Chapter 124: Timing, Location, and Harmony

Little Eight moved quickly, returning in only three days. It informed Li Qingqiu that Xu Ning and the others had already met up with Li Sifeng and his group of three, and they were now on their way back, which made him breathe a sigh of relief.

However, he could still sense a strange Qi emanating from the direction of Zhengyang Imperial City, making it difficult for him to settle down.

With his current strength, he did not fear this strange Qi, but he was unsure of its source, or if the Emperor, Celestial Master Jiang, or Mysterious Duke still had hidden trump cards.

The world was vast, and he first had to ensure the safety of Qingxiao Sect before considering whether or not to save the world.

Nine more days passed, and Xu Ning and the others finally returned. Everyone was travel-worn and exhausted. The journey from Zhongtian Province to Qingxiao Mountain was long, and their speed indicated they must have used Origin Qi for travel.

Li Qingqiu gathered all the Hall Masters on the mountain. This time, Shen Yue also attended.

After everyone gathered, Xu Ning first reported the situation: Taiwu Sect and Liyin Cult had been destroyed by them. However, when they went to Jianji Sect, they found that Jianji Sect had already evacuated and vanished without a trace. They investigated for several days but could not find any information on Jianji Sect’s whereabouts, so they had to give up.

Li Qingqiu did not say much about this; he asked Zhang Yu to recount their previous experiences.

Zhang Yu began by describing the breakthrough of Wushen Pass. The three of them followed the Seven Provinces Army through nearly two months of fierce fighting, finally reaching Zhengyang Imperial City, only to see a group of strange Black Armored Soldiers leap onto the city wall and charge toward the hundreds of thousands of troops.

Initially, they paid no heed, but they soon discovered that these Black Armored Soldiers possessed boundless strength and terrifying speed, causing considerable casualties to the Seven Provinces Army in a very short time. Li Sifeng and Wu Maner joined the battle but could not easily kill the Black Armored Soldiers. Moreover, the Jin Wu Guards quickly entered the fray, and even the Emperor arrived.

The Emperor’s martial arts greatly shocked Zhang Yu and the other two.

Li Sifeng couldn’t help but say, “I feel the Emperor is even stronger than Senior Shen. His cultivation is terrifying; a casual palm strike can severely injure dozens of soldiers. Furthermore, his movement technique is incredibly fast. When I fought him, I couldn’t even scratch him. If Xu Ning hadn’t arrived in time, I might have been seriously injured too.”

There was one thing he didn’t mention: he felt that the di xuan sword’s sword soul was also uneasy, as if facing a great enemy, which intensified his apprehension toward the Emperor.

Everyone was surprised, and Shen Yue narrowed his eyes.

Yang Jueding couldn’t help but ask, “Is the Inner Core of a martial arts myth really that powerful?”

“I fear it’s not just that Inner Core. The Emperor has been ordering Alchemy for years; his cultivation is unimaginable. No wonder he didn’t stop the various provincial armies from gathering. It turns out he truly doesn’t fear worldly power…” Zhang Yuchun said with a solemn expression.

Xu Ning chimed in, “The Emperor’s martial arts are indeed very high. Although I only exchanged a few moves with him, I could feel that defeating him would be extremely difficult and would require a determination to die. Fearing the sacrifice of other Disciples, I could only lead everyone to retreat.”

Zhang Yuchun nodded approvingly, saying, “Your judgment was correct. Your mission was to destroy the Three Founding Sects, not to kill the Emperor.”

The True Disciples Xu Ning brought were all at the Nourishing Origin Realm, Third Layer cultivation level. Losing even one would be a major loss for Qingxiao Sect.

“According to what you’ve said, those Demon Soldiers probably consumed neither the martial god pill nor the yin ghost pill. The Emperor must possess even more sinister Medicinal Pills,” Shen Yue stated. When he fought the Jin Wu Guards, he hadn’t found those who took the martial god pill or yin ghost pill to be particularly troublesome; they were ultimately still mortal flesh.

According to Zhang Yu, those Demon Soldiers combined the effects of both the martial god pill and the yin ghost pill: boundless strength, ghostly movement, immunity to pain, and their Internal Qi could even devour the Internal Qi of a Martial Artist.

