Chapter 369: Destroy Chu, Nurture Life and Rest (4K)

The purple imperial qi of Chongxiao shot straight into the heavens, a great purple star appearing as if it had replaced the blazing sun of daytime.

Purple Wei in the Void.

At the same time, resonant dragon roars echoed through the heavens, and lo, a majestic crimson dragon was seen wandering within the nation's dragon qi, beginning from Haojing City and flowing outward beyond it, permeating mountains, rivers, and hills; invisible forces turned into surging waves crashing against the shore, beginning to penetrate deep into the interior of Northern Chu, the dragon qi pressing down, causing countless remnants of Northern Chu's dragon qi to collapse, being stamped with the mark of Great Xia's dragon qi.

Within this crimson dragon, a faint figure could be seen drifting into view, he clad in the robes of the Son of Heaven, his imperial aura intense, swiftly wandering among mountains, rivers, and hills, once again guiding the mountains and rivers to return under the 'Ancestral Dragon'.

That crimson dragon is none other than the incarnation of the 'Ancestral Dragon'!

Those clusters of dragon qi undulations also expanded at a visible speed as the crimson dragon wandered, continually swelling.

The imperial aura was majestic, like rushing thunder.

Moreover, wherever this imperial aura flashed past, many hidden evils and heretical cultivators lurking deep in the mountains and rivers, as well as some demonic beings with exceptionally strong bloody auras, were all torn apart by a passing streak of crimson light.

This omen caused many powerful cultivators who witnessed the majesty of the dragon soul to have expressions of alarm.

At this moment, the power of the Great Xia dragon veins had already surpassed that of Great Qian, Northern Chu, and many previous dynasties.

Zhang Jian at this moment had his nascent soul substantiated and immersed within it; during this process, the most important authority of his role as Son of Heaven—the earth authority—was rapidly achieving completion.

During this process, he felt as if his feet were connected to the earth below and the heavens above in a special way, with countless invisible, mysterious threads gathering to him, merging into a strand of creation spiritual light at the center of the vast spring of law in his dantian.

This strand of creation spiritual light, even in its substantiated transformation deep within, contained an intense flow of the Great Dao's creation, which could at any moment merge into his nascent soul's golden body, achieving the form of creation dharma.

Zhang Jian did not do so; instead, he continued to constantly contemplate the changes of the earth, drawing creation into his own creation spiritual light.

When his earth authority expanded to a certain limit, suddenly the imperial aura radiating from Zhang Jian's body swelled and then vanished, and a vaster power burst forth, this power beginning to continuously merge into the mountains, rivers, and hills beneath his feet.

Ordinary cultivators felt no anomaly from this power, but some deities who governed mountains, rivers, and hills sensed something unusual, as this majestic power swept past the heavens, the earth, mountains, and rivers.

The pressure was immense—just a thread of qi mechanism flowing over caused their divine ministries, on which they depended for survival, to tremble and nearly collapse.

Even some dragon kings who had attained the nascent soul realm, mountain gods, and even ghosts and spirits felt a hint of oppression coming from the mysterious void.

At this moment, Zhang Jian's substantiated nascent soul seemed to merge with the earth; with a single thought, he could mobilize the power of mountains, rivers, and hills, and even suppress the gods upon the earth.

This power came from the authority of the Son of Heaven.

It also came from the Mountains, Rivers, and Son of Heaven Diagram, which had instantaneously ascended to the creation realm.

By relying on the recovery of Northern Chu and the fusion with Great Xia, drawing upon the spiritual excellence of Northern Chu's many earth veins, mountains, and rivers, this technique actually directly ascended to the creation realm.

At this moment, Zhang Jian clearly felt the formidable power of this nascent soul immortal method.

"The power of the earth is indeed inconceivable; no wonder the goddess Nüwa and the earth deity Hou Tu hold such exalted positions in myth!"

Zhang Jian secretly mused in his heart.

At this moment, with a single thought, he seemed to possess a power to overturn heaven and earth, capable at any time of overturning the yin and yang of heaven and earth and suppressing the Qiankun Son of Heaven.

Earth Authority.

