Chapter 713

The imperial garden of the Wuguo palace is bland and unremarkable.

This is the fault of the former royal family of the Great Martial God State, whose poor taste caused the problem.

The trees are trimmed into square, neat blocks; the lawn is trimmed neat and flat; the streams and ditches are uniform in width and run straight; and the lakes are equally square, without any variation.

Standing in such a garden for too long makes one feel as if their own head has turned square.

In one corner of the garden, disciples from the Seven Recluses Clan of Great Wei, leading a crowd of workers and chanting work songs, are toppling the square, bunker-like palaces one by one and overturning the square, brick-like groves.

They will rearrange this imperial garden according to the aesthetic of Great Wei.

Indeed… when Wu Tie first took up residence here, he once held a grand banquet for his subordinates, but the many ministers of Wei origin couldn't even bring themselves to enjoy the fine wines… this garden is utterly off‑putting.

"I've long heard that the palace gardens of the Great Martial God State are the most boring things in the world. I never expected it to be this… thrilling." Bai He laughed, standing on a large stone smoothed to utter uniformity and lacking any distinctive feature, gazing at the workers' movements in the distance.

Pei Feng stood beside Bai He, shaking his head helplessly: "At first glance it's jarring; after a while it's heart‑wrenching. So it's best to level it and rebuild quickly." Those were the Martial King's exact words.

Bai He smiled at Pei Feng: "And what about you? This palace, this city, and even the whole realm of Wuguo?"

Bai He's words on the wind carried a strong hint of implication.

Pei Feng laughed and shook his head: "As long as he likes it, that's fine."

Pei Feng placed himself entirely in a subordinate position.

Bai He stared, then gave Pei Feng a deep look: "I originally thought that the former commander of the Black Phoenix Army, Pei Feng, would be a very ambitious person. I never expected you to have this side as well."

Pei Feng narrowed his eyes and smiled gently: "Some things that can't be avoided must be shouldered when the time comes. But I am, after all, a woman. When someone helps me bear those burdens, I'm happy to stand behind him, guarding his household jars and pots."

Pei Feng's smile grew ever more gentle, each strand of hair seeming to glow.

"It's just like when my father was alive—I only needed to be happy, dress beautifully, and be the golden daughter of the Phoenix Mountain Manor, letting countless noble sons drool over me."

"Now that my father is gone, it doesn't stop me from donning armor, grabbing a spear, and leading my uncles and elders to fight desperately in the southwest borderlands."

"Now that someone can stand in for my father, shielding me from storms and letting my uncles and elders enjoy wealth, honor, and peaceful livelihoods, I naturally gladly lay down my murderous aura and blood‑lust, returning to the role of the lovely, bright‑eyed young lady."

"What's the point of ambition… what would I do with it?" Pei Feng smiled softly: "My ambition will naturally be realized through him. And he does it well—far better than my own past ambition, by a hundred or even a thousand times."

Bai He stood beside him, speechless.

"When I first put on armor, took up a spear, and led the willing soldiers of the Black Phoenix Army away from the Phoenix Mountain Manor fief, my greatest ambition was to match my father: to carve out a state‑sized fief and provide my uncles and elders with a livelihood worthy of their merits."

"But now? My uncles and elders are the ones who worry most… they're merely capable of governing a single city; entrusting them with an prefecture's affairs gives them headaches… yet today many of them must handle the military and civil affairs of an entire province."

"Looking at the letters these elders send each day, complaining that their duties are too burdensome, actually makes me quite happy."

Pei Feng's lips curled, his face full of bright gentleness: "Your Highness the Elder Princess, what do you think? Sometimes ambition is truly needed; sometimes it's just the most boring thing in the world."

Bai He nodded helplessly.

Pei Feng's words made him seem a little lacking in ambition.

But can you say Pei Feng is someone who doesn't work hard?

Obviously not.

After a long silence, Bai He finally gave a wry smile: "Pei Feng, your luck is truly good… you can now do what makes you happy, what feels enjoyable… while I…"

Thinking of the mess in my own hands, and of Sima Wuyou, Sima Xian, and Xi Yao—those elders who give me no peace.

Including Sima Wuyou, it seems none of them can give Bai He a sufficient sense of security.

To speak frankly, no matter the reason, a former emperor whose throne was usurped by his ministers could never give anyone any sense of security.

Bai He is a bit younger than Pei Feng.

But she has to bear far more than he does—far, far more.

Wu Tie cleared the path ahead, trampling thorn thickets, rocky ground, even mountains of blades and seas of fire. Pei Feng, as long as she sits comfortably in the main hall and issues orders at will, naturally has countless elite troops at her command.

