"... So as you can see here. The harvest of grains from Jiangxi province was below expectation. They have requested us to lower the tribute amount for this year. What do you think of this matter, lady Xia Lan?" Long Min said in a monotonous voice as if he was delivering a presentation.

"...send a Jade Knight..." Xia Lan replied with eyes half open and drool dripping down her chin.

"It's Jiangxi the province, my lady, not Jiangshi*. Although, that was a good suggestion. We could send a few Jade Knights to station there. As... motivational support, of course." Long Min said in an omnious tone.

"Zzzzzzzzzzz....."

Elder Lao Li let out a large snore. He had long since entered deep slumber from the boredom. Long Min ignored him and continued.

"We have also received numerous emergency requests for help from Huide Hu district. A recent incident has caused their famed bridge to collapse. Which has now blocked a major trade route through the region. What do you think of this, lady Xia Lan?"

"... send two Jade Knights..." Xia Lan said, then proceeded to face-plant on the table and dozed off.

"Lady Xia Lan... Have you been listening?" Long Min asked, a tone like that of a teacher asking his students.

"No..." Xia Lan replied bluntly.

"Alright then, let's put it aside for now. There was also a report of tax not being collected..."

"AHHHHHH!!!! Shut up!! Shut up!!! Shut... up!!!!"

Long Min was interrupted by Xia Lan letting out a large scream. Her screaming was so loud that it woke up Lao Li from his deep slumber, who then muttered drowsily.

"Wa... woah? Is it dinner time yet?"

Xia Lan ignored the half asleep Lao Li.

"Why should I, the great lady Xia Lan of the Immortal Ecstasy Sect, be forced to listen to trivial matters from the unwashed peasants. Just send them to the ministry and be done with it. This is stupid."

Xia Lan spoke in an angry tone. Her pompous attitude was on full display. In stark contrast, the ever stoic Long Min just responded calmly .

"I suppose you won't be interested in this one then. The report of tax not being collected was from... the Steel Meridian Sect."

The room's atmosphere suddenly turned cold. Xia Lan and Lao Li now had a serious look on their faces. The two had become wide awake after hearing that sentence. Then, Xia Lan broke the silence.

"Last time we heard of those tin can, they were in the middle of a civil war right? How long has it been now?"

"Since around 2 years ago." Lao Li replied.

"That is correct." Long Min cut in. Then he continued.

"However, up until last month, they have been sending tribute steadily so we could turn a blind eye toward their little internal struggle. That, however, is no longer the case."

Lao Li let out a long sigh.

"I've never liked those lots. What's with them replacing their organs with machine parts anyway?"

"It's to accelerate one's ability to cultivate. With machine instead of flesh, one can ensure that each dantian would be the best fit to each cultivator's meridian. You can hate them for such practice, but there's no denying its effectiveness."

Xia Lan explained in an aloof tone.

"And look how that turned out. Half of them suddenly went insane one day. It must have been a tribulation from the heaven for defiling their sacred bodies with machinery. Even the old fool Tie Fei succumbed to his madness and killed himself, leaving behind a vacant seat in this council." Lao Li replied with irritation in his voice.

"Whether it was madness or not is irrelevant. The only thing that matters is that they have failed to fulfil their duty. And thus shall be dealt with appropriately." Long Min said in a threatening tone.

"I will leave this matter to you, elder Lao Li. You are free to employ the Jade Knights as you wish. And of course your Dancing Blade Sect as well"

Lao Li answered with a nod and a wide smile on his face. Long Min continued looking over his papers, a strange expression suddenly appeared on his face as he began rubbing his forehead. The young man then let out a sigh.

"This report was from the Honan province..."

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"Honan? Don't tell me it's..." Xia Lan shuddered as if she knew what Long Min was about to say.

"Yes... It's about the Shaolin Sect." Long Min finished her sentence.

The atmosphere in the room suddenly got heavier at the mere mention of the Sect. Lao Li spoke up, an annoyed expression on his face.

"Speaking of madness, how appropriate..."

"As much as I dislike those tin can from the Steel Meridian Sect, at least only half of them went insane. Same couldn't be said about those bald donkeys." He let out a snide remark.

"They had always been a hypocritical bunch before. But ever since their Sect Leader came back from... that incident 2 years ago, it was as if something... snapped inside all of them." Xia Lan said.

"So what have they done this time?" She then continued.

"Several towns and cities in Honan were razed to the ground. Most of the government officials have either been killed or gone missing. The entire region has turned into a lawless land. It was a miracle that this report could even get delivered to us." Long Min said.

"..."

A deathly silence filled the room. Yet there was no sign of surprise on the elders' faces. It was as if they knew something like this would happen eventually.

"2 years ago huh? it always comes back to 2 years ago. What could have happened at Mount Tai on that day to turn the whole world into this mess."

Xia Lan broke the silence, an audible groan could be heard coming from her. Lao Li then chimed in.

