Chapter 953: The Murderous Intent at the City Walls
A twist happened in the war between the two countries because of Mo Wen’s decision. The undercurrents twisted and turned, and below the surface, a storm raged.
The Xu Village that Mo Wen was at was a mountain village under the jurisdiction of Li’an Province in the central area of Xiping Country. It didn’t stand out much in Li’an Province but was now where everyone in the two countries gathered. In order to not disturb the peace in the mountain village and bring negative elements to the mountain village, Mo Wen did not stay there. Instead, he headed to the main city of Li’an Province—Li’an City.
The sun shone brilliantly upon Li’an City on a beautiful day. It was magnificent; however, black clouds floated from the edges of the sky. The next moment, a large number of black clouds gathered above Lian City from all directions. They covered the sky and blocked the sun. The entire sky darkened.
This weird temperature change had never been encountered by the people of Li’an City. They all left their homes and looked at the sky in shock. It was noon, but the sky seemed as dark as night. It seemed as if it was about to turn completely black.
“It’s so cold! Why did the weather change so suddenly? It’s so cold.”
“So cold.”
…
The people living in Li’an City all felt a cold Qi hurtling towards them. The felt as if they were transported instantly to a bone-piercingly cold glacier. Furthermore, they felt as if they were not clothed, and they shivered from the cold. Many people hugged their bodies tightly or immediately returned home to put on thick clothing; however, the cold did not dissipate.
Mo Wen was meditating with his knees crossed inside an inn at Li’an City. He seemed to have sensed something. He stood up, walked to the window, and glanced at the changing weather outside. Then, he said lightly, “Are they here?”
At the same time, in the mayor’s manor.
Shao Wenming was the highest-ranking chief executive of Li’an Province of Xiping Country. Xiping Country managed the country through martial arts. Or perhaps, the same could be said of the entire Peng Lai Immortal Realm. No matter whether it was the immortal sects or the imperial court, everyone held martial arts in esteem, and they followed the rules of the martial arts circle. As such, to hold an important position in the country, one had to be a sufficiently powerful martial arts cultivator or immortal cultivator.
Shao Wenming was a martial arts cultivator. Furthermore, he was at the first martial arts grandmaster realm. In all of Li’an Province, his cultivation level was at the top.
However, Shao Wenming was not in any position to make any decisions in the Mayor’s Manor right now, or even in the entire Li’an Province. Instead, the grand marshal of Xiping Country, General Xiang Yuanjiu, who controlled a 100,000 men strong arm, was in charge.
General Xiang Yuanjiu was originally in charge of the defense in the frontline. He had plotted actively to guard against the army of Fengyu Country and was not inside Li’an City.
However, because the senior in the Primordial Soul Realm had managed to stop the army from Fengyu Country numbering in the hundred-thousands five days ago and made their army retreat a thousand miles away, the tense energy at the frontline had decreased slightly. This gave Fengyu Country a chance to breathe. After knowing that the senior was now in Li’an City, Xiang Yuanjiu immediately rushed to Li’an City as well.
As such, Xiang Yuanjiu was the highest-ranking official of Li’an Province who could take charge of the military and administrative matters. The entire Li’an Province was now under military control.
Inside the Mayor’s Manor, Xiang Yuanjiu sat at the place where the master of the manor sat. He was expressionless, yet, seemed extremely dignified. The high-ranking military officials and the officials of Li’an Province did not even dare to breathe loudly.
“Report, General. A weird weather change is happening now at Li’an City. It seems like something happened.”
A soldier barged into the room with an anxious expression. As a cultivator, he naturally knew that the situation at Li’an City was a little unusual.
“Alright.” Xiang Yuanjiu nodded but did not express his view.
“General, all of Li’an City has been enveloped in a massive Yin Qi. This is not something an ordinary cultivator can do. It is more than likely that a powerhouse in the Primordial Soul Realm has come to the city.”
Shao Wenming said this, somewhat panicked. An official of his level would not be able to interact with powerhouses in the Primordial Soul Realm usually. A powerhouse in the Primordial Soul Realm would be able to crush Li’an City with the wave of his hand. A city like them did not even have the right to be acknowledged by a powerhouse in the Primordial Soul Realm.
“There is no need to panic. The person who came must be the state preceptor of Fengyu Country. He is bound by the war treaty and cannot act against us ordinary officials. He must be here because of that senior.”
Xiang Yuanjiu was very calm. However, his eyelids twitched incessantly, betraying his inner-most thoughts. There were only that many powerhouses in the Primordial Soul Realm in Donghe Prefecture. A powerhouse in the Primordial Soul Realm who could come to Li’an City at this time must be the state preceptor of Fengyu Country. He was not worried that the state preceptor of Fengyu Country would cause any direct harm to them. Instead, he was worried that the senior in the Primordial Soul Realm who protected Xiping Country earlier would not be able to hold up against the state preceptor of Fengyu Country.
It could be said that this matter involved the life and death of Xiping Country. If the senior from the Primordial Soul State were to be defeated by the state preceptor of Fengyu Country, or if the man were to back out of the fight willingly, then the army of Fengyu Country would continue their invasion into Xiping Country. Giving Xiping Country this slight opportunity to recover would not be able to change the result at all.
The country would fall! It might not have too much of an impact on the high and mighty cultivation sects. But to the officials of Xiping Country, it would be a destructive blow. If they lost this war, as the grand marshal of the army, he could only be absolved of his sins through death.
