Chapter 572: Mandate of Heaven

Li Fei pushed the door open and stepped out; a formal martial artist from the Cease-Arms Pavilion was standing guard right outside.

Upon seeing Li Fei, he hurriedly stepped forward and said:

"My lord, have you finished regulating your breath?"

"Yes, is there something the matter?"

"Master Lu and the others are currently in a meeting. They said that as soon as you finished your meditation, they would like to invite you over immediately."

"Very well, lead the way."

Li Fei followed the formal martial artist into a large hall, where Lu Wen and the other four seated officials were all present.

"My lord."

Seeing Li Fei, the five of them stood up and bowed.

Li Fei waved his hand and sat down in the central seat of honor quite naturally:

"What is it?"

He could see clear anxiety and urgency in the expressions of the five.

"My lord."

Lu Wen looked at Li Fei, "Over two hours ago, Taining City fell. Elder Luo Shi, who was responsible for defending Taining City, was killed in action on the spot, sacrificing his life for the country."

Li Fei was stunned, his mind recalling the face of Luo Shi.

He had not known this martial arts master for long, and it was only through investigating the case together this time that they had initially established a certain friendship.

He had originally thought he had gained a connection within the Central Cabinet, but he never expected that in the blink of an eye, the man would be gone.

This gave Li Fei an even greater sense of urgency.

A chaotic era was approaching; if even a martial arts master could die just like that, he had to become stronger faster!

"We received news that the Imperial Camp cavalry unit that took Taining City, after finishing their slaughter, boarded a train and is heading toward Chongcheng."

Lu Wen continued to say to Li Fei, "There is no direct railway from Taining City to Chongcheng, so they should choose a relatively close location to disembark and then rush to Chongcheng."

"Why didn't you tell me sooner?"

Li Fei asked.

"My lord is our most important combat strength; we did not want to disturb your recovery. That is why we did not inform you in advance."

Lu Wen said, "Calculating the time, this Imperial Camp cavalry unit will arrive at Chongcheng in at most one hour. If you wish to fight outside the city, there is still plenty of time."

Li Fei nodded.

"In addition, while you were regulating your breath, we arranged for people to try our best to drive the commoners out of the city, letting them flee in different directions after leaving the city."

Lu Wen continued.

They did not do this at the beginning because time did not permit it; the enemy would arrive soon, and with limited manpower, they could not disperse many people.

Now that time allowed, Lu Wen and the others chose to disperse the commoners as much as possible to let more people leave Chongcheng.

"Hmm, how many people have left so far?"

Li Fei asked.

"About twenty thousand or so."

Lu Wen said helplessly.

This task was very difficult to carry out; many people were unwilling to leave, and they were severely short-handed.

"Good."

Li Fei nodded.

Through True Person Qing Ding, he knew that in reality, twenty thousand people leaving was of little significance; the Imperial Camp cavalry only needed to kill forty or fifty thousand people in Chongcheng to complete the blood sacrifice and incorporate this key node into the grand formation of True Lord Qing Xu.

But if Chongcheng could not be held, it was better if fewer people died, so Li Fei did not say that Lu Wen and the others had done anything wrong.

"My lord, to be able to kill Elder Luo Shi, the number of Imperial Camp cavalry in Taining City should be no less than three hundred riders!"

Lu Wen said in a deep voice.

Li Fei: "Since Elder Luo has already died in battle, the enemy must have suffered losses; there won't be too many Imperial Camp cavalry left."

"But my lord, what if the number of Imperial Camp cavalry still exceeds one hundred?"

Lu Wen asked.

Once the Imperial Camp army exceeds one hundred people and forms a military formation, their combat power can rival a martial arts master!

If it weren't for Li Fei's heroic performance earlier, Lu Wen and the others would not be gathered together discussing countermeasures now, but rather discussing how to flee.

But even with their belief in Li Fei, they did not think Li Fei could defeat one hundred Imperial Camp cavalry.

Li Fei was silent for a moment.

He recalled his previous clash with Xu Jing at the execution ground.

That was his first time fighting a martial arts master, and it was filled with a sense of powerlessness.

Today, he was naturally much stronger than he was back then, and the number of blood souls he had accumulated was also greater than before; surely, one hundred Imperial Camp cavalry could not compare to Xu Jing, who had cultivated three divine abilities.

"Perhaps I really can withstand one hundred Imperial Camp cavalry head-on?"

Such a thought arose in Li Fei's heart.

But doing so would inevitably expose his full strength, and the risk involved was also very high.

"Where have the imperial court's reinforcements reached?"

Li Fei asked.

Several hours had passed since the incident; it was impossible for the imperial court not to have sent reinforcements.

"The closest to us is the neighboring Yi Province. The head of the Cease-Arms Department there has already led several hundred Imperial Camp cavalry to rush over; calculating the time, they should arrive within two hours."

Lu Wen said.

This was also one of their sources of confidence.

As long as they could stall for a period of time, there would be a chance to wait for the imperial court's reinforcements.

Ming Province border.

A train was speeding along the tracks.

BOOM!!!

As the locomotive passed a section of the track, a series of explosions suddenly occurred.

Fireballs rose up on the tracks, blowing the locomotive and the following few carriages to pieces!

The subsequent carriages were also affected, being dragged to tip over and derail from the tracks.

Figures nimbly broke out from the rear carriages, detaching before the carriages tipped over, and landed safely.

These people were all wearing full sets of armor; they were all Imperial Camp soldiers!

Someone struck to sever the connections between the carriages, bringing the remaining few carriages at the end to a halt.

