The Grand Heavenmaster’s expression had returned to normal, and it was impossible to tell what he was thinking. Looking at Bai Xiaochun, he coolly said, “Tell me your idea.”


    Bai Xiaochun took a deep breath, and then began to exin.


    “Grand Heavenmaster, I can give you an opportunity to have all of the nobility and aristocracy show for themselves how they feel!


    “Your humble servant is not perceptive enough to tell what those wily old foxes are thinking. But you, Grand Heavenmaster, can likely discern that from both their wording and the fluctuations of their divine souls.”


    At this point, Bai Xiaochun’s idea hade together. Eyebrows dancing up and down, he continued, “Your humble servant’s n is the type that will shake heaven and earth to the point where ghosts and gods will weep! It’s simply amazing! Call it a deadly move, if you’d like, something that can pierce through the hearts of men!” He even thumped himself on the chest to emphasize his words. Then he waited for the Grand Heavenmaster to ask him to exin the n in detail.


    However, after a long moment passed, the Grand Heavenmaster’s expression was still cid. Eventually, Bai Xiaochun started to feel a bit awkward. Clearing his throat, he shook his head and kept on speaking.


    “To employ this deadly move of mine, it’s important that all of the nobility and aristocracy be present. In fact, the Arch-Emperor also needs to be there. Grand Heavenmaster, is there any uing event or ceremony that everyone will need to attend?” Heart pounding in anticipation, he looked at the Grand Heavenmaster.


    The Grand Heavenmaster peered back at him for a moment before his eyes widened.


    “Next month, we have the ancestral sacrifices! Since you’re so confident, we can try out your so-called deadly move then, and see what happens.” The Grand Heavenmaster didn’t ask for any more details about the n. He flicked his sleeve, causing Bai Xiaochun’s vision to swim for a moment. When things became clear, he was outside of the imperial pce.


    “He didn’t even ask any details...? Don’t tell me he thinks I’m just grandstanding or something?” Looking back in the direction of Heavenmaster Hall, he snorted coldly in his heart.


    “When Bai Xiaochun makes a move, he frightens even himself! Ah, whatever. When the timees, I’ll show the Grand Heavenmaster and everybody else exactly how terrifying I am!” Brimming with confidence, he began to review his n, and before long, could visualize a whole series of scenes involving what would happen. He could hardly wait. He evenughed aloud at the mere thought of the wonderful things toe. Feeling splendid, he led his 1,000 corpse troopers back to the Inspections Manor.


    Back at the manor, he summoned Zhou Yixing over to give a debriefing. Then he assigned a location in the Inspections Manor to him, and went into his own hall to meditate.


    At the moment, he had no time or energy to spend on Song Que. He was fully focused on his uing n. In fact, as soon as the door of his hall closed, he called Bai Hao out of his soulhoarding pagoda and began to exin the n to him in full detail.


    As Bai Hao listened, his eyes grew wider and wider. In the end, he gasped.


    “Master... did you really think up this n?” he asked, sounding a bit uncertain.


    Bai Xiaochun was actually very pleased with Bai Hao’s reaction.


    “Of course Master thought it up!” he said, thumping himself on the chest. “What do you think? Awesome, huh?!”


    “This n... is ruthless!” Bai Hao replied with heartfelt admiration. “Especially considering that the Arch-Emperor will be there. I bet the nobility and aristocracy are going to go crazy.... Of course, the key to it all lies, not in the n itself, but in how perceptive the Grand Heavenmaster is.” With that, he and Bai Xiaochun worked together for a bit to perfect the n even more. In the end, Bai Xiaochun was very pleased with it all.


    “Time just moves too slowly sometimes. I wish the sacrifices were being held tomorrow!” Although he was feeling very excited, he managed to calm down eventually. Considering that he had just taken care of the heavenly marquises from the Li and Chen ns, he knew that the city in general would be in a bit of an uproar. Obviously, now wasn’t the time to go about making any further trouble. Therefore, he decided to go into secluded meditation for the next month.


    Back during thepetition with Sun Yifan and Sima Tao, he had reached the me Harmony realm and gained much enlightenment of seventeen-colored me. He had also made further advancement because of subsequent tests. Therefore, during his month of secluded meditation, he spent time to make even more progress.


    The month went by very quickly. During that time, panic built within Arch-Emperor City. The fact that the Grand Heavenmaster had arrested Heavenly Marquis Chen and Heavenly Marquis Li, and that their ns had been shaken down, was shocking news to say the least.


    All of the heavenly marquises in the city were nervous, and even the heavenly dukes were feeling the pressure. It was as if all of them could smell the reek of blood wafting through the streams of time from that original asion in which the inspectionsmissioner had wreaked havoc.


