Chapter 856

At this moment, all eyes in the Select Vanguard Camp turned to Li Zhong.

Muted murmurs filled the air.

"Is it really him?"

"Only the Select Vanguard ever raided beyond the passes daily… who else could it be? Could you have repelled ten thousand Rouran cavalry?"

The garrison commander Lu Yan paused slightly, stroking his long beard: "Hmm… but there is no evidence for this!"

The left-path cultivator Hou Mo stepped forward, raising his sinister long banner; hundreds of condensed soldier-souls within suddenly surged out—one forming a twisted face.

The soldiers of the Select Vanguard below cried out in alarm: "Rouran Witch Riders?"

Hou Mo shook the Hundred Souls Banner and demanded of the Rouran Witch Rider: "Do you remember who killed you?"

Dozens of Rouran Witch Riders first looked bewildered, then, under instinctive spiritual resonance, pointed at Li Zhong: "Him! The Black Demon… he killed us!"

"Six years ago…" Chen Chong was about to speak again.

But Cao Cao Xuanwei raised a hand slightly to stop him, calmly saying: "By my order, if the soldiers are convinced, why can he not be promoted to commander? Do I not even possess this much authority?"

Cao Cao Xuanwei pointed at Li Zhong from afar: "My men, I appoint Li Zhong as your commander—any objections?"

The soldiers of the four camps of Wuchuan, whose limbs had grown weak from the scorching wind and the terror of the Bai Hu's lethal aura, exchanged glances—then one stepped forward and said: "I accept!"

Soon, a chorus of "I accept!" rose in scattered voices.

Then it swelled into a unified roar: "We all accept!"

Under Chen Chong and Hou Mo's lead, the Select Vanguard knelt and shouted in unison: "Hail our commander!"

Seeing this, the garrison commander Lu Yan could only bow slightly: "We obey the imperial decree!"

He immediately handed Li Zhong the commander's whip and banner, then opened the arms depot, allowing Li Zhong to freely distribute one hundred imperial guard black-armored troops…

Li Zhong had spent decades among the Select Vanguard and knew every face; he awarded black armor to several trusted comrades—skilled, steady, and experienced—and had them recruit others; soon, a hundred elite cavalry gathered around him.

Li Zhong concealed his cultivation base and, with sharp insight, saw through every type of man in the Select Vanguard.

In selecting ninety-nine men, not a single one objected!

Though the command platform was already ruined, soldiers from every camp kept stepping forward to challenge—either requesting Cao Cao Xuanwei to instruct them, or challenging those who had already received black armor.

The three sons of He He Ba Du stepped forward and eliminated most challengers; few dared challenge Li Zhong, and none lasted more than a single slash. As hundreds of black armors were distributed, Li Zhong led his hundred elite Select Vanguard cavalry into a separate formation, standing behind Cao Cao Xuanwei.

Others followed suit, quickly draining the elite from all four camps.

Even He He Ba Du and Tuoba Tuoba Chi Nu were forced to send one hundred elite troops clad in black armor to stand behind Cao Cao Xuanwei.

Thus, Li Zhong took the crucial step toward becoming a camp commander, and Cao Cao Xuanwei seized control of Wuchuanzhen.

On the watchtower, Tuoba Tao watched silently—this was the power of wielding righteous authority and holding a name-bearing artifact.

He had struggled for years in Huaihuang Town, leading his troops to build merit, yet remained merely a camp commander—while Cao Cao Xuanwei, merely by invoking his crown prince status, recruited the finest troops of Wuchuanzhen and thereby gained control over all eight camps.

And Li Zhong?

Just moments ago, he was nothing but a squad leader—now he was a camp commander, equal in status to himself!

With the situation settled, Cao Cao Xuanwei summoned ten elite cavalry units, had Li Zhong mount the dragon steed he brought, and the black-armored elite cavalry surged from the camp like a coiling dragon—even newly armored, their formation was disciplined, radiating a chilling aura.

"To the nine-story Buddhist pagoda where the Garrison True Person resides?"

Cao Cao Xuanwei ordered the ten commanders.

