Chapter 844

A piece of news spread like a plague, instantly reaching every corner of the Sui Chao court.

The four state lords, four provincial governors, and five chief eunuch supervisors tasked with hunting down the remnants of the rebel king Feng Shang all perished.

Tens of thousands of the imperial guards were defeated and retreated.

A million provincial troops were routed.

A nameless person of unknown origin and background thrust a blade sideways, rescuing Feng Xiao, three princes, five royal grandsons, and twenty-three trusted warriors of the Yin Prince's mansion.

Three days later, Feng Xiao and his group appeared at the shore of White Crystal Lake. Three provincial governors, commanding thirty-six thousand provincial troops, laid siege; the three governors fell and the thirty-six thousand troops were routed.

Two days later, Feng Xiao and his group appeared beside the Red Leaf Pond. One state lord and six provincial governors, commanding fifty-four thousand provincial troops, laid siege; the state lord and five governors fell and the fifty-four thousand troops were routed. One governor fled the battlefield, and Feng Rong ordered the extermination of his nine clans.

Four days later, Feng Xiao and his group swaggered through Tongshan County. The four great state lords and twenty-seven provincial governors mustered their clan's elite forces, summoning thirty-two divine kings, one hundred seventy-five heavenly gods, one thousand four hundred ninety-seven earth gods, and tens of thousands of human gods to attack.

A powerful wielder, commanding the divine pearl of spiritual treasure, captured the four great state lords, twenty-seven provincial governors, and all clan elites in one battle, reducing them all to ashes.

Seven days later, Feng Xiao and his group openly displayed their military might as they passed beneath Baixiu City in the Xiu State of the Sui Chao dynasty. The lord of Xiu State mobilized the full strength of his twelve prefectures, great and small noble houses, joining forces with three million cultivators at the Life Pond realm or above to set up a great formation and lay siege.

The Great Dao Crucible raged, seizing the weapons, armor, and various spiritual treasures of the Xiu State army; a Yin-Yang Daoist broke the formation with a single finger, wounding the lord of Xiu State severely, who then committed suicide in public, his dying words pleading with Feng Rong to understand his resolve to fight to the death and spare his clan.

Feng Rong flew into a rage, issuing an edict that demoted the lord of Xiu State's entire household, old and young, into slavery, and consigned all the women to the Imperial Music Bureau to be abused at will.

Five days later, Feng Xiao and his group passed through Xiang State; the lord of Xiang State shut his gates and refused to fight, only after they had passed did he lead his entire household, loot the state treasury, and flee southward. Two months later, word arrived that the lord of Xiang State had pledged allegiance to the southern Ghost State, where the supreme Nine Abysses Ghost Emperor ennobled him as a king and personally transformed him, stripping away his flesh and blood to become a ghostly entity.

Feng Rong flew into a rage again, and within Xiang State's borders he executed eleven provincial governors, one hundred twenty-seven prefectural magistrates, and one thousand four hundred fifty-eight county magistrates.

The current sect master of the White Lotus Palace, Bai Su Xin, knocked open the forbidden mountain gate, summoned the thirty-six secluded Grand Supreme Masters of the White Lotus Palace, mobilized 120,000 elite disciples, issued an order to the world, and called for the pursuit of Feng Xiao.

At this moment, Wu Tie was leisurely leading Feng Xiao and the others along the shore of White Goose Lake.

White Goose Lake is vast and misty, spanning eight thousand li in radius, its waters rich with lush vegetation, its scenery exceedingly beautiful, its aquatic products abundant and delicious. The lake contains over a hundred small islands inhabited by various species of white geese, hence its name.

With his hands behind his back, Wu Tie stood on a large stone by the lake, gazing at the distant white sails dotting the water as fishermen sang and laughed while casting their nets, and he felt a great sense of ease.

All along the way, Wu Tie led Feng Xiao as if they were touring mountains and waters, crushing wave after wave of pursuers.

All along the way, Feng Xiao, under Wu Tie's protection, made contact with the hidden posts and secret agents that Feng Shang had planted throughout Sui Chao, finally learning everything about Mo Zhuwan.

