Chapter 70: The Palace Has Made Its Decision

The so-called Golden Core Ranking was maintained by the Ice and Snow Pavilion of the cultivation world. Its famous phrase was: Eight Hundred Golden Cores, famed beneath Heaven! Since it was the Golden Core Ranking, naturally it concerned cultivators who had already reached the Golden Core Realm.

In truth, there were far more than eight hundred Golden Core Realm cultivators in the cultivation world. The ranking simply had only eight hundred places. Nor did occupying one of those places mean a cultivator could remain there forever.

The Golden Core Ranking was updated continuously. If someone defeated a person already on the ranking, they could replace them. If someone died, their name was naturally removed.

Many people looked down on the ranking because it was by no means absolute, and the methods used to assess it were often criticized.

Some Golden Core Realm cultivators had no desire for fame and lived in seclusion, rarely fighting anyone. Outsiders had no way to know their true strength. In other cases, the victor did not boast and the loser said nothing. Under circumstances like these, how could anyone guarantee the ranking was perfectly fair? Eight Hundred Golden Cores, famed beneath Heaven! It truly was famed beneath Heaven.

Whether other cultivators accepted it or not, no one possessed complete, detailed knowledge of the true relative strength of every Golden Core Realm cultivator in the realm. Naturally, the powerful and wealthy people who controlled resources looked to the ranking.

They picked names from it, provided cultivation resources, and hired experts on the Golden Core Ranking as retainer cultivators to keep themselves safe or handle affairs. That created trouble for the people whose names appeared there. Challengers came looking for them constantly, most often cultivators who lacked cultivation resources. Those picking fights had little choice. They might all be Golden Core Realm cultivators, yet prospective patrons offered very different terms.

Take two identical objects for comparison. One came in beautiful packaging from a famous shop and could sell for ten gold coins. The other had no packaging and sat on a street stall for one gold coin. Why should the same thing command such different prices? The principle was the same when applied to people. It was useless to tell a patron your quality was equal to, or even better than, someone with an established name. The patron did not accept your claim.

You said you were equal, so you were equal? You said you were better, so you were better? Prove it. Go defeat an expert on the Golden Core Ranking. After circling around the issue, one still ended up having to compete.

Rather than suffer humiliation before a patron, it was better to issue the challenge first and speak again once one's name appeared on the ranking. Of course, if a ranked cultivator had a sect behind them, most people did not dare challenge them.

Unless you could defeat the entire sect as well, you might enter the ranking today and be beaten to death by a group of people tomorrow. Golden Core Realm cultivators with sect backgrounds generally had no reason to become challengers either. Their sect supplied their resources, so why go looking for trouble?

There was little point challenging people without sect backgrounds, and even less point challenging people who had sects behind them. That could provoke conflict between two sects. Naturally, this left the Golden Core Ranking open to criticism. Its assessment could hardly be comprehensive. But the Ice and Snow Pavilion had an answer of its own. If you believed someone on the ranking did not deserve the position, then show your true ability and prove it.

Yet who had so much free time that they would openly name some ranked cultivator and declare them unworthy of their reputation? Would that not amount to going out of one's way to make an enemy?

Those dissatisfied with the ranking naturally blamed the idle women of the Ice and Snow Pavilion for meddling and making a mess of things. But no one dared go looking for trouble at the Ice and Snow Pavilion.

The Pavilion Master was the granddaughter of Granny Xue, an old Nascent Soul Realm monster whose strength ranked among the very greatest in the cultivation world. She was one of the handful standing at its summit. The Golden Core Ranking had already been established under the previous Pavilion Master, who had been Granny Xue's disciple. Even the other old monsters of the Nascent Soul Realm said nothing about the ranking. Naturally, the rest of the cultivators beneath Heaven could only leave it at that.

Nor did people deliberately go out of their way to oppose the Ice and Snow Pavilion. Granny Xue stood at the top of the food chain.

With that background, the Ice and Snow Pavilion lacked neither cultivation resources nor fame and profit. It had little reason to fight others for such things and create enemies. It therefore occupied a comparatively detached position. Relatively speaking, the Golden Core Ranking was not without merit either. It did reflect strength to some degree. Once again, Granny Xue's background mattered.

