Huang Chao is an extremely clever person. As long as he becomes the disciple of Gu Mingyue, he will have the opportunity to inherit Gu Mingyue’s legacy.
Moreover, having Gu Mingyue as his backing, he will no longer be alone and unsupported; he can also reduce many restrictions within the Yellow Heaven Dao, allowing him to exert his abilities fully.
But is it really acceptable to start coveting Gu Mingyue’s legacy right after becoming her disciple?
Zhang Chen’s eyes looked into the distance, watching Huang Chao becoming Gu Mingyue’s disciple, revealing a trace of oddness in his gaze: "Huang Chao really knows how to stir things up."
Zhang Chen felt slightly sentimental inside and continued to watch everything happening around him quietly from the sidelines. Faced with the comical scene before him, not only was Zhang Chen not angry, but he was actually happy for Huang Chao.
Him being able to climb up is also a good thing for himself.
Just as Zhang Chen’s mind was swirling with various thoughts, over there, the Exquisite Tower seemed to be weathered stone, turning into grains of sand and dispersing with the wind. The whole tower collapsed into sand, dissipating into the Blood Sea Array.
"No!!!"
Watching the collapsing Exquisite Tower, Zhou Qiucheng let out a desperate cry of lament, as the divine light around him began to fade, and his Divine Dao Cultivation flowed away like water. In an instant, the tenth rank cultivated Zhou Qiucheng, along with the eleventh tier Exquisite Tower, was reduced to mortal flesh.
"Hahaha! Hahaha! Zhou Qiucheng, you damned old thing, you can’t hold me!" A brazen laughter echoed through the heavens and earth. The Po Jun Star, Zhao Lie, soared into the sky from the ruins, spiraling in the void above.
"Thank you, Master Uncle, for rescuing me!" Zhao Lie steadied himself and respectfully bowed to Gu Mingyue.
"It’s good that you are able to come out!" Gu Mingyue’s voice was full of comfort.
The Seven Sons of Beidou and Southern Dipper Six Sons of Yellow Heaven Dao were personally appointed and recognized by the Great Virtuous Master, holding the future success of Yellow Heaven Dao in their hands, so Zhao Lie must not suffer any losses.
Yellow Heaven Dao had already lost Zhang Xiaohua and could no longer endure the fall of another crucial figure.
"To rescue you this time, the sect spent a great cost. Now that you’re out of danger, we should proceed according to the plan and retreat," Gu Mingyue nodded with satisfaction.
He did not want a massacre, because those below were all nobles. Even if they were fallen nobles, they were still nobles. These nobles could die at the hands of chaotic soldiers or die at the hands of the demon race, but they absolutely could not die at the hands of Yellow Heaven Dao.
Do you know why?
Heaven is watching man’s actions. Yellow Heaven Dao’s campaign against Zhou Qiucheng was justified, as Zhou Qiucheng suppressed Zhao Lie. Now that Yellow Heaven Dao has rescued their people, they naturally should take what they can and start retreating. If Yellow Heaven Dao engaged in indiscriminate killing, the rest of the world’s nobility would be watching. If Yellow Heaven Dao treats these fallen nobles with brutality today, won’t they face the same fate tomorrow?
Zhao Lie was a smart man and naturally understood Gu Mingyue’s meaning, but having been suppressed and sealed by Zhou Qiucheng for so long, his heart was filled with anger. So upon hearing Gu Mingyue’s words, Zhao Lie respectfully bowed to Gu Mingyue: "Master Uncle, other nobles may live, but Zhou Qiucheng must die. Moreover, the Chongzheng Academy harbors the Yellow Heaven Dao’s wanted criminal Zhang Chen. Once I capture Zhou Qiucheng and extract Zhang Chen’s whereabouts, I will then investigate Chengyu and report to the Great Virtuous Master. Master, you will certainly be favored by the Great Virtuous Master and become the new generation Sect Leader of Yellow Heaven Dao."
Gu Mingyue hesitated slightly upon hearing this: "I haven’t sensed Zhang Chen’s presence below."
"Although Zhang Chen is hiding and out of sight, isn’t there still Zhou Qiucheng here? Capturing Zhou Qiucheng, are we afraid of not extracting Zhang Chen’s whereabouts?" Zhao Lie’s voice was full of evil qi.
Beside them, Huang Chao’s expression changed upon hearing this. He wanted to speak out to stop it, but didn’t know what to say. Finally, a sudden thought flashed in his mind, and he came up with an idea, stepping forward to say, "Master, this approach is unwise. Disciple has something to say."
Gu Mingyue and Zhao Lie both looked at Huang Chao. Zhao Lie, hearing Huang Chao opposing him, showed a displeased expression: "And who might you be?"
"My newly accepted disciple," Gu Mingyue said with a smile, "The Exquisite Tower broke because of his methods. You owe much to him for being able to break out."
"So you are Senior Brother. May I know what guidance you have?" Zhao Lie asked in a tone that neither revealed nor concealed his mood.
"Zhou Qiucheng represents the Great Victory Royal Family. It’s one thing for us to defeat Zhou Qiucheng and shatter the Exquisite Tower, but capturing Zhou Qiucheng might make the Great Victory Royal Family unwilling to let it go. Although we shattered the Exquisite Tower, we still spared Zhou Qiucheng’s life, which can be seen as leaving the Great Victory Royal Family some dignity. If we were to kill Zhou Qiucheng outright, it would tear the last veil of politeness, forcing the Great Victory Royal Family to fight us to the end..." Huang Chao interjected.
