Chapter 843: Rescue

Wu Tie and Lao Tie, using the name of a certain county's wealthy family, took a huge merchant ship out to do business.

On the giant ship over 1,200 zhang long, more than ten thousand sailors, laborers, stewards, cooks, guards, etc., were all homegrown sons of that wealthy family. Knowing the danger, when Feng Xiao shouted loudly, they had already curled up in the corners of the giant ship.

However, Wu Tie suddenly spoke up and asked Feng Xiao.

With a few thump— sounds, the several stewards hiding behind Wu Tie and Lao Tie, as if struck by lightning, were scared stiff and fainted to the ground.

They were merely a small county's wealthy family, not particularly outstanding. The highest level of governmental power they held was nothing more than a constable captain bought with donations.

How could such a tiny, insignificant family be involved in royal succession changes, rebellion, and treason?

"It's over..." a pig‑fat cook trembled, casually tossing the big gold‑scaled carp Lao Tie had just thrown him far away: "Extermination of the nine clans… it's over…"

With a series of thump— sounds, on the deck, the sailors, laborers, stewards, cooks, and guards hiding everywhere were scared unconscious—two or three hundred of them. Those not knocked out had also been frightened into wetting their pants, lying limp on the deck, unable to move.

Wu Tie spread his hands, shrugged at the many "subordinates" behind him, then smiled at the dumbfounded Feng Xiao and said, "I mean, if I save you… you ought to feel grateful, and you should cooperate with me and follow my orders, right?"

Feng Xiao stared blankly at Wu Tie for a while, then he lay on the ground, turned around, and knocked his head three times hard on the floor in Wu Tie's direction.

His voice was shrill and desperate, carrying a hint of the bone‑chilling sorrow of a cuckoo crying blood, as he hoarsely said, "As long as you can save them… what's it to me to be your ox and horse? I'll trade my life for theirs!"

Wu Tie's mouth twitched.

He recalled that years ago, in the mine tunnels of the Wu family Shibao, Wu Jin had apparently done almost exactly the same thing.

For his brothers, for his relatives… toward the enemy he knelt, kowtowed, begged for mercy, and prayed for a single life.

Wu Tie took a deep breath, then laughed and said to the four state lords, four prefect lords, and several old eunuchs in the sky, "Feng Shang is a complete bastard, I really dislike him… but his son is not bad."

"Feng Xiao is a true man… he, plus his three younger brothers, five nephews, and these close aides—I've got them covered."

"You won't object, will you?"

Wu Tie, smiling amiably, extended his hand, pointed his index finger at each of the highest‑ranking people present: "Here, you eight, and these old eunuchs who have no superiors left—you won't object, will you?"

The old eunuchs' faces, as tender as freshly peeled egg‑skin, suddenly turned completely red.

"No superiors left?"

Don't say they are now the grand stewards of the Sui Dynasty's imperial capital; even back when they served in Feng Rong's princely mansion, who would dare to speak such rude words to their faces?

"You little brat… you're dead!" an old eunuch convulsed all over, shrieking like a mad rooster with a ge‑ge cry: "You're dead, and so is your family behind you—exterminate your nine clans, no, ten clans… no, wipe out everything connected to you—teachers, fellow disciples, in‑laws, sworn brothers—kill them all, kill, kill!"

With a soft whoosh, a slender blue light sliced through the void; with a sharp snap, the shrieking old eunuch was struck in the head by a leaping Canghai Divine Pearl, his skull shattering and even a strand of his divine soul unable to escape, being smashed to pulp.

With a loud Boom—, a thick pillar of light shot up into the sky.

Before Wu Tie could act to gather the old eunuch's divine‑soul crystal and bloodline essence, a state lord hovering in mid‑air waved his right hand, unfurled a blazing fire‑flag, and in one sweep shattered the light pillar, directly sucking away the old eunuch's divine soul and bloodline essence.

The Heaven‑Earth primal energy within a radius of several hundred li suddenly intensified severalfold.

The primal energy turned into a massive spiritual pressure that rolled and surged outward in all directions. The old eunuch's cultivation art was extremely yin and cold; wherever the pressure passed, moisture froze, and a goose‑feather snowfall the size of palms blanketed a thousand‑li radius.

Snowflakes filled the sky; Feng Xiao, both startled and delighted, knelt on the ground and repeatedly kowtowed to Wu Tie.

He saw hope of survival.

The old eunuch killed by a single bead of the Canghai Sea Person was also famous in Sui Du as a top‑ranked eunuch expert; if Sui Du had a ranking of eunuch combat strength, he would at least break into the top thirty.

Such an expert was killed with a single strike.

Even Feng Xiao only vaguely perceived the true form of that blue light—it seemed to be a fist‑sized spirit pearl.

Feng Xiao's mind cleared, then a shock struck him—the person who acted had mastered the Grand Dao principles even beyond him, and their magical cultivation, not to mention the power of the Canghai Divine Pearl, was utterly unfathomable.

But, but, Feng Xiao's whole body tensed up, and countless goosebumps rose on his skin.

