Chapter 41: Head of the Form Sect!

With the mighty influence of Kunlun and the Heart Sect, if Li Hao were to act perversely in the future, he would truly be courting his own destruction! No matter what, Yang Nan would never allow himself to support a tyrant who would bring disaster to the world!

If Li Hao dared to break his oath, Yang Nan would surely wield a divine weapon one day and execute him under his sword!

All past sentiments would then vanish like smoke...

With a resolute expression, Li Hao declared, "I, Li Hao, swear here to heaven and earth that if I ever go back on my words spoken today, let heaven and earth and all men jointly strike me down!" He reached out to draw his personal short sword, gently slashed his wrist, and immediately established a solemn oath to heaven and earth.

Li Hao's oath was exceptionally solemn; his fresh blood sank into the ground, and bright droplets of blood remained glistening on the short sword. That expression of making a grand vow for the sake of all living beings was moving to behold.

Yang Nan and the three grandmasters did not stop Li Hao's actions. The lineage of Yang Pu was immensely powerful; looking across the lands of the Nine Continents, figures of the Yang School could be found everywhere. With this powerful backing, if Li Hao did not demonstrate some concrete action, how could he convince Yang Nan and the three grandmasters?

There was only one imperial throne, and the virtuous and wise princes of the world were not limited to Li Hao alone!

Without the support of the Confucian school, any daydream of securely sitting upon the imperial throne was pure delusion! That deposed crown prince who lacked virtue was a prime example!

Since the three branches of the Confucian school—Heart, Form, and Truth—unanimously withheld their support, the crown prince's position was bound to be lost. Even Emperor Li Qian was powerless to change this!

Emperor Yuanwu, Li Qian, knew very well that he could not resist the tide of public opinion held by the three Confucian sects; no matter what methods he exhausted, he might not be able to secure his son's grip on the throne.

Furthermore, if the civil and military officials of the imperial court, the scholars of the world, and the numerous functionaries adamantly refused to recognize an emperor, then even if that emperor managed to ascend the throne, he would be nothing more than a figurehead—of what use would he be?

It was precisely because Li Hao understood this principle thoroughly that he sought Confucian support at all costs. Fortunately, his ambitions extended far beyond merely claiming the imperial throne; he desired a legacy in the history books and eternal renown. Otherwise, once such a ruthless, cold-blooded, wise, and decisive emperor ascended the throne, the prospect would truly be terrifying!

"Your Highness, since you have made up your mind, you may leave the disposal of the immortal cultivation forces of this world to me. The tens of thousands of demon soldiers in my Spirit Beast Mountain and the numerous experts of the Kunlun Sect can be deployed at your command. I only hope Your Highness can sweep away the demonic atmosphere with thunderous momentum to fulfill my grand aspiration." Since his title and position were now settled, Yang Nan no longer needed to address him by his childhood nickname, shifting instead to a formal address of Your Highness.

Although he was a man of the worldly-detached path, he had after all received a state stipend, and the proper etiquette of superior and subordinate still needed to be observed.

Li Hao waved his hand and smiled, saying, "Brother, you are a person of the outside world, so there is no need for such formalities with me. To obtain the assistance of Kunlun is already the greatest fortune. Once the immortal cultivation forces are dealt with, the rest will be insignificant."

Yang Nan deeply agreed. If two-thirds of the officials across the world supported Li Hao, capturing the throne would be as easy as turning over his hand. The most difficult part was military power; the Great Yuan Dynasty still possessed a million troops, and if not handled properly, it would become a threat at his elbow!

What Yang Nan wanted to help him with was not mounting a horse to fight and conquer the world, but rather ensuring that matters concerning cultivators were resolved among cultivators, preventing practitioners of the Dao from meddling in mortal affairs!

To say this was difficult was not entirely true, but neither was it easy. Nowadays, countless sects were flooding into the mortal realm to stir up trouble, with even demons and ghosts mixed among them. How Yang Nan handled this would be the most crucial factor!

***

After pondering for a long time, Yang Nan smiled and said, "Sages comprehend the marvelous realm of creation and rarely manifest in the world. The strongest entities in this mortal realm are merely Venerables. With the assistance of the Kunlun Venerables and tens of thousands of demon soldiers at my disposal, let this matter fall upon me!"

Li Hao was overjoyed. He bowed deeply and said, "Many thanks, Brother. Your great talent is supreme even when it comes to governing the world, let alone managing these Daoist sects!"

