Chapter 154: Wu Zhao's Plea for Help

Once he understood that Zhou Tian indeed had both the reason and the possibility to sell the Twelve Heavenly Fiends Demonic Array, Mike could no longer sit still.

Although Zhou Tian had stated that he was only selling the twelve divine statues, withholding the manufacturing technology and offering to help the Church set up the special placement method only once, what did that matter?

Mike did not know the true background of the Twelve Heavenly Fiends Demonic Array. Like most people in this world, Mike regarded the statues of the Twelve Heavenly Fiends as mere puppets, believing that as long as one mastered the method of refining the statues, one could completely control the power of the Twelve Heavenly Fiends Demonic Array and mass-produce it. Consequently, they all severely overestimated the role of those divine statues.

Since outsiders overestimated the twelve divine statues, Zhou Tian certainly had no intention of correcting them. After all, even if Zhou Tian explained it, no one would believe him. Instead, if Zhou Tian simply remained silent while Mike and the others overestimated the function of the statues, Zhou Tian would be able to extract even more benefits from them.

The conditions Zhou Tian offered were not deceitful to Mike and the others, but obviously, Mike and the people behind him had their own plans. Believing that obtaining the statues would allow them to research the refining techniques, and thinking that watching Zhou Tian deploy the Twelve Heavenly Fiends Demonic Array once would reveal the formation method—treating the purchase of finished products as the purchase of technology—the price difference between the two was already enough for Zhou Tian to make a huge profit.

One was willing to beat and the other was willing to be beaten. Zhou Tian made it clear that he intended to fleece the Church of Light, yet the Church of Light was precisely willing to let Zhou Tian fleece them. When Mike conveyed Zhou Tian's demands to the Pope, the Church of Light immediately swung into action regarding Zhou Tian's matter.

The Pope was unlikely to make a personal appearance, but because of Mike's special relationship with Zhou Tian, the Church would not entrust the matter solely to Mike. Under the Pope's appointment, a Cardinal was dispatched to the capital at that time to negotiate with Zhou Tian regarding the transaction of the Twelve Heavenly Fiends Demonic Array statues.

Without any polite pleasantries, as soon as the Cardinal arrived in the capital, Zhou Tian had him summoned to a secret chamber to negotiate the number of magic cores the Church needed to pay.

"Bishop Zhou, I heard that your recent trip to the Black Blood Plateau brought back a divine beast. Truly, congratulations!" Right from the start, the Cardinal showered Zhou Tian with flattery.

Since the other party was speaking with kind intentions, Zhou Tian naturally exchanged pleasantries in return. Cupping his hands, Zhou Tian replied: "It was sheer luck. I never expected to harvest such gains from this trip. However, isn't it precisely because I now have the protection of a divine beast that I am planning to sell those divine statues? Otherwise, located as I am here in the capital, how could I dare to develop with peace of mind if I didn't have some defensive power? Speaking of which, when will the Holy City send some support to our capital as well?"

"Bishop Zhou jests. Your capital is now renowned far and wide. With your current scale of development, what need do you have for the Holy City's assistance? On the contrary, if possible, Bishop Zhou, you should be the one to give back more to the Holy City."

"..."

Back and forth they went, and before long, Zhou Tian and the Cardinal had exchanged a good deal of idle chatter. It was not until Zhou Tian grew genuinely impatient that he finally had to take the initiative and say to the other: "I believe Mike has already informed you of the specific circumstances. Now I just want to ask you one question: how many magic cores is the Holy City prepared to offer? As long as it doesn't cause me a loss, I will hand those statues over to you."

"What is the Bishop saying? As a believer of our Church of Light, supporting the development of the Church is a matter of course. How can one use the word 'transaction' to describe your actions?" Hearing Zhou Tian's words, the Cardinal suddenly uttered such a remark. However, seeing that Zhou Tian's expression was less than favorable, the Cardinal quickly added: "However, the Church naturally will not let a believer loyal to the Church suffer a loss. How about this? If Bishop Zhou is willing, the Holy City is willing to reward your contribution of the twelve divine statues at the cost of ten million gold coins and ten Saint-level magic cores!"

Hearing the Cardinal's words, Zhou Tian furrowed his brow right then and there.

To be honest, the price offered by the Church of Light was already quite high. Yet undoubtedly, while the Church of Light was not stingy, the conditions they offered were not what Zhou Tian desired.

