Chapter 101: Today, I conform to the Heavenly Dao, follow the hearts of the people, and do good deeds

The hundred-unit-wide Vermilion Bird Heavenly Street led directly to the Danfeng Gate. The gate tower was over ten units high, and the eaves were crouched with bronze chi-dragons, holding night-shining pearls from the South Sea in their mouths. After nightfall, the green light was like a torch, illuminating the imperial road as bright as day.

On both sides of the imperial road stood twelve pairs of white jade ornamental columns, the pillars carved with coiled dragons, the dragon eyes inlaid with rubies, as if coldly looking down at the kneeling ministers.

A white-haired, blue-robed youth stepped on cloud energy and crossed the gate tower, ignoring the more than one hundred thousand troops of the Imperial Palace. In less than a moment, he saw a great hall on the nine-fold Danchi, the roof covered with glazed gold tiles, shining like molten gold in the sunlight, like a golden giant beast lurking.

In front of the hall, the dragon-tail road was paved with sixty white jade steps, guarded by thousands of golden-armored Imperial Guards ready for battle, and guarded by tens of thousands of elite soldiers in the surroundings.

"Yuwen Shang, why are you hiding and not seeing me? As the leader of one of the four great clans under heaven, now that your clan is almost exterminated, you can actually swallow your anger. This truly makes me, a person outside the world, have to say one thing."

Zhuang Buran's voice, with a hint of laughter, entered Daxing Palace:

"Your temper is too good, and you cannot escape death."

Inside the palace, the atmosphere was extremely oppressive. The ministers all looked at a cold and solemn old man, while a man with a height of eight chi and a very majestic appearance sat on the dragon chair, showing a smile that was not a smile:

"Since I ascended the throne, I have dug long trenches, built the Great Wall, built the Eastern Capital, and opened the Grand Canal, connecting the north and south."

"I have promoted Buddhism, managed Daoism, advocated Confucianism, opened examinations, crossed the Turks in the north, mastered the Western Regions, and communicated with the ocean, with ten thousand nations coming to pay tribute. Those small countries all call me the Sage Khan."

The more he spoke, the more obvious the mockery on his face became:

"When I ascended the throne, I boasted that I would achieve merit covering ten thousand generations. I have not broken my word, but I didn't expect those lowly people..."

Yang Guang's tone deepened, his words full of thunderous anger:

"I let them live, I gave them food, and they rebelled against me."

"Now, I am in such a predicament, blocked at my own door by one person and unable to do anything. If I told others, I fear they would take it as a joke."

"Those who don't know would think Daxing City was broken by rebels, the Imperial Palace was lost, and it was time for me to become a king of a fallen nation."

"Holy One, calm your anger."

The ministers heard this and bowed in unison.

Yuwen Shang walked out and said coldly:

"This old minister will lead the troops to battle and smash this lawless madman who has no respect for the monarch into ten thousand pieces."

"Good, a mere martial artist, relying on his martial arts and some illusions and tricks, actually dares to come and act wildly under my nose."

"What flying and escaping, rebirth and creation, it's just a trick to fool people."

Yang Guang shouted angrily:

"Go, hack the thief to death with chaotic blades for me. I don't believe he has really become an immortal or a Buddha. With more than one hundred thousand elite soldiers in the palace, even if you pile them up, you can pile him to death."

"This old minister obeys."

Yuwen Shang turned and walked out of the hall, seeing from afar a white-haired, blue-robed youth standing with his hands behind his back.

"I haven't appeared in the martial arts world for many years. I didn't expect such an expert to appear in the world."

"Even the Three Great Grandmasters of today would not dare to fight against thousands of soldiers with their own strength, because the outcome left for them would only be death from exhaustion."

The blue-robed youth's gaze dropped:

"Since I have descended the mountain and encountered a chaotic world, for the sake of the world being less chaotic for a while, I, as the Master of the New Jingzhai, should uphold the path of hegemony and follow the Heavenly Dao."

"It is also as you wish, to fulfill the name of the so-called madman."

"What a lawless, unscrupulous madman." Yuwen Shang immediately set up a military formation and pressed toward the blue-robed youth.

"What a familiar term." Zhuang Buran laughed dumbly:

"Sect Master of New Jingzhai, Qing Jingyuan... Today, I conform to the Heavenly Dao, follow the hearts of the people, and do good deeds, to speak for the world!"

He closed his eyes and said indifferently:

"Cut down the lawless, execute the tyrant!"

