“You know what Daluo Sect is up to by sending people to Chong City, right?”

Li Fei interrupted the other party and continued to ask.

Tong An’s body shuddered; he initially wanted to claim ignorance, but if he were truly unaware, he wouldn’t have let Fu Guangyong order the evacuation of all the families of the Inspectors and the City Guard Army to other districts.

To still claim ignorance now would be an insult to Li Fei’s intelligence.

“I realize my mistake! Please give me a chance to redeem myself! I’m willing to fight to the death to defend Chong City!”

At this moment, Tong An could only hope that his identity as a Tao Foundation Stage strongman would convince Li Fei to grant him a chance to live.

The person who had just been planning to cooperate with outsiders in slaughtering the people of Chong City was now claiming he would fight to the death to protect it.

Reality can sometimes be so ironic.

Li Fei slowly rose from his seat, and Fu Guangyong quickly stood up as well.

“You don’t realize your mistake.”

Li Fei walked up to Tong An, looking down upon him:

“You just realize that you are about to die.”

Tong An’s face underwent a drastic change. A strong Tao Foundation Stage warrior like himself couldn’t help but tremble:

“Please give me a chance, sir! I can be useful! I can kill the enemy! I truly can…”

Slap!

Li Fei casually slapped the top of Tong An’s head. Tong An’s body shuddered, his mouth gaped open, but he could no longer make a sound.

“You do not deserve to defend Chong City. I will.”

Li Fei said, looking into Tong An’s eyes.

Lv Wenxing sighed inwardly and, together with his companion, let go of Tong An.

Tong An collapsed to the ground, blood flowing from every orifice, and soon he breathed his last.

“Sir.”

Just then, an official martial master from the Zhi Ge Pavilion ran into the hall:

“The Righteous Court has been taken by us, the arrays have been destroyed, and all those people have been controlled.”

With the only two Possession Stage Great Mages from the Righteous Court dead at the hands of Li Fei, the rest stood no chance against the experts from Zhi Ge Pavilion and were easily captured.

“Chief Fu.”

Li Fei turned his head towards Fu Guangyong.

Fu Guangyong promptly made a formal gesture: “Sir.”

“Send men to separate and imprison those from the Righteous Court.”

“Yes.”

“From which direction would Jinshan Prefecture’s forces arrive if they were to come?”

“They would likely come from the west side of Chong City.”

“Then let’s head to the West City Gate first.”

“Yes.”

Li Fei also looked at the martial master who had come to report: “Leave two men at the Righteous Court to watch over it, and have the rest converge at the West City Gate.”

After the officer took the order and left, Li Fei led his group out of the mansion and rushed towards the West City Gate.

“Sir, the Imperial Camp Army is not easy to deal with; the Imperial Camp Cavalry are even harder to withstand. Please, do not underestimate them.”

On the way, Lv Wenxing proactively approached Li Fei and softly reminded him.

Li Fei nodded his head.

The Da Lan Dynasty, with its powerful ‘weapon’ that swept across the world and subdued the six directions, would naturally not be underestimated by him.

In this era where mighty power resided within individuals, collective strength could still suppress the power of an individual, and the Imperial Camp Army was instrumental in that!

The highest officials in the regions remained civil servants, and the court’s decrees compelled numerous martial arts powerhouses to comply. One important reason was the presence of the Imperial Camp Army stationed everywhere.

Li Fei had previously crossed hands with various Tao Foundation Stage strongmen, Possession Stage mages, martial arts masters, and even True Monarchs in the Dream Realm.

However, he had never yet engaged with the Imperial Camp Army or experienced the mightiest collective force of the era.

So, at this moment, there was a certain anticipation in the depths of his heart!

…

Outside Jinshan Prefecture City, two True Monarchs were battling.

From inside the city, the continual rumble of thunder could be heard; the sky was overcast with dense clouds, flashing with lightning, as a terrible storm took shape beyond the city!

Within that mass of clouds, dazzling stars flickered from time to time.

The Qingxu True Monarch’s white Dharma Form, towering a kilometer high, grew in momentum.

This Dharma Form, forged of metal, seemed like a sharp sword piercing the heavens and earth, unparalleled in sharpness!

As the blood sacrifices began in various places, Qingxu True Monarch’s gathering of the Emperor’s Dragon Qi increased, and the array he had laid out grew stronger, allowing more power to descend bit by bit.

At one moment, a golden sword light pierced through the dark clouds and shattered the starry sky!

The Starlight Disk, formed from Yun Shu’s lifebound magical treasure, the ‘Luotian Star Plate’, was torn apart by this sword light, shattering into fragments.