The elders of the many clans of Great Wei, plus the elite populace cultivated by Great Wei's high civilization.

As long as they don't slack off, with their talents they can handle anything smoothly and properly.

And what does Bai He have in hand?

A fickle, unreliable uncle, who was just beaten badly by Pei Feng's subordinates and driven out.

A violent, impulsive twin sister with little wit. That fellow Zhu Hui, who as a Prince of Peace in tranquil times could domineer over men and women—qualified enough. But to have her turn the tide in crisis, she has the strength but not the intellect.

As for the First Army and other loyal subjects,

they feigned death to escape, taking with them the main force of troops loyal to Sima Wuyou and went into hiding.

This is a formidable military force.

But it is merely a formidable regular regiment.

Against masters of the Divine Manifestation Realm, what use could this regiment have?

The First Army may be loyal and brave, but it is no more than a single military officer.

What Bai He lacks beside her is someone who can independently govern a region, adept in both civil and military affairs, who can manage all governmental matters in perfect order, and who can devise strategies, participate in state affairs, and offer counsel.

Ironically, most of these capable ministers are disciples of Gongyang Sanlü, followers of the Gongyang clan, and have little connection to her Great Jin imperial family.

Bai He looked at Pei Feng and even felt a deep jealousy arise.

Martial King 'Huo Xiong'…… Pei Feng can choose to stand behind him, help him guard the jars at home well, so he can wholeheartedly go outside to romp wildly and cause trouble.

But Bai Ying cannot do it.

She is the Eldest Princess of the Great Jin; only others stand behind her, offering strategies and exerting effort for her…… She cannot stand behind others, letting others block her light.

"Pei Feng, I think, you know the relationship between this palace and the Martial King, and you also know some of our previous agreements." Bai Ying's tone became very solemn: "Uncle Xi Rang, he is somewhat overconfident…… This palace wants to know, Wuguo, whether it is still reliable, still trustworthy?"

Pei Feng's expression also became extremely solemn.

"Your Highness, these words, Pei Feng cannot answer…… The current Wuguo is no longer the former Prince An's mansion. What we can promise is only, under the premise of not implicating ourselves, to do our best to provide convenience for Your Highness."

"Uncle Xi Rang's words are unpleasant, and moreover somewhat forced and unreasonable. However, some of what he says still makes sense. Previously, the Martial King indeed received many favors from the Retired Emperor. The Martial King said he could give Your Highness sufficient support."

Pei Feng and Bai Ying exchanged words, standing on this lake stone that had been polished smooth and featureless, they discussed seriously.

As Pei Feng said, the current Wuguo is no longer the former Prince An's mansion.

With more people, the territory larger, the composition of his forces became increasingly complex.

More importantly, more and more members of the Wu clan are secretly migrating from underground to settle and live happily in Wuguo territory.

Wu Tie could no longer take risks, and he could not stake everything he now possessed.

Therefore, a face‑to‑face negotiation between Pei Feng and Bai Ying was the most suitable option.

The two women stood in this utterly unattractive imperial garden from noon until dusk, and when the sky grew dark they both let out a sigh of relief and wore satisfied smiles.

With the haggling spirit of women buying cosmetics and fresh clothes, they managed to work out a fair contract that both parties could accept and that was mutually beneficial.

Bai Ying departed on the wind from Iron Cauldron Mountain City, and Pei Feng hurriedly sent the agreed contract to Wu Tie.

When Bai Ying met Pei Feng in Iron Cauldron Mountain City, another mishap occurred on the fleet of the Bai Ying Merchant Association.

After being knocked unconscious by Bai Ying, Xi Yang woke up, stood dazed in the cabin, muttered a few incoherent words, then flung open the cabin door and turned into a gale, vanishing without a trace.

Long Ying tried to stop him, but although Long Ying's brute strength exceeded Xi Yang's, his divine transformations were far inferior. She only managed to catch a wisp of the wind he left behind, and could not even fathom how he had escaped.

Flying eastward from the Three Kingdoms battlefield, following the route from his memory, Xi Yang spent several days and arrived at the Demon‑Suppressing City front line.

Back then, he and his sister Xi Yao had sneaked out of the Demon‑Suppressing City defense line together.

Now revisiting this old ground, Xi Yang's heart held nothing but boundless resentment and a flood of grudge.

He released his escape light, glanced down at a Demon‑Suppressing City below, a flash of ferocity crossed his eyes, he raised his right hand high and then pressed a palm downward.