Ten million gold coins were indeed a vast sum, enough even to buy an entire city. But did Zhou Tian need money? Relying on the current rate of wealth accumulation in the capital, given time, Zhou Tian could easily earn not just ten million gold coins, but one hundred million or even one billion.

And while Saint-level magic cores contained a fair amount of spiritual energy, no matter how many there were, they could never surpass the spiritual energy consumed to deploy the Twelve Heavenly Fiends Demonic Array. Therefore, if Zhou Tian were truly to trade with them on the Church's terms, not only would he fail to gain any advantage from today's transaction, but he might even end up subsidizing a batch of spiritual energy out of his own pocket.

Consequently, upon hearing the Cardinal's words, Zhou Tian shook his head directly and replied: "No, I cannot agree to your conditions. How about this: I don't want your gold coins, I'm not lacking that bit of money. Give me magic cores instead—all of them."

"This..." With an awkward laugh, the Cardinal could only pour out his grievances to Zhou Tian: "We naturally know that Bishop Zhou is not short of that bit of money, but high-grade magic cores are not easily found! At present, these Saint-level magic cores are all the inventory our Church currently has. If you want more magic cores, we truly cannot produce them." At this point, the Cardinal's face actually flushed red. After all, as a member of one of the prominent powers on the mainland, having to admit that his own faction lacked the 'financial strength' to pay for Zhou Tian's transaction made the Cardinal feel somewhat ashamed just speaking of it.

Zhou Tian, however, did not think that deeply. Hearing the Cardinal's words, he merely furrowed his brow before accepting that explanation.

In reality, although the Cardinal's words came rather abruptly, upon serious reflection, there was nothing strange about it.

Having a large sphere of influence did not mean one could procure absolutely anything. Saint beasts could already be considered high-end existences among the magical beast tribes. Under normal circumstances, Saint beasts rarely operated alone outside. Therefore, if one wished to hunt a Saint beast, unless they went deep into the Black Blood Plateau or the depths of the Magical Beast Forest, it was practically impossible to find a specific hunting location.

Yet while those two places undoubtedly harbored Saint beasts, anyone could imagine how perilous it was to hunt magical beasts in such regions. Anyone who understood the true depths of those waters would likely avoid doing such a thing. Thus, Saint-level magic cores were mostly acquired by hunting solitary Saint beasts.

The number of solitary Saint beasts was naturally very small, which predestined the scarcity of Saint-level magic cores. Despite the Church of Light still being able to produce some Saint-level magic cores now, in reality, after deducting daily consumptions, the stock they currently presented was an accumulation gathered over an unknown period of time.

Zhou Tian himself was someone who hoarded magic cores fiercely, and he was crystal clear about the scarcity of high-end magic cores. Therefore, after hearing the Cardinal's words, Zhou Tian did not say much more. After pondering for a brief moment, he barguaded with the other party: "High-end magic cores are hard to come by, but ordinary magic cores shouldn't be scarce in the Holy City, right? How about this: I won't ask for your money, and I can even waive the Saint-level magic cores. But in return, the Holy City must give me ten tons of magic cores."

Upon hearing Zhou Tian's words, dark lines instantly appeared on the Cardinal's forehead.

Whenever other people talked about the quantity of magic cores, who didn't count them by the piece? Zhou Tian, however, was something else, directly calculating magic cores by the ton, and demanding ten tons right off the bat! If the Church of Light were not absolutely determined to secure the Twelve Heavenly Fiends Demonic Array, hearing Zhou Tian's words now, the Cardinal would have spat in his face.

Rejecting Zhou Tian's demand was naturally out of the question, as the Cardinal had received strict orders to bring the statues back to the Holy City no matter what. No matter how outrageous Zhou Tian's conditions were, the Cardinal had no possibility of refusing the transaction.

However, agreeing to Zhou Tian's request just like that made the Cardinal feel deeply unwilling. The Church of Light certainly did not lack ordinary magic cores given their strength; they didn't even need to gather them. Right in the storerooms of the Church of Light, the piled-up quantity of magic cores was already enough to complete transactions with Zhou Tian several times over.

The problem now was that if he simply agreed to whatever Zhou Tian demanded, it would make him look utterly incompetent. Zhou Tian's conditions were so outrageous that he simply had to haggle a bit; otherwise, completing the trade as-is would make his achievement look rather insignificant.

