Human Clan Defender-Chapter 577 - 298: Collecting Martial Arts (Added more for 25,300 monthly votes)

The next day.

Just as the sky began to show the first light of dawn, someone knocked urgently on his door.

"Is Lord Shen within?"

Shen Changqing opened the door to see a soldier standing at the doorway, his face etched with anxiety.

"What's the matter?"

"The Emperor has passed away!"

Inside the main residence's bedroom, Yan Jing and the others had already gathered. As Shen Changqing arrived, they managed to force faint smiles onto their faces.

"Defender Shen has come."

"Hmm."

Shen Changqing nodded, his gaze turning toward the bed where a person lay clothed.

Upon closer inspection, he saw that Gu Xuanji lay there with his eyes tightly shut, his face bloodless, wearing an expression that held a semblance of peace.

His Divine Soul reached out tentatively but could not sense the slightest hint of life.

Truly dead?

Shen Changqing's mind was startled. Under his Divine Soul Perception, there was not a trace of life force, which made him question whether the other party was truly dead.

But then he reconsidered; the likelihood of that was not great. For someone at Gu Xuanji's Realm, foreseeing his own life and death was not a difficult matter. If he had said that he could live for about another month, then he would certainly be able to survive that long.

Moreover, in Heavenly Gate Pass, no powerhouse could assault this Emperor Qin. Not to mention others, even Shen Changqing himself lacked the confidence to assassinate him without a trace.

Therefore, there was a high probability that Gu Xuanji had faked his death.

With this thought in mind, he felt relieved. If the fake death could not deceive even me, how could it deceive the Demon Saint?

"Now that everyone is here," Yan Jing began, taking a deep breath and looking at everyone present, his tone serious, "with the sudden demise of the Emperor, how do you plan to deal with this matter?"

Among those present, his position within the court was the highest. The Great General of Great Qin was inherently a significant post. Although Shen Changqing and Dongfang Zhao's positions were also not low, the two were affiliated with the Demon-Subduing Division, which made a difference.

As his words fell, Li Shou's face became grief-stricken. "The Emperor is the Saint Emperor of a nation! If he has passed away, we must handle it according to long-standing customs and absolutely must not compromise his dignity!"

"No, I believe we cannot make a big affair of this, at least not right now." As soon as Li Shou finished speaking, Wei Yang immediately shook his head in disagreement.

Li Shou's face flushed with anger. "General Wei, what do you mean by this? Could it be that the moment the Emperor is gone, you dare to be disrespectful to His Majesty?"

"Eunuch Li, please do not be angry; that is not this official's intention," Wei Yang replied, his expression unchanging.

"The Demon Saint that invaded Great Qin a hundred years ago has emerged in Great Zhou. The reason the Demon Saint had not dared to invade Great Qin was solely because His Majesty was guarding it. Now that the Emperor has passed away, should this news spread, it would certainly reach the ears of the Demon Evil. By then, the Demon Saint will surely invade, and we do not have the confidence to contend against a Demon Saint."

An invasion by the Demon Saint meant Heavenly Gate Pass would undoubtedly fall. Once Heavenly Gate Pass fell, Luo'an Prefecture, and even the whole of Great Qin, could potentially be compromised.

In the past, Wei Yang's fear of the Demon Saint was still based on old rumors. But after witnessing Great Zhou indirectly destroyed at the Demon Saint's hands, he understood just how dreadful the Demon Saint's methods truly were. If we truly cannot withstand a Demon Saint, then Great Qin will be in danger.

Yan Jing nodded. "General Wei is right. The Demon Saint is a potential threat. If news of the Emperor's demise gets out, the Demon Saint will very likely invade Heavenly Gate Pass. Therefore, I suggest we keep the Emperor's passing a secret for now. We should secretly return His Majesty's body to the Capital City and wait for the New Emperor to ascend to the throne before making any other plans."

The ascension of the New Emperor could at least stabilize the people's hearts. Although the Crown Prince was currently overseeing the court, Gu Xuanji's demise was too sudden; unrest would surely follow if the news spread.

Having said that, Yan Jing looked towards Shen Changqing and Dongfang Zhao. "What do the two Defenders think?"

"The Great General's concerns are not without reason; I have no objection," Shen Changqing shook his head. Gu Xuanji may have faked his death, but if one is to play a role, it must be done thoroughly. Otherwise, the Demon Evil Clan might not be fooled.

On the other side, Dongfang Zhao also nodded in agreement.

Seeing this, Li Shou, though dissatisfied in his heart, said nothing further.

Yan Jing continued, "Currently, not many people know about the Emperor's demise. We must order the others not to publicize it. If the news gets out, it will be a capital offense, and we will show no mercy."

"Good." Wei Yang nodded. The most sensible approach would indeed be to silence everyone aware of the news. But to actually do that would be too cold-blooded. Enforcing a gag order should suffice. This news was never meant to be kept secret forever, merely delayed. It would be much better if it spread only after the New Emperor took the throne.

After the decision was made, Yan Jing asked Li Shou to stay while he and Wei Yang went to deal with the ensuing matters. Shen Changqing and Dongfang Zhao, on the other hand, found themselves with nothing to do.

After leaving the place, Shen Changqing offered, "Defender Dongfang, why not come to my residence for a while?"

"Very well."

Inside the residence, the two sat facing each other.

Shen Changqing got straight to the point. "With His Majesty's feigned death this time, what plans does the Lord Defender have? If the information is indeed kept secret, I'm afraid the news may not be able to spread, correct?"

Keeping a secret also had its limits. News that needed to spread still had to spread.