The Ice and Snow Pavilion's network of connections hardly needed explanation. It received far more comprehensive information from across the realm than ordinary people and could make better comparisons.

For example, two cultivators might fight somewhere and produce a clear victor and loser. Most people could remain completely unaware of it, while the Ice and Snow Pavilion had already obtained the news and adjusted the Golden Core Ranking accordingly. Quite a few people only learned that such a fight had even taken place because of the ranking. As for why there were no similar rankings for the Nascent Soul, Foundation Establishment, or Qi Refinement Realms, the explanation was straightforward.

The Ice and Snow Pavilion plainly did not dare casually pass judgment on Nascent Soul cultivators. Foundation Establishment Realm cultivators and Qi Refinement Realm cultivators below them, meanwhile, were as numerous as ox hairs. How could anyone possibly rank them all? After reading the intelligence report, Lu Shengzhong smiled bitterly.

"Even an expert from the Golden Core Ranking like Bai Yao has personally come out. Feng Lingbo truly thinks highly of this fallen Commandery Prince."

An Xiaoman rubbed his chin, equally puzzled.

"Exactly. Feng Lingbo's regard for Shang Chaozong seems excessive. He married his daughter to him and even sent Bai Yao to protect him. Is all that really necessary? Thinking it through, I can only come up with one explanation. Prince Ning's influence on Feng Lingbo back then must have been considerable. But what about the Tianyu Sect? Did Prince Ning have that much influence over them too? I can't make sense of it..."

He shook his head, plainly troubled by the question.

"Senior Brother Lu, I advise you to think twice about this matter."

Lu Shengzhong sighed again and again.

"Our Wuliang Mountain is no great sect. We cannot dominate a territory of our own and have no choice but to attach ourselves to others. That also means we can be replaced at any time. Wang Heng insists on doing this. What can I do? If I cannot give him an explanation, with Wang Heng's connections he can kick Wuliang Mountain out of the game whenever he wants. I'm not the only one who would be affected."

An Xiaoman fell silent. That was indeed the problem. Leaving aside everything else, Wang Heng and his own patron Zhou Shouxian both belonged to the emperor's loyalist faction. If Wang Heng truly became displeased, he only needed to say a few words to Zhou Shouxian. Zhou Shouxian would never offend Wang Heng in the capital for the sake of one disciple from a small sect. Even An Xiaoman himself might be thrown out of Zhou Shouxian's service.

As for those large sects influential among the imperial loyalists, they might not say a word on Wuliang Mountain's behalf. There were simply too many small sects capable of replacing them.

"But this is almost impossible to accomplish. Forget you alone, Senior Brother. Even if everyone from Wuliang Mountain moved together, I'm afraid we still couldn't handle Bai Yao by himself. Bai Yao once crushed an entire sect alone."

An Xiaoman sighed softly. Lu Shengzhong raised his face toward the sky and sighed.

"Success depends on the man who acts. If strength cannot win, then we'll have to think of some way to win through strategy."

He picked up his wine cup, drained it in one swallow, and slapped it down on the table. Then he could not resist cursing.

"Damn it. That Niu Youdao should've been named Niu Youbing instead. The man must be sick in the head. Of all the people he could have killed, why kill Song Yanqing? He knew perfectly well how powerful Song Yanqing's background was and still dared provoke him..."

In the capital of the State of Yan, Song Jiuming strode quickly into the main hall of the Grand Minister of Works' residence and respectfully saluted Tong Mo, seated above. Tong Mo waved everyone else in the hall away, rose, walked around the long table, and stepped beneath the eaves outside. Song Jiuming followed and waited silently beside him for instructions. After a long silence, Tong Mo finally spoke.

"The Palace has made its decision. Shang Chaozong is to be eliminated. What we cannot obtain should not be allowed to fall into Feng Lingbo's hands either."

"..."

Song Jiuming froze for a moment.

"Would Feng Lingbo simply let that pass?"

