The Emperor Reigns Them All

Chapter 397 The Scheme of the White Deer Sect (1)

The sky was blue and vast. It was as if there was a layer of frost in Li Ye’s eyes with sharp light that could see through everything.

In the vast empty altar, he saw himself and Chu Nanhuai sitting opposite, no one else around.

The breeze blew, and their clothes fluttered.

Chu Nanhuai said, “You seem to have your own opinion.”

Li Ye said, “I just know something about the White Deer Sect.”

Chu Nanhuai asked, “What do you think the arrangement of the White Deer Sect is?

What Li Ye said surprised Chu Nanhuai. “Kill me and let the world fall into chaos so that its disciples can take over the world!”

Chu Nanhuai was a little stunned. He immediately asked, “The White Deer Sect helped you in the battle of Fengqi Mountain and the battle of Hedong.”

Li Ye said, “Everything has its appearance.”

Chu Nanhuai asked, “The appearance is to help you, but the truth is to do harm to you?”

Li Ye said, “Isn’t it true?”

Chu Nanhuai said with folded hands, “I would like to hear the details.”

Li Ye said word by word, “If the world isn’t in chaos, heroes will not come out. If the Tang Empire doesn’t fall and the old order doesn’t die, Confucianism, Buddhism, Taoism, Militarism, and the White Deer Sect can’t rebuild a new order according to their own plans. If they can’t reshape the world, then they will have no achievements and get no Luck of heaven and earth, and they can’t prosper their own sect! Whoever makes peace and order, he is the Lord of heaven and earth!”

At this point, Chu Nanhuai no longer argued with Li Ye but nodded in agreement. “The premise of everything is the chaos of the world.”

Li Ye swung his sleeves and stared at Chu Nanhuai’s eyes. “I killed treacherous and powerful ministers and helped the emperor ascend the throne. I appeared in the world suddenly. I’m famous all over the world and have great prestige. I can save the country from danger. Of course, you won’t allow me to do that!”

Chu Nanhuai followed to say, “Two generations of Prince An are talented and can revive the Tang Empire, so both of you have to die!”

Li Ye said coldly, “So there was the Battle of Bagong Mountain! My father, Li Xian, had the best cultivation and was the most talented in the world! He could stabilize the country in politics and suppress rebels on the battlefield. He could make ordinary people live and work in peace and contentment and maintain prolonged stability of the country.” “Since he was so clever, how could he fall into the trap on the battlefield set up by Wei Baoheng and Liu Xingshen?”

Chu Nanhuai said in a low voice, “Your Highness, you once fought a battle of wits and courage against Wei Baoheng and Liu Xingshen, so you should know their abilities!”

Li Ye’s eyes turned cold. “You’re right. With my father’s power, prestige, cultivation, and intelligence, he ended up falling from the top, but I brought them down in my twenties with the slight power of the Prince An’s Manor and my low cultivation, so I knew they were not talented enough! Then, how could they trap my father, who had amazing talent, into Bagong Mountain?”

Chu Nanhuai smiled. “The Taoist sect of Zhongnan Mountain placed obstacles in the way.”

Li Ye sneered. “Zhongnan Four Swords couldn’t even deal with Nangong Diyi in the battle of Niushou Mountain, so how could they defeat my father? Even if all the masters of five major Taoist sects went out together, they wouldn’t succeed if my father didn’t go to Bagong Mountain.”

Chu Nanhuai couldn’t refute that. “It seemed that old Prince An was willing to go to Bagong Mountain and go into the trap.”

Li Ye said coldly, “My father fought on the battlefield half of his lifetime. He was a veteran and the commander-in-chief of an army, so he was very experienced. That day, he won and the rebels were defeated, so my father wouldn’t abandon his army and went into the wilderness alone in pursuit of a desperate and useless leader of the rebels, Pang Xun. If my father didn’t have the common sense of ‘do not pursue a desperate foe’, where did his unbeaten run come from?”

