Chapter 948: Chapter 942: Year 802
[Year 802]
[In this year, Sunreach Prefecture was lost. The general guarding the border of the Endless Forest was negligent. The Prefecture Lord and hidden factions concealed the news of the Wu Tribe’s attack, allowing the Wu Tribe to drive straight into the Azure Imperial Dynasty.
The Wu Tribe advanced with ferocious momentum; the Shadowfell Prefecture was pinned down by Wu Tribe forces.
The Imperial Dynasty was unable to respond in time, allowing the Wu Tribe to drive straight into the Central Plains of the dynasty.]
In the Shadowfell Prefecture, a colossally vast city came into view.
Spirit Boats filled both the sky and the ground. Armored soldiers of the dynasty and cultivators arriving from all corners of the Azure Imperial Dynasty hurried to and fro.
The entire city resembled a machine in full operation.
Yet, within this military city, there stood a temple. Several soldiers dressed as generals entered the temple, and in the blink of an eye, they arrived within the Combat Grotto-Heaven.
In the spacious courtyard of the Combat Grotto-Heaven.
Li Tianyue and Li Kuanghua were gazing ahead, where a map of the Imperial Dynasty formed from Spiritual power was displayed before their eyes.
With a casual wave of Li Tianyue’s hand, a long crimson line appeared across the center of the Dynasty’s thirty-six prefectures, cleaving the entire realm into North and South.
Then, like the spreading roots of a tree, that crimson line began to branch out in all directions across the Dynasty.
It was the route map of the Wu Tribe’s movements since breaching the Imperial Dynasty!
“The Wu Tribe broke in, but why are their forces so scattered?!!” Li Kuanghua stared at the map in disbelief.
Those blood-red patterns represented the marching routes taken by the Wu Tribe since their invasion a year ago!
In the span of just one short year, Li Kuanghua had experienced so much within the Shadowfell Prefecture.
Having fought the Wu Tribe for over a century, she had never felt as despairing as she did on that specific day.
Sunreach Prefecture had been completely defenseless. She clearly remembered when the Wu Tribe broke through last year; they came like a tidal wave, utterly unstoppable.
By the time Crown Prince Fei Heng attempted to lead his troops to intercept them, it was already too late.
Li Tianyue’s brows knit together tightly.
“The Wu Tribe has a master strategist behind them.
By invading the Central Plains, they have certainly caused us trouble, but they also cut themselves off from their supply lines, and their battlefront is overextended.
If they continued to fight in large army corps, sooner or later, they would be worn down by us. However, if they blend into the Imperial Dynasty, scattering their forces to gradually encroach upon our territory, they can reverse their disadvantageous position.”
“Their objective is to let scattered soldiers sow chaos within our Azure Dynasty, while their main tribes pin down our grand army.
Those dispersed Wu Tribe forces will disrupt our supply lines and slaughter our commoners, causing us immense trouble.”
Li Kuanghua frowned. The Wu Tribe looked no different from the Human Race.
Veterans like them, who had fought the Wu Tribes for years, could naturally identify them, but what about the rest of the Azure Dynasty?
Although she was situated at the main battlefield in Shadowfell Prefecture, Li Kuanghua could already imagine just how chaotic the entire Azure Dynasty had become.
As the two were conversing, a hurried figure was seen approaching them.
The Patriarch of the Sunreach Prefecture Zhangsun Clan, Zhangsun Buhuo.
Her complexion was pale, and her aura was chaotic. Li Kuanghua could sense that Zhangsun Buhuo had just come from a battle on her way here.
This stirred a trace of pity in Li Kuanghua’s heart.
Just last year, Zhangsun Buhuo had come to pledge her loyalty to Crown Prince Fei Heng, but at the very moment of her pledge, she received the news that the Wu Tribe had invaded.
Sunreach Prefecture was the territory of the Zhangsun family.
This calamity had dealt a devastating blow to them; even the Integration realm ancestor of the Zhangsun family had been injured by a Wu Tribe Venerable.
The Zhangsun Clan resisted with their lives, losing thirty percent of their clansmen in that single battle.
If not for the rescue efforts of over a dozen Void Refining cultivators and hundreds of other cultivators from the Azure Cloud Prefecture, the Heavenly Monarch Dao Sanctuary, and the Eternal Immortal Sect, the Zhangsun Clan might have been completely wiped out.