His father, King Yin Feng Shang, the second prince of the Sui Dynasty, had entered the Dao through 360 Grand Dao gates and was already hailed as a peerless genius rarely seen in the dynasty for many years; and he, Feng Xiao, had entered the Dao through 660 Grand Dao law gates, an astonishing fact that even Feng Shang kept completely hidden.

Throughout the Sui Dynasty, Feng Xiao dared say, no one surpassed him in perceiving and mastering the Grand Dao laws.

Then, what background do Wu Tie and his companions have?

Gritting his teeth until his gums bled, Feng Xiao roared hoarsely, "My lord, whether you are demons and monsters or calamity‑bringing fiends, as long as you save my brothers and nephews, this life of mine is yours!"

Wu Tie's face twitched, and he glared fiercely at Feng Xiao.

"Demons and monsters?"

"Calamity‑bringing fiends?"

Heh, heheh, Wu Tie's visit this time really is to stir up trouble for the Sui Dynasty.

"Ladies and gentlemen, who agrees, who objects?" Wu Tie smiled, once again pointing at the four state lords, four prefect lords, and several old eunuchs standing in the air: "If you stay silent, I'll take it as your consent—I've already taken the Yin king's heir and several princes and grandsons."

The purple‑faced state lord raised his right hand high and shouted sternly, "Form the formation, encircle and slaughter… traitors and rebels, everyone deserves death. Especially, you heretical demons—kill!"

Tens of thousands of imperial guards and hundreds of thousands of prefectural troops shouted in unison.

In the Sui Dynasty, the lowest‑rank soldiers of the imperial guard all possessed inferior‑god cultivation; the prefectural troops were somewhat weaker, not even matching the border forces, yet even their basic soldiers had the strength of high‑stage or peak Life Pool Realm.

A large number of Fetal Storage Realm backbone troops filled the Sui Dynasty's prefectural armies.

Well‑trained imperial guards and prefectural troops, in just a breath, the guards formed a great formation like a swimming dragon, while the hundreds of thousands of prefectural troops from the four directions formed four great formations like iron chains and shackles that closed in.

In the high sky, twelve azure‑green banners emitted strands of blue‑tinged light; as the ripples churned, the Heaven‑Earth primal energy in all directions rapidly weakened and thinned, and in the span of a breath, the primal energy around Wu Tie's giant ship vanished completely.

For an ordinary cultivator, fighting in this environment would reduce combat power by at least seventy percent.

The four state lords remained still, while the four prefect lords simultaneously flew downward, each landing in a military formation composed of prefectural troops.

Around them, iron‑blood killing intent shot up to the sky; within the black‑red killing intent, faint chains and locks could be seen crossing horizontally and vertically, emitting a heart‑pounding clang roar.

Just as Wu Tie intervened, the descending purple great hand seal paused slightly for a moment.

At this moment the four‑direction formations moved in unison, the purple great hand continued pressing down, and its descent speed suddenly increased considerably.

Wu Tie snorted repeatedly; the Five Elements Daoist leapt up from the rear deck of the ship, his body flickering to stand beside Feng Xiao and the others, then with a sweep of his sleeve he sent a wild wind that involuntarily whisked them over to Wu Tie's side in an instant.

A flash of five‑colored divine light behind the Five Elements Daoist filled the sky with sparkling five‑colored rays, and the purple great hand seal struck by the purple‑faced state lord vanished without a trace.

The magical ability was shattered, the magical power backlashed, and the immense pressure of the five‑colored divine light bore down on him; the purple‑faced state lord's body shuddered and his purple complexion instantly turned pale.

He staggered backward dozens of steps, gritting his teeth until his cheeks swelled up enormously.

He endured for a while, but ultimately could not hold back; his lip flipped and he spat out a mouthful of blood.

The Five Elements Daoist gave a faint smile, shook his head at the purple‑faced state lord, and said, "You can't; how about the four of you attack together?"

In the high sky, a shout rose from the Wandering Dragon Grand Formation formed by the imperial guards; tens of thousands of flying knives, swords, spears, and darts, bristling with icy cold light, turned into countless rays of varying lengths up to a hundred zhang, which converged into a torrent of light that madly surged toward the Five Elements Daoist.

After winning the Nine Heavens Immortal Soil from Bai Lu, the Five Elements Daoist used it to complete and strengthen his foundation, adding the primeval innate spiritual root he had previously obtained and several innate spiritual treasures of the Five Elements inherited from Chiyang Shen Shan; his foundation became extraordinarily solid, and his cultivation and magical power surged forward.

Faced with the weapons raining down from the sky…… the Sui Chao imperial guards were superbly equipped; even the ordinary soldiers used upper‑grade immortal weapons.

Confronted by the mighty torrent of immortal weapons, the Five Elements Daoist let out a wild laugh; the five‑colored divine light behind him swirled and coiled, and the sky‑filling weapons instantly vanished without a trace.

Moreover, the five‑colored divine light swept over the tens of thousands of imperial guards standing in the air; they cried out in unison as their armor, storage rings, spatial bracelets, and everything else were swept clean by the five‑colored divine light.

