Chapter 279: Chapter 173: A Worsening Situation
That evening, after dinner.
Cheng Zongyang had Housekeeper Zhang summon Zhao the Seventh and instructed him to arrange for extra food for Ma Yue’s and Xu Dong’s families.
As for their living quarters, he also had them moved to a larger, empty room so they wouldn’t have to be crowded together.
The next day, Xu Dong mounted his horse, taking the Elf Bird and one of its feathers with him. With a pack on his back and his Long Saber at his side, he headed north.
Ma Yue, on the other hand, shouldered his own pack and led a horse-drawn flatbed cart. A few bundles of firewood were piled on the cart for camouflage, concealing a Stone Stele and a Long Saber underneath. He was dressed plainly, looking just like an ordinary person.
Once outside the city, he climbed onto the cart and drove the horse south at a steady, unhurried pace.
From the city wall, Cheng Zongyang watched Ma Yue disappear into the distance, his expression calm.
’I’ve made all the necessary arrangents. Now, I just have to wait.’
Cheng Zongyang didn’t watch any longer and turned to leave.
While Cheng Zongyang was trying every ans to gather information about the situation on the front lines, events were unfolding in the National Capital within Yangzhou Prefecture.
Emperor Liang’s face was grim as he stared at the corpse covered by a white sheet that had been carried into the center of the Imperial Court. Beside the body, Su Ze, dressed in mourning clothes, was giving his report.
"...Knowing the nation was in peril, he took the risk of swallowing the Demon Core to attempt a Realm Breakthrough. After swallowing it, he intended to use his Innate True Qi, at its peak state, to completely suppress it, hoping to use the Demon Core’s Power to shatter his own shackles.
Initially, his progress was good, and he was able to slowly refine it with his Innate True Qi.
But the Demon Core’s Power was too strange. It silently corroded his Innate True Qi, allowing the Demon Core’s Power to take control and corrupt his body. At the sa ti, he began showing signs of demonization.
He inford
that the Demon Core contained the remnant soul of the Demon Bird. In the end, he was forced to extinguish his own life force to once again seal the Demon Core’s Power within his body. This also prevented the Demon Bird from possessing him and bringing disaster upon Da Liang!"
Su Ze recounted the circumstances of his father’s final monts in a calm tone.
He had witnessed the entire process, as his father had wanted him to know the result of his experintal attempt.
But in the end, when his father’s eyes transford into those of a Demon Bird and a sharp cry escaped his lips, he knew the Refining had failed and chose to take his own life to preserve the greater good.
Emperor Liang and the assembled ministers silently gazed at the figure on the stretcher, covered by the white sheet.
The current situation had arisen from their attempt to use that Demon Beast to gain greater Power. They had never imagined that Da Liang’s strongest expert would die as a result!
Because of this one Demon Beast, Da Liang had lost the Land of Four Mansions! This undoubtedly made an already critical situation even worse.
Emperor Liang looked at Su Ze and asked, "Did Elder Su say anything else?"
Su Ze clasped his hands and replied, "Your Majesty, my father said that there is a high chance of using the Demon Core to achieve a Realm Breakthrough. However, it requires ti to slowly grind away the Demon Beast’s remnant soul within the core before its Power can be refined and absorbed. Therefore, one must not be greedy for quick results. He suffered a backlash from the remnant soul’s Power precisely because he was anxious about the situation on the front lines!"
"You an, it requires ti?" Emperor Liang frowned.
Su Ze nodded, bowing with clasped hands. "Yes, Your Majesty!"
But just then, an old minister stepped forward and said urgently:
"We cannot, Your Majesty! Da Liang has already lost the Land of Four Mansions. Giving ourselves more ti is the sa as giving more ti to the Thirteen Royal Families and the Jin Kingdom!
According to our intelligence, their reinforcents and supplies are already nearing the front lines. More personnel are being sent to the borders of the Three Mansions: Beiding, Luoyang, and Ji Yun!
Your Majesty, if we delay any longer, I fear the consequences will be even more severe! The best course of action right now is to trade this Demon Beast’s remains for our lost territory!"
"Your Majesty, I second the motion!"
"I second the motion!"
"..."
In an instant, official after official in the court voiced their agreent with the old minister.
The loss of the Land of Four Mansions had inflicted heavy losses on eight of the Noble Families! This also put them at risk of being annexed by other Noble Families.
If this dragged on, the outco was definitely not one they were willing to see!
Emperor Liang remained silent, sitting on the dragon throne with his eyes closed as if in deep thought, resting his mind.
As the director-general of the Reincarnation Bureau and the Six Paths Bureau, Su Ze also said nothing.
His father’s death had given him so new ideas.
’Although these ministers’ objections sound very reasonable, their motives are not simply a fear that delays will put Da Liang in greater danger.’
He had already explained everything he needed to. Whether the Su Family patriarch’s death was worth it would now depend on Emperor Liang’s decision.
At this mont, Emperor Liang was indeed deeply conflicted!
