Just a Useful Pawn in the Stain Sect

Chapter 513: Chapter 513: The East Changes Hands, the Fruit of Celestial Fire Attracts Attention

The East, outside Celestial Wu City.

Dark clouds pressed down on the city, revealing a towering military array. As far as the eye could see, there was a sea of people, a forest of blades and spears. At their head was a man of heroic and martial bearing.

The Southern King, Wu Taian.

From receiving the urgent message from Young Protector Li Taian to leading his troops in a swift march to Celestial Wu City, Wu Taian’s mood could only be described as elated.

But he hid these feelings deep in his heart, putting on a pained and sorrowful expression. His Divine Sense swept over Celestial Wu City—a chaotic mess from the fighting tournament, yet paradoxically teeming with life and fierce competition. He couldn’t help but sigh, then clapped his hands together forcefully.

”Damn it, how did the Dao Court come to this!”

Even as he feigned outrage, Wu Taian thought to himself:

’Keep it up! Keep fighting!’

Although he was currently aligned with the Young Protector, the Junior Tutor, and the Junior Master, he was a member of the Celestial Wu Royal Family, after all. A temporary alliance couldn’t change his fundamental loyalties.

So, even though he had arrived much earlier, he had deliberately waited. He estimated that forty to fifty percent of the officials had been killed or crippled, leaving just enough vacant Official Positions for him to install his own people into the central government. Only then did he leisurely give the order to enter Celestial Wu City.

However, in the next moment, beams of light from arrays shot into the sky, sealing the road into the city. This sudden change made Wu Taian’s brow furrow.

”The absolute nerve!”

Wu Taian’s eyes narrowed. He soon spotted a familiar figure within Celestial Wu City’s arrays: Xiao Shan, the Demon Cultivator who was the first to pledge allegiance to Lü Yang.

”What are you doing there? The Imperial City Department isn’t in charge of city defense, is it?”

Wu Taian was inwardly delighted but put on an incorruptible and righteous facade. ”Have Du Huan come out to see me! Stop the Imperial City Department’s brutal behavior at once! Immediately!”

”The Imperial City Department is enforcing the law impartially, all for the safety of the Dao Court.”

Xiao Shan smiled and said softly, ”Lord Du Huan is attending to other important matters. Why don’t you, Your Highness, wait outside the city for now? Lord Du Huan will come and explain things to you when he is available.”

”Insolent cur!”

Wu Taian flew into a rage, roaring, ”You bunch of brain-dead fools! Do you really think beating the court officials with the imperial rod is for the safety of the Dao Court?”

”You traitors, just you wait! I’ll use my Abilities to send every last one of you to the heavens!”

As his voice fell, Wu Taian began to circulate his Mana. One Ability after another activated, and the military array behind him began to form up, clearly preparing to force their way into the city.

But just then, the once-brilliant arrays of Celestial Wu City suddenly trembled. As if they were water without a source, their immense Qi traces instantly faded. Xiao Shan, standing guard on the city wall, looked back and saw three streaks of Flying Light arriving one after another. It was the Young Protector, the Junior Master, and the Junior Tutor!

”Welcome the Southern King into the Capital City!”

Young Protector Li Taian was the first to shout. He was the one who had deactivated the arrays of Celestial Wu City—a critical move, a chess piece that could decide the entire situation.

’Now that the Imperial City Department and the Five Armies Camp have attacked the court officials, that Demon Dragon must have lost all credibility with the Crown Prince and the Empress. As long as we let the Southern King enter the city and secure the Emperor’s Token, the outcome will be decided. No matter how that Demon Dragon struggles, he’ll only be walking into a dead end!’

A thrill of excitement shot through Li Taian at the thought.

The next moment, his gaze turned bone-chillingly cold as he looked at Xiao Shan and the other Imperial City Department Cultivators on the city wall. ”I implore Your Highness to act and first execute these traitors!”

Upon hearing this, Xiao Shan’s expression turned grim.

Previously, he probably would have fallen to his knees and begged for mercy. But after experiencing the power of a position in the Imperial City Department, and after accepting Lü Yang’s various stipends and gifts...

...he found he simply couldn’t bring himself to kneel anymore.

If he were to kneel, he would only ever kneel to one person!

With that thought, Xiao Shan roared, ”Imperial City Department, hear my command... Loyalty!”