Chu Nanhuai nodded indifferently. “It seemed that there must be another reason why old Prince An would go to Bagong Mountain.”

Li Ye stared at Chu Nanhuai. “Unless someone lured my father to Bagong Mountain with another reason! And this man must be so close to my father that he trusted him unconditionally, and the reason was so important and urgent that he had to go!”

Chu Nanhuai said, “If there was that person, old Prince An would go even though the reason was incredible.”

Li Ye clenched his fists. “Xuanzong died at that time, and my mother died a long time ago. Who else in the world could he trust so much?”

Chu Nanhuai said, “The answer is in sight.”

Li Ye’s eyes were full of murderous intents. “It seems that you’re not going to deny it.”

Chu Nanhuai kept silent.

Li Ye laughed in sorrow. “My father was wise, open, and aboveboard. All people praised him, and he was destined to keep his name in history, but he didn’t expect that he would be hurt by his men!”

Speaking of this, Li Ye stared at Chu Nanhuai fiercely. “My father had great talents and no weakness, and he was almost invincible. If he wasn’t betrayed by his men, he wouldn’t fail.”

Chu Nanhuai remained silent, but the corners of his eyes began to twitch.

Li Ye sneered. “However, there is justice in the world. You didn’t expect that Yuan Tiangang would save my father!”

Chu Nanhuai’s expression changed a lot. A long time later, he looked at Li Ye. His cloudy eyes became clear.

He asked, “If the White Deer Sect really wanted to harm you, wasn’t it easy for me to assassinate you directly when you had low cultivation and displayed your talent for the first time?”

Li Ye sneered. “Instead of dying on Bagong Mountain, my father stepped into the Spiritual Master Realm with Celestial Master Yuan’s help. In the battle of Huangli County, he helped me secretly. Even if you wanted to assassinate me at that time, were you sure that you could succeed? Once you failed, my father would know your true colors. Wouldn’t it be self-defeating?”

Chu Nanhuai didn’t comment but continued to ask, “If so, why have I helped you many times? You became famous all over the world and benefited a lot because of the battle of Fengqi Mountain and the battle of Hedong. Now, your prestige, power, and cultivation are far better than old Prince An, and you will revive the Tang Empire. Why did the White Deer Sect do that?”

Hearing this, Li Ye sneered. “To make the world chaotic, to compete with the Immortal Court, and to make the White Deer Sect the final winner!”

Chu Nanhuai’s expression changed and he paused for a while. “I would like to hear the details.”

Li Ye took a deep breath and calmed his mind. He started from the beginning. “According to the size, the forces in the world can be divided into three levels, school, group, and sect. Confucianism, Buddhism, Taoism, and Militarism are known as the four great forces. Confucianism, Buddhism, and Taoism can be regarded as level 1 and have the most power. They are called the school of Confucianism, the school of Buddhism, and the school of Taoism. Compared with them, Militarism can be regarded as level 2 and it’s weaker. It’s called the group of Militarism. The White Deer Sect has the least power. Although known as the fifth force in the world, it only has seven disciples in each generation. It can be regarded as level 3, and it’s only a sect in the mountain.”

“Confucianism, Buddhism, Taoism, Militarism, and the White Deer Sect all have a history of one thousand years. They all ‘take the world as their responsibility’. Whenever the world is in chaos, they will appear and compete for the hegemony. All of them want to be the only supreme, to unify heaven and earth, to build their own Immortal Court, and to take over all living creatures and the operation of the world. However, in the past one thousand years, although there were competitions in the chaotic world, the status of the Taoist sect was unshakable and it always became the final winner.”

“In the past one thousand years of competitions, in order to survive and develop, all the sects were forced to make changes. Confucianism found a new way and concentrated on ruling the world. It helped the emperor govern people, so Confucianism thrived in peaceful times. At that time, Confucian scholars took a high position and held the world’s power. Even the Taoist sect had to dodge temporarily and put its forces into Jianghu. However, the Taoist sect had its own cultivation method, which was the most perfect system in the world. Therefore, although the Taoist sect was in Jianghu, it could compete with Confucianism for cultivators and maintain its own authority.”