"How many stories?" Li Zhong frowned.

Cao Cao Xuanwei smiled: "Do you think I can't see such a towering nine-story pagoda?"

Li Zhong asked someone beside him: "How many stories does the pagoda where the Garrison True Person resides have?"

Chen Chong declared: "Nine stories! Who in Wuchuanzhen doesn't know that?"

Li Zhong nodded slightly: "Good for you…"

Chen Chong scratched his head in confusion—he had already donned black armor and had tossed his precious talisman armor to his younger brother.

But Chen Shun had no interest in that ragged talisman armor—he begged Li Zhong for black armor too, and now wore it!

Ten elite cavalry units, each surrounding their own commander.

Among them, the Select Vanguard had two units—one led by the left-path cultivator Hou Mo, who had challenged Cao Cao Xuanwei on the command platform; his black banner contained five hundred soldier-souls, forged from the spirits of elite Rouran and demon-clan warriors, and even valiant souls gathered from mixed barbarian tribes.

Thus, he seized one hundred black armors.

Of course, he knew full well that had Cao Cao Xuanwei not deliberately supported Li Zhong…

Li Zhong would have needed his own loyal force.

Under the Copper Sparrow Spear's heavenly flames, five hundred soldier-souls were nothing but one spear's prey!

Each of the four camp commanders led two hundred black-armored troops, while Cao Cao Xuanwei personally selected other elite soldiers from the remaining four camps, assigning them to his trusted junior officers as two hundred personal guards surrounding him.

Li Zhong rode close beside Cao Cao Xuanwei and asked softly: "Why go to the Garrison True Person?"

Cao Cao Xuanwei replied calmly: "After gathering your thousand elite cavalry, the city's situation largely falls under my control—except for one place, whose allegiance remains uncertain. So my second objective is to confirm the Garrison True Person still stands loyal, ensuring the city's great array remains secure!"

Li Zhong looked at him with complex eyes—he had made the right decision; the Garrison True Person Tan Tan Wuchen had indeed gone awry.

A Moon Demon had infiltrated his body.

With Cao Cao Xuanwei's power, even if the Moon Demon held court within Tan Tan Wuchen's life-pagoda, with Tan resisting from within and Cao leading a thousand black-armored cavalry to besiege from without, it would be easy to shatter the Moon Demon's scheme—at least reclaim control of Wuchuan City's array.

But now, both the Moon Demon and Tan Tan Wuchen have been suppressed by my elder brother!

If I tell Cao Cao Xuanwei now, will he believe my brother means no harm?

Li Zhong stared at Cao Cao Xuanwei, feeling he was walking straight into a tiger's den.

His own younger brother now feared the pagoda; how many layers of skin would this outsider shed stepping inside?

Watching a thousand elite cavalry, raised in Wuchuan City, arrive calmly beneath the nine-story pagoda and encircle it from all sides, Li Zhong grew increasingly uneasy—he could not forget Brother Qian Chen's words: this moment, all of it, was merely a projection of his Dao Dust Pearl.

His battle with Cao Cao Xuanwei, Cao's entire scheme…

Only reflected within his elder brother's fingertips, within the Supreme Dao Dust Pearl…

If Li Er refused, a single thought could erase it all; if he permitted it, the Dao Dust Pearl would descend from the river of time, and this would become real.

Such earth-shattering power—far surpassing the mere first slash of my Bai Hu Seven Kill: Flowing Water, which only severs three hundred zhang of time.

After all, Flowing Water could only sever time within three hundred zhang, while my brother had sealed the entire Earth Immortal Realm's time within the Supreme Dao Dust Pearl. Li Zhong had once thought this exaggerated—but then again, it was the Supreme Dao Dust Pearl.

One of the Three Treasures of the Supreme Dao Ancestor; such power was entirely reasonable.

Before the nine-story pagoda, Cao Cao Xuanwei gestured, and the black-armored cavalry formed a formation; the four-directional lethal aura linked together, channeling the martial energy of every soldier through their armor into a single transformation.

