Chapter 562: Unification of the World

Blue Ridge City.

The Imperial Palace, inside the Imperial Study.

The Emperor sat upright on his seat, holding the Imperial Jade Seal that represented imperial power in his hands.

At this moment, his entire aura was even more magnificent and imposing than it had been back in the Zheng Lan Hall!

He seemed to be the center of the entire Imperial Palace, the entire Imperial City, Blue Ridge City, and even the entire world!

He sat upright on the throne, controlling the entire dynasty and the fate of all people under heaven!

Grand Secretary Ye Ze sat upright to the Emperor's left, and the "God of War" Ren Ping sat on the right; both had their eyes closed, their expressions solemn.

If someone with successful cultivation were to "see," they would notice wisps of purple-gold energy continuously surging out from the Imperial Jade Seal in the Emperor's hands, then merging into the body of Prince Li not far away.

At this time, Prince Li was entirely shrouded in purple-gold light, and a grand, profound aura, like an abyss or an ocean, erupted from within his body.

This was the aura of Dao principles!

The Emperor had urgently summoned Prince Li to the palace in the middle of the night precisely to borrow Prince Li's power to provide remote support to the Imperial Preceptor Xiang Yunshu, who was at the "front line."

The Emperor himself also cultivated techniques, but his talent was average; even with massive amounts of resources piled up, he had failed to cross the threshold of the Possession Realm and had remained stuck at the Spirit Transformation Realm.

Thus, he possessed a vast amount of Son of Heaven Dragon Qi but could not unleash its true power.

The Emperor had called for Prince Li because he needed the other's help.

Prince Li was a Martial Saint who grasped Dao principles and could manipulate the Son of Heaven Dragon Qi. Combined with his royal bloodline and the Emperor's cooperation, he could transmit the Son of Heaven Dragon Qi to Xiang Yunshu over a long distance with minimal loss!

At this moment, the Emperor held the Imperial Jade Seal, exerting his full strength to catalyze the Son of Heaven Dragon Qi.

As Grand Secretary, Ye Ze formulated various political decrees and was the number two figure in the country after the Emperor; he could also influence the national situation, so he was responsible for assisting the Emperor in organizing the national momentum from the side.

As the Grand Marshal of the Military, Ren Ping's role was similar to Ye Ze's, but because he was a military official and a Martial Saint, he was responsible for suppressing the national destiny!

With the Son of Heaven holding court and civil and military officials assisting, only then could they mobilize more Son of Heaven Dragon Qi as stably as possible without causing national turmoil.

Prince Li was responsible for being the "porter," delivering the Son of Heaven Dragon Qi to Xiang Yunshu in the distance.

Such a commotion would certainly cause an impact on the national destiny and national momentum.

But there was no other way; if they did not do this, once True Lord Qingxu truly established his Dao Nation, the consequences would be truly dire!

To eliminate future trouble, even if it meant paying a heavy price, the Emperor had no choice but to accept it.

Ming Province, Jinshan Prefecture.

Xiang Yunshu, having received the support of the Dragon Qi, was engaged in a fierce battle of techniques with True Lord Qingxu.

With the support of the Dragon Qi from the orthodox Son of Heaven, Xiang Yunshu finally gained the upper hand, and the Dragon Qi he drew upon was the authentic one, which naturally possessed a suppressive advantage over the stolen Dragon Qi of True Lord Qingxu!

In this way, the establishment of True Lord Qingxu's Dao Nation became even more difficult and slow.

"The Emperor is quite lucky to have these two, one civil and one military, to assist him."

True Lord Qingxu was not in the least bit anxious because the establishment of his Dao Nation was hindered; instead, he had the leisure to chat with Xiang Yunshu.

Given the Emperor's mediocre cultivation, being able to mobilize the Son of Heaven Dragon Qi so efficiently to provide remote support to Xiang Yunshu was not just because of Prince Li's help.

Grand Secretary Ye Ze and the "God of War" Ren Ping—this civil and military assistance was the key!

"You also know that the mandate of heaven is with me, so why not surrender? That way, I might still be able to let His Majesty show mercy and leave a path of survival for the Great Luo Sect! Otherwise, your Great Luo Sect's eight-hundred-year heritage will perish at your hands today!"

Xiang Yunshu said.

"The mandate of heaven?"

True Lord Qingxu sneered, "Not to mention whether you can win in the end, by consuming the national destiny like this, do you think you still have a chance to attain the Dao and immortality in the future?"

