Chapter 542: Chapter 62: Unification of the World

Lanling City.

Imperial Palace, inside the Imperial Study Room.

The Emperor sat upright in his seat, holding the Imperial Jade Seal that symbolized imperial authority.

At that moment, his entire demeanor was more magnificent and regal than it had been in the Zhenglan Hall!

He seemed the nucleus of the entire Imperial Palace, the entire Imperial City, Lanling City, and even the whole realm!

Seated on the throne, he controlled the entire dynasty and the fates of all under heaven!

Grand Secretary Ye Ze’an sat to the Emperor’s left, and “Military God” Wenren Zheng sat on the right, both with their eyes closed, expressions grave.

Those with enough cultivation base would “see” strands of purple-golden aura continuously flowing from the Imperial Jade Seal in the Emperor’s hands into Prince Li’s body nearby.

At that moment, Prince Li was enveloped in a purple-golden light, an aura grand and far-reaching, like the abyss, like the sea, bursting forth from him.

This was the aura of Taoism!

The Emperor had urgently summoned Prince Li late at night to lend his power to support the State Preceptor Yun Shu, who was at the “front lines.”

The Emperor himself practiced magic, but with mediocre talent, and even with massive resources, he had not crossed the threshold of the Possession Stage, remaining in the Divine Transformation Stage.

Thus, he possessed the overwhelming Emperor’s Dragon Qi but could not utilize its true power.

The Emperor had called upon Prince Li to seek his assistance.

As a Martial Saint and master of Taoism, Prince Li could manipulate the Emperor’s Dragon Qi. With the royal bloodline and with the Emperor’s cooperation, he could transmit the Emperor’s Dragon Qi to Yun Shu at a great distance with minimal loss!

At this time, the Emperor held the Imperial Jade Seal, fully activating the Emperor’s Dragon Qi.

As Grand Secretary, Ye Ze’an formulated various decrees and was the second-most powerful person in the nation after the Emperor, also capable of impacting the nation’s fate; hence, he was responsible for assisting the Emperor in managing the nation’s state.

As the Military Affairs Grand Marshal, Wenren Zheng’s role was similar to that of Ye Ze’an, but being a military officer and a Martial Saint, he was tasked with suppressing the nation’s destiny!

The Emperor presided over the court, aided by civil and military officials, thus they could as stably as possible mobilize more of the Emperor’s Dragon Qi without causing national turmoil.

Prince Li’s role was to act as the ‘carrier,’ transferring the Emperor’s Dragon Qi to the distant Yun Shu.

Such maneuvers definitely impacted the nation’s destiny and state.

But it couldn’t be helped; if not done, should Qingxu True Monarch succeed in establishing a Tao Country, the negative impact would be truly severe!

To prevent future problems, even at a heavy cost, the Emperor had no choice but to accept it.

…

Ming Province, Jinshan Prefecture.

Yun Shu, supported by the Dragon Qi, was fiercely competing in magic with Qingxu True Monarch.

With the support of the authentic Dragon Qi from the orthodox Emperor, Yun Shu finally gained the upper hand, and his legitimate Dragon Qi naturally overwhelmed the stolen Dragon Qi of Qingxu True Monarch!

This made the establishment of the Tao Country by Qingxu True Monarch much more difficult and slow.

“The Emperor is indeed fortunate to have such a pair of literate and martial aides.”

Qingxu True Monarch was not at all anxious about the hindrance to his Tao Country’s establishment; instead, he even had the leisure to chat with Yun Shu.

With the Emperor’s own mediocre cultivation, to be able to mobilize the Emperor’s Dragon Qi so effectively to support Yun Shu remotely was not just because of Prince Li’s assistance.

It was Grand Secretary Ye Ze’an and “Military God” Wenren Zheng, this pair of literate and martial aides, that were the key!

“You also know that the Heavenly Command is with me, so why not surrender graciously? In doing so, I might be able to persuade His Majesty to spare the Daluo Sect and leave a path of survival for you! Otherwise, the eight hundred-year legacy of your Daluo Sect will end at your hands today!”

Yun Shu said.

“Heavenly Command?”

Qingxu True Monarch scoffed, “Setting aside whether you can win in the end, with such consumption of the nation’s fate, do you think you’ll still have the opportunity to attain eternal life?”