Hearing this, Zhao Lie didn’t care: "The demon race army is about to besiege Jinling City. As long as we act cleanly, we can pin all of this on the demon race. Even if the Great Victory Royal Family is angry and seeks revenge, they should go after the demon race instead."
Gu Mingyue hesitated upon hearing this, as he didn’t want to tear the last veil of politeness with the Great Victory Royal Family. After all, rescuing and killing are two very different things.
Seeing Gu Mingyue’s indecisive demeanor, Zhao Lie quickly added fuel to the fire: "Master Uncle, the Great Victory Royal Family is already showing signs of decline. Our actions today will test the Great Victory Dynasty’s true strength and force the various dukes of the realm to take sides, seeing how many among them truly favor our Yellow Heaven Dao."
"There’s no turning back once the arrow is fired!" Gu Mingyue continued to hesitate.
"Zhou Qiucheng knows the method to establish a Divine Country," Zhao Lie added.
Gu Mingyue hesitated a moment, then finally said to Zhao Lie, "Go ahead with it!"
Zhao Lie wore a smug smile upon hearing the words, and addressed the disciples of the Yellow Heaven Dao concealed within the Sea of Blood: "Everyone, the True Man has ordered, leave no one alive!"
With the fall of his words, figures leaped out from the Sea of Blood, faces twisted into grim smiles as they rushed toward the direction where the people of Chongzheng Academy stood.
As for why they didn’t continue to mobilize the Sea of Blood to flood Chongzheng Academy?
The Sea of Blood invades everything, attacks all things with spirituality. Once the Sea of Blood is mobilized, all the books and spiritual items within Chongzheng Academy would be completely destroyed.
The objective of attacking Chongzheng Academy was not total destruction, but to obtain benefits.
With Zhao Lie’s command, countless cultivators of Yellow Heaven Dao surged forth from the Sea of Blood, charging towards the aristocrats of Chongzheng Academy.
"Yellow Heaven Dao, how dare you slaughter the aristocrats, in the future you will surely be unable to stand in the world!"
"How will you face the noble families of the world in the future?"
"If I don’t die today, I will exhaust every means to annihilate your Yellow Heaven Dao!"
"Gu Mingyue, my seventh uncle is Prince Ruyang, if you dare kill me, he definitely will not let you go!"
...
Watching the approaching cultivators of Yellow Heaven Dao, a group of aristocrats couldn’t help but shout in terror and anger. They all had noble bloodlines and were related by generations of intermarriage; although they had fallen, they still had relatives.
"You wish to seek revenge? The ones killing you are demons, what does it have to do with Yellow Heaven Dao?" Zhao Lie chuckled disdainfully.
At this moment, Zhang Chen ignored the cultivators of Yellow Heaven Dao and instead looked toward the place where the Exquisite Tower had shattered, his eyes filled with seriousness: "Something big is about to happen!"
He could sense that at the shattered location of the Exquisite Tower, the void began to warp, countless spatial dimensions surged, and the apparitions sealed inside the Exquisite Tower seemed on the verge of crawling out from those countless dimensions.
Of course, what worried and dreaded him the most was that avatar of the Great Freedom Celestial Demon, a true ancient being, and today’s shattering of the Exquisite Tower owed much credit to it.
"Kill!"
The cries of battle at Chongzheng Academy resounded like thunder, and facing the Yellow Heaven Dao cultivators, countless aristocrats rose up in resistance.
The aristocrats who could escape to this place were by no means simple; each possessed ancestral bloodlines, their strength unfathomable, but they lacked top-tier experts to hold the line.
The battle cries reverberated through the skies, rousing Zhang Chen from his musings, as his eyes turned toward Zhou Qiucheng, seeing the Po Jun Star, Zhao Lie, striding aggressively toward him, his menacing voice already carried over from afar: "Zhou Qiucheng, you locked me inside the Exquisite Tower, enduring night and day of torture. How do you want to die? Shall I skin you and pull your tendons, or shall I chop you up to feed the dogs?"
"You’re just a despicable scoundrel who takes advantage of others’ peril. I’ve lived for decades; why would I fear death?" Zhou Qiucheng looked calmly at Zhao Lie, his gaze full of disdain.
"I despise you hypocrites who pretend to be virtuous," Zhao Lie’s impatience flared at Zhou Qiucheng’s unemotional face: "Once I get my hands on you, you’ll know my capability. I’ll see if you’re really unafraid of death."
Zhao Lie brandished a fiery red spear, aiming for Zhou Qiucheng’s ribs with the intent to pin him beneath the spear.
Seeing Zhao Lie’s spear thrust towards him, Zhou Qiucheng showed no fear, not even a ripple in his gaze.
Just as Zhao Lie’s spear was about to pierce Zhou Qiucheng’s collarbone, a sudden flash of silver light struck, the spear in Zhao Lie’s hand suffered a violent impact, causing him to stagger backward seven or eight steps, his face was one of shock as he looked at Zhang Chen, who held a silver ruler:
"Such immense force!"
Zhang Chen, who mastered the Blood Dao, naturally had extraordinary power.
"He cannot die!" Zhang Chen wielded the Celestial Measuring Ruler, a trickle of innate energy flowed from his palm into the ruler, supporting the revival of its Qi mechanism.
"Zhang Chen, you came just in time! I was just about to find you. Today I will capture both of you together, make you two companions!" Seeing Zhang Chen’s arrival, Zhao Lie not only showed no fear but appeared excited instead.
Being powerful only represents power and does not reflect the level of your bloodline’s Divine Techniques.
Zhang Chen showing up here actually saved him many troubles, no need to pressure Zhou Qiucheng anymore.
For him, this was certainly a good thing, as reducing some trouble was always beneficial.