The solar eclipse phenomenon that opened up the Fang Cun Secret Realm has lasted for a full seven days.

Throughout the history of the Xuanhuang Realm, there has never been a solar eclipse lasting such a long time.

The people of the Xuanhuang Realm also experienced shock at the beginning, panic in the middle, and finally getting used to it.

The seemingly terrifying seven-day solar eclipse actually did not bring much serious impact to the people of the Xuanhuang Realm.

After experiencing the various changes brought about by the spiritual energy tide, the people of the Xuanhuang Realm have become extremely receptive to such extraordinary phenomena.

Compared with the demons attacking the city and the ghosts wreaking havoc, this solar eclipse did not bring any real disaster except that the absence of the sun made daily life inconvenient.

The only place in the entire Xuanhuang Realm that was deeply affected by the solar eclipse was the capital of Daxia.

Daxia, the imperial capital.

The black hole sun that was transformed from the entrance to the Fang Cun Secret Realm was still hanging high in the sky. Under this black sun, tens of thousands of soldiers wearing rune armor were patrolling and on guard in the imperial capital.

He Shao, one of the Nine Ministers, rode a spirit beast and led a group of military practitioners to patrol the imperial city.

Seven days ago, with the opening of the Fang Cun Secret Realm, thousands of powerful practitioners broke through the blockade of the Imperial Capital Array and rushed into the Fang Cun Secret Realm.

Emperor Xia realized that this was a great opportunity, so he decisively ordered the mobilization of forces from the entire dynasty to complete the re-establishment of the City Gods before the end of the secret realm. In order to ensure that the lighting of City God incense could proceed smoothly, he took the initiative to cede the position of City God to local tyrants.

This crazy move caused a lot of criticism from both the government and the public, but in the end it was Emperor Xia who overruled all opposition and unified the will of the government and the public.

Soon after Emperor Xia's decree was issued from the imperial city, an unexpected accident occurred.

Hundreds of practitioners were eliminated by the Fangcun Secret Realm in the first hour and voluntarily withdrew from the secret realm trial.

Although the vast majority of cultivators were independent practitioners, the sudden appearance of so many cultivators still had a huge impact on the entire imperial capital.

In particular, Emperor Xia wanted to take advantage of the fact that many cultivators went to the secret realm to plan the re-establishment of the city gods, but the sudden return of these cultivators destroyed Emperor Xia's original plan.

After all, no one can tell whether there will be monks from the sects or masters of spiritual cultivation who will return early and affect the current situation.

Emperor Xia decisively ordered the eight legions in Jingzhou to enter the imperial capital and use the imperial capital's formation to block the exit of the Fangcun Secret Realm. If any cultivator escaped from the secret realm, they would be suppressed immediately.

In just one day, nearly half of the practitioners were eliminated and returned to the imperial capital. Among them were true disciples of sects and aristocratic families. The intensity of the competition far exceeded Emperor Xia's expectations.

Just when everyone thought that the powerful people from the sect who returned later would destroy Emperor Xia’s plan, suddenly no more trial-takers withdrew from the Fang Cun Secret Realm.

For six consecutive days, no one escaped from the Fangcun Secret Realm, which made the Great Xia court quickly breathe a sigh of relief and step up preparations for the re-establishment of the city gods.

Inside the imperial city, a ninety-five-meter-high altar has been built. At the bottom of the altar, there are three thousand six hundred and fifty incense burners, which are used to offer Mingshendao incense, symbolizing the three thousand six hundred and fifty city god temples in Daxia.

Most of the incense sticks in these incense burners have been lit. Wisps of green smoke rise from the incense burners to the top of the altar. The shadow of a temple that seems to be made of gold appears and disappears among the incense.

As time went by, the martial law in the imperial capital continued, and the remaining incense burners were lit one by one.

Standing under the altar, Xu Yankuan flipped through the City God Book in his hand, and with a serious expression he checked the progress of lighting the City God Temple one by one.

Pointing to a name on the City God's Book, Xu Yankuan said sternly:

"Guyue County in Shangzhou should have lit the incense three days ago. Why has there been no movement so far?"

The incense order at the side quickly responded:

“Reporting to the Grand Lord, there are three major families in Guyue County, and the relationships behind them are complicated, and they all want to compete for the right to own the position of City God.

Although the City God has ordered them to make a decision three days in advance, the three families have refused to give in and have not yet reached a decision."

Xu Yankuan glanced at the incense order and said in a cold voice:

“I remember that Guyue County is only a hundred miles away from the provincial capital. The three major families ignored His Majesty’s order and ordered the provincial army to go to Guyue County to exterminate the three major families.

As for the position of City God, it will be left to the provincial government army to decide, and it must be properly arranged within three hours."

All the incense burners and city god messengers looked at Xu Yankuan in disbelief.