Having made up his mind, the Cardinal fell silent for a moment before replying to Zhou Tian: "Such conditions are far too absurd! Although ordinary magic cores are not extremely precious items, they are still considered strategic supplies. How could the Church possibly produce so many magic cores when you ask for them in one breath? How about this: I'll give you one ton of magic cores. Surely that will do!"

"Fine, why wouldn't it? One ton is one ton. But this batch of magic cores must entirely consist of magic cores from high-grade magical beasts."

"Impossible!" Upon hearing Zhou Tian's response, the Cardinal had just worn a victorious smile when—before his smile could even last for a minute—Zhou Tian's subsequent words caused his expression to undergo a drastic change.

Ten tons of magic cores might seem like a fortune that outsiders could never gather in a lifetime, but for the Church of Light, ten tons of magic cores could be produced easily. Never mind ten tons; if the quality of the magic cores wasn't restricted, the Church of Light could even get their hands on a hundred tons.

Yet while the Church of Light could produce a hundred tons of ordinary magic cores, gathering one ton of high-grade magic cores was a completely different story.

The higher the grade of a magic core, the rarer it was. The Church of Light could produce a hundred tons of them, but those would consist entirely of the lowest-quality magic cores. Such magic cores were produced in countless quantities across the mainland every day; a single slaughterhouse could yield hundreds of catties a day. If the Church of Light wanted them, they could easily acquire them.

However, one ton of high-grade magic cores was entirely different. Although high-grade magical beasts were not as rare and unseen as Saint beasts, they were not cabbages growing by the roadside either; how could they be encountered so easily?

Therefore, counting it up, high-grade magic cores could still be considered scarce commodities on the mainland. Not only did their value far exceed ten tons of low-grade magic cores, but in terms of collection difficulty, there was simply no comparison between the two.

"You... you are going too far..." The Cardinal was angered to the extreme. He never expected that he merely wanted to haggle with Zhou Tian, only for Zhou Tian to pull such a move on him. Outwardly, Zhou Tian reduced the quantity of requested magic cores tenfold, but the actual value of the requested magic cores increased by more than tenfold! Such a situation was naturally unacceptable to the Cardinal.

If he didn't know that Zhou Tian was someone not to be trifled with, the Cardinal would probably have jumped up and fought him to the death! This was sheer bullying. If he had a choice, the Cardinal would truly have loved to call the whole thing off and walk away. But thinking of the orders issued to him by the Holy City, the Cardinal had no choice but to forcefully suppress his rising anger at that moment and negotiate with Zhou Tian: "One ton of high-grade magic cores? Bishop Zhou, you must be joking!"

"Naturally, I am not joking." Sneering as he glanced at the Cardinal, Zhou Tian had no intention of wasting any more breath on him and spoke directly: "You cannot possibly be unaware of the kind of price my statues can fetch! If I am willing to sell them now, I wouldn't have trouble finding factions on the outside willing to offer two or three tons of high-grade magic cores. I am choosing to let the Church have these items at a cheaper price now, but that does not mean you can treat me like a fattened sheep to be slaughtered. Since you've pushed the matter to this point, my new price is one hundred tons of ordinary magic cores. If you agree, go back and have the goods delivered. If you don't agree, you may leave right now."

"You..."

Zhou Tian's reaction left the Cardinal burning with irritation. When had he ever encountered someone like Zhou Tian? Having repeatedly suffered setbacks at Zhou Tian's hands, his heart naturally felt sullen and unhappy.

The Cardinal had only wanted Zhou Tian to reduce the number of magic cores slightly, never anticipating that Zhou Tian's demands would escalate instead. By this point, the Cardinal couldn't help but regret his previous behavior.

Had he known beforehand that Zhou Tian would react this way, he truly would not have said another word and would have immediately finalized the transaction after Zhou Tian's initial quote.

Yet precisely because he tried to haggle further, Zhou Tian had now raised the price to such an extreme height. Facing such a demand, the Cardinal could no longer afford to be reluctant—even if he were willing, his current authority no longer permitted him to agree to Zhou Tian's request.

Glaring bitterly at Zhou Tian, the Cardinal had no choice but to excuse himself at that moment. After retreating to confer with the higher-ups of the Holy City, he returned to Zhou Tian's side and replied: "One hundred tons of magic cores—the Pope has agreed to the transaction with you. The magic cores will be delivered shortly. Now you can hand those statues over to me, right?"