"Whatever it was, it couldn't have been good. I still couldn't believe something so horrific happened to a gathering of all Great Nine Sects' leaders of all places. Just one of them could decimate an entire province, let alone all 9. Even stranger, the gathering of the Great Nine Sects is a sacred tradition. Everyone involved, whether righteous or demonic, was forcibly bound by an unbreakable oath to not be able to harm one another as long as they remained at Mount Tai. How could such a massacre even happen in the first place? The whole incident was just bizzare."

"And yet, it's an undeniable fact that the absurd did happen. We had confirmation that at least 3 were killed. The Heaven Gazer Sect's patriarch Liu Xie Zhong together with the Heavenly Demon Sect's matriarch and her consort, lady Fen Hua and great elder Kong Lu. The rest either were missing or went insane."

Long Min said with a tint of sadness in his voice.

"Speaking of Heaven Gazer Sect. The one who killed a Jade Knight right under our nose was young master Liu Zheng Fei of that sect."

He continued.

"Liu Zheng Fei... ?"

Xia Lan spoke up, a strange expression suddenly appeared on her face, which then quickly turned into anger.

"I know that boy, I've met him on a diplomatic mission to Zhao a long time ago."

As Lao Li started noticing Xia Lan's sore mood, he made a joking remark.

"What happened? Did the boy call you a barren old hag or something?"

Xia Lan only responded with a silence, her face had only gotten redder.

"... Seriously? I've never met the young lad but I like him already."

"Shut up!!! Long Min, leave the matter of dealing with that brat to me..."

Xia Lan said in a murderous tone. Long Min seemed to have expected this, he said.

"I was planning to anyway, lady Xia Lan. But, there's another reason I want you to be the one to handle it."

Long Min then put a map on the table and pointed at a seaside village.

"This was the report from the Jade Knights after looking through the record of the group of merchants they're travelling with. If they didn't deviate from their initial plan, their next stop would be here, the seaside town of Hǎixuě to the east..." Long Min made a short pause, then he continued.

"... coincidentally, there has also been reports of the Shaolin Sect activity around the area recently. It seemed they're planning to expand their territory out of Honan. You understand what I'm trying to say right, lady Xia Lan?"

"Yeah, yeah... Kill the brat and push the baldies back into their territories. Did I get it right?" Xia Lan replied nonchalantly

"Yes, then I'll leave the matter to you."

Lao Li put a hand on his chin, after a moment of contemplation, he spoke up.

"Something doesn't make sense about this. Why would a young master from a Sect of Zhao appeared on our turf. And not only that, he barged right into the capital and proceeded to kill a Jade Knight? What could be his motive here, revenge for what happened to his father at Mount Tai perhaps?"

"I've met those people from the Heaven Gazer Sect before. They're too prideful and logical a bunch to pull off something as petty as aimless revenge. Moreover, the territory of Mount Tai has long been designated as a sacred neutral ground for all Sects to gather around. It's not under jurisdiction of the Ming, and neither would it be our fault if anything was to happen there." Long Min explained.

"... You're right lad. Still, it doesn't make any sense for him to do what he did."

"Whatever his motive was, lady Xia Lan will make sure to wring it out of him before he dies. It's getting late now and we have already finished all the important talk. I hereby declare the end of the meeting of 5 elders."

The three stood up and started departing the room. Just as Xia Lan was about to leave the room, Long Min made a sudden stop and turned toward her. He then spoke with a slight concern in his voice.

"Lady Xia Lan... Please be safe. His majesty Ming Wu permitted only you to be granted with his presence. You're the linchpin of our great council."

"I get it, I get it. I'm not fragile enough to be worried about by a child you know. By the way, you're still young, you should relax sometimes. If you keep worrying about every little things, you will end up balding like that old coot before long." Xia Lan replied cheekily.

A rare smile appeared on Long Min's face as he left the room.

"That reminds me. It's been awhile since I last visited our boy in jade."

The girl started cheerily skipping toward an unknown destination.

~~~~~~

The girl put her hand on a gigantic gate made of strange green material. Her chi poured into it like a stream of water. Suddenly, the locks were undone and the gate slowly opened up, a large creaking sound was made.

Xia Lan stepped inside, all the while she was humming a melody. On closer listen, it was something similar to a nursery rhymes, or perhaps a lullaby. She then stopped before a big stair, which seemed to be leading toward a giant throne at the top.

"Ming Wu~~~. Big sis has come to play with you~~~."

The girl looked up, her eyes were beaming with joy. On top of the throne sat a young boy, encased completely in thick layers of emerald. He seemed to be sleeping peacefully. From the side of the crystal, strange green liquid was leaking out. On close inspection, one could see numerous tubes being connected to the enormous jade crystal. They were extracting and transporting the liquid to somewhere else.

"Now, what story do you want to hear today? Oh I know, the story of Chang'e** and the Blue Moon perhaps? It's your favorite."

A smile appeared on Xia Lan's face as she began telling the story to the sleeping boy in jade.