Become a king right from the start, beginning with receiving rewards from all the heavens.

Xia Wuzheng's words successfully diverted everyone's attention.

This relieved him, but he couldn't help but feel a secret resentment towards Xia Qiming.

What the other party just said seemed to be praising the intelligence capabilities of his subordinates, but in reality, he wanted to find out about the Duke's Mansion behind him.

Xia Wuzheng could not allow these people to pay attention to the Fengmo Duke's Mansion, lest the secrets of the current Duke's Mansion be exposed.

Not only is he himself hopeless in his bid for the throne, but the entire Cao family will also be executed.

Xia Linyuan couldn't wait to speak.

"Brother, explain yourself clearly. What kind of forces have you deployed?"

Upon hearing this, everyone looked at Xia Wuzheng. This joint effort was organized by Xia Wuzheng, and he should have been the one to send out the main force.

Xia Wuzheng stood up and walked to the center. "Everyone knows where the core of Baiyujing is."

"The Northern Wilderness Prefecture is merely their Pig Tower. As you all saw the intelligence report earlier, there are only seven Grandmasters there!"

"The rest are just a handful of small fry, nothing special!"

"Therefore, I will dispatch a Celestial Realm expert!"

Upon hearing this, everyone exchanged glances and nodded.

Despite the recent surge of powerful cultivators at the Shattered Realm, even those at the Dragon Transformation Realm have been appearing frequently.

However, looking at the entire Great Xia Dynasty, how many people are in the Shattered Realm? The top combat power that is openly seen is the Celestial Realm.

None of these princes had a single Celestial Realm expert among their ranks.

Even for Xia Qiming, the most powerful of his advisors was only at the Dharma Aspect Realm.

The Celestial Realm is just a group of people from the mother clan behind them.

"Very well, I agree!"

In Xia Qiming's view, they were just there to make up the numbers this time, and Xia Wuzheng only brought them along to provide backup.

Once we destroy Hakugyoku-kyō's branch, if Niō finds out about it later, it's better for everyone to share the burden of Niō's retaliation than for one person to bear it alone!

"Alright, then the attack will take place in five days!"

"Over the next five days, our people will quietly enter the Northern Wilderness State." As the organizer, Xia Wuzheng made the final decision.

...

Inside the Haizhu Tower branch in Beihuang Prefecture, Qiu Chuji and his seven companions all wore solemn expressions.

"Senior Brother, you go first!" Qiu Chuji nodded to Danyangzi.

Upon hearing this, Ma Yu immediately spoke:

"Ten days ago, I suddenly sensed a faint aura of a cultivator around me for the first time."

"At first, I just thought that a cultivator was passing by, but I sensed this aura again the next day."

"So I quietly followed them and discovered that they had come here specifically to investigate this place."

"However, the opponent's cultivation level surpasses mine, so I did not act rashly!"

Everyone nodded, even though they had all broken through to higher levels of cultivation.

However, compared to true powerhouses, they are still insignificant.

At this time, among the Seven Masters of Quanzhen, Qiu Chuji had already reached the Great Grandmaster Perfection Realm, while the other six were all at the Great Grandmaster Late Realm!

The Seven Sons are indeed exceptionally talented, and their cultivation speed is faster than that of most figures in the heavens.

At this moment, Qiu Chuji spoke up.

"I was in charge of investigating the forces behind them, but the trail went cold."

"After entering the city, that person's presence completely disappeared."

"I suspect that either a powerful figure behind him erased his aura, or that they have a core stronghold in the state city that can conceal their presence."

"By the way, the opponent's cultivation level is probably at the peak of the Dharma Aspect Realm."

At this moment, Sun Bu'er, being a woman, spoke up, guessing based on her female cultivator's sensitivity.

There are only two types of people who can get here.

"One type is His Highness's enemy, who was remembered by some people after the battle at the Samsara Palace."

"The second type is the local cultivation world forces!"

"However, I tend to favor the first option. Now that Your Highness has regained his right to succeed to the throne, those princes will not stand idly by and watch Your Highness develop peacefully."

After a moment of silence, everyone nodded in agreement with this guess.

Bai Yujing has already made it clear that he is His Highness's faction. Since we cannot take action against His Highness himself, striking at his faction is the best option.

"It seems someone is plotting something. This must be reported to His Highness immediately!"

"For the next period of time, everyone should temporarily cease their seclusion and be prepared to deal with any attacks from hidden enemies."

"The enemy has clearly assessed our strength. Once they come to our doorstep, it's highly likely we won't be able to handle them!"

After Qiu Chuji finished speaking, his expression became serious.

He is currently at the mid-stage of the Dharma Aspect Realm, while the other six are at the early stage of the Dharma Aspect Realm.

This force may seem powerful, but compared to His Highness's rivals, it is utterly insignificant.

...

Inside the headquarters of the Embroidered Uniform Guard, Han Tianye had just finished dealing with his affairs when, before he could even get up, he heard his subordinates outside requesting an audience.

"Come in!"

His deputy hurriedly came in.

"Boss, we've got some urgent intelligence coming in!"

As he spoke, he handed Han Tianye a small white jade pendant.

He then said, "Yesterday at noon, the Crown Prince, the Fifth Prince, as well as the King of Qiong, the King of the East, the King of the West, the King of Ling, and the King of Wu gathered at Hongmanlou."

"Our spies, who have infiltrated the princes' palaces, have learned..."

After his deputy finished reporting, Han Tianye also finished reading the top-secret intelligence in his hand.

After crushing the jade pendant, his expression became very serious.

The fact that so many princes conspired together to strike at the power of the Prince of Ren is definitely an event that could affect the Great Xia Dynasty.

"Boss, should we inform His Highness Prince Ren about this?"

Han Tianye suddenly looked up, his eyes filled with a cold expression.

"You want to pledge allegiance to Niou?"

As the words fell, a powerful aura enveloped his subordinates.

The other party was so frightened that he immediately bowed and explained, "Boss, you've misunderstood! I had no intention of siding with King Ren!"

"Hmph, it's best if there isn't one!" Han Tianye stood up and flicked his arm, his sleeve instantly bursting open in the air.

"The reason our Embroidered Uniform Guard has stood firm for ten thousand years is because we never take sides!"

"Do you realize that once we inform King Ren, we will face full-scale suppression from all the kings!"

"Can you afford this kind of loss?"

"Remember, our eternal loyalty belongs only to the Xia Emperor of the Great Xia Dynasty!"

Han Tianye's words were very straightforward: the Embroidered Uniform Guard did not side with Prince Ren, nor with any of the princes.

At this moment, he appears to be upright and incorruptible, loyal only to the royal family and Emperor Xia.

In reality, his decision already subtly favored the princes.

Otherwise, this news wouldn't have been suppressed at this moment, and wouldn't have been kept from even the Xia Emperor.

Even he himself was unwilling to admit that he actually harbored some dissatisfaction with Niou.

What appears to be a fair decision is actually extremely unfair.

After all, this was a matter of the kings taking action against King Ren. He seemed to be protecting himself and not offending anyone, but in reality, he was already covering up the kings' actions.

This is something that even he himself probably hasn't realized.

Han Tianye's dissatisfaction with King Ren stemmed primarily from the rise of the Heavenly Punishment Division, which encroached upon much of the power of the Embroidered Uniform Guard.

Everyone has the privilege of investigating and handling cases, and the privileges of the Heavenly Punishment Division are obviously even stronger than those of the Embroidered Uniform Guard!

Furthermore, the Embroidered Uniform Guard was humiliated by Prince Ren in the investigation of the location of the Samsara Palace!