Xue Mu let out a slow sigh.
“Chief Constable Xiahou, to be perfectly blunt, keeping Yinye locked away will only drag The Six Gates and the Star-Moon Sect into a lethal stalemate.
The only people who win from this are your political rivals.
This entire situation runs completely counter to the goals you are trying to achieve.” Xiahou Di remained entirely unfazed.
“Perhaps you all believe I am merely doing this to project authority, but I have already told you my true intent.
Yinye’s cultivation method is far too terrifying; it simply shouldn’t exist in this world.
The only reason I haven’t executed her is out of consideration for the Imperial Court’s grand strategy—I have no desire to force a total break with the Star-Moon Sect.” Xue Mu froze.
Just how apocalyptic was Yinye’s cultivation technique?
Could it truly be even more abhorrent to the world than his own physical body, which could essentially act as a walking biological plague?
Xiahou Di continued, “Sect Master Xue, you must be well aware that when The Nine Cauldrons suppress the realm, they only seal away the primal yin malevolence and the lingering specters of the dark.
Yet, the true demons and monsters reside deep within the human heart.
The Nine Cauldrons are ultimately nothing but inanimate objects; how could they possibly suppress the world for eternity?
If Yinye is unleashed upon the realm, human hearts will decay, and the primal yin malevolence will rapidly fester.
I fear that sooner or later, The Nine Cauldrons will collapse entirely, plunging the world back into the chaotic age of rampaging demons from a thousand years ago—a dark era that will know no peace.” Xue Qingqiu dismissed the claim entirely.
“Alarmist nonsense.
Given that girl’s current cultivation level, when on earth could she ever accomplish such a feat?
Furthermore, aside from traveling to her mandatory cultivation sites, Yinye rarely ever steps foot outside her quarters.
It is fundamentally impossible for her to project that kind of catastrophic influence over the populace.” Xue Mu felt a violent jolt of shock run through his mind.
Xue Qingqiu hadn’t actually refuted Xiahou Di’s evaluation of Yinye’s dangerous cultivation method; she merely argued that the technique hadn’t reached that apocalyptic threshold yet.
He suddenly realized that this world’s absolute reverence for martial prowess likely stems from a historic foundation—some kind of immense, chaotic cataclysm from a millennium ago that still echoed into the present day.
This realization perfectly explained Xiahou Di’s seemingly unscientific, erratic behavior.
She truly harbored a deep, underlying anxiety for the security of the realm.
In reality, she was well aware that holding onto Yinye brought absolutely zero political benefits to her faction; she was likely deeply conflicted herself.
Yet, Xiahou Di countered, “Perhaps Yinye cannot achieve that extreme scale just yet.
However, when it comes to preventing an absolute catastrophe, it is always best to exercise extreme caution.
My stance on this matter will not alter.” Xue Qingqiu ground her teeth in pure fury.
“You utter lunatic.
Do you truly believe I lack the audacity to start slaughtering your people?” Seeing the explosive tension spike once more, Xue Mu swiftly intervened.
“Chief Constable Xiahou, pitting a preemptive measure—one which you openly admit carries an incredibly slim probability of ever manifesting—against the entire strategic future of The Six Gates…
which one truly carries more weight?” Xiahou Di hesitated for a brief fraction of a second.
Finally, she asked, “Young Master Xue, exactly what transaction are you proposing?
Speak your mind directly.” As expected, Xue Mu’s strategic deduction was entirely accurate.
Xiahou Di possessed a burning desire—an absolute obsession with resurrecting the authority of The Six Gates.
When it came to highbrow concepts like the collapse of The Nine Cauldrons or the salvation of the human realm, Xiahou Di wasn’t a literal saint; how could she possibly value those distant, hypothetical concepts above all else?
To put it bluntly, if the heavens truly fell, the tallest figures would step up to shoulder the weight.
The Eight Orthodox Sects were still standing, and a whole league of supreme powerhouses of the Void-Breaching Realm were currently nesting across the land.
If The Six Gates remained as impoverished and powerless as it was right now, her trying to play the role of a global savior would be nothing but a laughingstock.
Xue Mu fished a book out from his robes and handed it over to Xiahou Di.
“I bought this chronicle from a bookstore earlier,” he inquired.
“It says right here that it was published by The Six Gates?” Xiahou Di glanced at the cover: Chronicles of the Martial Realm: The Twentieth Year of Chong’an.
Stamped in the bottom corner were the words: Verified by The Six Gates, The Twenty-Second Year of Chong’an.
She casually flipped open a page.
Written across it in stark lettering was a chilling passage: “Autumn of the twentieth year of Chong’an.