Looking at him as if he were an idiot, Zhou Tian glanced straight at the Cardinal and asked: "If you were me, would you hand your goods over to someone else before receiving payment?" After finishing, he gave him a speechless look and added: "Besides, even if I were willing to hand those statues to you, how would you transport them back to the Holy City? Judging by the spatial ring you're wearing—and I'm not trying to put you down—the divine might of my statues is extraordinary. If the internal space of your spatial ring is not sufficiently stable, putting the statues inside will result in only one outcome: the spatial ring will explode!"

"This..." Hearing Zhou Tian's words, even the Cardinal, who desperately wanted to spend no more time in Zhou Tian's presence, could find no excuse to leave. Lowering his head in sullen frustration, he stopped talking to Zhou Tian and simply sat in his original spot, waiting quietly.

This wait lasted nearly an hour between Zhou Tian and the Cardinal. After all, the supplies involved in this transaction between Zhou Tian and the Church of Light were simply too massive. Zhou Tian had it relatively easy; the statues just sat there, neither running away nor vulnerable to being snatched. But as for the Church of Light, gathering the magic cores demanded by Zhou Tian took a tremendous amount of effort. Bustling about for an entire hour, they finally managed to painstakingly assemble the full quantity of one hundred tons of magic cores.

After counting the tally, Zhou Tian did not stall or hesitate. Upon converting those magic cores into spiritual energy, he led the people of the Church of Light to collect the twelve divine statues.

True to his prior promise, Zhou Tian said to the Church personnel: "I have given you the statues now, but only I know how to place them so they unleash their might. Just notify me when you decide where to place these twelve divine statues, and I will go over to set up the formation for you."

"There is no need. Bishop Zhou only needs to draw a diagram to inform us of the placement method for those statues." Unexpectedly, the other party had no intention of having Zhou Tian help set up the formation. Merely taking a formation diagram from Zhou Tian as a formality, they turned around and left directly.

One hundred tons of magic cores amounted to two hundred thousand catties of magic cores. Even at a conversion of one hundred magic cores per catty, that was twenty million magic cores. Not to mention that a single magic core could yield far more than just one point of spiritual energy—even if it truly equated to only one point of spiritual energy, that was still twenty million spiritual energy values. From this, one could clearly see just how massive a bounty Zhou Tian had extorted from the Church of Light this time.

Zhou Tian still purchased twelve divine statues to set up the Twelve Heavenly Fiends Demonic Array. Given his current situation, no matter how good other artifacts were, without personal cultivation to drive them, buying them would only result in them becoming toys for the little divine tiger, much like the Chaos Bell. By contrast, although the cost-effectiveness of the Twelve Heavenly Fiends Demonic Array was completely disproportionate, its advantage lay in requiring no personal cultivation to activate. Now, as long as Zhou Tian was willing to spend spiritual energy, utilizing the unique traits of the Twelve Heavenly Fiends Demonic Array meant that once he deployed the formation, his self-preservation capability would instantly increase a hundredfold and more.

Zhou Tian could not afford the statues priced at one hundred million spiritual energy each, but after extorting such a massive haul of magic cores from the Church of Light, he now possessed the capability to purchase the ten-million-spiritual-energy statues. Having witnessed the formidable power of the Black Blood Plateau, Zhou Tian had harbored a lingering sense of insecurity regarding his own safety. Now that he had the conditions to do so, he naturally didn't mind adding another layer of defense for himself.

Purchasing the statues priced at ten million each, Zhou Tian immediately deployed the Twelve Heavenly Fiends Demonic Array around the periphery of the capital once again.

Having just sold identical statues to others at an exorbitant price, Zhou Tian immediately pulled out another set to set up around his own home. The higher-ups of the Church of Light, upon learning of this behavior, must have been utterly furious! But Zhou Tian couldn't care less about them. Although the Church of Light could technically be considered to have done favors for Zhou Tian in the past, Zhou Tian's contribution at most extended to helping them spread their faith during peacetime. If they truly expected Zhou Tian to consider the Church's interests in everything and talk about a spirit of dedication, that was something past Zhou Tian could not do, present Zhou Tian could not do, and future Zhou Tian would likewise never do.

With the twelve divine statues erected around the capital, Zhou Tian instantly perceived the massive difference between the ten-million-each statues and the one-million-each ones.

The defensive power of each one-million statue was roughly equivalent to the peak of the Saint Realm, and working together, ordinary demigods would be no match for them. However, certain special demigods could likely preserve their lives under the statues' attacks, even if they couldn't destroy the Twelve Heavenly Fiends Demonic Array.

