"This humble monk just received news that the Marquis of Wu'an, for his own personal grudges, disregarded the law and massacred all the monks of the Bright Temple. I implore Your Majesty to punish the Marquis of Wu'an!"

The news of Miaojue's plea for help and the destruction of the Bright Temple arrived almost simultaneously. There wasn't even time to meet with Xiao Jing, the Grand Commandant of the Sky Patrol Division!

Chen Yuan was a Heavenly Envoy of the Sky Patrol Division, overseeing the three southern prefectures, wielding great power. However, he was formally under the command of the Sky Patrol Division. Therefore, he originally intended to use Xiao Jing's authority to suppress Chen Yuan's murderous intent.

Yao Xin's death was his own doing, as he had voluntarily gone to settle karma, so there was no one else to blame. However, the Bright Temple was the strongest foothold of Buddhism in the South, and it could not be lost.

The grand plan of Buddhism to spread its teachings in the Central Plains had not yet fully unfolded, so the Bright Temple had to be protected.

However, he had just prepared to invite Xiao Jing when he received the news of the Bright Temple's destruction. For a moment, even though his heart had long been like still water, he felt a surge of anger.

Chen Yuan actually dared to massacre the Bright Temple!

Ignoring the grand plan of Buddhism.

His demonic nature was too deep!

He had to make the Emperor punish him.

Jingtai's eyes flickered upon hearing this, and the corners of his mouth curled up almost imperceptibly. He felt a sense of joy in his heart. He had long been displeased with the growth of Buddhism, but he relied on Buddhism too much, so he absolutely could not say anything openly. He could only sit and watch Buddhism spread its teachings in the Central Plains, gradually eroding the power of the martial world.

What Chen Yuan had done was quite to his liking.

However, with the Bodhisattva Puxian present, he could not say anything. He could only feign anger and asked in a deep voice:

"Is there really such a thing? The Marquis of Wu'an is truly audacious!"

"I implore Your Majesty to punish him!"

Bodhisattva Puxian put his palms together and continued in a deep voice.

Jingtai nodded and turned his gaze to Cao Zhengxian:

"Eunuch Cao, what laws has the Marquis of Wu'an violated? He must be severely punished according to the law!"

Cao Zhengxian had just caught Jingtai's meaningful gaze. He sighed softly in his heart, straightened his face, and bowed, saying:

"Reporting to Your Majesty, this matter was actually something this old servant wanted to report to you just now, but it was interrupted by the National Preceptor."

"Oh? Then tell me the process."

"Yes," Cao Zhengxian said softly, without looking at Bodhisattva Puxian, "The cause of this matter was that Yao Xin, the Abbot of the Bright Temple, claimed that he wanted to settle his grievances with the Marquis of Wu'an. He was no match for the Marquis of Wu'an and was beheaded in front of the Shu Prefecture city.

Afterwards, the Marquis of Wu'an was furious and rebuked the monks of the Bright Temple for plotting rebellion, attacking and killing officials of the court, and harboring Wusheng Sect heretics causing chaos in the temple. Therefore, he led his men to destroy the Bright Temple and slaughter the entire Bright Temple."

"Have any traces of the Wusheng Sect heretics been found?" Jingtai frowned and leaned forward slightly.

"It is still unknown at the moment. I am afraid that we will only know after the Shu Prefecture Sky Patrol Division reports to headquarters."

"Then has the Marquis of Wu'an violated any laws?"

"Uh..."

"Say what you have to say. The National Preceptor is here, so do not conceal anything." Jingtai said in a deep voice, as if he were speaking in favor of Bodhisattva Puxian.

"Not guilty."

Cao Zhengxian lowered his eyes, not looking at Puxian's expression.

"Not guilty? How can he be not guilty? The Marquis of Wu'an massacred the Bright Temple. How can he be not guilty?"

Jingtai seemed a little surprised.

"Reporting to Your Majesty, since the establishment of the Sky Patrol Division, the late Emperor issued an imperial edict, granting them the power to act first and report later, a special imperial privilege, with the power to make decisions on the spot. Throughout the years, the Sky Patrol Division has acted in this way, and countless souls have died under their blades, contributing a great deal of tax revenue to the Sky Patrol Division and the court."

"Is there such a thing..." Jingtai sighed softly, "It seems that the laws are not perfect enough. It is my fault. Remember my oral decree. In the near future, the Sky Patrol Division must be more cautious about matters of exterminating entire families, and they must not act too excessively."

This performance was naturally for Bodhisattva Puxian to see. He felt some disgust towards Chen Yuan, but he felt the same towards Buddhism. Previously, the court had shown much tolerance towards Buddhism, but in recent years, it had become increasingly excessive.

They could even incite the common people.

