Chapter 560: Riding the Dragon, Supporting the Dragon

The ambush set up by Tong An included not only several powerful experts and hundreds of gunmen, but also hundreds of martial artists.

These martial artists came from the Stop-Conflict Academy, the Wang family, and various underworld figures that Tong An had recruited and subdued.

But Li Fei's speed in killing was simply too fast!

Before the martial artists lurking nearby could receive the order to strike, the head of the Wang family had already been beheaded, two Great Mages of the Possession Realm from the Justice Court had been slain, and Tong An, who had set the trap, had run away directly.

This left these martial artists in a very awkward position, and they could only disperse in silence.

Lu Lu Wenxing took two Dao Foundation Realm officials to pursue Tong An, as Li Fei had requested that he be captured alive if possible.

Li Fei ordered the remaining two Dao Foundation Realm officials to take the others and rush to the Justice Court to bring it under control.

In the end, only Li Fei remained on the long street.

"Chief Hu."

Li Fei turned to look at Hu Hua, who was hiding at the very back with a bewildered expression, and said very politely:

"Please continue to lead the way."

"Ah?"

Hu Hua snapped back to reality, nodded hurriedly, and ran toward Li Fei with the fastest speed of his life:

"Yes, yes, yes, my lord, please!"

The rest of the journey was smooth, and under Hu Hua's guidance, Li Fei arrived safely at the residence of Chongcheng Prefect Fu Fu Guangyong.

The martial artists who had been taking orders from Tong An had all fled after receiving the news, so Fu Fu Guangyong had regained his freedom and was standing outside the main gate waiting.

Upon seeing Li Fei and the others, his eyes lit up, and he rushed forward in a single bound, bowing:

"This subordinate greets the Imperial Envoy! Many thanks to the Imperial Envoy for saving my life!"

He had already received news from the City Guard in advance, knowing that this Imperial Envoy was very young, so he recognized Li Fei's identity at a glance.

Li Fei looked at the bowing Fu Fu Guangyong: "You are the Prefect of Chongcheng?"

"That is this subordinate."

"Was it you who gave the order to gather everyone together?"

Fu Fu Guangyong's body trembled, but he remained bowed: "This subordinate was threatened by Tong An, the Head of the Chongcheng Stop-Conflict Academy, with the lives of my entire family; I had no choice but to issue such an order. I beg the lord to investigate clearly!"

"Besides the Stop-Conflict Academy and the Justice Court, has anyone else in the city rebelled?"

Li Fei asked.

"There is also the largest local noble family, the Wang family, who joined the rebellion. Aside from them, there are only some local gangs and underworld figures that Tong An usually recruits."

Fu Fu Guangyong answered truthfully.

Li Fei: "How many men do you, as Prefect, still have under your command?"

"The entire Inspectorate has over three hundred inspectors, and there are over three hundred City Guards that this subordinate can still command. In addition, there are two large local families; combined, they have over thirty martial artists and over a hundred gunmen, whom this subordinate can also command."

Fu Fu Guangyong said with great certainty.

This was also the reason why Tong An had not killed him outright.

Holding such power, in a situation where no one else dared to rebel, he was actually the most powerful person in Chongcheng.

Unfortunately, when faced with a rebellion, Tong An had entered his residence alone and held him captive.

"My lord, this subordinate has an important piece of intelligence to report. Previously, the rebel Tong An told this subordinate personally that in a short while, fifty Imperial Camp cavalrymen, dozens of martial artists, and over three hundred inspectors and two hundred City Guards would arrive in Chongcheng!"

Fu Fu Guangyong said.

"Understood."

Li Fei's expression did not change, and he appeared very calm:

"Tell all the commoners to go home and stay there; do not walk about."

"Call up everyone you can mobilize and have them go to the city walls to defend."

Seeing Li Fei's confident demeanor, coupled with his clean and efficient disposal of Tong An and the others, Fu Fu Guangyong felt much more at ease:

"Yes! This subordinate will go do it immediately. My lord, please come inside and sit for a while in this subordinate's residence."

