Chapter 864

There are hardly any loyal ministers and capable generals left in Sui Du City.

Feng Rong promised to make Qing Wu, a petty eunuch, a king, yet no one objected.

Wa Qingluan laughed aloud, her blossoms shaking, smug and radiant, her eyes glistening as she looked at Qing Wu.

Ah, it's just a kingship.

Given Wa Qingluan's true feelings now, if Feng Rong weren't her son, she would rather see Qing Wu take the throne.

Qing Wu bore the demeanor of a favored little eunuch—cautious, restrained, yet with a hint of petty arrogance, smiling lightly and flirtatiously. Occasionally his peripheral glance swept over Wa Qingluan, and a faint light flashed in his pupils.

All the chaotic, improper emotions in Wa Qingluan's heart were instantly smoothed away.

She became once again that ruthless, deep‑scheming empress dowager, wholeheartedly plotting whether Feng Rong's throne would be secure.

"Your Majesty, none of the rebels outside the city may be spared." Wa Qingluan said word by word: "This time they have come out on their own—what a good thing. If we net them all, Your Majesty's realm will truly be everlasting."

"An iron‑clad eternal realm paired with Your Majesty's immortality—that is the true Supreme Divine Emperor." Wa Qingluan calmly analyzed its significance for Feng Rong.

"I know. Mother, rest assured—none of them will escape." Feng Rong narrowed his eyes, killing intent flashing like a blade: "Just wait for Sui Du's defensive grand formation to wear down their spirit, then I…"

Feng Rong still had confidence.

No matter how strong Xiahou Wuming's connections, how great his authority, or how many troops he commands, Sui Du's defensive grand formation is enough to keep them outside the city.

As long as Sui Du's Firewood Transmission Grand Formation holds, just watch Xiahou Wuming's army slowly wear down.

Wait until they are mostly dead.

Feng Rong looked up—thousands of disc‑shaped secret treasures hovered silently in the high sky, ready to draw the souls and drain the blood of the fallen, condensing them into offerings for the Heaven and Earth Gods.

When they are mostly dead, Feng Rong will initiate the final Heaven Sacrifice Grand Ceremony, granting himself immortality, greater talent than Feng Shang, and directly superior cultivation power.

From then on, the realm would be eternal and he would be immortal.

Feng Rong smiled, his whole body trembling slightly, smiling.

Outside the city, low war drums began to beat—at first only Xiahou Wuming himself drummed to rally the troops, then countless war drums sounded in the Righteous Army camps on all sides, towering killing intent surging to the heavens; above each military formation, fire dragons, fire phoenixes, fire eagles, and fire horses rapidly coalesced.

Because of Sui Fire, the killing‑spirit army souls condensed by Sui Dynasty's military formations are all flame‑attribute birds and beasts.

This is also a trait of Sui Dynasty's military formations, differing greatly from the effects of Wu Tie's Wu Tribe formations and Wuguo's various military formations.

From all directions, countless Righteous Army archers raised strong bows and stiff crossbows; with a "whoosh" like a rising gale, arrows thick as dark clouds poured down from heaven to earth toward Sui Du.

Above Sui Du, Feng Rong burst into laughter: "Arrow formation? Is it useful?"

Feng Rong raised the heirloom jade seal he carried, waved it lightly, and said, "Firewood Transmission Grand Formation, activate fully!"

From Feng Rong's chest flew a water‑tank‑sized spark of Sui Fire, scattering countless rays of light across Sui Du. These spots were the formation eyes of the Firewood Transmission Grand Formation; normally, when the spark fell, the whole Sui Dynasty would emit a gentle firelight.

The Firewood Transmission Grand Formation possesses boundless power.

Based on Sui Fire, the entire Sui Du will blaze; the convictions of every emperor, general, official, soldier, and commoner within the city will become fuel for this grand formation.

Any subject of the Sui Dynasty will suffer no harm in this firelight.

Any invading enemy, especially the demons and monsters of the four directions, will be reduced to ashes in this firelight.

"Just arrows…" Feng Rong smiled restrainedly, "just arrows—not a single one can penetrate even half a step into Sui Du."

The next moment, a low explosive roar echoed from everywhere in Sui Du.

Formation eyes shattered, formation altars crumbled, vessels bearing Sui Fire's power exploded into flying shards. The vast Sui Fire Transmission Grand Formation, covering all of Sui Du and set up as a national protection grand formation since the founding of the Sui Dynasty, collapsed on the spot.

Feng Rong stared blankly as the black cloud formed by condensed high‑altitude arrows howled down, precisely shaping into a huge square that engulfed the entire Imperial City.

Now those remaining in the Imperial City are nothing but Feng Rong's die‑hard loyalists.

No one expected the Firewood Transmission Grand Formation to fail, nor that the arrow formation would go berserk and directly cover the whole Imperial City.

Countless civil and military officials loyal to Feng Rong, along with imperial guard soldiers, were gathering and organizing around the Imperial City, preparing for war, while many eunuchs with guards flung open storehouse doors like mad dogs to inspect them.

As the arrows fell, wails rang out without cease.

The Imperial City's buildings were sturdy enough to block countless arrows, yet those standing outside the palace—guards, eunuchs, civil and military officials—cried out like reeds in a storm, collapsing in heaps upon the ground.

Very few could react in time, very few could promptly raise a defensive secret treasure, for the arrow attack came all too suddenly.

The Firewood Transmission Grand Formation—just shattered out of the blue.

"Xiahou Wuming, you old scoundrel!" Feng Rong flew into a rage, looking at his dead and wounded subordinates, and spat out a mouthful of blood: "You, you, you… when did you…!"

Xiahou Wuming drummed with one hand and smirked with the other: "Prince Jin, Your Highness Feng Rong, don't forget—over the past hundred thousand years, I have been the one maintaining the Firewood Transmission Grand Formation."

"Since I have emptied Sui Du's grain, armaments, even rice, flour, oil, salt, sauce, vinegar, and tea, you guess… have I also dismantled the Firewood Transmission Grand Formation and replaced it with previously damaged, discarded junk?"

Feng Rong's body swayed unsteadily, and a mouthful of blood spurted far away again.

Xiahou Wuming said calmly: "Prince Feng Rong, you truly are not the material to be a God Emperor… If it were Prince Feng Shang, should he suspect this old minister, he would surely thoroughly purge all the affairs this old minister has overseen and controlled these years; the old minister's seal and orders would absolutely have to be reviewed countless times before being sent out."

"You, aside from killing, aside from senseless killing, what do you have that could befit a God Emperor?"

Xiahou Wuming shook his head: "Do you think you are a qualified God Emperor?"

Feng Rong gritted his teeth, his face grim as he looked at Xiahou Wuming: "I am! I will tell you, I am!"