Chapter 579

Crane Route Prefecture, above the prefectural city, Wu Tie stood on a patch of white cloud, gazing southwest.

The main force of the rebel army in Crane Route Prefecture knelt in the fields outside the city, each trembling, watching the rebel commanders who had led the uprising being beheaded and displayed. Bloodied heads were impaled on tall flagpoles, fresh blood streaming down the smooth poles, the blood‑stained poles glaring horribly in the sunlight.

Wu Tie's attention was not focused on the rebel forces below.

After all, the rebels were merely rebels—limited in fighting strength, their will extremely fragile; in short, they were nothing more than a bunch of pawns being used.

But to the southwest, killing intent filled the air. With Wu Tie's current cultivation, he could clearly sense the terrifying murderous intent coming from that direction, and also feel the countless wailing souls struggling in the void.

High above the firmament, Wu Tie could faintly feel several huge, turbulent invisible vortices raging.

In the southwest, the souls of fallen soldiers, slaughtered civilians, and all sentient beings were swallowed by the vortices, then sent who knows where. Wu Tie lifted his gaze to the sky; the azure‑blue firmament appeared extraordinarily lofty and distant.

Upon that lofty azure expanse…… Wu Tie gave a grim, grinning smile.

This great battle ought to feed you all to your fill, right?

Wu Tie recalled how Xīqī and Shèngyāo and the others, when making their deals, had used the essence of human souls and the blood‑line essence refined from the bodies of the Three Sovereigns' inheritor warriors. Those so‑called exalted deities, huh.

Wearing a black fur robe, his long hair disheveled, a jade band tied across his brow covering a vertical eye, Xīyáo staggered three steps with each sway, slowly drifting through the void to Wu Tie's side. The jade band blocked his brow's vertical eye, but could not block the strange power that eye possessed.

After glancing southwest, Xīyáo coldly chuckled: "Many have died, many souls have been devoured… heh, the so‑called gods are nothing but evil spirits… those so‑called divine kingdoms that worship evil spirits are merely demon realms."

Xīyáo did not know Wu Tie's identity; he had merely been temporarily assigned by Sīmǎ Wúyōu to assist Wu Tie in the Imperial City's Military Command.

To help avenge his sister, Xīyáo acquiesced to Sīmǎ Wúyōu's arrangement, but his proud and eccentric nature made his remarks to Wu Tie over the past few days nothing but sarcastic barbs, every sentence laced with hidden barbs.

"A demon realm? You even let your sister marry the prince of that demon realm? Is your head stuffed with pig dung?" Wu Tie had no intention of indulging Xīyáo. The task Xībái gave him was merely to find Xīyáo… now Wu Tie had more than fulfilled the assignment, and he certainly wasn't going to indulge Xīyáo's task.

Anyway, what good feeling could Wu Tie possibly have toward this guy?

He ran away with his sister, sneaked into the mortal world, and even befriended the Eastern Palace Crown Prince of the Great Jin Divine State, Sīmǎ Shèng; in a few quick moves he got his sister married to Sīmǎ Shèng, and she even became pregnant.

One cannot say Xīyáo is an irresponsible older brother, but he certainly is not a qualified one.

Thus, Wu Tie's words were likewise laced with barbs, utterly uncivil.

A yellow divine light flickered in Xīyáo's pupils as he turned his head, glaring fixedly at Wu Tie, and coldly laughed: "I possess the strength of a Divine Realm cultivator; aren't you afraid I'll beat you?"

Wu Tie let out a mocking cold snort: "Beating me will bring your sister back to life?"

Xīyáo drew a deep breath and suddenly raised his fist.

Wu Tie lightly shook his head and said coldly: "If you dare to strike, this lord will dare to unleash a battle formation and give you a proper thrashing… hey, if things blow up and the Linghu clan discovers you're hiding in my army… I don't care—you're an assassin sent to plot against me, so I'll have no trouble, but you…"

Wu Tie sneered: "You still want to avenge your sister?"

Xīyáo opened his mouth, shook his head, gave Wu Tie a somewhat dazed look, then muttered indistinctly, swaying three steps with each step, sighing softly, stepping on the void, he returned to the ground one step at a time.

The forces under Wu Tie's Imperial City Military Command sped up.

They continually pacified one prefecture after another's rebel forces, continually reorganizing the rebels into cannon‑fodder slave troops, then, by military law, took over each prefecture's treasury; following the edict Sīmǎ Fǎ gave him, they opened the treasuries, recruited troops, bought horses, and reorganized the prefectural armies.

Wu Tie's order was also transmitted directly to Jade Prefecture; the entire Jade Prefecture went into a frenzy of mobilization, all civilians whose cultivation met the standard being forcibly conscripted as Jade Prefecture soldiers; the Jade Prefecture government, with the spirit of sacrificing everything and disregarding tomorrow, distributed various cultivation manuals and resources among the populace, spawning a great number of cultivators.

In a short time, Jade Prefecture nearly reached a one‑in‑ten conscription rate: out of every ten able‑bodied adults, one was enrolled in the prefectural army's rolls, then gathered in camp after camp to receive the most basic formation training.