Thus, Li Fei walked into Fu Fu Guangyong's residence and sat down in the main hall.

He was calculating the upcoming 'siege battle'.

Dozens of martial artists, over three hundred inspectors, and two hundred City Guards—none of these were worth worrying about; the key was those fifty Imperial Camp cavalrymen.

If they could be blocked, Chongcheng would be saved.

If they could not, the people of Chongcheng would still be slaughtered!

Li Fei waited in Fu Fu Guangyong's residence for over ten minutes before Lu Lu Wenxing and the others returned with Tong An.

Tong An was the Dao Foundation Realm archer who had been shooting arrows from afar just moments ago.

He excelled in long-range attacks, but without anyone to support him, he encountered three Dao Foundation Realm experts and was ultimately captured alive.

He was restrained by the joint efforts of Lu Lu Wenxing and another Dao Foundation Realm official, dragged before Li Fei, and forced directly to his knees.

"My lord, the man has been captured."

Lu Lu Wenxing said to Li Fei, who was sitting in the center of the hall.

"Imperial Envoy, spare my life!"

Upon seeing Li Fei, Tong An shouted hurriedly, "I am willing to atone for my crimes through service! There are fifty Imperial Camp cavalrymen from Jinshan Prefecture coming to attack the city with hundreds of men. I am willing to atone for my crimes; I beg the Imperial Envoy to give me a chance!"

Hearing about the fifty Imperial Camp cavalrymen, the expressions of Lu Lu Wenxing and the others changed immediately.

Seeing Li Fei remain silent, Lu Lu Wenxing hurriedly sent a sound transmission:

"My lord, thirty Imperial Camp soldiers can form a formation, which is at least comparable to a 5th-tier Dao Foundation Realm expert. Fifty men in formation are enough to surround and kill a peak Dao Foundation Realm expert! Moreover, the Imperial Camp cavalrymen have exotic beasts as mounts, making their killing power even greater!

This Tong An is a rare archer; he might not be good in a frontal fight, but he is very useful for defending the city. It would be better to spare his life for now and give him a chance to make up for his crimes."

Li Fei remained expressionless after listening; he looked at Tong An, who was kneeling on the ground:

"Was it you who forced Fu Fu Guangyong to issue the order for all the commoners to leave their homes and gather together?"

Tong An glanced at Fu Fu Guangyong, who was sitting to the side, and gritted his teeth: "It was me, but I..."

"You know what the Great Luo Sect sent people to Chongcheng to do, right?"

Li Fei interrupted him and continued to ask.

Tong An's body trembled. He had wanted to say he was unaware, but if he were unaware, he wouldn't have made Fu Fu Guangyong order all the families of the inspectors and City Guards to be moved to the other two districts.

If he still claimed ignorance, it would be an insult to Li Fei's intelligence.

"I know I was wrong! I beg the lord to give me a chance to redeem my life! I am willing to die defending Chongcheng!"

At this moment, Tong An could only pin his hopes on his status as a Dao Foundation Realm expert, hoping that Li Fei would consider this and give him a chance to live.

The man who had previously planned to cooperate with outsiders to slaughter the people of Chongcheng was now saying he would die to defend Chongcheng.

Reality is sometimes just that ironic.

Li Fei slowly rose from his seat, and Fu Fu Guangyong, who was to the side, also hurriedly stood up.

"You don't know you were wrong."

Li Fei walked in front of Tong An and looked down at him:

"You just know that you are going to die."

Tong An's face changed drastically; as a dignified Dao Foundation Realm expert, he could not help but tremble at this moment:

"I beg the lord to give me a chance! I am still useful! I can kill the enemy! I really can—"

*Slap! *

Li Fei casually slapped Tong An on the head. Tong An's body shuddered, his mouth opened, and he could no longer make a sound.

"You are not worthy of defending Chongcheng; I will do it."

Li Fei looked into Tong An's eyes and said this.

Lu Lu Wenxing sighed in his heart and released Tong An along with his companion.

