Chapter 630

He dawdled, dawdled, and dawdled again.

Leaving Wu Family Fortress, Wu Tie ran to several newly built cities in Phantom Cloud Mountain for a quick look, then went to the newly built city under Li Ergouzi's name to take a turn, after which he leisurely piloted the Four Spirit Warship, leading a large contingent of guards, and slowly returned to Ju Prefecture City.

Inside Ju Prefecture City, the original Prefect's Manor was now tightly guarded by a large force, impenetrable.

Hundreds of generals in heavy armor hovered in midair, with faint battle flags appearing above their heads; a chilling killing intent flickered in the void, ready to transform into a massive thunderbolt that could strike down at any moment.

In the main hall of the Prefect's Manor, Gongyang Sanlü sat upright behind the desk, his hands placed steadily on the armrests of the chair, his eyes slightly narrowed as he quietly watched the flickering candle on the candlestick in the corner of the hall.

Wu Tie had a very bold heart…

Gongyang Sanlü, radiating a fierce aura, led his great army to Ju Prefecture, yet Wu Tie actually left him cooling his heels in the Prefect's Manor for over ten hours.

Very good, very bold.

Not to mention the present Qingqiu Divine Kingdom, where he, Gongyang Sanlü, was enfeoffed as King Tai and also served as the current Grand Tutor, a position of supreme honor and glory; even during the Great Jin Divine Kingdom era, as Right Minister, seven-tenths of the empire's civil officials came from his doorstep.

From the Great Jin to Qingqiu, only others would come begging at his door, kowtowing to see Gongyang Sanlü.

When had he, Gongyang Sanlü, ever taken the initiative to visit someone, only to be left sitting idle here for ten hours?

Novel, interesting…… Gongyang Sanlü initially truly was a surge of evil fire rushing straight to his head; he even wanted to issue an order to do something to that damned 'Peace King', for example, let the supervising censors of the Censorate properly find fault?

But as time passed, the fire in Gongyang Sanlü's heart gradually dissipated.

He sat quietly in the grand chair, quietly watching the flickering lamp light.

The guards outside the door breathed long and strong, while a few maidservants trembling in the corner of the hall had ragged breathing and extremely rapid heartbeats; Gongyang Sanlü could sense their fear and tension.

"Tea." Gongyang Sanlü reached out and lightly tapped the case before him.

Soon, a maid came forward carrying a tray with a fresh cup of tea, carefully placing the cup on the case, neatly aligning it with the previous twenty‑four cups in a row.

Those twenty‑four cups were the tea served to Gongyang Sanlü by the maids after he arrived at the Prefecture Governor's Mansion of Ju Prefecture.

Each cup had been brewed with eight infusions, the tea having become almost indistinguishable from plain boiled water, whereupon Gongyang Sanlü ordered fresh tea. The twenty‑four cups of pale‑brewed tea were lined up neatly before him, and Gongyang Sanlü felt a great sense of absurdity and amusement.

Footsteps sounded.

Wu Tie donned heavy armor, put on a solemn expression, and marched in with a large contingent of guards, their steps thundering into the lord's manor.

Still a li's distance from the main hall of the lord's manor, looking down the straight passageway, one could already see Gongyang Sanlü sitting upright in the hall; it was here that Wu Tie was stopped.

Hundreds of guards brought by Gongyang Sanlü surged out from both sides of the passageway, blocking it completely.

A youth in purple robes, of high rank, walked up to Wu Tie with his hands behind his back, gazed at him coldly, and slowly demanded in a cold voice: 'Who goes there, and why do you dare intrude…'

He hadn't finished speaking when Wu Tie slapped him, knocking him unconscious to the ground.

With a kick, Wu Tie sent the high‑ranking, arrogantly bearing youth flying dozens of zhang away, then let out a strange 'keke' laugh: 'Interesting, interesting, on my fief's territory there's actually a puppy baring its teeth at me… heh heh, didn't you check whether your baby teeth have been cleaned, can these teeth even bite hard?'

Gongyang Sanlü remained seated in the main hall, utterly still.

The guards' faces changed abruptly; the one who had been beaten was the young lord of the Gongyang clan, Gongyang Sanlü's direct bloodline's youngest generation's most beloved grandson, Gongyang Si.

Gongyang Si himself didn't know how many generations removed he was from Gongyang Sanlü, but he was indeed a direct blood descendant of Gongyang Sanlü's line, and from childhood he was clever and quick‑witted, possessing an eidetic memory, showing prodigious talent in music, chess, calligraphy, and painting from a young age.

Gongyang Sanlü valued and cherished Gongyang Si greatly; a few months ago, when Gongyang Si had just turned eighteen, Gongyang Sanlü let him enter the Qingqiu Divine Kingdom's Ritual Hall to serve, studying various official duties in the Ritual Bureau.

Just after turning eighteen, Gongyang Sanlü arranged for Gongyang Si to wear the deep purple official robe reserved for second‑rank officials, and, with Linghu Qingqing's permission, granted him the use of a purple‑gold jade seal, a purple‑gold jade cap, and a purple‑gold jade belt—all privileges reserved for nobility of the Qingqiu Divine Kingdom.

