On the side, the ministers and nobles shook their heads, but it was the Justice Minister who took the initiative to telepathically explain:
"If Xia Yunqiu is in cahoots with the Netherworld supernatural beings, the other party must be aware of the information regarding the Secret Realm Square-Inch. It would suffice to assimilate the Secret Realm Square-Inch in secret, without any need to take the risk of exposing themselves by making it public."
"What’s more, the incense offerings of the Seven Provinces and the City God positions of the Five Provinces are promises sworn to the Netherworld by His Majesty, leveraging the fortune of the dynasty, which has nothing to do with Xia Yunqiu.
If His Majesty insists on fulfilling the promise, the civil and military officials can only hold their noses and accept it, it can be said that the positions of incense offerings and City Gods have almost been pocketed by the Netherworld.
To perform such a play just to let the Netherworld give up the City God system of Great Xia, which is nearly one third in their grasp, would only make sense if the entire Netherworld had gone mad."
"Lastly, and most importantly, neither the Netherworld supernatural beings nor Xia Yunqiu have any motive to stage such a play.
Xia Yunqiu’s actions bring no tangible benefits, with the only possible gain being the favor of humanity fate and prestige within the Imperial Court.
But no matter how strong Xia Yunqiu’s humanity fate is, can it be stronger than His Majesty’s? No matter how high her prestige in the court, it can be suppressed with just a word from His Majesty.
On the Netherworld’s side, losing a golden opportunity to control the City God system, but only obtaining a message that they could easily have procured, neither makes sense emotionally nor rationally."
Zhao Yuanlun’s eyes still held a trace of doubt:
"So just a message was enough to make the Netherworld give up the interests of the City God?"
"If it were any other message, the Netherworld would certainly not care, even if it contained traces left by the Donghua Emperor.
But within the Secret Realm Square-Inch lies the Netherworld Path left by the Fengdu Emperor.
According to rumors, the Fengdu Emperor himself seems not to have been at his peak, and if it is possible to retrieve a part of the Netherworld Path, it might very well enable the Fengdu Emperor to further recover.
For the Netherworld, even if it costs everything, they must vie for the Secret Realm Square-Inch.
By comparison, the mere worldly matters of incense offerings and City God positions are insignificant."
The explanation from the Justice Minister led many ministers and nobles to nod to themselves, sharing the same view.
While the ministers and nobles were covertly communicating, the two Luofeng 6 Hell Deities stopped their discussion, seemingly having reached an agreement on something.
White Tiger looked straight at Xia Yunqiu and spoke bluntly:
"Although the Secret Realm Square-Inch is indeed important, this single piece of information is not enough.
To maintain the alliance, Great Xia must cede a portion of the incense offerings and City God positions..."
Before White Tiger could finish speaking, he was directly interrupted by Xia Yunqiu.
"The matter of incense offerings is negotiable, but there is no room for negotiation regarding the City God positions.
Apart from Luoshan County, where Fengdu City is located, Great Xia will not cede a single inch of land!"
Faced with such a rebuttal, annoyance immediately appeared on White Tiger’s face.
"Not a single inch? You are provoking the entire Netherworld!"
"I am merely upholding the order between Yin and Yang!"
The two were at loggerheads, and just then, the quiet voice of Vermilion Bird echoed in the hall.
"You may not yield an inch, but don’t forget that the very place you stand upon is within the water monster of the Netherworld Manor’s residence."
With that said, a chill breath began to spread silently; the entire hall seemed enveloped by an invisible force field, and one Divinity Transformation Realm supernatural being after another silently appeared within the hall.
"How bold!"
"Does the Netherworld wish to start a fight?"
"This is the Imperial Capital; how can you, the Netherworld, run wild here?"
Several ministers and generals suddenly stood up, their cultivations mostly in the Qi Transformation Stage, but being in the Imperial Capital, connected to the Imperial Capital Great Array Formation and humanity fate by their official seals, granted them tremendous confidence.
Empowered by external forces, they fearlessly faced the Spirit Transmutation Realm ghostly beings.
"Snap!"
Vermilion Bird simply clapped her hands, and mist surged within the water monster, engulfing everything and cutting off the Imperial Capital Great Array Formation from the spatial dimension.
A huge ghostly figure that seemed to be dozens of feet tall bent down within the mist to look directly into the hall, its giant eyes filling the entire doorway.
Spirit Refining Ghost King!
Vermilion Bird’s voice was ice-cold, as if stating a fact.
"The Netherworld water monster forms a space of its own, and while it cannot contend against the Imperial Capital Great Array Formation, with the Ghost King presiding, the humanity fate cannot penetrate into the water monster for half an hour.
Do you think that within half an hour, the Netherworld’s interrogation methods would fail to pry out the information about the Secret Realm Square-Inch?"
