PNB Chapter 535 - 503 Metamorphosis II
Chapter 535 - 503 Metamorphosis II
"They ran away!?" Yuan Master suddenly stood up, his eyes wide open.
"Yes... Only Grandmaster Xu Changyong left a letter, the gist of which is that they came to worship and join the Western Sect seeking immortality, not to die for it. Recently, the Western Sect lost several Grandmasters who died while worshiping, and they got scared."
The novice monk’s words made Yuan Master’s eyes darken, his teeth clenching hard, producing a creaking sound.
"A bunch of cowards!!"
With a loud bang, he fiercely slapped his palm into the void, creating an air current that hit the ground, raising a whirlwind that extinguished more than half of the candles in the grand hall.
The novice monk dared not make a sound.
These Grandmasters came easily, being stained with countless misdeeds, fugitives and thugs wanted by various major forces. Seeing the consecutive deaths of Masters and Grandmasters in the Western Sect, weighing the pros and cons, it’s natural for them to flee quickly.
This is the biggest problem faced by forces that expand through external power.
When rising, everything goes smoothly, expanding extremely fast.
But once they show any weakness, the previous support vanishes like a mirage and retreats quickly. Some might even become a counterforce.
"If the others ran away, then let the last one take the top position." Taking a deep breath, Yuan Master instructed.
"We’ve lost too many people recently... We have to be careful... But we can’t disregard taboos...."
The divine decree has come down and must be dealt with immediately, otherwise...
But now that Spirit General Sang Lan is gone, it’s clear that Human Immortal Temple is a big pit. Unless he personally steps in. Or lets Yuan Hong take action. But the two of them are currently maintaining the situation and cannot move easily.
After the novice monk left, a glint flashed in Yuan Master’s eyes.
"It seems we can only proceed as usual."
What is customary is the small religious sects that the Great Divine Teaching has been nurturing all along, like Subordinate God Sect and other forces.
Using these forces to probe, determine the opponent’s depth of information, and then decide accordingly on how to respond, has always been the standard practice.
The reason why major sects allow numerous minor sects to exist is also because of this reason.
The Yu Xin Sect enshrined in the True Buddha Temple is such an example. However, now that Yu Xin Sect Leader Sang Lan is gone, the place is temporarily vacant and will take some time to revive and regenerate.
Moreover, due to the permanent damage to the Spiritual Line, whether Sang Lan can remain stable at the level of Spirit General is a question.
This is also a huge loss for the True Buddha Temple.
"The most anxious about forbidden matters should be the few major noble families in the Great Capital.... Let’s wait a bit and let them go first," Yuan Master gently exhaled, his expression relaxing again.
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Yuan Master’s anticipation was correct.
On the day the news of Sang Lan’s death spread, in the Great Capital, each statue of the Earth Mother Goddess enshrined in the temples issued divine decrees.
Against the taboo, the major nobles dared not slack off, and at the first moment dispatched teams after teams towards the Wushan Prefecture in the Mountain Province to investigate.
Meanwhile, other various small sects, under the urging of the divine decree, had no choice but to send out their main forces to investigate the Human Immortal Temple.
Among these teams, there were even Spirit Generals enshrined by major nobles similar to Sang Lan. Both of them moved swiftly.
The Great Capital has a total of more than ten major noble families, each enshrining an Earth Mother Walker. These Earth Mother Walkers are almost all ordinary Spirit Generals like Sang Lan.
They mainly cultivate the Cultivation of Literature, barely reaching Spirit General after worshiping God, and thus enjoying a life of luxury and wealth.
And due to their noble bloodlines as Spirit People, their threshold for worshiping God and achieving Spirit General is lower than that of ordinary people. They only need to be in the early stage of Refining God to successfully worship.
Upon learning of Sang Lan’s death, this group immediately became nervous.
Because the strength of Human Immortal Temple, having been able to threaten Sang Lan, would certainly be able to threaten them.