Yan Qian chuckled and asked, "Your Highness, why don't you invite the leader of the Form Sect, Xiao Ruo, inside? That ring of scholarly aura and spiritual light envelops the three mountains of Qingming, making the scholars within the mountain restless. Since we have already reached an agreement today, our Heart Sect and Form Sect are now of one family; why be so courteous?"

Li Hao smiled sheepishly and said, "I am truly ashamed. This humble prince was uncertain whether I could secure the support of the Heart Sect, so I boldly invited Grandmaster Xiao to come and intercede. I never expected that the grandmaster's piercing insight would see right through it at a glance."

Lan Qing laughed heartily and said, "If we couldn't even recognize the master of the Form Sect, how could we dare act as the masters of the three peaks! The only one kept completely in the dark is probably this kid Yang Nan!"

The three grandmasters laughed together, leaving Yang Nan feeling rather embarrassed, as he had not paid attention to anything special within that soaring scholarly aura. Li Hao clapped his hands, and a youth of about eighteen walked out from outside the door. This youth possessed handsome facial features and wore a white robe. As he walked with bold and confident strides, his bearing resembled that of a dragon or a tiger striding forward, his expression serene like a spring breeze, and a gentle smile hung at the corners of his lips—he looked precisely like an ordinary scholar of the Confucian school!

Yang Nan channeled his spiritual vision to observe the top of the youth's head, discovering that the spiritual energy crowning his head had blossomed into gushing spiritual flowers. The flowers were brilliant, magnificent, and vividly colorful, faintly radiating a boundless and vast intent. Pointing at the seemingly ordinary youth, Yang Nan asked in profound shock, "A Confucian Grand Master???"

With nine grades of spiritual flowers gathered at his crown, he was practically an unparalleled, peerless great Confucian scholar!

This youth was only eighteen years of age, yet he had actually managed to become a Confucian Grand Master, just a single step away from attaining sagehood—truly a shocking revelation!

Yan Qian, however, said with unconcerned nonchalance, "In learning there is no precedence of age; the one who achieves mastery first is the master. I have long heard of the great name of Grandmaster Xiao Ruo of the Form Sect. Seeing him today, his literary talent is indeed brilliant, and his aura pierces the Dipper constellation—it is truly astonishing and admirable!"

Xiao Ruo smiled broadly, revealing his teeth, and bowed as he greeted, "This junior student, Xiao Ruo, pays his respects to the three grandmasters and Senior Brother Yang Nan! These are merely trivial skills, not worth mentioning."

Gong Fu frowned and said, "You people of the Form Sect are always like this—every matter requires three bows and six complete rites, which is utterly tedious. Just follow your heart in everything; you and I can address each other as equals."

The conflict between the two branches of the Confucian school had a long history, but Xiao Ruo had not come today to pick a fight. Hearing this, he merely smiled broadly with an even more serene expression. Seeing that his self-cultivation was exceptionally deep, Yang Nan also developed a sense of favorable impression toward him and said, "Grandmaster Xiao has achieved the realm of a Grand Master at the mere age of eighteen. No wonder the Sage King's vermilion brush was able to be passed down to your hands; compared to you, I am truly inferior by a thousand or even ten thousand times."

Seeing Yang Nan's modesty, Xiao Ruo smiled amicably as well and replied, "I heard that Mountain Master Yang has already accepted someone as the successor to the collective hand-scrolls of all sages. That person is no more than fifteen years of age, yet he naturally possesses the aura of the Confucian school. I presume he will also attain the status of a Confucian Grand Master within a few years—truly a joyous and congratulatory occasion!"

Yan Qian let out a cold snort and said, "You certainly have well-informed eyes and ears! However, if Fang Xuan had been enlightened earlier, he might not necessarily lose to you! Give me five years, and he will be a true Grand Master of Confucian studies!"

The Confucian lineage had always valued literary talent rather than age, adhering to the principle that whoever attained mastery first was the master. Yang Nan's grandfather had attained the realm of a Confucian Grand Master at the age of no more than fifteen, truly shaking the world with a single moment of fame. Seeing an old man like Yan Qian stroke his beard and glare in anger, Xiao Ruo was not annoyed in the least, agreeing repeatedly until the temper of the three grandmasters subsided somewhat.

Fearing that these two sects would start bickering again—which would inevitably lead to another fierce debate—Li Hao was relieved that Xiao Ruo knew how to yield and possessed extraordinary poise; otherwise, he truly would not have known how to handle the situation.

