Killing Dao Fruit
Chapter 172 - 169 Puppet Emperor, Anomaly of the Golden Wheel

Chapter 172: Chapter 169 Puppet Emperor, Anomaly of the Golden Wheel

Wang Yuan slowly withdrew his gaze, but he could only look around in bewilderment.

Just like how the divination of the Winter Official had been suppressed at the bottom of the box for a long time, he had no idea to whom he should reveal this earth-shattering secret.

That’s because the ability of the Qi Observation Technique didn’t have the tangible presence of firearms like muskets and cannons.

It has a fatal flaw—that is, it can never be demonstrated to others!

That Xue, whose power and influence was second only to the Emperor, flitted daily before the Director of the Imperial Observatory, the Five Senses, and the Spirit Platform Officials.

Even these officials hadn’t noticed that this man had long harbored ulterior motives, so who would believe Wang Yuan? And even if someone did believe, how could they deal with this current Prime Minister?

He understood very clearly, Great Yan was Great Yan, and Emperor Jianming was Emperor Jianming.

Even if the officialdom had long been rotten to the core, the countless innocent people who only wanted to survive must not be buried along with it.

At least until he himself had advanced to a Yellow Seal Mage and could barely possess the power to protect himself in the turbulent times, this dynasty that could shelter the weak from wind and rain must not collapse.

Regrettably, after pondering for a while, Wang Yuan couldn’t think of how to break the situation in officialdom and expose the cunning schemes of Prime Minister Xue.

"No wonder they dare to forcefully annex the newly cultivated land of a prefecture, openly defying Emperor Jianming’s decree to cultivate the land.

The channels for information up and down were completely blocked by the Xue Faction, this blood-sucking snake lying on the body of Great Yan is sitting securely fishing—utterly impregnable."

"Wait a minute! Back then, Hongying said there was a traitor within the hub (Chapter 136), who leaked their national destiny progress to the ’No-Life Dao,’ leading to the ambush by the Inverted Taoist midway.

As a result, over a hundred White Tiger Elite Soldiers died in the Luoshui.

Since Xue Jiexi had harbored different aspirations for a long time, with the astrological sign of the Flood Snake manifesting, could it be possible that he... is that traitor in the hub?!"

"Not only that..."

When Wang Yuan managed to unravel a thread of thought, he immediately began to untangle the messy information in his mind.

"Is there another possibility.

It’s not because Xue Jiexi had followed around Emperor Jianming since the hidden mansion, and eventually rode the tides to rise to power.

Instead, it’s because of my aunt’s appearance by Zhou Wenrui’s side that this originally unremarkable King Jing caught the attention of some schemers.

They manipulated events to help him steal the Dragon Energy and forcibly lifted him onto the Dragon Chair."

"After all, following my aunt’s transformation into the Azure Dragon, she should have at least reached the rank of a Yellow Seal Mage.

Compared to the Luoyang Royal Mansion, which had accumulated two hundred years of resources and could only show off a third-realm Dao General, Wei Anning."

King Jing, a Vassal King who had just been assigned his fief with not even the slightest accumulation, by what means could he scheme against an Azure Dragon of the Mage Realm?

He must have had external assistance!"

Thereupon, Wang Yuan finally came to a conclusion.

——The matter of my aunt’s loss of her scale armor, is probably fundamentally the same affair as the Fallen Dragon incident orchestrated by the "No-Life Dao"!

Emperor Jianming is very likely just a "puppet" who has been schemed against by both Xue Jiexi and No-Life Dao, as well as the key flaw in the "Red Dragon’s fall at the Yunhe Bridge."

This self-righteous fellow perhaps has not even realized that he is essentially bargaining with a tiger for its skin.

To break the situation now and overcome the second calamity, Wang Yuan still needed to find his aunt, who was most likely being imprisoned somewhere.

Additionally, Xue Donglou’s indifference towards the "Dragon Lord" suddenly seems to make sense.

