Chapter 391: Duchy Holy Sanctuary

*"Dominion of Nine Heavens"* Find the latest chapters!

Moments later, Imperial Lord Indra and Lucky Heaven entered the hall one after another.

"Greetings, Your Majesty!"

Indra's gaze swept over the assembly. Unlike the solemnity he displayed in court, his expression now radiated warmth and clarity, making it hard to believe he was among the rare few who had reached the Dragon Pinnacle. "No need for formalities. Shaluoya, your *Asura Path* is quite extraordinary. However, the *Ghost-Level Path* you’ve chosen has never been walked before. Even I cannot be certain of its nature. Only remember this—never lose your true self on an unfamiliar road. Be the master of your own way."

"Thank you for your guidance, Your Majesty."

Indra smiled again and turned to Hei Wu Kai. "You are the one who puts my mind most at ease, Hei Wu Kai. Still, do not rush your progress."

"Yes." Hei Wu Kai nodded, falling into thought.

"Longmoer, your thoughts are scattered—a strength, yet also a shackle... What surprised me most this time was Note. Your journey to Rose brought the greatest harvest..."

"Ah?" Yin Yue blinked. She felt no noticeable change in herself. Her rune studies were still half-baked, and compared to Senior Brother Wang Feng, she seemed to know nothing at all.

"Heh, you may not feel it yet, and there’s no need to overthink it. Just continue as you are," Indra said with a faint smile. The Gandharva clan’s cultivation focused deeply on the inner soul, and Note was the purest songstress the Gandharva had seen in a century—the one most likely to harmonize with heaven and earth through music and reach the pinnacle. *(Note: Gandharvas are celestial musicians in Buddhist cosmology.)*

As he spoke, Indra offered careful comments on each disciple. Mo Tong grew increasingly restless, but Indra left him for last. Glancing at him, he said, "Mo Tong... Well, just focus on staying alive."

"Huh? Your Majesty, I—"

Hei Wu Kai quickly covered Mo Tong’s mouth. The Emperor’s meaning was clear—Mo Tong followed the Mahoraga clan’s famed path of *ascension through physical cultivation*. Unlike the Gandharva, who struggled with inner demons, or the Asura, who faced difficult paths, or even the Yaksha, whose power depended on bloodline, the Mahoraga simply honed their bodies through battle-hardened refinement to reach the peak. Of course, many Mahoraga who walked this path tended to have short lives due to recklessness. *(Note: Mahoraga are serpent deities in Buddhist tradition.)*

Mo Tong was displeased. He knew the Emperor had nothing more to say to him. Yet despite not reaching Ghost Level this time, his progress had been immense. As Wang Feng would say, at least acknowledge me...

Indra smiled faintly. "Very well, you may ask your questions now."

"Your Majesty, could you explain how to resolve the inner demon of wrath?" Puni from the Garuda clan asked first.

"Wrath is the sublimation of the seven emotions. To dissolve it, one must begin with the *seven emotions and six desires*—the foundation of mortal attachments." *(Note: In Daoist philosophy, the 'seven emotions' include joy, anger, sorrow, fear, love, hate, and desire; the 'six desires' refer to sensory cravings.)*

This gathering was, in truth, a master’s tutelage session for the empire’s next generation. Those who received Indra’s teachings would be considered his disciples, bound by loyalty to follow his will. It was also an opportunity for the scions of various clans to deepen their understanding and forge bonds.

Soon, everyone except Mo Tong had their questions answered, with Indra offering his full wisdom in response.

"Mo Tong, do you have a question?"

"I do, Your Majesty!" To Indra’s surprise, Mo Tong—who had never asked anything before—stepped forward eagerly. "Your Majesty, why are beastmen considered lowly? The ones I met in Rose weren’t as revolting as I’d believed."

A heavy silence fell. In the Datura Empire, beastmen were not merely lowly—they were synonymous with filth.

"No matter how noble one’s birth, without power, they become more worthless than roadside weeds," Indra replied indirectly, his tone calm.

Mo Tong scratched his head but did not press further.

Indra surveyed the group. "That concludes today’s session. Hei Wu Kai and Longmoer, remain. The rest may leave."

"Yes, Your Majesty!"

Everyone else bowed respectfully and withdrew. As Shaluoya stepped out the door, he cast a meaningful glance at Hei Wu Kai.

Indra smiled faintly. "Longmoer, Hei Wu Kai, I wish to learn about the League of Blades and Dragon City. Having experienced it personally, you must have insights."

Indra probed deeply, guiding them gradually from surface recollections to buried details long faded from memory.

"Lucky Heaven," he added, turning toward her, "what are your thoughts on this Wang Feng?"

Lucky Heaven, who had been waiting aside, was slightly taken aback. Her opinion?

"He's talented."

"Is that all?"

Lucky Heaven thought back to her first private meeting with Wang Feng, when he had lifted a small corner of her mask...

"And daring... Brother, now isn't the time for this. We should focus on the prophecy."

At the mention of the prophecy, Longmoer’s eyes flickered briefly, while Hei Wu Kai remained calm. Let the experts handle complex problems.