"Lord Wu Tie, this is the full story of Mo Zhuwan." Feng Xiao handed Wu Tie a jade slip sent via a secret channel, apologetically saying, "I usually pay no attention to court affairs, and only now have I managed to learn of this major matter; I am truly sorry."

After a light cough, Feng Xiao said in a low voice, "This is also because His Majesty the Grandfather, to save face for his elder brother, ordered the news sealed; aside from the senior officials who discussed it in the main hall that day, outsiders hardly knew anything about Mo Zhuwan. If not for the fact that my father remains in the imperial city, with a few hidden lines still open, this news would not have gotten out."

Wu Tie took the jade slip, poured his spiritual soul power into it, and a flood of information immediately surged forth.

In the attack on Mo Zhuwan, everyone that Feng Rong had placed inside was killed.

The attacker of Mo Zhuwan was none other than the master of Blood Prison Mountain in the western Demon State, Blood Prison.

Earlier, when Sui Chao launched a retaliatory assault on Blood Prison Mountain, a large number of imperial guard officers loyal to Feng Shang were sent to fight in the western Demon State, but their teleportation formation was cut off, and Feng Rong denounced them as rebels.

A million Sui Chao border troops suffered a crushing defeat at the foot of Blood Prison Mountain, with countless soldiers captured alive.

According to reports from the western front, under the command of the Blood Prison Mountain master there has appeared a female general clad in black armor who wields the power of the apocalyptic demon phoenix. She is quite adept at military affairs, having forged the disparate mobs of the western Demon State into a cohesive force, giving the Sui Chao western border troops no end of trouble.

"Pei Feng! She's at Blood Prison Mountain!" Wu Tie crushed the jade slip into powder in his grip.

He burst out laughing: "Ha, we're not going to the Eastern Demon State, well, we're heading west. After we meet up with Pei Feng, we'll have a proper talk with Feng Rong and the whole of Sui Chao."

Amid the clanging sounds, sword lights shot up into the sky, vast waves of righteous qi shaking the void, as tens of thousands of White Lotus Palace disciples formed a sword array, cooperating with a million imperial guards, their stern momentum pressing toward Wu Tie and his companions.

"You're useless!" Wu Tie laughed, shook his head, and the Great Dao Crucible flew up from above his head, its crimson flames illuminating the void.

The weapons in the hands of the White Lotus Palace disciples and the million imperial guards, the armor on their bodies—any treasure forged with postnatal fire—were instantly reverted to their origin, turning into vast clouds of metal powder that blew away in the wind.

A flash of spiritual light flickered across the surface of the Great Dao Crucible, sending forth a tremendous suction that drew every speck of metal powder clean away.

The White Lotus Palace disciples, bare-fisted, stared dumbfounded.

The million imperial guards, bare-fisted, stood there like wooden statues.

In the distance, several dignified state lords and provincial governors exchanged a glance, simultaneously sighed, and one state lord turned silently and strode straight toward a mighty city beside White Goose Lake.

In less than ten breaths, that state lord led a mighty fleet straight up into the sky, racing eastward at full speed.

White Goose Lake lies within the fief of that state lord, where Wu Tie and his companions have appeared; this state lord is the one responsible for apprehending them. Now that the apprehension has failed, given Feng Rong's conduct these past days, this state lord faces the calamity of having his nine clans exterminated.

So, while Feng Rong remains unaware, flee!

Fleeing to the Eastern Demon State doesn't sound too bad either.

That state lord fled so decisively and resolutely that the other state lords and provincial governors who had come with him to muster troops for the encirclement exchanged a glance and, without a word, likewise turned and walked away.

There's no way to go on living like this.

Even if Feng Rong orders punishment… Wu Tie and his companions possess unfathomable cultivation, their Dao and magic are supreme, and they also carry several extraordinary ancient treasures. They cannot be defeated; there is no way to fight them—just look at those state lords who mustered their clan's elite to besiege them earlier, didn't they lose all their elite?

They cannot be defeated.

But if they do not fight, Feng Rong's punishment will soon arrive…

"If there is no place for me here, there will be a place elsewhere…" From afar came the lament of a state lord: "Alas, the foundation of my family line, built over countless generations, is lost here… Flee, flee, in any direction there will be some refuge."

"I'll fuck your ancestors!" a state lord finally bellowed from the depths of his heart.