Chapter 1372: Reincarnation Revival
However, it was virtually impossible to subdue these Outer World creatures, because when they sensed auras from the Heaven Awaken World, they could become incredibly bloodthirsty, wanting to destroy anything related to the Heaven Awaken World.
It seemed that the Outer World creatures naturally hated anything related to the Heaven Awaken World for some reason.
Because of Arasina's warning, Zhao Fu did not go back to the base for now and planned to clear out the Outer World creatures around the base.
Shing, shing, shing...
Zhao Fu continuously swung his sword, sending out sword lights and killing Stage 4 Outer World creatures. He then waved his hand, collecting their corpses into his spatial ring.
The strength of the remote regions in the Outer World was stronger than that of the Heaven Awaken World. It was impossible to find large numbers of Stage 3 and Stage 4 creatures in the remote regions of the Heaven Awaken World.
"System announcement! Because you have heroically killed Outer World creatures and have met the requirements to unlock an Exchange Stone Stele, you have been awarded with an Exchange Stone Stele."
Just as a system announcement sounded out within Zhao Fu's mind, light started to shine in front of him as a square-shaped stone stele that was a few centimeters long and seemed to be made out of white jade appeared. This stone stele was a treasure, and it was definitely not this small.
Since they had completed their goal, Zhao Fu and Arasina returned to the base and put the Exchange Stone Stele at the center of the base.
The stone stele that was only a few centimeters long suddenly turned into a ten or so meters tall stone stele, and Zhao Fu looked at what it had with interest.
After looking through a few things, Zhao Fu was quite delighted to find that these things were all quite good and quite valuable. Using Points to exchange for these things would be quite worth it.
However, what Zhao Fu was looking at right now were the lowest-grade items, and Zhao Fu looked at the highest-grade items curiously. He was instantly shocked, and his mind went blank because those items surpassed anything he could imagine.
[Nether Soul Celestial Sword]: A sword crafted by a Celestial that has world-destroying Celestial power and can easily open up a world. It is one of the most terrifying weapons in existence.
[Empire's Crown]: After obtaining the Empire's Crown, you will become the owner of an Empire. You will directly obtain 1,000 worlds and will be able to form a massive Empire and become an Emperor reigning above countless people.
[Reincarnation Revival]: Can revive all people from a certain time period, limited to one billion people. After reviving, the deceased people will lose their cultivation.
[Nine Changes Celestial Spirit Pill]: Contains massive amounts of Celestial energy and is extremely rare. If a higher-being consumes this pill, they have an 80% chance of becoming a Celestial and obtaining the greatest power in the world.
[Divine Blood Crystal]: This blood crystal can cause a person of any bloodline level to immediately upgrade to the powerful Divine Bloodline, and it will be a pure Early-Stage Divine Bloodline.
[Turning Back Space and Time]: Using this can cause time in a region to reverse to a maximum of 1,000 years.
[Celestial-Slaying Talisman]: A talisman that contains the Great Dao of Heaven and Earth. It can cause gods and demons to retreat. If used against a Celestial, even if the Celestial does not die, he or she will be heavily injured and close to death.
[World Barrier]: The most powerful barrier in the world and contains boundless Heaven and earth Power. Even Celestials cannot destroy it and it can defend against all dangers. It can cover up to 1,000 worlds.
[Heaven Awaken Celestial Guard]: A guard with the power of an ordinary Celestial. It will obey any order from you. It will stay by your side for life.
[Unaging, Unkillable, Undying]: Your body and soul will be bound to the Heaven Awaken World. If the Heaven Awaken World exists, you will exist. Nothing will be able to kill you or wipe away your soul.
Zhao Fu only looked at ten or so items and was incredibly shocked. All of them exceeded what anyone could imagine; in fact, people would not even dare to imagine such things existed.
The first item was relatively ordinary, a Celestial sword. Everyone knew how terrifying it was, and various monstrous factions had such swords.
However, Reincarnation Revival could instantly revive up to one billion people; perhaps even Celestials could not do this. Also, Turning Back Space and Time could cause time to reverse in a region by 1,000 years. This sounded too fantastical.
The final item was even more terrifying - Unaging, Unkillable, Undying. As long as the Heaven Awaken World existed, one would never die; even Celestials would not be able to survive for so long. What was key was that one could not be killed; no power could kill you. This was simply broken.
