Chapter 648: Borrowing Royal Blood, Descending Upon the Night Palace
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[Superior Quality Novels] "This is the will of heaven."
Starlight fell upon Rain Street, transforming into countless silver leaves.
The Counting Man stood amidst the myriad silver leaves and said, "Everything is the will of heaven."
The Heavenly Sea Saint Empress said, "I saved him because I wanted to save him. It has nothing to do with whether he is my son, and it has 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 against the Heavenly Dao? You sacrificed yourself to save a young man who shares no blood or kinship with you, only to fall into the cycle of the Heavenly Dao, unable to transcend. Don't you find this pitiful?"
The Counting Man said, "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 the Heavenly Dao, but you don't realize that every act of resistance is part of its arrangement. Don't you find this laughable?"
The Heavenly Sea Saint Empress said coldly, "If this truly is a scheme of the Heavenly Dao, then let it come and kill me."
The Counting Man said, "The Heavenly Dao cannot kill people; only people can kill people. You think you can control everything, but that's not true. Not in the heavens, and not in the mortal world."
As his words fell, a sound of wind suddenly arose in the capital.
It was a true sound of wind, howling and roaring, as if it would tear apart one's eardrums.
The wind originated from the Imperial Palace.
...
...
Even though the Saint Empress had paid a great price to reverse fate for Chen Changsheng and was no longer as invincible as she was at her peak, the situation in the capital remained under her control—at least on the surface. The most important reason for this was that the Imperial Carriage Diagram had been activated.
Countless chilling sword intents rose from all corners of the capital, cutting off and surrounding the various masters who had infiltrated the city.
Even the true peerless experts near the Heavenly Book Mausoleum were unable to leave.
If enough time passed, the killing intent of the Imperial Carriage Diagram would fully manifest. Except for experts of the Counting Man's caliber, who might escape unscathed, most other masters would likely be slaughtered.
To achieve ultimate victory in this war, the Imperial Carriage Diagram had to be destroyed before the Zhou army could return to reinforce the capital.
The array hub of the Imperial Carriage Diagram was within the Imperial Palace, where the Lingyan Pavilion served as the mountain anchor for a Heavenly Dao Killing Array.
If a Divine Domain-level expert attempted to storm the palace, they would be directly struck by this Heavenly Dao Killing Array, their soul obliterated.
As for those below the Divine Domain, they had no way to break into the palace.
Because the person overseeing the situation in the palace was Xue Xingchuan.
This was an array within an array that seemed impossible to break.
Aside from Xue Xingchuan, the most important figure was Liang Wangsun, who was now seated in the Lingyan Pavilion. [txt full download]
Liang Wangsun's blood was also royal blood. Apart from the Chen imperial clan, only his soul-blood could drive the Imperial Carriage Diagram.
Earlier, Zhu Luo had deduced this and guessed that it was Liang Wangsun who had issued that furious roar from within the palace.
The Lingyan Pavilion was as bright as day. Liang Wangsun sat in the center, his eyes tightly shut, his face pale. Blood continuously flowed from his tiger's mouth, 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 imperial dynasty.
The Imperial Carriage Diagram was originally a great array left by the Liang imperial clan.
But later, both the capital and this array were seized by the Chen family.
Now, using Liang blood to sacrifice to the Chen family's Imperial Carriage Diagram was indeed a humiliating act—treasonous, even.
But Liang Wangsun didn't 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 undertaking tonight, which could directly cut off all hope for the Chen family!
If he could achieve this, why bother worrying about the petty grievances of his ancestors?
...
...
"I also bear the surname Chen; I am, after all, a descendant of the Chen family."
Prince Louyang, along with his dozens of subordinates, had left the Small Orange Garden and traveled stealthily, barely avoiding the patrolling Imperial Guards and two sudden bursts of the Imperial Carriage Diagram's array intent. They finally reached the Nanhua Gate of the Imperial Palace. Gazing at the palace's imposing and magnificent silhouette in the night, he inappropriately recalled his childhood and wore a nostalgic expression. [aixs]
"Your Highness, this is no time for sentimentality. Where do we go next?" Prince Louyang was jolted back to reality by his subordinate's somewhat impolite question. Embarrassed, he touched his forehead and said, "Let's hide in this garden. We won't go anywhere; it's safest here."
Among the Chen family's 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 opportunists looking to profit from chaos. Hearing the prince's words and recalling his useless behavior along the way, some cultivators grew impatient and complained, "Chaos breeds heroes. If Your Highness doesn't want to take the lead, why bother coming at all?"
Prince Louyang said bitterly, "I didn't dare not come. Otherwise, Prince Xiang would have killed me."
The palace guards had long known their master's temperament, but the newly recruited cultivators only now truly gave up any hope.
