The Regressor of Mount Hua-Chapter 281. The Dark Heavens Association Rears its Head (2)

"Secondary Class Rank Seven Upper Grade Investigating Censor Lu Cun, Gansu Province's Standard Class Rank Three Official Regional Military Assistant Commissioner Po Jun, Standard Class Rank Six Upper Grade Registrar of the Registry of the Censorate Xun Yingguan..."[1]

Nangong Weiwu let out a groan.

"Putting Blessed Existence and Destructive Soldier aside, the identity of the Dark Heavens Association Lord is unexpected. Although I may not have seen him in person, considering how he defeated the Heavenly Demon, I assumed that he would be on the level of a Commissioner-in-Chief, or even a prince, considering his incredible power..."

A Commissioner-in-Chief was a general of the highest military rank, equivalent to the Five Military Commission's highest-ranking Standard Class Rank One Official Commander-in-Chief.

"If he was a Commissioner-in-Chief, the scrutiny and suspicion surrounding him would have been severe, hindering his movements," Zhuge Xiang explained.

That position granted full authority to mobilize troops at will. As the highest military rank, it was constantly monitored—not only by the imperial court but by all other officials as well.

In the first place, the Dark Heavens Association, an organization founded to try to escape and hide from the emperor's purge, wouldn't have brought in an official at the level of a Commissioner-in-Chief.

"Being a prince wouldn’t have been ideal either. The current emperor purged all his nephew’s supporters as soon as he ascended the throne. As for the emperor’s own children, given the timeline of the Dark Heavens Association’s formation, they would have been too young. Moreover, they would have been under intense scrutiny due to the fight for succession, making that an equally poor choice."

Life as the emperor's child was crueler than one might imagine.

Even if one had no intention of ascending the throne, it was common for the crown prince to carry out a purge after ascending the throne as a precaution.

"Compared to that, working in the Censorate is the best choice. Although in the Censorate, Xun Yingguan, Lord of the Dark Heavens Association, was only a Standard Class Rank Six Upper Grade Official, he was still an official in charge of the records of the Censorate, a supervisory agency of the imperial government."

The Censorate evaluated the performance of investigative censors and other officials, giving it authority over many government offices. Even high-ranking officials would tense up or act humbly when dealing with someone from the Censorate.

"Yes, if he was an official in charge of records, he could have used the information reported to the emperor by the censorate or the information gathered under investigation as a weakness to take advantage of the situation."

Nangong Weiwu exclaimed in admiration.

"In terms of rank, while there were three officials above him, Standard Class Rank Two Official Censor-in-Chief (都御司), Standard Class Rank Three Official Vice Censor-in-Chief (副都御史), and Standard Class Rank Four Official Upper Grade Assistant Censor-in-Chief (僉都御史), they held as much power within the palace as the Commissioner-in-Chief and thus had the same level of oversight. Moreover, since they were deeply involved in politics, holding a higher rank would have been more of a burden than an advantage."

Zhuge Xiang finished speaking and took a deep breath.

"I wish we could attack them immediately."

Nangong Weiwu licked his lips regretfully.

"While I completely understand how you feel, the situation doesn’t allow for it. Blessed Existence has already left Hanlin Academy and disappeared. As for Destructive Soldier, the Regional Military Commission is on high alert after the Regional Military Commissioner’s mysterious death. And the Censorate... well, that doesn’t even need explaining. More importantly, they’ve likely anticipated their identities being exposed and are acting accordingly."

Zhou Xuchuan shook his head.

The Dark Heavens Association Lord and Blessed Existence had taken the greatest risk when they accepted the Heavenly Demon as Warped Valor. There was no way that they hadn't realized that yet.

"Then, you're saying that we can't do anything even though we know?"

"No. It's the opposite. Just knowing about it will tie up the Dark Heavens Association's hands."

"...?"

"They're currently being watched by the Martial Alliance, the Evil Valley, and other intelligence organizations. If they move recklessly, their location, actions, or weaknesses will be discovered."

Blessed Existence wasn't a fool who would let his plans be read. Of course, while he could theoretically leak information to lure his foes into a trap, the gains would be too small compared to the cards he would have to show.

Rather than taking such a risk, it would be better for them to cut their losses and prepare thoroughly for the final battle with everything they had accumulated so far.

"In the past, when the majority of their members were imperial officials, things might have been different. However, now that the Dark Heavens Association wasn't an imperial government force but a murim one, if they act rashly, they could even attract the emperor’s attention. If their existence or what they had acquired by exploiting corruption as a weakness or what they had secretly stolen from the Imperial Repository were exposed, they would be doomed."

"That's something we don't want either."

Zhuge Xiang shuddered as if he didn't want to even imagine it.

