Chapter 633: Fengxi's Sacred Way, the Hua Table Slandered

He had been set up, and Fengxi's expression was not pleasant.

But this couldn't be blamed on him——

Who would have thought that Báizé, a mighty Yao Marshal ranked among the top five fighters of the Heavenly Court, would be so slippery—after just one exchange, probing the depths, he'd slather oil on his soles and run away at full speed?

Of the Thirty-Six Stratagems, fleeing is best……As long as my retreat speed is fast enough, the enemy can do nothing to me!

Báizé put this principle into practice, discarding his principles, and thus naturally stood invincible.

"Great Marshal……"

The left and right guards, Xi Zhong and He Zhong, looked at Fengxi with some solemnity, worried that the campaign would go poorly and affect the leader's confidence.

"I'm fine."

Fengxi wiped the corner of his mouth, inadvertently wiping away a trace of blood, "Rest assured, I know what's important, and I have long placed the collective's interests above my personal honor and disgrace."

"We came here to retake the defense line as our first priority, and to retaliate as our second; both have already been achieved."

"The Ghost Chariot suffered defeat, the great army was annihilated; Báizé fled in defeat, lost territory recovered……We have already won a great victory!"

Fengxi adjusted his mindset, appearing very composed.

Hmm.

Although the process wasn't great.

But the goal was indeed achieved!

Great victory!

"Quickly report to the allied forces and inform the Human Emperor's Royal Court: our unit has achieved unprecedented glorious results, and I look forward to their performance!"

Fengxi issued the order.

Having suffered a loss at Báizé's hands, feeling stifled in his heart……He decided to make up for it with the allied forces, giving Yandi a taste of his own medicine.

——This can be done!

——Yandi is incredibly awesome, wanting to greatly boost the prestige of the human race's central……That works, I'll give you a strong first impression here!

Xi Zhong received the order and departed.

"He Zhong……" Fengxi looked at another minister.

"Present!" He Zhong bowed and awaited orders.

"Frontline casualties are severe," Fengxi felt a hint of sorrow between his brows, "The Wu Clan's water division and the Dragon Clan's war army defended the territory to the last moment, until the Heavenly Court's Yao God treacherously assassinated the commander, causing the situation to collapse, after which they had no choice but to scatter and break out in fragments, striving to preserve their remaining strength."

"Now we have retaken the defense line……You take charge of gathering the scattered troops, tally the casualties, and calculate the compensation amounts."

Fengxi spoke earnestly, "We cannot let these soldiers bleed and weep in vain……They gave their all, sacrificing themselves; we owe them an explanation."

"As you command!"

He Zhong performed a solemn salute, then led a detachment of elite troops, beginning the summoning and gathering.

"Alas!"

Fengxi gazed at He Zhong's back, his eyes shifting as he swept over the endless expanse of ruins and bones—there lay mountains of skeletons, rivers of the Sea of Blood, a scene too mournful.

True Dragon carcasses, Wu Clan battle bones, Yao soldiers' severed limbs……Countless warriors buried their bones here, weighing heavily on Fengxi's heart.

"Like a fleeting dream……"

He murmured softly, "The Dragon-Phoenix Blood Battle of years past was likewise thus……"

"Alas!"

Fengxi let out a deep sigh, then summoned another minister behind him, "Xi Shu……You, go collect our soldiers' remains, so the dead may return to their native soil and their souls have a place to rely on."

"This time I admit, Houtu has recently done a good deed."

He self-mockingly reflected, "Reincarnation reshaped, the netherworld reformed—death is not the end; souls return to the Nine Springs, still retaining lingering thoughts, allowing the living to feel gratitude and solace, so they may die in peace."

"Furthermore, let them be reborn into a good fate, so their hot-blooded sacrifice is not in vain……Our conscience can barely be preserved."

"In this regard, it is far better than the former reincarnation……Back then, when a person died, debts were cleared, neither merit nor fault was recorded."

"A lifetime of hot blood only earns two or three lines in the annals; turning around, worldly affairs drift like passing clouds, not worth pondering."

Fengxi shook his head, "Fuxi ultimately lacks three parts of human warmth compared to Nüwa; we are not of the same kind."

Here, the Dragon Ancestor still holds opinions about Fuxi, truly deserving of the epithet "hard-headed" praised in private by many ancient gods and sages.

"However."

Although the Dragon Ancestor's head is hard, he cannot help but acknowledge that he treats those who dare to sacrifice and contribute exceedingly well; among the gods, he is considered a leader full of human warmth and down-to-earth!

Arrogant toward superiors yet loving toward subordinates, while promoting the great unification he could be overbearing, but part of his original intention was also to realize a grand dream and goal, allowing the human way to develop better and letting all beings live happily.

