"Would Her Majesty really outdo her brother when it comes to stirring things up?"

Lei Jun asked, "I heard that over in the southwest, the trouble connected to the former Shengkang King from the previous dynasty had the shadow of the Five Clans and Seven Families behind it?"

Yuan Mobai said, "There were rumors it was related to the Southern Witch Sect, and others said it was the noble families of the Central Plains, but none of it was confirmed information."

Lei Jun raised his eyebrow, "Was this Empress the kind who couldn't tolerate the tiniest bit of sand in her eyes, or did she have some other plan in mind?"

In the Western Regions, East Sea, and Northern Lands, demon troubles had erupted one after another.

Even if some people did use it to push their own agendas, once chaos broke out for real, it really took time and effort to completely calm things down.

Therefore, at present in the Great Tang, whether the Tang Imperial Court or the noble clans, everyone wanted to recuperate, with no intention of rushing to wage war again in the short term.

The Empress stopping by the Celestial Master Mansion on her way back to the capital demonstrated that attitude too.

Of course, nothing fell out of the sky for free.

To some extent, this also tied the Celestial Master Mansion even more closely to the Tang Imperial Court, not letting the waves stirred by the Li Clan affect their relationship one bit.

Now, it was time for the Celestial Master Mansion to repay the favor.

The Empress's new Scholarly Mansion was not just targeted at the Confucian side.

If we didn't mind a little empty boasting, we could hang up a sign for a "Ten Thousand Tao Scholarly Mansion."

Of course, Confucian, Buddhist, and Taoist sects, as the three great schools of the era, would certainly still be the main pillars.

Compared to the late Emperor Zhang Qilong establishing the Suppressing Demon Guards back in the day, what Empress Zhang Wantong was doing now seemed a bit more refined and aboveboard.

But Lei Jun guessed that this new Scholarly Mansion would offend the Five Clans and Seven Families even more.

Alright, maybe it should be called the Four Clans and Six Families now?

*You could call Her Majesty a troublemaker, but she sure had exquisite timing.*

The three great Taoist Sacred Lands—Celestial Master Mansion hardly needed to be mentioned, Pure Yang Palace had always been close with the Tang Imperial Court.

The Mount Shu Sect, after its internal unrest, now leaned even more toward interacting with the outside world.

That made the Great Tang Imperial Court their absolute first point of contact.

As for the Buddhist side, the Bodhi Temple had just been wiped out, and the three remaining Buddhist Sacred Lands were all on edge, fending off the Confucian families on one side and the resurgent non-orthodox Buddhist sects, White Lotus and Great Void Temple, on the other.

Aside from increasing their own communications, they obviously needed to cooperate with the Tang Imperial Court even more, or at the very least, not work against each other.

And the Confucian families had just lost a big chunk to the Empress's poaching.

This Empress sure knew how to pick her moment.

*But if you called her a visionary, her steps really might be a little too big.*

The Great Tang had been rocked by upheaval, and now with this new move, things wouldn't be peaceful for a long time to come.

The major noble clans, even if they didn't openly raise all-out revolt, definitely wouldn't be sitting on their hands.

*Lei Jun even had his doubts—maybe the Empress had planned all this far ahead, and the noble clans caught wind and so brought back the old Shengkang King in the southwest as a counterattack.*

"General Shangguan came by this time to discuss just this matter with our sect, hoping we could have an elder go to the capital specifically to take part in the Scholarly Mansion's founding," Yuan Mobai explained.

The capital was a crucial place, so all the various factions paid attention.

The Celestial Master Mansion had a branch mansion in the capital, with a Talisman-bestowed Elder in charge.

But if something really big came up, they still needed a High Merit Elder, typically coordinated by Shangguan Ning.

And now, since the Imperial Court wanted a dedicated person in the capital, it pretty much meant that after the Scholarly Mansion's founding, this elder would be stationed there for a time as an instructor.

"To have our sect spread far and wide and pass the Tao to more people is a good thing, even if there are plenty of risks ahead," Yuan Mobai said calmly.

Lei Jun suddenly recalled that when the Empress came to Dragon Tiger Mountain, aside from the moderately good lot he drew during the ritual, there had been one perfectly neutral lot:

Actively reach out to the Tang Imperial Court, seek advancement—a Sixth-Rank Opportunity, with no immediate danger, but hidden trouble for the future, entanglements of cause and effect…

As expected, the next thing he heard was Yuan Mobai say, "The mansion has decided provisionally that Nephew Chongshan will go to the capital. He already knows and is considering it these days."

Shangguan Ning's top disciple was Lin Shan, Tao name Lin Chongshan.

Lei Jun said, "Jumping into this… it's a huge whirlpool."

Yuan Mobai said, "Nephew Chongshan has always been unafraid of responsibility. From what I know of him, he'll most likely go to the capital."

Thinking back on how Lin Shan had been eager to reach out to the Tang Imperial Court, Lei Jun couldn't say he was surprised.

It was just that back then, Lin Shan probably hadn't expected the Empress to pull something this big, so now he had to think thrice before making a move.

If he wanted to back out now, it wouldn't be too late.

But would he?

"Good luck, Lin Shixiong," Lei Jun said.

Yuan Mobai said, "There won't be many frontal attacks in the short run, but there'll be no shortage of hidden arrows."

The Scholarly Mansion's founding was sure to cause huge waves, but for now it was still a little boat that could quickly change course.

In that sense, it echoed what the late Emperor Zhang Qilong did with the Suppressing Demon Guards—starting simple.