    Although all of them had been prepared for something to happen after Bai Xiaochun was appointed as the inspectionsmissioner, none of them could have guessed that it would happen so soon!


    The Grand Heavenmaster had moved with lightning-like decisiveness. Four hours. Four hours was all it took for two heavenly marquises to be implicated, and two entire ns to be shaken down and then imprisoned.


    The name of Bai Hao rocked Arch-Emperor City as violently as a windstorm. In fact, to many people in the know, it was obvious that the city hadpletely changed since he had arrived.


    “This Bai Hao... is a star of cmity that brings disaster with him....”


    “Ruthless! I was there when Bai Hao shook down those two ns, and let me tell you, he took everything, down to the grass!”


    “Well, you can’t me Bai Hao. There was always friction between him and the aristocracy. Eventually it reached the point where only one party coulde out on top.”


    All sorts of talk spread, not just in Arch-Emperor City, but in the Wilnds in general. The news even reached the cities belonging to the four heavenly kings.


    All of the chosen who had butted heads with Bai Xiaochun in the Necromancer Kettle were trembling in fear. The tragic fate of Li Tiansheng had them all on edge. Furthermore, their ns all instituted severe restrictions on them, forbidding them from going out into the city. Everyone knew that although they could secretly plot against Bai Xiaochun, they couldn’t make any open moves against him.


    Most of the parties involved all felt bad for each other, and were acting with full vignce. At the same time, their desire to kill Bai Xiaochun grew more and more intense.


    Furthermore, because no one dared to offend the Grand Heavenmaster, all of their killing intent came to be focused fully on Bai Xiaochun. Normally, the nobility and aristocracy were always at each other’s throats, but at the moment, they were all part of a strange alliance.


    It didn’t matter whether or not they were truly loyal to the Arch-Emperor. The fact that two heavenly marquises had been taken out had them all nervous to the extreme. Although some parties hoped that going to offer greetings to the Grand Heavenmaster would help, many of them were trying to figure out a way to have Bai Xiaochun killed.


    Unfortunately for those people, he stayed out of sight for an entire month. The people who wanted him dead couldn’t very well storm the Inspections Manor, and therefore, they could only watch time go by as the day of ancestral sacrifices neared.


    Everyone in the Wilnds took the matter of ancestral sacrifices very seriously. Whether it was the ns or the tribes, that day was a day of grand ceremony for the entire Arch-Emperor Dynasty.


    The Arch-Emperor was always present for such sacrifices, and that was an important factor, even though he was a mere puppet. Furthermore, unless there were some unforeseen circumstances, all of the nobility and aristocracy had to show up as well.


    The only major yers who wouldn’t be present were the four heavenly kings. They wouldn’te to Arch-Emperor City unless some sort of heaven-shaking, earth-shattering event urred.


    Of course the reason for that... was their very delicate rtionship with the Grand Heavenmaster. Although things seemed to be calm between the heavenly kings and the Grand Heavenmaster, if the heavenly kings ever came to Arch-Emperor City, and something went wrong, the implications could be very severe.


    Instead ofing personally, they would usually send their heirs apparent to represent them.


    The person to whom the sacrifices were offered... was none other than the first generation Arch-Emperor. It didn’t matter how many years had passed since his time, to the people of the Arch-Emperor Dynasty, that very first Arch-Emperor was the most ultimate of entities.


    Apparently, the ancestral sacrifices also had some connection to the Hell-Emperor. After all, whenever the sacrifices were carried out, heaven and earth would be split open to reveal the Underworld River inside of a massive vortex.


    The vortex would cover all of Arch-Emperor City, and would be filled with countless souls which would descend onto the city for the benefit of the people, who could simply reach out to take them.


    ording to the legends, a deva soul had once descended in such a fashion. Furthermore, it wasn’t just the nobility and aristocracy of the Arch-Emperor Dynasty who would participate in the event; themon people could do so as well.


    Of course, although the nobility and aristocracy would reach out and take the souls, most didn’t focus too much on that part of the event. To them, it was merely a good omen.


    When the day came to offer the sacrifices, all of Arch-Emperor City was filled with a very somber air. Families emerged from their houses and dropped to their knees on the street to kowtow to the heavens. At the same time, bells tolled in the imperial pce, filling the city with their sound.


    The heavenly marquises and heavenly dukes all donned their most formal attire and headed to the main square in the imperial pce, tranquil expressions on their faces the entire time....


    That was when Bai Xiaochun emerged from secluded meditation. As he did, it was impossible for him to conceal the expression of excitement and anticipation that appeared on his face as he looked up at the city in the sky.


    “I finally seeded with seventeen-colored me. And now, it’s time for the ancestral sacrifices....” Sighing, he flew up into the air, followed by 1,000 corpse troopers.