Chapter 393

Anyang City, Linghu Fort.

The renowned Linghu clan, by relying on its overwhelming influence in the Da Jin military, faintly bears the reputation of being the number one aristocratic family of Da Jin.

As the residence of the Linghu clan's main lineage, Linghu Fort is naturally grand in scale and myriad in appearance.

A wall of cyan-gold, only one zhang shorter than the imperial city and six chi narrower, encircles Linghu Fort; the square Linghu Fort's occupied area within Anyang City is almost equal to that of the Da Jin emperor's imperial city.

However, unlike the imperial city located at the center of Anyang City, Linghu Fort sits in the northeast corner of Anyang City, where a flowing water passes through a sluice gate straight into the city. This flowing water runs through the entirety of Linghu Fort and simultaneously connects Linghu Fort with a vast grove to the northeast outside the city into a single entity.

The grove's area is as large as seven or eight times that of the imperial city, containing mountain peaks and hills, forests and grasslands, lakes and streams, flowers that bloom in all seasons, year-round verdant trees, countless palaces and pavilions, and breeding countless rare birds and beasts.

This flowing water, together with the sluice gate through which it enters the city, is entirely under the control of the Linghu clan.

When the Linghu clan's dignitaries are in the mood, they need only board a small flatboat, go upstream, pass through that tiny, perennially open sluice gate, and directly from the imposing Linghu Fort enter the exquisite, luxurious grove.

Actually, strictly speaking, the true Linghu Fort is the combination of this square castle inside the city and the grove outside.

Thus, everyone understands that the actual scale of the Linghu clan's main lineage's residence, Linghu Fort, is eight or nine times that of the imperial city.

This is usurpation.

Without a doubt, this is usurpation.

Yet the Da Jin emperor says nothing about it, so how could anyone else dare to speak up?

To the north of Linghu Fort, in a hall entirely cyan-black, an extremely long table capable of seating hundreds on either side is placed squarely in the center of the hall.

On the hall's ceiling, a pearl the size of a palm is inlaid in the center of the coffered ceiling; the pearl emits a soft beam of light that falls exactly on the middle of the long table, where specks of dust can be seen drifting in its glow, and the light also illuminates the large chairs on either side of the table.

Linghu Qingqing sits upright at the far end of the long table, eyes narrowed, smiling, admiring the nine blood-colored tokens placed six chi ahead on the table. The square tokens, whose material resembles fine jade, naturally bear an exquisitely delicate, lifelike depiction of nine dragons chasing the sun.

These nine tokens are the final spoils of the Three Kingdoms' battle for the blood banner.

That enormous Nine Dragons Chasing the Sun blood banner, once finally obtained by Linghu Qingqing, transformed into these nine blood-colored tokens.

These nine tokens are nine opportunities, nine lives!

Each token can guarantee that a being like Linghu Qingqing, who has lingered for countless years in the Fetal Storage Realm, whose body and divine fetus can no longer withstand the daily surge of mana and essence blood and may at any moment dissipate between heaven and earth, a peak cultivator of the Fetal Storage Realm, can ascend in a single step into the Divine Realm.

From the Fetal Storage Realm to the Divine Realm, there is great terror.

As ordinary people wish to leap the dragon gate like a carp, to turn from a mere mortal into a deity, heaven and earth do not allow it.

Therefore, heaven and earth send down countless calamities; among all calamities, the most direct, the most terrifying, and the hardest to endure is that unceasing, terrifying heavenly tribulation whose each strike can pierce heaven and earth.

Relying solely on one's cultivation, even if one carries heavenly divine weapons or is guarded by innate spiritual treasures, one absolutely cannot withstand that terrifying calamity, and it is absolutely impossible to successfully shed the mortal form and become a deity.

Only the token bestowed by the 'Heavenly God', only this 'Heavenly God's Decree', each such 'Heavenly God's Decree' can ensure that a peak cultivator like Linghu Qingqing becomes a deity smoothly and without disturbance.

Deities…… have limitless lifespan.

This alone is sufficient…… the soldiers of the Three Kingdoms who died in the battle for the blood banner also died a fitting death; using their deaths to obtain nine exalted deities…… exchanging the lives of ants for a heavenly dragon, what a profitable deal!

Even if a hundred times more soldiers perished, what would it matter?

The Three Kingdoms' territory is so vast, their population numbers in the tens of trillions; hehe, a few casualties are not worth mentioning.

"What a fine treasure, can you still bear it?" Linghu Qingqing smiled, her fingers lightly tapping the armrest of the chair.