In contrast, the ten-million statues represented a qualitative leap compared to the previous ones. Not only did the ten-million statues possess the bodily strength of ordinary deities, but once deployed within the Twelve Heavenly Fiends Demonic Array, they truly gained autonomous combat capability. The twelve statues were equivalent to twelve deities. Although they possessed only the strength of ordinary gods, under the amplification of the Twelve Heavenly Fiends Demonic Array, Zhou Tian was confident that even an ordinary God King who fell into the array would undoubtedly suffer a peeled skin even if they managed to survive.

With the Twelve Ancestral Witches guarding the capital, coupled with the little divine tiger of unknown depth and unpredictable future growth, Zhou Tian was quite confident in the capital's defensive strength.

Having acquired self-preservation capability, Zhou Tian had no intention of venturing out again.

The outside world was far too dangerous. Although Zhou Tian grew rapidly with the help of the system, the time he had spent in this world was still far too short. No matter how fast his growth was, compared to the older generation of powerhouses who had cultivated for an unknown number of years, the gap between Zhou Tian and them remained substantial.

Enhancing his strength only required Zhou Tian to sit comfortably at home. The Trial Pagoda provided experience points to level him up, and the spiritual energy exchanged from acquired magic cores allowed him to purchase various items that strengthened his own power. Though his actual combat experience might be somewhat lacking, Zhou Tian was never someone who needed to charge onto the front lines. A slight deficit in combat experience could be overlooked; as long as his realm was high enough, his raw strength would be enough to crush veterans of a hundred battles flat.

Since he could elevate his strength without risking his life in dangerous training, why would Zhou Tian ever need to leave the capital?

Upon returning to the capital this time, Zhou Tian settled down peacefully to act as its lord. Doing very few official tasks each day, he either spent his time dallying with Aphra or nurturing the strength of his subordinates. Because of this approach, the professionals under Zhou Tian's command genuinely grew substantially in strength, one after another.

Teaching might not be Zhou Tian's forte, but cultivating a powerhouse was exceptionally easy for him.

So what if he couldn't teach properly? Zhou Tian had the system. Whether someone was a genius or a fool, as long as Zhou Tian favored them, a massive dumping of heavenly treasures would allow even an idiot to break through several realms and rapidly accelerate their strength.

While others kept all their rare treasures hidden for personal use, Zhou Tian squandered them recklessly like a prodigal son. Although outsiders viewed Zhou Tian's actions as extremely wasteful, Zhou Tian knew very well in his heart that his actions brought only benefits and no harm.

In fact, the subsequent impact of Zhou Tian's actions manifested before long. His ability to continuously provide heavenly treasures to his subordinates undeniably held immense attraction for independent professionals. Coupled with the capital's ever-growing renown, many professionals who had previously not pledged allegiance to other factions—either drawn by Zhou Tian's generous treatment or genuinely seeking a powerful tree to lean on—flocked to him. Amidst Zhou Tian's continuous prodigal spending, his professional forces swelled, and within just a few years, he truly commanded multiple armies composed entirely of professionals.

Aside from the burgeoning strength of the rank-and-file forces, Zhou Tian's most trusted inner circle had also made considerable progress over the past few years.

Take Aphra, for instance. As a Dragon Knight, she was still unable to unleash her full strength. Yet as Zhou Tian's closest companion, Zhou Tian was unusually generous toward her, having her consume physique-enhancing spiritual medicines and agility-boosting spiritual fruits daily. Although Zhou Tian had never actively boosted Aphra's cultivation realm, with the major breakthroughs in her physical constitution, her internal battle qi naturally progressed as well. Though still in the Saint Realm, Aphra had transformed from an early-stage Saint Realm Dragon Knight into a powerhouse capable of exerting peak Saint Realm strength even without her dragon.

Compared to Aphra, the progress of the others was somewhat slower. The only one comparable to her was Anna.

The effort Zhou Tian invested in Anna naturally could not match what he poured into Aphra, but Anna's innate talent far surpassed Aphra's. While Aphra's strength had never been left behind by Anna, Aphra had previously relied on her mount and now relied on Zhou Tian; overall, her ability to keep pace with Anna still leaned heavily on external forces. Anna, however, was an unadulterated genius.