——If everyone becomes a dragon, aren't we all one family? Wouldn't that eliminate mutual ethnic discrimination? Wouldn't it remove the conscious differences and misunderstandings brought by bodily forms?

All beings becoming dragons may reduce the myriad blossoms, but it likewise reduces many unnecessary disputes.

However, the Dragon Ancestor Great Sage's way of achieving this goal has been criticized by many divinities, thus he has often been targeted.

Moreover, the Dragon Ancestor is not good with words and his head is hard……These years, he has indeed fared rather poorly.

Yet even so, though targeted, the Dragon Clan has never fallen, remaining loyal to the Dragon Ancestor……Thus it is evident that the Dragon Ancestor Great Sage still enjoys popular support.

Such a leader is actually terrifying.

Because, even if he loses a hundred times, he will not fall.

And as long as he wins once……

It will be heaven overturned, earth overturned!

Even that day will not be too far off……Losing a hundred times is impossible; at most six or seven times!

Honghuang is vast.

But it is also small.

Who could excel over the Dragon Ancestor in true ability and talent, and how many would there be?

Not many.

……

Xi Shu accepted Fu Xu's arrangement and went to do a miserable corpse-collecting job.

But soon he returned with a bitter face and reported to Fu Xu.

"General…… your arrangement, I fear I cannot complete it."

Xi Shu's tone carried a hint of helplessness: "Those slightly stronger soldiers are also fine!"

"We cannot get whole corpses, but we can still piece together a rough assembly from scattered blood and bones."

"The weak ones won't do!"

As he spoke, Xi Shu became moved: "They fought desperately!"

"They fought until flesh and blood were pulverized, until armor shattered into nothing……"

"Sometimes even when I find flesh and blood, I cannot tell whose it once was."

"Because even the mark of life has been wiped clean!"

"Fortunately I still have some strength, so I can trace back the past."

"But it is also difficult…… because that tiny piece of flesh is actually a mixture of many soldiers' partial remains, some our own, some the enemy's!"

"I never imagined that corpse collection would be such a huge undertaking!"

Xi Shu sighed, his feelings complex.

In terms of strength, if a Great Luo does not appear, before him they are all ants.

On the battlefield, those soldiers who fight desperately, compared to him, can be wiped out with a flick of a finger.

But!

Such determination to strive and sacrifice, such generous giving of life, nevertheless strikes straight at his heart.

In strength there are differences.

But before the will to sacrifice, in the instant that the heart's brilliance bursts forth, everyone is equal, with no high or low, noble or base!

"I vaguely recall that I once seemed to have such an exalted and heroic, generous lament……"

Xi Shu reminisced about his past: "Back then, it seemed I was fighting for my life with Rahu?"

"The demon contaminated heaven and earth; the demon ancestor Rahu slew the Dragon Ancestor Majesty, then seized the dragon clan's ancestral home, sweeping across mountains and rivers……"

"His arrogant clamor lets the myriad beings and gods either become his dogs to survive, or stand tall and sacrifice themselves willingly."

"And I, too, am among those who give their lives!"

"To protect the myriad beings who once worshipped me, to fulfill their wish not to fall into the demonic path, and also for that persistence in my heart…… I went up against the Accursed Immortal Sword Formation, I went, I died."

Although the demon ancestor is jokingly called the Pot Ancestor, having a black pot slapped on him for any reason, in fact this venerable one is still very strong!

Back then, those who could match or surpass him in strength could be counted on one hand!

Otherwise, the Dragon Ancestor would not have died so cleanly, unable even to flee—certainly, this had a bit to do with the Eastern August Emperor, who sent the Dragon Ancestor into the Accursed Immortal Sword Formation, allowing him to be slain with crushing force.

With the Dragon Ancestor dead, the remaining members of the Dragon Court are actually no longer a formidable force.

Nevertheless, many Great Luo divinities still dare to go to war, having the courage to brandish their swords.

At that time, Xi Shu was iron-headed and bold, charging straight up, then dying straight.

"Until later, when the August Emperor Heavenly Emperor ascended the throne, feeling gratitude for the past, he erased all former events with a single stroke, reviving all the Great Luo who died in battle, to build Honghuang into a workforce."

"Everyone contributes to the prosperity of the human way, while also gaining rewards, harvesting qi fortune and merit from the Heavenly Court to increase their own resources."

"But……"

"Time, truly is a terrifying power!"

"Having sat in the ruler's position for too long, measurable only on a scale of hundreds of millions of years, we have gradually become indifferent, no longer sharing the fate of the myriad beings, forgetting our past struggles, our hearts cold and hard like stone."

"Life gets better, cultivation rises higher, yet we drift further from the mortal world, forgetting our original aspirations."

"Until today……"

"I……"

"It seems I have found something back……"

Xi Shu's eyes shone bright, deep within his heart something began to sprout.