In short, Wu Tie successfully cultivated an atmosphere of reckless militarism and hysteria.

Centering on An'yang City, the surrounding hundred‑odd prefectures—once the land where the Great Jin Divine State rose—under Wu Tie's handling, faintly acquired the feeling of wind‑cranes alarm and every blade of grass a soldier.

At the same time, on the seventh day after news of the southwest defeat arrived, Linghu Qingqing and Gongyang Sanlü gathered the civil and military officials of the court, confronting Sīmǎ Fǎ on the Jiǔxiāo Hall, as well as Sīmǎ Zhèngrén, the clan elder standing behind Sīmǎ Fǎ who wields the state artifact, the Thunder‑Shaking Bell of Wind and Cloud.

In the Jiǔxiāo Hall, Linghu Qingqing stood in full battle dress at the center of the hall, his face stern as still water.

Behind him, the military clan of the vassal Linghu family of the Great Jin, all officers holding military rank, likewise in full battle dress, stood in neat rows according to rank.

On the high imperial dais, only Sīmǎ Fǎ sat upon the throne, with Sīmǎ Zhèngrén and a dozen elderly eunuchs standing beside him.

This scene was as if Linghu Qingqing, leading over a thousand commanders in formation, were preparing to charge the imperial dais.

In the hall, all the civil officials retreated a considerable distance, clearing enough space for Linghu Qingqing and those warriors to form ranks; the officials' faces were relaxed, some even bearing a subtle smile.

No matter who becomes the ruler of this world, governing the state cannot be done without these civil officials.

Thus, the civil officials' mindset is very relaxed.

Gongyang Sanlü, meanwhile, held a three‑foot‑long scroll, standing shoulder‑to‑shoulder with Linghu Qingqing, silently, with a hint of a strange smile, quietly observing Sīmǎ Fǎ and Sīmǎ Zhèngrén.

"Your Majesty, please use your seal to apprehend the chief culprit of the ineffective First Army, to seize the First Army and its followers, to give an account to the innocent soldiers who died in the southwest, and to give an account to the people of the world."

"At the same time, with the military situation urgent and the Great Jin in peril, please temporarily appoint the Left Minister Linghu Qingqing as Grand Marshal and Commander‑in‑Chief of all the empire's forces, let him wear princely robes, use the princely retinue, to command all troops and meet the great martial threat."

Sīmǎ Fǎ gazed at Linghu Qingqing and Gongyang Sanlü with a grim countenance.

After a long silence, he then asked in a low voice: "Which minister, please explain to me what this "whatever Grand Marshal" is supposed to do?"

Linghu Qingqing and Gongyang Sanlü's faces twitched simultaneously; being so ignorant and unlearned left these ministers who aspired to seize the throne feeling quite helpless…

Gongyang Sanlü, feeling helpless, stepped forward, holding the three‑foot scroll on which a series of edicts had already been written, and said in a deep voice: "Your Majesty, the so‑called Grand Marshal…"

Sīmǎ Zhèngrén cut off Gongyang Sanlü's words: "Gongyang Sanlü, step back… what you say, Your Majesty will not agree. Supreme command over all the empire's troops? With princely retinue and wartime military law, to command all authority? Heh, if that were the case, aside from the title of Divine Emperor, Linghu Qingqing, how would you differ from the Divine Emperor?"

Shaking his head, Sīmǎ Zhèngrén said coldly: "You… stop indulging in foolish fantasies; His Majesty will not consent to this, and I, the old man, cannot tolerate your lawless behavior. Begone!"

A burst of cloud‑light shot up from Sīmǎ Zhèngrén's head; the Thunder‑Shaking Bell of Wind and Cloud emitted a 'ding‑dong' roar, hovering in the cloud‑light, and everyone in the hall seemed as if drunk, their bodies swaying, barely able to steady themselves.

Gongyang Sanlü's complexion shifted slightly; he glanced at Linghu Qingqing.

Linghu Qingqing sighed, then stepped forward sharply; a silver lantern burst forth from above his head. The lantern, entirely silver, bore a bean‑sized silver flame that flickered, casting a soft silver radiance over the whole hall, firmly withstanding the power of the Thunder‑Shaking Bell.

"Elder, just stay in the imperial city to cultivate; you don't understand these court affairs… so don't meddle." Linghu Qingqing smiled at the astonished Sīmǎ Zhèngrén, then flicked his right hand, and a peculiarly shaped twelve‑section square‑headed golden spear slid out of his sleeve.

The three‑foot‑six‑inch dragon‑headed golden spear exuded a piercing aura that made one's whole body tingle; as Linghu Qingqing lightly shook the spear, a streak of dragon‑shaped golden light shot forth, striking the Thunder‑Shaking Bell.

With a deafening boom, tens of thousands of officials, guards, palace maids, and eunuchs inside and outside the Jiǔxiāo Hall all spewed blood from their seven orifices, collapsing in anguished cries, unable to rise for a long while. Only in the hall did a flicker of silver light above Linghu Qingqing's head shield those near him, leaving them unaffected by the bell's sound.