Zhao Fu had only taken a casual look and had found such monstrous things. If he took a detailed look, he would probably be shocked beyond words. It was not that Zhao Fu had not experienced much but that these things simply exceeded one's imagination.
Zhao Fu held back his excitement and continued to look through the things in the Exchange Stone Stele. Only after a while was he able to calm himself down.
However, even though these top-tier items were powerful, the prices for exchanging them were just as unbelievable as their effects. Even higher-beings and Empires found it difficult to obtain them. If it was easy to obtain them, these top-tier items would have long since been gone.
It seemed that the Heaven Awaken World took the Outer World Battlefield incredibly seriously to be able to give such terrifying rewards. One could not help but wonder what its goal was.
Zhao Fu did not dare to think about those items for now. He looked at some of the mid-tier items because those were more possible for him to exchange. The things here also greatly shocked Zhao Fu.
The Heaven Awaken World gave such shocking rewards and one could obtain them by killing Outer World creatures. There were also more historical remnants and opportunities here. Even though the Outer World Battlefield was incredibly dangerous, countless people were attracted by it.
This place was very much worth developing. On one hand, Zhao Fu would be able to obtain all sorts of good rewards, and on the other, he would be able to find all sorts of historical remnants and opportunities. He would also be able to obtain all sorts of resources.
Zhao Fu decided to properly develop here. If he met any danger in the Heaven Awaken World, he would hide here.
After looking through the rewards, Zhao Fu brought back a large number of corpses to Great Qin to create more Spirit Destruction Crystals in order to deal with Outer World creatures in the future. The materials could also be used to make weapons to deal with Heaven Awaken World people.
However, one could not use spirit qi with those weapons because the materials naturally suppressed spirit qi and had great resistance.
After returning to Great Qin, Zhao Fu sent more talented people to the base in the Outer World, as that was a place that he had to develop. It would be a great asset to Great Qin in the future.
Chapter 1373: Ghost Baby
Seven days after Zhao Fu returned to Great Qin, Great Qin fully digested the Spirit Light World and finished making preparations to attack the Corpse Pall World. Now, it was time to gather the army and officially attack the Corpse Pall World.
Great Qin sent ten billion soldiers and many beasts and devils. The remaining soldiers were left to defend Great Qin, especially against the Devil Horn Empire; it was likely that it would try to interfere.
Great Qin's soldiers gathered in front of the Heaven Domain Boundary, giving off an ocean-like aura that shook the surroundings. Upon sensing this aura, all living creatures had long since run away in fear, and the surroundings were deathly silent.
Mosax and Yu Ling went up and unleashed their abilities. A Domain expanded out and waves of light spread out.
Boom!
A shocking explosion sounded out as the Heaven Domain Boundary cracked and pieces fell down, resulting in muffled explosions. The pieces smashed open many large craters and dust filled the air, obscuring everyone's vision.
After the dust settled, everyone was surprised to see that there was no one ahead in the Corpse Pall World. What was going on? The Corpse Pall World had to know that Great Qin would attack them, yet there was no one here and no defenses either.
Zhao Fu felt that something was off and sent a vanguard ahead. A group of hundreds of soldiers went up to investigate.
"Arghh..." Pained cries sounded out as the hundreds of soldiers stepped into the Corpse Pall World and gray auras invaded their bodies, making it seem as if their bodies were being eaten away at by formless creatures.
In just a few moments, the soldiers all died, their bodies bloody messes. There were many small bite marks and they seemed to have died horrible deaths, causing everyone else to gasp.
Zhao Fu frowned; he did not understand what had happened, but since they could not travel across the land, they could only try the sky.
Zhao Fu ordered a few people to fly into the sky and had them unleash defenses to ward off any dangers. If they sensed that anything was off, they were to immediately return.
However, after entering the Corpse Pall World, before a few seconds even passed, howls sounded out as they fell from the sky and died. They died in the same fashion and seemed to have been bitten to death.
Now, Zhao Fu felt quite confused as to what had happened. A robed elder came up and reported, "Your Majesty, this is an extremely powerful curse. Anyone who enters will be cursed."
Zhao Fu was startled and asked, "Is there any way to nullify the curse?"
Hearing that it was a curse, Zhao Fu understood; no wonder it was so strange. The people who had flown in the air had unleashed defenses were unable to block it at all because curses could not be blocked using ordinary methods.
"This Taoist needs to go up to see what sort of curse it is to think of a countermeasure," the elder said as he cupped his hands.