Gongyang Sanlü doted on this little gray‑haired grandson, taking him along wherever he went these days.

This time coming to Ju Prefecture, Gongyang Sanlü naturally brought Gongyang Si along.

Gongyang Si apparently regarded Wu Tie as one of those officials who daily kowtowed to seek an audience with Gongyang Sanlü, hoping to show off his might before Wu Tie; the result was……

Wu Tie this guy, completely disregards common sense!

The Gongyang family's guards, faces pallid, paid no heed to Wu Tie's status, nor that they stood on his turf; each let out a hoarse, strained roar from deep in their chests, their bodies flashing with light, and they all lunged at Wu Tie.

Behind Wu Tie, the five‑colored divine light flickered and wavered, then a swatch of heavy yellow earth‑colored divine light suddenly surged.

In the void, geomantic force surged ten thousandfold; a terrible pressure crashed down from above, and everyone faintly saw a pale yellow, translucent palm slap down from the sky. The hundreds of Tai Cang Realm guards beside Gongyang Sanlü let out a mournful cry and all collapsed simultaneously.

Bone‑breaking sounds rang out continuously; these guards, whose strength could be called formidable, had more than half their bones broken, their five viscera and six bowels crushed by the dreadful geomantic gravity, and the tremendous force from the void smashing down shook their brains, causing some to bleed from the seven orifices, while a thick smell of blood gradually spread through the air.

Wu Tie nodded in satisfaction.

With the aid of that miraculous lotus root, Wu Tie condensed a Five Elements Dharma Body at an unimaginable speed, in the blink of an eye.

Having previously obtained the legacy of the Primeval Peacock Bright King in the southwestern jungles, and received the Five Elements Divine Light personally refined by the Peacock Bright King, Wu Tie felt each time he invoked this Five Elements Divine Light that it was extraordinarily heavy and sluggish; though its power against foes was immense, it was like a baby wielding a great axe—truly difficult and quite costly.

Now, after condensing the Five Elements Dharma Body, when using the Five Elements Divine Light, it felt light and unrestrained; the peerlessly mighty Five Elements Divine Light seemed almost nonexistent—just a thought, and tremendous power would erupt.

Moreover, its transformations were wondrous, far more exquisite than before by countless folds.

Hundreds of Tai Cang Realm experts, in the past, Wu Tie could have crushed them easily—one punch each would naturally send them flying. Or he could employ a mighty treasure like the Divine‑Smiting Whip to blast them to dust with a single lash. Or he could suppress them with the Five Elements Divine Light and easily dispatch them.

But where could one find such a situation today, where without external aid, purely by his own cultivated divine abilities, light as wind and calm as clouds, a mere shift of thought could send those hundreds of Tai Cang Realm experts crashing to the ground in one strike, so delightfully?

That very strike just now, Wu Tie truly did not use the Peacock Bright King's inherited five‑colored divine light; instead, through his own divine ability transformations, he directly mobilized geomantic force and Yang Earth elemental energy, and with a whim of a strike easily felled so many elite guards.

Shaking his sleeves, as if casually shooing away a few chicks and puppets, Wu Tie's face didn't twitch at all as he continued walking toward the main hall.

As he walked, Wu Tie coldly laughed: 'Supreme King, occupying the magpie's nest with a poisoned chick—this is no good… really no good… that youngster just now, who is he to you? Go back and properly educate him; youngsters who are too reckless will die quickly.'

Wu Tie was quite astute; he did not address Gongyang Sanlü as 'Grand Preceptor', but called him 'Supreme King'.

'Supreme King' is Gongyang Sanlü's royal title.

And Wu Tie is the 'Peace King'.

Addressing Gongyang Sanlü as 'Supreme King' implicitly raised Wu Tie and Gongyang Sanlü to equal standing; this counts as a dialogue between two kings.

If Wu Tie addressed Gongyang Sanlü as 'Grand Preceptor'……

'Grand Preceptor' is the chief of all officials, rank and status even above the Left and Right Ministers, while Wu Tie is merely a deputy hall master of the Demon‑Suppressing Hall; their official ranks differ greatly, so addressing him as such would put Wu Tie at a great disadvantage.

What sort of person is Gongyang Sanlü; how could Wu Tie's little trick in speech escape his notice?

With a cold snort, Gongyang Sanlü said coldly: 'General Huo…… you owe me an explanation…… sixty thousand formation masters, sixty thousand hailed as the divine kingdom's heaven‑supporting jade pillars, formation grandmasters, among them even three grandmasters like Pang Xuan…… why have they vanished?'

As he spoke, Gongyang Sanlü extended his hand, his well‑maintained, slender fingers as smooth and white as sheep‑fat jade, gliding over the twenty‑five tea cups before him.

The amount of residual tea varied in each cup; Gongyang Sanlü's jade‑hard fingernails struck each cup in turn, producing a clear, pleasant 'ding‑ding‑dang‑dang' sound.

