Chapter 1690: Yan Kang Jiang Saint King
"Azure Emperor, are you willing to surrender to Yan Kang?"
Jiang Baigui trapped the Azure Emperor's primordial spirit and immediately spoke: "You have already been defeated. If you do not surrender, you will die. If you surrender, you will be a meritorious official."
The Azure Emperor wandered within his celestial court, trying to break free, and shouted: "The Grand Beginning Sovereign showed me great kindness and favor, which I can never repay in this lifetime. I will only ever be a subject of the Grand Beginning. I would rather die than surrender!"
The Azure Emperor's physical body was completely restrained by Earth Virtue Primordial Lord Gongsun Yan, and his primordial spirit's combat power could not match that of his physical body. Trapped within Jiang Baigui's celestial court, he could not escape.
Jiang Baigui's celestial court was extremely peculiar. It was not a heavenly palace forged from any innate great dao. These thirty-six heavenly palaces were actually composed of acquired daos such as agriculture, forestry, animal husbandry, fishing, commerce, casting, and weapons like knives, spears, swords, and halberds!
The path Jiang Baigui walked was clearly achieving dao through strength, but it differed from the classic method of achieving dao through strength.
The classic method of achieving dao through strength, as practiced by figures like Emperor Hao Tian and the Grand Beginning, involved cultivating innate daos, forging heavenly palaces and precious halls, ascending to the Jasper Palace, sitting upon the imperial throne, imprinting upon the ultimate void, and forcefully achieving Da Luo.
However, Jiang Baigui's path involved acquired daos and innate daos complementing each other. The thirty-six heavenly palaces were acquired daos, while the seventy-two precious halls were innate daos, and both were complete and comprehensive.
Although the Azure Emperor had seen these daos before, he had never seen anyone cultivate them to such a profound realm!
No matter where he tried to escape, he could not get out!
Jiang Baigui's acquired daos and innate daos totaled one hundred and eight types, one hundred and eight sets of imperial throne-level techniques. The innate techniques were understandable—since the Dragon Han era, most talented individuals had cultivated innate daos, and quite a few had achieved the imperial throne.
From the Dragon Han era to the present, the accumulated innate imperial throne techniques numbered at least eight hundred if not a thousand, so gathering seventy-two precious halls should not be difficult.
But acquired imperial throne techniques were extremely rare. From ancient times to the present, the Azure Emperor only knew of one person, Emperor Kai Huang, who had achieved the imperial throne through acquired daos and become famous throughout the world.
Even the renowned Shepherd Heavenly Lord did not cultivate exclusively acquired daos, nor had he reached the imperial throne realm.
Yet Jiang Baigui's heavenly palaces were formed from acquired daos—thirty-six heavenly palaces, thirty-six types of acquired imperial throne techniques. The difficulty of achieving dao through this path was unimaginable!
But Jiang Baigui had already opened up this path and had now cultivated to the Jade Capital realm.
His Jade Capital City was different from anyone else's. The Azure Emperor had never seen anything like it. No matter where he tried to break through, Jiang Baigui would force him back!
Jiang Baigui's expression was solemn, and he said in a deep voice: "The Azure Emperor wants to repay his master with his life, showing loyalty and righteousness. Then I will grant your wish."
He suddenly withdrew his thirty-six heavenly palaces and seventy-two precious halls. The pressure on the Azure Emperor's primordial spirit lightened, and just as he was about to escape, he saw Yan Kang's Duke Wei Guo, King of Mount Tai, and Heavenly Strategy General leading their armies, surrounding him tightly!
The formations of these three Yan Kang armies spread out, their formation diagrams were raised, locking him and his already petrified physical body in place as they attacked fiercely.
Jiang Baigui said in a deep voice: "Surround but do not annihilate. Lure the Eastern Heaven army out of their pass to rescue him."
The Azure Emperor's heart turned ice-cold. Surround but do not annihilate—this was meant to lure all sixty of his Eastern Heaven army corps out, disrupt the Eastern Heaven camp's formation, and crush the morale of the Eastern Heaven army!
Any army that came out of the pass to rescue him would inevitably charge headlong into the trap Jiang Baigui had set, facing an annihilation battle!
They would be wiped out in one fell swoop by Jiang Baigui's Yan Kang army, which was waiting at ease!
And he, the Azure Emperor, had become the bait for Jiang Baigui to annihilate the millions of gods and demons of the Eastern Heaven!
"The Eastern Heaven army commanders must hold their positions and absolutely not come to rescue me!"
He did his utmost to try to break the encirclement, but his injuries only grew more numerous. He knew this was Jiang Baigui's deliberate plan—using his life as the main general to gain an opportunity to break the Eastern Heaven army.
But he could not escape.
"Yan Kang's National Teacher, I am about to die."
Eastern Emperor Azure Dragon was carried over by several soldiers. His battle with the Azure Emperor had drained him completely. He was on the verge of soul dispersion, his breath as faint as a thread: "I have rendered meritorious service, haven't I? Will Shepherd Heavenly Lord resurrect me..."
His eyes were filled with hope.