The Dark Heavens Association had to be finished by the murim. If the Emperor heard about its existence, even if it was an enemy force of the Four Great Powers, they would still be caught up in a plot of treason, accused of hiding the Dark Heavens Association's identity on purpose.

"Then what should we do next?" Nangong Weiwu asked Zhou Xuchuan.

"If it's okay, can I make a guess?"

When Zhuge Xiang asked, Zhou Xuchuan nodded.

"First, we have to make the Dark Heavens Association the public enemy and announce an alliance with the Evil Valley to prepare for war."

Zhuge Xiang raised his right fist, opening his fingers one by one.

"Second, we will also keep an eye on the movements of the officials."

"That's right. Considering their plans are led by Blessed Existence, we can exploit their overconfidence and take advantage of their weaknesses."

Avaricious Wolf had taught Zhou Xuchuan how dangerous overconfidence was. He had to examine every possibility.

"Third, the Poison Dragon, Avaricious Wolf, Tang Mingren's elimination, right?"

"Yes. Additionally, we must destroy and reorganize all the confidential information Tang Mingren might have had access to."

"...whew."

Zhuge Xiang let out a deep sigh. His handsome face was darkened with frustration. It was heartbreaking that all of the information they had collected so far was now useless, and thinking about having to reorganize everything made his head hurt.

In order to hide information that Tang Mingren or the Black Shadow Division might not know, he had to discard every existing method and create new ones.

Moreover, in order to avoid having the existing information stolen, they had to quickly reorganize their intelligence structures, which was by no means easy.

Not only did he have to classify, discard, and rewrite tens of thousands of documents, he had to create a new encryption method.

"A long road of burdens lies ahead."

Nangong Weiwu smiled bitterly. The Martial Alliance Leader's Nangong Weiwu smiled bitterly, while the Martial Alliance Leader’s expression was just as grim.

Even if Zhuge Xiang and the other strategists devised new encryption methods, every step of the process would require the Martial Alliance Leader’s approval.

"Come to think of it, I heard you've been smart since you were young, Xuchuan..."

"No. That's completely false."[2]

The moment Nangong Weiwu tried to extend a hand for help, Zhou Xuchuan seriously shot him down.

What, you think I'm insane? Why would I do that?

Just one glance was enough to see the overwhelming workload ahead. He had handled administrative tasks before, back when he was one of the Five High Elders of Mount Hua, so he had a pretty good idea of what the future held for them.

Zhou Xuchuan sincerely pitied Nangong Weiwu and Zhuge Xiang. His sympathy overflowed like a river.

"I really would like to help, but I have work to do."

"Are you telling the truth? You wouldn't be lying, would you?"

Nangong Weiwu glared at him with suspicion.

"It's not like this 'lie' would be any safer, anyway."

Zhou Xuchuan shrugged and smiled.

"What work do you have to do?"

"I have to deal with Tang Mingren's Formless Poison."

"Hmm."

As Zhou Xuchuan answered with a serious expression, Nangong Weiwu’s face hardened.

"So, that’s the poison powerful enough to affect even a Coruscant Realm Master and one of the Seven Empyrean Overlords?"

"Even if it was a surprise attack, that poison truly isn't ordinary."

Zhou Xuchuan was being serious. Tang Mingren's Formless Poison was dangerous.

Zhou Xuchuan wasn't just anyone but one of the Seven Empyrean Overlords and an Absolute Master of the Coruscant Realm. Yet, even he had been poisoned by it.

Moreover, he not only had the Thousand Poisons Immunity but also cultivated the Green Eyes Ten Thousand Poisons Art, a poison art comparable to divine arts. And yet, even he was still poisoned.

This chapt𝙚r is updated by freeωebnovēl.c૦m.

Yes, he didn't expect the man to have been a traitor, leading to him letting his guard down. However, the power of that poison was still truly amazing.

He still got goosebumps when he thought back to that time.

Even though I still don’t even know what kind of poison he used...

The moment he realized he was poisoned, he had considered using Regression, but the betrayal had shaken him too much to react properly. By the time he could think clearly, the poison had already reached his brain. His body instinctively prioritized detoxification, leaving him unable to activate Regression in time.

In the end, even his heart had been destroyed. Once his heart was torn apart, he had lost consciousness.

On top of that, Tang Mingren’s attack had been executed in a way that perfectly countered his Regression.

While Manifestation of One's Path can be used regardless of the amount of qi I have left, as long as I have the mental power, it can't be used when facing attacks that have a high chance of instantly killing me, such as getting decapitated, losing my brain completely, or losing my heart.

