Chapter 796

Sui Du, a blood-red great banner flew out from the main gate of Feng Shang's princely mansion.

The vast Sui Du trembled instantly.

Prince Yin Feng Shang, endowed with extraordinary talent and heroic martial virtue, is the pillar of the state. The present Sui Dynasty Divine Emperor specially bestowed upon him a Blood Light War Banner, enabling him to command the border armies, and moreover, a million forbidden troops are directly subordinate to the Blood Light War Banner.

The Blood Light War Banner is usually enshrined in the war hall of the Prince Yin's mansion, and is not moved lightly.

Over the past thousand years, the Blood Light War Banner has been dispatched eighteen times; each time the borderlands were ablaze with war beacons, slaughter piled corpses into mountains and blood into seas, countless demons and monsters fell, and countless Sui Dynasty soldiers' remains were piled into small hills.

This time, no word of a major war on the borders had been heard, yet the Blood Light War Banner actually moved.

Outside Sui Du's city, the elite forbidden troops under the direct command of the Blood Light War Banner, hearing the wind, sprang into action; line after line of warships, each a hundred zhang long and flying as fast as flowing light, shot up into the sky, spewing vast sheets of Blood Light, which turned into a towering blood cloud, and they rushed westward in pursuit of the Blood Light War Banner.

Within the Sui Dynasty palace, low, resonant bell tolls rang out one after another.

The Sui Dynasty Divine Emperor issued an order, summoning all civil and military officials.

From time to time, figures radiating divine light appeared out of thin air above the imperial palace, then turned into streams of light that fell into the palace.

These were the governors of Sui Dynasty's provinces and the monarchs of various states; they had all cultivated some divine ability of manifestation and avatar, and normally each kept an avatar stationed in Sui Du. Hearing the bell, they all rushed over.

The blood-cloud battle banner led a million imperial guards in a mighty surge westward.

These imperial guards are the Sui Dynasty's strongest elite: ordinary soldiers are all Inferior Gods; commanders of ten are all Human Gods; commanders of a hundred are all Earth Gods; commanders of a thousand are all Heaven Gods; and the ten commanders of ten thousand, together with their deputy generals, are all Royal Gods.

Whether Inferior God, Human God, Earth God, Heaven God, or Royal God, all are cultivations at or above the fifth layer of the Divine Manifestation Realm.

The people of Sui Du were buzzing about the sudden expedition of the Yin Prince's mansion when, from the east, a swath of five-colored Buddhist light came rolling in, and a huge golden right palm hovered in the air, supporting exactly one hundred thousand monks of the Red Lotus Temple, clad in monk's robes, with smooth scalps, their whole bodies radiating dazzling light.

This enormous golden right palm, tens of li across and unusually heavy, swept straight across the sky above Sui Du and quickly joined with the imperial guards arrayed in the suburbs.

Feng Shang stood atop a flagship a thousand zhang long, cupped his fists toward Sui Du and said, "Please lend your aid, Father Emperor."

Night had fallen, the sky was overcast with thick clouds, a half-moon hung listlessly on the horizon, and not a single star was visible.

Such an oppressive, gloomy sky was suddenly illuminated by a blaze of divine light, as a heavy, ancient bell-shaped shadow shot up from the Sui Dynasty's imperial palace. This great bell was stout in form, its entire surface carved with countless suns, moons, stars, flying dragons and colorful phoenixes; from its mouth poured continual streams of five-colored clouds, and auspicious light and radiant energy shone over the heavens.

With a sway, the great bell flew from above Sui Du to hover above Feng Shang and the others.

Five-colored radiance burst from within the bell, swallowing the million imperial guards and the hundred thousand monks in one gulp. Then, from the direction of the Sui Dynasty's imperial palace, a continuous divine force like a great river surged upward and, with a booming crash, struck into the bell.

The bell tilted slightly, its mouth aimed at a distant point in the western horizon; then the bell body trembled slightly, and with a thunderous boom that shook heaven and earth, tens of thousands of mountains around Sui Du collapsed.