Zhao Fu nodded and said, "Then go! If you need anything, let Us know."
The elder obeyed and brought ten or so Taoists to the boundary of the Corpse Pall World. They took out a few Talismans, threw them into the Corpse Pall World, and the Talismans ignited and a formless energy spread out.
Immediately, the scene before them changed. Gray auras could be seen everywhere, covering the heavens and the earth. A cold and strange aura filled the surroundings, and what was terrifying was that there were terrifying babies with mouths filled with fangs.
These babies were like ghost babies and played about happily in the sky and on the ground. They looked incredibly evil and were innumerable; at a glance, all that could be seen were ghost babies.
Seeing this scene, everyone could not help but feel startled. The wicked laughter that they gave off made people's hair stand on end, and they could not help but feel afraid.
The ghost babies were not corporeal and were instead illusory existences. They were a type of curse, and not only could they not be attacked, but they were also impossible to defend against. They could easily invade one's body, and the bite marks on the soldiers' bodies were most likely from these ghost babies.
After a while, the elder came back with a serious expression and reported, "Your Majesty, this type of curse is incredibly terrifying. It requires ten million babies as ingredients and is incredibly difficult to nullify."
These Corpse Pall people seemed to be going all out and were incredibly cold and merciless, sacrificing so many babies to defend against Great Qin's attack.
However, now that they knew what kind of curse it was, Zhao Fu could think of a way to deal with it. Zhao Fu ordered the Light God to come to the battlefield, and seeing so many babies turned into a curse, the Light God Ruixi was incredibly angry.
"Husband, I'll definitely help you dispel that curse. You have to punish those evildoers!"
Zhao Fu smiled and agreed, feeling quite calm. He did not have as much of a reaction to the babies being sacrificed for the curse. Even if he knew that all of them were buried alive, he would not feel much or feel angry.
He could understand how much the Corpse Pall World wanted to resist Great Qin; in the end, Zhao Fu was not a very good person either.
The Light God gave off an intense light and shined like a brilliant sun in the sky. The light passed into the Corpse Pall World, and the countless ghost babies howled as their faces twisted in pain.
With how much ground the curse covered, the Light God's power seemed quite weak. Zhao Fu ordered people to summon the Spirit Light World's priests; they would also be able to cleanse this place.
The priests spread out and put their hands together as they chanted scriptures. Golden rays of light spread out and shot into the Corpse Pall World, and the effects were quite obvious. The gray aura retreated, and the ghost babies' howls disappeared as the ground returned to normal.
However, from the current speed, it seemed like it would take quite long to nullify this curse and allow Great Qin's army to truly enter the Corpse Pall World.
On the Corpse Pall World's side, they all looked quite serious because they had paid a great cost to unleash the Ghost Baby Curse. Even though it had quite a great effect and had blocked off Great Qin temporarily, Great Qin was currently dispelling it and would attack soon.
"Are we going to use our next method?" a bald-headed short man looked at Shi Xiao and asked.
Of the seven of them, Shi Xiao was the most powerful in terms of both personal battle power and the faction supporting her. At this moment of crisis, they naturally deferred to her.
Shi Xiao did not reply, and another slim woman with a pale face and giving off a cold aura said, "We need to think about this carefully. After using that method, we won't have anything left and will have to directly face Great Qin. When that time comes, we won't have an advantage."
Chapter 1374: Spite
"However, if we don't use that method, after Great Qin cleanses that ground, they will still attack. If we use that method in conjunction with the cursed ground, perhaps we will be able to beat them back, and we can use this time to prepare other things."
Many people supported this suggestion, and everyone turned to look at Shi Xiao to see what she thought.
Shi Xiao slightly sighed; that person's suggestion was their best choice, so she was about to nod and agree. Otherwise, facing the terrifying Great Qin, they would not have any other options.
At that moment, a soldier charged in and cried out in joy, "Your Majesties, Great Qin has retreated; we've won!"
After hearing this, everyone felt quite confused; why would Great Qin suddenly retreat? They hurriedly asked the soldier for details.
Following this, everyone looked delighted and their grave expressions disappeared. Great Qin had indeed retreated, and they had successfully defended the Corpse Pall World.
This was all thanks to the Devil Horn Empire, because Great Qin had split into three armies and were madly attacking the Continents that Great Qin occupied in the Grassi, Half-Beast, and Elf Worlds. Because of the urgent battle reports from the three Continents, Great Qin could only retreat.