Then he lowered his head and responded respectfully:

"I will follow the orders of the Grand Master!"

"Except for Guyue County, the same is true for other counties.

No matter what method I use, I need to see all the incense burners on the altar lit in three hours!"

After he finished speaking, Xu Yankuan, holding the City God Book, walked towards the depths of the palace.

Passing through the heavily guarded palace, Xu Yankuan stepped into the Hall of Mental Cultivation.

There was no light source in the Hall of Mental Cultivation. In the dim hall, Emperor Xia sat on the throne, staring at the black sun in the sky, as if he was thinking about something.

Upon seeing this, Xu Yankuan bowed and said:

“Your Majesty, a total of 3,597 City God furnaces have been lit, and the remaining 53 City God furnaces are expected to be lit within three hours.

When the incense of the city gods returns to their positions, Your Majesty only needs to ascend the altar and offer incense to the capital city god to revive the city gods in Daxia.

By then, with the grand ceremony as the foundation, we can link up with the incense and law domains of all the city gods and regain control of the world!"

At this point, there was a rare hint of excitement in Xu Yankuan's words.

During the seven days of preparation for the grand ceremony, he and Emperor Xia used many unconventional means to push the ceremony forward as quickly as possible.

The three major families in Guyue County are just an insignificant microcosm. In order to promote the incense of the City God, the provincial and local armies committed countless killings in just seven days.

There was widespread complaint inside and outside the imperial capital, from the government to the people, and the major sects outside the imperial capital reacted even more violently.

If the powerful men from various sects had not entered the Fang Cun Secret Realm, and only a small number of practitioners were left in the sect headquarters outside the imperial capital, I am afraid that the entire Jingzhou would have already fallen into turmoil.

The preparations for the grand ceremony were completed under such circumstances of internal and external troubles, and only Xu Yankuan himself knew the hardships involved.

On the throne, Xu Yankuan's words seemed to bring back Emperor Xia's consciousness, and his deep gaze fell again on Taichang, the head of the Nine Ministers.

"Preparations completed?"

There was a hint of loss in Emperor Xia's words, and his eyes were lost in thought for a moment.

"Xu Qing, do you think I am wrong to spend so much money just to prepare for the grand ceremony?"

Xu Yankuan was startled when he heard this and quickly lowered his head.

The Xia Emperor had originally made concessions to the underworld and gave up the position of City God to various powerful people in Daxia, which had already caused considerable criticism among court officials.

In order to suppress the trial-takers who might leave the Fang Cun Secret Realm during these days, the four major legions were mobilized to impose martial law in the imperial capital, and the provincial troops were mobilized to massacre local families, which caused an uproar inside and outside the court.

Even the ministers who had always supported Emperor Xia offered advice, but were all rejected by Emperor Xia.

Even several ministers who took a tough stance and imperial envoys who risked their lives to make suggestions were thrown into the Heavenly Prison by the Emperor Xia to await their fate, causing unrest both inside and outside the court.

And all of this is just to ensure that the grand ceremony can proceed smoothly.

In such an environment, even a proud man like Emperor Xia couldn't help but harbor a trace of doubt.

Xu Yankuan naturally did not dare to make any rash suggestions on this topic.

Although he is now in power and can decide the life and death of a powerful family with a single word, his prestige is even higher than that of the three dukes. But Xu Yankuan knows that everything he has is just a castle in the air. Once this matter is over and Emperor Xia's attitude changes, his fate may not be much better than those local powerful families.

In order to protect himself, he must be as cautious as possible and not express any opinions on these matters.

Emperor Xia glanced at the silent Xu Yankuan with a hint of displeasure in his eyes.

He naturally knew what Xu Yankuan was thinking, but since he still needed this Taichang now, he didn't want to force him too much.

Changing the subject, Emperor Xia asked Xu Yankuan:

"What's the progress of the interrogation of the monks from various parties who withdrew from the Fang Cun Secret Realm?

Why didn't we see any more trial participants exit the secret realm in the following six days?"

Xu Yankuan breathed a sigh of relief when he heard this, and quickly responded:

“After interrogation from all sides, it was found that those monks had nothing to hide regarding the rules of the secret realm.

However, during the past two days, when I was the last batch of cultivators, I confirmed a piece of news from their mouths, that is, the Supreme Taoist was suspected to be fighting with an unknown strong man in the secret realm.

During the fight, both the Supreme Daoist and the unknown strongman showed great strength above the level of Spirit Refining. The last batch of cultivators were affected by the fight between the two sides and chose to withdraw from the trial in order to protect themselves. "

Upon hearing the name of the Supreme Daoist Son, Emperor Xia's eyes narrowed and he said:

"Where did the people who fought against the Supreme Daoist come from? Do they know the outcome of the fight between the two sides?"