The Xue family and "No-Life Dao" must have had an understanding long ago, and the breach was far from being as simple as merely annexing land.

"The father and son of the Xue family are really playing with the lives of everyone in the world; they are both the Flood Snake and the crafty hero!

However, Xiao Xue is about to die!"

Wang Yuan’s mind was a whirlwind of thoughts, yet his expression remained unchanged as he continued to walk inside with the house servant.

The magnificent structures decorated with carved beams and painted rafters, and pavilions on the water in the Prime Minister Mansion go without saying.

What’s noteworthy is that with each successive courtyard they crossed, they were led by a new guide; from the main entrance to the ancestral temple at the southeast corner, they changed guides at least a dozen times.

No one uttered a word in the process.

The hierarchy within the Prime Minister Mansion was clearly extremely strict, managing the household as if managing an army.

Even as they had seen much of the world, they couldn’t help but be astounded by such grandeur and instinctively fell silent.

As they arrived in front of the ancestral temple, the scene before them was even more shocking.

Four colorfully dressed maids holding incense burners and golden lamps led the way, and over a hundred imposing guards in golden helmets and armor lined up on both sides like two impregnable strongholds.

But their expressions were indifferent, devoid of any human touch, yet they radiated divine light vividly, with a strong scent of incense emanating from them.

"These are the family soldiers and officers entitled to veneration in the Xue family’s ancestral temple.

It seems they are also the souls of border soldiers, much more substantial than what the City God of the Dengzhou Prefecture has.

Unfortunately, these are pitiful ghosts who have long lost their selves, only capable of following orders, hardly different from clay statues and wooden dolls," explained Yuan Lang in a low voice about the origins of these golden armored guards to the others.

As he continued his cultivation over time, Wang Yuan’s understanding of the ’Heavenly Official,’ ’Earth God,’ and ’Human Ghost,’ the three divine Taoist paths of heaven, earth, and humanity, gradually deepened.

A Magician’s orthodox cultivation cannot be separated from the Earth Spirit Qi and Heavenly Spirit Qi.

The Heavenly Gate and Earth Gate, which control the amount of Spiritual Qi, are like the gentle and fierce flames used in alchemy, requiring careful adjustment at all times.

One must avoid too much Heavenly Spirit, lest the activated knowledge dominate the self, and also avoid too much Earth Spirit, lest one becomes blinded by mundane distractions and sinks completely.

Excess in either is a great poison!

And these "Human Ghosts" within the City God System are immersed year-round in the ocean of Incense Fire Vow Power.

Whether it is the various City Gods or the lowest-ranking Divine Officials, it usually doesn’t take more than a few years for them to be completely transformed by Incense Fire Vow Power into the figure envisioned by the believers.

Even a Ghost Hero like Nie Renxiong, who was of the Yin God Realm during his lifetime, would hardly last ten years in the position of City God once he assumed it.

Moreover, it’s extremely difficult to assume this position, and utterly impossible to leave once you have it.

For Magicians, such "Human Ghost" divine positions are like the Investiture of the Gods, from which everyone wants to keep as far away as possible out of fear.

The family temples of the great clans are no exception.

"Silence! Shut your mouths, you disrespectful fools.

Do you think Prime Minister Xue’s family temple is a place where you can gossip and make noise at will? It’s a great disrespect!"

Seeing them daring to make noise here, the old housekeeper Xue Yan, standing at the door, instantly turned cold, and began scolding them, pointing at their noses.

A Prime Minister’s doorman is a seventh-rank official, not to mention a housekeeper charged with managing his household.

Even if Xue Yan was just the secondary housekeeper left in charge of the old family home, a notch below the head housekeeper who accompanied Prime Minister Xue,

these mere four seventh-rank Dharma Prohibition Colonels were no different from his own house servants in his eyes and could be scolded and beaten at will.

"You old servant..."

Having just descended from the mountain and not yet experienced society’s harsh realities, Gao Minghan’s blood surged with anger, and he became furiously indignant.

