Chapter 459

Wu Tie remained very obediently locked on the Evading Dragon Pillar.

Around Yuan Peak, hundreds of large and small mountains glowed with radiant light, colorful rosy clouds shot up into the sky, various formation devices flickered within the rosy light, yet it gave a feeling of walking corpses, devoid of any spirituality.

Three old men in long robes and tall hats, with gaunt faces, stood above Yuan Peak, their fingers continuously shooting out threads of fire, leaving deep marks in the air, which they continually drove into Yuan Peak.

An eighteen-story tower, each level with flying eaves and bracket arms, exquisitely shaped, its entire body inlaid with countless vajra pearls and relic stones, a golden linglong tower hovered behind the three old men, and as they moved, it slowly sank toward Yuan Peak.

The Nine Dragon Furnace was destroyed, causing the eye of the Wanlong Zhen Bahuang Grand Formation guarding the mausoleum of the late Da Jin crown prince to lose control; these three old men were now using a linglong tower of higher quality and greater power than the Nine Dragon Furnace as a replacement.

Previously, all formation arrangements were centered around the Nine Dragon Furnace; changing the formation's core treasure required fine-tuning the formation's restrictions so that all its components could perfectly interface with the linglong tower.

The three old men clearly had formidable expertise in formations; for such a majestic, thousand‑li‑wide grand formation covering the surrounding mountains, replacing the formation's core heavy artifact—a complicated task—they completed in just seven or eight hours.

The awe‑inspiring linglong tower slowly merged into Yuan Peak; the surrounding rosy light shifted, and instantly myriad illusory giant dragons burst forth from the great mountains, lifelike dragon phantoms writhed like living beings in the void, releasing a suffocating terrifying pressure.

Wu Tie couldn't help but feel startled; the Wanlong Zhen Bahuang Grand Formation had not yet truly activated, yet the mere moment the formation took shape released an aura that made him feel as if he were directly confronting the two old monsters, Ji Yu and Xi Bu Bai, as he had that day.

This is a terrifying grand formation capable of directly opposing mighty beings of the Divine Realm!

For such a fearsome grand formation, its core treasure was actually smashed to pieces by a bunch of youths tasked with guarding the formation!

Wu Tie's mouth twitched slightly; this matter, interesting, huh!

While the three old men reset the formation and swapped the suppressing treasure, the red‑clad girl and over three hundred youths stood obediently to the side, silent and motionless, each exceptionally well‑behaved and tranquil.

Only the savage girl laughed "ka ka ka," sitting on a large stone not far from Wu Tie, beside her piled seven or eight huge empty wine jars; now she hoisted a full jar of old liquor and gulped it down "gudong gudong."

The air was filled with a mellow, substantial wine aroma, as if tangible scent kept pouring into Wu Tie's nose, making him salivate profusely, wishing he could snatch the savage girl's wine jar and have a drink.

Moreover, a dozen or so stern‑breathing middle‑aged men in heavy armor stood expressionless to the side, their grim gazes locked firmly on Wu Tie.

After pondering a while, Wu Tie still obediently leaned against the Evading Dragon Pillar, putting on a completely harmless appearance.

After the three old men finished replacing the formation's core treasure, they wiped sweat from their brows, floated down to the lakeside at the mountain's base, washed their hands with clear water, tidied their robes, then returned to the summit and walked slowly to Wu Tie.

The three old men stood in a line, expressionlessly sizing up Wu Tie.

After a while, the central old man slowly spoke: "Identity, origin!"

Wu Tie remained silent for a moment, then gave a dry laugh: "I am the Longjiang Marquis, a sixth‑rank viscount of Da Jin, the commander‑in‑chief of the Da Jin newly opened prefecture of Da Ze, acting under the military department's secretariat order, leading my troops to open a secret passage straight to the heart of the Da Wu Divine State."

The inquiring old man solemnly shook his head: "Da Jin's youth, each generation worse than the last. I asked for your identity and origin, yet you even revealed your own military duties… leaking military secrets is a capital offense!"

Wu Tie gave a bitter smile at the old man: "What if I don't speak?"

The old man firmly nodded: "Under torture, you will naturally speak."

Wu Tie angrily glared at the old fellow: "If so, why didn't I speak up earlier?"

The old man snorted coldly; at some point he had produced a wholly azure‑green bronze ruler, then he slammed it heavily onto Wu Tie's cheek: "Quibbling… in my life I despise most those who make mistakes and still quibble."

With a loud "bang," sparks flew across Wu Tie's cheek; the force of the bronze ruler was unusually heavy, and it contained an extremely strange Daoist principle of punishment and instruction.

Even with Wu Tie's current physique, that ruler strike left him dizzy and blurred; though his cheek hardly hurt, his head felt heavy and nauseous.