Indra smiled faintly. He believed in the prophecy, but...

"A prophecy doesn’t equal destiny. Even if it is fate, it's not set in stone. Plus, some things can change fate."

Longmoer’s gaze sharpened. "Your Majesty, you're referring to the legendary Nine-Eyes Heavenly Soul Orb?"

That sparked a flicker of interest in Hei Wu Kai as well. "The legend of the Nine-Eyes Heavenly Soul Orb is real?"

Indra nodded. "The Nine-Eyes Heavenly Soul Orb is the Paragon Sage’s sacred treasure used to stabilize the world. It is said that most of his power came from it. And each orb holds a unique secret."

Hei Wu Kai’s thoughts were straightforward. "Then just gather them all."

Longmoer shot him a glare. "It’s not that easy. Word is the orbs are scattered across the world. The ones we know about are held by top-tier powerhouses."

Indra smiled. "Correct. Besides me, one belongs to the figure from the Nine Gods, another to Dark Hall’s Qian Yuqian, and one was passed down by the Paragon Sage to the mermaid race. If memory serves, it should now be in the hands of the current mermaid queen."

Longmoer, hearing such secrets for the first time, had a gleam in his eyes. "They say the Nine-Eyes Heavenly Soul Orbs stabilize the world’s fortune. If Qian Yuqian has one, then with the world’s blessing, no crackdown on Dark Hall will ever stick!"

"Precisely," Indra said, giving Longmoer an approving look. One reason he kept him around was because the Longxiang clan had always been staunch allies of the Celestial race.

"Lately, a new Pearl surfaced, but unfortunately, it was seized by a mysterious figure." Indra’s eyes darkened with suspicion. Every faction was hunting for this thief, yet all leads had gone cold.

"That leaves four unaccounted for. Legend says that gathering all nine Heavenly Soul Orbs can overturn fate and alter fortune..." Longmoer remarked.

"I’ve already dispatched the Heavenly Guards to search, but these are celestial treasures—only those with great destiny can obtain them."

Lucky Heaven nodded. Such blessings of fortune couldn’t even be vaguely traced by the Great Prophecy Art. Sending the Heavenly Guards was a shot in the dark, but at this point, there seemed no better option than to rely on luck.

She recalled her master’s dying words: *Mankind’s our last shot*, and Aurora City is key...

"Brother, should we stay out of Rose’s affairs?"

Indra chuckled. "Wang Feng’s a real character. Two straight wins already. For now, let’s watch. As long as Karida’s safe, the conservatives are the ones sweating. If Wang Feng keeps winning, who knows—this nobody could actually upend the League of Blades’ power balance."

Hei Wu Kai grinned. No wonder the Emperor had asked so many questions about Wang Feng earlier. His buddy’s the real deal. Old Wang’s got chops—it’s just too bad he caught Black Hole Syndrome… Guess the heavens hate a legend?

Longmoer, however, remained indifferent. He couldn’t stand flaky outsiders like Wang Feng—it was all just dumb luck.

Lucky Heaven didn’t care whether Wang Feng was reliable or not. But since even her elder brother had dismissed him, she shelved her Aurora City worries for now.

Indra grilled Hei Wu Kai and Longmoer further before dismissing them.

Seeing this, Lucky Heaven started to leave as well, but Indra stopped her. "Little Lucky, we can’t put off your wedding forever."

Lucky Heaven sighed. She’d seen it coming the moment she woke up that morning.

"Brother, I want to be a saintess and give myself to the empire."

Indra shook his head, "Impossible. I won't allow it. Without the Heavenly Soul Pearl to glimpse the heavenly path, you won't live past thirty."

Lakshmi opened her mouth slightly. As a princess of the celestial race, she bore great honor but also immense responsibility—even her brother Indra was no exception. He had been fond of Karida, yet back then... he had no choice but to let her go.

As for Lakshmi's potential marriage candidates, there were only a handful worthy across the entire Nine Heavens world.

The prince of the Sea Dragon Clan, the grandson of the Holy City’s Sanctuary Master, and the Ninth Prince of the Nine Gods...

Before going to Rose, she hadn’t resisted much. But now, for some reason, after experiencing a life of flesh and blood, she felt a strong aversion to this unfamiliar, rigid arrangement. She wanted to find balance, even convince herself, but the more she tried, the fiercer her resistance becomes.

…………

The evening’s drinking was inevitable. The Fire God people loved wine, fun, and revelry. Aside from the Fire God Team members, several disciples from the Fire God Sanctuary had come to “keep them company”—but to think they were merely there to socialize would be a grave mistake.

They were there to outdrink them!

For the Fire God people, matches could be lost, but the drinking table must be won! Old Wang was no slouch when it came to holding his liquor, and after their awakening, Kela, Wu Di, and Fante Xi could down alcohol like water. Yet even they couldn’t withstand the Fire God Sanctuary’s relentless assault. That fair-skinned, delicate-looking Chai Jing turned out to be a monster when drinking—half-pound tankards, downed in one gulp. Arm in arm with Ah Xi, he managed to turn the once-iron-livered Fantasi—who could supposedly handle a thousand cups without falling—into a puddle of mush on the floor.