Having become a Sword Saint before the age of twenty without much resource support, she had remained dormant for a time after losing her battle qi. Yet Anna's innate talent had never faded; under Zhou Tian's guidance toward an alternative path, she immediately laid bare her terrifying cultivation talent.

Zhou Tian had merely given Anna a manual of the *Minor Illusory Formless Skill* to make her switch to internal martial arts, never expecting that once Anna cultivated internal energy, she would smoothly find the correct developmental direction. Without further guidance from Zhou Tian, she discovered the martial artist's advancement method on her own. By now, her internal energy had begun to undergo a qualitative transformation, shifting from acquired true qi to innate true qi. The talent she displayed frightened even Zhou Tian when he heard about it.

When resources fell short, talent made up for the difference. Through her own hard work—though the help she obtained from Zhou Tian far lagged behind Aphra's—relying on her innate talent and the superior efficacy of internal martial arts powered by items from Zhou Tian's system, Anna's strength did not fall behind Aphra's. In fact, if the two—whose surface strengths appeared similar—were to actually fight, the probability of Aphra suffering defeat would likely be even higher.

Aside from Aphra and Anna, several early-stage Saint Realm professionals and thousands of quasi-Saints had emerged among Zhou Tian's subordinates. Once those individuals fully matured, the overall strength Zhou Tian wielded would undoubtedly shock all the factions across the entire Demon Moon Continent.

Yet, just as Zhou Tian prepared to continue developing in this tranquil fashion, an event after two years of quietude forced him to step out into the world once more.

"I never expected she would actually resort to asking me for help. It seems I have no choice but to intervene this time." Putting down the letter transmitted via the communication talisman Wu Zhao had given him, Zhou Tian sighed with a sense of sentimentality before considering his departure from the city.

The connection between Wu Zhao and Zhou Tian was not established overnight. Long ago, after Zhou Tian made a trip to the imperial capital of the Yanhuang Empire, he developed a special relationship with Wu Zhao. While a large part of the reason that event occurred was Wu Zhao's desire to utilize Zhou Tian, regardless of her initial motivations, since Zhou Tian was linked to her, he could not simply ignore her life or death.

Wu Zhao's letter reached Zhou Tian because her prolonged failure to bear children had intensified the voices calling for her dethronement within the Yanhuang Empire. Although the Emperor himself did not particularly care about the Empress's childlessness due to specific reasons, the overwhelming opposition from below compelled the Emperor—who had never held much genuine affection for Wu Zhao—to genuinely entertain those thoughts.

Wu Zhao herself commanded a certain faction of supporters; without them, she could never have ascended to the position of Empress. Yet now, due to her persistent failure to bear an imperial heir, many of the ministers who once supported her had changed their allegiances. While no major crisis had erupted yet, to prevent the situation from deteriorating further, Wu Zhao had no choice but to write and appeal to Zhou Tian for rescue.

Zhou Tian knew he bore the ultimate responsibility for Wu Zhao falling into her current predicament.

Initially, Wu Zhao had intended to select a man to couple with, and Zhou Tian merely happened to be chosen by her. Following her union with Zhou Tian, Wu Zhao had never sought out any other men, which ironically resulted in her childless state persisting right up to the present.

Zhou Tian did not know whether it was due to the system's body modification or the biological impossibility of offspring between human and beast; despite his diligent efforts in sowing seeds, he had not gained a single child by this point, and Zhou Tian simply could not find the reason. Though Zhou Tian possessed eternal youth and cared little for descendants, he could not stand by and leave Wu Zhao in such a predicament caused by his own involvement, forcing him to intervene.

At times, Zhou Tian felt that sleeping with someone else's Empress and subsequently meddling in the internal affairs of the imperial household was altogether too excessive. But since the interests of his own person were involved, he could only offer his apologies to His Majesty the Emperor of the Yanhuang Empire.

Naturally, while Zhou Tian intended to help Wu Zhao out, meddling too overtly in such matters was unseemly. Therefore, clutching the little divine tiger, Zhou Tian departed in secret, concealing his movements from everyone as he hastened toward Qilin City, the imperial capital of the Yanhuang Empire...

Traveling light and deliberately concealing his trail, Zhou Tian's departure from the capital went unnoticed by outsiders. Until Zhou Tian had already rested for a night within the imperial palace of Qilin City, everyone across the mainland likely still believed Zhou Tian was lingering safely inside his own capital.

After a night of unbridled passion, Zhou Tian calmed down. Exchanging a gaze with Wu Zhao, he asked: "How bad has your situation truly become? How many people are still willing to support you?"