Adding to this the divine decree that has been issued, in an instant, all the nobles were on guard, proactively dispatching experts to the Mountain Province.
On the other side, after Yue Dewen’s defeat, the army retreated.
The forces under King Mu Li continued to advance, while the Snow Rainbow Pavilion of the Great Dao Teaching mobilized the army of divine generals, attempting to form a new defensive line.
Both sides converged again at Duzhou Mountain, still two hundred miles away from the Great Capital.
King Mu Li had already amassed a force of nine hundred thousand soldiers. Combined with logistics, they boasted a total of one and a half million, sweeping mightily towards the Great Capital.
Meanwhile, the many allied armies formed by the Great Dao Teaching consisted of three hundred thousand of the Great Capital’s guard army, along with forty-five thousand temporary garrisons transferred from surrounding areas, forming a total of seventy-five thousand to confront King Mu Li.
Both sides were densely packed with banners, their troops vast as the sea, and commanders aplenty.
Separated by a vast Ink Pine Forest at the foot of Duzhou Mountain, stretching over a hundred miles, both sides camped in a standoff. The battle was about to erupt.
At this time, inside the main tent of the guard army’s commander.
A large basin of charcoal fire emitted warmth, making the entire tent warm and cozy.
The commander Yuchi Hongshan sat behind the desk, observing the seated generals on both sides.
"I won’t say much about where everyone here comes from; we all have a clear understanding and we all know.
Now that everyone is working together, regardless of how the future struggle goes, let’s get through this crisis first. Any ideas or thoughts can be voiced here."
Yuchi Hongshan was well aware of his own situation.
This guard army, although seemingly matching in numbers, is vastly inferior in actual combat compared to King Mu Li’s army.
The so-called Great Capital’s guard army is basically a group of pampered soldiers who haven’t seen battle in years. Individually, they might bully civilians, but against those ruthless Red Turban bandits, they’re just cannon fodder, useful only as numbers.
Meanwhile, the temporarily transferred garrisons from surrounding areas are a disjointed bunch, mostly concerned about their families and relatives back home in their regions.
Once King Mu Li sweeps the surrounding areas causing turmoil, this part of the garrison will likely face major issues.
Inside the tent, silence reigned, no one replying, all avoiding the commander’s gaze.
I suppose everyone understands the current situation; whether we can win or not isn’t something that can just be talked through lightly.
"Sect Leader Yue, what do you think? Is there any way out now?"
Seeing the despair on the faces of others, Yuchi Hongshan’s gaze turned to Yue Dewen.
Yue Dewen sat at the first seat on the left, eyes slightly closed, face pale. Clearly, he had not yet recovered from previous injuries.
"Cosimo is indeed powerful, and with Tian Gong by his side, maintaining balance temporarily is already the best I can do," Yue Dewen shook his head slightly, indicating his helplessness.
"What if Zhenyi Western Sect’s Tian Suo gets involved?" Yuchi Hongshan asked.
"They still need to suppress the Red Turban Army at their base; they can’t spare the effort," Yue Dewen replied.
In reality, Hongshan knew this was just an excuse; other forces simply saw Yue Dewen’s weakness and were unwilling to exert themselves further. That was all.
Everyone present understood this.
Yuchi Hongshan sighed and was about to speak when there was a rush of footsteps approaching from outside.
"Report! The opposing central forces are making a move; the vanguard Chen Qizheng is approaching our front lines!" A soldier entered and knelt to report loudly.
"This is a challenge. Chen Qizheng, a native of Hui County, Jiangzhou State, Ze Province, renowned for his Black Cloud Spear technique, which is said to be ghostly and unpredictable. Years ago, on the border, he won with unexpected strategies and killed two rebel generals within three moves. Who among you is willing to accept the challenge?"
Yuchi Hongshan scanned the people present.
No one responded...
Yue Dewen observed silently, understanding that their cause was truly lost now.
Relying on these worthless soldiers to gather strength seemed utterly hopeless.