“Militarism gave up the idea of governing the country and concentrated instead on the method of fighting and killing, so the military warriors of Militarism swept the battlefield and were relied heavily on by rulers in the turbulent times. Many of them became famous in history. These two sects found own their positions and thrived.”

“Only the White Deer Sect had seven disciples in each generation, but they studied Confucianism, Buddhism, Taoism, and Militarism. They were especially good at tactics and politics, so they often became famous in the turbulent times. But that was all. Compared with the other four sects who had their own foundation, the White Deer Sect mixed all the theories of different sects and became ‘neither fish nor fowl’. What’s more, it had the least power, so it never thrived in the past one thousand years!”

“Because of this, the White Deer Sect felt aggrieved and wanted to stir up trouble. The disciples of the White Deer Sect regarded themselves as great talents, and they thought that they could decide the world’s trend by taking advantage of the world and people. Therefore, you kept trying and never gave up in the past one thousand years. Zhang Yi, Su Qin, Jia Yi, Kong Ming were the most dazzling stars in your sect and the example to the later disciples!”

Speaking of this, Li Ye stopped and looked at Chu Nanhuai.

Chu Nanhuai sighed as his expression remained inscrutable.

Li Ye said in a deep voice, “Do you still refuse to tell me?”

Chu Nanhuai smiled bitterly and said, “Now that you know everything, please finish.”

Li Ye swung his sleeves and continued, “If the world isn’t in chaos, heroes will not come out. Since the White Deer Sect wanted to compete for hegemony in the chaotic world, it naturally would not tolerate someone to revive the Tang Empire. This was the reason why you wanted to harm me and my father. With the experience of the past one thousand years, you knew that the White Deer Sect was weak. Even though your disciples were famous, Taoism and Confucianism already took over the world. Because Militarism had more famous disciples, the White Deer Sect couldn’t compare with it, to say nothing of Taoism and Confucianism.”

“So, you needed to set up a target. When he grew up and became powerful, he would attract the hatred of Confucianism, Buddhism, and Taoism and become the object of their attack. On the surface, you were helping him, but in fact, you were plotting against him. In this way, Confucianism, Buddhism, and Taoism would dispatch many of their forces to deal with this target. At that time, your disciples would have the opportunity to support your true sovereign, gain the benefits, and finally, take over the Central Plains!”

“To do this, you needed a powerful target, because your biggest enemy, the Taoist Immortal Court, was so powerful that it was difficult to deal with. So, your early goal was to help him as much as possible and made him as powerful as possible. The past experience told you that no matter how powerful he would be, he would eventually be killed by the Taoist sect, because the Taoist sect had the Immortal Court. Even if he was powerful, he would die as long as the Immortal Emperor wanted to deal with him. Even if he occupied half of the country and all heroes surrendered to him, he would die in the end as long as the Immortal Court spared no effort to fight!”

“Obviously, I’m the target.”

“From murdering my father to supporting me, your tactics changed quickly, in time and in effect. But this is the White Deer Sect, isn’t it?”

“And I lived up to your expectations and grew up quickly. Because I appeared in the world suddenly, the reincarnated immortals of the Taoist Immortal Court didn’t grow up when I fought throughout the country. I took the first opportunity, so no one could stop me. I suppressed the Huang Chao Uprising and became the one who took the most credit. I captured Hedong and ruined the plan of Buddhism!”

“Because of supporting me, you took the first opportunity, making the Taoist sect and Buddhism suffer losses. And I successfully became enough powerful. Now, I take charge of Taiyuan and gain the Luck of heaven. I’m conspicuous enough to catch the eye of Taoism, Buddhism, and the Immortal Court. The following plans of Confucianism and Militarism will also focus on me.”

“Therefore, the person you are really assisting can keep a low profile safe and sound. When the time comes, he will appear suddenly and take over the world decisively and quickly!”

