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

The news of Xia Zhaoyan's breakthrough to the Acquired Realm could not be hidden from the higher-ups.

After all, he couldn't stay in the palace forever, so the news spread to the higher-ups within two days.

The officials were only slightly surprised, but for the royal family, it was quite shocking.

No one knew Renwang's aptitude better than them. If he truly had the aptitude, he wouldn't have been just a minor Blood Exchange Realm cultivator before being crowned a king.

When he was his age, the lowest level of the other princes of the Great Xia Dynasty was the Acquired Realm.

"So, my son was deliberately hiding his talents before?"

Emperor Xia stood with his hands behind his back, his gaze seemingly peering through the Hall of State Affairs, trying to see what was happening in the Prince Ren's residence.

"That should be the case, otherwise it would be impossible to cross three minor realms in such a short time and reach the Acquired Realm without any great opportunities."

Behind Emperor Xia was his Grand Eunuch, who controlled a mysterious force and was directly responsible to Emperor Xia.

"His ambitions are enormous. I wonder if letting him control the Heavenly Punishment Division is a good thing or a bad thing!"

"What has he been up to lately?"

...

"Your Majesty, His Highness Prince Ren recently dealt with three officials under the Eastern King, thus minimizing the impact of the death of the Imperial Guard."

"The people from the Heavenly Punishment Division are currently investigating what happened back then, but they haven't made much progress."

"However, one thing is strange, Niou doesn't seem to be in a hurry."

Hmm, after hearing this, Emperor Xia immediately became interested.

You know, he's been really worried about his son lately.

The fact that officials were secretly conspiring to launch an attack in the imperial court had long been known throughout the officialdom.

He knew perfectly well that the ultimate goal of this attack was to break the King's sole control over the Heavenly Punishment Division.

"What do you think he's thinking right now?"

"Your Majesty, I cannot fathom it either!" The Grand Eunuch shook his head with a wry smile.

This King Ren has changed so much; he was like a completely different person before and after being made a king.

The direct descendants of the Great Xia royal family possess the power of humane fortune to suppress evil spirits and demons.

Otherwise, everyone would suspect that Niou had been possessed by some old monster!

"The inability to understand is the most terrifying thing."

"I can guess a thing or two about my other princes, even those few crown princes."

"My thirty-fourth son is someone neither you nor I can fathom!"

"Why would a prince who wasn't vying for the throne suddenly become so domineering, and so determined to strengthen the Heavenly Punishment Bureau?"

Emperor Xia and his chief steward looked up at each other almost simultaneously, a look of shock flashing in their eyes!

"Your Majesty... Your Majesty... Prince Ren... he wouldn't..."

call! ! !

The Xia Emperor let out a long breath, and the entire palace seemed to tremble.

"If that's true, then he's seriously underestimating the power behind the other princes."

"The Heavenly Punishment Division alone is not enough to justify his position!"

"Without the support of the military, civil officials, and the underworld, no one can ascend to the top."

...

"Your Majesty, should we stop Prince Ren and persuade him to abandon his ambitions?"

...

"No need. Why stop him? He chose this path himself. If he can truly stand out from the crowd..."

"I believe our ancestors will definitely choose him, since he has no external support."

"Besides, this is just our guess. What if he doesn't have those intentions?"

...

Although Xia Zhaoyan focused most of his attention on the imperial city, he did not forget the situation in the northern neighboring state.

That day, Wanwan came to report, "Your Highness, news has come from the branch in the northern neighboring state that they have initially obtained some important clues!"

"Huh? So fast!" Xia Zhaoyan looked surprised. Calculating the time, only ten days had passed since the two Yin generals died.

...

The northern neighboring state's underworld branch is located here, and all personnel above the rank of Yin General are currently present.

"Not bad, several of our fellow Daoists have broken through!" Murong Chong said with a hint of joy on his face.

Duan Yanqing broke through to the perfect state of the Innate Realm. He and the other four Grandmasters also broke through a minor realm. Now all five of them are in the late stage of the Grandmaster Realm.

"Alright, enough with the chit-chat, let's get to the next thing."

"We've finally uncovered some clues from the two previous assassination attempts."

"We found the person who placed the order to assassinate the man surnamed Ye; he's hiding in Beishan Prefecture."

"The person who placed the order to assassinate the head of the Liu family was silenced, but his mistress had quietly left the area before the order was placed."

"Now we've also found their trail, and these two are the key."

"Set off immediately and secretly bring the two of them back to the branch."

As soon as he finished speaking, several people in the crowd stood up and volunteered to fight.

However, Murong Chong refused, saying, "This matter is of great importance; let Fellow Daoist Qi and Fellow Daoist Shi handle it!"

After the meeting ended, the two late-stage Grandmasters quietly left Xialin County.

With the Grandmaster-level expert personally taking action, the operation proceeded without the slightest disruption.

Soon, the very next day, the two returned to the Underworld branch with their men.

The woman was the first to succumb to the torture, and she told the underworld everything she knew without reservation.

The other one, though somewhat tough, couldn't hold out for long against the evil forces of the underworld.

"Gentlemen, one of the two people who placed the order is an intelligence member from the Zhangtian Sect."

"One of them is an outer member of the Northern Lands!" Duan Yanqing introduced to everyone while holding the documents.

The crowd seemed both surprised and unsurprised.

Surprisingly, the two veteran assassin factions from the neighboring northern state actually got involved themselves.

But thinking about it, it's understandable. The underworld is becoming increasingly powerful, posing a growing threat to the two major assassin factions.

"They clearly want to know our address; it seems both families can't wait!"

"Tell me, what should we do next?"

...

"Let me share my perspective. Now that we know who is targeting us, there's no rush to retaliate."

"First, we need to investigate the strength of the two major forces. If we can handle that, we won't need to bother the other branches."

"If not, then we can only report to His Highness and request assistance from other branches," Duan Yanqing calmly stated his thoughts.

Although he desperately wanted to wipe out the two major powers immediately, his rationality remained intact.

"Alright, in that case, everyone, please take your respective actions immediately."

"We must mobilize all our resources and find out the true strength of both sides!"

Murong Chong made the decision immediately.

Next, the underworld began to demonstrate its soft power over the past six months.

First, all intelligence personnel began purchasing information about the two major powers from the black market.

Similarly, the underworld also mobilized its accumulated network of contacts to inquire about the situation of the two major assassin forces.

Despite the fact that the Underworld is an assassin organization, there are still forces willing to befriend them.

Moreover, through their intelligence business, they also met many influential and powerful figures.