Chapter 83 – Struggle of the Princes

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That these four ash-clothed men could enter the Seven Profound Martial House and directly view the ranking war was by the virtue of the Crown Prince’s relations. This was already the limit; they could not break the customs of the Seven Profound Martial House and contact Lin Ming in private at the Martial House, and try to win over talents.

In the Sky Fortune Kingdom, the Seven Profound Martial House was an aloof existence that was not under the jurisdiction of imperial authority. They were even without any legal restraints at all. This was mainly because the Seven Profound Martial House was under the subordination of the third-grade sect, the Seven Profound Valleys. The Seven Profound Valleys was a terrifying colossus that dominated the imperial authority! To put it bluntly, the Seven Profound Valley could easily abolish any crowned ruler of a country within a surrounding area of 200,000 miles!

If one didn’t obey orders, the Seven Profound Valleys could directly send out 3 or 4 Xiantian masters. These masters could enter and leave the Royal Palace with no resistance, and simply sever the emperor’s head as if it were just another day

To take a broader view of the entire Sky Fortune Kingdom, the most powerful warriors such as Qin Xiao, Muyi, and others, were around the middle Houtian stage. But this kind of person was already exceedingly rare, and most of them were gathered clustered together at the Seven Profound Martial House. Who they helped would be hard to say. With only a handful of middle Houtian stage masters to resist three or four Xiantian level powerhouses, how could they even think of retaliating?

So once the emperor revolted against the orders of the Seven Profound Martial House, he could only wait to die. Then the Seven Profound Valleys would appoint the Seven Profound Envoy to set up a new emperor. If the entire royal family were to revolt, then the Seven Profound Valleys might even exterminate the emperor’s entire clan!

With such a terrible existence that was beyond all common sense, the Sky Fortune Kingdom, including all nearby countries, regarded the Seven Profound Valleys as a sacred, inviolable temple and carefully tread around them without the least bit of resistance. And every countries’ precious medicines and true essence stones had to be sent in chests and given to the Seven Profound Valleys. They even had to send out manpower and labor to help the Seven Profound Valleys in mining.

As long as the Royal Family obediently followed all orders, and gave the resources, then the Seven Profound Valleys would not interfere in the internal affairs of the nation, and would even occasionally help them get rid of rebellions.

Of course, there was also a limit to their restrictions. If a monarch was dissolutely wicked and evil, or the government was incompetent, or the common folk could not live and would constantly rebel, then the Seven Profound Valleys would give up on the current government and set up a new dynasty.

The significance of the Seven Profound Valleys setting up Seven Profound Martial Houses in each country was for searching for talents and geniuses to bring to the Seven Profound Valleys, but it was also to monitor the various nations and to preside over them.

The main duty of the Martial House Master was not the daily teachings of the Martial House, but was instead taking care of the responsibility for the mining and acquiring of the country’s resources, such as true essence stones, rare and precious medicines, vicious beast blood, and other resources and materials that were constantly shipped back to the Seven Profound Valley

The Martial House Master and the Seven Profound Envoy had enormous authority in the Sky Fortune Kingdom. The Martial House Master was responsible for the gathering and collection of resources and management of the Seven Profound Martial House, and the Seven Profound Envoy was responsible for overseeing the Imperial authority. Their status even dominated that of the emperor!

It could be said that the Seven Profound Valleys was a gigantic blood sucking vampire that drew in all the resources of numerous countries in a 200,000 mile radius. However, this blood sucking vampire was just far too powerful, so no country dared to revolt. In fact, to the ruler of these countries, they would gladly sacrifice their country’s cultivation resources in exchange for stability in their land. To mortals, inexhaustible wealth, bevies of beautiful women, and supreme authority were perhaps more appealing than some true essence stones.

So facing the Seven Profound Martial House, the Royal Family did not dare to interfere, and also had to be careful around them.

But as long as there were people, there would also be relations and connections. The Seven Profound Martial House was built in the Sky Fortune Kingdom after all, and it was appropriate to spare the Royal Family a few conveniences, such as allowing some of the emperor’s relatives and juniors to enter the Human Hall as an exception. For instance, at present they had allowed two princes to send scouts into the Seven Profound Martial House to observe and watch the Ten Thousand Killing Array’s ranking war.

