Chapter 449 - Pointing Sword at the Vast Waves

Chapter 449: Chapter 203: Pointing Sword at the Vast WavesWithin the current empire’s territory, there are three most challenging strongholds, the first being Longtan, a vital passage connecting the central and eastern parts of the empire’s domain. Now, with the departure of the Kairo family, it has reverted to the hands of the empire.

The second is Canglan Path, which Bai Shi mentioned as a key focus while chatting with Lu Hong.

"If you wish to continuously challenge the strong, Canglan Path is the best choice," Bai Shi sat on a boulder atop a mountain peak, holding a jar of fine wine, and looked at Lu Hong with a smile, "But I must warn you, Canglan Path is a graveyard of the strong from the Star Sea. Countless strong have died there, and once you get involved in its affairs, there’s basically no return."

"What kind of place is it?" Lu Hong was unfamiliar with Canglan Path.

"Do you know Duke Sotu?"

Seeing Lu Hong shake his head, Bai Shi said, "He once usurped the Great Emperor, but unfortunately, he was defeated by the Tower Master of the Heavenly Tower and then exiled to the Xiqing plane, forever barred from entering Divine Grace. Nonetheless, this man was also a great talent, who handed over the Xiqing plane to the control of the Thirteen Temples step by step, transforming the Xiqing plane into the main base of the Thirteen Temples. From this base, their influence spread outwards, affecting many realms, and these realms, when viewed on the map of the Star Sea, resembled a long path, hence it was named Canglan Path."

"The Thirteen Temples?"

Bai Shi touched upon another of Lu Hong’s knowledge gaps. Seeing Lu Hong’s puzzled face, he continued to explain, "The Thirteen Temples have a history even older than the empire. They are the products seeded by the gods during the Era of the Gods, and it’s unknown how many such organizations are still hidden in the dark. Only these thirteen temples have been disclosed. They are ranked by strength: Golden Temple, Silver Radiance Temple, Ten Thousand Mothers Temple, Gale Temple, Wild Temple, Leaving Fire Temple, Extreme Cold Temple, Sky Thunder Temple, Dark God Temple, Power God Temple, Silent Temple, Void Temple, and Spring Brightness Temple."

Lu Hong was aware of the Leaving Fire Temple and the Dark God Temple; to his surprise, they also ranked within Canglan Path, though not among the top tiers.

"The Night Extreme Star Lord, whom you know, was born in Canglan Path, but his leadership position there is nothing remarkable within the true Dark God Temple," Bai Shi gulped down the fine wine and casually tossed the jar down the gorge. "For more information about Canglan Path, you can go and ask the Night Extreme Star Lord. Though it’s my suggestion to you, I must tell you that you shouldn’t provoke these ancient temples easily. Any person there, even a gatekeeper, might be a powerhouse at the late stages of the Third Transition."

"Is it truly that formidable?" Lu Hong raised an eyebrow. "I don’t understand; clearly, within the empire’s territory there are..." His words trailed off as his mind wandered.

Bai Shi understood Lu Hong’s condition and took over the conversation. "Are you about to ask why, despite there being many strong people, none are willing to help the empire resolve the marine species chaos?"

Lu Hong recovered his awareness and nodded.

Bai Shi chuckled. "Why should they help? Not causing trouble for the empire already counts as quite fortunate. Governing thousands of planes is no simple task; most of the time, although the planes belong to the empire, they are largely autonomous. How many of the empire’s stationed guards don’t entertain the idea of establishing their own rule? Your thinking is too naive, especially in the case of Canglan Path. After the Thirteen Temples took over, six successive guards met unfortunate ends, and ultimately, Konstantin simply stopped intervening. I’ve heard about the resurrection of the true dragon affair as well. You mentioned the Military Department’s involvement, which makes me guess it was Sotu who was backing the Passa family, sending you into danger, exchanging it for another high-ranking military officer. Only the Thirteen Temples have the strength to mobilize resources for the Passa family without alerting the Black Guards to forge the Iron Soul Army. However, I don’t specifically know which temples were involved."

Bai Shi, with half a century of experience navigating political landscapes, sharp and astute, gleaned the gist from Lu Hong’s recount.

"Who do you think might be involved?"

"It definitely isn’t the Leaving Fire Temple."

Lu Hong was taken aback by Bai Shi’s response and retorted, "Bo Heng even brought out the Leaving Fire Temple crest; how could they not be involved?"

