Chapter 234: Chapter 131: Zhong Ming: Oh? Instead of Running Away, You’re Approaching Me?
By presenting a facade that was slightly more ’gentle and kind’ compared to other Evil Cults, they would lull Prince Qinghe into a false sense of security. Then, in secret, they would bring in people from the Five Viscera Divine Sect and help them enter the Star Moon Treasure Vault.
Then, during the assessment, the Five Viscera Sect’s Divine Heir candidate would carry out a bloody slaughter of the disciples from the Prefecture City’s major sects. This was the scheme hatched by Youtan Heaven—or more specifically, by the Chief Priest and the Divine Heir candidate, Li Ye.
This plan had two benefits. First, it would demonstrate the power of the Outer Divine Spirits—the slaughter of True Inheritance disciples from the major sects would be enough to make Prince Qinghe abandon any wishful thinking and truly understand the meaning of a world-ending calamity.
Second, it would completely tear apart the relationship between Prince Qinghe’s Mansion and the other major sects, as well as the smaller surrounding sects.
With their sects’ greatest prodigies, and even the personal heirs of their elders, all brutally murdered in the Star Moon Treasure Vault—such a deep-seated blood feud would be enough to drive the relationship between the Qinghe Commandery Mansion and these sects to a point below freezing.
Prince Qinghe’s credibility and prestige would be trampled into the mud, never to be recovered.
For instance, if Zhong Ming were to be brutally killed in the Star Moon Treasure Vault, the hope of their own sect’s rise would be extinguished. Even if Prince Qinghe acted completely innocent, the Seven Profound Sect would still harbor a deep-seated hatred for him.
At that point, no matter what strategies for an alliance Prince Qinghe proposed, no one would trust him in the slightest.
Thus, the alliance he had schemed to form for his own protection in the coming world-ending calamity, along with his Thirteen Sons of the Morning Star and Thirty-Six Heroes of Qinghe, would all become a joke.
Once the tragedy occurred, not only would his influence fail to expand, but he would also find himself surrounded by enemies on all sides.
In such a perilous situation, with the second wave of Evil Spirits about to strike, his options would become severely limited.
And with no other choice, Prince Qinghe would be vulnerable, allowing Youtan Heaven to press their advantage and impose even harsher conditions.
Hmm—the most beautiful part of this whole affair was that the Five Viscera Divine Sect would be the ones to act, and everyone else would hate them for it. Youtan Heaven would have ’little to do’ with the matter.
Of course, after the incident, there was a very high probability that Prince Qinghe would guess the true mastermind behind it all was Youtan Heaven.
But by then, having lost all his prestige and credibility, Prince Qinghe would have no choice but to endure it, even if he knew the truth.
Politics, after all, is the art of compromise.
"But the prerequisite for all of this to succeed is that no one can detect the Five Viscera Divine Sect’s presence before the plan is complete. If they are discovered before they enter, our scheme will not only go up in smoke, but it will also backfire on us and lead to severe repercussions..."
At this moment, Li Ye even felt a hint of gratitude toward Zhong Ming.
’We are, after all, followers of the Outer Divine Spirits. Even if we just sat quietly in our courtyards all day and did nothing, Prince Qinghe would never truly trust us. He would be paranoid, convinced there was a conspiracy afoot. The calmer we appear, the fewer ’flaws’ we show, the deeper his defenses against us will become.’
’Therefore, we have to do *something* to make Prince Qinghe feel as if all our schemes are well within his control.’
This was where the Luo Family and their original ’scheme’ became crucial. It would serve as an excellent diversion, making Prince Qinghe, who had already detected their presence, mistakenly believe that their attempt to corrupt his mansion was a slow, gradual process unfolding through a specific chain of connections: the Luo Family, Luo Qinzh, Ji Qinglian, Ji Qinghui...
To make Prince Qinghe firmly believe they had poured all their energy into this front, Li Ye, at the Chief Priest’s suggestion, decided to put in some effort and give Luo Xiao a significant boost.
Li Ye: "Rest assured, Chief Priest. I will handle everything... This time, I will dispatch my personal guards."
"That alone won’t be enough to guarantee success. That Zhong Ming fellow can resonate with the Sun; he’s got a few tricks up his sleeve. If you don’t act personally, your guards alone may not be a match for him." As he spoke, the Chief Priest handed over a veil as thin as a cicada’s wing, shimmering with a hazy mist.
"This is the Mysterious Night Gauze Mist. When fully unleashed, it can block out daylight and evade detection. Give it to the one you’re sending into the field."
Apparently, this Chief Priest had also discerned the fundamental reason behind Zhong Ming’s sudden surge in strength and had already found a way to counter it.
It just goes to show that anyone who becomes a true powerhouse, whether a Cultivator or a priest, is never to be underestimated.
"Thank you, Chief Priest."
...
"I’m a pervert?!"
The next morning, just as Zhong Ming finished his cultivation and was calming his Heart Spirit, he heard this earth-shattering piece of news from Yi Yunya.
The words struck Zhong Ming like a bolt of lightning, leaving him utterly dumbfounded.
"Why would they go in *that* direction?"
In truth, Zhong Ming had anticipated that the disciples of the major sects would try to frame him for some crime and tarnish his reputation.
Large powers in the world always need a pretext to act. Even the Lighthouse Country, when it wants to attack someone, will pull out some laundry detergent and claim it’s a weapon of mass destruction.
Back in the day, to depose the Marquis of Hui, Huo Guang had the emperor—who ascended the throne in the seventh month and was deposed in the eighth—commit over 1,100 "outrageous" deeds in a mere twenty-seven days. That’s an average of more than forty per day.
You could say that the enthroned Liu He did nothing but get up to mischief from morning till night.
Zhong Ming knew full well that he stood in opposition to Ji Qinghui, Ji Qingkang, and several other major sects. He was mentally prepared for them to fabricate charges against him and then publicly denounce him.
But he had assumed the nasty rumors they’d spread would be about him being arrogant, domineering, and disrespectful.
He could have even calmly accepted it if they accused him of having ’rebellious’ thoughts of insubordination. But to have the label of ’pervert’ slapped on him—that felt like a complete and utter injustice.