The thought merely flashed briefly, and Zhang Jian continued to immerse himself in contemplating the mysteries of the earth.

The Seven Apertures Exquisite Heart fully accomplished, allowing him to contemplate various authorities and laws with added advantage.

He did not let slip even the slightest opportunity to grow stronger.

……

The Northern Chu dragon qi was once again gathered and merged into the Great Xia dragon veins; this beneficial change greatly eased the investigation actions of Song Yingzhen of the Jiangnan Dao.

Within a small courtyard, Song Yingzhen had a intense starlight blazing deeply at his brow, filling his entire body with a sharp qi mechanism, like a sword about to emerge from its sheath.

He walked the path of the Sword Cultivator of the Heavenly Sword Sect.

In the cultivation world, pure sword cultivators are actually few.

But the Heavenly Sword Sect is precisely such a sect—practicing qi cultivation, foundation establishment, golden core, yin spirit, and even nascent soul, every stage requires understanding and application of flying swords, even treating swordsmanship as an ordinary technique to cultivate.

As the Breaker Army Star, his body bore heavy killing qi, making him extremely suited to walk the path of sword cultivation.

During this period, he had plundered many wealthy clans and aristocratic families, his brows and eyes filled with a thick killing aura.

At this moment, he smiled and said to several fellow Daoists of the Cave Truth generation.

"It seems the Emperor's methods are still superior; now that the news of Northern Chu's fall has spread, the aristocratic clans of these commanderies have become honest!"

The Cave Truth Daoist chuckled lightly: "After all, they are merely mortal flesh, ignorant of heavenly numbers; heavenly mandate now lies entirely with Great Xia—how could they possibly resist?"

Beside him, the Cave Mystery Daoist and the Cave Pearl Daoist changed expression.

They also could not have imagined that Northern Chu, which had been entangled with the Qian Dynasty for three or four hundred years, would also collapse so swiftly.

"When the snipe and clam contend, the fisherman gains!"

The Cave Pearl Daoist had this thought flash through his mind.

"Isn't that right? Great Qian, in order to prolong its life, fought Northern Chu with dog-brained tactics, and ended up completely failing to anticipate that the Zhang clan had already developed to such a degree."

Silently and without sound, they had taken control of so many civil and military officials in the court.

Upon hearing this, Song Yingzhen's expression revealed a hint of a smile as he wiped his bright long sword.

"No matter what, this is a good thing; with this great victory, these aristocratic clans should abandon their ideas of sneaking through hidden paths, let go of everything before, and integrate into the Great Xia court, following step by step the rules established by the Emperor—only then is it their road to heaven!"

Several surrounding Cave Truth-generation Daoists silently nodded in agreement.

This great victory also allowed them each to share in the honor.

This also proved their choice had not been wrong.

Following such a wise and towering Emperor, it is not a disgrace to the people.

At this moment, Song Yingzhen raised the sword in his hand.

"Since General An has pacified Northern Chu, we too must accelerate our investigation efforts, we must handle this matter splendidly, lest our fellow cultivators look down on us!"

With a wave of his hand, his long sword fell to the ground and sank straight into the hilt.

……

In the depths of the void, as Zhang Jian was integrating the earth qi of Northern Chu, suddenly his expression moved, yet he sensed a familiar qi mechanism.

Within his vast nascent soul's divine awareness, he saw within the two realms a formless light, like a swiftly flying white streak, piercing through the night and suddenly shooting into Northern Chu territory.

This icy white streak also seemed to sense the majestic dragon veins and dragon qi within Northern Chu, hesitated slightly, and after a moment ultimately transformed into a flowing light that vanished into a forest in Northern Chu.

But almost at the same time, several paths of white gourd cold air appeared like a storm from the depths of the void, and in an instant, three pure and strange figures manifested in the depths of the void.

Leading them was a woman whose figure was as cold as the bright moon, but her whole body was surrounded by rolling cold air, and behind her were two bone wings, while a pure white bone lotus turned beneath her feet, and demonic energy surged mightily.

Behind her were a man and a woman; the woman was veiled in light gauze, her figure like a lovely and secluded moon—she was the Heart Moon Palace Master of the Taiyin Demon Palace who had flashed by in the Northern Chu Imperial Palace.