He had already guessed Yun Shu’s intentions.

The path of Dragon Assistance required soaring with momentum, needing the Da Lan Dynasty’s national fate to significantly rise, thereby giving Yun Shu the opportunity to strive for the ultimate realm.

Emperor Taizu, over five hundred years ago, had unified the entire Eastern Continent, making all neighboring nations submit.

Such an accomplishment hardly left any opportunities for posterity to establish illustrious achievements.

But now things were different. On the other side of the ocean emerged the West Continent, along with many powerful Western Countries available for conquest!

If the Da Lan Dynasty could conquer the West Continent, wiping clean the past disgrace and annihilating all those invading Western Countries, and eventually unify the West Continent in genuine terms,

the national state of the Da Lan Dynasty would naturally skyrocket!

And assisting the monarch in such a grand endeavor, Yun Shu walking the path of Dragon Assistance would naturally have the chance to strive for a higher realm!

This was Yun Shu’s “path.”

Moreover, Qingxu True Monarch surmised that “Military God” Wenren Zheng’s “path” might also involve the West Continent.

Wenren Zheng had attained enlightenment and became a Martial Saint through battle, his apprehended Taoism must undoubtedly relate to war.

Should he lead the troops to the West Continent next, razing cities and annihilating nations all the way, sweeping through all Western Countries, helping the monarch achieve a true grand unification, he would become the foremost figure in ‘martial achievements’ in history!

Such records might also allow Wenren Zheng to opportunistically Breakthrough, striving for the ultimate realm!

Although Emperor Taizu had also swept through the six directions and united the Eastern Continent, achieving a great feat,

he couldn’t opportunistically break through to a higher realm.

Perhaps it was because unifying the Eastern Continent and truly unifying the world held completely different meanings!

Qingxu True Monarch, having realized these points, also understood why the court elevated the status of the Buddhist school.

It wasn’t just to use Buddhism to restrain Taoism, but most importantly it was so Buddhism could refine more Sha Qi for the court.

With more Sha Qi, the Da Lan Dynasty had the possibility of a western expedition, and the visions of the Emperor, Yun Shu, and Wenren Zheng could potentially be realized.

But now, to deal with Qingxu True Monarch, the Emperor consumed so much of the Emperor’s Dragon Qi, it would inevitably impact the national state and fate.

Even if they could eventually resolve Qingxu True Monarch, with the national state damaged, would they still have the strength to embark on a western expedition?

So Qingxu True Monarch had mocked Yun Shu and others for their painstaking planning, which turned out to be in vain!

Yun Shu was not affected by these words.

The nation’s power was damaged, but there was still a chance to recover.

As long as the Da Lan Dynasty existed, his “Tao” would still exist!

“I say you have some reliance, it turns out you stole the eight hundred years of qi fate from Daluo Sect.”

Yun Shu suddenly spoke up.

He had been using Taoism to analyze the Big Array set up by Qingxu True Monarch, and now he finally had a deeper understanding.

“I can say the same to you, such a waste of qi fate, do you think you still have a chance to prove your immortality?”

After learning the truth, Yun Shu immediately retorted.

He and Wenren Zheng wanted to break through to the summit, but they first needed to assist the Emperor in unifying the Dynasty.

While Qingxu True Monarch only needed to establish a Tao Country, which seemed an easier path.

But in reality, the biggest reliance of Qingxu True Monarch’s actions was the eight hundred years of qi fate from Daluo Sect!

Daluo Sect had always been the leader of Taoists, so the qi fate of these eight hundred years covered mostly the entire Taoist qi fate!

With the grand qi fate accumulated over eight hundred years, using the stolen Emperor’s Dragon Qi as a catalyst, and with unmatched Array Dao Cultivation as an aid to establish the Tao Country, Qingxu True Monarch had a glimmer of a chance to reach beyond the peak.

To say it’s difficult, his path was not at all easy.

Hearing Yun Shu’s words, Qingxu True Monarch no longer spoke, only intensified his attack.

Both sides had absolute beliefs that they would not back down and were convinced that their own paths were the correct ones!

Dark clouds and Purple Qi eroded each other, thunder and starlight shone together, and two Golden Dragons directly clashed against each other!