"As a Da Jin soldier, even if you fall into enemy hands, no matter how severely they torture you, you must keep your mouth shut." The old man gripped the ruler tightly, looking at Wu Tie shaking his head, and said in a low voice: "Even if beaten to death, you must not reveal any information about yourself or your current duties."

Wu Tie exhaled, looking at the old man with displeasure, and said: "You mean I should say nothing, so you can then justifiably beat me up?"

The old man firmly nodded: "As a Da Jin soldier, this is your duty!"

Wu Tie blinked, staring blankly at the solemn old man; his words were indeed true— as a Da Jin soldier, if captured by the enemy, he truly ought not utter a single word.

Wu Tie was after all not Huo Xiong; he felt no identification whatsoever with being a Da Jin soldier.

Moreover, he always felt that the old fellow's words were nothing but a trick!

Anyway, in front of this old man, if he didn't utter a single word, he would naturally suffer a severe torture.

But if he spoke even a single word, the old fellow would have ample excuse to beat him violently.

Just now, wasn't it exactly that— Wu Tie had just spoken his identity and origin, and this old man lashed him with the ruler? That is, Wu Tie's physique is solid; with the old man's force just now, if it were an ordinary body cultivator at the Tai Cang realm with slightly inferior cultivation technique, this ruler strike would be enough to knock out all his teeth.

This old fellow is not a good person.

"May I ask, who are you?" Wu Tie exhaled, angrily gazing at the old man holding the ruler.

"I am Su He, the Wenxiang of the Eastern Palace of the Da Jin Divine State." The old man toyed with his ruler, his eyes flashing as he looked at Wu Tie: "Back then I also oversaw the AnYang Academy, worthy of being called the teacher of the world… reprimanding you, this spineless sixth‑rank viscount, is wholly justified."

The Eastern Palace Wenxiang, Wu Tie's pupils flickered.

The Eastern Palace Wenxiang, according to Da Jin's official system, is responsible for aiding the Eastern Palace crown prince, seeking talent and cultivating trusted civil officials for the crown prince, and also bears the heavy duty of imparting various affairs of state to the crown prince.

And the AnYang Academy is the Da Jin Divine State's official highest academy; seventy percent of officials in the Da Jin Divine State court come from the AnYang Academy, and since Su He oversees the AnYang Academy, he truly deserves the title "teacher of the world."

One does not know how many princes, dukes, and royal relatives the ruler in Su He's hand has struck.

A mere sixth‑rank viscount, he naturally has the qualification to admonish and to punish.

Wu Tie cursed under his breath, then smiled and said: "Sir… you are now a wanted traitor and rebel on the Da Jin secret list; by what identity or authority do you presume to lecture me, this loyal Da Jin subject?"

Su He's face suddenly stiffened.

The faces of the two old men behind Su He turned extremely grim and unsightly.

The red‑clad girl and the youths standing nearby all widened their eyes, looking at Wu Tie with utmost admiration.

"You!" Su He gazed seriously at Wu Tie: "You also have a bit of adaptable talent."

Shaking his head, Su He laughed: "In that case, rebels and traitors naturally have their own ways to deal with Da Jin's steadfast loyal subjects."

Su He raised his ruler; the ruler shimmered with a mysterious heavenly Dao light, then, with a low rumble, he lashed fiercely at Wu Tie's left and right cheeks.

The heavy blow caused Wu Tie's head to jerk left and right; although it hardly hurt, the strange force within the ruler made him wave after wave of dizziness, nearly making him vomit.

While swinging the ruler, Su He shouted sternly: "But you, you destroyed my Eastern Palace secret treasure, the Nine Dragon Furnace?"

After taking a dozen or so ruler strikes, Wu Tie's gaze at Su He grew odd, and he seethed with anger inside. He twitched his fingers, lightly tapping the Evading Dragon Pillar, intending to break it open to give Su He a show.

But gritting his teeth, Wu Tie again suppressed his anger.

Earlier, he had been violently seized by the red‑clad girl and brought here; if he had been able to escape then, he would have already fled.

But now that he is here, he has the ability to escape, yet Wu Tie truly does not want to leave.

The Nine Dragon Furnace had already brought Wu Tie immense benefit; now his bones suffused with hot flow, giving him great advantage. The linglong tower that Su He and the two others just re‑integrated into the formation seems to possess three‑tenths more power than the Nine Dragon Furnace.

Remnants of the late crown prince of the Da Jin Divine State!!!

Heaven knows how many treasures the former crown prince took when he fled Great Jin with his people.

Wu Tie was burning with envy.

So, Su He launched a fierce barrage of blows at his face, and Wu Tie gritted his teeth, swallowing his anger.

He merely kept this beating in mind; give him a chance, heh heh...

Wu Tie closed his eyes, refusing to look at Su He.