Pondering for a moment, Wu Zhao answered honestly: "Originally, three tenths of the court officials supported me. Aside from a small minority backing certain imperial concubines, the majority of officials maintained neutrality. However, because those imperial concubines have successively given birth to imperial princes recently, many officials loyal to the Yanhuang Empire have defected to the side of the other concubines. The officials I can truly control now have already fallen to less than half of what they used to be."

Hearing Wu Zhao's reply, Zhou Tian cast a deep, meaningful look at her.

Officials could pledge allegiance to an emperor or an ambitious powerbroker, but women within the imperial harem—even an Empress—should naturally command very few die-hard loyalists among the officialdom. When ordinary officials supported a certain imperial concubine for Empress, it was usually driven by considerations of national interest or instructions from backing factions. For Wu Zhao to retain over ten percent of the court officials supporting her under such an unfavorable environment—such methods were far beyond what an ordinary woman could accomplish.

Zhou Tian did not know what methods Wu Zhao had used to rope in so many officials, nor did he have the inclination to ponder those questions. He only needed to know what capital Wu Zhao still possessed at present. As long as he could help Wu Zhao resolve this current trouble, he harbored zero interest in what Wu Zhao had done or what she planned to do next.

"If you still have that many officials supporting you, you should still be able to secure your position as Empress, shouldn't you? Tell me, why did you summon me here this time? I'm sure there must be other factors at play that forced you to seek my help!" Zhou Tian understood Wu Zhao; given her personality, she preferred to solve all troubles on her own. Asking for help was something she might tolerate, but begging was exceptionally difficult for her. Given the disposition of the Yanhuang Empire's Emperor, Wu Zhao must have encountered no shortage of troubles over the past few years, yet she had never made any requests of Zhou Tian. If she hadn't genuinely encountered a crisis she could not resolve on her own, Zhou Tian would never have believed Wu Zhao would appeal to him for rescue.

True to his expectation, upon hearing Zhou Tian's words, Wu Zhao quickly revealed the reason for her plea.

"If the decline were merely a reduction in supporting officials, it naturally wouldn't threaten my current position. But because of one damned woman, my days have become quite difficult." With that, Wu Zhao proceeded to relay the circumstances concerning that rival to Zhou Tian.

To put it simply, the woman making Wu Zhao's life so difficult could actually be considered her ancestral enemy.

The Yanhuang Empire had no shortage of powerful nobles, but apart from the imperial clan, the most influential noble households had always been restricted to two families: the Wu family, representing the military faction, and the Yang family, representing the civil official bloc.

While neither family belonged to the imperial clan, after generations of cultivation, both families wielded immense influence within the imperial court of the Yanhuang Empire. To safeguard their political voice, marrying into the imperial family naturally became something both families practiced in every generation.

The representative sent by the Wu family to marry into the imperial palace in this generation was none other than Wu Zhao. Conversely, the Yang family had also dispatched a female member of their household into the imperial palace.

Initially, the two women clashed over the position of Empress. Yet with their baseline conditions being quite comparable, Wu Zhao's methods were simply beyond what the other woman could withstand. Thus, after a few brief clashes, the Yang family's woman was defeated at Wu Zhao's hands, ultimately allowing Wu Zhao to ascend to the throne of Empress.

Under normal circumstances, given Wu Zhao's capability, that rival would never have found a chance to turn the tables. Yet who could have predicted that the Emperor of the Yanhuang Empire possessed peculiar tastes, preferring to neglect women altogether? No matter how capable Wu Zhao was, lacking the support of a marital relationship meant the Emperor would never show her any genuine closeness.

Furthermore, every empire upheld the strict rule that the inner harem must not interfere in state affairs. Without absolute certainty, Wu Zhao could not fully display her talents. Consequently, in the Emperor's eyes, Wu Zhao was no different from any of the other imperial concubines, holding no special status whatsoever.

Under such circumstances, the position of Empress of the Yanhuang Empire was determined less by the Emperor's decree and more by the respective methods employed by Wu Zhao and the Yang family's woman.

In terms of raw capability, Wu Zhao consistently suppressed that woman by a head. Yet the woman possessed one advantage over Wu Zhao: she would stop at nothing to achieve her goals. Now, seeking to defeat Wu Zhao and secure greater support for the Yang family, she had resorted to pulling all sorts of absurd stunts within the imperial palace.