"I, Linghu Qingqing, have not disgraced the ancestors of the Linghu clan…… the previous Heavenly God's Decree was also obtained by the Linghu clan…… the one before that was also obtained by the Linghu clan…… this time, I, Linghu Qingqing, have finally seized the Heavenly God's Decree with my own hands."

"In this way, it can also preserve the Linghu clan's prosperity for ten thousand years; truly a cause for joy and celebration."

Linghu Qingqing laughed exceedingly brightly.

Clad in a cyan-black robe, waist bound with a cyan jade belt, head crowned with a cyan wood high cap, face glowing red, the current head of the Linghu clan entered silently. Across the long table, the clan head, smiling, made a salute to Linghu Qingqing.

"Ancestor! The guests have all arrived."

Linghu Qingqing slowly nodded, smiling, and glanced at the clan head.

This youngster, how many generations removed is he from Linghu Qingqing's descendants? Well, it doesn't matter; he has lived long enough, with too many descendants, worrying about generational ranks is too troublesome…… anyway, aside from a few brothers of the same generation who cannot cultivate, all members of the Linghu clan today are Linghu Qingqing's juniors.

As for what this youngster's name is…… it doesn't matter.

The Linghu clan has a Linghu Qingqing; this name itself represents the Linghu clan.

The clan head is merely someone Linghu Qingqing and the elders casually picked out to appear in public and speak for the Linghu clan's interests; in short, he is nothing more than a superlative steward.

This youngster still has a ways to go before he can reach Linghu Qingqing's current standing.

"Please come in! Hehe, they're all old friends, wonderful, wonderful." Linghu Qingqing laughed and gave a light wave of her hand.

The clan head laughed, bowed deeply, and then stepped back out of the hall.

Soon after, several dozen figures entered the hall, walking straight to the side of the long table nearest Linghu Qingqing and taking seats on the large chairs on both sides in a continual stream.

"Heavenly God's Decrees, there are only nine…… I will keep one for myself, reserve one for the brothers in seclusion…… the remaining seven, old friends, you may name your price." Linghu Qingqing laughed brightly, looking at these several dozen figures as if they were a row of fat pigs lined up on a chopping board.

A burly old man spoke in a low voice: "Old Qing, your household already owes me a favor…… the ninth son of the Yan King, whose mother is a concubine daughter of your Linghu clan, I have already arranged everything for him, securing him the title of Earl of Zhujiang."

The burly old man lightly tapped the table with his finger and said calmly: "A mere Earl of Zhujiang is nothing, but with a noble rank he gains eligibility to contend for the position of heir to the Yan King; once he inherits the Yan King's throne, a royal title will be worth money…… you must keep this favor in mind."

Linghu Qingqing gave the burly old man a glance: "I've noted it, well, this is indeed a small chip, but it's not enough……"

A gaunt old man spoke softly: "Old Linghu, don't forget, it was I who mobilized the imperial clan's offerings, sending forth the entire nest to reinforce; otherwise, you would find it difficult to seize the nine Heavenly God's Decrees! So, one of them ought to be mine."

Linghu Qingqing looked at the gaunt old man, narrowing his eyes: "Senior Right Minister…… you and I have years of 'acquaintanceship'; a Heavenly God's Decree, without a doubt, is something that ought to belong to you. But it cannot be given for free! This Heavenly God's Decree was seized by me personally, and the gods only recognize my authority over it. So, you must pay a price."

The gaunt old man likewise narrowed his eyes; his gaze, sharp as a blade, clashed hard with Linghu Qingqing's equally sharp and cold stare.

He hammered his finger on the table; after a long while, the gaunt old man said in a deep voice: "In the northwest, the twenty-two newly opened prefectures of the Divine Might Army, their prefects and county magistrates, shall all belong to your Linghu clan."

Linghu Qingqing smiled and nodded: "Not too big, not too small, a moderate stake…… still not worth a Heavenly God's Decree. But no rush, old friends, we have plenty of time to negotiate. Hmm, bring someone, fine tea, fine wine, hehe, today I'm happy—I'll cover all the tea and wine."

Within Anyang City, the Linghu clan's high-ranking guests filled the seats; the tremendous, terrifying profits from a few Heavenly God's Decrees were treated as tiny weights, lightly placed on the balance in Linghu Qingqing's heart.

In Daze State, Wu Tie stood vainly on the thick mud, roaring in frustration.

A swarm of ignorant insects flew about, buzzing as they lunged at Wu Tie's seven orifices, hoping to burrow into them to greedily suck blood and eat flesh.

Wu Tie's body suddenly erupted with three-colored fire.