The principle in the way it worked was that if he couldn't form the Path itself, the connection between the mind and the heart, implementing his Manifestation was impossible.[3]

Still, Regression only requires the smallest fragment of existence. In the end, I only survived thanks to the Divine Pill of the Au Co.

He had actually only survived thanks to the regenerative ability he had gained from consuming the Divine Pill of the Au Co.

It was thanks to it that, even though his heart had been completely destroyed, he was able to survive long enough to regenerate the parts of his heart attached to his arteries. It was because of that regenerative ability that he was miraculously able to manifest his Regression through his broken consciousness as Little Ghost carried him down the cliff.

Anyway, even if he was vigilant and never let his guard down, he still needed to prepare himself for Tang Mingren's nameless Formless Poison.

"Since Avaricious Wolf is Tang Mingren, while he would also definitely have the support of the Dark Heavens Association, his foundation is still in the Sichuan Tang Family."

Even though Zhou Xuchuan cultivated the Green Eyes Ten Thousand Poisons Art, his knowledge of poisons was no match for the Tang Family. He was thinking of going there and asking for advice.

"That works out well. We needed to investigate the Tang Family anyway."

The Tang Family's Little Patriarch was one of the leaders of the Dark Heavens Association.

It was only natural that they would become the subject of an investigation.

"Moreover, since the whereabouts of the Poison Dragon are unknown, and the Tang Family's Poison King is demanding an explanation, may I ask you to explain it to him instead?"

"Ahem. I understand."

"I'll send a letter in advance to give them a rough explanation, so don't worry too much."

Tang Hui's face flashed through Zhou Xuchuan's mind. He was a little worried about how she would react if she heard the truth.

***

Sichuan Province.

Clang!

"This... this is outrageous...!"

The head of the Tang family, Poison King Tang Youqi, trembled in anger.

The teacup he was holding shattered into pieces. The broken pieces and the tea dripped from his hand, mixing with his blood.

"Mingren is one of the leaders of the Dark Heavens Association?"

Was Tang Mingren just an ordinary son?

No, he was a member of the Five Dragons and Three Phoenixes, a member of the Black Shadow Division, and the Little Patriarch of the clan.

Yet, rumors had spread that he had disappeared. Now, it was confirmed—he had gone missing.

Finding it strange, Tang Youqi reached out to the Martial Alliance, only to receive a letter stating that his son had betrayed the Alliance and nearly killed Zhou Xuchuan in an ambush.

"What sort of shit!"

Tang Youqi let out a shout of anger. Possibly because he unconsciously circulated his qi, poison qi leaked into the air.

The poisonous mist spread through the air, engulfing the potted plants near the window. The plants withered and rotted down to the roots in an instant.

"Don't make me laugh!"

Was he denying the crime his son had committed?

"How dare you ruin the family that we have inherited? You traitorous bastard!"

No.

As a father, he didn't trust his son at all. On the contrary, he was more furious than anyone else at the betrayal.

"As the Little Patriarch of the Tang Family, you've enjoyed your rights to the fullest. However, now you decide to abandon your duties?! You should be ashamed! You've trampled all over the efforts of the Tang Family and everything we've sacrificed overnight!"

"Eeek!"

The screams of the vassals could be heard from outside as the Tang Family shuddered at the rage of the Poison King.

"Attention!"

"Y-yes, Patriarch!"

"The Sword God will be visiting the Tang Family in the near future, so prepare to welcome him."

"Please leave it to us!"

"And prepare one of our unmarried young girls with a pretty face."

"Yes...?"

"The Sword God... no, no matter how much of a fanatic Zhou Xuchuan is, he's still a man and definitely won't be able to resist a beauty."

We have to bring him in as a son-in-law.

When Zhou Xuchuan had visited earlier, Tang Youqi had wanted him because of his Thousand Poisons Immunity, but because of the boy's age and the fact that he was a sect's disciple, he had given up on him with slight regret.

However, that wasn't the case anymore.

He had to bring him into the family as a son-in-law at all costs.

It wasn’t just anyone who betrayed us—it was the Little Patriarch. There’s no way we can avoid the Martial Alliance’s suspicion. We must bring in the Hero of the Righteous Faction, the Sword God, as a son-in-law to escape this crisis.

Fortunately, the Tang Family had a connection to the hero, who was rumored to dislike traveling.[4] Especially since there were rumors that he was in love with Poison Phoenix Tang Hui, who was also one of the Five Dragons and Three Phoenixes. It was truly a good opportunity.

"Tang Hui, call over that child first."

1. This is the official title lmao. ☜

2. You don't understand how hard it was not to just translate this to, No I'm a complete dumbass. ☜

3. The word for path is literally heart-mind. ☜

4. When did this become a thing? ☜