Now that he had Chen Yuan, this vicious dog, biting off a piece of flesh from Buddhism, he felt very comfortable in his heart. However, Puxian represented Mount Lingshan, so he naturally could not show it.

"Yes, this old servant obeys the decree."

"Your Majesty, is that all there is to it? Are the lives of nearly a thousand people in the Bright Temple just to be written off with a sentence ordering the Sky Patrol Division to investigate themselves?" Bodhisattva Puxian frowned.

Jingtai looked at the other party's expression, his face expressionless, and a hint of coldness flashed in his eyes, which then turned into approval:

"What the National Preceptor said also makes some sense. In that case, then the Marquis of Wu'an will be fined half a year's salary as punishment. It's a pity that if the Marquis of Wu'an had violated the laws of the court, I would have stripped him of his title."

Bodhisattva Puxian's gaze was cold, and he met Jingtai's gaze for a moment before putting his palms together and saying:

"Your Majesty distinguishes right from wrong, and this humble monk admires you. This humble monk has important matters to attend to at the Little Thunderclap Temple, so I will take my leave first."

After saying that, Puxian turned around and left immediately, without stopping for even a moment.

He represented the majestic Mount Lingshan, the sacred land of Buddhism. There was no problem with respecting the Emperor on ordinary days, but now that the Bright Temple had been destroyed, it was just a light sentence of fining his salary.

He could already see that the Sima family's tolerance for Buddhism was nearing its limit.

In that case, there was nothing more to say.

"National Preceptor, take care."

Jingtai said faintly.

After a moment, when Puxian had gone a little further away, Cao Zhengxian asked in a low voice:

"Your Majesty, are you really going to fine the Marquis of Wu'an half a year's salary?"

"He has been in Shu Prefecture for so long, and he has not found the murderer who killed Lu Renjia. He has also caused such a big incident. Of course, he must be punished. However, this son has killed a Refined Spirit Realm thief from Liangshan for me, so he should also be rewarded. Hmm, the half of the Bright Temple's spoils that were to be offered to headquarters will be rewarded to him."

Applying both kindness and power was the way of the Emperor.

Chen Yuan was unruly and rebellious, so he had to be suppressed at all times, but he could not be suppressed too harshly. He had to proceed step by step until he completely entered his palm.

"This old servant obeys the decree."

"You came in so hurriedly just now, just to talk about the destruction of the Bright Temple?" Jingtai suddenly asked.

Cao Zhengxian shook his head, a solemn look on his face:

"This matter is just a small matter. What this old servant wants to report to Your Majesty is a major event."

"What is it?"

"Wu Tianxi, a Yellow-ranked Envoy of the Sky Patrol Division, has sent a secret report to the Sky Patrol Division headquarters. Grand Commandant Xiao has also asked someone to pass it on to this old servant. It says that there is a severe drought in many places in You Prefecture, and there is a plague spreading, and the speed of transmission is extremely fast. According to statistics, more than 10,000 people have died so far."

Jingtai's pupils shrank, and he slammed his fist on the table:

"Who is spreading the plague!"

Once the phrase 'according to statistics' was used, the real situation must be even worse. I am afraid that the number of casualties is far more than 10,000. The officials there must be suppressing the true numbers.

"It is currently unknown. The only ones who can be suspected are the barbarians in the north."

"These bastards, You Prefecture is adjacent to the grasslands. Don't they know that once the plague spreads, the casualties in the grasslands will be even more severe?" Jingtai only felt that everything had been going wrong recently.

The things he had prepared before were being delayed again and again. Things were happening one after another, which even made him feel annoyed.

"Your Majesty, please calm your anger. The most urgent task now is to allocate funds to fight the drought, save the people, and prevent the plague from spreading to Liang Prefecture and Bing Prefecture."

"The silver and Yuan Crystals in the national treasury and the imperial treasury have been almost exhausted by previous compensations and rewards."

Jingtai frowned.

Cao Zhengxian raised his head in a daze. It was normal for the national treasury to be empty, after all, the Great Jin has been unstable in various places in recent years, and more than a million troops have to be supported to guard against the barbarians and the demon clans in the south.

However, the imperial treasury rarely spent money except for the expenses of the imperial palace and the construction of mausoleums. He remembered that when Jingtai first ascended the throne, there was an endless amount of gold, silver, and Yuan Crystals in it.

How could it be consumed so quickly?

However, he did not ask, because as someone close to Jingtai, he vaguely understood that the Emperor seemed to have a powerful force in the martial world.

He should be planning some great plan.

"I implore Your Majesty to summon the clan elders of the imperial family and open the imperial secret realm to deal with the sudden disaster in You Prefecture with the foundation of the imperial court. This old servant feels that someone must be deliberately causing trouble in the thirteen prefectures of the Great Jin, and we must be on guard."