This is the Meditative True Fire innate to the Nine Revolutions Mystic Technique; such supreme divine flame instantly raised the temperature within a hundred zhang around him, and a tiny swarm of insects instantly turned into blue smoke.

The mud beneath Wu Tie's feet was directly melted by the Meditative True Fire into a semi-translucent glazed state; after Wu Tie withdrew the Meditative True Fire, this melted mud quickly cooled, and the mud within a hundred zhang around him was forged into a smooth, mirror-like slab of dark glass.

Far off, a group of men and women moving like walking corpses looked this way, pointing and whispering cautiously.

After a while, a thin man with his chest bare, a large patch of black chest hair hanging from his chest, and a coarse hemp cloth tied around his waist swayed out of a crude thatched shed in the distance.

"Who's here, making a ruckus, this place……"

The thin man suddenly shivered, his eyes widened, and he carefully examined the splendid battle robe unique to a high-ranking general of the Great Jin that Wu Tie wore; his lecherous face, tinged with a hint of viciousness, instantly broke into a grin.

"Sir, sir, sigh, sir you've had a hard journey, sir what is this…… oh my, everyone is being received…… but, we can't be blamed……"

The thin man flung himself at Wu Tie's feet and respectfully kowtowed three times.

"The chief of this post station, along with the other officials, all died half a month ago…… sigh, over the past half month, this post station, you are the first wave of living people to arrive…… how come, only you, sir?"

The thin man looked around with a bewildered expression.

What Wu Tie wore was indeed a high-ranking general's battle robe of the Great Jin, but according to Great Jin military regulations, even a lowliest third-rank general, when traveling, is preceded and followed by attendants, with at least ten to twenty thousand personal guards escorting him; without a flagship five to six hundred zhang long, or a dozen medium-small galley escorts, one would be embarrassed to greet anyone.

"Sir, you're all alone like that…… oh, no, you also have a carriage and two horses, and you came just like that?"

"Sir, you really are just one person?"

Wu Tie looked down at the thin man and said coldly, "The post station chiefs are all dead? What are you?"

The thin man gave a dry laugh, carefully knelt on the ground and said, "I, I am the assistant of this post station…… I……"

Wu Tie kicked the thin man, sending him flying seven or eight zhang away with one kick.

Fortunately, the ground had been refined by Wu Tie's Samadhi true fire into a glass mirror; the man slid away with a "hiss" sound, and fortunately wasn't injured in the slightest.

"I think you're no good…… how did you come to Great Marsh Prefecture?"

Seeing the miserable, destitute state of Great Marsh Prefecture, Wu Tie roughly understood what condition it was in.

"There are probably no decent civilians here."

"This lecherous, vicious man is certainly no good."

"Villain, villain……" the thin man's eyes darted, and he suddenly burst into tears: "I'm innocent…… I was just passing by someone's backyard, saw a money bag, picked it up by accident, who knew it contained several pearls worth millions?"

Wu Tie drew the Six-refined Immortal Soldier Long Sword from his waist; the sword whooshed out and its tip pressed against the thin man's Adam's apple.

"Speaking honestly, what crime did you commit to come here?" Wu Tie coldly stared at the thin man: "I'm in a terrible mood right now; I really feel like killing seven or eight hundred living people to vent my anger!"

The thin man drenched in sweat, stammering, said: "I committed burglary, raped the victim's three daughters, castrated his two sons and sold them as child beggars…… sentenced to immediate execution, but Great Marsh Prefecture needed people to fill the frontier; the judge asked whether I wanted to die or live, I chose to live, so I came here……"

Wu Tie looked at the thin man.

"Then you're nothing but scum…… why are you still alive?" Wu Tie raised his eyebrows, and the Immortal Soldier Long Sword hovering in the air thrust forward lightly; a thin trickle of blood flowed from the thin man's neck.

"I deserve death a thousand times, but I've lived in Great Marsh Prefecture for seven years, I'm the person who has lived there the longest to this day…… I know every detail of Great Marsh Prefecture inside and out……"

A yellow stain spread from the thin man's crotch, flowing across the glassy ground in a large patch.

"Then, tell me, in Great Marsh Prefecture, what should I be most careful about?" Wu Tie coldly stared at the thin man.

"What you should be most careful about is not those restless natives, not those poisonous insects and fierce beasts, but, but, but……"

The thin man's eyes darted about, sometimes looking at the Immortal Soldier at his throat, sometimes at Wu Tie, his face full of conflict and embarrassment.

Suddenly, a shout came from afar: "Tax official, sir, return to the city!"

"Tax official?" Wu Tie's eyes widened.

"Tax official!" the thin man stammered, finally managing to utter those two words.