318: The insidious Han Li

The revelation that the Great Han Empire had a Prodigy at the Martial Dao Grandmaster level participating immediately set everyone off, and they all looked on with eyes full of disbelief.

But there it was, indeed, on the Great Han Empire's participant list: the words 'Martial Dao Grandmaster' were clearly visible.

Jiang Zhan!

This was an extremely unfamiliar name that almost no one had ever heard of.

In this world, most people who Cultivate the Martial Dao are sons of wealthy families, because ordinary commoners cannot even afford food, so they naturally have no extra energy to devote to the Martial Dao.

Therefore, any Martial Cultivator with even a bit of renown or powerful talent is usually very famous.

Yet, the name Jiang Zhan was far too unfamiliar to everyone.

The key point was that the opponent was a powerful Martial Dao Grandmaster!

Although their Great Qian Empire possessed a half-step Martial Dao Grandmaster, a half-step was still just a half-step; the gap between that and a true Martial Dao Grandmaster was still immense.

At the same time...

Many people also sensed something ominous in the air.

In the Great Han Empire, a gifted martial Genius could absolutely not be anonymous, yet no one had ever heard of him.

There was only one possibility!

The Great Han Empire had intentionally hidden him for the purpose of catching the Great Qian Empire off guard.

...

"Idiots! The Great Han Empire produced a Martial Dao Grandmaster under the age of twenty-five, and you were completely unaware."

The Emperor of Great Qian roared. Below him, several men dressed in black robes knelt on the ground, trembling incessantly.

If anyone with a keen eye saw them, they would know these were the Hidden Guards of the Great Qian Empire.

The Hidden Guards served only the Emperor.

They were also the eyes and ears of the Emperor of Great Qian; it was because of these Hidden Guards that he could stay within the imperial palace yet know all the major affairs of the world.

But now...

His supposedly omnipotent Hidden Guards had actually made such a blunder.

The Great Han Empire had produced a young Martial Dao Grandmaster, yet he knew absolutely nothing about it, only seeing it after the Great Han Empire sent over the participant list.

Among the three Great Empires of the Central Plains, although the Great Qian Empire was the strongest, the other two were only slightly weaker.

The significance of this Martial Dao Exchange Assembly was also incredibly immense. In this world, reputation is crucial, and the Martial Dao is currently flourishing.

Once defeated at the Martial Dao Exchange Assembly, it could even severely affect the nation's destiny.

One of the men kneeling below said with a trembling voice, "Your Majesty, your servant just went to investigate specifically. This Jiang Zhan is the disciple of the previous Great General of the Great Han Empire."

"Li Aohu's only son was killed during a Martial Dao Exchange Assembly, and he himself had an arm crippled by someone from our Great Qian Empire."

"This cultivation of Jiang Zhan was done intentionally; his strength was deliberately hidden from a young age, which is why your servants failed to detect it."

The Emperor of Great Qian's eyes were full of coldness. He stared fixedly at the three men below before finally saying in a cold voice:

"A mistake is a mistake. Do not give me such nonsense. Quickly, go find someone in the Great Qian Empire—a Martial Dao Grandmaster under the age of twenty-five."

"Also, the three of you go down and receive eighty strokes of the paddle. I will let it pass this time, considering your years of hard work and merit, but do not let there be a next time."

Hearing this, the three of them couldn't help but shudder and hastily bowed again:

"Thank you, Your Majesty."

They were all at the Grandmaster Realm and were commanders within the Hidden Guards with powerful strength; eighty strokes was considered a relatively light punishment for them.

But even so, their hearts were still terrified to the extreme.

As commanders of the Hidden Guards, they had done many dirty things for His Majesty. If they made multiple mistakes and led His Majesty to believe they were useless, there would only be a path to death.

After leaving Pingyang Hall, the three each received eighty strokes and then limped away, frantically searching the Great Qian Empire for a young Martial Dao Grandmaster.

Although the possibility was low, it was the only way for them to make up for their mistake.

The Martial Dao Exchange Assembly was very important. If the Great Qian Empire lost, it would inevitably affect the overall morale.

At the same time...

Mingyue Hall.

This was the residence of the Fifth Prince, Li Chengqian. Although the place wasn't large, there were quite a few maidservants, all of whom were quite beautiful.

These were all bed-warming maids specifically sought out by Li Chengqian; one could imagine how great his desires were.

However, after Su Chen arrived, the first thing he did was dismiss most of them, leaving only seven palace maids who were slightly more well-behaved.

Han Li stepped forward and bowed respectfully, saying, "Your Highness, the people have been contacted. However, there aren't many—only about three hundred—and not a single Martial Dao Grandmaster among them."

Su Chen nodded. This was a backup plan Li Chengqian had left for himself; he wasn't completely stupid and had been secretly preparing a fallback.

But it wasn't very useful.

"These people can't be relied upon. Do you have any other ways to successfully seize the throne?"

Although he had his own methods, he still wanted to hear Han Li's thoughts.

Han Li showed a look of contemplation: "My method is actually very simple: secretly Cultivate forces and wait until the various princes have almost finished fighting amongst themselves. Then Your Highness can go out and defeat them one by one."

Very good.

Steady!

Su Chen glanced at him and then nodded with a smile, because his thoughts were similar.

Without using his cultivation and relying solely on his wits, seizing the throne was truly difficult. One careless move and he could die.

Then it would be game over!

So Su Chen operated according to the most cautious logic from the start. As for participating in this Martial Dao Exchange Assembly, that was just the first step to making a name for himself.

To have one's own power in the court, one must show outsiders sufficient potential.

The potential to seize the throne!

But Su Chen always felt a bit uncomfortable. In his dictionary, there was never such a thing as being 'steady.'

Suddenly being forced to be steady made Su Chen feel like he had lost interest in this world.

It wasn't fun anymore.

Han Li suddenly said again, "Your Highness, I think we can make some moves regarding the Minister of Personnel."

Su Chen immediately showed a curious expression: "How so?"

Han Li continued, "The Ministry of Personnel is considered the head of the Six Ministries, controlling the power of life and death over many officials. It is a target that almost every prince tries to win over."

As he spoke, Han Li's voice grew quieter, as if feeling it was somewhat inappropriate. But after thinking for a moment, he immediately leaned in and whispered.

"Your Highness, I have researched a type of poison that even a Martial Dao Grandmaster would die from. If the dosage is controlled and my specially formulated antidote is taken, a person can remain unaffected and even strengthen their body."

"We can directly poison him. By then, his life and death will be at Your Highness's whim."

Han Li was already a Great Master of Alchemy. To him, formulating a bit of poison or an antidote was simply a routine matter.

Almost any few medicinal ingredients in his hands could turn into poison or medicine beneficial to the body.

Su Chen immediately looked up and stared at him with an incredibly strange expression.

You brat!

Utterly insidious!

...