Hearing the sounds of battle and screams from the streets, Prince Louyang grew increasingly tense, his face turning paler. He muttered to himself, "What's all this fighting for... Mother is the same. If they want to be emperor, just let them be. Those people are terrifying."
Just then, a man in a blue robe wearing a spotted tiger mask approached him and said, "Your Highness, is it far from Nanhua Gate to the Lingyan Pavilion?"
"The Lingyan Pavilion is very tall, but getting to its base isn't far... Hey, what are you planning? Don't do anything reckless! General Xue is formidable, you know?"
Prince Louyang looked at the man and tried to dissuade him uneasily.
The man was wiping his blade and paid no attention to what Prince Louyang was saying. However, when the prince said "you know," his hand froze slightly.
"Your Highness, I need to borrow something from you."
"What?"
"A bit of blood."
With that, the masked man in the blue robe raised his blade and slashed Prince Louyang's right arm—blood immediately gushed from the wound. Prince Louyang's face turned pale with pain. Just as he was about to cry out, he remembered not to alert those outside and quickly covered his mouth with his left hand.
The man in the blue robe was about to knock him unconscious to prevent any noise, but he was surprised to see how terrified the prince was of death.
By the time the palace guards and others rushed over upon hearing the commotion, the man in the blue robe had already leaped over the wall.
A guard looked through a peephole in the wall and froze.
The man in the blue robe charged toward the Imperial Palace.
...
...
The speed of the man in the blue robe was astonishing, almost inhuman.
Before the Imperial City in the night, a trail of dust appeared, illuminated by starlight. The man was at the very front of the dust, moving so fast that his figure was barely discernible.
Seeing this scene, some veteran Imperial Guard generals instinctively recalled the fastest demon general from the great war hundreds of years ago.
That man in the blue robe was naturally not Jin Yulu, but he seemed to have some connection to the demon race.
Tonight, the palace gates were all open. The man in the blue robe shot like lightning straight toward Nanhua Gate.
Nanhua Gate was empty, a vast void, yet it concealed infinite killing intent.
Without any surprise, the man in the blue robe roared and slashed his blade toward the distant Lingyan Pavilion.
His blade bore Prince Louyang's blood. As the blade fell, the palace's aura naturally responded, undergoing various changes. Countless beams of golden light emerged from the void!
Was this the Heavenly Dao Killing Array?
The man in the blue robe had not yet entered the Divine Domain, yet with his blade and that trace of royal blood, he forcibly made the Heavenly Dao Killing Array manifest. His realm and strength were terrifying!
Countless golden lights condensed into threads, binding the surroundings of the Lingyan Pavilion layer by layer. A few strands drifted across the palace grounds as if moved by the wind, like falling leaves.
The man in the blue robe erupted with all his true essence, leaving afterimages as he tried to dodge sideways, but he couldn't evade those two golden lights.
With several cracking sounds, his aura became chaotic. The man in the blue robe activated several magical artifacts, all of which shattered. Still, he couldn't fully avoid the residual power of the Heavenly Dao Killing Array. His blue robe was torn in countless places, stained with blood, and the mask on his face shattered, falling to the ground in the night breeze.
It was a face blending valor and dominance, covered in steel-like beastly fur. Clearly, he was not an ordinary human but a demon race expert in a berserk state.
Such a young demon race expert with such incredible speed—there were few in the world.
From somewhere on the palace walls, a general's shout rang out.
"Xiao De!"
Yes, this man in the blue robe who had stormed the palace was the strongest of the younger generation of the demon race, ranked fifth on the Carefree List—Xiao De!
This demon race expert was renowned throughout the world, yet his presence failed to change the atmosphere.
Because this was the Great Zhou Imperial Palace!
Accompanied by countless low hums, vague figures of soldiers appeared around the palace, a dark, oppressive mass.
The crossbow bolts on the divine crossbows gleamed with a devouring light in the pitch-black night.
The central grounds of the palace remained empty, with only Xiao De standing alone.
Even if you were ranked fifth on the Carefree List, daring to storm the Great Zhou Imperial Palace would ultimately end in death!
Gazing at the divine crossbows in the night and sensing 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!"
...
...
"Surrender" is a word with multiple meanings.
It can mean to yield or to descend.
The demon race 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 Divine Domain experts who could ride the wind were all at the Heavenly Book Mausoleum.
If any sacred beasts or rare birds from various sects dared to appear in the capital's sky tonight, they 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 in the night breeze.
Beneath the paper kite was 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 breeze.
Three holes were cut into the white paper, making it look somewhat terrifying.
Ranked second on the Carefree List, the Painting Armor Xiao Zhang!
He had jumped down from the sky!
Avoiding the golden threads that Xiao De had just forced out, he crashed down like a meteor, straight toward the Lingyan Pavilion!