Su He's ruler came to a stop in his hand; he solemnly gazed at Wu Tie, then turned and nodded slowly to the two old men behind him: "What a tough bone. Even if a half-step Divine Manifestation expert were struck by this ruler of mine, his divine fetus would tremble and he would spit out truth. This kid is a bit strange."

"Your Highness, how did you capture him back?" Su He looked toward the red-clad girl.

The red-clad girl gave a dry laugh, then with a "chi" sound she instantly appeared before Su He, lowering her voice to recount in detail how she had captured Wu Tie.

The faces of Su He and the two others were grim.

"Your Highness, you are a body worth ten thousand gold, yet you went alone to provoke the Great Jin army?" Su He's face twitched violently; he gripped the ruler and pointed fiercely at the hundreds of youths present: "And you all… actually let His Highness go out alone?"

He stomped his foot hard, then Su He suddenly raised his voice and roared: "Before this, you actually, actually, actually took the initiative to attack and wiped out the scout detachment of the Secretariat Hall? You… Your Highness, for such a major matter, why didn't you inform us old officials?"

Su He's eyes nearly popped out of their sockets as he almost bounced while shouting: "Such a major matter… if it weren't for the Nine Dragon Furnace you destroyed today, would you still have kept it hidden from us? You bunch of little bastards, your bones have hardened, your wings have grown full feathers—do you dare to fly heaven and earth, lawless and reckless?"

Su He spat a mouthful at the group of youths, then lowered his voice and glared at the red-clad girl: "Your Highness, what exactly do you intend to do?"

The red-clad girl spread her hands, lightly tapping her index fingers together before her, putting on the appearance of an utterly harmless little white rabbit.

"Elder, why get so angry over this? It wasn't us who provoked them; it was the Secretariat Hall people who found my father's mausoleum… Ah, this cannot be tolerated, so I asked the wild girl to summon the clansmen to help, and we wiped out all the Secretariat Hall folks in the vicinity." The red-clad girl laughed brightly, pointing at the wild girl who was gulping down wine.

"Mm, mm, the red girl asked for my help—I couldn't refuse. Besides, the old fogeys in our clan are idle all day, craving your fine liquor, so they all came out to help kill." The wild girl waved her hand nonchalantly: "Of course, no thanks needed. Just give me a few more jugs of wine."

Su He and the two old men stared fixedly at the wild girl, their looks fierce and complicated.

Wu Tie narrowed his eyes; he could see that these three old fogeys were blaming the wild girl for corrupting His Highness… but Wu Tie faintly felt that the red-clad girl's nature was such that it's hard to say whether she corrupted the wild girl or the wild girl corrupted her.

Judging by the wild girl's innocent and simple aura, she basically belongs to the type who, after being sold, still helps count the money for the buyer!

Tsk tsk, just for a few jugs of wine, you bring clan elders to help fight and kill? And you provoke something as massive as the Great Jin Divine State… what on earth is in the minds of this wild girl and her clansmen?

"Your Highness, did you deliberately let the Secretariat Hall personnel escape in order to lure more people in?" Su He heaved a heavy breath, fixed his gaze on the red-clad girl, and said solemnly: "Given our deployment in this mountain range, those Secretariat Hall people cannot escape. You deliberately let them get away, didn't you?"

The red-clad girl lightly tapped her index fingers together, lowered her gaze to her toes, and spoke softly: "Ah, I merely wanted to give my father a vent of anger… Anyway, they've already discovered my father's mausoleum; this matter can't stay secret long, sooner or later they'll come knocking… I just…"

She lifted her head and smiled sweetly: "Give Great Jin a little lesson… tell the one now sitting on the throne—we're not extinct yet."

Su He and the two old men remained silent.

After a long while, Su He said in a low voice: "This matter, Your Highness truly… we old officials cannot decide on this…"

The red-clad girl smiled.

Su He suddenly raised his ruler, grabbed the red-clad girl's left hand, and struck her palm hard.

With a series of "bang bang bang" sounds, the red-clad girl's snowy, tender, crystal-clear little hand instantly swelled and reddened, like a braised pork trotter.

Su He shouted fiercely: "Although us old officials cannot decide, we can still discipline Your Highness… this is the authority granted to us old officials by our lord back then—hey, take that!"

Su He swung the ruler down hard; the red-clad girl cried out in pain with a "squeak squeak".

Wu Tie watched from the side as the red-clad girl jumped around on the spot like a monkey, and instantly felt a surge of relief.

After a hundred strikes of the ruler, the red-clad girl's palm was swollen like a steamed bun; only then did Su He stop, then pointed fiercely at Wu Tie: "Take him to the temporary palace… report to His Highness, and let His Highness decide this matter."

"You lot, each gets three hundred military strokes… go to the Discipline Hall to collect your punishment!" Su He gave the youths a vicious grin; the youths all wailed in unison, each showing an expression of extreme sorrow and distortion.