“General Li.”
Zhangsun Buhuo handed a jade talisman to Li Tianyue.
“Over the past half-year, my clan has transferred all our foundations out of Sunreach Prefecture and has already found a new location to establish a Grotto-Heaven.
We also conducted a thorough investigation within Sunreach Prefecture; everyone who was negligent in their duties on that day has been recorded in this register.”
Li Tianyue accepted the jade talisman. Recorded within were names after names—these were the very people who had allowed the Wu Tribe to enter Sunreach Prefecture.
Without exception, they… had vanished!
“It is just like what happened at the Mountain of Esoteric Stratagems back then. They betrayed us without any warning, and afterwards, no trace of them could be found.”
The eyes of this beautiful woman, Zhangsun Buhuo, were filled with hatred.
“It is the people of the Peerless Hall. It is Min Tiange. It must be them!”
Hearing this, Li Tianyue and Li Kuanghua both frowned.
Within their clan, there was a consensus that Min Tiange was the perpetrator.
However, as to Min Tiange’s actual whereabouts or the location of the Peerless Hall—never mind them, even Min Youguo did not know.
“Patriarch Zhangsun,” Li Tianyue said gently,
“I will report the intelligence you gathered from Sunreach Prefecture to the Crown Prince.
The news will also be sent back to the imperial court.
I believe Wu Neng of the Immortal Suppression Department is even more anxious about this than you are. We simply need to do our part.”
“Mn.”
Zhangsun Buhuo’s jaw clenched tight.
No one knew what tomorrow would hold—just like that day when the Wu Tribe broke into Sunreach Prefecture, leaving her completely at a loss.
She could only hurriedly seek reinforcements, return to her family, and face the ceaseless stream of Wu Tribe tribesmen charging into Sunreach Prefecture.
Then came the flight with her clansmen, forcing them to adapt bit by bit to the torrential changes of the era.
And now, where did she have the time to concern herself with Min Tiange? The Zhangsun Clan could only select a new place to settle and continue their loyal service under the Crown Prince.
They would wield the authority of the Immortal Suppression Department, monitoring the various powers across the prefectures now that the Wu Tribe had entered the Azure Imperial Dynasty, ensuring that cultivators did not take advantage of the chaos to do as they pleased.
“I truly do not know how your Azure Cloud Li Clan managed to adapt and survive back when the Wu Tribe invaded the Azure Cloud Prefecture.”
Zhangsun Buhuo’s face was filled with bitterness.
Everyone in the entire Azure Imperial Dynasty had heard the story of the Wu Tribe’s invasion of the Azure Cloud Prefecture.
For hundreds of years, people had said that the Wu Tribe, who invaded the Azure Cloud Prefecture back then, were nothing special—that they didn’t even have a single Void Refining cultivator among them.
It was said that any major power within the Azure Imperial Dynasty, if casually dispatched, could have slaughtered those Wu Tribe tribesmen to the last man.
At that time, even Zhangsun Buhuo had believed this.
But when the Wu Tribe actually invaded Sunreach Prefecture, only then did she truly understand the terror of the Wu Tribe
“Back when the Wu Tribe invaded the Azure Cloud Prefecture…”
Li Kuanghua’s expression suddenly became distant.
She recalled the day the Wu Tribe slaughtered their way into the Azure Cloud Prefecture—the despair of all its people.
She remembered the years her family spent clinging to life in the face of the Wu Tribe, the sounding of the horn for the counterattack, and the sight of her Great-Grandfather standing alone atop the city walls… it all played out vividly before her eyes.
Now, the entire Azure Imperial Dynasty was undergoing what the Li family had once endured.
They should be thankful that they still had the means to respond, unlike the Li Clan of the past, who had been isolated and without aid.
Imperial Capital, Heavenly Palace.
Li Chang’an walked along the spacious corridors.
He could see that the civil officials, whose conduct was once so calm and relaxed, were now rushing about.
The Wu Tribe invasion had finally instilled a sense of crisis in these officials, prompting Li Chang’an to mutter,
“If you’d shown this kind of urgency earlier, would we really be in such a desperate situation now?”
With that, Li Chang’an flew down from the Heavenly Palace and arrived at the Imperial Capital’s Heavenly Prison.
The Heavenly Prison was itself a Grotto-Heaven, forming a self-contained microcosm within.