Yao Ming did this purely out of spite, because every time the Devil Horn Empire tried to do something, Great Qin would interfere. The Devil Horn Empire's plans were always being thwarted by Great Qin and Great Qin had always reaped benefits, and Yao Ming had remembered this.
After hearing that Great Qin was attacking the Corpse Pall World, Yao Ming understood that his opportunity for revenge had come, so he ordered people to madly attack Great Qin.
The Devil Horn Empire was not like the allied worlds, which just attacked for show; it really was ferociously attacking. If Great Qin was set on conquering the Corpse Pall World, the Devil Horn Empire would obtain three worlds at the same time. When that time came, the Devil Horn Empire would have six worlds.
However, Great Qin retreated and sent over its troops. After hearing this, Yao Ming immediately gave the order to retreat. Now that Great Qin had retreated to defend, Yao Ming naturally understood that with the Devil Horn Empire's strength, it was impossible to break through the Great Qin's defenses, so he could only give the order to retreat.
However, Yao Ming still gave a pleased smile; he had vented out much of his anger. Otherwise, he would have felt too sullen after continuously being set back by Great Qin.
Looking at the Devil Horn army, Zhao Fu could only put a hold on the invasion of the Corpse Pall World while preparing methods to quickly dispel the curse.
It was nearly time for the next round of Imperial Examinations. He had been putting all of his focus on warfare and had not taken care of internal affairs for a while. He could take this opportunity to sort out the internal affairs matters.
Imperial Examinations were something that Kings, Ministers, commoners, and talented people all took seriously. It was an opportunity for people to reach the sky in one step, and no one wanted to miss out. This made Great Qin much more lively than usual.
There were talks everywhere about the Imperial Examinations, and various talents gathered at the Great Qin Royal City, preparing to take the Imperial Examination and attain scholarly honors.
Now, Great Qin had hundreds of billions of people and innumerable talented people. Some people were overflowing with talent and were quite famous, and the common people had made a ranking of the various talented people.
At least one-third of them came from the Rising Qin Academy. Now that Great Qin had greatly expanded its territory, there were tens of thousands of academies all over. However, the very first Rising Qin Academy that Zhao Fu had created was something that could never be rivaled.
That was a holy land for scholars and countless geniuses gathered. Ordinary academies could not compare to it.
There were a few other academies that were quite good, such as the Book and Poem Academy opened by the Confucians, the Demon Immortal Academy from the Dark Demon World, the Sky God Academy from the Spirit Light World, and the Forest Academy from the Elf World.
As Great Qin's territory expanded, they needed more and more talents. With so many Academies and scholars, the competition was quite intense, so everyone wanted to be ranked at the top.
Perhaps they would be summoned by Great Qin's Emperor; to the ordinary people, this was an incomparable glory.
This Imperial Examination was like the previous ones. On the flat ground outside the palace, Zhao Fu wore a black dragon robe and wore his black dragon crown. He had a dignified expression as he led out the various Ministers and Generals.
"We greet Your Majesty! Long live His Majesty! Long live His Majesty!" the scholars immediately knelt and called out in unison, their voices sounding like thunder and shaking the sky. The heavens and earth seemed to be filled boundless righteousness.
Zhao Fu was pleased as he sat on his throne and gave the order for the Imperial Examinations to begin. The scholars went to their positions and took their pens as they started to write and diligently answer the questions. They wrote out their own thoughts, aspirations, and their plans for Great Qin's future.
The Ministers around Zhao Fu discussed the scholars they favored.
There were mostly Civil Ministers here, and the Generals were over at the Martial Examinations. The one responsible for the Martial Examinations was Wang Jian, while Bai Qi was responsible for defending the three Continents in the three worlds. Zhao Fu would later go and take a look.
Great Qin's Ministers were predominantly men. Li Si and Shang Yang were relatively important and controlled great power in Great Qin. All of the commoners knew them.
Of the female Ministers, there were only Li Muqing, Shangguan Wan'Er, Lu Lingxuan, and the Confucian scholar who had done well in the last Imperial Examinations, Li Xiaoling.
Even though Zhao Fu believed in equality between men and women, in actuality, most power was held by men and the women in power were often suppressed.
If it was not for Li Muqing and, Shangguan Wan'Er and Lu Lingxuan's hard work, resulting in them being valued by Zhao Fu, almost no woman would have power in Great Qin's Imperial Court.