”LOYALTY!”

A chorus of shouts rose and fell, and while a few Cultivators chose to flee, the vast majority of the Imperial City Department members held their ground.

A flash of surprise crossed Wu Taian’s eyes at the sight, but it quickly transformed into even more intense killing intent.

Five Abilities began to manifest, about to crash down.

But at that very moment.

”An edict from the Empress has arrived—!”

The sharp voice shattered the murderous atmosphere. Everyone present froze for a second, then spun around to look at the approaching procession from which the voice had come.

”...A detachment from the palace?”

Young Protector Li Taian looked surprised, but when he saw the person leading the group, his surprise turned to horror and an indescribable panic.

”Du Huan!?”

”My greetings, sirs.” Lü Yang smiled and cupped his hands in salute. He then looked toward Wu Taian and nodded as well. ”Your Highness, it has been some time...”

BOOM!

Before Lü Yang could finish speaking, Young Protector Li Taian, with no intention of conversing, struck first. A torrent of Divine Power Radiance instantly engulfed him.

Li Taian’s instincts screamed at him that he absolutely could not let Lü Yang continue speaking. Otherwise, everything he had painstakingly planned—and indeed the entire Dao Court, the entire East—would undergo a cataclysmic change! At that point, not just him, but all the Civil and Military Officials of the current Dao Court, everything would be utterly overturned!

But it was too late.

Facing Li Taian’s Abilities, Lü Yang showed no intention of even fighting back. He simply, almost casually, drew a brilliant golden Talisman from his robes.

The Emperor’s Token!

Around the Talisman, the Official Position of the Commander of Five Armies linked together like a ring of stars orbiting the moon, finally transforming into an authority that surpassed everyone present:

[As if I were present]!

THUD!

In the next instant, the Young Protector, the Junior Tutor, the Junior Master, Wu Taian... indeed, every Dao Court official present fell uncontrollably to their knees!

Lü Yang smiled with satisfaction at the sight and produced a scroll.

”An edict from the Empress! All officials, receive the decree!”

The scroll unfurled in a brilliant golden light, and from it emerged a voice that sounded as if it had just survived a great battle—faint and weak, yet lazy and alluring:

”It’s all over, Young Protector Li Taian.”

Li Taian’s eyes widened. ”Your Majesty the Empress! You...!?”

Not giving him a chance to continue, Empress Xiao’s voice went on, ”Because of your selfishness, the Imperial City has seen bloodshed. This one could not bear to see it...”

Before she could finish, Lü Yang suddenly tapped the edict and whispered, ”A little more forceful.”

”Oh, alright~”

Empress Xiao’s voice paused for a moment, then suddenly turned severe. ”Du Aiqing and I have come to an agreement. All officials are to return to their residences immediately.”

”Furthermore, Li Taian, Zheng Pingyi, and Kong Xingxiao, you are hereby stripped of your positions as Young Protector, Junior Master, and Junior Tutor! Do you understand? From now on, you are nothing! You are no longer Disciples of the Three Ministers. All officials will follow the commands of the Imperial City Department and the Five Armies Camp.”

”And you, Southern King Wu Taian.”

”Mobilizing troops and entering the Capital City without authorization is a capital crime of treason. You are suspected of colluding with the Jiangbei Demon Sect. Seize him immediately and deliver him to the Imperial City Department for harsh interrogation!”

As her voice faded, the light of the edict gradually dimmed.

Lü Yang, however, grinned. ”The Imperial City Department will obey Her Majesty the Empress’s decree. The Young Protector, the Junior Master, the Junior Tutor, and the Southern King are all Demon Sect spies.”

”By imperial decree, I strip them of their Official Positions!”

As his voice fell, the [As if I were present] insignia above Lü Yang’s head flared with brilliant light, like a great sun, and in an instant, it stripped Li Taian and the others of their Official Positions.

The situation was settled!

’It took quite a bit of effort... but finally, the East is all mine!’

At that moment, Lü Yang raised his head and saw that high in the vault of heaven, the starlight that had been but a fleeting glimmer had finally brightened to the intensity of a candle flame in a lamp.

[Fruit of Celestial Fire]!

As Lü Yang took complete control of the Dao Court, this supremely discerning Emperor Fruit finally cast its gaze upon him—a gaze that, while faint, was undeniably real!