Xue Qingqiu launched a solitary, blood-drenched campaign against the Han River Sect.
During this brutal conflict, The Six Gates fought tooth and nail against her terrifying demonic might, resulting in the tragic deaths of three Gold-Badge Constables who laid down their lives to successfully rescue the sect leader’s sole surviving child.
Regrettably, from the sect leader on down, not a single one of the remaining two hundred and thirty-seven disciples survived.
The very river turned crimson with their blood.
The ruins of the Han River Sect stand to this day, and bleached bones can still be glimpsed resting along the riverbed.
It was from this apocalyptic massacre that the title ‘Bloody Hand Qingqiu’ was born.” Xiahou Di let out a cold snort, tossing the book back onto the table.
“Are you brandishing your elder sister’s horrific atrocities right in front of my face to intimidate me, Young Master Xue?” In reality, Xue Mu hadn’t actually read this specific passage yet.
Glancing down at the text, cold sweat broke out across his forehead.
He realized he wasn’t just holding onto a powerful backer; he was literally keeping company with a walking, living legend of a living hell…
However, he genuinely had no intention of provoking Xiahou Di.
He quickly explained, “A complete misunderstanding.
How could I have possibly predicted you would open up right to that exact page?” Xiahou Di blinked in surprise, huffing in exasperation.
“Very well.
It is indeed a historical compilation published by our Divine Constabulary.
What of it?” Xue Mu asked, “Is it because The Six Gates needs to generate secondary revenue?” If an ordinary civilian had dared to question her about generating revenue—a topics that heavily undermined the supreme dignity of her office—Xiahou Di would have likely had them thrown out on their ear.
However, she had officially recognized Xue Mu as a heavy-hitting strategist worthy of equal dialogue.
Realizing there was zero utility in hiding the truth from an insightful man, she admitted candidly, “The intent to generate secondary revenue is certainly there, but the fact that the common populace craves these tales is the primary driver.
If major events in the martial world are left strictly to word of mouth, too many wildly distorted versions begin to circulate.
The Six Gates possesses an obligation to set the record straight and purify the source.” Xue Qingqiu immediately launched into a mocking sneer.
“Purify the source my royal ass!
How come I was completely unaware that your Divine Constabulary even participated in the Han River campaign?
The leader of that sect, Yue Qianjiang, is currently still locked away in my dungeons back in Lingzhou.
Exactly whose ghost did your men manage to rescue?
Why don’t you name those deceased constables for me to hear?
Artificially padding my kill count with your fictional stories?
I certainly don’t care for it.” Xiahou Di looked a bit embarrassed and remained silent.
Xue Mu analyzed the situation instantly.
So setting the record straight is just a cover for shaping a heroic public image for The Six Gates and the Imperial Court.
The entire narrative was meticulously crafted to broadcast that the Constabulary had sacrificed everything to resist the rampaging onslaught of the demonic path.
Standing against an overwhelmingly powerful adversary, three heroes had laid down their lives to rescue an innocent orphan—truly a tragic, tear-jerking piece of propaganda.
This was a textbook, low-level implementation of a public relations campaign.
To put it bluntly, it was just the government putting a golden coat of paint on their own faces, or perhaps riding the coattails of a massive trending event.
Since the Star-Moon Sect would never bother to publicly dispute a printed book, it was only natural for The Six Gates to leverage this tactic.
If they couldn’t even manage a basic media spin like this, they might as well slit their own throats and save everyone the trouble.
However, Xue Mu’s primary strategic focus lay elsewhere.
He probed further, “I noticed that the bookstores are flooded with similar historical compilations of the martial realm.
Aside from the official publications printed by The Six Gates, the rest are written by rogue wanderers documenting their travels.
Yet, I haven’t caught sight of a single publication produced by the other major sects.
What exactly is the reason behind this?” Xiahou Di replied indifferently, “I naturally wouldn’t allow their self-aggrandizing propaganda to pollute the capital and mislead the common masses with wild rumors.” Xue Mu smiled.
“By that same logic, within the individual territories controlled by the various major sects, they don’t allow anyone else’s literature to circulate either, leaving only their own biased accounts?” “Naturally, publications printed by The Six Gates are an exception,” Xiahou Di answered.
“Local regions still have local governments, and my Divine Constabulary boasts branches across the realm.
Short of launching an actual rebellion, do they truly possess the authority to ban official government literature?” Holy shit, this is a raw, organic, one-of-a-kind, nation-wide, entirely monopolized distribution channel!
A literal distribution channel, big sister!
This is the holy grail of a distribution network that modern marketing executives would commit murder for!