Just thinking about such beings made them seem incredibly difficult to deal with, especially since their numbers reached tens of thousands.

Zhu Yan frowned and said, “To have so many Demon Soldiers, it seems the Emperor has been preparing for a long time. I suspect he might have deliberately waited for the Seven Provinces Army to march right up to Zhengyang Imperial City. Besides soldiers, the Seven Provinces Army also gathered many experts from the Martial Forest. If the Emperor truly needs Martial Artists as ingredients for his medicine, then this played right into his hands.”

Li Qingqiu remained silent. After hearing the intelligence brought back by Xu Ning and the two others, he began to consider whether Qingxiao Sect could withstand the power the Emperor now commanded.

The tens of thousands of Demon Soldiers should not be underestimated. If he took the Disciples there, casualties would be inevitable. No matter how strong Li Qingqiu was, he did not know the art of Clone.

Zhang Yuchun looked at Li Qingqiu and said, “Senior Brother, we cannot act rashly on this matter. The world is vast, and the responsibility does not fall solely on Qingxiao Sect. If all the provinces in the world put forth their full effort to fight the Emperor, victory is not impossible.”

How vast was the Great Li Dynasty? The power of seven provinces was definitely more than just a few hundred thousand troops. Zhang Yuchun believed that once this news spread, the world could mobilize even greater forces.

Li Qingqiu nodded, but he wondered internally if dragging this out would only benefit the Emperor more.

Zhu Yan said, “We certainly can’t act rashly, Sect Leader. I will have people try their best to investigate the situation at Zhengyang Imperial City.”

The others agreed. They could all sense that this situation was different from the previous one at Guzhou Prefecture; they were facing a far more terrifying power.

Li Qingqiu spoke, “For the next period, increase patrol strength and instruct the Disciples to minimize their trips down the mountain.”

Everyone nodded. This matter caused pressure to weigh heavily on their minds.

Not only was it because the power the Emperor currently displayed was too immense, but also because they had no idea what the Emperor truly intended to do… Inside the gloomy Ganwu Hall.

Bang—

A corpse rolled down the steps and landed on the hall floor. Looking around, dozens of corpses lay scattered across the main hall, some wearing prison clothes, others clad in armor.

Above the steps, Zhao Zhi sat cross-legged in front of the Dragon Throne, his hands resting on his legs, palms facing up. Black Qi swirled around him, his messy long hair constantly fluttering, making him appear extremely sinister.

Jin Wu Guards entered the hall one by one, dragging away the corpses on the floor. As soon as they finished, another group of Jin Wu Guards escorted several prisoners and soldiers into the hall.

“Zhao Zhi, you will meet a terrible end!”

“Your Majesty, I was wrong, give me a chance! I am willing to pledge allegiance to you!”

“Zhao Zhi, as the Son of Heaven, you are the father of the people! How can you be so utterly devoid of conscience? Are you worthy of the High Ancestor Emperor and your subjects? What are you now—a human or a demon?”

“Your Majesty, do not be misled by evildoers again! How can there be an immortal person in this world?”

“Dog Emperor! Even if I become a ghost, I won’t let you go!”

As this batch of prisoners was escorted in, the great hall immediately erupted into clamor.

Zhao Zhi raised his right hand, remotely pulling a prisoner onto the steps. He grabbed the prisoner’s throat, making him unable to speak. This sight stunned the other prisoners, who watched him in terrified distress.

Under the gaze of the prisoners, Zhao Zhi opened his mouth, breathing through his nose and mouth, and absorbed faint wisps of Qi from the face of the prisoner in his hand. The black Qi surrounding Zhao Zhi began to surge, forming a terrifying and horrifying Ghost Shadow.

“Ghost… ghost…”

A prisoner widened his eyes, muttering to himself with a pale face, his eyes filled with despair.

The Jin Wu Guards wore masks and watched all this with indifference.

Soon, screams echoed within Ganwu Hall, like Hell on earth.

After a little less than an hour, the Jin Wu Guards began dragging the corpses out one by one.

At this moment, Mysterious Duke entered the hall, walked up to the steps, and raised his hand in greeting toward Zhao Zhi.