Chains of black aura bound the cavalry together from all sides.

Black walls suddenly rose from all directions, becoming four iron barriers that enclosed the nine-story pagoda.

Iron-armored walls—seemingly, at Cao Cao Xuanwei's command, they could crush the pagoda beneath their weight.

But Li Zhong knew it was all illusion.

They could not even distinguish between the nine-story pagoda and the six-story pagoda.

This pagoda now bore the entire Wuchuanzhen—it could not be broken by a thousand black-armored cavalry. Li Zhong even doubted that even if eight thousand elite troops from Chang'an arrived, and another thousand from Luoyang, totaling ten thousand…

Could they break this pagoda of true and illusory interplay?

Cao Cao Xuanwei knocked on the gate at the pagoda's base; with a heavy thud, the door slowly opened.

Brother Qian Chen held a wooden bowl, still that battered, broken bell, standing behind the door; seeing Cao Cao Xuanwei's party, he nodded slightly: "Come in?"

He He Basheng frowned: "Who are you? Where is Master Tan?"

"He is below," Brother Qian Chen said calmly. "I am also a Buddhist disciple, here to lodge temporarily, under Master Tan's care."

"Lodge temporarily?"

He He Basheng and his brothers exchanged glances—they truly did not know whether Tan Tan Wuchen would accept monks to lodge.

After all, he lived in seclusion—but seeing women occasionally entering and leaving the pagoda, perhaps he did not forbid outsiders from staying within.

Brother Qian Chen gestured for them to enter, leading them upward.

Cao Cao Xuanwei watched Brother Qian Chen closely, and merely signaled his men to remain alert.

Then the group ascended the pagoda. Cao Cao Xuanwei's expression shifted slightly, then asked: "Wasn't Master Tan said to be on the lower floors? Why lead us up?"

Brother Qian Chen turned back, surprised: "He is suppressing evil spirits—he cannot receive guests."

"What evil spirit could have slipped into the city without our notice?"

He He Basheng asked warily.

Brother Qian Chen's gaze was clear: "The master of the Moon Demon Sect—a skin-demon."

"Moon Demon?" Many officers exchanged glances, suspicion deepening—except Li Zhong, who walked calmly at the front; he had seen that Moon Demon with his own eyes being suppressed.

Cao Cao Xuanwei walked beside Brother Qian Chen, scanning the pagoda—outside, it appeared no more than a few zhang wide, yet within, it stretched like a palace.

He suddenly asked: "Master, you lodge in this Vajra Samadhi Pagoda—what sect of Buddhism do you belong to?"

"The white lotus blooms, the Bright Lord descends!" Brother Qian Chen smiled. "I am a disciple of the White Lotus Sect."

"White Lotus Sect?"

He He Basheng felt this novice spoke nothing but lies; his suspicion grew deeper.

"I've never heard of any White Lotus Sect!"

Even Cao Cao Xuanwei frowned slightly—his spiritual sense stirred faintly at the name.

"After a thousand future kalpas, at the end of countless eons, a future Buddha will appear, opening the Other Shore, saving all beings. Then, in the boundless fires of calamity, a white lotus will bloom, bearing the Pure Land of the Other Shore, carrying all beings of past and future, sparing them from destruction."

Brother Qian Chen spoke slowly: "This is the supreme scripture of our sect: The Sutra of the Future Star Constellation Kalpa of a Thousand Buddhas, and The Sutra of the Future Buddha's Descent."

"The world has three ages: Green Yang, Red Yang, White Yang. In the Green Yang age, our Buddha was the Sun-Moon-Lamp Buddha; after White Yang, our Buddha will be the Future Star Constellation Buddha…"

Cao Cao Xuanwei asked casually: "And the Red Yang age?"

"The Red Yang age is now—our Buddha is hidden, not yet descended," Brother Qian Chen said, opening the underground chamber and gesturing for them to descend.

He He Bayue mused: "In the Red Yang calamity, the White Yang shall perish. So you intend to ignite White Yang and extinguish Red Yang—to overthrow the present world? What is this heretical sect?"