Chapter 512

Mr. Li passed along a message, ordering Wu Tie to hurry and see Sima Wuyou.

Funny enough, the operational orders he gave Wu Tie were utterly bizarre.

His body still rippled with the lingering resonance of the origin energy tide, and as he walked, an excessively vast and abundant surge of magical power rippled across his skin, manifesting as flickering seven-colored spiritual light; Wu Tie changed into a new robe, leading over a thousand Fetal Storage Realm Five Elements spirits, mounted on his steed, and leisurely made his way toward Anyang City.

Pei Feng traveled alongside Wu Tie.

Each rode a dragon horse, taking the lead of the procession.

Wu Tie laughed and spoke loudly, his voice carrying far on the wind, so that the spies hidden in the forests on either side of the road could hear him crystal clear.

"Pei Feng, I've been swamped these past days; my Huo clan kin have already settled in Anyang City, yet I haven't had a chance to visit them."

"Besides, my cultivation has made great progress—congratulations are in order—so I'll simply take you back to meet my Huo family elders, especially my father; double joy arrives at the door, and they will surely be delighted."

"You, being a woman, are more thoughtful; when we go to Anyang City later, pick up a gift on the way. Hmm, my father has no other hobbies besides liking anything with the word "wine"… I don't know what famous local specialty wines Anyang City has."

"Tsk, you say, as the Marquis of Yuzhou, I ought to also acquire a residence in Anyang City, right?"

"Good grief, and besides, the Eastern Garden Imperial Guard is basically formed, yet I still haven't had an audience with His Majesty to express my thanks… The Bureau of Rites handles things so unreliably; I don't know the proper channels, how am I supposed to gain an audience with the Emperor, and the Bureau of Rites hasn't even arranged anything for me?"

"Who is the head of the Bureau of Rites? Handling affairs so crudely and negligently, they should be dragged out and given a sound thrashing with military rods."

Wu Tie laughed loudly, and the spies who heard his voice could not utter a sound.

"You, a Marquis of Yuzhou with no real foundation, a mere fortunate‑subject official, dare to provoke Mei Shengxue?"

"The head of the Bureau of Rites in the Great Jin, Mei Shengxue, wields great authority and is the favored disciple of the Right Minister, Gongyang Sanlü; she alone seeks trouble for others, and in the Great Jin court there really aren't many who dare provoke her!"

"Even the military under Linghu Qingqing's command, those bigwigs, few are willing to provoke Mei Shengxue!"

"The Bureau of Rites controls the Great Jin's official academies; the academies of all prefectures, counties, and cities fall under its administration. Its head, Mei Shengxue, could be called the teacher of all scholars worldwide—whoever offends her need not fear being cursed by countless officials and scholars with a torrent of abuse."

"Even within the military, there are countless civil officials who handle daily administration and document flow, graduates of the Rites Ministry's academy; the military cannot function normally without these seemingly insignificant yet truly pivotal officials."

"This guy's gotten full of himself… so arrogant, if the Bureau of Rites head actually takes offense, he'll never hope to enter the palace and gain an audience with the Emperor in his lifetime," muttered one spy.

"Hah, this isn't the Bureau of Rites head's affair… look, disaster is coming for this guy." Another spy, sharp‑eyed, had already seen murderous intent soaring to the heavens in the direction of Anyang City, a massive force rolling in mighty and grand.

Hundreds of spies from various factions, they could be called the best‑informed people in Anyang City, intimately familiar with every aspect of the city.

At the sight of those jade‑colored, gleaming flagpoles ahead, they knew it was that lively fellow arriving.

A whistle blew, and hundreds of spies turned and fled, each running as if a pack of hungry dogs chased them, vanishing in the blink of an eye.

Hundreds of flagpoles, each tens of zhang high and jade‑colored, were lifted by titans standing a zhang tall; great golden banners fluttered in the wind atop them, while thousands of commanders in heavy, gleaming armor, each waist hung with various jade seals, stood in a single file, with troops forming battle arrays behind them, a force numbering roughly three hundred thousand.

The array exuded a stern aura, being the Great Jin military's traditional Four‑Gate Golden Lock Formation.

The three hundred thousand soldiers composing the grand formation were of extraordinary cultivation, generally at the Chonglou Realm's higher stage or above; lethal energy rose from their bodies, linked via the formation diagram, and above the array a faint thin shackle could be seen.

Wearing nothing but a tight pair of briefs, large swaths of smooth, jade‑white flesh were exposed; standing over a zhang and five chi tall, the exceptionally handsome Eastern Palace Crown Prince of the Great Jin, Sima Fei, strode proudly at the very front of the formation.

He neither rode a carriage nor used a mount, but advanced with an extremely exaggerated posture, taking large strides.

His legs slightly splayed, his arms swinging forcefully forward and back, this gait displayed his jade‑white flesh to the maximum extent for all to admire.

As previously mentioned, the Great Jin crown prince Sima Fei's nickname in Anyang City is 'Yufanggan'.