That day, when Linghu Qingqing and his entourage encountered Áoè, after a great battle Áoè handed over many of his treasures to Wu Tie—except for this astonishingly defensive Immortal Heart Lamp.

Today, the Immortal Heart Lamp appears in Linghu Qingqing's hand, showing that in that battle the descending deities still seized some good things from Áoè's grasp. Moreover, the formidable power of the dragon‑headed golden spear in Linghu Qingqing's hand—something Wu Tie had never seen that day—indicates it is a supreme treasure he acquired later.

A mass of cloud‑qi surged up from Sīmǎ Fǎ's head to a height of several dozen feet, within which could be seen a nine‑storied treasure pagoda, its upper part narrow and lower part broad, shaped like a bamboo shoot, its form smooth and joyful, faintly exuding an inexplicable aura of the Dao.

The surface of the nine‑storied pagoda was densely covered with countless Buddha statues bearing kind visages and solemn, dignified appearances.

These Buddhas glowed with golden light all over, like living beings; their hands constantly shifted mudras, sending out fine threads of golden light that turned into green‑bean‑sized and soybean‑sized golden lotus blossoms, falling like rain and enveloping Sīmǎ Fǎ entirely within.

This is the pagoda, one of the three state artifacts openly acknowledged by the Great Jin Divine State, famed as having the strongest defensive power.

The strongest attack is the Myriad Dragon Palace, the strongest defense is the Floating Pagoda, and the one that excels in both offense and defense and has the most wondrous uses is the Heaven-Shaking Bell.

Sima Fa's own cultivation had no notable highlights; the Dragon-Head Golden Halberd and the Wind-and-Cloud Heaven-Shaking Bell collided violently, others were shaken to the point of five labors and seven injuries, only Sima Fa, aided by the Floating Pagoda, protected himself and also protected Sima Zhengren and a dozen old eunuchs.

Sima Zhengren's whole body was covered with a layer of fine golden lotus flowers; he widened his eyes, staring fixedly at Linghu Qingqing's headtop Undying Heart Lamp and the Dragon-Head Golden Halberd in her hand: "Linghu Qingqing, these are two national treasure-level divine artifacts……Where do you come from?"

This vast land breeds countless cave-heavens and blessed lands; once a great Dao pattern seeps in, it will give birth to an innate spiritual treasure; if the strongest among them is obtained by a divine nation, it will be enshrined as a national divine artifact.

The reason the royal families of the three great divine nations can sit securely on the throne is because they hold national divine artifacts; while other noble clans may possess innate treasures, but without a weapon of national divine artifact level, they absolutely cannot be rivals to the royal family.

But Linghu Qingqing actually has two national divine artifacts in her hand.

The core Linghu clan members behind Linghu Qingqing—Linghu Jian, Linghu Wuyou, etc. —stepped forward one after another; five-element wondrous light flickered; the offshoots of the five five-element secret treasures that Wu Tie helped the Linghu clan obtain emanated a mighty presence, and at the same time surged forth.

Thereafter, another seven awe-inspiring supreme treasures surged forth from the bodies of the Linghu clan members; together with the two heavy treasures in Linghu Qingqing's hand, there were fourteen national-divine-artifact-level treasures hovering in the Nine Heavens Hall, emitting a terrifying aura like a dark undercurrent of a tsunami, drawing everyone in, forcing everyone except the Linghu clan to gasp for breath.

Even with the Floating Pagoda's protection, Sima Fa felt his chest tighten and his vision repeatedly darken.

"Ancestor……" Sima Fa's face turned deathly pale, and he instinctively looked toward Sima Zhengren.

At the bottom line, Sima Fa is merely a stereotypical playboy… oh, wrong, now he is more like a stereotypical dim-witted ruler, and moreover an outstanding one among dim-witted rulers.

You want him to brilliantly and mightily suppress Linghu Qingqing and the others… that's simply impossible.

Sima Zhengren looked at Linghu Qingqing and Gongyang Sanlü without expression; finally, he slowly nodded: "You two ministers are the nation's arms……Your requests, we have agreed to. Hehe, hehe, the state of war is perilous; thank you, two ministers……If the Great Jin falls, hehe, there's no need to say more."

Linghu Qingqing and Gongyang Sanlü slightly bowed in salute.

From today onward, the power of the Great Jin court lies entirely in their two hands.

The only force that could pose them any threat is the First Army; hehe, his loyal main force, the Divine Might Army, was smashed to pieces in the southwest—what else could he do? As long as we capture him alive and throw him into the heavenly prison, convict all his followers and throw them into the heavenly prison, the rest goes without saying.

Sima Fa's face turned ashen; under Sima Zhengren's protection, he fled back to the inner palace as if escaping.

Linghu Qingqing actually holds fourteen national-divine-artifact-level treasures in her hand!

This news spread like a plague, quickly reaching the imperial capital, then Anyang, then the territories of Great Jin, and onward to Great Wei and Great Wu.

Everyone knows deep down that Great Jin is likely about to undergo a dynastic change.

It's nothing more than Linghu Qingqing needing to handle things as cleanly as possible, leaving as few blemishes as possible.