Jingtai pondered for a moment and let out a long sigh:

"The foundation of the imperial family cannot be touched. This matter concerns the state and the country."

The world belonged to their Sima family. If they did not have enough resources and the strength of the Sima family could not keep up, what would they use to secure the world?

"Does this mean that You Prefecture should be left to fend for itself?"

Cao Zhengxian felt a chill down his spine, and a hint of unbearable pain even flashed in his eyes.

The people were the foundation of the country. Sometimes, a rotten spot could spread to more places.

Jingtai closed his eyes and exhaled a breath of stale air:

"Convey my decree to increase taxes in Qing, Shu, Yun, and Nan Prefectures, and postpone the construction of my imperial mausoleum to stop the spread of the plague in You Prefecture first. Those infected with the plague must not be treated, and they must be cremated and buried on the spot..."

"Your Majesty, the taxes in the southern prefectures are already high enough. If we add more..." Cao Zhengxian seemed to have already seen the people below being forced to the point of desperation and raising the banner of rebellion.

"As long as those martial world forces and aristocratic families do not get involved, the people can make some noise, but it will not amount to much."

"Your Majesty, this..."

"Do you have any better ideas?"

"The nobles in the capital." Cao Zhengxian raised his hand, a hint of killing intent flashing in his eyes.

Compared to the mud-legged people below, the nobles in the capital were the truly wealthy. If they confiscated a few more families, it would be almost enough to cover the money and food needed for the disaster relief in You Prefecture this time.

"Do not speak nonsense!" Jingtai reprimanded.

The Sima family relied on the joint efforts of the nobles in the capital and the martial world forces to secure their position. If they attacked them in this matter, it was likely to cause a chain reaction.

Before he was ready, he must not act.

"This old servant misspoke."

Cao Zhengxian sighed softly.

Jingtai looked ahead, feeling somewhat melancholy, and said faintly:

"Let the people suffer a little more..."

"This old servant obeys the decree."

Jingtai pondered for a moment and waved his hand: "Have someone go to the imperial kitchen to prepare some spiritual porridge for me. I'm hungry..."

"I'm hungry too..."

Inside the Chunhua Palace, Consort Yang, dressed in a brocade robe, leaned against the desk. The entire hall was empty, and all the maids had been dismissed to avoid disturbing her.

The deep palace was lonely, especially on quiet nights. It would have been better if she had never seen the light, but she had happened to see the light not long ago and had been full many times.

She had also learned the true meaning of satiety and hunger from that guy's mouth.

Consort Yang had a pot of wine in her hand, taking a sip from time to time. She had thought that she had endured so many years of loneliness, and that enduring another year would not be a big deal.

But...

Ever since Chen Yuan left, she had been living like years, and it felt as if ants were tearing at her heart, causing her to suffer the pain of loneliness in the deep of night.

Better to be a thing in Yuan Lang's palm than an imperial consort of the emperor.

This was the true reflection of Consort Yang's feelings at this moment. She was really tired of the monotonous life in the palace, and she always thought about changing her clothes and going out of the palace late at night.

It was a pity that there was no one in the Marquis's mansion.

Letting out a long sigh, Consort Yang drank the spiritual wine in her cup, recalling the delicious sea cucumber soup she had once had, and murmured in a low voice:

"When will I be able to eat my fill again?"

"Full, full, really full."

Inside the Sky Patrol Hall in Tangshan Prefecture.

Madam Xu was half-reclined in front of the table. The welding fumes had not worn off, and she kept saying that she was completely full and could not eat any more.

Whether it was delicacies or fine wines, she didn't want to touch them anymore.

"Hong'er, your Sister Xu is stuffed. Do you want to try some?" Chen Yuan picked up a bowl of milky white crucian carp soup and sat down in front of Shangguan Hong.

He hoped that she would also taste his cooking skills.

But Shangguan Hong, having seen Madam Xu's appearance when she was smoking and drinking soup, could not accept it. She quickly waved her hand and refused, her eyes even a little frightened when she looked at Chen Yuan.

How could his cooking skills be so good!

Was this the horror of a body-tempering martial artist?

He didn't seem to get tired of cooking at all...

"No, no, I'm not married yet. No, no..." Shangguan Hong blushed and pushed Chen Yuan away. Then, not daring to stay, she changed into a new set of clothes and quickly ran out of the hall.

"You scared Shangguan-meimei." Seeing Shangguan Hong's hurried escape, Madam Xu, having recovered her senses, chuckled and glared at Chen Yuan playfully.

She felt that Chen Yuan's nickname should not be Demon Saber, but Reincarnation Demon.

"Sooner or later, she will have to get used to the customs of our Chen family." Chen Yuan exhaled and chuckled. Before devouring the Qilin blood, Chen Yuan decided to relax thoroughly once more.