“Your Majesty, the Formation Platform is being constructed and will be finished in three days at most, but the Celestial Master says we need to wait for an Auspicious Day,” Mysterious Duke reported.

“Then follow the Celestial Master’s advice.”

“Your Majesty, your subject suggests that once the Formation Platform is complete, we should immediately start the Heaven-Mending Plan. We cannot delay; now that things have reached this point, we cannot afford any more mistakes.”

Mysterious Duke said in a deep voice, his tone somewhat anxious.

“The Heaven-Mending Plan cannot be rushed. As the Celestial Master said, the path to immortality requires the right timing, location, and harmony, none of which can be lacking,” Zhao Zhi said calmly, causing Mysterious Duke to curse him internally for being foolish.

Just as Mysterious Duke was about to offer further advice, an Old Official walked into the hall, stopped beside him, and reported to Zhao Zhi: “Your Majesty, Fengxia Mountain from Southern Chu has sent someone. This person calls himself Daoist Baizhu and carries the Late Emperor’s Handwritten Decree, claiming he wishes to present a treasure to Your Majesty.”

Hearing this, Zhao Zhi opened his eyes and said with interest, “Fengxia Mountain? The former Two Sages of the Martial Forest? The Late Emperor tried to recruit them back then, but they refused, which is why the Three Founding Sects were established to replace their prestige and status. I didn’t expect them to visit Us voluntarily today. Legend says Fengxia Mountain can calculate the Mandate of Heaven. Could it be that they have calculated that We will achieve immortality? Bring him in.”

“Yes!”

The Old Official immediately withdrew.

Mysterious Duke reminded him, “Fengxia Mountain’s visit this time might not be well-intentioned.”

“What? Does that person dare to assassinate Us right here in the great hall? Even if Li Qingqiu came, We would not fear him,” Zhao Zhi said scornfully.

Mysterious Duke remained silent. He did not leave but waited in the great hall, and Zhao Zhi did not dismiss him, continuing his cultivation.

After a moment.

The Old Official led Daoist Baizhu into the hall. Zhao Zhi opened his eyes and scrutinized him.

Daoist Baizhu held a Horsetail Whisk and looked composed. He walked beside Mysterious Duke, bowed to Zhao Zhi, and said, “This Humble Daoist is Daoist Baizhu of Fengxia Mountain. Several months ago, observing the celestial phenomena at night, I calculated that the Great Li Dynasty would experience a change, and I have specifically come to present a treasure to Your Majesty.”

As he spoke, he took a Scroll from his sleeve, intending to walk up the steps and present it to Zhao Zhi.

Mysterious Duke raised his hand, stopping him, and said, “Give it to me.”

Daoist Baizhu glanced at him and handed him the Scroll.

Mysterious Duke opened the Scroll without asking Zhao Zhi, seeing a Landscape Painting inside, which seemed unremarkable.

“What is the value or meaning of this painting?” Mysterious Duke stared at Daoist Baizhu and asked.

Zhao Zhi sat upon the steps, watching them with amusement, and did not stop Mysterious Duke’s interrogation.

Daoist Baizhu replied, “This painting was left behind by our sect’s Ancestral Master. According to him, only those who possess the Mandate of Heaven can glimpse the Heavenly Secrets within the painting.”

Hearing this, Zhao Zhi couldn’t help but say, “Xuan Qing, hand the painting to Us so We may examine it.”

Mysterious Duke hesitated for a moment, then carried the Scroll up the steps.

The Old Official watched them curiously, wondering what mystery the scroll painting held.

When Mysterious Duke reached Zhao Zhi, obstructing Zhao Zhi’s line of sight, Daoist Baizhu suddenly raised his hands, placed them in front of his chest, and quickly chanted something.

Accompanied by the sound of a blade leaving its sheath, a cold light flashed across the great hall. Mysterious Duke subconsciously turned around, only to see a Phantom rapidly rushing toward him, attempting to shoot past him.

Mysterious Duke’s pupils dilated. His peripheral vision caught the Phantom, which looked exactly like Daoist Baizhu, yet Daoist Baizhu was still standing below the steps, staring intently at him.