Handsome beyond compare, suave and debonair, his whole body smooth jade‑white flesh like carved mutton‑fat jade, who knows how many noble ladies of Anyang City drool over him.

Sima Fei doesn't know how he came to have this preference—his favorite thing is to bare his body before others, seeking universal acclaim.

Women lust, men envy; when he struts about drawing crowds and hears countless praises, Sima Fei becomes utterly intoxicated, utterly intoxicated, extremely intoxicated.

Chest lifted, head high, he strode in large steps at the very front of the formation as the endless ranks, stretching over ten li, loomed dark and pressing upon him.

The formation lay thirty‑odd li from Wu Tie's contingent; Sima Fei suddenly widened his eyes, hands on hips, legs splayed like a compass, straightened his torso, stood there, and carefully scrutinized Wu Tie.

"Ugly… ugly old man… a shame, the woman beside him bears extraordinary bearing, yet blind as she is, how could she fall for this Huo Xiong?"

Sima Fei, composed, gave Wu Tie a brief evaluation, then slightly lifted his chin: 'Sun Bingbing, is it this brat who drove you out?'

Sun Bingbing poked his head out from the formation, slightly bent at the waist, pointed at Wu Tie and snarled: 'Your Highness, it's this guy—he even killed one of ours with a single punch… Your Highness, this is a slap to your face!'

Sima Fei gave a cold snort, then swung a slap that landed squarely on Sun Bingbing's face.

"A bunch of useless trash! If you've lost face, don't blame others… tsk, this dignity must be won back by ourselves."

He turned, glanced at the imposing formation behind him, and sighed: 'Ah, how to put this? If I hadn't recalled you lot, spending these several days of effort, could I have let this brat loaf around so long?'

The Eastern Palace Guard under Sima Fei's command usually wandered about like sheep grazing, scattered here and there, idling everywhere.

They claim they're suppressing bandits, pacifying localities, patrolling various places—but who knows where these Eastern Palace troops really go to mess around?

Sun Bingbing went to the Eastern Palace to lodge a complaint; Sima Fei had originally intended to come right away to stir up trouble for Wu Tie.

But at that moment he had no one beside him.

Sima Fei is accustomed to ganging up on opponents; he has never had a habit of fighting one‑on‑one.

Thus he ordered the Eastern Palace Guard recalled; after dragging it out for so long, the guard barely mustered these few men, Sima Fei could wait no longer, and with Wu Tie having just condensed a divine fetus and caused such a commotion, he immediately led men to confront him.

"Go, beat up that one person!" Sima Fei's orders are always short and decisive.

An Eastern Palace general let out a low bellow; standing a zhang tall, he grasped a thirty‑six‑section purple‑gold whip and strode forward to attack Wu Tie.

At the peak of the Fetal Storage Realm, a body cultivator practicing an earth‑attribute art who had mastered the ability to shrink ground to an inch, the general took a step and the earth boomed; in a single stride he stood before Wu Tie and threw a straight punch at his head.

Wu Tie gave a cold snort and met the punch with his own.

With a tremendous crash, Wu Tie didn't budge an inch, not even his dragon‑horse mount feeling any pressure.

The Eastern Palace general's right arm shattered; a anguished roar escaped him as the tremendous recoil hurled him dozens of li, landing headfirst right before Sima Fei.

"Ah… ah?" Sima Fei opened his mouth and blinked hard: "Such an ugly man, yet possessing such divine power? Hey, Dali Wang, you… you're done—getting blown away by a single punch, from now on don't guard the Eastern Palace's main gate; take the back door instead, we can't afford to lose face like this."

Sima Fei shook his head, a flash of astonishment crossing his eyes, reached into his briefs, pulled out a thumb‑sized white pill, squatted down, pried open Dali Wang's mouth, and, amid the latter's strained 'uh‑uh' sounds, shoved the pill inside.

The placement of that white pill was a bit odd, yet its potency was truly extraordinarily strong, miraculous beyond compare.

With a 'hiss‑hiss' sound, Dali Wang's shattered right arm swiftly regenerated; in just two breaths it was fully restored, indistinguishable from before.

"This guy's strength… no wonder it's the Nine Revolutions Mystic Art." Dali Wang, dust‑covered and grim‑faced, rose to his feet, gave Sima Fei's briefs a resentful glance, then solemnly warned the other Eastern Palace officers nearby: "One person won't do—send more… I, for one, have lost face to act."

Dali Wang pushed through the ranks, squatted inside the Eastern Palace formation, dust‑covered and grim‑faced, motionless on the ground.

This is also the Eastern Palace's habitual tendency—they often stir up trouble, often take advantage, and often suffer loss. Those who gain an advantage can strut about proudly, but those who suffer a loss should just find a spot to squat in, so as not to embarrass Sima Fei.

Ten Eastern Palace commanders leapt up simultaneously, striding toward Wu Tie.

Wu Tie dismounted his mount, likewise striding forward to meet the ten Eastern Palace commanders head-on.