"Does Defender Shen truly believe that after the Star Plate was established, there are no eyes and ears of the Eternal Alliance within Great Qin territory?" Dongfang Zhao picked up his teacup and took a slight sip. "Some people who side with the Demon Evil do not necessarily transform into Demonfolk. The members of the Eternal Alliance are divided into official members and peripheral members. Some peripheral members primarily gather intelligence. Outwardly, they appear the same as the Human Clan, but inwardly they have already renounced the Human Clan. I can be sure that right now, within Heavenly Gate Pass, there are members of the Eternal Alliance secretly watching this place. Once His Majesty's situation becomes evident in a few days, word will reach the ears of the Demon Evil."

The Demon Evil's creation of the Eternal Alliance wasn't just to divide the Human Clan; their motives were not that simple. Dongfang Zhao had dealt with the Eternal Alliance considerably and understood much about it.

Upon hearing this, Shen Changqing suddenly realized. I had fallen into a misconception. I thought all members of the Eternal Alliance were Demonfolk. Thinking about it now, that seems impossible. If there are those who turned into Demonfolk, naturally, there are non-Demonfolk members as well. Now that the Star Plate has been established, it can only monitor Demonfolk and Demon Evil possessing a Yin Evil Aura. However, for traitors who have betrayed the Human Clan in their hearts but are still essentially human, the Star Plate has no monitoring capability.

"If the Demon Saint invades, is His Majesty truly confident?"

"Since His Majesty made this decision, he must have his own confidence. Even if you ask me, I cannot give you an answer," replied Dongfang Zhao, shaking his head.

Seeing this, Shen Changqing did not inquire further about this matter.

He changed the subject. "I have a matter for which I would like to seek your assistance, Lord Defender."

"What is it?"

"I would like some Grandmaster Realm sword techniques. If the number of Grandmaster Realm techniques is insufficient, Innate-level ones are also fine," Shen Changqing said after a moment's thought.

Sword techniques? Dongfang Zhao's expression changed subtly, followed by a light chuckle. "The sword techniques are not an issue. The Demon-Subduing Division in Luo'an Prefecture has many stored Martial Arts, which I believe can meet your needs. However, I am curious: how many Grandmaster sword techniques does Defender Shen require?"

"Sixty-four techniques."

"Six... how many?" Dongfang Zhao almost thought he had misheard.

However, upon seeing Shen Changqing's serious expression, he realized he had heard correctly and that the other party was not joking.

Immediately, Dongfang Zhao's face showed a bitter smile. "Sixty-four Grandmaster sword techniques? Your request truly stumps me. Although the Demon-Subduing Division has many Grandmaster Martial Arts, if we're talking about sword techniques alone, we cannot gather as many as sixty-four."

Let alone sixty-four, possessing a dozen or twenty would already signify the Demon-Subduing Division's profound resources. Even other top sects, including those renowned for their sword techniques, might at best possess one or two Grandmaster sword techniques. Even these were exceedingly precious. To request sixty-four Grandmaster sword techniques in one go, as Shen Changqing did, would likely require collecting all Martial Arts manuals from the entire world, including those from Great Liang and Dayue.

This answer was completely within Shen Changqing's expectations.

"If there are not enough Grandmaster sword techniques, Innate-level ones will suffice, as long as the quantity is sufficient. Moreover, I need this done quickly. I hope to have all the Martial Arts collected within a few days."

"May I ask, what do you need so many sword techniques for?" Dongfang Zhao asked with a peculiar expression. At Shen Changqing's level of cultivation, Grandmaster sword techniques should not be of much use. There was no need to collect so many.

Shen Changqing explained, "I am currently creating a powerful Martial Art. Therefore, I need to study various other Martial Arts to draw inspiration and speed up the process. If the Demon Saint indeed invades later, having created this Martial Art by then would add another layer to our foundation." 𝕗𝕣𝐞𝐞𝘄𝐞𝚋𝚗𝗼𝘃𝗲𝗹.𝚌𝕠𝚖

Dongfang Zhao understood. If it was for creating a new Martial Art, then broadening one's knowledge with other Martial Arts made sense. He harbored no doubts. Given Shen Changqing's Realm, existing Martial Arts in the world were of little use; creating his own Martial Art was the proper course of action.

With this thought, Dongfang Zhao nodded. "If we include techniques from the Innate Realm, then there is no problem. In at most three days, I can have the Demon-Subduing Division bring over all the Martial Arts."

"Good, then I'll have to trouble you, Lord Defender," said Shen Changqing with a grateful expression.

Although he was the Defender Envoy of South Nether Prefecture, he had little influence in Luo'an Prefecture. If Dongfang Zhao was willing to issue the command, things would be much simpler.

The two chatted idly for a while longer before Dongfang Zhao stood up and left.

In the room, Shen Changqing looked at the Slaughter Value on his panel, his mind slightly stirred.

Over eight thousand Slaughter Value. Based on his calculations, there was a strong probability he could merge techniques to create a Divine Skill even more powerful than the Banishing Evil Silent Obliteration Finger.

The Banishing Evil Silent Obliteration Finger was not bad. However, after many encounters with strong opponents, Shen Changqing had found another drawback to the technique. While the Divine Skill is powerful, it is not powerful enough to directly subdue an enemy. Hence, I now need a Divine Skill, one more formidable than the Banishing Evil Silent Obliteration Finger. My Divine Soul was birthed from the foundation of the True Intent of Hundred Battles. If I could obtain a powerful sword-based Divine Skill, I would surely be able to unleash incredible power. At that point, my own foundation would become even stronger.