The other was dressed entirely in blood-red robes, with a handsome face, yet his eyes revealed intense darkness, like the reverse side of the Taiyin, though his aura was the weakest.

He was one of the most outstanding old demon heads of the Taiyin Demon Palace in recent years, and at this moment he had just recently attained the Nascent Soul.

"Master, what's wrong?"

At this moment, he looked around with his eyes.

The beautiful woman standing on the bone lotus merely raised her hand slightly, her eyes gazing in all directions.

The face of this powerful figure, whose body was filled with vast demonic energy, was solemn and vigilant.

"It seems something has taken notice of this seat!"

"Where?"

The face of this Yin Pond Daoist sank, his expression as if facing a great enemy, and the beautiful woman's face grew gloomy.

She did not speak; she had cultivated a special Nascent Soul Immortal Law of the Taiyin Demon Palace, her Nascent Soul extremely sensitive, able to reflect the Qingming, that gaze extremely hidden, yet she indeed felt the terrifying aura.

This caused ripples to arise deep within her "Heart of the Ice Mirror."

"Let's go!"

Although unable to eradicate the root, ultimately her own safety was most important; a flow of demonic energy circulated around her, and in an instant the three seemed to enter the lovely white moon, vanishing suddenly.

"Taiyin Mirror Escape Technique!"

At this moment, in the depths of the azure sky of Northern Chu, Zhang Jian solidified his Nascent Soul divine awareness, enveloping the three figures; within his massive solidified Nascent Soul, it seemed one could see these three escaping lights using the void as a mirror, constantly refracting and transforming, projecting hundreds of escaping lights, which vanished in an instant into the depths of the void, yet their fundamental location could not be traced.

His pupils flickered, with something unusual in the depths of his eyes.

These cultivators of the Taiyin Demon Palace were indeed cautious.

As long as these three high-level demon cultivators took one step forward and entered the range covered by the Great Xia Dragon Qi, even if they possessed such profound escape techniques, these three would certainly not escape the spatial blockade formed by the Mountains and Rivers State Diagram.

It could also be said that this Grand True Person of Creation was fortunate.

"Just now that person was stepping on the six-turn white bone demon lotus, and the two bone wings behind him should be the famous Fengpeng Bone Wings of the Taiyin Demon Palace, so this person should be the Ice Mirror Princess among the Taiyin Demon Palace's Supreme Elders!"

A portion of information flashed through Zhang Jian's mind; during this period he had been exchanging "heated" words with many Daoists of the Tongshan Dao Lineage, and it was not in vain.

Rumor has it that the Ice Mirror Princess was a princess of a two-realm dynasty from thousands of years ago, whose white bone corpse attained the Dao, her cultivation extremely strong, especially her Taiyin Demon Body abnormally strong and fierce, not to be provoked.

Of course, he is even less to be provoked.

With a thought, Zhang Jian looked downward, only to see that pure white light rushing forward all the way, and in an instant her figure shot straight toward the direction of Great Xia.

Zhang Jian's massive Nascent Soul divine awareness followed her unhurriedly, watching her travel all the way from Northern Chu to the Great Xia Imperial Capital.

Within Haojing City, this figure entered straight into the Qintian Terrace Office.

"This fairy is indeed one who knows the heavenly numbers!"

Zhang Jian sensed this scene and smiled faintly.

The one being pursued by many demon true persons of the Taiyin Demon Palace is none other than the Taiyin Fairy who left the distant expeditionary army.

Indeed, not long after, Xue Dongming arrived with a surprised expression, hurrying to report that a Nascent Soul true person wished to join the Great Xia Qintian Terrace and wanted to meet Zhang Jian.

……

But at this moment, within Haojing City, as the expeditionary army conquered Northern Chu, destroyed the Northern Chu masters, and captured alive the Chu Royal Huan Xuan, the news spread back, yet the entire Great Xia, up and down, became a boiling ocean.

The greatest achievement of a monarch is nothing more than expanding territory and destroying enemy states.

Northern Chu stood for less than five hundred years, while Great Qian fell, yet it still stood firm in the northern lands.