Back then, when the Suppressing Demon Guards were set up, apart from the leading Suppressing Demon General being Seventh Layer of Heaven Realm, the representatives sent by each faction, like Li Xuan, were at most at the Middle Three Heavens cultivation.

Now, people like Lin Shan being drawn in for the new Scholarly Mansion were only at the Sixth Heavenly Realm.

The only one from the Upper Three Heavens…

"The Academy Libationer of the Scholarly Mansion is Scholar Xiao Chunhui from the Xiao Clan outside Long," Yuan Mobai said.

Lei Jun nodded.

Although it wasn't the main branch's current chieftain, Xiao Hang, but rather the illegitimate son Xiao Chunhui, whose status was hotly debated, as long as the Xiao Clan from outside Long was willing to teach commoner students openly, it meant they had well and truly strapped themselves onto the Empress's chariot.

It would be fine so long as the two sides didn't openly tear each other apart afterward.

If things really came to blows, the Xiao Clan from outside Long would likely become target number one for the other Four Clans and Six Families, maybe even more than the Tang Imperial Court itself.

Especially with their strength so heavily damaged by the earlier demon troubles in the Western Regions.

For the Celestial Master Mansion, having such a lightning rod around would be a welcome opportunity to recuperate.

But no one ever got all the benefits for themselves.

So with the new Scholarly Mansion opening, the Celestial Master Mansion had to get in on the action too.

*To be honest, Lei Jun actually was a bit interested in this Scholarly Mansion.*

*He'd always wanted to experience this world in its entirety and learn the wonders of all cultivation Tao heritages.*

*No matter what the Empress's intentions were, a place where a hundred schools gathered, talents from all around converged—the draw for Lei Jun was irresistible.*

But now was still not the right time.

Lei Jun steadied his mind and set the idea aside for now.

He focused on helping his Little Shijie Tang Xiaotang and Master Yuan Mobai to properly run the new Transcension Ritual.

After the ceremony ended, Shangguan Peng lingered for some days.

And Lin Shan made his final decision.

He would go to the capital and take part in founding the Scholarly Mansion.

Shangguan Ning and Shangguan Peng immediately sent word back to the capital city.

Soon, an official summons arrived, calling Lin Shan to the capital.

After completing the handover of his duties, Lin Shan set out for the capital city together with Shangguan Peng.

The position of Daoist Children Institute Chief Instructor that he vacated was temporarily filled by Ke Sicheng.

Ke Sicheng hadn't yet fully recovered from his injuries, but he was well enough for teaching work at the Daoist Children Institute.

*…Under these conditions, nothing else will go wrong, right?*

Elder Ke, self-mocking as always, went off to his new post.

Lei Jun kept up his duties at the Hall of Steward, and in his free time, focused on his own cultivation.

If there was a small episode in his life, it would be on that page of the Celestial Book.

Within the book's starry sky, all Seven Luminaries had finally gathered.

"I'd been in seclusion before this, left in a rush—sorry, everyone," Fire Yao said.

Having always watched their words and guessed at each other's identities, Lei Jun now found Fire Yao's straightforwardness a little strange.

*Was this guy just a really good actor, or…*

"It's only natural to focus on cultivation during seclusion," Shuiyao said suddenly, "especially since sometimes you've even got to guard against the risk of falling into demonhood."

Fire Yao said, "That wasn't an issue. I managed to cross the tribulation smoothly this time."

"…" Lei Jun felt even less at ease.

"Now that everyone's here, let's do what we've put off for so long," Riyao said, speaking up.

With all seven gathered, everyone wanted to further explore this illusory starry sky inside the book.

YueYao, voice steady, said, "My thought is, this first time, we go together—don't split up."

No one objected. Fire Yao asked, "So how do we do this?"

YueYao said, "Relax. Just do what we're doing."

Taiyang Riyao was the first to move.

The universe's starry sky seemed to tremble a little.

Lei Jun and the others all followed suit, letting their minds and awareness pour out from the star that represented themselves, spreading toward the universe as a whole.

With the universe in flux, the Seven Luminaries shone even more brightly.

Fire Yao followed YueYao's instructions and imitated the others.

The next moment, the Seven Luminaries seemed to leave their original positions and roam together through the vast sea of stars.

The universe was pitch-black save for specks of starlight.

With a thought, Lei Jun and the others moved at incredible speed, seemingly ignoring the distance of the void, quickly coming to other stars.

Though those stars were bright, they weren't like the Seven Luminaries, which were formed by human minds joined together.

"So far, it looks like just the seven of us here," Shuiyao said.

Mu Yao added, "If we observe these specks, we can compare them with the wonders of the Celestial Book and gain more."

Everyone agreed with that.

But Lei Jun in particular sensed even more.

He gazed at the starry sky ahead, and suddenly, it felt like a layer of darkness had fallen over his vision.

Because of it, as he looked at the endless starfield, everything shifted and changed again.

*That shadow really was fundamentally connected to the Celestial Book.*

The already black starry sky turned even gloomier.

The bits of starlight, on the other hand, shone all the brighter, standing out amid the darkness.

It was as if a vast Star River stretched out before them.

The others didn't say a word about it. Lei Jun kept silent too, feigning ignorance.

He just focused quietly on watching the vast Star River.

Looking from afar, one end of the Star River actually seemed to split into seven branches.

That made Lei Jun's heart stir.

He looked back toward the other end of the Star River.

But that end was engulfed in brightness, its destination hidden from view.

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