Chapter 246 - Planning an Assassination? Lu Xiaofeng and the Others Shift Their Perspective, Rank 8

Yuan Dynasty Military Tent.

Temujin looked at the ranking and shook his head.

"Fang's strategy and Du's decisiveness? Compared to my Yelu Chucai, they're not worth mentioning."

"Even two unknown nobodies can take Rank 9. My minister must be better than them!"

"Vast Sea Dynasty... hmph, I will never lose to them."

"One day, I'll wipe the entire Vast Sea Dynasty off the map!"

He truly despised the Vast Sea Dynasty from the bottom of his heart.

At first, he didn't care much about the Vast Sea Dynasty.

In his original plan, once he destroyed the Southern Song Dynasty, the Yuan Dynasty's strength would grow immensely.

After that, his next target would be his old nemesis, the Ming Dynasty.

But now?

His plan was shattered by the sudden rise of the Vast Sea Dynasty.

Not only had his army suffered heavy casualties, but the nation's strength had taken a huge hit.

Even if he did manage to defeat the Vast Sea Dynasty, for the next few years, he would no longer have the confidence to conquer the entire Ming Dynasty.

His hatred for the Vast Sea Dynasty had now surpassed even that of the Ming Dynasty, becoming his top priority enemy.

"National Master, do you think we could capture those two and bring them to the Yuan Dynasty? Or perhaps even kill them? Would that be possible?"

"If we succeed, the National Fortune of the Vast Sea Dynasty would surely suffer, and we'd eliminate two major threats."

"Khan, absolutely not!"

National Master Phagpa quickly stepped forward to stop him.

It seemed the recent defeat had completely clouded Temujin's judgment.

He was even entertaining such foolish ideas.

If they resorted to assassination, whether it succeeded or failed, it would provoke the wrath of the Vast Sea Dynasty.

If the Yuan Dynasty could assassinate, why couldn't the Vast Sea Dynasty do the same?

Not to mention, the Vast Sea Dynasty had guests at the God Demon Realm.

If they sent a God Demon Realm cultivator to assassinate Temujin, even he wouldn't be able to stop them.

Phagpa knew very well just how many powerful figures the Vast Sea Dynasty had.

There were even plenty of individuals stronger than him.

Assassination was worse than the worst plan.

He had no wish to see a repeat of what happened with the Shaman Great Priest.

Seeing Phagpa oppose so firmly, Temujin looked a bit disappointed.

But he couldn't refute it.

In his heart, he became even more determined to destroy the Vast Sea Dynasty as soon as possible.

No matter the means, at any cost.

==========

Ming Dynasty.

Jiangnan, a very elegant restaurant.

Yuan Suiyun, Lu Xiaofeng, Chu Liuxiang, and the others sat around a large wine table.

At this moment, everyone looked visibly excited.

"Lu Xiaofeng, how much did your cultivation improve during your recent closed-door training?"

"Hehe, just one step away from reaching Great Perfection Great Grandmaster."

"Sigh, the reward from the Azure Dragon Association's recent mission was too generous. I thought it would take at least a year or two to achieve this, but in just three months, the progress has been astonishing."

"Now I finally understand why those guys in the Azure Dragon Association are so enthusiastic about taking missions!"

"The resources rewarded are just far too helpful for cultivation."

"Even I nearly broke through my mental bottleneck."

"Lu Xiaofeng, the previous mission for the Qing Dynasty was a major one, personally assigned by the Emperor. That's why the rewards were tripled."

"Some treasures, unavailable to the outside world, were even offered as prizes."

"Under normal circumstances, we wouldn't have had such an opportunity."

"For instance, the spiritual treasure you exchanged for, normally, you wouldn't even qualify to redeem it!"

"Only Azure Dragon Association's high-level members have unrestricted access."

"Ximen Chuixue, Third Young Master, Yan Shisan, what about you three?"

"Your contributions in the last mission were greater than mine. You killed more enemies too. How were your rewards?"

"Half-step Land Immortal Realm. Once I break through the bottleneck, I'll step into the Heavenly Human Realm!"

"Same for me. But unfortunately, I set my eyes on a certain sword technique and didn't have enough merit points. Otherwise, I'd have already reached the Heavenly Human Realm."

"I've been eyeing a top-tier lightness skill. Compared to my current Treading Moon Fragrance, it's two tiers higher."

"Such a pity though, also lacking merit points."

"Only after truly joining the Azure Dragon Association did I realize how deep its foundations are. It's not something an ordinary sect can compare to."

"I've been in the Azure Dragon Association for less than a year, and my rate of improvement has already surpassed years of prior effort!"

"So this is the Azure Dragon Association's foundation?"

"We need to work harder too. In the Martial World, we're seen as geniuses, but in the Azure Dragon Association, we're nothing special."

"If we don't put in the effort, we might end up mediocre."

"Let's set a small goal first, reaching the Land Immortal Realm!"

"Huh? Branch Master Yuan, why haven't you said anything all this time?"

Lu Xiaofeng glanced at Yuan Suiyun, who sat silently with his head lowered, and teased him with a smile.

At first, Lu Xiaofeng and the others were not very satisfied with Yuan Suiyun.

Especially after learning through special channels that Yuan Suiyun was once the infamous "Bat Prince" of the Martial World, they liked him even less.

However, after working together on a mission within the Qing Dynasty, they built rapport through cooperation.

The earlier grudges faded.