Tong An collapsed directly onto the ground, bleeding from his seven orifices, and soon stopped breathing.

"My lord."

Just then, a formal martial master from the Stop-Conflict Pavilion ran into the hall:

"We have taken the Justice Court, destroyed the formations they set up, and all the people there have been brought under our control."

The only two Great Mages of the Possession Realm in the Justice Court had died at Li Fei's hands, so the remaining people naturally could not stop the experts of the Stop-Conflict Pavilion and were easily captured.

"Prefect Fu."

Li Fei turned his head to look at Fu Fu Guangyong.

Fu Fu Guangyong hurriedly cupped his hands: "My lord."

"Send men to detain the people from the Justice Court separately."

"Yes."

"If Jinshan Prefecture sends people, from which direction will they come?"

"They should come from the west of Chongcheng."

"Then we will go to the West City Gate first."

"Yes."

Li Fei looked at the formal martial master who had come to report: "Leave two men to watch over the Justice Court, and have everyone else go to the West City Gate to rendezvous."

Once the man received the order and left, Li Fei led his group out of the residence and headed toward the West City Gate.

"My lord, the Imperial Camp soldiers are not easy to deal with, and the Imperial Camp cavalrymen are even harder to resist. My lord, please do not underestimate the enemy."

On the way, Lu Lu Wenxing took the initiative to walk to Li Fei's side and reminded him in a low voice.

Li Fei nodded.

He naturally would not underestimate the 'sharp weapon' that the Great Lan Dynasty relied on to dominate the world and sweep across the six directions.

In this era where great power belongs to the individual, the power of the collective is still able to suppress the power of the individual; the Imperial Camp Army deserves much of the credit!

The highest officials in every region are still civil officials, and the laws of the imperial court can force martial arts experts to comply, one important reason being that the Imperial Camp Army is stationed in every region.

Li Fei had previously fought against various Foundation Establishment realm experts, fought against Great Mages of the Possession realm, fought against martial arts masters, and even fought against True Lords in his dreams.

But he had never fought against the Imperial Camp Army, nor had he witnessed the most powerful collective force of this era.

So, at this moment, he felt a sense of anticipation deep within his heart!

Outside the Jinshan Prefecture city, two great True Lords were dueling.

The people inside the city could only hear the constant sound of thunder, while the sky outside the city was covered in dark clouds, with lightning flashing and thunder rolling; a terrifying storm was forming outside the city!

Within those dark clouds, brilliant stars flickered from time to time.

The thousand-meter-tall bright white Dharma form of True Lord Qingxu grew increasingly imposing.

This Dharma form of his belonged to the metal element, resembling a sharp sword that could pierce the heavens and slaughter the earth, peerlessly sharp!

As the blood sacrifices began one after another across various regions, the Son of Heaven's dragon energy condensed by True Lord Qingxu increased, and the magic array he had laid out strengthened accordingly, allowing the power descending to increase bit by bit.

At a certain moment, a golden sword light pierced through the dark clouds, and also pierced through the stars filling the sky!

The disk of starlight condensed by Xiang Xiang Yunshu using his natal magic treasure, the "Luo Heaven Star Disk," was pierced by this sword light and shattered into pieces.

Xiang Xiang Yunshu brought out a palm-sized compass, injected vigorous true power into it, and used this compass to block the sword light.

Boom!!

The starlight-flickering compass vibrated violently, and Xiang Xiang Yunshu spat out a mouthful of blood.

"Xiang Xiang Yunshu!"

True Lord Qingxu's voice seemed to trigger a resonance with heaven and earth, grand in the extreme:

"You are also one of my Daoist school; I will give you a chance. Submit to me, and in the future, I can grant you a place in my Daoist kingdom, giving you the opportunity for eternal life and immortality!"

He knew that Xiang Xiang Yunshu must understand what his ultimate goal was in establishing a Daoist kingdom.

"Hahahaha!"

