Chapter 172: Wazhou Insect Army
The three Heavenly Kings guarding the sect expended great effort to break out of the Xiaolei Forbidden Zone, only to see Qin Mu's figure flickering and shrinking into the distance, farther and farther away from them.
All three sighed.
"If I had known this task would be so arduous, I would never have accepted it..." Lu Heavenly King wiped the black soot from his face, murmuring, "This generation's Holy Lord is far too unpredictable."
The other two elders shared the same sentiment. Shi Heavenly King said, "At least it's finally over. The Holy Lord is still young, but he has already shown his brilliance—it is a blessing for our sect. Now that this matter is settled, we should investigate the matter of Qian Heavenly King."
Lu Heavenly King and Yu Heavenly King's hearts tightened, and they said solemnly, "Indeed, we must find out who is making a move against our sect!"
Shi Heavenly King's expression was grave as he spoke in a low voice, "What worries me most is not this, but whether our sect's teleportation banners have been leaked. Troubled times indeed... Look below, it seems to be the territory of Wazhou!"
"Wazhou? Our sect's sacred ground has moved above Wazhou?"
Yu Heavenly King's heart trembled slightly as he exhaled a mouthful of turbid air and said, "Wazhou is in rebellion. Imperial relatives have risen in revolt, and the momentum is considerable. The Holy Lord has landed in Wazhou, I'm afraid..."
The Holy Proclamation Mountain was hidden within the Xiaolei Forbidden Zone, suspended beyond the heavens. This sacred ground was not stationary but in constant motion. There was a place on the mountain called Gazing Abyss; standing there and looking into the abyss, one could see the scenery directly below the Holy Proclamation Mountain, even ants on the ground with perfect clarity.
But this time, in their haste, none of them had time to check the Gazing Abyss, and as a result, when the sacred ground arrived above Wazhou, Qin Mu had already left it.
"I hope the Holy Lord hasn't fallen into the battlefield," Lu Heavenly King murmured.
Qin Mu fell from the sky. Fox Ling'er urged the demon wind, and Qin Mu walked on the wind. Before long, he finally set foot on solid ground. His primal energy was mostly depleted, but at least he was safe.
"It's been a long time since I went to the Grand Academy. As the first Grand Academician, the Emperor has also granted me an official position, yet I've only attended one lecture."
He looked around, had Fox Ling'er take out the Yancheng geography map from the bundle, and Qin Mu discerned the mountain terrain, finding a similar mountain range on the map.
"It's Wazhou. But it's still far from the city."
Just then, he saw a ship leisurely flying through the sky. Qin Mu's heart stirred, and he immediately activated the Sky-Thieving Divine Legs, chasing after that multi-story ship along the mountain foothills.
That ship flew a merchant convoy's flag, a vessel for both commerce and passengers. Though the times were chaotic, there were still many merchant and passenger ships; even in rebel territories, ships came and went.
Qin Mu ran faster and faster, then suddenly stepped on the air, rising into the sky and sprinting as if on level ground. In a few breaths, he caught up to the ship, flickered, and landed on it.
Clang, clang, clang!
The sound of swords being drawn rang out. The moment he landed, dozens of flying swords pointed at his neck, surrounding him front and back.
"Everyone, don't be alarmed. I just want to hitch a ride." Qin Mu quickly raised his hands and said cautiously.
On the deck of this ship were dozens of people, mostly merchants by the looks of them, along with cultivators hired by the merchants, and a few officials. Those pointing flying swords at his neck were the officials and cultivators.
"Young man, where are you headed?" the ship's captain, bare-chested and covered in tattoos, walked over, sizing Qin Mu up with surprise, and asked.
Qin Mu inquired, "Is this a ship heading to the capital?"
The captain nodded and said, "To the capital. Fare is one hundred Dafeng coins."
Qin Mu was taken aback and exclaimed, "So expensive? From Jiangling to the capital it's only ten Dafeng coins. How did it suddenly increase tenfold?"
"Times are bad. Fighting every day, the roads aren't safe, so naturally the fare goes up. Heh, ten times is already a small increase. This is a job where you tie your life to your belt; you have to pay more for risking your neck."
Qin Mu conceded the point.
If he walked to the capital himself, with the chaos and warfare along the way, it would likely take over ten days to arrive. Using the Sky-Thieving Divine Legs required extremely deep cultivation; he would run out of energy before long, so taking a ship was more convenient.
"The world is not at peace. I heard that Qiu Dieyi of Linzhou has also rebelled."
Qin Mu paid the fare and overheard several merchants chatting. An old gentleman said, "Qiu Dieyi is no small figure. Before defecting to the court, she was the Great Palace Master of the Liqing Palace, with earth-shattering cultivation. The Liqing Palace's influence is immense, with many disciples, many of whom serve as generals in the border armies. The Great Palace Master of the Liqing Palace rebelling—heh, the world grows even more chaotic."
"I heard the Liqing Palace is the number one sect founded by women, with extraordinary strength, not much inferior to the three sacred grounds. Many of the court's female generals come from the Liqing Palace."
"The Three Wonders Fort has also rebelled. The Three Wonders Fort was once in high imperial favor. Consort Che was from the Three Wonders Fort; I heard she is the granddaughter of Che Zhengli, one of the Three Wonders! When the Three Wonders Fort rebelled, Consort Che was immediately sent to the cold palace."
"Why are so many sects rebelling?"
"Don't you know? Three months ago, the Daoist Sect's Daozi went to block the Grand Academy's gate. The Yancheng National Master went to the Grand Academy to lecture on swordsmanship, and then people saw that the National Master was severely injured. I heard his wounds had already begun to fester, and he deliberately used incense to cover the smell, but it couldn't hide the stench of the wounds."