To buy ti, Da Liang had been forced to abandon the Land of Four Mansions and consolidate its scattered forces. This allowed Da Liang to use the natural barrier of Tianduan Mountain to better counter the aggressive offensive from the Thirteen Royal Families and the Jin Kingdom.
And the facts had proven this to be the right move.
The Thirteen Royal Families were successfully held at bay. The Jin Kingdom and the Thirteen Royal Families made contact and were also vying for advantageous positions to attack.
But all their attacks were successfully repelled by Da Liang.
But now, Su Wuwei had died attempting a Realm Breakthrough by Refining the Demon Core. The attempt had failed, and the answer was still that more ti was needed.
This ant that until Da Liang could truly obtain the Power of the Demon Core, they could only continue to forsake the Land of Four Mansions and maintain the current situation, holding off the Thirteen Royal Families and the Jin Kingdom.
As for when they could reclaim it, that would depend on whether the Demon Core could be refined, and whether the person refining it could truly break through to a new Realm!
But this was a gamble!
The sa gamble as before!
If they lost the gamble, the Land of Four Mansions might be lost forever!
And if they won, it would still depend on the results of the breakthrough. Would the person be able to withstand a siege by nurous Innate Perfection experts?
If they handed over the Demon Core and the Demon Beast’s corpse, would the Thirteen Royal families retreat? Would they really be willing to return such vast lands and resources?
Likewise, if soone from the Thirteen Royal Families obtained the Demon Core, achieved a breakthrough, and then united the Royal Families, what would beco of Da Liang?
Everyone in the Imperial Court was waiting for Emperor Liang to make his stance clear.
"Su Aiqing, who is next?"
Finally, Emperor Liang slowly opened his eyes and looked at Su Ze.
At this, the ministers who had been consistently opposing the plan were instantly enraged.
’So he still wants to gamble!’
"Your Majesty! Da Liang cannot lose again! We can’t afford to lose!!"
"Enough!"
Before anyone else could speak, Emperor Liang cut them off in a tone that permitted no argunt. "We have reached a point where even if we give it away, the situation in the Land of Four Mansions cannot be salvaged. Elder Su’s death cannot be in vain!"
With that, he looked again at Su Ze, who now wore a slight smile, and repeated:
"Who will be the next to try?"
"Your Majesty, with Da Liang in peril, the Su Family has an undeniable duty. The second person will be Su Wunian of the Su Family! He is also my second uncle! He has been at the Peak of the Innate Stage for many years and is prepared. He awaits Your Majesty’s decree!"
Su Ze clasped his hands, his tone solemn!
Emperor Liang gave Su Ze a deep look.
The Su Family had always served Da Liang, and Da Liang’s safety was tied to the Su Family’s own survival.
Therefore, the only ones he could truly trust were the Su Family.
"Permitted!" Emperor Liang waved his hand, making his decision.
And so, Emperor Liang forcefully suppressed the voices of opposition and decreed that the Su Family would continue Refining the Demon Core!
In a secret chamber in the basent beneath the rear courtyard of the Su Mansion in the National Capital.
After returning, Su Ze went with his second uncle, Su Wunian, to the place where the Demon Beast’s corpse and the Demon Core were stored.
The Demon Core had already been removed from Su Wuwei’s body. It was the size of a pinky finger, oval-shaped and red, and it radiated an oppressive heat.
"Second Uncle, according to what my father said, you must not be impatient for quick results, even if it’s slow! Don’t worry about the situation outside. Your only goal is to refine it. As long as you succeed, nothing else will be a problem!"
Su Wunian clapped his nephew on the shoulder and smiled.
"Don’t worry. But if I also fail, it will prove that Refining the Demon Core is not a viable path. When that ti cos, you are to hand the Demon Core and the Demon Beast to His Majesty. He will understand. It’s a sha that the various kingdoms have so few records of Demon Beasts, to say nothing of how to utilize a Demon Core."
Su Ze was silent for a mont before nodding.
With that, Su Wunian walked into the secret chamber. The door to the chamber then slowly closed behind him.
The next ti it opened, he would either walk out, or be carried out.
Su Ze stared at the chamber door for a while before leaving, his face expressionless.
Once he was back above ground, he mobilized the Su Family guards to completely secure the entire Su Mansion, preventing anyone from taking desperate asures to interfere.
At the sa ti, Da Liang reinforced its borders and began a long-term defensive posture!
The Thirteen Royal Families and the Jin Kingdom also received news of this. Knowing that a direct assault was no longer feasible under the current circumstances, they ceased their fierce attacks and instead began to consolidate the territory they had captured.
It seed they had decided not to retreat, preparing instead to carve up the Land of Four Mansions and make preparations for a protracted war!
「In the blink of an eye, the middle of the month arrived.」
「Jade Peak County Town, East Gate.」
Cheng Zongyang was quite pleased to see the travel-worn and slightly weary Li Lu.
Li Lu had been gone for over a month this ti. If he hadn’t sent soone back with a ssage, Cheng Zongyang would have thought he was dead.
But the long ti away ant that the supplies he brought back were imnse.
The line of flatbed carts stretched almost as far as the eye could see, a testant to how many places Li Lu must have visited and how many supplies he had gathered.
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