This shows how hard a bone Northern Chu is to crack.

And Great Xia, newly established, could in one fell swoop pacify Northern Chu and unify the Eastern Continent—is this not exactly what the folk rumors said?

The Great Xia Emperor is the mandate of heaven returned.

If not so, how could he destroy Chu State in a short time and unify the rivers and mountains?

In the court, many civil and military officials were also greatly encouraged.

Previously, Great Xia had taken over from Great Qian and suffered some criticism, but now, with the royal army's great victory and the recovery of the northern lands, the common people's words were filled more with pride and a sense of belonging.

At this moment, on a carriage entering the palace, a figure took in the scene of commoners cheering and leaping in the marketplace.

"The people's hearts can be won; relying on this great momentum, if Great Xia again cultivates governance and nurtures the people for several years, it can make the people wholly devoted!"

Wang Huan took in this scene, his eyes also somewhat moved.

Great Xia being able to recover the northern lands and re-unify the rivers and mountains, Wang Huan likewise felt deep pride.

The northern lands had been divided for hundreds of years; this had always been a thousand-year regret in the eyes of countless civil and military officials of Great Qian; whoever could achieve this would undoubtedly gain unimaginable prestige.

By this achievement, Great Xia consolidating this foundation is entirely sufficient.

Adding to that, nurturing life and treating the people well, sage-like great governance can be foreseen.

Wang Huan's aged face also showed some joy, but this time he entered the palace not for this matter.

The matter of forming the cabinet, he prepared to retire bravely from the rapid current.

With the success of the Northern Expedition, whether it is the commander-in-chief of the Northern Expedition Vanguard Army, An Ruming, or the Second Route Marshal, Wang You, they will surely leave their names in history because of this, and the Great Xia Emperor will certainly not be lacking in bestowing titles and honors.

As the head of the Wang family clan, he originally was already an extreme subject of the state.

With him present, it is feared that the Wang family would find it difficult to produce another extreme-subject heavy minister again.

The Wang family is now already strong—a dual-state dukedom; if one adds this Northern Expedition success……

Wang Huan knows that excess leads to decline, and extreme prosperity leads to decay.

Retiring now could also give Wang You a way out.

……

In the rear palace, at this moment it also became lively; the Empress, as mistress of the rear palace, took the opportunity to set a banquet, inviting many female relatives of civil and military officials in the court, Lady Haoming, to celebrate the success of the royal army's Northern Expedition.

At this time, under the pale white moonlight, after receiving numerous imperial edict ladies, the Empress appeared in the inner hall amidst the attendants' gathering.

Qi Wan's wife had already been waiting here.

The mother and daughter met, and naturally exchanged pleasantries.

Since bringing the husband and wife of the state to Haojing City to settle, the Empress had often seen Qi Wan's wife; compared to over a decade ago, Qi Wan's wife now only had a slight addition of one or two fine lines at the corners of her eyes, still radiant and beautiful.

At this time, she also heard her sigh.

"I never imagined that the Northern Chu, which had stood firm in the northern lands for five hundred years, would collapse in the hands of the Emperor—this is an unprecedented great event in a thousand years!"

"The unification of the Eastern Continent, the Emperor's merit shall endure for the state and for a thousand autumns!"

Beside her, seeing her mother praise Zhang Jian so highly, the Empress's beautiful countenance also showed some joy, and she said:

"This victory is also due to the soldiers selling their lives, the generals uniting in heart, thus enabling such merit!"

Qi Wan's wife nodded slightly; the mother and daughter exchanged some private words, and at this moment Qi Wan's wife glanced around, then let out a soft sigh.

Seeing this, the Empress still could not help but wonder: "Mother, why did you suddenly sigh?"

Qi Wan's wife glanced at the Empress and said: "Your Majesty, I had just taken a small walk in the palace; this vast palace is indeed desolate and cold. As the mistress of the six palaces, you are noble, yet most of the six palaces lie empty and unattended—how can this serve as an example for the world? If this continues, word will spread among the common folk, or even among those gossiping women, who will not say the Empress is jealous and cannot tolerate others in her eyes? Your Majesty's wisdom may thus be damaged."