exclusive system of the Central Imperial Family, once a royal summons was issued to a local organization, a grand ceremony had to be held, observing specific protocols for welcoming the imperial family, to formally transfer the ruler's authority. In essence, this meant Shi Tiandao had to host a lavish banquet for the forces under the Seventh Prince's command and respectfully hand over his authority to them. It was deeply unfair, but what could be done? After all, this was the Central Imperial Family of the Yingzhou Continent, still the ruling power of the land.

After Shi Tiandao's explanation, everyone gradually gained a general understanding of the Central Imperial Family's current power distribution. In summary, besides the Emperor of the Central Imperial Family, there were also seven great princes under his command, all of whom were direct relatives of the current Yingzhou Continent Emperor. Each of these seven princes had established a foundation over many years, with their power distributed across the four great regions: East, West, South, and North. In addition to controlling the Emperor Soul Legion, the Seventh Prince's lineage reportedly possessed a formidable private army. This exclusive personal legion numbered over ten thousand soldiers, and it was said to include dozens of purple-tier experts and nearly a thousand individuals at or above blue-tier peak strength.