"If the Leaving Fire Temple was involved, it wouldn’t just be Bo Heng holding up the crest; it would be a powerful figure from the Leaving Fire Temple utilizing the crest. Don’t you see the key difference?"

With that prompt from Bai Shi, it indeed seemed likely.

"Forging the Iron Soul Army requires extensive re

"Your Excellency, it’s just a few jars of wine, don’t be so stingy," Lu Hong chuckled, then pointed at Hundred Lions beside him, "Most of it went into his stomach, I only had a tiny sip."

Damn it! Hearing Lu Hong blame him, Hundred Lions quickly threw the empty wine jar into the ravine, acting as if nothing had happened, "Your Excellency Night Supreme Star, hello."

"Hundred Lions?" Night Supreme Star looked at the man before him, nodded slightly, "I’ve heard of you."

"Haha, to catch Your Excellency’s eye is an honor indeed."

"Some time ago, the Tian’an Emperor Clan paid me to kill you, but I thought the money was too little and didn’t do it."

"Uh..."

Hundred Lions was caught off guard by Night Supreme Star’s comment and couldn’t find words to reply for a moment.

"Well, Your Excellency, do you know about the Canglan Path?" Lu Hong didn’t want to dwell on the matter of wine, so he changed the subject.

He mentioned the Canglan Path, and Night Supreme Star also did not press on about the wine, his expression grave, "You heard this from the old man?"

"Yes, I want to challenge the strong to break through myself, he said the Canglan Path has the most strong ones."

"Don’t go." Night Supreme Star decisively rejected Lu Hong, "Although you are strong, in the Canglan Path, you’d only be fit to skirmish with the rabble. Once you provoke the temples, you will undoubtedly die!"

"I was the chief officer dispatched from Canglan Path, responsible for transporting materials to the temples every year. Don’t think it’s because I was strong enough that the temples sent me on missions; on the contrary, I failed to compete with the nine children of the Dark God and was consequently kicked out of Canglan Path. Each temple there hides countless strong ones, most of whom have never been seen in the Star Sea or anyone who has seen them fight has died, so you will not find them on the empire’s ranking list of strong ones. I support your wish to challenge the peak, but I hope you do not simply throw away your life." He looked at Hundred Lions with a harsh gaze, apparently blaming him for leading Lu Hong toward the Canglan Path.

"Look, Your Excellency, don’t look at me. If I didn’t tell him, someone else eventually would have," Hundred Lions said.

Night Supreme Star withdrew his gaze, looked at Lu Hong again, "Young man, I think highly of you, but the path is always under your feet—make your own decision." After saying this, he disappeared amid a slight breeze.

While initially chatting with Hundred Lions, Lu Hong learned that Xie’an’s expedition was almost at its end. After passing through the Dragon Pool, the road ahead would become much easier. The closer they got to the Divine Grace realm, the fewer the rebellious families. Wanting to speed up his breakthrough to Third Transition, he must challenge it, so regardless of the danger, he must visit the Canglan Path.

Originally, killing sea clans was a good way to gain experience, but since Caesar had disappeared without a trace, alive or dead unknown, Lu Hong had to give up this idea temporarily. The Naga Queen could attack him once, and there could be a second time. Facing a Third Transition Peak enemy is always a thousand times better than facing a God Realm enemy.

"By the way, you just mentioned the Empire’s two dilemmas, what’s the third one?"

Facing Lu Hong suddenly turning the topic back, Hundred Lions sighed inwardly, this guy was probably dead set on going to Canglan Path, why was he so talkative?

"The third difficulty is our own people."

"Our own people?" Lu Hong hadn’t been involved in the imperial court and naturally didn’t understand.

"Yes, when the Empire is in trouble, not all officials at court are like Marshal Xie, who can prioritize national survival over their families. Most officials have been reining in their clans and adopted a wait-and-see approach, the empire in its recruitment sent only the elderly, weak, sick and disabled to the battlefield, while all the elite forces were secretly preserved. This is another major headache for Konstantin, getting these subjects to contribute is not something that can be solved by simple force alone."

After hearing Hundred Lions’ analysis, Lu Hong remained silent. He had visited the Eagle Alliance and seen their foundations. Honestly speaking, the reason why the Eagle Alliance had become a formidable enemy of the empire was not due to their national power but because of their unity. Although they also had internal strife, they presented a united front externally, unlike the empire which, despite its numerous strong ones and vast power, had few who could truly act together.