It was gloomy and terrifying, with every sector utilizing formations or shackles to imprison villains captured from all corners of the world.
Yet, in the depths of the Heavenly Prison, there was a rare patch of lush green forest, from which smoke from a cooking fire curled upwards.
Entering the forest, one could see a small courtyard surrounded by formations.
Inside, a middle-aged man dressed in simple cloth robes was watering flowers.
“Oh? Li Chang’an?”
It was the State Preceptor, Min Youguo!
Min Youguo put down the wooden ladle in his hand and walked over to meet Li Chang’an.
“Greetings, Lord State Preceptor.” Li Chang’an bowed slightly.
When the Wu Tribe invaded, Wu Neng of the Immortal Suppression Department had gone to the State Preceptor’s Manor, only to find Min Youguo missing.
Upon asking, he learned that Min Youguo had come to the Heavenly Prison on his own accord and had even picked out a prime spot for himself.
The meaning was crystal clear.
Regarding the deeds of Min Tiange, although there was no hard evidence, everyone knew the truth in their hearts.
A father bears the faults of his son; Min Youguo was simply making it clear that he would not flee. Yet, given the immense power of the Min family, no one dared to kill Min Youguo.
“How goes the war with the Wu Tribe?” Min Youguo lowered his gaze.
Even while tending to flowers and plants here in the Heavenly Prison, he was not as at ease as he appeared.
“Like a swarm of locusts sweeping through the land… and like a tsunami crashing down.”
Li Chang described the situation on the Wu Tribe battlefront, causing Min Youguo’s face to turn pale.
Li Chang continued, “Lord State Preceptor, you are Min Tiange’s father. You should understand him better than anyone. Do you know his objective?”
Hearing this, Min Youguo’s eyes went dull as he said,
“I miscalculated regarding this eldest son of mine.
Back when the incidents at the Mountain of Esoteric Stratagems and the Grand Tower came to light, I summoned him back to the clan. He came only as a clone.
At the time, he told us not to worry about the Immortal Suppression Department investigating him any longer, claiming that the Imperial Dynasty would soon have more important matters to attend to. But I never expected…”
“I never expected him to be this deranged, nor did I expect that over tens of thousands of years, he would grow to a level where even I could no longer control him.”
Li Chang’an’s brows furrowed deeply. “And where did you miscalculate?”
“I suspect that even the Wu Tribe Elders are controlled by his Dao Seed. This Wu Tribe war is being manipulated by him.” Min Youguo sighed.
“But he underestimated the Wu Tribe.
He wanted to use the Wu Tribe to draw the Imperial Dynasty’s attention. As long as the Wu Tribe charged into the Central Plains, it would result in at least a century of war.
With the Wu Tribe battlefront overextended, sooner or later, they would be wiped out by us in one fell swoop. By that time, no one would be looking for trouble with him anymore.”
“However… he cannot control the true old monsters within the Wu Tribe.
Tiange is using the Wu Tribe, but once the Wu Tribe realized this, why wouldn’t they, in turn, seize this opportunity?”
Li Chang pondered for a moment.
Min Tiange luring the Wu Tribe into the Azure Imperial Dynasty was just like a Beast Tamer releasing a pack of ferocious beasts.
These beasts might charge into the populace and slaughter people; at that stage, not even Min Tiange himself could predict what the future would hold.
Soon after, seeing Min Youguo pick up the wooden ladle to water the flowers again, he could not help but smile bitterly.
“Lord State Preceptor, the royal court needs you.
The officials are currently frantic due to the Wu Tribe’s advance, but give it some time, and there is no saying that they won’t start harboring ulterior motives again.
We still need you to preside over the situation. Surely you cannot mean to let Wu Neng manage the court’s administration?”
“There will be someone to preside over the court administration.”
Min Youguo spoke casually, then asked with a smile, “Has your Li Clan gathered all the Three Corpses?”
Hearing this, Li Chang was stunned for a moment.
He immediately replied, “Chang’an suddenly recalled that there are important matters at home. I will not disturb Lord State Preceptor any longer.”
Just as he turned around, Li Chang halted in his steps.
Min Youguo’s voice echoed in his ears.
“It is enough that you possess two of the Three Corpses. Fourth Prince will grant you the opportunity for Integration, but you must absolutely not give him the third one.”
“His Majesty had his own reasons for sealing Zishu Lingtian.”
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