“Keep your spirits up; do not lose to the lackeys of the Tenth Prince!” The head of these four ash-robed men said. He appeared over 40 years old and looked completely ordinary.

“Yah!” The other three people said.

If the Crown Prince had sent people, then the Tenth Prince, who was competing for the throne, would naturally send some too.

The ones who need the support of powerhouses the most, was often not the large families, or the chamber of commerce, but the generals and princes!

The generals guarded the borders and frontiers. When they marched to war, they needed powerhouses to deal with the enemies and accomplish missions. They also needed to be strong enough to protect themselves and avoid assassinations.

As for the princes, they competed for the landscape of the state, and also needed the support of powerhouses to sweep clean all of their enemies!

Therefore, how could the people of the Crown Prince and Tenth Prince be absent?

Before Lin Ming, the ones who had received the most attention in the Seven Profound Martial House were Ling Sen, Ta Ku, Zhang Guanyu, and several core disciples.

Of the Martial House core disciples, if there were no ominous accidents in the future, they would undoubtedly enter the Seven Profound Valleys. Afterwards, they might stay at the Seven Profound Valleys, or even be appointed as a Seven Profound Martial House Master, or sent on other causes for the Seven Profound Valleys.

If they stayed in the Seven Profound Valleys, then their existence would be aloof and distant, and their relations with the Sky Fortune Kingdom would not be too big. But if they became a Seven Profound Martial House Master or a Seven Profound Envoy, then that would be extraordinary!

In the Sky Fortune Kingdom, the status of the Seven Profound Martial House Master and the Seven Profound Envoy exceeded the emperors!

It can be said that if a prince managed to win over a core disciple who one day might become a Martial House Master or a Seven Profound Envoy, then their chance of inheriting the throne would increase by 50%!

If they won over a core disciple who had already become a Martial House Master or a Seven Profound Envoy, then the matter of them inheriting the throne could already be considered settled.

However, all of the Seven Profound Martial House core disciples besides Qin Xingxuan had come from ancient martial families that had come to cultivate. They did not even belong to the Sky Fortune Kingdom; there was simply no hope in attempting to win them over.

Moreover, since they did not belong to the Sky Fortune Kingdom, in the future it was most probable that they would not return to the Sky Fortune Kingdom, regardless of whether they became a Seven Profound Envoy or a Martial House Master. As for Qin Xingxuan, she was in a similar situation. With a sixth-grade talent, she had resolved to pursue the Xiantian path, and most likely would later stay at the Seven Profound Valleys.

Since there was no chance of winning over core disciples, what was left over were naturally the top Ranking Stone masters of the Heavenly Abode.

However, it was a pity that Ling Sen and Ta Ku were people of the military. They were talents of the southwest armed forces of Eighth Prince Yang, and had no chance of being won over.

As for Zhang Guanyu, this person’s family background was the chamber of commerce. The chamber of commerce had been able to exist for a very long time to the present day. A behemoth that could stand so long naturally had a self-preservation instinct to not stick their head out in places they shouldn’t, so they would never under any circumstances participate in battles of the throne.

For matters like this such as where struggling dragons fought to snatch the throne, if they succeeded they would be able to make a name for themselves, but the chamber of commerce was already fabulously wealthy. They simply did not need any rewards of titles. Instead, if they overreached their influence and failed, then their entire family’s properties would be confiscated, and all nine generations of their family would be put to death. So Zhang Guanyu would not join any major powers, and instead devote his life to only the chamber of commerce.

In this time where the throne was changing, suddenly appeared Lin Ming who came out like a dazzling supernova. Even if Lin Ming’s talent was limited, he might surprise everyone in the future. Some of the princes would spare no expensive in winning over Lin Ming. If this miracle continued, then in the end he would become a preeminent master who would surpass Ling Sen and Ta Ku.

As for becoming a core disciple, they had never considered this. After all, Lin Ming’s qualifications were just too ordinary.

A quarter hour before the Ten Thousand Killing Array was about to start, the ash-robed leader of the four detectives under the Crown Prince’s command suddenly moved his face, and whispered, “Lin Ming came.”

“Cheer up!”

“Yah!”

“For this mission, we must be successful, we cannot fail! Even if we do not win over Lin Ming, we absolutely cannot let him fall into the hands of the Tenth Prince, otherwise, we will bring our heads to the Crown Prince!”

“Yah!”