Jiang Baigui shook his head: "Eastern Emperor, you cannot die yet. Summon the Medicine King!"
A middle-aged pharmacist led several young pharmacists over. They examined the Eastern Emperor's injuries and said: "As long as there is still a breath, he can be saved. Bring that horse over."
Several soldiers led over that dragon horse. Surprisingly, the dragon horse had not died in the battle between the Eastern Emperor and the Azure Emperor. Instead, it had escaped together with the dragon the Azure Emperor had been riding.
During the battle between the Eastern Emperor and the Azure Emperor, both had been fighting with red eyes. In close combat, how could they have cared about their mounts? Instead, the mounts had managed to escape.
The pharmacist reached out, gently pinched, and extracted the dragon qi from the dragon horse's body. Once the dragon qi was drawn out, the dragon horse immediately turned back into a gaunt, sorrel old horse, thin and bony, with diarrhea streaming down its hindquarters.
The pharmacist sent this strand of dragon qi into the Eastern Emperor Azure Dragon's body, slightly improving his injuries. Several pharmacists stepped forward and quickly began treating the Eastern Emperor.
The Eastern Emperor would not die, but his injuries were too severe. Most of his cultivation had been lost. The pharmacists in the Yan Kang army applied medicine too fiercely, causing him excruciating pain. He hissed: "You might as well let me die and then resurrect me—that would be more merciful!"
"There are very few people in the world who have mastered resurrection techniques. Although I am one of them, I do not have enough magical power to resurrect you."
Jiang Baigui said unhurriedly: "Resurrecting you would take too long, and I don't have that much time to spend on the Eastern Emperor. This physical body of yours was forged by Yan Kang's strongest artificers. The Eastern Emperor divine artifact is the only one of its kind and cannot be damaged. I still need you. You have great uses and can help completely break the Eastern Heaven. So under no circumstances can you die."
The military pharmacists continued to treat him. The Eastern Emperor felt that the injuries to his soul were also gradually healing, but the pain was too intense. He gritted his broken teeth and endured it forcefully.
His gaze fell on the middle-aged pharmacist's face. He was slightly startled, seeing that this man was exceptionally handsome, a magnificent male with unparalleled features. But it was this man who applied medicine so fiercely that he made life feel worse than death!
"Who are you, sir?" the Eastern Emperor asked, enduring the pain.
The pharmacist smiled slightly, making the Eastern Emperor feel instantly inferior, and said: "Pharmacist of the Crippled Village, known as the Jade-Faced Poison King. National Teacher, this dragon's injuries are no longer critical. My disciples can handle them. Other battlefields need me."
National Teacher Jiang Baigui did not dare to be negligent and bowed: "Uncle, go slowly."
The pharmacist drifted away.
"This man is one of Shepherd Heavenly Lord's nine masters."
Jiang Baigui looked toward the Eastern Heaven camp and said to the Eastern Emperor: "That is why I call him uncle. Eastern Emperor, do you know why I have made all these calculations but refuse to let you die?"
The Eastern Emperor endured the severe pain and said: "The Eastern Pole Heaven Ancestral Land, the Ten Thousand Dragon Nest! Also, within the Eastern Heaven camp, the divine dragons of my Eastern Pole Heaven!"
Jiang Baigui smiled: "Ancient gods who have survived until now are not too stupid. Duke Wei Guo, make the Azure Emperor's injuries even more severe!"
Within the Eastern Heaven camp, the sixty army corps gathered together. The leaders of the various armies—Heavenly River, Eastern Salt, Western Salt, Heavenly Spoke, Rider Officer, Chariot Cavalry, Array Chariot, and others—were mostly ancient gods and demigods, named after the stars and constellations of the Eastern Heaven. They were marquis-level existences, each extremely powerful.
The various lords were in a panic, discussing how to rescue the Azure Emperor, when suddenly four ancient gods from the Eastern Salt constellation stood up and shouted: "The Azure Emperor is the main general. He loves his soldiers like his own children. He is trapped in a tight encirclement—how can we not rescue him? If you won't go, we will!" With that, the four ancient gods mustered their troops, prepared various divine weapons and heavy artifacts, and charged out of the city!
The other lords also had considerable complaints because the Azure Emperor had been unwilling to engage in battle for so long, so they did not stop them.
Jiang Baigui saw the Eastern Heaven camp's gates wide open, with four armies charging out, and said unhurriedly: "The Azure Emperor loves his soldiers like his own children and treats his subordinates extremely well. The bond between general and soldiers is deep. Now that he is trapped, his soldiers will inevitably disobey his orders and risk their lives to rescue him."
The Eastern Emperor endured the pain and said: "Yan Kang's army is too small. It will be very difficult to annihilate all the divine demon armies of the Eastern Heaven."
Jiang Baigui's expression was calm as he watched the four armies of Eastern Salt gods and demons charging toward them, and said: "Yan Kang's military strength is truly too small. Although I am Yan Kang's supreme wisdom, if I want to destroy the Eastern Heaven, the casualties will likely be severe. Therefore, I must exert my full effort. Deploy troops, engage the enemy, surround but do not annihilate!"