Yun Shu brought out a palm-sized compass, pouring his robust True Power into it, using the compass to block the sword light.

Boom!!

The Starlight Compass, flickering with light, trembled violently, and Yun Shu spat out a mouthful of fresh blood.

“Yun Shu!”

The voice of Qingxu True Monarch seemed to trigger a resonance between heaven and earth, vastly grand:

“You are also one of our Taoist fellows, I’ll give you an opportunity, submit to me, and I can grant you a place in my Tao Country in the future, giving you a chance at immortality!”

He knew Yun Shu must understand what his ultimate goal was in establishing a Tao Country.

“Hahahaha!”

Yun Shu laughed heartily while urging his lifebound magical treasure to defend against Qingxu True Monarch’s attacks.

Qingxu True Monarch’s immense Dharma Form looked down upon Yun Shu, surrounded by thunder: “What are you laughing at?”

“I have my own path to longevity, my own way to ascension, why would I need to beg you?”

Yun Shu declared through laughter.

“Oh?”

Qingxu True Monarch suddenly looked towards the southwest.

Ordinary people couldn’t see it, but only martial artists with divine skills and True Masters with True Power could “see” a golden giant dragon, shrouded in rolling purple Qi, speeding from the southwest!

That was the direction of the Imperial Capital Lanling City.

“So that’s it.”

Qingxu True Monarch withdrew his gaze, looking at Yun Shu, he understood the other’s ‘path to longevity, way to ascension.’

The golden dragon carrying the purple Qi quickly traversed mountains and rivers, streaking across thousands of miles, entering Ming Province’s territory, and charged directly into the Big Array laid out by Qingxu True Monarch from the west!

Jinshan Prefecture City was located to the west of Ming Province, so the golden dragon flew almost in a straight line toward Jinshan Prefecture City.

In the blink of an eye, a vast expanse of purple Qi dispersed the dark clouds overhead, the golden dragon opened its massive jaws, swallowing countless bolts of lightning!

Roar–

The golden dragon, growing blood-red scales and circling around Qingxu True Monarch’s Dharma Form, roared defiantly at the approaching golden dragon.

The golden dragon with the purple Qi roared back just as fiercely, neither willing to show weakness.

Dual Dragon Meeting!

Yun Shu, piloting the Luotian Star Plate, flew beside the purple Qi golden dragon, which enveloped him protectively.

Above Jinshan Prefecture City, half the sky was covered with dense black clouds, and the other half was filled with billowing purple Qi.

“Is this your path?”

Qingxu True Monarch sneered, “To actually go and beg an ordinary mortal, how ridiculous!”

Upon seeing this purple Qi golden dragon, Qingxu True Monarch understood Yun Shu’s plan.

He also understood why the other dared to venture alone deep into enemy territory, at Jinshan Prefecture City, watching his Big Array grow increasingly perfect.

If his pursuit of ‘Tao’ was to ride the dragon upwards, breaking through realms with the aid of the Emperor’s Dragon Qi,

Then Yun Shu’s was to elevate the dragon, also using the Emperor’s Dragon Qi to break through realms.

The difference being that the former was to be king himself, establishing a Tao Country, while the latter was to assist a king in establishing unrivaled meritorious deeds, and then using the rise in national fortune to achieve his own breakthrough!

What Qingxu True Monarch scoffed at was precisely this; Yun Shu had based his vision of becoming a Taoist on an ordinary mortal, on a dynasty that had already decayed.

Yun Shu remained silent, not intending to argue with Qingxu True Monarch.

Elevating the dragon was the ‘Tao’ he had chosen long ago, or else he wouldn’t have been able to make use of the power of the Emperor’s Dragon Qi from afar at this moment.

The reason he dared to confront Qingxu True Monarch alone here was that his Taoism not only included ‘analyze’ but could also draw on the power of the Emperor’s Dragon Qi.

His and Qingxu True Monarch’s paths were in complete conflict!

If Qingxu True Monarch were to succeed, it would severely damage the Da Lan Dynasty’s national fortune–and this, in turn, would severely affect Yun Shu’s cultivation.

That was why he had been so angry before.

There was nothing to say to such an arch-enemy of the Great Path like Qingxu True Monarch, only by thoroughly eradicating the other could he quell the hatred in his heart!

“No wonder you had to elevate the Buddhists so much.”

Qingxu True Monarch finally understood many things at this moment.

He suddenly burst into laughter:

“Pity, it will all come to nothing in the end!”

…