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Huo Yuhao replied: “I will go back to Xingluo and tell Jiujiu and the others about the plans of the Sun Moon Empire and the Holy Spirit Church.”
After saying this, his figure turned into a star and disappeared into the night sky of Mingdu.
Demonic Forest, headquarters of the Holy Spirit Cult.
Ye Xishui, who was resting with his eyes closed in the hall, suddenly opened his eyes, frowned, and revealed eyes full of murderous intent.
In the darkness, Long Xiaoyao asked: "Xishui, what's wrong?"
"Those three slaves are actually dead." Ye Xishui muttered to herself in disbelief.
The restrictions on all members of the Holy Spirit Church were imposed by her personally, and she could faintly sense some unclear situations of the other party, including whether the other party was still alive.
The three Zhongli brothers are the former leaders of the Holy Spirit Church and the father of the current leader, Zhongli Wu. They are servants who were given their surnames and trained by Zhongli Laogui himself. They are considered the strongest under the worship of the elders and can hold back ordinary Titled Douluo in a single fight.
Moreover, the three Zhongli brothers almost always appear together. The combined combat power of these three Soul Douluo-level evil soul masters cannot be underestimated.
But now, the restrictions on these three people disappeared together, and disappeared very quickly.
There are only two possibilities to make this restriction disappear. One is to use a cultivation base and mental strength stronger than Ye Xishui's to forcibly erase it. Two is to kill the three Zhongli brothers.
Ye Xishui obviously thought it was the latter. If it was the former, it might be even more terrifying.
The three Zhongli brothers should not have left Mingdu yet.
It is not an easy task to kill the three Zhongli brothers at the same time in a short period of time. They are not only powerful, but also cunning by nature. Even if they are defeated, they are fully capable of protecting themselves and escaping.
In Mingdu, which force has the ability to keep them in an instant?
Pingfan League? Aodu Chamber of Commerce? Mingde Hall? The Royal Family? Or someone else?
No matter which situation it is, it means that a powerful force may have set its sights on the Holy Spirit Church.
Although the royal family is cooperating with the Holy Spirit Church, the only parties they are cooperating with are the old emperor, Xu Tianran and some other royal family members. It is not ruled out that there are masters in the royal family who are dissatisfied with them.
Not only the three Zhongli brothers, in fact, the restrictions of many evil soul masters also disappeared quietly.
Ye Xishui had never taken the deaths of those low- and middle-level evil soul masters to heart before.
Evil soul masters are hated by everyone. Once they are exposed while traveling on the continent, they are likely to be wiped out by some force. It is normal for the ban to disappear.
She never took these low- and middle-level evil soul masters seriously. They were just consumables anyway, and sooner or later more evil soul masters would join in to fill their gaps.
But now, Ye Xishui couldn't help but become suspicious.
How come so many restrictions disappeared quietly just after the soul-raising ceremony?
From now until the next competition begins, the church has issued a clear order that all evil soul masters must conceal themselves and slow down their training. After the competition is over, they will have plenty of opportunities to kill people.
If they hadn't exposed themselves, how come so many evil soul masters had died?
Someone is targeting the Holy Spirit Church.
Ye Xishui narrowed his eyes slightly, and after a brief thought and analysis, he quickly came to this conclusion.
After she pondered for a moment, she slowly turned around and walked out of the hall.
"Where are you going?" Long Xiaoyao asked.
"Let's go to Mingdu." Ye Xishui said softly, "The competition is about to start, let's go meet Kong Deming and Xu Tianran."
"it is good."
Long Xiaoyao responded, and disappeared in the hall at the same time as Ye Xishui.
Chapter 310 Conspiracy from all parties
One day later.
In the most magnificent and luxurious main hall of the Sun and Moon Palace, Xu Tianran sat in a wheelchair in the center, with Ju Zi, who was dressed in palace attire, standing next to him.
On the other side, there was a mysterious man shrouded in black.
The hem of the white robe perfectly covered Xu Tianran's empty lower body. Although he had to sit in a wheelchair because of his disability, all the ministers and officials in the court looked up to him.
"My dear ministers, let's adjourn the court." Xu Tianran said calmly.
Not far away, a guard displayed a loud voice: "Withdraw from the court——"
All the ministers in the court then retreated out of the hall one after another.
Xu Tianran sat in a wheelchair, looking down at the ministers who were slowly leaving the hall. His calm eyes contained unspeakable ambition and satisfaction.
This is what he has always wanted.
The old emperor's illness has become more and more serious. In the past few years, he could still force himself to walk around, but now he will stay in bed and recuperate unless it is necessary.
As the crown prince, Xu Tianran was appointed regent to handle government affairs on his behalf.
Looking at the luxurious palace, Xu Tianran's eyes became even more ambitious.
Now it is just a replacement, and soon, in a short time, these will truly belong to him completely, and he will ascend the throne to become the new emperor of the Sun-Moon Empire.
Under his leadership, the Sun-Moon Empire will annex the other three kingdoms in one fell swoop, unify the world, and let the light of the sun and moon shine on the entire Douluo Continent.
His gaze fell on several figures walking out of the hall from afar, and Xu Tianran's eyes suddenly became a little sinister.
With the power he currently controls, there are still some minor obstacles to his smooth ascension to the throne, mainly from three aspects.