Subsequently, exotic beast mounts emerged from these carriages.

In addition to several hundred Imperial Camp soldiers, there were also over a hundred martial artists, including a martial arts master!

These people were the reinforcements rushing over from Yi Province.

Although the speed of martial arts experts and Imperial Camp cavalry at full sprint was faster than the cars and trains of this era, if they sprinted at full speed for hundreds of kilometers, they would have little strength left to participate in the battle by the time they reached their destination.

Therefore, the fastest way for reinforcements to support was definitely by train.

There were indeed many railways from Yi Province to Ming Province, but to reach Jinshan Prefecture at the fastest speed, there was only one such railway.

Therefore, the people of the Great Luo Sect had buried a large amount of explosives on the tracks in advance.

Fortunately, the people coming to support had also guarded against this hand; the front carriages carried no one at all.

This wave of explosions only destroyed the reinforcements' means of transportation.

The leading martial arts master was the head of the Yi Province Cease-Arms Department; he looked into the distance with a grave expression.

Under the night sky, three figures appeared on the hillside ahead.

These three people each radiated a powerful aura.

One of them was a True Person of the Great Luo Sect, and the other two were martial arts masters!

"Form up, prepare to charge!"

The Imperial Camp cavalry of Yi Province quickly formed their ranks and activated their evil-suppressing weapons.

On the plains, a great battle was on the verge of breaking out!

In the other two directions of Ming Province, the experts sent out by the Great Luo Sect under True Lord Qing Xu had likewise intercepted the reinforcements sent by the imperial court from the other two provinces.

Among them, True Person Qing Yun of the Great Luo Sect had directly confronted the president of Moyun University!

The president of Moyun University was naturally a Grandmaster, while True Person Qing Yun was a top-tier True Person of the current age and also a sword cultivator.

The intensity of the battle between the two was second only to the two True Lords clashing outside Jinshan Prefecture!

Outside Jinshan Prefecture, Xiang Yunshu looked toward the southeast.

Through 'analyzing' the Dao principles, he could 'see' a bright sword light there shooting straight into the sky, tearing through the dark night, shining for a hundred miles!

That was the sword light emitted by the natal flying sword of True Person Qing Yun.

The combat power of a top-tier True Person of the current age was enough to rival a Grandmaster, and True Person Qing Yun was the number three figure of the Great Luo Sect, second only to True Lord Qing Xu and Tai Yu; he was in the tier of the strongest below the pinnacle!

Xiang Yunshu knew clearly that the president of Moyun University was definitely no match for True Person Qing Yun.

And besides the southeast, high-level battles had broken out in the other two directions as well.

This meant that the reinforcements sent by the imperial court had all been intercepted!

Xiang Yunshu withdrew his gaze, a decision made in his heart.

The Son of Heaven's Dragon Qi, which was being transmitted continuously from the southwest, suddenly split into a strand and fell toward another place.

"Hmm?"

True Person Qingxu, who was locked in combat with Xiang Yunshu, sensed this change immediately.

But he could not prevent the change from occurring, because the manipulation of the Son of Heaven's dragon Qi was a Dao principle that Xiang Yunshu had mastered.

Upon seeing clearly where that streak of the Son of Heaven's dragon Qi was landing, True Person Qingxu immediately understood Xiang Yunshu's plan and could not help but laugh:

"Is this the backup plan you prepared? Truly laughable!"

Xiang Yunshu did not speak, merely silently manipulating that streak of the Son of Heaven's dragon Qi.

Chong City.

Li Fei and the others, who were in the middle of discussing countermeasures while waiting for reinforcements from the imperial court, suddenly felt something in their hearts.

The next second, a magnificent aura descended upon Chong City!

Li Fei and the others stood up one after another and looked outside the main hall.

They saw Xiang Yunshu, whose entire body was radiating a purple-gold light, standing outside the door!

"Greetings, State Preceptor!"

The few of them bowed in succession.

Xiang Yunshu did not waste words and said directly:

"More than one hundred cavalry from the Imperial Guard are about to arrive at Chong City; relying on you alone, you cannot stop them."

"Has the State Preceptor come to help us repel the enemy?"

Lu Wenxing asked, full of hope.

But Xiang Yunshu shook his head.

All of his power was currently being used to contend with True Person Qingxu, and he could not spare any extra strength; this avatar was manifested from the Son of Heaven's dragon Qi and possessed no power of its own.

"Li Fei, you are a peerless prodigy and the first in the annals of history; you are a person who possesses destiny. Within this Ming Province, only you are qualified to bear the dragon Qi. Are you willing to kill the enemy for the country?"

Xiang Yunshu looked at Li Fei and stated his purpose.

The Son of Heaven's dragon Qi itself possessed no power; to unleash great might, it had to be attached to a person.

But not just anyone was qualified to bear the dragon Qi.

Just as Xiang Yunshu said, it had to be at least a heaven-gifted prodigy like Li Fei who carried destiny.

Lu Wenxing and the others present all revealed expressions of envy upon hearing this.

This was simply a great merit bestowed by heaven!

Is this the treatment a heaven-gifted prodigy receives?

Only Li Fei remained the calmest; he looked at Xiang Yunshu:

"I am naturally willing to serve the country, but I do not know if there are any conditions to bearing this dragon Qi?"

Xiang Yunshu's meaning was very clear: let him bear the dragon Qi so that he could possess greater power to deal with the approaching enemy army.

But Li Fei felt that any act in this world that forcibly raised one's cultivation realm must inevitably come with a price.

He wanted to know what price he would have to pay.

There are two more chapters tonight.

(End of this chapter)