The victory at Guangdu shook the very foundations of the empire.

One after another, the remaining provinces submitted and bent the knee. Those ambitious governors who had once danced to their own tunes were

unceremoniously removed and replaced by hand-picked loyalists who owed their allegiance solely to Alex.

In less than a month, Bai Xiaochun stood as the undisputed master of all eighteen provinces of Xia.

The once-mighty armies of each province, which had previously swept across the land like tempests, were all summoned back to their provincial capitals and silently disbanded.

Only token garrisons remained-sufficient to preserve peace, yet powerless to ignite war.

“No governor shall ever again wield the strength to raise his blade against his peers,” Alex proclaimed to the assembled governors.

"Transform every soldier into a farmer! Let them abandon the path of slaughter. Let them take wives, beget children, labor in the fields to feed their families, and raise generation after generation until they pass away in old age."

Simultaneously, Alex raised Wudang to the undisputed number one sect of the entire Xia Empire.

The sect that had once been merely the lowest among equals now reigned supreme.

Wudang disciples strode through the corridors of power across every province, their heads held high. All who saw them trembled, for they were the trusted blades and voices of the Prime Minister himself.

The ancient Murim Alliance, long since fractured, crumbled completely beneath the avalanche of its own terror.

Those who resisted disappeared without a trace into the darkness. Those who wisely bent the knee were absorbed into a brand-new Murim Alliance - led not by Murong Sheng nor the old prestigious clans, but by the rising star of Wudang, Jun Jiu.

A name that, in certain circles, was understood to be another face of the same man who now ruled from the Prime Minister's pavilion.

The people felt the change in their bones.

Drones hummed over the fields where soldiers had once marched.

Modern irrigation systems, powered by the same forbidden technology Bai Xiaochun had once stolen and remade, turned dry provinces green.

Grain stores filled. Markets grew loud with trade.

For the first time in generations, ordinary citizens walked the streets without fear of conscription or sudden war. They began to speak of Xia with pride and joy.

And through it all, Alex was absent.

Deep within the sacred Wudang training realm, he sat motionless in perfect meditation, surrounded by powerful formations constructed from priceless rare materials.

He had yet to condense a Nascent Soul for each of his five elemental core formations. Two had already been achieved, but the other three remained incomplete.

What he desired was permanence — a flawless, everlasting Nascent Soul that

would stand the test of time and tribulation.

Time moved differently inside the realm. Outside, the empire grew fat and peaceful.

Two years had passed since the Battle of Guangdu.

In the imperial palace at Changyi, Emperor Liu Xie stood at a window overlooking the city he was supposed to rule. He was no longer the boy who had been rescued from Dong Zhuo's remnants.

He was a man now.

Murong Sheng waited behind him, patient as a spider.

"Your Majesty," the old man said, voice low and respectful, “the people speak Bai Xiaochun's name more often than they speak yours. The governors kneel to him. The sects answer to Wudang. Even the drones that feed your cities carry his mark."

Liu Xie did not turn. "He saved the throne."

"He saved it for himself," Murong Sheng replied coldly. "A man who holds absolute power has no need for a true emperor. All he requires is a convenient figurehead. He will kill you one day. You must seize this opportunity while he is away."

The Emperor's hands tightened on the stone sill.

"I have four of the strongest cultivators in Xia ready to stand with you," Murong Sheng continued.

"They remember when the throne meant something. They remember when murim and the court were separate, as the old covenants. demanded. Announce that you are Baio

taking full control Retire net

Xiagehun with honor Name a new Prime Minister-one who

understands that the Emperor must lead, not follow."

Liu Xie turned at last. His eyes were tired, but there was something hungry beneath the exhaustion.

"And if he refuses?"

Murong Sheng smiled, small and cold. "Then the four I mentioned will make certain he has no choice."

The plan took shape in secret.

One month before the Emperor's birthday, sealed invitations went out to every governor in Xia.

The wording was careful, almost warm. "Come to Changyi. Celebrate with your Emperor. There are matters of great importance we must discuss together."

No mention of Bai Xiaochun. No mention of power. Only the quiet pressure of an imperial summons that could not be ignored.

When the day arrived, Changyi glittered with lanterns and silk banners. The great hall of the Prime Minister's pavilion had been transformed into a throne room for the occasion.

Governors filled the chamber in their finest robes, smiling, bowing, whispering. Zhuge Liang stood near the front, calm as ever, representing the absent Prime Minister.

Emperor Liu Xie entered last.

He wore the full regalia of his office, the dragon robe heavy with gold thread. He climbed the steps to the throne with deliberate slowness, then turned to face the room. The hall fell silent.

"I have thought long on this," he began, voice steady. "I was young when I took the throne. I was frightened. I leaned on others because I did not know how to stand alone. But I am no longer that boy."

A ripple moved through the crowd.

"I have reached the age where a man must take responsibility for his own house.

Xia is mine to lead. Not through ministers. Not through sects. Through me."

He let the words hang.

"Effective immediately, Prime

Minister Baixiaochun will step down

from his post. He has served the

throne well, but his duties in

Cultivation have

kept him from the

day-to-day affairs of the empire. It is

time for new hands to guide Xia

forward."

FindNovel.net

Murmurs rose. Some governors exchanged glances. Others kept their faces

carefully blank.

Liu Xie raised a hand.

"My new Prime Minister will be a man of experience. A man who understands both

the court and the old ways of murim. A man who has proven his loyalty to the throne

in its darkest hour."

He looked across the hall, straight at the man standing in the place of honor.

"Murong Sheng."

Zhuge Liang did not move, but the air around him seemed to tighten. In the back of

the hall, several governors who had arrived expecting celebration now looked as though they had swallowed poison.

Murong Sheng himself stepped forward, head bowed in perfect humility, though his eyes gleamed with triumph.

Liu Xie sat on the throne.

"From this day forward," he declared, "I rule Xia. Those who stand with me shall be richly rewarded. Those who oppose me will be treated as traitors.”