Chapter 143: Borrowing Royal Blood, Descending Upon the Night Palace
“This is the will of heaven.”
Starlight fell upon Rain Street, transforming into countless silver leaves.
Daoist Ji stood amidst the myriad silver leaves and said, “Everything is the will of heaven.”
The Holy Maiden of Tianhai replied, “I saved him because I wanted to save him. It has nothing to do with whether he is my son, and nothing to do with the will of heaven.”
“Things have come to this, yet Your Majesty still refuses to admit defeat? In the end, you couldn’t even figure out who your true son was, and yet you dared to contend with the Heavenly Dao? You saved a young man with no relation, no blood ties to you, and in doing so, fell into the cycle of the Heavenly Dao, unable to break free. Don’t you find that pitiful?”
Daoist Ji continued, “The Heavenly Dao doesn’t need to punish you; it only needs you to act according to your own will to achieve its goals. The Heavenly Dao cannot be spoken. You think you are resisting it, yet you don’t realize that every act of resistance is part of its design. Don’t you find that laughable?”
The Holy Maiden of Tianhai’s expression turned cold. “If this truly is a scheme of the Heavenly Dao, then let it come and kill me.”
Daoist Ji said, “The Heavenly Dao cannot kill; only humans can kill. You think you can control everything, but you cannot—neither in the heavens above nor on the earth below.”
As his words fell, a sudden wind arose in the capital.
It was a true wind, howling and roaring, threatening to tear at one’s eardrums.
The wind originated from the Imperial Palace.
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…
Even though the Holy Maiden had paid a heavy price to reverse Chen Changsheng’s fate, leaving her no longer as invincible as in her prime, the situation in the capital remained under her control—at least on the surface. The most important reason was that the Imperial Carriage Diagram had been activated.
Countless sharp sword intents soared into the sky from all corners of the capital, surrounding and isolating the various masters who had infiltrated the city.
Even the true peerless experts near the Mausoleum of Books were unable to leave.
If enough time passed, the killing intent of the Imperial Carriage Diagram would fully manifest. Except for experts of Daoist Ji’s caliber, who might escape unscathed, the rest would likely be slaughtered.
To achieve ultimate victory in this war, one had to destroy the Imperial Carriage Diagram before the Great Zhou military could return to reinforce the capital.
The array hub of the Imperial Carriage Diagram lay within the Imperial Palace, where the Lingyan Pavilion served as the mountain anchor for a Heavenly Dao Killing Array.
If a Saint Realm expert attempted to storm the palace, they would be struck directly by this array, their soul and body annihilated.
As for those below the Saint Realm, they had no way to breach the palace at all.
Because the person commanding the defense within the palace was Xue Xingchuan.
This was an impenetrable array within an array.
Aside from Xue Xingchuan, the most critical figure was Liang Wangsun, who was now seated in the Lingyan Pavilion.
Liang Wangsun’s blood was also royal blood. Only his soul blood—apart from the Chen royal family—could drive the Imperial Carriage Diagram.
Earlier, Zhu Luo had deduced this and guessed that it was Liang Wangsun who had let out that furious roar from within the palace.
The Lingyan Pavilion was as bright as day. Liang Wangsun sat at its center, eyes tightly shut, his face pale. Blood continuously flowed from the tiger’s mouth of his hand, dripping onto the white flames before him.
He had heard Zhu Luo’s accusation.
Treason?
Indeed.
This capital was originally the capital of the Liang royal dynasty.
The Imperial Carriage Diagram was originally a great array left by the Liang royal clan.
But later, both the capital and the array were seized by the Chen family.
Now, using the blood of the Liang clan to sacrifice to the Chen family’s Imperial Carriage Diagram was indeed a humiliating act—treason, even.
Yet Liang Wangsun did not care, because he knew his enemy was the Chen family, and it was the Chen family he hated, not that woman named Tianhai.
He was willing to do anything that would cause the Chen family pain, let alone this great affair tonight, which could potentially sever all hope for the Chen family!
If he could achieve that, what need was there to heed the petty grievances of his ancestors?
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“I also bear the surname Chen. No matter what, I am a descendant of the Chen family.”
Prince Louyang, along with his dozens of subordinates, had left the Little Orange Garden and traveled stealthily, barely avoiding the patrolling Imperial Guards and two sudden eruptions of the Imperial Carriage Diagram’s array intent. They finally reached the Nanhua Gate of the Qiu Imperial Palace. Gazing at the majestic and imposing palace in the night, he was struck by an untimely recollection of his childhood, and a nostalgic expression crossed his face.
“Your Highness, this is no time for sentiment. Where do we go next?” Prince Louyang was jolted awake by his subordinate’s somewhat impolite question. Embarrassed, he rubbed his forehead and said, “Let’s hide in this garden. We won’t go anywhere—it’s safest here.”
Among the Chen family princes, Prince Louyang was the weakest in strength, temperament, and backing. Naturally, he couldn’t attract any true experts. Those cultivators who dared to follow him into the capital were likely not heroes driven by righteousness, but rather ambitious men seeking to gamble their lives in the chaos. Hearing the prince’s words and recalling his useless behavior along the way, some cultivators grew impatient and complained, “Heroes emerge in troubled times. If Your Highness doesn’t want to take the lead, why bother coming at all?”
Prince Louyang grimaced and said, “I didn’t dare not come. Otherwise, Prince Xiang would have killed me.”
