"Sir, Her Highness instructed that you may enter directly."
Outside the imperial palace study, the two guards who had led Lin Xiao stopped and looked toward the closed door.
Lin Xiao followed their gaze and glanced at it. The door was tightly shut, and no sounds could be heard from inside.
He did not deliberately probe what was happening within, simply nodding to the two guards.
He reached out and pressed on the door, producing a light sound. Lin Xiao waited a moment before slowly pushing the door open.
The person inside had already lifted her head and was looking toward the doorway. After Lin Xiao saw clearly who was behind the desk, his figure paused slightly.
After a few breaths of silence, he stepped forward a few paces and bowed slightly. "Greetings, Your Highness, the Princess Consort."
No wonder guards had come to find him; it was not "His Highness the Prince Regent" who sought him, but "Her Highness the Princess Consort."
The guards outside tactfully closed the door. Juzi stood up from behind the desk upon seeing this. "You're here. Sit."
"Thank you, Your Highness." Lin Xiao thanked her and then sat to the side. "May I know what instructions Your Highness has for summoning me to the palace?"
Juzi had been about to step out from behind the desk, but upon hearing this, she suddenly stopped. Looking at Lin Xiao with a slightly lowered gaze, she seemed to let out a soft sigh.
"After the Elite Tournament ends, I will head to the border to command the army. At that time, you will accompany me."
"Yes."
Hearing Lin Xiao's response, Juzi's breathing fluctuated slightly. "Nothing else you wish to say?"
Lin Xiao raised his head to look at Juzi. "Since it is Your Highness's order, I shall naturally follow it."
Bang, Juzi seemed to place something on the desk with a sound, then stepped toward Lin Xiao.
Looking at Juzi right before him, Lin Xiao stood up from his seat again. "Your Highness."
Juzi stared into Lin Xiao's eyes. "Forgive my willfulness, but if you continue staying here, there will be danger."
At these words, a slight change flickered in Lin Xiao's eyes, and his gaze toward Juzi grew more serious.
"The matter of intercepting the other contestants is being carried out by your Holy Spirit Cult. You must know that those contestants were all sent to Sunrise City. But have you ever considered what those people are being used for?"
Lin Xiao lightly furrowed his brows. Though it appeared to be merely to weaken the strength of the three great empires and to set a trap in Sunrise City to lure others to rescue them, judging from Juzi's words, there must be another reason.
Without waiting for Lin Xiao to guess, Juzi continued.
"It is to draw out the people from Shrek Academy."
"What did you say?"
At this point, Juzi no longer concealed anything. She paced lightly in the room. "You should know how many experts Shrek Academy has, and how uniquely special the location of Shrek Academy is."
Lin Xiao stepped forward to follow behind Juzi. Of course, he knew there was something peculiar about Shrek Academy; he simply hadn't expected the Sun Moon Empire to be so clear on these details as well.
"Defeating their experts within Shrek Academy is almost impossible, which is why we've imprisoned people from the other sects and academies, solely to lure out the people from Shrek Academy at the right moment."
"Once the Elite Tournament concludes, the army stationed at the border will launch an attack. At that time, we will use 'people' and 'land' to wage a gamble against Shrek Academy."
"We will send experts to battle the people from Shrek Academy. If they win, they can naturally take those contestants away. But if they lose, they must exchange territory from the three great empires."
Lin Xiao fell silent for a moment upon hearing this. "Isn't this plan a bit too idealistic? What if Shrek Academy refuses to accept such a gamble, or what if they win?"
"It doesn't matter." Juzi shook her head and turned to look at Lin Xiao. "Whether they agree or not, no matter the outcome, our goal will be achieved."
"If they are unwilling to accept this contest that has a chance to save the contestants from the other sects and academies, then in the great war that follows, Shrek Academy's reputation will inevitably suffer damage. It will become extremely difficult for them to unite the armies of the three great empires as they did four thousand years ago."
"And without Shrek Academy, the three great empires already have their own rifts; they would merely be a pile of loose sand."
"If they agree to the contest, then regardless of victory or defeat, the outcome of the war is already set, because this contest is fundamentally meant to stall their experts."
"Under the Holy Spirit Cult's delay, even if they win, it will be impossible for them to withdraw unscathed. As long as they cannot appear on the battlefield in the short term, that is enough for us."
Lin Xiao listened quietly to Juzi's words without speaking for a long time.
He had come to somewhat understand that perhaps the Sun Moon Empire had originally intended such a plan, but after those imprisoned people were later rescued, the scheme was shelved, only to be revived when the army advanced to the walls of Shrek City, leading to that later contest.
With the Sun Moon Empire's soul tool technology far surpassing that of the three great empires, in clashes between ordinary troops and mid-to-low-tier soul engineers, they held an absolute advantage. Almost no army could resist their assault.
And what could truly sway the entire battlefield situation were only those outstanding nine-ring Soul Masters.
Moreover, with Shrek Academy's prestige, they were fully capable of rallying armies to fight together. Thus, the Sun Moon Empire had gone to such great lengths to tie down Shrek Academy's Titled Douluo.
Having understood the entire sequence of the plan, Lin Xiao suddenly felt that this matter had a very high chance of succeeding.
In truth, the entire scheme was not particularly profound, even somewhat simple. It merely used the contestants from this Elite Tournament to lure the snake out of its hole.
But being inside it, one might not necessarily see the full picture.
"Is this the plan you came up with?"
"Indeed." Juzi did not deny it. "And in His Highness's arrangement, the ones responsible for competing against Shrek Academy are your Holy Spirit Cult."
"We are well aware of Shrek Academy's strength. I do not wish for you to go and compete against Shrek Academy's people. That is why I want you to leave Bright Capital—to get as far away from here as possible."
"Moreover, do not forget what I told you before, even if your side wins, then…"
Juzi did not finish, but Lin Xiao had already fully understood her meaning.
Precisely because everyone knew Shrek Academy's strength, the Holy Spirit Cult participating in this contest would inevitably suffer devastating losses.
Whether they ultimately lost or won, as long as the initial goal was achieved, the Holy Spirit Cult would have completely lost value to Xu Tianran.
Using this to eliminate the Holy Spirit Cult composed of evil Soul Masters in one stroke would not only remove a major hidden danger but also bring Xu Tianran considerable prestige.
At that time, he could even take advantage of the people's support to ascend the throne as emperor in one move.
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