He looked up at the sky outside the tent, finding it bluer than ever before, mirroring the clarity and calmness in his heart.
’Forget it.’
Suddenly, he stood up and walked towards the tent’s exit.
"Sect Leader Yue? What are you doing?" Yuchi Hongshan asked, puzzled.
But there was no response.
Yue Dewen waved his hand, left the tent calmly with two young Taoist disciples, and soon disappeared among the numerous campgrounds.
The time... is almost here.
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Wushan Prefecture.
Dongfang Mu picked up a bowl of medicinal soup and gulped it down.
His body was already bandaged, and his once rosy complexion had turned much paler.
Zhang Rongfang, Celestial Maiden Tong Chapter, and Ran Xinyue were all seated in this small hall.
This was within an earthen fortress outside Wushan Prefecture.
It was also the ancestral home where Dongfang Mu had been living.
"By the way, we just received news from an informer in the alliance. They said that the Great Spirit is sending people everywhere to investigate the Human Immortal Temple incident. Sang Lan’s death has caused a significant stir.
From now on, the Sect Leader may need to be more cautious. Knowing that Sang Lan died here as a Spirit General, yet these forces continue to send personnel, they truly have great confidence in their dispatched strength. Undoubtedly, those Great Capital nobles might even send Earth Mother Walkers or similar emissaries.".
Dongfang Mu gravely reminded.
"Earth Mother Walker?" Zhang Rongfang heard this name for the first time.
"Indeed, it’s known that among people, the Divine General is the strongest, having guarded the Great Spirit for many years. But the Divine General is actually the highest level within the Spirit General rank. Among Spirit Generals, there are also subtle divisions, with tremendous differences between them," Dongfang Mu explained.
"Please enlighten me, sir," Zhang Rongfang respectfully said. Clearly, this was something even the Celestial Maiden and others hadn’t encountered.
"Certainly. In fact, Earth Mother Walkers are within the domain of the Spirit Flying Church. According to their mythological records, there are divisions of Earth Mother and Celestial God, with seventy-seven Earth Mothers and ninety-nine Celestial Gods. All divinities reside beneath the supreme Spirit Flying Heaven," Dongfang Mu elaborated.
"That many?" Ran Xinyue couldn’t help but exclaim, "With so many gods, where are all the believers for such divisions?"
"Exactly, so the Great Spirit has been continuously waging wars, incorporating many foreign gods into their Celestial God and Earth Mother system, bringing in a vast number of followers. Only recently have they managed to consolidate all positions.
In truth, even the Great Dao, Zhenyi, and Buddhist sects have had their divinities incorporated into this system, becoming nominally part of the Spirit Flying Church.
It’s only the Esoteric Sect that doesn’t belong to this system. They resist control and have risen to rebel for this reason," Dongfang Mu nodded.
"By the way, Celestial Maiden, have you heard back from reaching out to the higher-ups in your Reverse Time Association?"
"No... after delivering the information, I haven’t had any contact," the Celestial Maiden replied.
She had been increasingly dazed lately, sometimes sitting in place for a long time without speaking, only occasionally blinking.
After witnessing Zhang Rongfang’s battle against Sang Lan, she developed a new yearning for power.
The Celestial Demon Extreme Realm is about freedom, without any constraints, fully unleashing one’s current desires.
For instance, if one wants to daze, then one must daze to the extreme, even to the point where hemorrhoids form from sitting too long.
Only when the desire to daze is completely gone will they do something else.
This state resembles a return to instinct, yet it differs. Even instincts have memory.
Whereas the Celestial Demon focuses solely on the present, past memories gradually fade over time. Desires must be fulfilled to the utmost. Even if death is imminent in the next second, they might immediately act on it.
This peculiar state had begun to manifest in the Celestial Maiden.
"So, Sect Leader, have you thought about how to respond to this great wave sweeping over the world?" Dongfang Mu looked towards Zhang Rongfang.