Half of the subordinates under the Form Sect were civil officials and the other half military officers. With the assistance of Xiao Ruo, a Confucian Grand Master, Li Hao felt much more confident about recruiting troops. However, it remained a huge mystery what price Li Hao had paid to win such staunch support from the Form Sect.

***

While the four grandmasters discussed various strategies on the side, Li Hao conversed privately with Yang Nan. Yang Nan's shoulders bore an even heavier responsibility: he needed to completely sweep away the immortal cultivation forces to assist Prince Chun in securing the realm. Without strength in his own hands, it would indeed be difficult to manage. The Kunlun Sect had always refrained from participating in such mortal shifts of imperial power, and making Sect Master Xuanxu agree to this would be no easy task either.

However, the trump card Li Hao produced was by no means weak. Three first-rate immortal cultivation sects would provide their utmost assistance, and Li Hao had even brought Yang Nan several rare spiritual treasures of heaven and earth: the Seven-Origin Ice-Heart Lotus, the Qian-Gang Emerald Thunder Bamboo, and a divine stone known as the Azure-Washed Danqing!

Every single one of these three divine objects was a rare innate spiritual treasure between heaven and earth. The Seven-Origin Ice-Heart Lotus was rumored to grow for seventy thousand years before producing a single lotus flower. Its lotus body was entirely transparent, and the innate spiritual water it condensed could rival the Innate Breath Miraculous Gourd of Sect Master Xuanxu!

The Qian-Gang Emerald Thunder Bamboo was an even greater treasure for subjugating demons. Rumored to originate from the immortal realm, it was brought down to the mortal world by an immortal when a demon star once streaked across the firmament. This thunder bamboo absorbed the power of the heavenly and earthly thunder gales, and the thunder gales emitted when it was refined into a natal divine weapon could slay demons and subjugate fiends—it was the absolute nemesis of demonic practitioners, ghostly cultivators, and evil entities!

The Azure-Washed Danqing divine stone harbored innate spiritual energy within itself, rumored to be a remnant left behind by an ancient upper-realm deity when mending the heavens. This stone could refine spiritual treasures and naturally form a spiritual mountain grotto-heaven, matching the same tier as the Heavenly Origin Pure Void Divine Talisman in Yang Nan's possession—it was truly extraordinary!

Staring dumbfounded at these three rare innate spiritual treasures, Yang Nan finally realized that Prince Chun, Li Hao, was truly keeping his true capabilities hidden. To win over the Kunlun Sect, he had actually invested such a massive fortune!

Most innate spiritual treasures were forged from innate spiritual objects; while these three spiritual objects were immensely powerful, they still fell short of the requirements needed to forge an innate spiritual treasure.

Nevertheless, possessing such peerless and rare treasures was enough to make even a sage's heart flutter!

Amused, Yang Nan said, "Your Highness is truly generous with your handwriting! If even one of these three items were to leak out, I'm afraid it would stir up countless storms of blood, yet you managed to quietly make a fortune!"

"I must trouble my brother to present these on my behalf to Sect Master Xuanxu. If the Kunlun Sect can assist me in seizing the imperial throne, from that day onward, the Kunlun Sect shall become the state religion of the Great Yuan, and the Weapon Sect shall become the orthodox lineage of the Dao! The disciples under its sect shall be granted every convenience whether they enter official service or join the military! All lands within a three-thousand-li radius surrounding Mount Kunlun shall belong entirely to the Kunlun Sect! For as long as I, Li Hao, sit upon the throne, the orthodox school of the Dao throughout the world shall be none other than the Weapon Sect!" Radiant light burst from Li Hao's eyes as he stated his conditions word by word.

Yang Nan drew a sharp breath: to win over the Kunlun Sect, Li Hao had actually staked such a colossal price? What did Daoist sects value most? It was not ascension, nor supreme experts, but the orthodox lineage and rightful name!

A single orthodox Daoist lineage could almost resolve thousands of years of contention between the Weapon and Law sects. With this single move, Li Hao was bound to offend the powerful and orthodox Law Sect's direct lineage—the Styx Immortal Sect!

With Li Hao slamming down the hats of the Great Yuan State Religion and the Daoist Orthodox Lineage, it would be a wonder if Sect Master Xuanxu was not moved!

'Prince Chun Li Hao, he is truly no ordinary figure...'

Shaking his head in admiration, Yang Nan sighed, "Your Highness, by designating the Weapon Sect as the orthodox lineage, aren't you afraid that other branches of the Dao such as the Talisman Sect, Law Sect, Vessel Sect, Array Sect, and Elixir Sect will stir up trouble in the future?"