Chapter 763: Chapter 482: Return to the Capital
When the final Buddha bead, as large as a fist, cracked, a seam split open on his forehead, his entire body lost its golden luster, motionless, his head drooping, life extinguished.
The illustrious Bodhisattva of the Buddhist sect, passing away on the spot!
Xuan Yin maintained a stoic expression throughout, witnessing Long Shu’s demise:
"Martial God Inheritance, renowned for its slaughter, indeed stands unparalleled in offensive prowess."
Xu Zhenguan curiously remarked:
"You bald donkey, how can you be so indifferent? Witnessing a fellow disciple’s tragic death, without any grief, and still having the mind to praise."
"Life and death are impermanent. The universe itself is a great extinction, what’s there to mourn?" Xuan Yin shook his head, turning to the Empress: "Now that Your Majesty is out of danger, where will you go next?"
Xu Zhenguan sneered coldly: "First kill the Vassal Kings, then destroy the Buddhist faction."
Though her Dragon Qi was greatly diminished, she had stepped into the Heavenly Human Realm, possessing Heavenly Battle Power outside the Capital.
The best strategy is indeed to capture the leader to capture the bandits; as long as Prince Jing and Mu Prince are slain, the two largest rebel armies will retreat on their own.
The assassination during the Sealing had already erased the last bit of sentiment between her and the Vassal Kings.
Xuan Yin, however, shook his head: "Your Majesty cannot succeed. Zhang Yan Yi agreed to stop the true body of this old monk not for the sake of the Royal Family, but for the word ’balance.’
Now, Your Majesty has stepped into the Heavenly Human Realm, Zhang Yan Yi, proficient in divination, must be already aware, and will no longer restrain this old monk."
Xu Zhenguan’s eyes flickered: "So?"
Xuan Yin explained logically: "If Your Majesty attempts to kill Prince Jing and the others, this humble monk will fully obstruct you, hence Your Majesty will fail."
Without Zhang Yan Yi’s restraint, Xuan Yin is confident of suppressing the Empress.
In the current situation, the Divine Dragon Temple cannot turn back, it can only strive to maintain the existence of this chaotic world, it is impossible to watch the Empress with personal martial power tidy the mountains and rivers.
And with the methods of the Buddhist sect, even if the Empress secretly attempts an assassination, Xuan Yin would still detect it in advance—Magicians are always more adept at these things.
As for Zhang Yan Yi... as Xuan Yin said, what the Heavenly Master Mansion seeks, from beginning to end, is ’balance,’ to ensure the inheritance of the Heavenly Master’s path for thousands, tens of thousands of years.
Suppressing Xuan Yin, preventing the Empress, the ’Fourth Heavenly Person,’ from being killed, is for the sake of balance.
Now that the Empress has successfully ascended, the balance is reconstructed, naturally, the Heavenly Master Mansion will not risk their lives for the Royal Family.
"Your true body is in the Capital, but I am at the Huai River, you won’t make it in time." Xu Zhenguan said calmly.
Xuan Yin shook his head: "This old monk won’t make it in time, but Wu Xiankui will. That madman Wu, though his mind is peculiar, considering the current situation, does Your Majesty think he will allow you to slaughter the Vassal Kings?"
After a pause, Xuan Yin said very seriously:
"Moreover, since my true body is in the Capital, Your Majesty would not wish for everyone to break the rules, right?"
Xu Zhenguan’s gaze tightened!
She discerned the implication in Xuan Yin’s words, that since time immemorial, the Heavenly Human Realm has had an unwritten rule, which is that Heavenly Humans should not attack the forces of their counterparts unless under special circumstances.
It’s like the Supreme Elders of two major sects in the cultivation world, while they might fight each other, they won’t slaughter each other’s disciples because retaliation would result in mutual destruction with no meaning.
Of course, there are exceptions, such as Long Shu Bodhisattva bringing people to kill the Empress, so being counter-killed does not count as breaking the rules.
Xuan Yin’s meaning was clear, if you go to kill Prince Jing and Mu Prince... whether Wu Xiankui intervenes or not, Xuan Yin in the distant Capital would act against the court’s people.
Even if no action is taken in the Capital, killing all local officials on Linfeng Road would also be an unbearable pain.
This is the ’balance’ that has perpetuated in this world for thousands of years.
No one dares to easily disrupt this balance, at least not publicly.
Just like this time, Xuan Yin’s assassination attempt on the Empress targeted only the Empress, he did not assist the Eight Princes in overthrowing court officials.
Xu Zhenguan was silent for a moment, then said:
"What do you want?"
Xuan Yin earnestly replied:
"Next, this old monk promises not to interfere in this war, and will also ensure that Wu Xiankui does not personally enter the battlefield. At the same time, I will persuade Zhang Yan Yi to participate in the agreement. Your Majesty can still mobilize troops to quell the chaos, but cannot fight personally as a Heavenly Human."
In other words, all promise not to engage with Heavenly Battle Power.
The Empress’s eyes flickered, and the pros and cons of this proposal were clear to her, with the disadvantage being the inability to quickly quell the rebellion with personal martial power.
The benefit is that once ’Heavenly Human Balance’ is achieved, there is no worry that Xuan Yin and Wu Xiankui will slaughter the court’s army.
As for whether Xuan Yin might renege on the agreement, she wasn’t too worried, as long as Zhang Yan Yi is also part of the agreement, a certain ’strategic balance’ would be achieved between the two sides.
Unfortunately... a great opportunity to quell the unrest was lost, but ever since the Divine Dragon Temple and Qingshan got involved, she had no illusions of slaughtering those few uncles with her power alone.
It’s often said that in the halls of power, balance is key.
This vast martial world, this realm, is it not also a larger hall of power?
"Very well." Xu Zhenguan said: "But I require some interest."
Her beautiful eyes filled with malice, she smirked:
"Bald donkey, indeed you haven’t broken the rules with your true body, but you have resorted to the ’Magic God’ avatar, repeatedly attempting to assassinate Zhao Douan, this matter requires an explanation."
Xuan Yin was silent, and finally, a trace of pain appeared on his usually tranquil face:
"Is today’s explanation not enough?"
He referred to the destruction of Long Shu, Tianhai, and others.
The Empress laughed: "What do you think?"
Xuan Yin’s heart was bleeding; the more elite the Divine Dragon Temple lost, the further away they were from achieving the goal of advancing the eastern and western rivers:
"What does Your Majesty want?"
The Empress said: "I will soon return to the Capital, in the Capital, I don’t want to see the Divine Dragon Temple again."
Xuan Yin remained silent for a long time, then folded his hands and closed his eyes: