Young Noble Be Monster Slaying-Chapter 879: The Throne Hall

There were no civil or military officials in the Golden Throne Hall that day.

The higher-ups of the Divine Nine and the Terrestrial Ten arrived in twos and threes, each taking their respective places in the hall.

Every one of them was a powerful figure capable of shaking the world. These people rarely appeared in public, yet they had gathered there in one hall.

Even the leader of the Greater-Yin Cult, who had always ignored worldly affairs, was sitting in a corner of the hall. She wore a dark palace gown and a black muslin veil, and her hair was adorned with ebony hairpins. A silver crescent mark gleamed on her smooth forehead. Below it, her eyes looked clear and cold, as if veiled in mist.

Her name was Yin Guyue, and she was considered the most enigmatic figure among the immortal sects of the Divine Nine. If the matter at hand did not concern the fate of the mortal world, it was likely she wouldn't have shown up to the assembly at all.

"I warned you long ago that the Heaven-Devouring Bug was no trivial matter, yet you insisted on listening to the Noble Dharma's nonsense. Now that the Demon God has come back to life, I wonder how you plan to clean up this mess?" Yin Guyue said to the others apathetically.

The Greater-Yin Cult and the Holy Mountain were both located in the Northern Regions, but they had always maintained a good relationship and often aligned with each other in major situations like this.

However, the Greater-Yin Cult had been the staunchest voice of opposition on the matter involving the Heaven-Devouring Bug. The Greater-Yin Cult had argued that the mortal world was in a stable state and that there was no need to take unnecessary risks to eliminate the Demon God's origin essence.

Then, just as the Greater-Yin Cult had expected, trouble had arisen.

Lu Jiuwai, the sect leader of the Great Astral Sect, was seated across from her. He replied, "If Daoist Cangsheng hadn't turned on us and betrayed the humans, the Demon God would have already been destroyed. Anyway, what's done is done. We're here to discuss how to deal with the Demon God, so stop pointing fingers, Cult Leader Yin."

"The Demon God has only just revived, so this is when she has the least spiritual qi. It is the perfect time for us to join forces and fight her to the death!" exclaimed a man wearing white mourning clothes.

There was a white sash wrapped around the man's head, above his long, sword-like eyebrows and his deep, dark eyes. As he sat there, he resembled an exceptionally sharp blade with an aura so lethal that most people would not dare approach him. He was the sect leader of the Night Saber Sect, known throughout the martial world as the Celestial Saber of the North.

The Celestial Saber of the North was one of the Noble Dharma's disciples. Two hundred years ago, he had descended from the Holy Mountain to traverse the nine provinces, eventually becoming a legendary hero. Nevertheless, he had always held deep reverence for his teacher, the Noble Dharma.

The Demon God had killed the Noble Dharma, so the Celestial Saber of the North naturally harbored immense hatred for the Demon God—a hatred so deep it ran deeper than the sea. He was the most resolute advocate for war at today’s assembly.

Unfortunately, the Night Saber Sect wasn't strong enough to rank among the top of the Terrestrial Ten. Everyone else at the assembly acknowledged his grief, but they would not act rashly just because of his feelings, especially not the people who had been directly involved in the recent battle against the Demon God. They now had a far clearer understanding of the Demon God's true strength.

For the current generation of humans, the terror of the Demon God from three thousand years ago had only ever been a legend. But the group that battled the Demon God earlier experienced firsthand just how powerful the Demon God truly was.

Despite being in a weakened state without a corporeal body, the Demon God's life essence had been able to clash head-on with legendary artifacts. Now that the Demon God had a corporeal body, did the humans truly have any hope of defeating the Demon God without the Demon-Suppressing Pagoda?

"I believe we must prepare for battle, but there is no need to rush into it," Venerable Wen Yuan said calmly. "The Heaven-Devouring Bug that serves as the Demon God's vessel was raised by a disciple of my sect. She has a gentle temperament and is not bloodthirsty. She is fundamentally different from past Heaven-Devouring Bugs. If we can persuade her, perhaps she can be guided toward the path of good."

