Chapter 172: Strength is Supreme
The next day, the Imperial Security Council issued an official announcement regarding the Void Invasion incident.
[After careful monitoring and evaluation, we regret to confirm that the Empire has recently experienced a series of Void Invasion incidents.].
[During the Void Hunting Trial, a Void Invasion broke out, resulting in multiple casualties among participants. The affected area has been secured, and the Imperial Military and security forces are actively containing and addressing the situation.].
[The Imperial Security Council has initiated a national emergency response plan, coordinating efforts between the Military Department, intelligence agencies, medical systems, and local governments.].
As soon as this announcement spread across the Empire, it shocked the entire nation.
The Empire prided itself as the strongest human civilization, and yet, an event of this scale had occurred.
However, the official statement was carefully craftedâformal, detailed, objective⊠but ultimately lacking substance.
The truthâthat the Military Department itself had orchestrated the invasionâwas completely absent from the announcement.
This wasnât an oversight, but a deliberate decision.
After all, the Military Department was the Empireâs highest command center for armed forces, a symbol of supreme power in the minds of the people.
If the public learned that the Vice Minister of the Military, an Imperial Marshal, had orchestrated the Void Invasion, the resulting crisis could shatter the very foundation of public trust.
It could even cause citizens to lose faith in both the Military and the Empire itself.
Thus, the government concealed the truth, stating only that an invasion occurred but was swiftly contained.
As for Li YinglongâHe had simply disappeared.
The Military Departmentâs website only issued a brief statement, announcing that Li Yinglong had been removed from his position as Vice Minister and Imperial Marshal.
Nothing more, but this was only the beginning.
With the Imperial Inspections Bureau and the Special Intelligence Bureau forming a joint investigative task force, the Military Department quickly fell into turmoil.
One by one, officers were arrested. Even high-ranking officialsâsome as powerful as division chiefsâwere not spared from interrogation and detainment.
The once untouchable Military Department was now gripped by white terror. A mood of fear settled over the entire institution.
â Some officers went to work in the morning, only to be arrested by the afternoon.
â Others, fearing arrest, bid farewell to their families before heading to the officeâonly to return home celebrating at night, relieved they had survived another day.
Among the enforcers of this purge, one name stood outâWang Minghui, the Deputy Director of the Imperial Inspections Bureau.
In just three days, he had already brought down five Major Generals and over twenty officers, wiping out entire divisions of the Military Affairs Bureau and the Operations Bureau.
Now, merely mentioning his name was enough to make military officers break into a cold sweat.
His relentless efficiency and cold precision had made him one of the most feared figures in the entire investigation.
The purge lasted for an entire week. By the time it ended, nearly half of the Military Departmentâs officer corps had been removed.
â Some were imprisoned.
â Some were exiled to the Void frontlines.
â Some were demoted and reassigned.
Entire departmentsâincluding the Military Affairs Bureau, the Operations Bureau, the Imperial Guard Command, and the Veterans Affairs Bureauâwere left crippled.
Where once these positions would have been filled by the Military itself, things were now different. With the Military Department weakened, the political elites wasted no time in seizing control.
The Imperial Cardinal Council began appointing new leadership in key military divisions.
â Qin Xun, a senior member of the Qin Family and former Chief of Imperial Logistics, was promoted to Vice Minister of the Military Departmentâmaking him the new second-in-command.
â The Regentâs faction secured control over several key military offices, including the Military Affairs Bureau and the Veterans Affairs Bureau.
In just one week, the Qin Family and the Regentâs faction had divided half of the Military Departmentâs power between them.
This had been a feast of power, and Qin Xianâs family was the biggest winner.
Not only had the Qin Family secured the Vice Minister position, but they had also gained control over the Militaryâs strategic planning and the Imperial Guard forces.
For the first time, the Qin Family had direct influence over military decision-making.
Meanwhile, the Regentâs faction expanded its own influence, leveraging its control over the Eastern Military.
With this massive shift in power, the Imperial capitalâs political landscape had completely transformed.
Yet, the man at the center of it all, Qin Xian, had already shifted his focus.
To him, the political chaos of the capital was nothing more than a toolâa means to an end. The real foundation of this world wasnât politics.
It was strength.
Look at Li Yinglong. A Level 75 Quasi-Legendary powerhouse and yet, he fell in a single night.
It wasnât that strength was meaninglessâIt was that he simply wasnât strong enough.
What if Li Yinglong had been Level 85? What if he had been Level 95? Would anyone have dared to touch him?
Would anyone have dared to bring charges against him? No.
His crimes wouldnât have mattered at all. Power was everything. And Qin Xian knewâhis own strength had stagnated.
At only 20 years old, he had already reached Level 35.
It was an unprecedented achievement, setting a new record for human progress since the arrival of the Divine Revelation System.
Yet, to Qin Xian, it was still too slow. This world wasnât like traditional cultivation realms, where rushing through levels would cause an unstable foundation.
In the Divine Revelation System, experience points were absolute.
Every level up granted significant attribute points and skill experienceâa pure, unfiltered increase in strength.
So the only question that mattered wasâHow could he obtain more experience points faster?
Qin Xian thought for a moment.
And thenâA certain idea surfaced in his mind.
His lips curled into a smile, âYesâŠThis would work.â