"Your Highness, the Cult of the Heavenly Demon is still one of the Three Great Sacred Grounds. Even though they haven’t had a Cult Master for over forty years, they remain formidable."
The middle-aged man said, "Forty years without a Cult Master, yet they still haven’t been destroyed and retain such strength. Their cohesion must be tremendous. If it were the Great Thunderclap Temple or the Dao Gate, could they go forty years without a Buddha or a Dao Lord? Underestimating the Cult of the Heavenly Demon will only lead to trouble."
Crown Prince Yuxia Ling waved his hand and said, "Don’t worry, I won’t underestimate the Cult of the Heavenly Demon. For them to quietly eliminate Grand Master Sun Nanda and all the monks in Nanda Side Palace, uprooting Nanda Temple without a single word reaching the outside, shows just how powerful their influence is. How could I ever underestimate such a sect?"
The middle-aged man looked puzzled, but Crown Prince Yuxia Ling continued, "This time, I won’t need to act myself; I can have the Cult of the Heavenly Demon destroyed. The Dao Gate and Great Thunderclap Temple have grudges with the Cult of the Heavenly Demon that go back even longer than their grudges with the Everpeace Empire. Both would love to wipe out this demonic leader, but haven’t had the chance. If..."
He said leisurely, "If the Emperor of Everpeace no longer opposes these sects, if the Emperor stops supporting the Imperial Preceptor’s reforms, if the Emperor dismisses the Preceptor, if the Emperor can make the struggle between sects and the state disappear, do you think the Dao Gate and Great Thunderclap Temple would be willing to join hands with this Emperor? Would they support him?"
The middle-aged man’s body trembled slightly as he looked at Crown Prince Yuxia Ling.
Crown Prince Yuxia Ling’s gaze was deep as he calmly said, "My father has great talent and vision, but he trusts the Imperial Preceptor too much. With such trust, most of the court is now under the Preceptor’s influence. This spells doom for our Ling family. If the Preceptor rebels, my father will have no means to stop him. If the Everpeace Imperial Preceptor grows any stronger, the dynasty will be overturned and replaced!"
His gaze grew sharp and his voice grave: "The elders of our Ling family, our loyal and righteous men, all see the signs. That’s why my Eighth Great-Uncle supports me. He once warned my father, but my father was stubborn and trusted the Preceptor blindly. Eighth Great-Uncle was left with no choice and hopes I can make a change."
His voice was full of passion and grief: "Eighth Great-Uncle was a Ling family elder who fought alongside Emperor Gaozong to win the empire. My Eighth Imperial Uncle of Everpeace risked being branded a traitor, allied with sects and officials across the land to pave the way for me, to overthrow the Preceptor—only to fail at the last moment! He couldn’t even be buried whole; the traitorous Preceptor cut off his head, and now rumors say he was disloyal!"
Crown Prince Yuxia Ling shed tears, suddenly slamming the table, his eyes bloodshot: "I can’t let the Ling family’s empire be destroyed by my father’s hand, even if it means being an unfilial son! Loyalty and filial piety cannot both be fulfilled; I am unfilial, but I am loyal to the Ling family! Some things must be done, no matter what!"
He paced back and forth, agitated: "It’s ridiculous how my siblings are oblivious, living in drunken stupor, not realizing disaster is about to strike our Ling family! Father has already been sidelined by the Imperial Preceptor, the Ling family has been ousted from the throne, and they’ll be wiped out as well! I can’t let this happen, can’t let the Preceptor, a demonic usurper, take over! I must become Emperor and turn the tide!"
At the Hukou Imperial Shipyard, the Heavenly Works Hall and Artisans Hall finally forged five tower-ships in ten days, and everyone installed fifteen cauldrons created by Quinn, connecting them to bronze beasts on the ships.
Quinn made some adjustments to the tower-ship blueprints, changing the layout so that each ship needed three cauldrons, with three bronze beasts—two at the stern, one at the bottom, their heads able to swivel in all directions.
The originally wooden tower-ships were remade with black iron and copper, greatly increasing their weight. One cauldron alone couldn’t make them fly, so two more were added, along with a bronze beast at the bottom that could shoot fire downward, making takeoff and landing less bumpy.
Of the five iron-hulled tower-ships, three were large and two small. Though small, the ships were fully equipped, with cabins and guest rooms in the smaller ones.
Quinn had the ships painted with wood-grain lacquer so they looked like wooden tower-ships, avoiding undue attention.
Vance Skyler was beside himself with excitement, circling the five ships and asking, “Cult Master, which ship is mine?”
Quinn pointed to the smaller ship, and Vance’s face fell. “Can’t I have a big ship instead?”
“The big ships are for transporting troops and fighting. They’re not as fast as the small ones.”
Quinn said, “If you’re still going to be a fire-bandit, the small ship is better. If you want to carry passengers, the big ship is fine, but it uses more medicinal stones, and in peaceful times, the fare might not cover the cost.”