Valaroca was far more reserved. Chatting with Wang Feng about the upcoming battle against Londom, he offered quite a few helpful pointers.

Among the 108 Holy Sanctuaries, the Winter Holy Sanctuary was a rather special case. Like the Ice Spirit Holy Sanctuary, Dragon Moon Holy Sanctuary, and Debon Holy Sanctuary, it was established within one of the League of Blades’ great duchies, colloquially known as “Duchy Holy Sanctuaries.” Though nominally under the jurisdiction of the Holy Sanctuary headquarters, in reality, the duchies held greater authority over these “Duchy Holy Sanctuaries” than the headquarters did.

Take Ice Spirit and Dragon Moon, for example—they remained unaffected by the so-called conservative and reformist factions at headquarters. Their closeness to Rose was purely because of Wang Feng. As for why Londom had joined the Holy Sanctuary’s Light in condemning Rose, it was simply because they were sworn enemies with Ice Spirit. In the end, it all came back to Wang Feng—not some ideological conflict.

The grudge between Londom and Ice Spirit ran deep. Before the Supreme Sage Teacher emerged, Londom was the most renowned and powerful ice kingdom on the continent, producing nearly half of its ice witches. The greatest ice sorcerers of each generation all hailed from the Londom Empire. Back then, Ice Spirit was nothing more than an alliance of three small villages on the fringes of Londom—Snow Village, Great Sun Village, and Frost Winter Valley—hardly worthy of being called a kingdom.

But after the Supreme Sage Teacher appeared, due to his romantic involvement with the Snow Village princess—the first Ice Spirit Queen—Ice Spirit established itself as a kingdom and rapidly rose to prominence, usurping Londom’s position as the continent’s foremost ice kingdom. At one point, it even annexed nearly a third of Londom’s territory. Though the Blade Alliance was later formed, with both duchies joining and borders being drawn to halt the conflict, this generational enmity remained forever entrenched. Whenever Londom had a chance to trip up Ice Spirit—even if it brought no benefit—they would eagerly seize it. In short, as long as Ice Spirit was unhappy, all of Londom was thrilled.

After chatting with Wang Feng for a while, Valaroca increasingly found the Rose captain’s thinking unconstrained and unconventional. His reckless arrogance and irreverence seemed only superficial—there was no true malice in his bones. Instead, one could sense approachability and insight.

This was a man who lived true to himself, straightforward and interesting. It seemed the entire alliance had misunderstood him. At least in this moment, Valaroca felt Wang Feng’s acceptance of beastmen wasn’t due to the so-called “benefits” or “sucking up to Karida” as outsiders claimed. A single glance at the genuine reverence and admiration in Wu Di and Kela’s eyes when they looked at Wang Feng was proof enough.

Valaroca didn’t bring up Londom’s strength or tactics. With an intel expert like Winnie Lee on Rose’s side, if they wanted, they could probably even find out what color underwear Londom’s team members wore.

“Londom may not be Rose’s political enemy within the Holy Sanctuary, but their hatred for you likely surpasses even that of the other sanctuaries. They definitely won’t approach this as a mere friendly match,” Valaroca smiled. “I believe you can handle it, but be careful.”

“It’s just a match—we’ll do our best,” Wang Feng laughed it off. “Speaking of which, your Fire God Sanctuary’s higher-ups seem pretty unhappy with Rose. Aren’t you worried about getting reprimanded for bringing a whole crew to drink and have fun with us?”

“Disagreements are normal, but this match proved your strength—at least it showed you weren’t wrong. Besides, we fight hard on the field but make friends off it,” Valaroca grinned, exuding boldness. “And let’s be real—whether it’s me, Chai Jing, or Nailuo Luo, we represent the future of Fire Mountain’s strongest families. Right now, we’re practically peerless within our clans. What can the elders really do to punish us? We might not sway their choices yet, but power will eventually pass to us. Honestly, I’m in your corner. The Holy Sanctuary’s been stagnant for too long—it needs vitality!”

Wang Feng paused, then quickly caught on.

He’d thought Valaroca was just a straightforward guy who followed his instincts and moods. But that assumption had been disrespectful.

Power always shifts between generations. This seemingly easygoing Fire God Sanctuary captain was no obedient lapdog waiting for his elders to hand him authority. He knew exactly how much influence his team members held in their families and was constantly pushing against his elders’ boundaries. Clearly, he had no intention of walking the same old path—he likely wanted to pull Fire God Sanctuary out of the power struggle between conservatives and reformists, maintaining independence like the Duchy Holy Sanctuaries. Or perhaps... he had even greater ambitions.

This was a man with strong convictions, ideas, and no shortage of brains, strength, or courage.

A true talent!

“Gutsy!” Wang Feng laughed heartily, raising his glass. He’d underestimated this Fire God captain. “Then to your success!”

“And to Rose plowing through all challenges and smooth sailing!”

“Cheers!”