Zhao Fu knew about this, and it was primarily because many people's ideologies were still quite old fashioned. The historical Ministers still held onto their old values, and many people felt that women should not be able to become Ministers and that men's authority was being challenged.
Even though Zhao Fu supported gender equality, it had only been eight or so years and the ideology had not been changed yet. Li Si and Shang Yang slightly suppressed the female Ministers while others did this more openly. The female Ministers were always on the defensive and were often oppressed.
Zhao Fu knew about this but did not interfere; this was not something that could be rushed and required time to change.
The Imperial Court splitting into factions was unavoidable and it was only because of Zhao Fu that the Ministers did not dare to go too far. Otherwise, Li Muqing and the other female Ministers may have been thrown out or executed long ago. Li Muqing was now incredibly famous and was a role model for many women.
She was not only incredibly beautiful but also had astounding talent, and she was incredibly kind to the commoners. She did her best to protect women's rights and everyone called her the number one talented woman in Great Qin.
Her family had originally been against her serving Great Qin. After all, as the descendant of Li Qingzhao, how could she serve a tyrant?
However, the current situation now showed that Li Muqing had great foresight. Great Qin had not only unified China but the entire world, and it had started to conquer other worlds.
Chapter 1375: Poem Sword
The Li family had originally been an ordinary family, but it had now become a famous family within Great Qin. Virtually no one dared to offend it, and very few families held as much power as it did.
Now, Great Qin indeed had countless large families and some large families declined and became weaker and weaker. On the other hand, some families rose up and became famous families within Great Qin and obtained great power.
Now, the situation in Great Qin had more or less stabilized. Great Qin's more powerful families would most likely remain powerful families.
Things were no longer as chaotic as during the earlier days and had settled down. Back then, everyone had opportunities to quickly rise up; anyone with power could easily change their fate.
Moreover, during those days, one could challenge large families, lords, or even rulers. Because things were so chaotic, there were many opportunities.
However, now that the situation had stabilized, even though Great Qin held Imperial Examinations, the opportunities had reduced by nearly 70%.
The world had been unified, so the large families no longer had to fight nor was there any internal chaos. Many of them held power and only needed to focus on developing.
They became more and more powerful every day, and ordinary people had no chance in surpassing them. They could only submit under them; those large families' positions could not be shaken.
It was possible that families that occupied low positions would continue like this for many generations, while those who occupied high positions would always remain in those positions. Zhao Fu could not change this, because this was part of the empire developing. Zhao Fu could only do his best to give the ordinary people opportunities.
As such, Zhao Fu did not help the female Ministers who were being suppressed. Zhao Fu had given them opportunities, and the rest was up to them.
Under this kind of pressure, the female side had performed quite well. From what Zhao Fu had heard, many commoner women had formed their own organizations.
One of the organizations that talented women made was called the Washing Flower Pavilion. Many women adept at medicine formed the Celestial Doctor Residence. Some women who were skillful and liked investigating things made the School of Niftiness, and some women who enjoyed dancing made Dream Dance.
Many organizations formed by women started to appear, and there were many of them. Some were made up of a few people and some numbered in the thousands or even hundreds of thousands.
However, this made many men displeased, as they felt that the women were being too flamboyant and should be more reserved. They could not tolerate them doing as they pleased and disregarding men.
Because of this, many men made their own organizations to suppress the female organizations while also proclaiming the grandness of men.
The most famous one was an organization that targeted the Washing Flower Pavilion, and it was called Poem Sword. It was made up of many talented men and they often fought with the Washing Flower Pavilion. However, they only fought with words and never used violence.
However, both of these organizations continued to increase in number and the scales of their battles became larger and larger. Once, a rabble of hundreds of thousands of people had exploded out, forcing the government to send soldiers to intervene. Only then did they become more well-behaved, not daring to continue acting like that.
After hearing about this Imperial Examination, many people from both organizations participated, wanting to obtain victory there. The women from the Washing Flower Pavilion not only wanted to best the Poem Sword's men, but they also understood that the female Ministers were at a disadvantage in the Imperial Court. Even though His Majesty supported gender equality, it would be difficult for women to rise up in the Imperial Court.
They embraced their ideals, wanting to use their power to change Great Qin in order to make it a better place for women.
The men from Poem Sword not only wanted to defeat the women from the Washing Flower Pavilion, but they also wanted to change Great Qin, obtain the power to reign above others, and support Great Qin to make it an eternal empire.