"When this news first came out, some sects didn't believe it. Then another incident occurred: the Dragon Taming Sect's master sneaked into the National Master's residence at night, exchanged blows with him, and actually escaped alive! The Dragon Taming Sect master's skill is not top-tier; he raised a snake-turned-flood dragon, barely considered a sect master-level expert. But even the National Master couldn't subdue him—that shows how severe his injuries are."
"Shh, don't say anymore. Those officials are looking this way."
...
Qin Mu's heart stirred as he recalled the scene of the National Master lecturing on swordsmanship before the Grand Academy hall. The Yancheng National Master did indeed seem somewhat ill. However, Qin Mu himself was well-versed in medicine and often accompanied Granny Si to buy rouge and powder, so he could be certain that the National Master's flushed complexion was not illness but rouge.
As for the merchants' claim about using incense to cover the stench of rotting wounds, Qin Mu had indeed smelled both odors at the time but hadn't paid them any mind.
He had learned to identify medicines from the Medicine Master since childhood. Both odors were from ordinary medicines and spices.
Qin Mu frowned. "The National Master's wounds have already healed, yet he used the opportunity of lecturing at the Grand Academy to make outsiders believe he was still severely injured, scheming to make those who wanted to rebel but dared not actually do so. This cunning is terrifying."
The National Master's lecture at the Grand Academy had been three months ago. In those three months, the situation had grown increasingly chaotic, with sects and officials rebelling everywhere. Qin Mu felt he understood the Yancheng National Master less and less.
The National Master had stirred the situation into such chaos that it was nearly impossible to control. Even if he could quell the rebellions, it would severely wound the Yancheng Kingdom.
Moreover, Yancheng had external enemies: the Man Di Kingdom in the western border and the Langjuxu Kingdom in the northern border—internal strife and external threats.
"Could the Yancheng National Master be planning to usurp the throne?" He showed a puzzled expression.
The court and the rebels would fight fiercely, both sides suffering heavy losses, and the Yancheng National Master could take the opportunity to usurp the throne and declare himself emperor.
However, although Qin Mu didn't know the Yancheng National Master well, he didn't believe someone with such breadth of mind would use such means to seize the throne.
Suddenly, the ship shook violently. Qin Mu's heart leaped, and he hurriedly leaned over the railing to look outside. He saw that the ship had sailed into a battlefield.
This battlefield was in the air. Besides multi-story ships and warships, there were flying chariots, flying clouds, flying mounts, and other strange flying treasures or mounts.
Fortunately, their ship was at the edge of the battlefield. Seeing the danger, the captain immediately turned hard to port. The ship tilted sharply, narrowly avoiding a warship, and slid past the edge of the battlefield.
Qin Mu steadied himself to avoid falling. Suddenly, a squadron of cavalry riding golden-winged eagles charged over. From a distance, behind the cavalry, flying swords from their sword cases shot into the sky, arcing toward the people on the ship.
The captain quickly shouted, "We're passing merchants, not soldiers!"
The cavalry squadron paid no heed. Swords flew onto the deck, attacking the people on board. Several swords also cut at the sails, severing the ropes, and the ship's speed dropped sharply.
The people on board were terrified. This was a battle between regular armies. Clearly, one side was the Yancheng Kingdom's pacification forces, and the other was local rebel troops—not a simple sect uprising.
For sect uprisings, except for large-scale sects like the three sacred grounds, most other sects couldn't muster strength to rival the national army.
The Yancheng National Master's reforms weren't limited to elementary schools, academies, and the Grand Academy; they also reformed military equipment. Soldiers in the army had standard magical weapons. One-on-one, they might not match sect disciples, but in numbers, using the same technique of controlling swords with qi, many soldiers joining forces could unleash ten thousand swords at once, with astonishing power!
Besides coordinated attacks, the army also employed ground-air combinations, linked spells, and various other tactics. Five soldiers at the Five Luminaries realm working together could easily kill a cultivator at the Six Harmonies realm.
Famous sects in the martial world, when faced with a court siege, had no resistance against the army's tactics. In the history of Yancheng's annexation of other kingdoms, no small number of sects had been destroyed this way!
On the ship, Qin Mu steadied his mind and was about to activate his sword case when he remembered that all the flying swords in his case had been destroyed in the Loulan Golden Palace, so he had discarded it.
"Use the Shaobao Sword!"
Qin Mu dodged the incoming flying swords, channeling his primal energy into the Taotie pouch. With a crisp ring, the Shaobao Sword unsheathed, flew out of the pouch, and with a light Cloud Sword technique, it swept around, cutting all the attacking flying swords in half. The blades fell to the deck, leaving only the hilts.
His swordsmanship was profound, and combined with the Shaobao Sword's sharpness, he was virtually unstoppable.
Qin Mu breathed a sigh of relief. Suddenly, he saw the soldiers on the backs of the golden-winged eagles open the cloth pouches at their waists. A buzzing sound immediately arose as countless insects flew out of those pouches, gleaming golden.
"The Insect Army!"
The other passengers on the ship changed color drastically and screamed in terror, "The Three Wonders Fort's Insect Army!"
The soldiers pointed, and countless flying insects formed ranks, charging onto the ship like venomous dragons, burrowing into people and biting them. Not far from Qin Mu, a portly merchant with considerable cultivation was suddenly invaded by insects entering through his eyes, ears, nose, and mouth. The next moment, the fat merchant deflated like a punctured balloon, leaving only a human skin lying on the deck.
Beneath the skin, countless insects writhed, crawling out from his eyes, ears, nose, and mouth, then buzzed and flew up.