Majestic divine intimidation, lightning flashes, storm roars, everyone within a thousand miles felt their spirits sway.

Had this confrontation occurred on the ground instead of in the air, Jinshan Prefecture City might have been destroyed by half!

Qingxu True Monarch’s Golden Dragon was clearly no match for the Purple Qi Golden Dragon, so Qingxu True Monarch’s Dharma Form manipulated a golden attribute sword light to assist.

Moments later, an additional water attribute sword light appeared in the Dharma Form’s controlled sword light.

Gold produces water!

The sword light turned into a Jiao dragon, tightly entwining around the Purple Qi Golden Dragon, breaking repeatedly, yet restoring again and again.

Although the establishment of the Tao Country was influenced by the orthodox Dragon Energy, as blood sacrifices were successfully conducted around the regions, and more people died, the coverage of Qingxu True Monarch’s Big Array grew wider, and the power he could transfer to Jinshan Prefecture grew stronger!

The newly appeared water attribute sword light was clear evidence.

When all Five Elements gathered at last, he would truly possess unmatched power!

Then, Yun Shu would no longer be able to stop him from establishing the Tao Country.

While Yun Shu controlled stronger Dragon Energy, it was limited by the Emperor’s own realm, and due to such long-distance power transmission, there was inevitably a loss.

Therefore, Yun Shu found it difficult to defeat Qingxu True Monarch who was becoming increasingly stronger.

His true intention was to delay time.

As he had said, Qingxu True Monarch’s real reliance was the eight hundred years of qi fate from Daluo Sect.

And this qi fate would run out!

As long as he could drag on long enough until Qingxu True Monarch’s qi fate was insufficient to establish the Tao Country.

Then the battle would be won by Yun Shu and the court.

The two were clashing while also both distracted by several key nodes in Jinshan Prefecture.

Since the court’s Purple Qi Golden Dragon invaded the Big Array from the direction of Jinshan Prefecture, if the key nodes on the boundaries of Jinshan Prefecture could successfully complete their blood sacrifices, Qingxu True Monarch would have a chance to directly cut off this influx of Dragon Energy and create a ‘lock the door to beat the dog’ scenario!

In that case, Yun Shu would surely lose!

Similarly, Yun Shu naturally hoped that his last arrangement before leaving would work, that those three Martial Arts Masters and Li Fei and others would prevent the blood sacrifices.

He, bearing the “Analyze” Taoism and working with Divination, could foresee many variables.

He now saw the variable:

A unit of Imperial Camp Cavalry was rapidly approaching from the direction of Ming Province’s provincial city towards Jinshan Prefecture!

Moreover, the unit of Imperial Camp Cavalry was accompanied by strong winds, helping them greatly increase their speed.

This was naturally Qingxu True Monarch’s doing.

Qingxu True Monarch knew that when he made his move, Yun Shu and others would definitely be the first to come and stop him, so after taking down the provincial city, he ordered a unit of Imperial Camp Cavalry to rush to Jinshan Prefecture at full speed, while he himself used magic from a distance to help this unit of Imperial Camp Cavalry move.

There were over five hundred Imperial Camp Cavalry in Ming Province’s provincial city, and Qingxu True Monarch had sent over four hundred to Jinshan Prefecture.

This force was definitely not something Luo Shi and the others could block alone!

Once Jinshan Prefecture was fully lost and the Big Array covered it, cutting off the incoming support of Emperor’s Dragon Qi, Yun Shu could only flee.

Fortunately, Yun Shu also saw some positive variables:

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

Now, it was a race to see which side’s support would arrive faster, whether Li Fei and others could hold their ground, whether Yun Shu could withstand Qingxu True Monarch who was growing stronger, and lastly, whether Qingxu True Monarch had enough qi fate.

Even the suppressed Tai Yu was a critical factor!

Martial Saints, True Monarchs, Emperors.

Imperial Camp, Martial Artists, ordinary Soldiers…

The outcome of this game was being influenced by too many people, countless fates intertwined at this moment, forming a rolling long river.

It was unknown where it would flow.

…

PS: Normally, I would stay up late to write the third update, but I really feel unwell today… so, the third update will be posted tomorrow at 12 noon, I’m truly sorry.