Chapter 1522: Opposition
Yang Haoran was very satisfied when he left, while Ma Ling, in contrast, wore a distressed expression, for she had untold bitterness she couldn't voice, swallowing her teeth down her belly.
Of course, Ma Ling had no objection to Yang Haoran establishing the God Xuan Society. She was equally amenable to becoming the president of the God Xuan Society. After Yang Haoran verbally praised her, she even felt a little excited, eager for the God Xuan Society to be successfully established so she could immediately take her place as president.
However, the task Yang Haoran subsequently assigned her truly stumped her, because this task was not just difficult; it was extremely difficult. With her current attainments in array formations, it was almost impossible for her to accomplish.
Yet, to preserve her image as an Array Master in front of Yang Haoran, she wanted Yang Haoran to believe that there was no array formation problem she couldn't solve. So, she not only bit the bullet and accepted the task, but also put on a facade as if it were no big deal. It was just that her act wasn't very convincing; anyone with eyes could tell she was just putting on a brave front.
Yang Haoran, of course, also saw that Ma Ling was putting on a brave front. But he didn't call her out, nor did he intend to change his mind. Because pressure creates motivation, only with immense pressure would Ma Ling exhaust herself trying every possible method to complete this task. Therefore, Yang Haoran simply ignored Ma Ling's brave facade, pretending not to notice, and left with a cheerful expression, offering Ma Ling some words of encouragement.
As for the final outcome, if Ma Ling truly succeeded in completing this task, then naturally, nothing could be better. For him, and for the entire Great Night Empire, it would absolutely be an extraordinary and joyous event.
Conversely, if Ma Ling gave her all but ultimately failed, he would absolutely not blame her. Because he inherently knew this task was too demanding. Even if he wasn't an Array Master, he understood this point. So, even if Ma Ling ended in failure, he wouldn't develop dissatisfaction towards her because of it. He would even comfort and encourage Ma Ling when the time came.
Furthermore, he hadn't set a time limit for Ma Ling on this task. If it couldn't be completed in ten years, then twenty; if not twenty, then thirty. As long as there was enough time and resources, he believed Ma Ling would eventually be able to complete this task.
As all external intelligence was currently being gathered by the Myriad Ghost Grotto, and Shui Ling's task was to manage the Great Night Empire's internal affairs, therefore, the external intelligence Yang Haoran received could only come from Tang Shi.
Tang Shi reported directly to Yang Haoran. Precisely for this reason, all sorts of intelligence gathered by Tang Shi were reported directly to Yang Haoran. However, because there were many factions to guard against, Yang Haoran would receive various pieces of intelligence from Tang Shi every few days.
However, these two pieces of intelligence gathered by Tang Shi this time were unrelated to other factions; they were entirely about the Underworld Office. Of these two pieces, one indicated that while the Underworld Office currently showed no signs of launching a large-scale attack on the Great Night Empire, it did not rule out the possibility that the Underworld Office might secretly dispatch experts to assassinate high-ranking officials of the Great Night Empire. Therefore, precautions should be strengthened, and vigilance should not be relaxed.
The other piece of intelligence stated that the Underworld Office's high-ranking officials were again embroiled in internal strife over the position of Tong Continent Great Emperor. Compared to their previous struggle for the Tong Continent Great Emperor position, this time the conflict was more intense. Last time, to avoid repercussions, the struggles among the Underworld Office's high-ranking officials were almost entirely clandestine, rarely brought into the open. However, this time, the Underworld Office's high-ranking officials directly displayed their conflict openly, without any reservations.
The first piece of intelligence was certainly not good news for Yang Haoran. But the second piece was quite the opposite; it was absolutely good news.
Since he was already on the opposing side of the Underworld Office, Yang Haoran naturally hoped the Underworld Office's internal strife would rage as fiercely as possible. The more intensely the Underworld Office fought, the greater the internal consumption would be, weakening their strength, and preventing them from freeing up resources to launch major operations against the Great Night Empire. Therefore, this second piece of intelligence was absolutely good news for Yang Haoran, and indeed, incredibly great news.