Gongyang Sanlü's gaze did not fall on Wu Tie, but rested on the tea cups before him.

Twenty-five teacups, and the tea in twenty-four of them was no different from plain boiled water—Gongyang Sanlü was thus exerting invisible pressure on Wu Tie: "Look, look, you not only ruined sixty thousand formation masters, you also so negligently slighted the esteemed Grand Preceptor of the Divine State—do you realize your mistake? Do you realize your guilt? Aren't you being a bit too rude? You should know in your heart that you've stirred up a big trouble!"

However, this method of Gongyang Sanlü's works extremely well on any official in the court.

But it has no effect on Wu Tie.

He never properly held an office, so he neither understands nor bothers to ponder all the various hints and overtures, both subtle and blatant, of officialdom.

Especially now, Wu Tie is deliberately pretending to be crazy and foolish; even if he understands in his heart, he will certainly act as if he doesn't.

Thus, while leisurely walking with the four‑direction step toward the main hall, Wu Tie loudly rebuked.

"The Xiang family's rough servants—how do they train their subordinates? A bunch of pigbrains, truly stupid to death."

"Haven't you seen that Prince Tai has a huge appetite? He obediently gulped down a 'dong', came as a guest, and actually finished twenty‑five cups of tea in a row—what a capacity, truly not small!"

"You bunch of idiots, don't you know that if Elder Prince Tai drinks too much water his bladder will swell? It's fine for a youngster to hold it a bit, but Elder Prince Tai is already old—why keep forcing him to guzzle until his belly's full? What if he develops a problem from holding it?"

"You wretch, hurry up and take away the teacups, bring some pork knuckles, fatty intestines, etc., to fill the elder's stomach!"

Wu Tie walked on, shaking his head repeatedly: "I say, Old Master Prince Tai, this isn't right… Although my Shu Province also produces fine tea, you see something good and can't move your feet… This isn't right… Have you ever seen anyone come as a guest and gulp down twenty‑five cups of tea in one breath?"

Gongyang Sanlü's painstakingly maintained dignified demeanor shattered in an instant.

Even when Gongyang Si was slapped to the ground by Wu Tie's ear slap and then kicked away by his foot, Gongyang Sanlü still maintained that unflappable composure.

But Wu Tie's words really made Gongyang Sanlü so angry that his three corpses' gods jumped, and a mouthful of old blood rose to his throat.

Listen to what Wu Tie is saying!

In his mouth, Gongyang Sanlü turns into a petty profiteer who, upon visiting as a guest and finding the host's tea tasty, desperately gulps it down to take advantage—right?

Can anyone say such a thing?

Besides, what does it mean that an elderly person shouldn't hold it in?

Gongyang Sanlü is still as vigorous as a dragon and tiger… Bah, the point isn't here.

Gongyang Sanlü shakily rose to his feet, pointing at Wu Tie, who had already walked thirty zhang outside the main hall, and shouted sternly: "Huo Xiong, old man I'm asking you… sixty thousand formation masters…"

Wu Tie stood outside the main hall; dozens of streams of soul power, far stronger than the several hundred guards before, brimming with terrifying killing intent, locked onto him tightly—if he took another step, those hidden in the dark, Gongyang Sanlü's true personal guards, would erupt and kill.

So Wu Tie stood right there, standing on the psychological red line of those hidden guards.

"Sixty thousand formation masters…… I, the prince, was just investigating this matter." Wu Tie's tone was not exactly frivolous, nor was it very solemn or heavy; it gave an impression of insincere pleasantries.

After hearing Wu Tie's words, looking at his expression, feeling his tone, and recalling how I had been squatting here for ten hours, left hanging for ten hours, plus his earlier remarks… most importantly, my most beloved little grandson Gongyang Si was still lying on the ground twitching.

A surge of vengeful fire, impossible to suppress, suddenly erupted like a volcanic explosion.

The twenty‑five teacups before Gongyang Sanlü silently turned into green smoke; he lowly bellowed: "Please, Chief Wu Tou, act and capture this reckless outrageous wretch alive… Once taken to the Criminal Hall Interrogation Office, we'll see whether you, Huo Xiong, can still keep a stiff mouth."

A towering figure over three zhang tall, its whole body emanating dark, oppressive aura, silently emerged from behind Gongyang Sanlü, then with a single stride it instantly appeared before Wu Tie and reached out to grab his neck.

Wu Tie's face twitched slightly; a streak of purple‑gold divine light shot from his sleeve, and the Divine‑Smiting Whip lashed out without hesitation.

A tremendous boom.

The Divine‑Smiting Whip wobbled and bounced up three chi.

The hulking figure's right arm, along with half its shoulder, had completely turned to a wisp of ash.

Gongyang Sanlü gaped, unable to speak for a moment.

Although not the true body, this is still a blood‑essence avatar of Wu Tou, the current chieftain of the Barbarian God Clan, and it retains the combat power of the Divine Realm.

Wu Tie actually wounded a deity with a single lash?

This guy, does he have Divine‑Realm combat power?