With his command, a Yan Kang army suddenly emerged from the sky. Towering ships and great vessels met the four armies of Eastern Salt.
At the same time, beneath the sea surface where the four armies of Eastern Salt gods and demons were located, waves surged violently as underwater warships burst forth from the water!
The two armies, one above and one below, raised their formation diagrams, activated their formations, and trapped the four army corps. Instantly, sword light and blade shadows flashed, and flesh and blood splattered!
Jiang Baigui's divine eyes shimmered with light. In an instant, he judged the formation changes of the four Eastern Salt army corps and continuously adjusted the formations of Yan Kang's two armies.
His Three Primordial Spirit Convergence Technique directed the entire battlefield, reaching every minute corner of the battle. His wisdom was so high that even the Eastern Emperor forgot his pain, looking at him with eyes full of fear.
"God demon!"
The Eastern Emperor could hardly suppress the fear in his heart. He felt that Jiang Baigui's eyes contained only the purest principle. This principle was not rationality but the principle of dao, sending chills down his spine. He blurted out: "Jiang Baigui, you are the purest god demon! You possess the most formidable god demon heart!"
"You call my dao heart a god demon. I call this kind of dao heart inner sage."
Jiang Baigui's expression was calm: "The sage has that from which he is born; the king has that by which he achieves. Both originate from the One. The dao of inner sage and outer king observes the darkness and ignorance of all beings, illuminates the stagnation and unexpressed within myself, and watches the people of the world, each pursuing what they desire, taking themselves as the standard. Preserve heavenly principle, control human desire—this is my sage's dao. Now, I have nearly attained my dao."
The Eastern Emperor's body trembled, and the fear in his heart grew stronger and stronger. Jiang Baigui said his dao was the dao of inner sage and outer king, but in the Eastern Emperor's eyes, this was the god demon heart!
A dao heart where god and demon coexisted, a god demon heart that grasped dao, heaven, principle, humanity, desire, technique, method, and formation all in hand!
On the battlefield, whether friend or foe, the heavenly principle and human desire of everyone were under his complete control. Such a person—was this a sage's heart or a god demon's heart? He was very doubtful!
Even that sorrel old horse had been part of Jiang Baigui's calculations. It was precisely the dragon qi within the old horse's body that had kept the Eastern Emperor alive, preventing his death!
Heavenly principle and human desire, all under control—how terrifying was such a figure?
"What Woodcutter Wen Tian Pavilion failed to achieve, he has accomplished. He is even more terrifying than Wen Tian Pavilion! Such a person deserves to be called the supreme wisdom!"
The Eastern Emperor shuddered: "He is a saint king, the Yan Kang Jiang Saint King!"
The four armies of Eastern Salt gods and demons were trapped, and their soldiers kept dying. Jiang Baigui controlled the two armies to continuously nibble away, consuming the living strength of these four divine demon armies at minimal cost, but he surrounded them without annihilating them.
Seeing this, the Azure Emperor shouted hoarsely: "Don't rescue me! Hold the camp firmly!"
His voice could not be transmitted at all, but at this moment, a row of Yan Kang divine beings stepped forward from the ranks. The sounds coming from their mouths were exactly the same as his voice: "Don't rescue me! Rescue the Eastern Salt!"
These few gods and demons were nothing but petty thieves skilled at imitating others' voices, but they made the Azure Emperor's heart turn ice-cold.
This voice, transmitted to the Eastern Heaven camp, would inevitably lure out more Eastern Heaven soldiers!
These soldiers, once they left the pass, would definitely fall into Jiang Baigui's ambush!
The Azure Emperor fought desperately and shouted: "That is not my command! Don't leave the city!"
Those petty thieves all shouted simultaneously: "Listen to my command! Western Salt and Heavenly Spoke, march out!"
The Azure Emperor's heart sank. He saw the four divisions of Western Salt and the two divisions of Heavenly Spoke charging out from the Eastern Heaven camp to rescue the four divisions of Eastern Salt gods and demons.
Jiang Baigui suddenly adjusted the formation. Earlier, he had only been consuming the living strength of the four Eastern Salt divine demon divisions at minimal cost, but now he directly transformed it into the most powerful killing formation!
At the same time, another Yan Kang army charged out, like a sharp knife thrusting deeply into the four Eastern Salt divine demon divisions. The encirclement turned into an annihilation battle!
Before the four divisions of Western Salt and the two divisions of Heavenly Spoke could rush up, the gods and demons of the four Eastern Salt divisions had already been mostly annihilated. The remaining defeated troops were driven toward the six divisions of Western Salt and Heavenly Spoke, instantly throwing their formations into chaos!
"The sixty army corps of the Eastern Heaven are finished..."
The Eastern Emperor's heart was shaken with shock, and he murmured: "The Eastern Heaven army will all be buried at his hands. No wonder the Azure Emperor, when facing him, always held the camp firmly and avoided battle. Because before Jiang Baigui, if you don't move, there is no fault; if you move, flaws appear everywhere..."
—Does a figure like Jiang Baigui really exist in reality? Zhai Zhu: He does, but not so mythologized.