The palace guards had long known their prince’s nature, but the newly recruited cultivators only now truly gave up hope.
As the sounds of clashing and screams drifted from the streets, Prince Louyang grew increasingly tense, his face paling. He muttered to himself, “What’s all this fighting for… Mother, if they want to be emperor, just let them be. Those people are fierce, you know.”
Just then, a man in a blue long robe, wearing a spotted tiger mask, approached him and asked, “Your Highness, from the Nanhua Gate to the Lingyan Pavilion—is it far?”
“The Lingyan Pavilion is tall, but if you’re going to its base, it’s not far… Hey, what are you planning? Don’t do anything reckless! General Xue is formidable, you know?”
Prince Louyang looked at the man and advised him uneasily.
The man was wiping his blade and paid no attention to the prince’s words—until the prince said “you know,” at which point his hand stiffened slightly.
“Your Highness, I need to borrow something from you.”
“What thing?”
“Some blood.”
With that, the masked man in blue raised his blade and slashed Prince Louyang’s right arm. Blood gushed from the wound. The prince’s face turned deathly pale from the pain. Just as he was about to cry out, he remembered not to alert those outside and quickly clamped his left hand over his mouth.
The man in blue was about to knock him unconscious to prevent any noise, but he hadn’t expected the prince to be so terrified of death. He paused for a moment.
By the time the palace guards and others rushed over upon hearing the commotion, the man in blue had already leaped over the courtyard wall.
A guard peered through a hole in the wall and froze.
The man in blue was charging toward the Imperial Palace.
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The speed of that man in blue was astonishing, almost inhuman.
Before the imperial city in the night, a trail of dust arose, illuminated by starlight. The man was at the forefront of that dust, moving so fast his form was barely visible.
Witnessing this scene, some veteran Imperial Guard generals were reminded, almost instinctively, of the fastest demon general from the great war hundreds of years ago.
That man in blue was naturally not Jin Yulü, but he seemed to have some connection to the demon race.
Tonight, the palace gates were all open. The man in blue shot like lightning straight toward the Nanhua Gate.
The Nanhua Gate was empty, a vast void, yet it concealed infinite killing intent.
Without any surprise, the man in blue let out a furious roar and swung his blade toward the distant Lingyan Pavilion.
His blade bore Prince Louyang’s blood. As the blade fell, the aura within the palace naturally responded, triggering various changes. Countless beams of golden light emerged from the void!
Was this the Heavenly Dao Killing Array?
The man in blue had not yet entered the Saint Realm, yet with his blade and that trace of royal blood, he had forced the Heavenly Dao Killing Array to manifest. His strength and realm were terrifying!
Countless golden threads coalesced, binding the area around the Lingyan Pavilion layer by layer. A few strands drifted across the palace grounds as if by chance, like leaves stirred by the wind.
The man in blue exploded with all his true essence, leaving afterimages as he charged sideways, but he couldn’t evade those two golden beams.
With several crisp cracking sounds, the aura fell into chaos. The man in blue summoned several magical artifacts, all of which shattered, yet he still couldn’t fully avoid the residual power of the Heavenly Dao Killing Array. His blue robe was torn with countless gashes and bloodstains, and the mask on his face shattered, falling to the ground in the night breeze.
What was revealed was a face blending heroism and ferocity, covered in steel-like bristles—clearly not an ordinary human, but a demon clan expert in a state of frenzy.
Such a young demon clan expert, with such incredible speed, was rare in this world.
From somewhere on the imperial city walls, a general’s shout rang out.
“Xiao De!”
Yes, this man in blue charging into the Imperial Palace was the strongest of the younger generation among the demon clan, ranked fifth on the Carefree List—Xiao De!
This demon clan expert was renowned throughout the world, yet his presence did not change the atmosphere in the slightest.
Because this was the Great Zhou Imperial Palace!
With countless low hums, vague figures of soldiers appeared around the imperial city, a dark, oppressive mass.
The crossbow bolts on the divine crossbows gleamed with a predatory light in the pitch-black night.
The central grounds of the palace remained empty, with only Xiao De standing alone.
Even if you were the fifth-ranked expert on the Carefree List, daring to storm the Great Zhou Imperial Palace would still end in death!
Gazing at the divine crossbows in the night, feeling the terrifying aura of the fading Heavenly Dao Killing Array, Xiao De did not hesitate…
He dropped his blade.
He knelt.
He raised his hands.
He shouted.
“I surrender!”
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…
“Surrender” is a word with multiple meanings.
It can mean to yield, or it can mean to descend.
The demon clan expert Xiao De, facing the countless divine crossbows of the Great Zhou dynasty, shouted his surrender without hesitation.
And so, the figure in the night sky began to descend.
The Saint Realm experts who could ride the wind were all at the Mausoleum of Books.
Any celestial beasts or rare birds from the various sects that dared to appear in the capital’s skies tonight would surely be shot down or hunted by the flock of red eagles.
Who was flying in the night sky?
It was a large paper kite.
The paper kite rustled loudly in the night wind.
Beneath the paper kite hung a string, and at the end of that string was a person.
That person’s face was covered with a piece of white paper, which also rustled in the night wind.
Three holes had been cut into that white paper, giving it a somewhat terrifying appearance.
Ranked second on the Carefree List—Painting Armor Xiao Zhang!
He had leaped down from the sky!
Avoiding the golden threads that Xiao De had just forced out, he crashed down like a meteor, slamming straight toward the Lingyan Pavilion!