Apart from these two clashing organizations, there were some neutral organizations that acted more harmoniously.
There were also some people from large families who were all quite exceptional. The Imperial Examination was an opportunity for their families to receive even more glory, so they were very proactive in participating. The disciples of the Hundred Schools of Thought also participated with such aspirations.
Because of the factions behind them, the people from the large families and Hundred Schools of Thought naturally received more attention from Great Qin and were more famous than most other talents.
This was the current situation in Great Qin. The younger people were more rambunctious while the older people were steadier and calmer. They were not only interested in Great Qin's inner affairs but also in the things on the outside.
Everything they had was built on Great Qin, and if Great Qin collapsed, everything they had would crumble as well.
The older people did not care much for the young people making a din; they just wanted to provide a good environment for their growth and make Great Qin even more powerful. Only then would they be safe and obtain more power.
Of course, whether they were the older people or younger people, Civil Ministers or Generals, or the male Minsters or female Ministers, they all had to lower their heads and worship Zhao Fu. Zhao Fu was the sovereign of Great Qin and controlled everything in Great Qin.
The various Ministers recommended to Zhao Fu the people they favored. If they made an impression on Zhao Fu, they had the possibility of obtaining a position in the future.
Even though Li Muqing did not like this, she understood the heavy burden on herself. Without her support, it would be difficult for women in Great Qin to step into the center of power. They would forever live in the shadow of men and would be unable to obtain true equality.
There were also many female Generals but they were not too concerned about this and would not help the ordinary women. In fact, most did not care about their lives or deaths. Even if they became pets of men, they would not object too much.
Li Muqing could only do her best to recommend to Zhao Fu the people who she favored in order to increase the strength of the faction of female Ministers. Perhaps they would have more resistance in the future and would not have to live so subserviently.
Zhao Fu sat on his throne and did not say anything, nor did he feel annoyed. He felt that there was much that he did not know, and he could learn a lot from them.
At the same time, Zhao Fu tried to keep an eye out for the talents who were recommended; the prosperity of the empire would rely on these people.
Time passed quickly, and soon it was the afternoon and the results of the Imperial Examination were out. The top ten people were watched with gazes of admiration and worship as they were brought before Zhao Fu and they respectfully kneeled.
Chapter 1376: Gender Equality
"You may all rise!" Zhao Fu said and the six men and four women stood up, looking both excited and nervous. They had finally seen Great Qin's Emperor with their own eyes and at such a close distance too; they did not dare to even imagine this in the past.
"Introduce yourselves to help Us and the Ministers know more about you," Zhao Fu said with some interest. The ten people here were the most exceptional out of all of the scholars, and they would be greatly used from the start.
"This humble one is Long Ling!" "This humble one is Zhang Feiling!" "This humble one is Kelimi!" "This humble one is Lin Li!" "This humble one is Yue Jiuya!" "This humble one is Bai Xiang!"
The six men spoke first. Long Ling was a handsome young man dressed in white, Zhang Feiling was a valiant-looking young man, Kelimi was an Elf; Lin Li was a Fish Scale person, Jiu Yueya gave off demonic qi and looked quite cold and cruel, and Bai Xiang gave off a scholarly elegance.
"This humble one is Lin Weiling!" "This humble one is Ye Fengfeng!" "This humble one is Nan In!" "This humble one is Liu Yunyun!"
The four women spoke next. Lin Weiling gave off the aura of the daughter of a big family, Ye Fengfeng looked quite lively, Nan In looked quite gentle, and Liu Yunyun gave off a charming aura. All four of them were quite beautiful.
The ten people were quite young; the youngest was 17 and the oldest was around 20 years old, and their was a tenderness to their faces.
Hearing their introductions, Zhao Fu nodded in satisfaction. The person who had placed first this time was Long Ling, the leader of Poem Sword. The person who placed second was Lin Weiling, the leader of the Washing Flower Pavilion. Both organizations had performed quite well.
Zhao Fu did not want to interfere with these organizations. As long as they did not violate Great Qin's laws, the more intense the competition, the more prosperous Great Qin would become.
Zhao Fu prepared to confer on them official positions when a Minister came out and said, "Your Majesty, the men have significant outperformed the women in this Imperial Examination. This Minister suggests greatly nurturing the men."
Another Minister came out and said, "Your Majesty, this Minister believes that there is no need in giving the women too much power. They have already let down Your Majesty's expectations. This Minister believes that women are unable to bear the responsibility of some roles."