First came a rebuke from the Human Way that turned into actual harm, whereby the myriad beings could also slay Great Luo.

Then came the shocking sight of the battlefield, countless brave soldiers striking his heartstrings.

This series of circumstances moved this sage who stands in the present yet walks the ancient path, making his aura deepen between presence and absence, as if he had undergone a baptism.

"Congratulations…… although I don't know what happened to you, great things are expected of you." Fu Xu congratulated him, then returned to the main topic: "I know corpse collection is difficult, I understand your predicament."

"Like this."

"You can draw personnel from my guard detachment—ten or eight Great Luo are no problem—to cooperate with you in gathering as many soldier corpses as possible, helping their souls return home."

"If truly there is no way, and even bones and flesh are worn away completely……"

"Then look for fragments of their former armor and clothing, erect a clothtomb, so their obsessions have something to rely on."

"If……"

Fu Xu sighed, "Death is truly too thorough, leaving nothing behind in life…… there is nothing in the home to be missed."

"Then let the clan bear this grief, affirm this achievement!"

"At that time, I will personally establish a memorial hall and stele, inscribing the names of the sacrificed, using the annals of history as a medium, to be regarded as the final clearest imprint of their existence."

"Your Highness Fu Xu, your virtue is boundless!"

Xi Shu offered sincere praise, with the highest rites.

"While they lived, they could not enjoy much; only after death did they receive affirmation…… this is our dereliction of duty, how can I claim virtue?"

Fu Xu shook his head, speaking calmly: "From this we see we actually have many shortcomings that urgently need to be resolved."

"Therefore, I have conceived the idea of establishing and arranging some measures, to listen to the suggestions of the myriad common folk, starting from their perspective, to adjust and correct our mistakes, and strengthen and make up for our deficiencies."

It is as if, before settling in, a 'Drum of Advice' is set up; if any of the common people have suggestions, they can strike it at any time, and I will personally receive them and listen to their words.

If the situation becomes urgent and I am unable to attend to others; or if the common people have concerns and wish to speak frankly but dare not come see me… then I still have measures: I will arrange, at certain specific places, signs for free expression—for example, erecting a wooden ornamental column, for the stationed officials to record and then submit to me… even if it is slanderous speech, it does not matter.

Drum of Advice.

Slanderous Wood.

Fangxun is very determined to listen to advice; this is his performance as he walks upon the splendid Holy Way.

"And Shu, this part of the work, I will entrust to you." Fangxun's eyes bright, Fangxun earnestly instructed the last of the four assistant ministers of the Dragon Chart System.

"I receive the order!" Heshu solemnly.

"All right, go." Fangxun slightly nodded.

Heshu left.

Xizhong, however, returned at this moment.

"Finished reporting?" Fangxun forced a smile, eased his heavy heart, "The friends of Yandi over there, after receiving the news, is their mood not too good?"

Fangxun looked after the common folk, but his attitude toward colleagues and rivals was no longer the same.

Without exchanging a couple of sentences, thoughts cannot be conveyed.

"Your Highness, you foresee events like a deity." Xizhong nodded repeatedly, "When I hung up the communication, I felt that side seemed about to start scolding."

"This is how it should be!"

Fangxun's mood improved, "Thanks to Gui Che friends for sending us heads, letting us have a victorious start here."

The defensive line has also been retaken, the front line newly made up… thus there is no longer blame for lost territory, and others cannot say anything about it.

Xizhong… these days, you may have to work harder, do well in repair work, strengthen defensive measures.

"I understand." Xizhong said solemnly.

After speaking, this minister hesitated a little, "Your Highness Fangxun..."

"I feel that the Heavenly Court side is very suspicious!"

They expended such a huge cost, captured our defensive line here, and barely opened a breakthrough.

But when they retreated, they were so decisive, without hesitation, lightly letting us recover this place.

In this… could there be deceit?

Xizhong was very doubtful.

After all, there is no free lunch in this world.

Especially such a large prize, won at great cost—saying they don't want it, they just don't want it!

Putting ourselves in their shoes, asking ourselves… if it were Xizhong standing in the Heavenly Court's position, he would not retreat no matter what!

At the very least, we must make this army of the Dragon Chart System pay a bloody price!

"Deceit? Probably so."

Fangxun was very composed.

"Sowing discord, borrowing a knife to kill, etc… probably all have some shadow."

The Dragon Ancestor is stubborn, but certainly not stupid.

Having once been a leader, aside from being schemed against by others using information asymmetry, most of the time he is quite competent.

When the main force of humanity appears, the dragon clan's system is no longer the primary target.

Fangxun climbed the ruined city wall, gazing into the distance at the endless Heavenly Court army, his face showing little joy or anger.

(End of chapter)