Tens of thousands of imperial guard soldiers stood dumbfounded and naked in mid‑air.

The Five Elements Daoist's temperament is extremely vicious; perhaps he is the one who severed the most vicious part of Wu Tie's emotions?

When Wu Tie seized people's equipment with the Grand Dao Forge, he usually left them a set of personal clothing…… but the Five Elements Daoist is different—he even swept away the Sui Chao imperial guards' leg wrappings, leaving them completely bare.

Among the tens of thousands of Sui Chao imperial guards, several hundred leaders from noble clans stood stunned; they subconsciously sacrificed the spiritual treasures they had nurtured within their bodies with essence‑blood and soul.

Hundreds of innate items glowed with auspicious light and rising auspicious aura—swords, spears, halberds, bells, tripods, mirrors, pagodas and the like—each emitting a powerful pressure, several times stronger than the full‑force strike of the previous military formation.

The Five Elements Daoist laughed wildly again; the five‑colored divine light behind him suddenly surged, becoming more than ten times stronger than before.

Flowing light swirled, and hundreds of spiritual treasures were swooshed in 'whoosh whoosh whoosh', instantly losing contact with their original owners.

Hundreds of imperial guard commanders staggered, simultaneously spitting blood; they stared at the Five Elements Daoist as if seeing a ghost. Then the highest‑ranking imperial guard commander let out a shout, and tens of thousands of guards, arranged in neat formations, fled in utter disarray, naked and miserable.

This, cannot be fought.

No weapons remained, armor was stripped bare, the rings and bracelets holding spare equipment were forcibly swept away, and even the spiritual treasures carried on their persons were not spared.

Faced with the Five Elements Daoist's unreasonable five‑colored divine light, what could these imperial guards do but flee?

A few imperial guard commanders of excellent background still had a few hidden treasures…… yet facing the five‑colored divine light, they trembled with fear, daring not to act.

The imperial guard formation fled; several old eunuchs turned pale with fright, hastily leading the accompanying guards away to the distance.

The faces of the four monarchs also turned grim; they simultaneously looked toward the provincial army formations in the four directions, hoping that the great formation of hundreds of thousands would give Wu Tie and his companions a bit of a setback.

The four great formations rolled forward like a crushing press; the vital energy of the hundreds of thousands of provincial troops within meshed tightly, making the formations act like four gigantic precision instruments in operation, their momentum terrifying.

The Yin‑Yang Daoist sauntered out, leisurely extending a finger and pointing it at each of the four formations in turn.

Wu Tie's cultivation advanced by leaps and bounds, and his three three‑corpse avatars also rose with the tide.

As for the Yin‑Yang Daoist, setting aside his magical powers, his eyesight is absolutely extraordinary.

With a single glance he saw through the reality and illusion of the four great formations, grasped their details, pointed his finger, and countless fine threads of black‑and‑white intertwined spiritual light shot out, lightly slipping into the four formations.

The four formations suddenly stiffened; the hundreds of thousands of elite provincial soldiers inside felt the entire formation turn against them, as the immense stored magical power within came crashing down, causing the troops to strike themselves together with their comrades, delivering a fierce blow to themselves.

Hundreds of thousands of provincial troops vomited blood in unison, then collapsed one by one with broken bones and torn tendons.

Along with the four provincial lords whose cultivation was the strongest, they were beaten to the point that their bones shattered into fragments, their souls severely injured by the crushing force, collapsing on the ground at death's door, utterly unable to speak.

"Not bad." The Yin‑Yang Daoist nodded rather 'humbly' at the four monarchs standing in the sky: "I, using only the power of the first layer of the Divine Realm, have broken these four formations…… When will I be able to break these four great formations with merely the power of the Embryonic Treasury Realm? Then my attainment in formation arts will be considered to have entered the gate."

The four monarchs stared at each other, unable to speak.

Just a light finger broke the four formations of hundreds of thousands, and you still claim your formation attainment hasn't entered the gate?

What monster crawled out of somewhere?

Shaking his head, the monarch with a purple complexion said in a deep voice: "Your cultivation reaches the heavens, truly terrifying, terrifying…… but to oppose my Sui Chao is the stupidest thing you could do in this lifetime."

In the distance, the sound of drums and horns shook heaven and earth; along the banks of the Biluo River, more than a dozen armies from the Sui Chao provincial capitals had already rushed forward.

Feng Xiao stood behind Wu Tie and couldn't help giving a grim smile: "This is my beloved great‑uncle…… he actually truly intends to exterminate us."

Wu Tie turned, lightly patting Feng Xiao's shoulder: "Rest assured, I will help you pull your beloved great‑uncle down from the throne."

After a pause, Wu Tie seemed not to have heard the distant shouts of soldiers and the earth‑shaking drumbeats; he smiled and asked Feng Xiao: "Have you heard of Pei Feng?"

Feng Xiao stared blankly, then shook his head.

Wu Tie's complexion gradually grew gloomy.

"Then what about Mo Zhu Wan?" Wu Tie narrowed his eyes and spoke the place name that Bai Su Xin had entrusted to him.