With the cultivation of the first heaven of the Divine Manifest realm, bearing the holy blood of Fuxi and Nuwa, he unleashed a palm strike that made heaven and earth change color; the void violently writhed, and the power of the void condensed into a colossal hand a hundred li wide, which came crashing down on the city's core.

Before the city's grand defensive array could be activated, the city guard's mansion, the residences of civil and military officials, and even the barracks of the strongest elite troops were reduced to ashes by that palm.

In Xi Yang's great palm seal, yellow earth‑god light flickered; as the seal slowly faded, yellow sand surged within the hundred‑li‑wide, ten‑li‑deep palm imprint, turning everything into gravel, and even the bodies of the soldiers slain by the strike were eroded and transformed by the earth's power into gravel.

"Demons… all deserve to die." Xi Yang coldly eyed the chaotic Demon‑Suppressing City.

Alarm bells rang throughout the barracks inside Demon‑Suppressing City; outside, in the warship dock, huge warships shot up into the sky, and within the city, commanders at the Tai‑Cang realm roared as they took flight.

Xi Yang gave a cold, grim laugh.

He stood in the void, surrounded by surging earth, water, fire, and wind elemental forces; each Tai‑Cang realm commander who had not yet come within ten li of him suddenly disintegrated, forcibly transmuted into the four elements and returned to heaven and earth.

Hundreds of warships urgently activated hovered in fear a hundred li away; their main guns urgently charged up and then unleashed a chaotic barrage at Xi Yang.

Around Xi Yang, four‑colored divine light flickered; the beams fired from the warship cannons were greatly weakened, so that only a negligible force, equivalent to a gentle breeze brushing his face, landed on him.

Such force could not even damage a single hair of his.

Xi Yang gave a low laugh, formed seals with both hands, chanted an incantation, and heavenly‑earth energy from all directions surged toward him; instantly he commanded the heavenly‑earth energy within a radius of several hundred li, shaping it into a massive thunderbolt.

Thunderclouds covered a radius of several hundred li of void; as Xi Yang pressed his hands down, countless bolts of thunder as thick as water jars roared down, exploding on the ground into terrifying balls of fire and issuing deep, booming roars.

The Demon‑Suppressing City's defense line reacted instantly; soon reinforcements from nearby Demon‑Suppressing City armies arrived.

Xi Yang coldly glanced at the approaching reinforcements, his body flickered, he turned into a silent wind, swiftly rushed into the great rift before Demon‑Suppressing City, and flew straight down into the deep underground world.

As the most talented prince of the Xi clan, virtually destined to become the next god‑emperor of the Fuxi Divine State, Xi Yang naturally knew many secrets of the Fuxi Divine State.

He familiar‑handedly opened a series of secret doors, following concealed passages, bypassing the territory directly ruled by the Xi clan of the Fuxi Divine State, and arrived at the land of the Tuo clan.

Xi Yang naturally knew that the Tuo clan controlled a gigantic passage to the surface called the "Demon's Nest".

He also knew that the "Demon's Nest" lay exactly within the territory of the Great Martial Divine State, which at present was Wu Tie's domain.

Therefore he returned to the underground world, not to see his kin, but sneaked into the Tuo clan's territory.

Quite smoothly, Xi Yang met the current head of the Tuo clan, as well as several Grand Elders who assisted the head in managing clan affairs.

Inside the deep cavern, a large fire burned in the hearth, with grills erected around it, on which hung several fragrant‑roasted lizard thighs. A few jars of cheap liquor sat beside the fire pit, and the air was filled with a pungent alcoholic smell.

The current head of the Tuo clan, Tuo Daxiong, whose cultivation had reached the half‑step Divine Manifest realm, narrowed his eyes and sized up Xi Yang.

"Your Highness? We all thought you were dead."

Xi Yang gave a cold smile and said in a cold voice: "Cut the nonsense; give the Tuo clan a chance to live peacefully in the surface world—do you want it or not?"

Tuo Daxiong's mouth twitched slightly, and several Tuo clan Grand Elders simultaneously exuded an aura terrifying as a ferocious beast.

"Heh, Your Highness, what do you intend to teach me?" Tuo Daxiong forced out the words from between his teeth.

"Your Tuo clan alone isn't enough; find a few more fierce ones." Xi Yang said coldly: "Taotie clan, Hundun clan, Qiongqi clan… you of the ancient Four Evils, can you get in touch with them, Tuo clan?"

Tuo Daxiong pondered for a moment, then gave a firm nod.