Chapter 778

Clear Wind, to Wu Tie's face, expounded the terror of the supreme Dao law of the Qinglian Observatory.

He called a halt to the frenzied advance of the Wuguo army and, alone, stepped deep into the Snowy Plains tribe's camp.

Greeting him were over four hundred wounded Snowy Plains tribe Elders, more dangerous than injured beasts, their hearts filled with a death wish.

Qingfeng, smiling all over, greeted the remaining tribal Elders with an extremely infuriating tone.

Thus, over four hundred tribe Elders, whose cultivation ranged from the first to the fifth heaven of the Divine Realm, simultaneously launched an attack on Qingfeng.

In the high sky, a cold light fell.

The tribe Elders went all‑out, praying to the Ice Spirit Divine Clan for the blessing of the supreme divine artifact.

In the instant they struck, their power surged—the weakest now had the fifth heaven of the Divine Realm, while the strongest had reached the extreme of the tenth heaven of the Divine Realm.

Qingfeng smiled, a faint white light coating his palms as he lightly deflected left and right.

No matter what divine arts and secret techniques the Elders unleashed, countless spells never reached Qingfeng—just a light swipe of his hands made them vanish instantly. When an Elder brandished a weapon and charged wildly for close combat, Qingfeng's light swipe shattered the weapon, the Elder's inner mana dissipated at once, and they flailed helplessly as they fell from the sky.

Myriad Transformations Scripture, Myriad Transformations Calamity Palm.

All laws cannot invade, all evils cannot approach.

Wu Tie, watching from afar, sighed in admiration; this Daoist art is truly wondrous in its endless applications.

After showing off the profundity of the Myriad Transformations Scripture to Wu Tie, Qingfeng gave up resistance, even taking off his Daoist robe, carefully folding it, baring his body, and letting the hundreds of Snowy Plains Elders' divine arts and secret techniques bombard him wildly.

In a moment, Qingfeng was blown apart, flesh and blood flying, his body covered in wounds.

It is obvious that Qingfeng has not cultivated any body‑refining method like the Nine Turns Mysterious Skill; being a "Heavenly God", his divine body is still tougher than that of ordinary body cultivators at the Divine Realm, yet it is not as impervious to swords and spells as Wu Tie's.

Countless divine arts and secret techniques poured down wildly; Qingfeng howled in pain, blood spraying from his whole body as he crashed heavily to the ground. He didn't know how many bones were broken, and his viscera protruded from the wounds.

Despite such grave wounds, after the many Snowy Plains tribe Elders merely paused briefly, Qingfeng produced a healing treasure pill and swallowed it.

Normally, when a Divine Realm expert's divine body is injured, his cultivation is immediately impaired and cannot recover without lengthy rest. But after Qingfeng took the treasure pill, his body swiftly healed, and his aura rose with a continuous "shush‑shush‑shush".

"You still aren't putting in enough effort!" Qingfeng said, unharmed as he rose to his feet; moreover, his strength increased a little.

This slight increase is still less than one percent of Qingfeng's total cultivation!

Yet this is already terrifying enough.

Qingfeng's power is already unfathomable; an increase of just one percent of his cultivation surpasses the total cultivation of an ordinary Divine Realm second‑ or third‑heaven cultivator by a considerable margin.

Wu Tie watched, his face twitching.

This is the marvelous application of the Myriad Calamities Scripture.

As long as they aren't killed on the spot, those who cultivate the Myriad Calamities Scripture grow stronger the more severely they are injured and the worse the calamity they face.

For a cultivator of the Myriad Calamities Scripture, unless he is slain on the spot—even ground to ashes, his soul scattered—he cannot be truly destroyed. Otherwise, if you leave him even a faint chance to cling to life, he will soon be bouncing back, his cultivation soaring, appearing before you.

This is an extraordinarily marvelous yet supremely disgusting supreme Daoist art.

The Snowy Plains tribe Elders were stunned, staring blankly at Qingfeng, unable to speak for a long while.

Qingfeng smiled, he took off his boots and even pulled down the last scrap of his pants, then let out a low, deep roar; a mass of chaotic qi burst from within him, and his body instantly swelled.

Ten zhang, a hundred zhang, a thousand zhang…

In an instant, Qingfeng transformed into a terrifying giant over ten thousand zhang tall, his whole body knotted with bulging muscles, with a blazing sun and a bright moon circling and dancing around him; his exhalation became wind, his shout like thunder.

The giant's body was chaos and primordial unity, seeming to merge perfectly with the entire heaven, earth, and universe.

Then Qingfeng, with casual ease, swung a palm as if swatting a fly.

The few remaining Divine Realm Elders of the Snowy Plains tribe, with a soft "pop", were blown apart in unison, turning into clouds of blood mist that the night wind blew away without a trace.