He and several elders risked their lives every day, battling to the death against Demons and deceitful Monsters, never knowing when they might fall.

Not to speak of earning the respect due from those they protected, but to be shouted at by a mere house servant was utterly intolerable.

In a moment of impulse, he prepared to teach the old man a lesson.

However, just at that moment,

a golden Spirit Light bursting with the scent of incense suddenly flashed before their eyes, engulfing them with a boom.

Roar!

As a Qilin’s angry roar echoed in their ears, everyone felt their bodies suddenly grow heavy, and the Daoist Skill light from their Divine Power Talismans within them instantly went quiet.

The thick Clan Energy in the shape of a Qilin in the Xue family’s ancestral temple had long surpassed most City God Temples, which acted as hubs for Dragon Qi.

Easily, it completely sealed all of their abilities.

Unless permitted by the master of the Xue family, they couldn’t even use the most basic Daoist Skills.

The old housekeeper Xue Yan sneered at them:

"In front of my family’s Prime Minister, even those Military Leaders of the Nine Borders Soldiers who have reached the fourth realm ’Military Dao Dharma Image’, must humbly call themselves ’Door Dogs’ before him.

They have to act humble and lowly, and regularly offer up their Military Souls in exchange for their Military Pay.

What are you in comparison, that you dare to bark wildly in my house?

If you manage to cure the young master’s strange illness, that’s one thing, but if you can’t, you will have a tough time!

If your sect and families get implicated because of this, don’t say I didn’t warn you!"

Having said this, he led the way into the family temple.

What scares people most about Magicians is their unpredictable and strange Deceit Dao techniques; solely in terms of Military Skill Cultivation, they might not even compare to the average Daoist Soldier.

This arrogant old man certainly wasn’t afraid.

However, Xue Yan, who had lived in a place like Dengzhou Prefecture that lacked the Imperial Dragon Guard structure and had never dealt with this kind of government, had no idea.

Although the Dharma Prohibition Colonels held official ranks, they didn’t need to "climb the ranks" of the system, nor did they need to grovel to their superiors, so their temperaments had not been domesticated by the Great Yan Officialdom.

They simply didn’t abide by such tactics that could tightly control ordinary officials.

The few of them looked at his back with icy gazes, as though they were looking at a dead man.

What Xue Yan didn’t realize was that Qiu Shaobai, Yuan Lang, and Gao Minghan had indeed been completely sealed, and were temporarily in no position to deal with him.

But the moment the Xue family’s Qilin-shaped Clan Energy enveloped them, Wang Yuan’s Merit Golden Wheel unfolded at the back of his head.

The originally faint whispering in the Golden Wheel suddenly grew loud, and most of the Xue family’s Clan Energy was blocked out from him.

Though his Taoist Skill was also hugely restricted, it only reduced his strength to before he had achieved the "Receiving Talisman Enlightenment" stage, and didn’t prevent him from using spells altogether.

Nor, unlike the others, did every moment he stayed in the family temple lead to a gradual erosion of his Daoist Skill and a permanent regression of his Taoist Ability.

He instinctively formed a claw with his fingers and made a light grabbing motion towards the aforegoing Xue Yan.

"Capture Shape!"

This move was a precursor to various sinister Ghost Dao techniques; by capturing the shape, one effectively obtained the opponent’s date and time of birth.

What he chose to do with this powerful leverage afterward was known only to him.

"After achieving ’Respect of the Millions’, there’s also this kind of benefit?"

After going through the incidents in Luoyang City and Dengzhou Prefecture, each having a tremendously wide impact, the Merit Golden Wheel gradually received millions of sincere worships.

Wang Yuan was finally catching a glimpse at the progressive qualitative change of the Merit Golden Wheel’s endpoint.

An ability extremely terrifying to high officials and nobles — ignoring "Dragon Qi Prohibitions" and freely using Daoist Skill to kill people!

When fully transformed, he might well walk into the nine-layered imperial palace as if strolling in a courtyard.