After the fairy disappeared

Chapter 2705 The Heavenly Demon's Scheme

The Pantheon has publicly posted these accusations on both sides of the steps of Xushan Mountain, inviting all Lingxu people and distant visitors to verify and investigate. The Bega people are also welcome to continue providing any clues about the dereliction of duty by the divine servants, and the Heavenly Palace will definitely investigate them thoroughly.

"Truly impressive," Wen Daolun murmured. "This isn't a softening stance, but rather a counterattack from the Heavenly Palace!"

For many years, the Demon Emperor has been sending people to collect outrageous crimes committed by temples and servants of gods in various places, and then releasing them all at once to become a powerful tool for public opinion to attack the Heavenly Palace's power.

If the Demon Emperor can sway public opinion to one side, even if it's just a temporary reversal of fortune, it might be able to launch a decisive counterattack against the Heavenly Palace forces, just as He Lingchuan predicted. This is because the Demon Emperor already possesses the two powerful weapons of war and force.

The Heavenly Palace, or rather the Heavenly Demon, likely foresaw this and understood that the most important thing to do at the moment was not to confront the enemy head-on, but to find a way to appease the people, alleviate their anger, and quell the public opinion disputes.

After all, Bekaa is still a kingdom ruled by God. A tradition of over four hundred years cannot be changed overnight.

After all, the source of the people's anger came from the debauchery and absurdity of the divine servants, not from the gods themselves—the gods could not descend, and the common people could not come into contact with them.

This is the weakness of the Demon Emperor's plan: it cannot directly target the gods, but only their subordinates, the Heavenly Palace, and their servants. Therefore, to the common people, since the gods have punished their corrupt and depraved subordinates, they remain holy and righteous.

Justice has been served, and it was done by the divine hand. Shouldn't the believers be moved?
Therefore, the momentum of the Demon Emperor's attack was curbed to some extent by the Heavenly Palace.

He Lingchuan immediately said, "I saw the execution list from the Heavenly Palace. The highest-ranking person on it is the Lamp Bearer of Xushan. There are also some in the temples in various places, but compared to the huge corrupt team, they are just a drop in the ocean. The Heavenly Palace does not really want to cleanse its own team. It just pushes a few unlucky people out to be beheaded in order to temporarily quell the anger of the people."

Wen Daolun also agreed: "It's just a delaying tactic."

"The best way to deal with this kind of trouble is to 'delay' it. If we delay for a few more months, the common people will forget about it; if we delay for a few more months, the conflict between the Heavenly Palace and Lingxu City may also be resolved."

Zhong Shengguang spoke up: "Why do you say it can be resolved in a few months?"

"Have you ever had someone research the 'Qianchang' formula?"

“I did look for it, and I gave it to Lingshan.” Zhong Shengguang suddenly realized, “That’s right, according to Lingshan’s feedback, it shouldn’t be long before they develop the antidote. But how did you know that?”

He Lingchuan touched his nose: "Xin Yi told me."

Sorry, Xin Yi, can you be my shield one more time?
The second unexpected development in the intelligence was that the demon kingdoms of the Heavenly Palace system, such as Aoling and Bolang, suddenly responded to the order of Lingxu City and sent their powerful main combat legions to the Panlong battlefield in the west!
Originally, Lingxu City used war as a pretext to send its main army on an expedition to Panlong, intending to weaken the internal defenses of these vassal demon kingdoms. Once the Demon Emperor rebelled, he would first send troops to capture the leaders of these countries, and without their most powerful armies, their resistance would inevitably be greatly reduced.

The demon kings understood this as well, which is why they consistently resisted Lingxu City's orders.

However, this gives Lingxu City a reason to issue them a final ultimatum before the war, since accompanying the emperor on the expedition is the duty of the vassal demon kingdom, which cannot be shirked.

The situation between the two sides was already on the verge of exploding. Zhong Shengguang had even discussed with He Lingchuan whether Lingxu City would take down the demon kings of the Heavenly Palace system first, or take down the Heavenly Palace directly. However, several demon kings suddenly changed their minds and obeyed Lingxu City's orders, so the latter had no reason to send troops to attack them.

Of course, the Heavenly Palace added another condition: the vassal states of the Demon Emperor's faction must also send out their full forces to participate in the Western Expedition, and could no longer pretend to participate as before.

The Demon Emperor had no objections to treating everyone equally.

Therefore, armies from various countries set off one after another to rush to the Panlong battlefield.

Zhong Shengguang asked He Lingchuan, "What do you think of these demon kings suddenly abandoning their own safety?"

"Of course they were unwilling, but this must be a forced order from the gods, or even an instruction from the Holy Venerable Lingxu, and they had no choice but to obey." The life of the Demon King was in the hands of the Holy Venerable Lingxu, at least until the antidote for "Heartbreak" was invented.

"The gods told them to give up resistance?"

These are all major pieces of news, and He Lingchuan is also pondering and digesting them: "Yes. In this way, following the Divine Servant incident, another major conflict between the Heavenly Palace forces and Lingxu City has been temporarily eased."

"The Heavenly Palace has actually lowered itself; what exactly does the Holy Venerable Lingxu want to do?"

“There must be something going on.” Wen Daolun pondered. “If what Lingshan said is true, and it only takes a few months to develop an antidote for ‘Heartbreak,’ then it means that the demon kings of the Demon Emperor’s faction will soon break free from the control of the gods and join the Demon Emperor in rebelling against them. Even if the Demon Emperor doesn’t act up by then, the gods will not tolerate it.”

This is not something that can be changed by the will of either party, but rather an inevitable consequence of the power struggle reaching a certain point.

He Lingchuan wondered, if he were the Holy Venerable Lingxu, what would he do in this situation?

Zhong Shengguang said, word by word, "Beijia is the weapon that the Holy Venerable Lingxu uses to control the human world, and we must not let him break free. Therefore, these few months are a precious window of opportunity. If I were the Holy Venerable Lingxu, I would have to take back control of Beijia before the antidote for 'Heartache' is available."

"How can this be done?" Wen Daolun frowned. "The hearts of the people of Bega are broken; a broken mirror cannot be mended. The Demon Emperor will not willingly submit to control; everything can never go back to the way it was. Hmm, unless—"

He glanced at He Lingchuan: "Is that possible?"

“Nothing is impossible. In the deepest power struggles, how can people not die?” He Lingchuan walked to the edge of the sand table and stared at the map of Bega. “The gap between Lingxu City and the Heavenly Demon has become a chasm, and the Heavenly Demon’s rule is on the verge of collapse. If the Holy Venerable of Lingxu wants to completely control Bega, the only way now is to kill the Demon Emperor. Because the Demon Emperor’s restlessness is the root of all this trouble.”

"If He wants to deal with the Demon Emperor, why did He send the main battle armies of the vassal demon kingdoms to the Panlong battlefield instead?" Wen Daolun felt a sense of unease, like a bystander caught in the crossfire. "Isn't He afraid that the Demon Emperor will take over these vassal demon kingdoms as well?"

"The Demon Kingdom is subservient to Lingxu City and follows the Demon Emperor's orders, showing no signs of rebellion. What excuse does the Demon Emperor have to launch such a large-scale invasion?" External conquests require excuses, let alone civil wars. "If it wants to take over the Demon Kingdom, it needs a more legitimate reason."

"But the Holy Venerable Lingxu forced those demon kings to send out their main forces, which must mean he was calculating his own gains and wouldn't let the Demon Emperor benefit for nothing."

(End of this chapter)