Hundreds of light pillars shot up into the sky; Wu Tie hastily produced a disc‑shaped secret treasure, refined the souls and bloodlines of the hundreds of Snowy Plains Elders, and carefully stored them away.

Qingfeng drew a breath, and his body began to shrink gradually.

Once he returned to his original normal size, his aura was about half as strong as his previous peak.

His skin was also mottled, covered with numerous wounds that continually oozed slight blood; obviously, his body could not withstand that terrifying force and suffered a certain backlash.

Yet when Wu Tie's soul power swept over Qingfeng, his soul remained whole, his bloodline intact, and his foundation suffered no loss.

The "Pangu Scripture" enables one to briefly incarnate as the true Pangu, erupting with a hundred‑ or thousand‑fold terrifying power. Such divine ability brings little downside—aside from short‑term weakness, it entails no future detriment to cultivation.

"To use the Pangu true form, the most important thing is first to strip yourself naked." Qingfeng, with some difficulty, re‑dressed neatly and sighed heavily: "Basically, even innate spirit‑weapon‑level treasure clothes and armor can hardly resist the erosion of chaotic power."

"So, if you don't strip yourself, activating the Pangu true form will also leave you naked."

Shaking his head, Qingfeng looked up at the sky with a feeling he could hardly bear to recall, and murmured: "Back then, the many ancestors of my Qinglian Temple had not yet realized this… using the Pangu true form to fight people—tsk… that kind of awe‑inspiring thing exposed to the open, the whole city's women and children would gasp and curse…"

He shook his head firmly, looked at Wu Tie, and said in a deep voice: "So, the crucial point in using the Pangu true form is—learn to be shameless!"

"No matter how those young ladies and married women scold you, the point is that when you manifest the Pangu true form, your 'face' is useless… or, learn from a certain Grand Tutor of mine—he always transforms himself into the likeness of the current Divine Emperor before acting!"

"If you must lose face, better to lose the face of the Sui‑Chao Divine Emperor; thinking that way makes you feel much better."

Wu Tie felt his teeth ache… What sort of oddballs are the entire Qinglian Temple, top to bottom?

All Divine Realm experts of the Snowy Plains tribe were wiped out.

On the fallen lands of Wuguo, where countless slaughter and heinous blood‑guilt were committed, the tribe's warriors were all annihilated.

After a soul‑searching secret technique, any Snowy Plains tribesperson whose hands were stained with Wuguo civilians' blood during the invasion, who had ever massacred captured Wuguo civilians, was exterminated—regardless of age, gender, or frailty.

The other tribe members, under the supervision of the Heavenly Martial Army, were divided into squads of a hundred and escorted to various parts of Wuguo.

They would become slaves of Wuguo.

By Wu Tie's order, they must at least serve the Wuguo populace for three generations, absorbing Wuguo civilization, before they can become commoners.

Xi Bai and Xi Wule, leading the retinue of the Fuxi Divine Kingdom, bade farewell. The mighty army of the Fuxi Divine Kingdom, piloting the warships and transport ships gifted by Wu Tie, set out toward the original Da Jin—later the Qiuqiu Divine Kingdom's territory.

The Fuxi Divine Kingdom will receive the land and people promised to them by Wu Tie.

Among the vassal tribes of the Xi clan, many that are strong, populous, and relatively mild‑tempered have already begun allocating their people to march toward the surface. Wu Tie granted them vast territories capable of accommodating tens of trillions of immigrants.

Of course, groups like the Four Ferocious Tribes… Wu Tie and Xi Bai have an agreement that such fierce tribes are not permitted to set foot on the surface lightly.

If any vassal tribe of the Fuxi Divine Kingdom dares to wantonly abuse the people handed over by Wu Tie, he will have already spoken harsh words in advance and will certainly mobilize a great army to demand an explanation from Xi Bai.

The Snowy Plains tribe's invasion is now settled, the dust having settled.

The army of Chiyang Shen Shan departed reluctantly; no matter how unwilling the Gan Ying and Gan Xiao were, their clan's divine artifacts and all their possessions have already fallen into Wu Tie's hands.

You want Wu Tie to return those treasures?

Heh……How could that be possible!

Accordingly, Chiyang Shen Shan will have to tuck its tail and behave, otherwise the ever‑growing Wuguo might eye their vast lands and countless subjects; with Chiyang Shen Shan's current meager strength, it truly couldn't withstand.

With Huang Lang and other civil and military officials busy handling affairs, Wu Tie doesn't need to worry about the aftermath.

Wu Tie settled on Shenwu City—formerly the Tie Ding Shan City—as the capital of Wuguo; the original imperial city of the Great Wei, Weidu, now known as Xiongwu City, serves as the western capital.

In Shenwu City, within the austere, simple main hall, Wu Tie sat exalted on his throne; to his left side stood a wide black‑iron table, laden with fine wine and delicacies.