After saying this, his feet shook, and the floor within ten zhang of his body shattered suddenly.

The blue-robed youth opened his hands, and the wind around him surged. The dust and sand on the ground suddenly floated up, and the air was immediately filled with sand and dust, flying sand and stones, sweeping through the military formation like a sandstorm.

The people present saw the scene like heaven's punishment and couldn't help but tremble with fear, their hair standing on end. They couldn't help but develop the intention to flee, especially seeing hundreds or thousands of comrades swept into the sandstorm and instantly turning into unbearable corpses, their backs felt even colder, and the intention to run away became stronger.

"Heaven creates all things to nourish people, yet people complain that heaven is unkind."

"They don't know that locusts are all over the world, and the suffering common people are all subjects of the king."

The blue-robed youth let out a wanton laugh, and with a "hu la la" sound from his sleeves, a vast expanse of white flew out.

Thousands of paper butterflies, accompanied by an incomparably fierce wind, surged toward the armored soldiers on the other side.

Each paper butterfly accurately and elegantly cut the throats of the Imperial Guards guarding Daxing Palace.

"Ah ah ah!"

Who knows how many armored soldiers who escaped the disaster saw their comrades turn into corpses and fall to the ground in an instant, and couldn't help but let out terrified screams.

"People are born with nobility and lowliness; the noble are always favored by heaven."

"Human wealth and nobility are always determined by heaven; the poverty of the common people is heaven's condemnation."

The blue-robed youth's chanting voice echoed throughout the Imperial Palace, and a pale green vine appeared around his body again.

As thousands of sharp thorns split open, they sprayed countless white flowers like magic. The petals were as clear as jade and exquisite, and they grew larger and larger until they were as large as jade bowls. Then, in the swift wind, they fell off the branches one after another.

Only to see falling flowers fluttering like snow. Inside and outside Daxing Palace, they reached everywhere. Under the blessing of the wind, these tough and hard-to-break petals, like leather, turned into incomparably sharp hidden weapons and flew toward the Imperial Guards.

In an instant, blood flowed like a river, and more than a thousand people died and fell to the ground.

"Suddenly a madman sharpens his knife at night, the emperor star sways and the fluorescent star is high."

"Turning the world upside down starts from today; why cherish the effort of killing?"

The blue-robed youth stepped on cloud energy and rose, his chanting voice covering most of Daxing City.

At this moment, it clearly shook countless people inside and outside the Imperial Palace. Kou Zhong and the other three, who had not yet left the city, also didn't expect someone to be so fierce. They were clearly going to kill the Yuwen Clan leader, but didn't expect to go straight to assassinate the emperor, and also caused such a stir in the city, as if they were afraid others wouldn't know.

"Those who are unfaithful should be killed! Those who are unfilial should be killed!"

"Those who are unkind should be killed! Those who are unrighteous should be killed!"

"Those who are unpolite, unwise, and untrustworthy, New Jingzhai says kill, kill, kill!"

That voice, as indifferent and distant as the Heavenly Dao, without any emotional fluctuation, reached all parts of Daxing City again.

The whole city was shaken. Now that they hadn't seen rebels raising troops to attack the city, nor had they seen aristocratic clans rebelling, it was clear that the so-called rebels who were surrounded and suppressed on Heavenly Street just now had broken into the Imperial Palace and were even assassinating the emperor now.

"Heaven creates all things to nourish people, but people have no kindness to repay heaven."

"Kill! Kill! Kill! Kill! Kill! Kill! Kill!"

The people outside the Imperial Palace didn't know at all how many people died outside Daxing Palace after they heard the seven "kill" words.

Calculating it all, it wasn't many, just over ten thousand people died. As the blue-robed youth unleashed martial arts like heaven's punishment and quickly killed thousands, the Imperial Guards guarding outside the hall had no fighting spirit and all fled in all directions.

As for why more than ten thousand people died, during the flight, there were always people falling to the ground, causing mutual trampling, and casualties were constant.

Yuwen Shang looked at the blue-robed youth suspended in front of him and said with difficulty:

"Are you a human or a ghost?"

Zhuang Buran raised his eyebrows:

"Do aristocratic clans view the common people under heaven as the same kind of people as themselves?"

"Today, I have actually become the common people I viewed as pigs and dogs."

Yuwen Shang was filled with melancholy, his brow split open, blood gushed out, and he fell to the ground with a bang.

(End of chapter) ===== CHAPTER 102 =====