He had actually already guessed Xiang Yunshu's plan.

The path of supporting the dragon required one to rise with the momentum; it was necessary to make the Great Lan Dynasty's national destiny rise significantly, so that Xiang Yunshu would have the opportunity to charge toward the realm above the peak.

And the Founding Emperor had already unified the entire Eastern Continent more than five hundred years ago, forcing all surrounding countries to submit.

Such an achievement had left no opportunity for his successors to build their own legacy.

But it was different now; a Western Continent had appeared across the ocean, and there were many powerful Western countries that could be conquered!

If the Great Lan Dynasty could fight its way to the Western Continent, wash away the shame, wipe out all those Western countries that had invaded in the past, and finally unify the Western Continent, it would truly achieve the unification of the world.

In this way, the Great Lan Dynasty's national momentum would naturally rise significantly!

And by assisting the monarch in completing such a great cause, Xiang Yunshu, who walked the path of supporting the dragon, would naturally have the opportunity to charge toward a higher realm!

This was Xiang Yunshu's "Dao."

Moreover, True Lord Qingxu guessed that the "God of War" Ren Ping's "Dao" was likely also related to the Western Continent.

Ren Ping had attained the Dao amidst the slaughter of battle formations and became a Martial Saint; the Dao principles he comprehended were inevitably related to war.

If he could lead an army to the Western Continent, slaughtering cities and destroying nations along the way, sweeping through all Western countries, and helping the monarch complete the true great unification, he would become the number one "martial achiever" in history!

Such a battle record might also allow Ren Ping to break through his realm and charge toward the realm above the peak!

Although the Founding Emperor had swept through the six directions and unified the Eastern Continent, achieving a great legacy.

He had not been able to break through to a higher realm as a result.

Perhaps it was because the significance of unifying the Eastern Continent and truly unifying the world were completely different!

True Lord Qingxu understood these things, and thus understood why the imperial court wanted to elevate the status of Buddhism.

It was not just to use Buddhism to restrain Daoism; the most important thing was to let Buddhism refine more evil weapons for the imperial court.

Only by possessing more evil weapons would the Great Lan Dynasty have the possibility of a Western expedition, and only then could the visions of the Emperor, Xiang Yunshu, and Ren Ping be realized.

But now, in order to deal with True Lord Qingxu, the Emperor's consumption of the Son of Heaven Dragon Qi would inevitably affect the national momentum and destiny.

Even if he could truly resolve True Lord Qingxu in the end, would there be any strength left for a Western expedition with the national momentum damaged?

That was why True Lord Qingxu had just mocked Xiang Yunshu and the others for their painstaking planning, only for it to end in vain!

Xiang Yunshu was not affected by these words.

If the national momentum was damaged, there was still a chance to recover it.

As long as the Great Lan Dynasty still existed, his "Dao" would still exist!

"I was wondering what you were relying on; so it was stealing the eight hundred years of destiny from the Great Luo Sect."

Xiang Yunshu suddenly spoke.

He had been using Dao principles to analyze the great array laid out by True Lord Qingxu, and at this moment, he finally had a deeper understanding.

"I return the same words to you; by wasting destiny like this, do you think you still have a chance to attain the Dao and immortality?"

After learning the truth, Xiang Yunshu immediately retorted.

Both he and Ren Ping had to assist the monarch in completing the great unification before they could break through to the realm above the peak.

And True Lord Qingxu only needed to establish a Dao Nation; it seemed that the path True Lord Qingxu chose was simpler.

But in reality, behind True Lord Qingxu's actions, his greatest reliance was the eight hundred years of destiny of the Great Luo Sect!

The Great Luo Sect had always been the leader of Daoism, so more than half of this eight-hundred-year destiny covered the destiny of the entire Daoist school!

By borrowing this vast destiny accumulated over eight hundred years, using the stolen Son of Heaven Dragon Qi as a primer, and with his peerless array cultivation as an aid to establish the Dao Nation, True Lord Qingxu had a glimmer of possibility to charge toward the realm above the peak.

If one really spoke of difficulty, his path was actually not simple at all.

Hearing Xiang Yunshu's words, True Lord Qingxu no longer spoke, but simply increased the intensity of his attack.

Both sides had the conviction that they would never back down, and both firmly believed that their own path was the correct one!

Dark clouds and purple energy eroded each other, thunder and starlight shone together, and the two golden dragons fought directly with each other!

With majestic heavenly might, thunder flashing and storms raging, everyone within a thousand miles felt their spirits shaken.