He wanted to face the heaven-and-earth beast, Fire Qilin, in his best condition.

"You came here just to send Shangguan-meimei here?" Madam Xu raised her head and glanced at Chen Yuan, who had an extraordinary temperament and exceptional handsomeness. Her eyes were filled with adoration.

"Of course not. I have important matters to attend to in Tangshan this time."

"Can I know what it is?"

"It concerns cultivation." Chen Yuan replied.

Seeing that Chen Yuan didn't say more, Madam Xu knew better than to ask. She just babbled about some recent affairs and the little disciple that Chen Yuan had once taken in. Since he was placed in Tangshan by Chen Yuan, he had been diligently cultivating with Yue Shan and the others, and his cultivation had also increased a lot. He often brought some gifts to visit her.

He called her Shimu, which pleased her.

Madam Xu saw that he was pitiful, and she did not deny it. Instead, she gave him a lot of cultivation resources and guidance.

"That kid's aptitude is not bad. Maybe he will achieve great things in the future." Chen Yuan thought of Ding Ding Little Stone, whom he had met in Changshan Prefecture, and a faint smile couldn't help but appear on the corner of his mouth.

That kid mingled in the city, and he could also tell stories, but he often left them unfinished, causing Yue Shan, who was listening with relish, to beat him up, but he still couldn't change that kid's nature.

"Then you should train him well and take in a few more disciples. Maybe they will be of great use in the future."

"Time waits for no one. I don't have so much free time to waste on disciples." Chen Yuan slowly shook his head. Compared to external forces, he still had more faith in himself.

"When will Miss Yu Qingyan and Yan Shu arrive?"

"I don't know yet. It probably won't take too long."

"What is your relationship with Miss Yu Qingyan?"

Thinking of Chen Yuan's unwillingness to say more before, Madam Xu became more and more curious, wanting to find out the truth.

"The secrets inside are too great to reveal. Let's wait a while, and you will know." Chen Yuan replied.

"Oh."

"Madam, rest well and take on the role of the main wife of the Chen family. Take care of Shangguan Hong." Chen Yuan reminded. Today, he still didn't let Shangguan Hong learn to smoke.

He just let her smell the taste and get used to it in advance.

"Are you leaving now?"

Madam Xu was a little reluctant.

"The gentle village is the hero's tomb. It's okay to stop occasionally, but before the big event is accomplished, I won't put my time on this, Madam, you..." Chen Yuan turned his head.

"Don't say anything. I understand. Go."

Madam Xu squeezed out a smile.

"Endure for a while longer. The days of peace in the world are not too far away."

"I believe in you."

"Mm."

Leaving the gentle village, Chen Yuan didn't even bother to say hello to Shangguan Hong. This time, he was going to devour the Qilin blood, and as long as it was successful, it wouldn't take too long.

On the way, Chen Yuan awakened the sleeping Moro and asked him about the usage of the Ice Marrow Divine Jade and how to prepare for it at that time.

Devouring the blood of exotic beasts, except for drinking the blood of the demon snake in Tangshan before, this was only the second time.

However, the last time and this time were completely different.

One was just a demon beast in the Condensing Gang realm, whose intelligence had not yet been fully developed, while the other was a divine beast born from heaven and earth. The difference was too great.

The danger was also completely different.

According to Moro, the Fire Qilin was born sacred. From birth, its strength could be comparable to that of a Yuanshen Real Person. When it grew to its peak, it was even at the level of an unparalleled True Monarch.

It didn't even need to cultivate deliberately.

However, a low lower limit also meant a low upper limit. At least as far as he knew, there seemed to be no divine beasts similar to the Fire Qilin in the world that could break through the sixth realm.

They were basically trapped in the fifth realm for the rest of their lives.

It could be said that they were made by their bloodline and also ruined by their bloodline.

However, such divine beasts also had another peculiarity, that was, their lifespan was extremely long, even Immortals could not compare to the lifespan of such exotic beasts.

Therefore, devouring the Fire Qilin was a very difficult thing.

If it weren't for the fact that the Great Heaven and Earth Formation had been obliterating the Fire Qilin for more than two hundred years, even if Chen Yuan had the Ice Marrow Divine Jade, he would not have suggested that Chen Yuan take the risk. If he was not careful, he might be burned to death by the divine fire.

Chen Yuan agreed with this view. After all, things that were beyond his ability should be avoided. However, he also knew a saying: the greater the danger, the greater the reward!

As long as he didn't die, even if the Fire Qilin had been worn down for more than two hundred years, it would definitely allow his strength to leap in quality!

Divine Power! Refined Spirit!

——————

Continue to ask for monthly tickets!

Bosses, if you still have tickets, please give them to Stone.

I can take it!

Also, don't raise books, brothers. Aren't you satisfied with 10,000 words every day?

(End of this chapter)

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