Another Minister said respectfully, "Your Majesty, this Minister believes that what they have said is right. Please support the men more. This Minister believes that with Bai Xiang's experience, he should be able to undertake important roles in the Imperial Court.'
The women had not performed as well as the men in the Imperial Examination, and some Ministers took this opportunity to suppress the female Ministers. Most of the power in the Imperial Court was still within men's hands, and these ten people all had factions behind them.
The factions behind them all wanted them to obtain important positions. That way, their factions would become more powerful and have solider foundations.
Li Muqing and Lu Lingxuan's expressions fell. They had long since expected that the other Ministers would make things difficult for them, suppress them, and push for policies more favorable to men.
"This Minister doesn't think that women are inferior to men. For example, the top scorer in the last Imperial Examination was Li Xiaoling. This Minister believes that women can definitely do well in the political sphere," Li Muqing hurriedly said.
Lu Lingxuan lifted her head and said confidently, "Your Majesty, do you think This Minister is inferior to men when dealing with political matters? If you believe this to be the case, This Minister will agree with what they say."
Li Xiaoling also wanted to speak, but even though her position was not low anymore, she did not have the qualifications to speak.
The atmosphere became quite tense and the top ten scorers could not help but feel anxious.
Zhao Fu calmly cut them off, "Alright, that's enough; Our decision will not change. Also, you'd best all stay in line. Now that the situation outside Great Qin is so tense, We do not want any internal conflicts."
"Yes, Your Majesty!" Hearing Zhao Fu's words, everyone quickly acquiesced and no one dared to disobey.
This caused Long Ling and the others to feel immense respect and awe towards Zhao Fu. In front of those powerful people, they did not dare to say even a word, but just a few words from the Emperor had caused them to become incredibly docile, and none of them dared to complain.
Following this, Zhao Fu went to the Martial Examination to have a look.
"Your Majesty, you've come!" Wu Zetian came up, leaned against Zhao Fu, and gave a moving smile.
Zhao Fu smiled as he hugged the mature and charming Wu Zetian and sat on the throne. Wu Zetian was quite interested in the Marital Examinations and would come to watch every time.
The Martial Examination soon reached its final stage and it was a well-built young man against a Half-Beast person. One of them would take first place.
Your Majesty, look at that Half-Beast person's wolf ears and wolf tail; how interesting! I want to take a few Half-Beast female attendants," Wu Zetian said as she smiled.
Zhao Fu smiled and nodded. The Half-Beast people were somewhat wild and were quite different. In actuality, every race had its own characteristics.
The only Half-Beast woman Zhao Fu had been with was Cang Xuenu, but he had made many of them Concubines. They had all been Queens or Princesses of Kingdoms.
The fighting on the stage was quite intense and a soldier came up to report, "Your Majesty, there's news from the Charm Devil World, and they're requesting for you to go over."
Zhao Fu nodded and prepared to get up when Wu Zetian said with a trace of displeasure, "Zhao Fu, don't indulge in those lewd women."
Hearing this, Zhao Fu smiled and replied, "I understand, wait for me. I'll be back at night."
Hearing Zhao Fu tell her to wait for him at night, Wu Zetian looked quite pleased and her displeasure disappeared, and she said, "Come back early then. I'll pick a few pretty Half-Beast female attendants to serve you together with me."
Zhao Fu headed to the Charm Devil World, not knowing what had happened and why they had suddenly asked him to go over.
After coming to the Royal Palace, Mei Xianggu, Mei Qiangu, and Xiang Li and their Generals were all present, but they looked quite serious.
"What happened?" Zhao Fu looked at them and asked in curiosity.
Mei Xianggu leapt into Zhao Fu's arms and said worriedly, "My good husband, your prediction was right. The Wind God Empire told everyone in the Charm Devil World to get out within three days, and anyone who remained would be slaughtered."
Zhao Fu felt quite startled; this actually ended up happening. They were incredibly domineering and as the invader, they actually told the original residents to scram. No one in the Charm Devil World dared to say no.
After all, if they did not leave, they would definitely be slaughtered. An Emperor Heaven Realm expert and three billion Stage 3 soldiers could indeed annihilate an entire world.
In actuality, if all of the Charm Devil people fought with the Wind God Empire's three billion soldiers, they would be able to take down some of them. However, all of them would have to die anyways. What's more, the Wind God Empire seemed to be gathering even more soldiers here.