Tong Mo said, "His Majesty fears Feng Lingbo leaking the secret. Feng Lingbo likewise fears His Majesty leaking it. The only difference is that His Majesty must consider all of Great Yan and does not wish to see civil disorder create an opening for foreign enemies. Feng Lingbo has no such concern. That is what people mean when they say the barefoot man does not fear the man wearing shoes. It is why Feng Lingbo can act without fear. If we can remove Shang Chaozong in one stroke, at worst we can offer Feng Lingbo sufficient benefits afterward to placate him. He would not truly lose anything. If the attempt fails, Feng Lingbo still won't dare retaliate too severely, because exposing the secret would bring him no benefit either. But after that, His Majesty would not dare press him a second time."

Song Jiuming thought for a while, then slowly nodded. He understood. If Feng Lingbo came to believe that the emperor could use that leverage to strike at him again and again, then sooner or later Feng Lingbo would reach the point where he could neither endure nor withstand it. Once he discovered the secret no longer deterred the emperor, even a cornered dog had to leap the wall. Great Yan could not bear the weight of the resulting upheaval.

Song Jiuming said slowly, "So there is only one chance to act."

Tong Mo inclined his head.

"Correct. Only one chance..."

At the Provincial Inspector's Residence in Nanzhou, Zhou Shouxian stood at the railing of a pavilion amid terraces and waterside halls, dressed in brocade robes and a jade belt, silently stroking his beard. A burly man in blue-green robes with a full beard quickly climbed into the pavilion. He approached Zhou Shouxian and cupped his hands.

"Provincial Governor, what instructions did you summon me for?"

Zhou Shouxian lowered his hand, clasped both hands behind his back, and paced into the pavilion.

"Yan Duo, there is a matter."

The bearded man, Yan Duo, followed beside him.

"Please speak freely, Provincial Governor."

Zhou Shouxian considered his words.

"His Majesty has issued an order. Shang Chaozong cannot be allowed to live. I am to dispose of him."

Yan Duo thought as he followed.

"I hear Shang Chaozong has become Feng Lingbo's son-in-law. If we move against him, wouldn't we need to mobilize an army? Given Great Yan's present circumstances, openly breaking with Feng Lingbo hardly seems wise. The moment our army moves, the local powers holding troops for themselves may begin stirring as well. A single spark could become a prairie fire. With the surrounding states already watching us like tigers, they may seize the opportunity to enter amid the chaos. Under circumstances like these, is such a move appropriate?"

Zhou Shouxian stopped walking.

"Precisely because His Majesty does not wish to break openly with Feng Lingbo, the order was secret. Shang Chaozong is to be disposed of in secret. That is why I summoned you."

Yan Duo tested the meaning.

"Assassination?"

Zhou Shouxian did not deny it.

He added, "I have just received word. Shang Chaozong's party has already entered Qingshan Commandery. He has one thousand cavalry and four thousand infantry with him. More than thirty cultivators from the Tianyu Sect are also escorting them. Bai Yao is leading the group."

"Bai Yao?"

Yan Duo froze, then smiled bitterly.

"Bai Yao is one of the Tianyu Sect's outstanding figures, an expert listed on the Golden Core Ranking. He once destroyed an entire sect by himself. Now he also has more than thirty fellow disciples assisting him, while several thousand troops around them could entangle anyone like sinking mud. Provincial Governor, forgive me for speaking plainly. Under circumstances like these, anyone who wants absolute confidence in killing the target would need to be a Nascent Soul Realm expert. At the very least, it would require someone among the Top Ten of the Golden Core Ranking."

Zhou Shouxian said, "Nascent Soul Realm experts do not concern themselves with worldly affairs. Even if His Majesty personally appeared, he might not be able to invite one. As for the Top Ten of the Golden Core Ranking, none of them would involve themselves in this without reason. People from other sects are likewise deterred by the Tianyu Sect and won't casually go to war with it."

Yan Duo understood. That was why Zhou Shouxian had come to him, an independent cultivator. He sighed.

"Provincial Governor, it isn't that I'm shirking the task. My abilities are simply limited. I cannot do it. I fear I would only ruin your important affair. You should seek someone more capable."

[End of Chapter 70]