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Chapter 213: Head South Immediately
Chapter 213: Head South Immediately
The grand hall was silent as a tomb.
A frigid wind howled through unseen cracks, its chilling breath freezing the very marrow of those present. A thin layer of frost crept across the stone floor.
“Your Majesty overstates the peril,” Zhong Xin replied calmly, his voice steady despite King Qing’s probing gaze. “The outcome remains uncertain—who will prevail is yet to be decided. How can Your Majesty speak so readily of survival or ruin?”
“Hahaha!” The king’s sudden laughter rang out, sharp and mocking. “You worry too much, Zhong. I spoke in jest. Tell me instead—how many Foundation Builders fell at the front lines?”
Zhong Xin’s expression darkened. “One was a rogue cultivator from north of the River. The Cloudreach Sect’s Patriarch, the Cloud Lotus Fairy, along with the Zhao Xia Clan’s Grand Elder and the Yuan Chen Clan’s Ancestor, were all captured alive. Those who fled back bore grievous wounds, trembling like frightened deer before the Demonic Sect’s might. At this rate, the Guillotine Dragon Pass will not hold.”
As Zhong Xin detailed the calamity, fury contorted King Qing’s face. “Incompetents! Cowards! They’ve disgraced the realm! I must intervene myself.”
“Issue the decree!” the king thundered. “I shall lead the armies personally. With my power, I can rally the nation’s strength on the battlefield, seizing the True Man Position by sovereign mandate. What demon lord could stand against my blade?”
“Your Majesty, please—” Zhong Xin stepped forward urgently. “You are the realm’s pillar, no common man. Risking yourself in danger is unthinkable!”
“Oh, very well.” King Qing relented with unconvincing reluctance, sinking back onto his throne. He would sooner gut a pig than confront a mortal threat. But if he would not act… who else could?
Clutching Zhong Xin’s hands, he sighed deeply. “Dear Zhong, if I do not march, who shall bear this burden for me?”
“Your servant will.” Zhong Xin knelt, his voice resolute. “Grant me the Imperial Sovereign Sword and authority to wield it. Let me assume the True Man Position in your stead. Should war bring calamity, let it strike my life alone. Your Majesty shall remain unscathed, free to choose another when the need arises.”
“Would such a burden not destroy you?” the king asked, his tone almost tender. “The karmic toll of holding the True Man Position—even your vast merits cannot shield you from the backlash. Your later years might be ruined.”
“To serve Your Majesty is my honor.” Zhong Xin bowed lower.
The king’s eyes gleamed with approval. “Excellent! Among a hundred ministers, you alone are loyal beyond question.”
“Your Majesty flatters me,” Zhong Xin demurred. “I am but an honest servant.”
“An honest one who must speak plainly now,” King Qing pressed. “How do we confront the Demonic Sect’s Chongguang?”
“Jiangdong’s Daoist Court is unreliable,” Zhong Xin replied bluntly. “That senile fool at the Siting Bureau declared Your Majesty’s heavenly mandate spent—claiming resistance futile when enemies swarm without and villains fester within.”
The king’s sidelong glance at Zhong Xin betrayed his unease. Though his lips scorned the prophecy, his heart had swallowed a third of its poison.
Zhong Xin continued, “The urgency lies in scrutiny of our realm. All infants under one year must be investigated thoroughly. According to the Siting Bureau’s reports, Chongguang has reincarnated. While his body remains that of a babe, even his divine powers will be fragile. Delay only strengthens the peril.”
King Qing nodded. “I’ve already deployed seekers across the land to hunt his reincarnated form.”
“Forgive my candor, Majesty,” Zhong Xin shook his head, “but such methods will yield nothing. This Chongguang is a Demonic Sect True Man, sheltered by a True Monarch’s might. Hunting him is near impossible.”
His voice turned glacial. “Let us abandon subtlety. Drown every newborn. Starve the demon of his vessel—no matter his power, even a master chef cannot cook without rice.”
“Drown all newborns?” The king narrowed his eyes. He’d conceived this cruelty himself, yet dared not command it. To butcher infants would brand him with eternal hatred, unravel the Daoist Court’s foundations. Let the minister bear this stain instead.
A slow smile spread. “A brilliant suggestion, Zhong. But such a task requires a loyal, meticulous executor. Might I entrust this duty to you?”
Zhong Xin prostrated himself. “Your servant accepts the charge.”
“Excellent.” King Qing rose. “I shall retire to the palace, feigning illness. The realm’s affairs shall rest in your hands until this matter concludes. I expect no less than perfection.”
Within, he sighed. A shame to sacrifice such a useful man. But once Chongguang fell, “recovery” would follow—restoring his image as the realm’s wise, virtuous monarch. Zhong Xin, however, would become the tyrant who drowned innocents, the traitor who betrayed trust. His usefulness would end there.
Suddenly—
“Report!”
A messenger burst in, breathless. “Your Majesty—found him!”
King Qing seized the scroll, scanned it, then froze. Zhong Xin leaned closer, curiosity piqued.
“Hahah! Found him!” The king’s roar shook the chamber. “Our scouts found Chongguang’s reincarnation!”
Faraway in the Sky-Connecting Sea of Clouds, atop the Holy Flame Cliff, True Monarch Qingcheng Feixue lounged on a veiled couch. Her slender fingers toyed with strands of hair as her eyes traced a map below.
A great river divided the land. Stars marked its regions, one dimly glowing over the Qing Kingdom.
“A Chongguang’s breakthrough,” a melodious voice chimed from the shadows, “combined with our three, might shift the balance.”
“What of Citadel Earth?” Qingcheng Feixue mused. “That Yuan Tu—his ruthlessness reminds me of Grandmaster.”
“No,” another scoffed. “Citadel Earth lies in Pure Land. We could never wrest it from those monks—they hoard it for their earthly Buddha realm.”
A contemptuous snort escaped her lips. “Buddha realm? At their mortal level?”
The star on the map flickered, its glow faint yet undeniable.
“It begins at last,” she murmured.
Her crimson lips parted, voice threading through realms.
“Head south immediately.”
Four words. Delivered to Lv Yang’s sealed cultivation deep in the Gai Zhu Mountains.
(End of Chapter)
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