Xiang Xiang Yunshu laughed loudly while driving his natal magic treasure to resist True Lord Qingxu's attack.

True Lord Qingxu's towering Dharma form looked down at Xiang Xiang Yunshu, who was surrounded by thunder: "What are you laughing at?"

"I have my own path to longevity and my own way to ascend to heaven; why would I need to beg you?"

Xiang Xiang Yunshu laughed aloud.

"Oh?"

True Lord Qingxu suddenly raised his head to look toward the southwest.

Ordinary people could not see it, but only martial artists who had cultivated divine abilities and True Persons who had cultivated true power could 'see' a golden giant dragon carrying rolling purple energy, galloping over from the southwest!

That was the direction of the imperial capital, Lanling City.

"So that is how it is."

True Lord Qingxu withdrew his gaze and looked at Xiang Xiang Yunshu, understanding exactly what the other party's 'path to longevity and way to ascend to heaven' was.

That golden giant dragon carrying purple energy soon crossed thousands of mountains and rivers, covered a distance of several thousand miles, entered the territory of Ming Province, and crashed directly from the west into the magic array laid out by True Lord Qingxu!

Jinshan Prefecture was located in the west of Ming Province, so this golden dragon flew toward Jinshan Prefecture city in an almost straight line.

In the blink of an eye, a vast expanse of purple energy dispersed the dark clouds in the sky, and the golden dragon opened its giant mouth, swallowing countless bolts of lightning!

Roar—

The golden dragon with blood-colored scales that was circling around True Lord Qingxu's Dharma form roared loudly across the air at the incoming golden dragon.

The golden dragon carrying purple energy did not show weakness, roaring back with bared fangs and brandished claws.

The meeting of two dragons!

Xiang Xiang Yunshu steered the Luo Heaven Star Disk and flew to the side of this purple-energy golden dragon, which protected him completely.

Above Jinshan Prefecture city, half the sky was covered in dark clouds, and the other half was rolling with purple energy.

"Is this your Dao?"

True Lord Qingxu sneered, "To actually go and beg a mere mortal, how laughable!"

The moment he saw this purple-energy golden dragon, True Lord Qingxu understood Xiang Xiang Yunshu's plan.

He also understood why the other party dared to penetrate deep into enemy territory alone, duel with him here in Jinshan Prefecture, and watch as his magic array became increasingly perfected.

If the 'Dao' he pursued was to ride the dragon to rise and use the Son of Heaven's dragon energy to break through his realm.

Then Xiang Xiang Yunshu was supporting the dragon to rise, likewise using the Son of Heaven's dragon energy to break through his realm.

It was just that the former was to make myself the monarch and establish a Daoist kingdom, while the latter was to assist a monarch in establishing unparalleled merit, and then use the strengthening of the national power to complete his own breakthrough!

What True Lord Qingxu mocked was exactly this point: Xiang Xiang Yunshu had actually built his vision of attaining the Dao upon a mere mortal, upon a dynasty that was already decaying.

Xiang Xiang Yunshu remained silent, having no intention of arguing with True Lord Qingxu.

Supporting the dragon to rise was the 'Dao' he had chosen long ago; if not for this, he would not be able to borrow the power of the Son of Heaven's dragon energy from afar at this moment.

The reason he dared to fight True Lord Qingxu here alone was because his Dao not only possessed 'analysis,' but could also borrow the power of the Son of Heaven's dragon energy.

His Great Dao and True Lord Qingxu's were in complete conflict!

If True Lord Qingxu were to succeed, the national fortune of the Great Lan Dynasty would inevitably be severely damaged, and this would also severely affect Xiang Xiang Yunshu's cultivation!

That was why he had been so angry before.

For an enemy of the Great Dao like True Lord Qingxu, there was nothing to say; only by completely eliminating the other party could he resolve the hatred in his heart!

"No wonder you all had to hold the Buddhist school in such high regard."

True Lord Qingxu realized many things at this moment.

He suddenly laughed out loud:

"What a pity, it is all for nothing in the end!"

……

(End of this chapter)