From within the bell's mouth, a divine light shot out screaming, and in an instant it reached the horizon, vanishing without a trace.

Inside the Sui Dynasty's imperial palace, tens of thousands of civil and military officials were drenched in sweat, their divine power nearly exhausted. The Sui Divine Emperor ordered palace maids and eunuchs to bring plate after plate of radiant Great Dao Treasure Pills, which he bestowed upon many officials to swallow, restoring their mana and strength.

That huge bell slowly flew back, eventually shrinking to the size of a palm, landing in the Sui Divine Emperor's hand, which he casually slipped into his sleeve.

An elderly minister with an extremely antiquated appearance, his face layered with wrinkles so deep they could crush dozens of flies, shuffled out from the ranks, nodded to the Sui Human Emperor, and that counted as his salute.

"Your Majesty, what matter warrants such a massive mobilization? Ah, poor this old minister's waist can't take all this trouble. Looking at that distance… tsk, the place where the Yin Prince has been sent this time is somewhere never before visited… it's too far, too far—what could possibly be worth such a grand deployment over there?"

The Sui Divine Emperor had sat on this throne for over thirty thousand years; his lifespan was already extremely long, but he kept himself in excellent condition—his fair, square face bore not a wrinkle, and five fine long whiskers hung down more than three feet, giving him an extremely dignified and majestic bearing.

After hearing the old minister's words, the Sui Divine Emperor smiled slightly, picked up a Great Dao Treasure Pill that glowed with pure red light from the cinnabar tray before him, and, as if eating candy, casually popped it into his mouth.

"Old Minister of Works, over there… there really are some discoveries… Hmm, I don't believe you lot don't know about them."

Among the civil and military officials of the whole court, about one percent—those true top-ranking ministers numbering a few hundred—had their eyes light up simultaneously. Their gazes darted, they swept a glance across the hall, and instantly knew the news they had received was true.

The Sui Divine Emperor took in the changing expressions of everyone in the hall, gave a slight nod, and said calmly, "Yes, in the far western ocean we have discovered a brand-new landmass; although it is less than one percent the size of the landmass our dynasty occupies, its population is teeming, and the number of its inhabitants is at least a hundred times that of our Sui Dynasty."

He lightly tapped the long case before him with his fingers, a thread of red divine light spraying from his mouth, and the Sui Divine Emperor said leisurely, "Do you all know that on that landmass, the mere 'pure and unadulterated human descendants' alone number more than a hundred times our Sui Dynasty's populace—at least a hundred times over."

Beneath that landmass lie even more 'human aberrant races'; their numbers are even vaster, even more unimaginable…

Several elderly ministers, looking aged and exuding an aura of decline, stepped forward from the ranks at once and shouted sternly, "Your Majesty, this land shall belong to our Sui Dynasty."

The Sui Divine Emperor smiled faintly, nodded, and said, "So the Second Prince has already volunteered to take command of the army and go conquer it."

Narrowing his eyes, the Sui Divine Emperor said leisurely, "That land's population is extremely prosperous, but its strength is extremely weak… I hear that in their army, soldiers at the Chonglou Realm count as elites; ordinary officers merely have Life Pool Realm cultivation; even those at the Womb Storage Realm can serve as a regional general in their forces… As for relying on their unorthodox cultivation methods…"

Shaking his head in ridicule, the Sui Divine Emperor said lazily, "To call a few Inferior Gods, Human Gods, and Earth Gods the founders of the Dao is simply laughable."

The entire civil and military retinue of the Sui Dynasty burst out laughing.

Inferior God?

In the Sui Dynasty, they can only serve as clerks; in the imperial guards, they are merely the lowest-rank soldiers.

Human God?

In the Sui Dynasty, they can only be county magistrates; in the imperial guards, they are merely the most basic officers.

Earth God?

Earth Gods are somewhat interesting; they can serve as prefects, and in the imperial guards they'd be considered backbone officers, right?

But how many prefectures and counties does the Sui Dynasty have?

