Not long after Zhou Zhong left with the demon corpse and the two subservient Supremacies, he returned.
The other two sects had already submitted. The Supremacy of the Yan Sect did not put up much resistance and handed over his soul blood.
At this moment, the three of them were filled with regret. They did not expect their opponents to be so powerful. They also did not expect the Hehuan Sect's First Elder to be so weak. In order to protect themselves, they could only hand over their soul blood.
If they had known this would happen, they would have let Beibang be free.
In a hall on Mount Jingang, Li Mu looked at the three old monks and said lightly, "Hand over your sect's Heavenly Book."
After a short silence, the three of them shook their heads at the same time. An old monk said, "The Heavenly Book is no longer in our sect."
Li Mu's face darkened. He said coldly, "Do I look like I'm easy to fool?"
The old monk put his palms together and said, "I swear on the name of Buddha that our sect's Heavenly Book was taken away by the Demon Sect a hundred years ago. This is also the reason why Nirvana Sect has been declining over the past hundred years."
The other two old monks also said, "Our Heavenly Book was also taken away by the Demon Sect a hundred years ago."
Li Mu frowned. He vaguely felt that these three old monks were not lying.
The Heavenly Book was very important. Li Mu naturally would not believe them so easily. He asked Sang Gu to lead people to investigate the three sects. He actually found out that the three Buddhist sects of the Shen Nation had not had a disciple comprehending the Heavenly Book for a hundred years.
After careful investigation, he found out more secrets.
More than a hundred years ago, the three Buddhist sects were attacked by the Devil Sect at the same time. In the end, the Buddhist sects were defeated. Although the three sects were saved in the end, their Heavenly Tomes were taken away.
To be precise, the powerhouses of the three Buddhist sects had used the Heavenly Books to exchange for the inheritance of their sects.
Li Mu could not help but recall that for thousands of years, the F Lu School had been attacked by the Demon Sect several times. However, with the help of the Dao bell and the other sects, they had successfully repelled the Demon Sect powerhouses each time. The other sects, including Xuanzong, had the same experience.
The Buddhist Sect was weaker than the Daoist Sect and could not resist the invasion of the Devil Path.
It was no wonder that in the past hundred years, the mainland's Buddhist sects were not as good as before. If not for the fact that the ancestral court of the Heart Sect was in the Great Zhou, they would probably end up in the same situation as these three sects.
In short, Li Mu would not be able to obtain the Heavenly Book from them.
Since then, of the confirmed Heavenly Sutra pages on the continent, one page was in Xuanzong's hands, nine pages were in Li Mu's hands, and the remaining 14 pages were likely controlled by the Demonic Path. Wanting to obtain them wouldn't be easy.
Li Mu temporarily stopped thinking about the Heavenly Book. This time, the Shen Kingdom's emperor had personally led the expedition. He had also brought a group of personal guards and the Shen Kingdom's nobles. All of them had been imprisoned in the Dao bell. At this moment, they had already given up resisting and completely accepted their fate.
If Li Mu was willing, he could incorporate the Shen Nation into the Great Zhou territory in a very short period of time.
But he had no intention of doing so.
The two nations had different races, different systems, and different beliefs. Even if he conquered the Shen Nation, there wouldn't be many benefits. Instead, it would bury a huge hidden danger for the future.
Moreover, the imperial court was already unable to manage the 36 counties of the Great Zhou. If they added the Shen Nation, they might not be able to manage it.
Yesterday, a tsunami had occurred in the South Sea without warning. Several states near the sea had suffered varying degrees of flooding. If the Shen Nation became a part of the Great Zhou, such matters of comforting the people and providing disaster relief would become part of the Great Zhou's responsibility. If the Shen Nation was in trouble, the Great Zhou would have to waste money and manpower. Even if the imperial court agreed, the people might not agree.
It was better to hand the Shen Nation over to Zhou Zhong. He could use the Shen Nation to advance, and the Great Zhou would no longer have to worry about the south. It could be said to be the best of both worlds.
Li Mu also planned to build State Temples in the various states of the Shen Nation. There were many people in the Shen Nation. Even if each person's psyche power was very small, when gathered together, it would be very considerate. Connecting these State Temples with the Great Zhou's Ancestral Temple could accelerate the formation of the Emperor's qi.
However, the more than 20 states of the Shen Nation had always been independent. It would not be easy to complete this plan.
For a long time to come, what they needed to do was to subdue the various states. With Zhou Zhong's current power, it was only a matter of time before he completely integrated the Shen Nation.