The newly appointed State Preceptor of Wuguo, Qingfeng, sat crooked‑butted in the grand chair, one foot planted on the seat, like a street ruffian, happily gnawing a pickled pig's head. With half a pig's ear in his mouth, he chewed making a 'squeak‑squeak' sound, and Qingfeng hurriedly gestured to a nearby palace maid, signaling her to quickly refill his empty wine cup.

A dozen or so palace maids bustled about like passing flowers, continuously bringing Qingfeng various exquisite dishes, while four maids stood beside him attending to his hearty eating and drinking.

Opposite Qingfeng, behind another black‑iron table, Lao Tie sat cross‑legged in a relaxed manner.

Lao Tie had no interest in the dishes; he simply kept guzzling wine from his jug, and before him on the table lay a dozen or so empty jugs.

Beside Lao Tie, a row of black‑iron tables was laid out, where Wu Yu, together with Wu Jin, Wu Yin, and Wu Tong brothers sat behind the tables, likewise letting loose their appetites to eat and drink heartily, while curiously eyeing Qingfeng.

Qingfeng.

Daoist.

He came from the Azure Lotus Observatory of the Suichao dynasty.

On Wuguo's territory, aristocratic clans and military families held sway, with no sects or schools of any kind present.

Qingfeng counts as the first Daoist on Wuguo's soil.

The monk Fan Kun, driven away by Qingfeng, counts as the first monk on Wuguo's soil.

Thus even the old monster Wu Yu is full of curiosity toward Qingfeng.

Wu Tie held up his wine cup, looking at the voraciously eating Qingfeng, and smiled: 'State Preceptor, you've endured a hard journey… crossing the ocean, you must have wind‑blown and dew‑lodged, not having eaten well?'

Qingfeng lifted his head, with difficulty swallowing the mouthful of pig's snout.

He let out a sigh, shook his head, wearing an expression of unbearable recollection: 'It has nothing to do with my crossing the sea… in truth, the Azure Lotus Observatory is too austere. Well, a bunch of old fogies say that Daoists must purify the mind and curb desires… so we eat only vegetarian fare every day.'

'Eating vegetarian would be tolerable, but the cook the old fogies hired prepares the vegetarian meal in only one way… simmered in plain water, a pinch of salt, and that's a meal.'

Qingfeng sighed deeply: 'That's not food for people, it's pig fodder… well, this plate of pig's liver, bring ten more… and this braised large intestine, hurry up and bring a few more servings. Remember, don't wash the intestine too clean; leave it slightly gamy—that's how it should taste.'

Wu Tie had no reply; he looked at Qingfeng and voiced the doubt in his heart.

'State Preceptor, it seems the Scarlet Lotus Temple and the White Lotus Palace are both quite enthusiastic about Wuguo… I, the king, fail to understand—given Suichao's strength, why is this so?'

Wu Tie truly didn't understand why Fan Kun and Bai Lu both attached such importance to Wuguo.

Given Suichao's foundation, only a master of the Divine Realm can become a county magistrate; only an Earth God can become a prefecture lord; only a Heaven God can become a state lord.

Tsk, look at Wuguo—even if one is a lowly 'inferior god' unnoticed in Suichao, even if one's cultivation method is poor, as long as one breaks through the Divine Realm, they become a living ancestor, venerated by the whole clan as a living ancestor!

With such foundation, does Suichao need Wuguo?

'You don't understand.' Qingfeng set down the freshly cleaned pig skull he'd been gnawing, casually picked up a pig's tail, stuffed it into his mouth and took a bite: 'Suichao may be strong, but it also has hidden worries. Well, the area of Suichao's prefectures and counties is probably about half again larger than Wuguo's divisions.'

After a moment's thought, Qingfeng calculated on his fingers: 'In Suichao, a state is roughly divided into seven or eight prefectures, at most fifteen or sixteen prefectural seats. A prefecture can have about ten counties. A county can have roughly 180 major cities, 300–500 minor towns, and several villages.'

Qingfeng looked at Wu Tie and said in a deep voice: 'In Suichao, a county governs at most ten million people; a prefecture, at most a hundred million; a state, at most a billion. King Wu, a single provincial capital of Wuguo has a population over a hundred times that of Suichao!'

Qingfeng sighed lightly: 'Wuguo's total population exceeds Suichao's by at least a hundredfold! Not to mention, King Wu brought the Fuxi Divine State.'

Wu Tie stared at Qingfeng in astonishment.

Wu Yu and the others were also stunned.

Qingfeng continued calculating on his fingers: 'Moreover, Wuguo has many human‑derived subspecies… ox‑folk, wolf‑folk, serpent‑folk, rat‑folk, and so on… take rat‑folk, dwarves, etc. —their breeding speed and total population.'

After a light cough, Qingfeng said in a deep voice: 'Suichao once firmly followed the path of human supremacy for a long period… all non‑human species within its borders were utterly exterminated.'

'What Suichao values is precisely Wuguo's populace!'