Sitting upright at a table close to the throne was Wenren Yue, the sect leader of the Celestial King Sect. She questioned, "Venerable Wen Yuan, if she truly listened to Chu Liang, then wouldn't she have stayed instead of going with the demons?"

The Heavenly Star faction remained firmly in favor of going to war against the newly revived Demon God. Their argument was that the Demon God was extremely powerful and difficult to defeat, and due to the nature of the Heaven-Devouring Bug, she would only get stronger the longer things dragged on. She was already at the ninth realm. If she sought to become even more powerful, it would only be a matter of time before she devoured the entire world.

Huang Hanshan, the lord of the Thunderbolt Stronghold, had been silently listening this whole time, but he decided to speak up at this moment. "Sect Leader Wenren, that statement is incorrect. That Heaven-Devouring Bug had only just absorbed the Demon God's life essence, so her temperament was like that of a young spirit beast. Moreover, she was suddenly targeted by multiple legendary artifacts... Anyone in her position would have panicked. It's instinct to flee."

After years of upheaval, the Thunderbolt Stronghold had experienced its fair share of rises and falls, eventually siding with the Mount Shu Sect. Nevertheless, Huang Hanshan wasn't speaking up for the Mount Shu Sect. He was, after all, a grandmaster of beast-taming, so he had a deeper understanding of spirit beast behavior. He was merely offering his insights to the group.

While there had been considerable friction between the Celestial King Sect and the Thunderbolt Stronghold in the past, it had been resolved through the Mount Shu Sect's mediation. Moreover, the two sect leaders knew better than to provoke each other when they were there to discuss an incredibly important matter.

Wenren Yue didn't even glance at Huang Hanshan and turned to Venerable Wen Yuan instead. "In any case, Sect Leader Wen Yuan, what do you propose we do now?"

Venerable Wen Yuan replied calmly, "Why don't we first send someone to the Far West to assess the situation—see what state the demons are in. Once we know more about the Demon God, we can decide whether we should go to war. If the Demon God has already begun devouring living beings to strengthen herself, then we strike immediately."

He made this suggestion based on the information Chu Liang had shared with him. Chu Liang had a fair degree of confidence in Tuntun's gentle disposition. However, now that she was the Demon God, she was technically a new being, so he couldn't guarantee anything. It was necessary to investigate first.

...

During the discussion, one more person entered the hall. The man wore official court robes and appeared slim and scholarly.

The leaders of the Divine Nine and the Terrestrial Ten recognized him at once. He was Chancellor Su Qian.

That was when the emperor lifted his gaze and looked at Su Qian from the throne at the opposite end of the hall. He asked, "Has it been resolved?"

The emperor of the Yu Dynasty looked at least twenty years older than when Chu Liang first met him. Clearly, the upheavals in the palace and the chaos across the nine provinces had taken a toll on him.

Su Qian replied, "Your Majesty, I investigated the matter, and it was indeed a family member of one of my concubines who used my name to swindle others. I have already ordered for them to be punished severely; I absolutely will not show any leniency. This failure in discipline is my fault. I await Your Majesty's punishment!"

...

To be fair, Su Qian had been rather unlucky this time. The "concubine" in question was actually a servant girl someone had given to him as a gift. She was quite pretty, so he was fond of her, but he did not officially consider her a concubine.

Yet, her father had gone around claiming to be the chancellor's father-in-law, using that to scam people. Unsurprisingly, no one in the capital of Yu had dared to stop the schemes of the chancellor's supposed father-in-law.

When Du Wuhen and Grand Ancestor Fuyou sought help from the various ministries, the swindler caught wind of it and sent his daughter to plead with Su Qian. Thinking it was just a small issue, Su Qian had his men handle it, but he ended up stepping on a landmine.