To possess an asset like this and not even know how to utilize it…
can I just officially state that you are all complete morons?
Xue Mu’s heart settled with absolute confidence.
He immediately formulated several distinct operational strategies in a flash, though he needed to calculate which specific path was the most viable—and ideally, one that allowed the Star-Moon Sect to secure a massive slice of the pie.
Xiahou Di was growing a bit impatient.
“You’ve been circling around the bush forever.
Exactly what transaction are you proposing?
Out with it!” Xue Mu tested the waters.
“Chief Constable Xiahou, have you ever considered what the absolute number-one priority is for the disciples of the martial world?” “Fame and reputation,” Xiahou Di answered with absolute impatience.
“Exactly.
Fame,” Xue Mu laughed.
“However, cataclysmic events capable of shaking the entire martial world are few and far between.
Take your current chronicle, for instance—it amounts to a single, thin booklet per year, and the contents are strictly trending hot topics that everyone already knows about.
In reality, countless wandering martial artists out in the world possess a handful of personal, glorious achievements they are immensely proud of.
The tragedy is that the rest of the world remains entirely blind to them.
Self-aggrandizement is deeply embarrassing, and they lack the means to broadcast their deeds across the realm.
It makes me realize…
the martial world is missing a critical asset.” A jolt of realization struck Xiahou Di’s mind, and even Xue Qingqiu opened her eyes, which she had kept closed to maintain her imposing aura.
One was capable of holding the absolute office of Chief Constable of The Six Gates, while the other was the supreme leader of a prominent sect; neither of them was a fool.
On the contrary, both possessed sharp, exceptional vision.
The moment Xue Mu’s suggestion left his lips, both women immediately sensed that a massive, world-altering opportunity lay hidden within his words.
It was merely due to the limitations of their era that they couldn’t fully map out the structural details just yet.
Xue Mu continued, “For instance, the world lacks a comprehensive evaluation ranking for the rising stars of the martial world—one that documents the glorious deeds of young geniuses, analyzes their underlying potential, and evaluates their specific martial strengths and weaknesses.
This is especially true for the members of second- and third-rate sects, as well as rogue vagabonds.
The greatest achievements of their lives remain entirely shrouded in obscurity.
To farm a reputation, they are reduced to setting up public sparring stages like street performers, which yields pathetic results…
If The Six Gates can step up to perform this grand public service, you will capture the absolute allegiance of the entire realm.” Capturing the absolute allegiance of the entire realm was far too abstract of a concept; Xiahou Di immediately latched onto a much more concrete, terrifying political reality: The moment a ranking list like this takes the world by storm, our Divine Constabulary will hold the absolute shortcut to global fame!
Even the supreme, elite sects will be reduced to begging my Divine Constabulary just to get a spot for their disciples!
Reading the shifting expression on Xiahou Di’s face, Xue Mu knew exactly what kind of thoughts were racing through her mind.
He offered a subtle smile, continuing to dangle the ultimate corporate carrot.
“Once this ranking system transforms into the absolute gold standard and compass of the entire martial world, you will never have to worry about The Six Gates lacking authority again!” Xiahou Di could no longer sit still.
She shot up from her seat, pacing back and forth across the hall.
As she strode directly in front of Xue Mu, he couldn’t help but note that this woman was remarkably tall—standing close to a towering 1.8 meters based on a quick visual estimation.
The most striking asset was indisputably those long legs, which likely measured an incredible 1.2 meters.
They were flawlessly straight, perfectly toned, and completely free of any excess body fat, boasting an exceptionally elegant shape.
She was truly the ultimate, premium fantasy for a leg enthusiast—the kind of top-tier quality that could keep a guy entertained for an entire year.
He truly wondered what kind of breathtaking scenery she would present if those legs were wrapped in a pair of modern thigh-high black stockings…
Xiahou Di had absolutely zero leisure to notice where Xue Mu’s gaze was drifting.
After pacing for a long while, she finally paused her steps, letting out a soft, heavy sigh.
“The concept is indeed brilliant, and it brings absolute, unconditional benefits to my Divine Constabulary.
However…
our Constabulary’s local influence is severely choked and restricted by the prominent sects in each region.
Compounded by our severe shortage of manpower…
if the deeds we document diverge drastically from reality or turn out to be riddled with gaps, our public credibility will collapse entirely, turning us into a global laughingstock.” Xue Mu blinked innocently, a brilliant grin breaking across his face.
“The disciples of our Star-Moon Sect are planted across the four seas, and the specific industry we manage happens to be…
well, let’s just say our information networks are unfathomably vast and well-connected.
Look at that—doesn’t our joint business venture align perfectly right here?”