One is the third prince and the fifth prince. The other princes and prince's sons who theoretically had the right of inheritance withdrew from the fight for the crown prince early on, but these two princes never gave up.
The second group is the civil and military officials in the court. Many of them may not dare to say anything because they are afraid of him, but they are quite dissatisfied in their hearts.
The third group consists of some princes and nobles who hold a high status in the royal family.
These three groups of people who opposed him came together unexpectedly.
Xu Tianran had a gentle smile on his face, but his eyes were full of coldness.
The Third Prince and the Fifth Prince have been keeping silent recently, not because they are willing to accept their fate, but because they are looking for the last chance to overthrow themselves.
Unfortunately, although Xu Tianran was cruel and ruthless, he was a suitable crown prince. He handled the government affairs in an orderly manner and avoided any gossip.
It would not be easy for them to launch a mutiny directly. Not only did Xu Tianran have more military power than them, he also had several Titled Douluo and ninth-level soul masters around him.
In addition, Xu Tianran himself is a genuine Titled Douluo.
At this time, the mysterious man in black on the other side of Xu Tianran spoke. This man was the leader of the Holy Spirit Church, Zhongli Wu.
He seemed to see through Xu Tianran's thoughts and said with a smile: "Your Highness, why do you have to worry so much? If there is any dirty work you don't want to do, just let our sect solve it."
Xu Tianran said: "Don't bother the Imperial Master. Tianran can handle this kind of small matter himself."
"What you have to do is to help me retain the participants from the three countries on the mainland in the upcoming competition."
"When I officially take the throne, I will declare the Holy Spirit Church the state religion of the Sun Moon Empire, and the leader will inherit the position of state master. And after I unify the continent, I will announce to the world that the name of evil soul master will be abolished, and you will be announced as the orthodox soul masters."
Zhongli Wu bowed and said with a smile: "Then I would like to thank His Royal Highness the Crown Prince first. Your Highness, I still have some matters to deal with in the sect, so please excuse me first."
After saying this, Zhongli Wu also left the palace.
There was a flash of coldness and fanaticism in Xu Tianran's eyes.
He and the Holy Spirit Church have always had a mutually beneficial relationship.
He needed the evil soul masters of the Holy Spirit Church as high-end combat forces to help him unify the continent, and the Holy Spirit Church could also walk under the sun with his tacit approval.
"Juzi, let's go back to the palace." When there was no one else in the palace except the maids and guards, Xu Tianran gave a calm order to the girl beside him.
Orange, who had been silent the whole time, finally spoke softly, "Yes, Your Highness."
……
After adjourning the court, the third prince Xu Tianci did not return to his own palace, but went all the way to the old emperor's bedroom.
"Please tell my father that Tianci is here to pay his respects to him."
The guards waiting in front of the palace were not surprised by his arrival. They saluted as usual but did not let him go. Instead, they said respectfully, "Your Highness, the Third Prince, His Majesty has rested. Please go back."
The third prince did not insist: "Thank you for your trouble. I will come to see my father tomorrow."
After he left, the guard shook his head with a sigh: "His Royal Highness the Third Prince comes to pay his respects every day. He is truly filial."
The Third Prince then returned to his own bedroom and sat in the study. The gentle smile on his handsome face was no longer there, but instead there was an irritability that could erupt at any time.
The simple and elegant decoration of the study could not calm him down, and the faint smell of incense was pungent.
He grabbed a book and was about to smash it against the wall.
At this moment, a maid walked into the study carefully and said softly, "Your Highness the Third Prince, Your Highness the Fifth Prince greets you."
The Third Prince then calmed down and said calmly, "Let Fifth Brother in."
"Yes."
The maid retreated, and after a while, the tall and resolute-looking Fifth Prince Xu Tianyi walked in.
"Third brother." The fifth prince's brows were filled with worry, "Father's illness...is getting worse and worse. It may not be long before..."
"By then, I'm afraid my eldest brother will really have to take over the throne."
The Third Prince said in a deep voice: "Do you think I don't want to overthrow him? But what capital do we have now?"
The fifth prince asked: "How is the military power distributed in the court now? How much military power do we have?"
The Third Prince gritted his teeth and said, "Xu Tianran now holds 30% to 40% of the military power, and another 30% to 40% is in the hands of my father. The two of us together hold less than 20% of the military power. The remaining less than 10% is in the hands of the border generals."
"Not only does he have military power, but we also have more strong men around us than him."
"With such a gap, what can we use to defeat him?"
The third prince's face was full of resentment.
The fifth prince asked again: "Father is now seriously ill and has no time to manage the military power. Is there a way to take over the military power in his hands and side with us?"
The Third Prince shook his head: "The generals under him do not stand on the same side. They are only loyal to the royal family, not to any of the princes."
The fifth prince was silent for a while, then hesitantly said, "Third brother, how about... we withdraw from the fight for the crown prince?"
The third prince frowned and looked up at his brother from the same father and mother. The latter had a tall and majestic figure, but his eyes showed retreat and fear.
He angrily cursed: "Are you stupid? It has come to this point, do you still think you can quit?"
"Are you willing to watch Xu Tianran ascend the throne, stay in Mingdu, and pay respects to him every day? Or are you willing to leave Mingdu and stay in your own fiefdom like my seventh brother?"
The fifth prince asked, "But, my eldest brother's succession to the throne is now a foregone conclusion, and almost all the ministers are on his side."