The situation of the Shen Nation had been settled. There was no need for Li Mu and the Empress to stay here.
He used a sound-transmitting ritual implement to ask Xuan Jizi. The two women were still in seclusion. The time it took for high-level cultivators to break through to the next realm varied from person to person. There was no pattern to it.
Some people's fateful encounters would allow them to break through to the next realm in an instant. Some people needed days, months, or even years.
Liu Hanyan and Li Qing should not need that long. Judging from the effects of the pills they had taken, it would take them at most three months to completely refine the effects of the pills.
When he and the Empress returned to Shen 'du, Shangguan Li had already successfully broken through to the next realm. Mr. Mei was still in seclusion. The Saint-level pills could only greatly increase the probability of breaking through to the next realm. Whether or not the cultivator could break through to the next realm depended on themselves.
Without Mr. Mei, Li Mu and the Empress were of course more at ease.
They could draw together in Changle Palace. In the name of discussing state affairs, they could dismiss the guards and maids, stroll in the imperial garden and admire the flowers. Or they could change their appearances and eat a bowl of noodles at a roadside noodle stall, fly a kite together, and watch the sunrise and sunset together …
However, Shangguan Li's existence often disturbed their plans to spend time together.
Because Cheng Xin was always with the Empress, she had already been sent to a few dry counties to make rain. She would not be back for at least half a month.
Shangguan Li was the Empress's personal female official. She should be by the Empress's side all the time. Once or twice was enough to send her away, but if it happened too many times, it was inevitable that the Empress would become suspicious.
Li Mu was already regretting it. If he had known earlier, he would have cut corners in her pill. If the effect of the pill was not so good, she might still be in seclusion now instead of being the third wheel between the two of them.
In Changle Palace, Li Mu was reading a booklet. Zhou Yi was drawing. Shangguan Li stood behind her, waiting for orders.
Li Mu and Zhou Yi looked at each other and instantly understood each other's intentions.
Zhou Yi coughed softly and said, "Ah Li, go to the national treasury and check if there are any more pills, Fu-lu, and the like. If there are not enough, let the Ministry of Revenue go to the shops of the various sects to buy more."
A trace of doubt appeared in Shangguan Li's eyes. These small matters were all handled by specialized officials. There was no need for her to go at all.
Moreover, the Empress had never liked these complicated affairs of state. Why was she so concerned about these matters recently?
The day before yesterday, she had gone to the Department of Worship to supervise the offerings. Yesterday, she had gone to the Ministry of Revenue to check the accounts. Today, she had gone to the national treasury to check the inventory. Why did she feel that the Empress was intentionally sending her away?
At this time, Zhou Yi said to Li Mu, "You've been reading the booklets for a long time. After you finish reading these, go back and rest."
Li Mu nodded and said, "Yes."
This was the secret code that the Empress and he had agreed on. The meaning of this sentence was that Li Mu should go back first and that the two of them would meet at the Li Residence in a moment.
If it was just sending away Shangguan Li and leaving Li Mu in Changle Palace, the purpose would be too obvious. This way, Ah Li would not have any suspicions.
Shangguan Li also agreed and walked out of Changle Palace with a belly full of doubts.
Li Mu looked through a few booklets. Seeing that Shangguan Li had already walked far away, he exchanged a look with the Empress and also directly left the palace.
He first bought a fish and some fresh vegetables at the market and cooked with the Empress. It was also a different kind of sweetness and romance.
When he returned home, Li Mu pushed open the door and saw that there was already a figure standing in the courtyard.
Towards these kinds of things, she was always more impatient than he was.
He walked over and hugged the Empress who had turned into Shangguan Li from behind. He asked, "What do you want to eat today?"
The delicate body in his arms trembled. Soon after, he was blasted away by a tyrannical transcendence energy. Shangguan Li retreated a few steps and looked at Li Mu with shame and anger. She gritted her teeth and said, "What are you doing!"
Li Mu looked at her in shock and muttered, "You …"
Shangguan Li crossed her arms in front of her chest and said angrily, "Are you crazy!"
Li Mu instantly realized and immediately said, "Sorry, I mistook you for someone else …"
As his voice fell, the space in the Li Residence fluctuated and another Shangguan Li appeared in the courtyard.
The two Shangguan Li looked at each other. One was shocked and the other was flustered.
You've already exceeded your reading limit for today. If you want to read more, please log in.
Login
Select text and click 'Report' to let us know about any bad translation.