Xiang Yuanjiu had already lost all hope. But the senior from the Primordial Soul Realm had appeared and allowed him to grasp at the last straw.
“The Yin Qi is so strong. The state preceptor of Fengyu Country must have used the national treasure of Fengyu Country—the corpse flag.”
A lieutenant general beside Xiang Yuanjiu looked rather nervous. The Dark Corpse Flag of Fengyu Country was one of the treasures that Xiping Country was most afraid of. Fengyu Country would not use their national treasure—the Dark Corpse Flag—under normal circumstances. Once the Dark Corpse Flag appeared, the situation was naturally much more serious than they thought.
The legend was that there was a state master from Fengyu Country, who was not only great at managing the country, but his cultivation was also at the Primordial Soul Realm. He became the state master of Fengyu Country with the highest cultivation realm in history. To ensure that Fengyu Country would prosper for eternity, he cultivated the refined corpse method of the Hades path on his death bed. In the end, he cultivated himself into a zombie in the Primordial Soul Realm and sealed himself in the Dark Corpse Flag.
“It is more than likely to be the Dark Corpse Flag. However, you do not have to panic. Since that senior dare to dismiss the power of Fengyu Country, he would have a reason to do so. Since the state preceptor of Fengyu Country is here, then the senior will probably come as well. Let’s go out and watch the two masters’ show of power.”
Xiang Yuanjiu got up and walked outside. Li’an City had descended into panic because of the sudden change. Fully armed military soldiers patrolled on the streets of Li’an City to maintain peace and order, stopping riots from happening.
Xiang Yunjiu had never seen the powerful senior who dared to challenge Fengyu Country. He only knew that the man was currently staying in Li’an City and nothing else. After all, who would dare to disturb such a powerful man? Xiang Yunjiu did not even dare to check in detail where the man was staying as well.
In the dim light, a figure slowly descended from the sky and landed on the walls of Li’an City.
The city walls of Li’an City were slightly damaged because of the war. There was dried blood on many spots. A faint intent to kill was imbued in the desolateness.
It was a man in purple. He wore a loose purple robe and exuded a sense of nobleness.
“I am the state preceptor of Fengyu Country—Fang Zhengxiang. Someone stopped Fengyu Country’s plans five days ago. Do you dare come out and meet me?”
The indifferent yet slightly arrogant voice sounded throughout Li’an City and did not fade for a long while. Fang Zhengxiang had made a large show of coming to Li’an City, so how could anyone not know that he was there. He had said something like that to sound imposing, of course.
“What are you doing here? Do you think that I will change my mind because you are here?”
A very young-sounding voice rang out. One could tell that the voice belonged to a young man. Another figure appeared on the desolate city walls suddenly.
It was a young man. He was no other than Mo Wen.
“This young man is the legendary senior? He is so young. He seems to be even younger than my son.”
A group of generals and officials from Xiping Country gathered on the viewing platform on the other side of the city walls. They watched the two powerful cultivators from afar. A general dressed in armor could not help but exclaim in shock after seeing Mo Wen. All the powerhouses in the Primordial Soul Realm that he knew of were all elderly people who had cultivated for several hundred years. He had never heard of such a young Primordial Soul Realm cultivator, much less seen one. After all, Donghe Prefecture was considered a remote place in Qu City, much less in the entire Peng Lai Immortal Realm.
“Be careful with what you say!”
The general had only just spoken when a slap headed his way. It was so strong that the general fell to the ground. The hit was vicious and strong.
The person who had hit the general was none other than the grand marshal—Xiang Yuanjiu. How could they make comments about a powerhouse in the Primordial Soul Realm? That’s as good as seeking death. If the senior were to kill them in a fit of pique, they would not even be able to complain.
“Yes! Yes! I was wrong.”
The general realized that he had spoken out of turn and hurriedly lowered his head. He did not dare to say anything else.
On the city wall, two figures stood facing each other. One was young while the other was old.
“State Preceptor, this is the man who stopped me.”
Another middle-aged man was standing beside State Preceptor Fang. It was none other than Commander Hu Hong of Fengyu Country’s vanguard army. He was not afraid right now, for he had his state preceptor by his side. As such, he stood in front of Mo Wen and pointed him out without any worries.
“Your Excellency, you are indeed young. You definitely have a bright future ahead of you. But why have you blocked the great plans of Fengyu Country?”
State Preceptor Fang looked at Mo Wen with curiosity in his eyes. The young man looked like he was in his 20s on the surface, and his voice sounded young as well. If he only appeared like this because he had cultivated in a technique that gave him his youthful looks, then that technique was too amazing.
“I don’t like Fengyu Country, that’s all.”
Mo Wen spoke lightly. There was a fiery intent to fight hidden in his calm eyes. He had never fought with a cultivator in the Primordial Soul Realm. Even though he guessed that an ordinary cultivator at the early stages of the Primordial Soul Realm was no longer any match for him, he still had not fought one after all.
“That’s all? You have underestimated Fengyu Country. Since this is so, then I shall not hold back. Do not blame me for bullying the weak.”
State Preceptor Fang laughed angrily. The young man was so arrogant. He disregarded State Preceptor Fang even when the man was standing right in front of him. Could he count on the young man to cower away from the fight?
“You are welcome to bully the weak.” Mo Wen laughed lightly. He had long had the itch to fight since he saw the cultivator at the early stages of the Primordial Soul Realm. He would be a little concerned if it had been a cultivator who was at the late stages of the Primordial Soul Realm or one who had achieved great attainment.