Xu Yankuan shook his head: "The place where the two sides fought was a place where even the True Spirit Refiners did not dare to set foot easily, and only some Qi Refiners were affected, and they were not clear about the specific details.

However, judging from the feedback from all parties, the unknown strong man should be from one of the ten sacred caves."

Emperor Xia pondered for a moment and sneered, “Since the last batch of practitioners voluntarily withdrew because of the fight between the Supreme Daoist and the unknown strong man.

Perhaps the reason why no one quit the Fang Cun Secret Realm later was also related to their fight."

At this point, Emperor Xia couldn't help but reveal his joy.

"Well done! The Supreme Taoist has finally helped me solve a big problem.

If we can make the Supreme Daoist and the strong men of the Cave Heaven Holy Land perish together, then there will be no one to hinder the expansion of the Incense Fire Domain. "

Xu Yankuan remained silent and did not express any opinion.

When Emperor Xia saw this, a hint of boredom rose in his eyes.

Waving at Xu Yankuan, Emperor Xia said in a deep voice:

"Since the grand ceremony is about to begin, Xu Qing should go and prepare as soon as possible. Make sure all the City God furnaces are lit on time."

"yes!"

Xu Yankuan held the City God Book in his hand and turned to walk out of the Yangxin Palace.

As Xu Yankuan left, the light in the entire Yangxin Palace seemed to become dimmer.

Emperor Xia was still sitting on the throne, the shadow behind him was quietly moving with a strange rhythm, and a hoarse voice slowly sounded in the Yangxin Palace.

"Has he discovered something?"

Emperor Xia casually picked up a secret letter on the table that accused Xu Yankuan and threw it into the brazier. He said with deep eyes:

"Xu Qing is a smart man. Things have come to this point and he can no longer back out.

No matter what his wishes are, he will follow my will.

Moreover, the grand ceremony has not yet begun, and we still need the help of Xu Qing, the Grand Master of Ceremonies, to start the ceremony."

The hoarse voice seemed to acquiesce to Emperor Xia's attitude, and then spoke:

"There are still several unstable factors in the imperial capital."

"oh?"

"The ghosts and gods who stayed behind in the underworld mansion, the director of the Imperial Observatory who was unwilling to go along with the corrupt, and your daughter."

Emperor Xia paused for a moment, then said indifferently:

"The ghosts and gods guarding the Yinsi Mansion are only a few incarnations. I have already sent three captains to guard around the mansion. They can be easily suppressed with just one order."

"Although the Supervisor is unwilling to participate in this matter, he will not stand against me. After all, he is also one of the causes and consequences."

“As for Xia Yunqiu, the Supreme Daoist who secretly supported her, ignited her fire of humanity, and gathered people’s support for her, how could I not know his thoughts?

It's nothing more than wanting to replace me with Xia Yunqiu and take charge of the destiny of humanity."

Emperor Xia's eyes became increasingly cold and stern.

Picking up a blank imperial edict on the desk, Emperor Xia began to write.

With every word he uttered, he could feel the movement of the dynasty's luck, but his hands did not stop moving.

"Send the order to Weiwei He Shao to come to the audience."

A moment later, the armored Wei Wei He Shao strode into the Yangxin Palace.

"He Shao greets His Majesty!"

Emperor Xia casually threw the written imperial edict in front of He Shao, his voice without any emotion:

"Princess Tianxing Xia Yunqiu and the sect secretly conspired to sabotage the Grand Ceremony of the City God of the Capital, shaking the foundation of the dynasty and the destiny of humanity."

"Pass on my decree, strip Xia Yunqiu Xing of her title of Princess, and give her a cup of poisoned wine.

If there is resistance, kill them on the spot!"

Hearing this, He Shao suddenly looked up at the gloomy emperor sitting on the throne.

As a witness to the Yinsi Alliance meeting, He Shao saw with his own eyes how Xia Yunqiu turned the tide and fought for the interests of Daxia.

But such a princess who had made great contributions to Daxia ended up drinking a cup of poison, which made He Shao feel a chill from the bottom of his heart.

"What's the guard?"

Emperor Xia's voice sounded again. He Shao's body trembled, then he gritted his teeth and said:

"Your humble servant accepts the order!"

Holding up the imperial edict respectfully, He Shao turned around and strode out of the Yangxin Palace.

As He Shao left, the hoarse voice sounded again.

"This He Weiwei obviously doesn't want to take action against Xia Yunqiu. If you send him, aren't you afraid that Xia Yunqiu will escape?"

Emperor Xia shook his head.

"He Shao's role is only to convey the imperial decree as a Nine Ministers to deprive her of her title. Xia Yunqiu has the fire of humanity in her, and she cannot be easily killed by an imperial decree.

I won't give her any chance to escape, so you will be the one to kill Xia Yunqiu yourself."

The hoarse figure seemed a little surprised, and then let out a sarcastic low laugh.

"I will obey your majesty's order!"