In the land about to be conquered by the Sui Dynasty, Human Gods and Earth Gods could become regional patriarchs… Yikes!

"The Yin Prince will surely achieve victory at once," said a tall-faced minister whose brow bore a wisp of literary aura that shot straight to the heavens, atop whose head faintly materialized a delicate wolf-hair brush; he laughed, "Congratulations, Your Majesty, congratulations, the Second Prince will once again expand our Sui Dynasty's borders and establish unparalleled merit!"

The Sui Divine Emperor smiled faintly, waved his hand, was about to speak, when Feng Rong rushed in from outside the hall in a hurry.

He stumbled, tripping from outside the threshold into the inside, then flung himself to the ground and burst into loud sobs: "Father Emperor, Father Emperor, you must vindicate me, your subject!"

"The Second Prince is simply too shameless, too shameless… I, your subject, have tolerated and yielded everywhere, yet I never expected him to push his advantage, to step on the corpses of my fellow disciples and seize the achievements that rightfully belong to me, your subject!"

"I, your subject, am not satisfied, not satisfied…… It is clearly my White Lotus Palace's fellow disciples, who for the Flame Dynasty have laid down their heads and shed their blood, yet in the end who profits is he, Feng Shang? Father, father, where in the world is there such reasoning? He, Feng Shang, is too arrogant, too overbearing!"

Feng Rong knelt on the ground, with a "Thud thud thud" he kowtowed dozens of times.

The palace floor was laid with an extremely powerful prohibition; even though Feng Rong likewise had the cultivation of a King God, and had also trained in an extraordinarily formidable body-refining technique, his body of steel tendons and iron bones could be called impervious to myriad calamities, yet he used too much force, and still knocked himself until his head split and blood flowed, fresh blood staining a large area of the floor tiles.

The Flame Dynasty's divine emperor was feeling smug, when suddenly seeing Feng Rong act this way, his heart gave a sudden "thump".

"What propriety is this, getting up to speak…… What does it mean that the second snatched away your merit?"

"Huh? What is it called…… It's called him trampling over the corpses of the White Lotus Palace disciples and seizing your merit."

The Flame Dynasty's divine emperor had already begun to have a headache.

Having been a divine emperor for over thirty-five thousand years, what palace intrigue has he not seen? What scheme has he not experienced? The entire court of civil and military officials, the imperial harem consorts, and even this bunch of little bastards he himself fathered—he knows from the slightest shift of their buttocks whether they are about to fart or to defecate.

As soon as he saw Feng Rong wailing like one who had lost his parents, and even directly pulling out the White Lotus Palace's great banner, the Flame Dynasty's divine emperor immediately knew, "Well, the White Lotus Palace is up against the Red Lotus Temple again!"

Can't you just let me comfortably and peacefully get through these last less than a hundred years?

If I could, before abdicating, expand the territory of my Suichao and fill the gap in the Human Emperor's Great Dao of my Suichao, then in the future histories of our dynasty my biography would have something to say, even standing shoulder to shoulder with the Taizu, which would not be excessive at all!

What are you grabbing? What are you arguing about? All day long, beating gongs and drums, all day long, beating gongs and drums—can't you just give me a moment of peace?

The dead baldies of the Red Lotus Temple, the pale-faced weaklings of the White Lotus Palace… why don't you just stab each other and kill the other side outright?

Of course, such thoughts from the heart simply cannot be spoken aloud.

The Suichao Divine Emperor rose to his feet with extreme solemnity, pointed at Feng Rong, who was kneeling on the ground refusing to yield, and said: "Stand up and speak; as long as you speak with reason and evidence, I will back you up…… Of course, if you dare to recklessly slander your own brothers, don't blame me for punishing you severely, you who lack the bearing of an elder brother, Crown Prince!"

Feng Rong rose to his feet, panting, and spoke the words that Bai Suzhen had taught him.

"Father, I have concrete evidence here…… I, your son, acted against Wuguo before the Second Prince did. I am currently expanding territory for our dynasty…… but the Second Prince has butted in with a knife—what is this?"