If this confrontation had not taken place in the air but on the ground, most of the entire Jinshan Prefecture city might have been destroyed!

True Lord Qingxu's golden dragon was clearly no match for the purple-energy golden dragon, so True Lord Qingxu's dharma image would manipulate a metal-attribute sword light to assist.

A moment later, the sword light manipulated by this dharma image suddenly increased by one; it was a water-attribute sword light.

Metal generates water!

The sword light transformed into a flood dragon, tightly entwining the purple-energy golden dragon, breaking apart time and again, only to recover time and again.

Although the establishment of the Dao Nation was affected by the orthodox Dragon Qi, as the blood sacrifices in various places proceeded smoothly and more people died, the area covered by True Lord Qingxu's array became wider, and the power he could transmit to Jinshan Prefecture became stronger and stronger!

The addition of this water-attribute sword light at this moment was proof of that.

Once the five elements were gathered at the end, he would truly possess power that was invincible in the world!

By then, Xiang Yunshu would no longer be able to stop him from establishing the Dao Nation.

And although the Dragon Qi manipulated by Xiang Yunshu's side was stronger, it was limited by the Emperor's own realm, and coupled with such long-distance transmission of power, there was bound to be loss.

Therefore, it was very difficult for Xiang Yunshu to defeat True Lord Qingxu, who was becoming stronger and stronger.

His true purpose was to delay time.

Just as he had said earlier, True Lord Qingxu's true reliance was the eight hundred years of destiny of the Great Luo Sect.

And this destiny would be exhausted!

As long as the time was delayed long enough, until the destiny in True Lord Qingxu's hands was insufficient to establish the Dao Nation.

This battle would be won by Xiang Yunshu and the imperial court.

While the two were clashing, they were also simultaneously distracted, paying attention to several key nodes in the territory of Jinshan Prefecture.

Because the imperial court's purple-energy golden dragon was invading the array from the direction of Jinshan Prefecture, as long as those key nodes in the territory of Jinshan Prefecture could successfully complete the blood sacrifice, True Lord Qingxu would have the opportunity to directly cut off the input of this Dragon Qi, forming a situation of "shutting the door to catch the dog"!

In that case, Xiang Yunshu would surely be defeated!

Likewise, Xiang Yunshu naturally hoped that the arrangements he had made before leaving would take effect, and that those three martial arts masters and Li Fei and the others could prevent the blood sacrifice from happening.

He bore the "analysis" of Dao principles, and combined with divination, he could see many variables in advance.

At this moment, he saw a variable:

A unit of Imperial Camp cavalry was rushing toward Jinshan Prefecture at full speed from the direction of the Ming Province capital!

Not only that, but this unit of Imperial Camp cavalry was also accompanied by fierce winds, helping them significantly increase their movement speed.

This was naturally True Lord Qingxu's handiwork.

True Person Qingxu knew that when he made his move, Xiang Yunshu and the others would certainly be the first to rush over to stop him, so after taking the provincial capital, he ordered a unit of the Imperial Guard Cavalry to rush to Jinshan Prefecture at full speed, while he himself used long-distance techniques to assist this Imperial Guard Cavalry unit in their movement.

There were over five hundred Imperial Guard Cavalry in the Ming Province provincial capital, and True Person Qingxu sent over four hundred of them to Jinshan Prefecture.

This force was absolutely not something Luo Shi and the others could block on their own!

Once Jinshan Prefecture fell completely, under the coverage of the grand array, the incoming aid of the Son of Heaven's dragon Qi would be cut off, and Xiang Yunshu would have no choice but to flee.

Fortunately, Xiang Yunshu also saw some positive variables:

The imperial court was mobilizing the closest forces to rush toward Ming Province at full speed!

Now it depended on which side's reinforcements arrived faster, whether Li Fei and the others could hold their ground, whether Xiang Yunshu could endure under the increasingly powerful True Person Qingxu, and finally, whether the fortune in True Person Qingxu's hands would be enough.

Even the suppressed Tai Yu side was a key point!

Martial Saint, True Person, Son of Heaven.

Imperial Guard Army, martial artists, ordinary soldiers.

The outcome of this game was being swayed by too many people at once; the fates of countless individuals were intertwined at this moment, converging into a rolling long river.

It was unknown where it would flow.

PS: According to custom, I was supposed to stay up late to write a third update, but I am truly not feeling well today; the third update will be posted tomorrow at 12:00 noon, I am truly sorry.

(End of chapter)