When a person rose to power, even their chickens and dogs would get cocky. This wasn't an uncommon occurrence among the imperial officials. However, Su Qian had no idea that the matter would somehow get entangled with the battle against the Demon God.

Upon finding out about the fraud case, the emperor had been rather displeased and told Su Qian to handle the matter himself.

Of course, Su Qian had understood what that truly meant. If the criminals were to be handled strictly according to the law, even the worst punishment for a fraud case like this would not be that bad, and the emperor couldn't impose a harsher sentence without legal cause.

By telling Su Qian to take care of it personally, the implication was that the emperor was expecting the criminals to receive a severe punishment. If the result failed to satisfy the emperor, then the person who would be punished harshly would be Su Qian himself.

Su Qian swiftly ordered his Sixteen-Faction Alliance to arrest the fraudsters. The fraudsters were interrogated and tortured until they gave a confession. Then Su Qian had them thrown into the Earthfire Sect to be incinerated.

If the fraud case had not occurred and landed Du Wuhen in prison, then Grand Ancestor Fuyou wouldn't have attacked the Celestial Northern Prison so early, and the Guardian Ruler wouldn't have been lured out so easily. It might not have changed the final outcome, but now that things had ended so poorly, someone had to be held accountable.

The emperor was furious, and the consequences were grave. So, Su Qian did what he could to appease the emperor.

...

The emperor glanced at Su Qian, nodded, and said coolly, "I don't blame you. You've served as chancellor for quite some time. It's only natural that trouble would find you."

Su Qian's gaze wavered in apprehension. He fell silent for a moment before bowing deeply. "Thank you, Your Majesty."

Had the emperor merely scolded him or imposed some punishment, that meant the situation wasn't that serious. However, the way the emperor spoke to Su Qian left him with little doubt of what was coming for him.

In the past, the emperor chose Su Qian to be the chancellor precisely because he had come from a humble background. Without any political alliances, he carried out the emperor's orders without hesitation. And Su Qian had indeed done well, but as the years passed, Su Qian himself became a political force.

It was time for a new chancellor.

Su Qian never expected that after years of serving the emperor cautiously, his career would come to an end over something like this. Nevertheless, now that it had come to this, there was nothing he could do to change the emperor's mind. All he could do was bow and leave the hall.

The emperor had hinted at Su Qian's dismissal, giving him a chance to resign and keep his dignity as the honorable chancellor. If he refused to keep his dignity, then someone else would help him lose it.

After Su Qian left, the emperor waved his hand. "Let us continue the discussion."

When it came to the fate of the mortal world, not even the emperor of the Yu Dynasty had the final say. The imperial court and the Imperial Supervisory Bureau held great influence, but the Divine Nine and the Terrestrial Ten were still the ones to decide on the direction that the plan of action would take.

Before the discussion resumed, a palace attendant rushed in to report, "Your Majesty, there's someone outside who seeks an audience with you!"

"Hm?" The emperor furrowed his brows. "Who is it this time?"

Sounding extremely shocked, the palace attendant stammered, "I-it's... the Demon King of the Verdant Foxhills!"

Outside the walls of the imperial city, there was a massive nine-tailed white fox perched on the enormous bronze mirror in the courtyard.

Everyone was surprised by the report.

The emperor hesitated for a moment, then he said, "Invite her in."

The palace attendant turned and yelled, "His Majesty invites the Demon King of the Verdant Foxhills to enter the hall!"

The series of palace doors leading to the Golden Throne Hall opened one after another.

Moments later, a graceful and refined woman stepped into the hall.

She smiled and gave a polite bow. "Greetings to Your Majesty, Emperor of the Yu Dynasty. I am Caiyi of the Verdant Foxhills in the Far West."

The emperor looked at her and asked, "The Demon King of the Verdant Foxhills... to what do we owe the pleasure?"

Caiyi spoke slowly, enunciating each word. "I'm here to initiate peace talks."