When they closed to a distance of a hundred zhang, the air violently trembled; a terrifying sound of breaking through the air thundered like claps of thunder. In the next instant, ten figures spat out mouthfuls of blood, blown dozens of miles away by a single punch from Wu Tie, and fell in a straight line before Sima Fei.

Sima Fei pulled ten pills from his waistband and threw them to Sun Bu Bing, telling him to stuff them into the mouths of the ten wounded.

"Go after a hundred!" Sima Fei roared: "I just don't believe it—a hundred Embryo Storage Realm masters can't beat one who has just condensed a divine embryo!"

One hundred Embryo Storage Realm Eastern Palace commanders formed a small military formation and slowly advanced.

Through the formation, the strength of the hundred merged as one; after the formation's transformation, roughly the total power of fifty to sixty individuals was poured into the body of the leading commander.

Inside the commander's body came constant sounds of bones and tendons grinding; with each step his body swelled an inch, and by the time they slowly approached Wu Tie, his height exceeded ten zhang, veins bulging all over, each blood vessel as thick as a fist.

"Huo Xiong, one punch!" the commander growled low.

Wu Tie said nothing and threw a punch.

The commander let out a low roar and brought down his punch.

The two fists collided heavily, Wu Tie's body remained utterly unmoving; his fist was like tearing through rotting wood, one punch sent that general's right arm up in smoke, and then a violent fist wind blasted out, causing a hundred Eastern Palace officers to vomit blood all at once, blown dozens of li away by the wind, and they crashed headfirst at Sima Fei's feet.

Sima Fei finally gave Wu Tie a serious look.

Defeating one of the Eastern Palace generals alone, or even taking on ten at once, is nothing special; many young talents carefully nurtured by the martial families of Anyang City can do that.

But to take on a hundred at once and shatter the Eastern Palace's hundred-strong battle formation with a single punch—

This is beyond what an ordinary person could achieve; only top-tier martial clans like the Linghu, the Number One, and the Zhao, who pour their clan's foundations into cultivating their heirs as the next generation's core backbone, could possibly smash the Eastern Palace's hundred-man formation with one punch.

Sima Fei pressed his lips hard, after a while he laughed: "Huo Xiong, your face is a little ugly, but your fist is beautiful…… I admit, the commander beside you, Pei Feng, is not blind; on the contrary, he has a discerning eye and has found a very beautiful man!"

Clenching his fists tightly, Sima Fei roared: "But let me tell you, this is Anyang City, this is Anyang City of the Great Jin, this is our turf…… No one can bully our people, no one can touch our things!"

"Even if it's an imperial edict from Father Emperor ordering you to reorganize the Eastern Garden Imperial Guards, you must not, and indeed should not, move our people!"

"If you do, you'll get a beating!"

"My face that could topple cities and nations, unrivaled under heaven, is not something just anyone has the right to hit!"

Sima Fei bellowed, quickly stepping back then thrusting his fist forward: "Form up, lads, form up…… Beat that bastard. Punch the Duke of Yuzhou once, I'll reward a hundred taels of gold; kick him once, I'll reward two hundred taels…… Whoever can chop him with a blade and sword, I'll give a thousand taels!"

"Be careful, after all he's the Duke of Yuzhou appointed by Father Emperor; just injure him seriously, don't kill him."

"If someone gets killed, we won't take responsibility…… This blame, whose turn is it to bear this time?"

In the formation, the black-faced King of Strength painfully raised his right hand.

According to the Eastern Palace generals' rotation for taking the blame, this time the blame falls exactly on him to bear.

But if he really accidentally killed Huo Xiong, raised troops without authorization, and murdered the Duke of Shen State, the blame would be too much for the King of Strength to bear.

Don't be fooled by the King of Strength's imposing nickname; he's actually just an ordinary martial-family offspring, and he truly can't bear this blame.

As the formation rose, the winds and clouds shifted.

The magical power of three hundred thousand soldiers converged together, surging mightily into the bodies of the several hundred generals ahead.

Above the formation, the thin shackles rapidly thickened and lengthened; with a clanging sound, an immense constricting force descended upon Wu Tie from above.

Sima Fei retreated to the rear of the formation, with only a few close lackeys like Sun Bubing standing behind him.

Rubbing his smooth jade-like chin, Sima Fei muttered: "This guy actually managed to slay the Great Wu's Great Black Heavenly King and seize the Black Heaven Cauldron…… Is it just luck, or is he truly that formidable?"

"If he really is that formidable, we ought to win him over properly!"

"If he doesn't object, he can pick any one, or even two or three, of my daughters as his sons-in-law—that would be excellent."

"If being my son-in-law doesn't appeal to him, I still have plenty of unmarried sisters."

"If being my brother-in-law also won't do…… hehe, over the years the Retired Emperor has added a few aunts for me; being my uncle-in-law wouldn't be bad either."

After muttering aimlessly, Sima Fei suddenly shouted: "Duke of Yuzhou, you must not use the Black Heaven Cauldron…… That is Great Wu's state-protected divine artifact; using it against the Crown Prince of Great Jin is just pointless."

Wu Tie nearly spat out a mouthful of blood.

This guy, totally shameless, huh?