“Heh heh, quarrel then, quarrel well. The more intensely you quarrel, the better. Ideally, you'll turn everything upside down. If you were an impenetrable monolith, other factions truly wouldn't be able to do anything to you. But if you're willing to quarrel, willing to consume yourselves internally, then it's different. I reckon you won't stop until you've quarreled the Underworld Office into collapse. ”
Yang Haoran muttered to himself, a genuine smile spreading across his face. The Underworld Office's high-ranking officials fighting fiercely over the Tong Continent Great Emperor position was absolutely the outcome he most desired; how could he not be happy?
Compared to the second piece of intelligence, the first seemed less important. After all, the Underworld Office's high-ranking officials were all busy vying for the throne of Tong Continent Great Emperor, making the possibility of them secretly dispatching experts to assassinate high-ranking Great Night Empire officials rather low.
Of course, since Tang Shi proactively brought up this matter, it meant it wasn't entirely impossible. This matter was merely unlikely, not utterly impossible. Therefore, necessary precautions certainly still needed to be in place. It was just that there was no need to be overly concerned about it, turning the entire Great Night Empire into a state of extreme alert.
After destroying the two pieces of intelligence, Yang Haoran pondered for a moment, then activated several Communication Talismans. He made targeted arrangements based on the content of the two pieces of intelligence. This was his habitual practice.
Another month passed. Under the witness of the Great Night Empire's high-ranking officials, the God Xuan Society was established. The Great Night Empire thus gained a new organization, a special institution composed entirely of Array Masters and Array Master apprentices.
Ma Ling served as the president of the God Xuan Society; there was no vice-president for the time being. Its members were Array Masters secretly cultivated by Yang Haoran over the years. Although their numbers weren't large, and their abilities were far inferior to an Array Master like Ma Ling, they also had their own merits, enough to support the facade of the God Xuan Society.
Besides these proper Array Masters, Yang Haoran also recruited a considerable number of people to join the God Xuan Society, becoming Array Master apprentices. These individuals had very limited knowledge of array formations; some even had no understanding of them whatsoever. However, they were all carefully selected elites, with highly flexible minds and a strong interest in the Way of Array Formations. So, in Yang Haoran's view, there was no significant problem in letting them become God Xuan Society Array Master apprentices.
With a large number of Array Master apprentices, Array Masters could have more time to research array formations, as miscellaneous tasks could be entirely handled by the apprentices. Conversely, without Array Master apprentices, Array Masters would inevitably spend a considerable amount of time on trivial matters. Therefore, whether to lighten the burden on Array Masters or for the future development of the Great Night Empire, these Array Master apprentices were necessary.
Since the establishment of a new organization was no small matter, there were many things that needed to be handled. Thus, establishing the God Xuan Society required some time. It couldn't be formed the very next day after Yang Haoran mentioned it to Ma Ling. This was unavoidable.
Furthermore, after the God Xuan Society was established, there were still many problems that needed to be addressed in the initial stages. If any flaws were discovered, time would be needed to refine and fix them. From this, it was clear that establishing an organization was not a simple matter. It was far from as straightforward as it appeared on the surface. Getting the organization to operate smoothly was, by comparison, much more troublesome.
However, since the Great Night Empire's establishment to the present day, it hadn't formed just one or two new organizations. The Great Night Empire had ample experience in this regard. Therefore, the time required to get the God Xuan Society running successfully would certainly be much reduced.
Since the successful establishment of the God Xuan Society, Yang Haoran only occasionally paid attention to the God Xuan Society's progress. He didn't bother with other matters, instead entrusting them to Ma Ling. How to quickly get the God Xuan Society on track was the proper duty of Ma Ling, its president. The speed at which the God Xuan Society got on track would also determine Ma Ling's competence in this area. If he wanted to gauge Ma Ling's capabilities in this regard, a hands-off approach was best.
Although Yang Haoran didn't meddle with the God Xuan Society's progress, he didn't become idle because of it. With the Underworld Office's high-ranking officials currently embroiled in fierce infighting over the Tong Continent Great Emperor position, their focus couldn't be on the Great Night Empire. He could seize this opportunity to unify the entire Eastern Sunrise Ocean and become its undisputed overlord. However, what he hadn't anticipated was that this very idea was met with opposition from some of his high-ranking subordinates.
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