Chu Nanhuai opened his mouth, speechless. A long time later, he said, “I can’t refute it.”

Li Ye said, “Of course you can’t! I just want to ask you a question. The White Deer Sect has seven disciples in each generation. Now that I have captured Taiyuan, why do I only see my father, Li Xian, who should have been dead, but no other disciples?”

“You don’t need to ask this because they are on the sides of other rulers!”

After saying this, Li Ye exhaled a long breath. He stared at Chu Nanhuai. “By taking advantage of me, you destroyed the plan of Buddhism and resolved a big enemy in the battle of Fengqi Mountain. Moreover, I successfully attracted the hatred of Buddhism. That was killing two birds with one stone!”

“In the most critical time of the battle in Hedong, you and my father captured Taiyuan before Zhang Ji appeared! From then on, the Immortal Court and Land Buddhism have irreconcilable hatred for me, and Confucianism, Militarism, and I are at daggers drawn!”

“At this time, I become a target for all, but I only have 100,000 troops. Even if I have a million brave soldiers, I can’t succeed. However, I still have some fighting abilities and I gain the Luck of heaven, so I won’t fail for a while, which is enough to cover you!”

“The White Deer Sect’s strategy of ‘overpraise’ is more vicious than killing a person directly! The nail that sticks up mostly gets hammered down. I really play a good role in the troubled world!”

As Li Ye finished speaking, his mouth twitched and his eyes turned scarlet. He stared at Chu Nanhuai and couldn’t hide his murderous intents any longer. He flexed his fingers and wanted to pull his sword!

Chu Nanhuai ducked his head again and remained silent.

A long time later, he raised his head. “You said that you didn’t see the disciples of the White Deer Sect. How about Su Emei and Wei Xiaozhuang?”

Li Ye’s voice was even colder, as if he could blow snow out of his mouth. “No one knew that I went to Pinglu alone, but the White Deer Sect made an arrangement in advance. Su Emei and Wei Xiaozhuang encountered me on my way with a perfect reason. What a coincidence! If you didn’t want to plot against me, why would you plan that?”

“I trusted Su Emei and Wei Xiaozhuang, so you let Su Emei stay with me and confuse me so that I wouldn’t suspect you. As for Wei Xiaozhuang, he established the Quanzhen Temple, suppressed the Penglai Taoist sect in Pinglu, and destroyed the foundation of the Immortal Court so that I would further attract the hatred of the Immortal Court.”

Then, Li Ye closed his eyes and said nothing for a long time.

When he opened his eyes again, Chu Nanhuai had nothing to say.

Li Ye smiled inexplicably, “Even Yuan Tiangang and Feihong Bodhisattva fell into your trap. The White Deer Sect has been famous for a thousand years. You took advantage of the world and people and played tricks. Relying on their great talents and brilliant strategy, your disciples overturned the country, decided the world’s trend, and made a fool of countless heroes, without a trace... You really lived up to the name of the White Deer Sect and didn’t disgrace Guiguzi, the first master!”

Li Ye stood up and looked up at the sky. His eyes were full of murderous intents. “All schools of thoughts contended for attention, including Confucianism, Buddhism, Taoism, and Militarism. However, to make achievements in the chaotic world, all heroes are birds of a feather!”

He took back his gaze and looked at Chu Nanhuai again. He held the Luke Sword in his hand, and the surging Spiritual Qi lingered around the sword like a blazing fire. “On the details of the arrangement, on the depth of the mind, and on the vastness of the power, you have all done the best you can. The world is in chaos, demons and monsters go out together, and immortals and Buddhas fight each other. You make the world into purgatory and all people into ghosts!”

“But so what? Since I was born and am struggling in this world, I will sweep heaven and earth with the emperor’s sword. I will establish social orders and laws according to the Way of Emperor, reign the immortals and demons, and become an emperor!”

When Li Ye finished speaking, sharp light flashed in his eyes, and he wielded the Luke Sword as fast as lightning.

As blood splashed, Chu Nanhuai’s head flew up to the sky!