The ministers’ faces turned extremely unsightly, they had not expected the Netherworld to be so blunt as to tear off the facade and threaten them with force.
Fortunately, it seemed that the Netherworld had no intention of attacking them, but instead set their sights on Xia Yunqiu. The appearance of the Ghost King served only to isolate internal and external contacts and to suppress the humanity fate as a tactic.
Surrounded by supernatural beings, Xia Yunqiu in his white robes appeared as if he could be devoured by the many evil spirits at any moment.
In the face of such danger, Xia Yunqiu was not the least bit frightened, but instead spoke calmly,
"If the Netherworld uses force, it would completely tear its face off with Great Xia.
"It is just a pity that even if the deity got the information about the Secret Realm Square-Inch from me, it would not be able to compete for the Secret Realm Square-Inch.
"Because the entrance to the Secret Realm Square-Inch is inside the Imperial Capital."
As soon as these words were spoken, the previously tense atmosphere suddenly stalled.
"With the humanity fate within the Imperial Capital reaching its peak in this realm, under such an overwhelming suppression of the humanity fate, unless the Fengdu Emperor himself arrives, the Netherworld absolutely cannot contend with Great Xia.
"The only way to enter the Secret Realm Square-Inch and obtain what you desire is to cooperate with the Imperial Court."
The words of Xia Yunqiu plunged Vermilion Bird into silence.
She glanced at the True Word Talisman in her hand and, after a moment, waved her hand, causing all Netherworld Demon Gods and Hell water monsters to disperse.
Taking her seat back at the negotiation table, Vermilion Bird said with an indifferent voice,
"The Netherworld can give up the City God’s position, but it must retain the incense belief in the seven provinces."
Xia Yunqiu decisively shook his head,
"The seven provinces are close to half of Great Xia’s incense beliefs. Great Xia needs to worship All City Gods, the aquatic tribes of the Four Waterways, and the gods of the mountains and rivers; it’s impossible to give up so much incense belief.
"Great Xia can at most allow the incense belief in Tai Province to belong to the Netherworld; the Netherworld must not touch the incense belief in the other provinces."
"His Majesty the Fengdu Emperor once showed divine signs in Tai Province, and the people of Tai Province have long been worshipping His Majesty’s divine image. Why would the incense belief need your demarcation?
"The Netherworld can lower its demand to six provinces, retaining the incense belief in six provinces."
The intense bargaining over the division of incense belief between Xia Yunqiu and Vermilion Bird indeed relieved the ministers and nobles of the court.
Ultimately, after a fierce war of words, both sides agree to divide the incense belief in Tai, Luo, Yang, and Ming provinces.
Although the incense beliefs of several provinces still pained the ministers and nobles, it was nonetheless much better than the conditions previously laid out by Emperor Xia, which could be characterized as national betrayal.
With the opinions unified, Xia Yunqiu and Vermilion Bird also withdrew their confrontational stance.
Xia Yunqiu let out a long sigh of relief and slowly stood up from his chair, extending his right hand like a dashing nobleman.
Vermilion Bird also stood up and extended her right hand, and the two pale, slender palms clasped together.
"This has been a pleasant negotiation," Xia Yunqiu said with a smile.
However, no sooner had the words left his mouth than the True Word Talisman in Vermilion Bird’s hand suddenly self-ignited, drawing everyone’s gaze onto Xia Yunqiu.
Xia Yunqiu’s mouth forced a stiff smile,
"Well, actually, it wasn’t all that pleasant."
Vermilion Bird ignored the incident as if nothing had happened, and simply said to Xia Yunqiu,
"It is time to fulfill your promise."
Xia Yunqiu looked around at all the expectant eyes, his gaze seemingly carrying an indescribable depth.
"Three days later, a solar eclipse will descend upon the Imperial Capital, bringing the aura of dark Hell and upsetting the balance of yin and yang.
"At that time, within the Imperial Capital, silently invoke the name Square-Inch, fly towards the eclipse, and you will be able to enter the Secret Realm Square-Inch."
"The rules of the Secret Realm Square-Inch are vastly different from this world, capable of accommodating Spirit Refining True Beings."
The ministers and nobles of the court gradually dispersed, and the news of the Secret Realm Square-Inch spread quickly throughout the Imperial Capital with them.
In the many sect residences outside the Imperial Capital, message sword talismans transformed into a sky full of shooting stars, flying towards the numerous grotto heavens sacred grounds.
Within Lang Huan Garden, Shen Yuan lightly pinched the black piece in his hand and slowly placed it on the Heavenly Element Position of the chessboard.
The next moment, accompanied by a subtle spatial fluctuation, the black piece quietly vanished, replaced by a tiny black hole that emerged in the center of the chessboard.
Through the black hole, one could vaguely see a wondrous and mysterious Secret Realm.

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