"Even when fighting the four border enemy states, there has never been a precedent of assigning two princes to the same front…… Since my fellow disciples are already engaged in bitter combat, the Second Prince should not interfere recklessly."

Feng Rong looked at his father with righteous indignation: "Father, I know the Second Prince has always been barbarous and domineering, fond of grand achievements, arrogant and lawless…… but this time he has truly gone too far."

"My fellow disciples are still out there fighting bloody battles!"

The Suichao Divine Emperor gave a light cough: "Hold on, Feng Rong—according to the intelligence I have received, that Wuguo is extremely weak; where does this talk of bloody battle come from?"

Feng Rong looked astonished at the Suichao Divine Emperor: "Father, you don't know? In the Star Fighting Hall, a vast expanse of starlight has already been shattered…… Wuguo is not as weak as it appears."

What is the Star Fighting Hall?

All the officials of Suichao in the great hall know this.

The shattering of a vast expanse of starlight in the Star Fighting Hall proves that disciples of the White Lotus Palace have fallen.

Hundreds of officials, their bodies suffused with a stern literary aura, stepped out of the ranks simultaneously, gazing at Feng Rong with utmost solemnity. These officials all hail from the White Lotus Palace; they are disciples of its lineage, and especially among their descendants there are countless outstanding youths now cultivating within the White Lotus Palace.

"Your Highness the Eldest Prince, the fallen…… no, who exactly did the White Lotus Palace send to the western Wuguo?"

The current Minister of Works of Suichao, who is listed among the Five Officials, narrowed his eyes and solemnly inquired of Feng Rong.

Feng Rong drew a deep breath and spoke in a low voice: "The current Literary Champion and Martial Champion, accompanied by the white deer, white crane, and white egret that roam the world, as well as over a hundred hidden dragons from the Dragon Gate Hall's Hidden Dragon Institute."

In the hall, countless civil and military officials cried out in unison, and moreover, dozens of nobles dressed in extreme splendor rushed out from the crowd.

The Dragon Gate Hall, taking its name from the leaping of carp over the Dragon Gate, is the secluded cultivation place for the true-transmission disciples of the White Lotus Palace; the Hidden Dragon Institute, moreover, is the residence of that elite portion of true-transmission disciples who possess the finest talents.

Nowadays, within the White Lotus Palace, ninety-nine percent of those who can enter the Dragon Gate Hall are scions of powerful clans; ninety percent of those who can join the Hidden Dragon Institute have a noble house backing them. Those nobles who rushed out from the ranks all have direct-line descendants cultivating in the Hidden Dragon Institute.

At court, chaos erupted instantly.

Everyone was shouting in anger; one group was asking Feng Rong about his current casualty situation; another group—several dozen ill-tempered nobles of close imperial lineage and high status—grabbed Feng Rong and wanted to tear at him, demanding: "Why did you send our descendants to such a dangerous place?"

Feng Shang went on campaign, while Feng Rong lodged a complaint.

As Suichao fell into chaos because of these two princes, on the five-colored auspicious clouds, Bai Wen and Bai Wu simultaneously looked toward Wu Tie, a flash of resolve flickering in their eyes.

"Martial King… how could we let you use such brutal methods on our White Lotus Palace disciples?"

"To die in righteousness is the right moment… we sacrifice our lives for justice; in the future White Lotus Palace's Star Record, our names will surely be inscribed."

Bai Wen and Bai Wu had already been sealed of all their magical power, yet no one knew how they managed it; suddenly their foreheads glowed, two fist-sized white lotus blossoms burst forth, and from their stamens dozens of white sword qi shot out—Swish! —piercing the skulls of every White Lotus Palace disciple present.

Everything happened too fast—whether it was Wu Tie or Wu Jin standing nearby, not a single person could react in time.

Around a hundred elite disciples of the White Lotus Palace, especially the current Wen Qu and Wu Qu, were wiped out entirely.