Now, they could even laugh and joke together.

At least before any conflict of interest arose, they could be considered friends.

More importantly, they belonged to the same branch.

They would rise or fall together.

It was better to maintain a good relationship.

Especially during the last mission, Yuan Suiyun, as their Branch Master, had gained the most.

His cultivation had soared rapidly.

He had directly reached the Heavenly Human Realm.

He was now a new key figure under the Azure Dragon Association's spotlight.

They had begun grooming him specifically.

Because the last mission was under the command of Fourth Dragon Head, everyone in Yuan Suiyun's branch was now considered the Dragon Chief's direct subordinates by other branches and halls.

With people supporting them from above.

From then on, they would also get access to some high-value missions.

"Lu Xiaofeng, now you should understand how important completing tasks is within the Azure Dragon Association, right?"

"There's a new mission now, personally assigned by the Fourth Dragon Head."

"Are you interested?"

"Of course, the rewards won't be as generous as the last one."

"Last time was special, as it was issued by His Majesty, and the rewards were tripled."

"But this time, the task was issued by the Azure Dragon Association's upper echelon!"

"Even so, the rewards are still extremely attractive for us!"

"Branch Master Yuan, stop beating around the bush. Just tell us what the mission is!"

"As long as it's not asking us to kill a Land Immortal, we're good!"

Yuan Suiyun smiled slightly, pulled out a letter from his robe, and handed it over.

Lu Xiaofeng took it, scanned through it, then passed it to Chu Liuxiang and the others.

Soon, everyone had finished reading it.

The atmosphere suddenly turned solemn.

"The Northern Song Dynasty?!"

"Didn't expect the Azure Dragon Association to have such deep influence even in the Northern Song Dynasty."

"Even more surprising, an internal rebel army in the Song Dynasty is actually ours."

Lu Xiaofeng was speechless with amazement.

He realized that his usual tricks and small cleverness were nothing compared to these true power players.

He had only ever solved minor cases, causing some small-scale disturbances.

Involving, at most, a few dozen or a few hundred people.

Compared to the Azure Dragon Association members, he couldn't even be measured on the same scale.

They dealt in tens of thousands, even hundreds of thousands, utterly outrageous.

"This mission is very dangerous, but if we succeed, the benefits are massive."

"Let's do it!"

"If we pull this off, a few among us will definitely ascend to the Land Immortal Realm."

Even though Lu Xiaofeng and the others hadn't reached the Heavenly Human Realm yet, they were already more than enough for the Half-step Land Immortal Realm.

"Alright, I'll report to the Fourth Dragon Head shortly. After that, we'll all head to the Northern Song Dynasty."

"For the foreseeable future, we'll be operating there."

At this point, Yuan Suiyun looked up at the Golden Ranking high in the sky.

His expression turned serious.

"The future will be a time of chaos across the Nine Provinces."

"For us, it's both an opportunity and a challenge!"

"Whether we rise or not depends entirely on ourselves."

"In the future, not just the Heavenly Human Realm, even the Mythical Realm and God Demon Realm aren't out of reach!"

Thinking of those on the ranking at the Mythical Realm and God Demon Realm, even the proud Yuan Suiyun looked full of longing.

He too wanted to appear on the Nine Provinces Ranking, to become one of those ranked.

Compared to that, worldly wealth and power meant nothing.

Not just Yuan Suiyun, Lu Xiaofeng, Chu Liuxiang, Hua Manlou, even those usually calm and composed, were filled with anticipation.

"Huh? The ranking just refreshed again?"

"Who made it onto the ranking this time?"

Lu Xiaofeng asked curiously.

In the sky, the Renowned Minister Ranking began to glow brightly.

New characters appeared line by line.

==========

[Renowned Minister Ranking – Rank 8]

[Wei Zheng]

[Nation: Tang Dynasty]

[Potential: Capable of becoming a Renowned Chancellor of the Nine Provinces]

[Governance Capability Rating: Five Stars]

[Strength: Second-Rate]

[Reward: 1x Top-Tier Civil Minister Skill Card, 1x Spiritual Power Enhancement Card, +5% National Fortune]

==========

"Wei Zheng? I know this person!"

"His name is famous not only in the Tang Dynasty but throughout the Nine Provinces."

"He was a famous Admonish Minister under Emperor Taizong Li Shimin."

"He was truly a great official!"

The eighth rank was awarded to Tang Dynasty's Wei Zheng.

Even Lu Xiaofeng, Hua Manlou, and the others couldn't help nodding in approval.

They had heard of Wei Zheng's deeds.

And deeply admired him.

Though his administrative ability might not surpass the Prime Ministers of other dynasties in the Nine Provinces, no one could match him when it came to remonstrating with the Emperor.

Wei Zheng offered countless bold, intense, and persistent admonitions to Emperor Li Shimin, unmatched by any other Imperial Court official.

He managed to make an Emperor like Li Shimin listen, his wisdom and methods were certainly extraordinary.

To be ranked on the Renowned Minister Ranking was something the people of the Nine Provinces willingly acknowledged.

"Sigh, you must have heard, we in the Ming Dynasty also had a steel-willed Admonish Minister!"

"You mean Hai Rui, right?"

"Indeed, Hai Rui is no less than Wei Zheng. But the Ming Emperor is no Li Shimin. He's not someone Hai Rui can reason with."

"In that sense, Hai Rui falls short."

"That's true."