Chapter 652
Imperial Decree to Offer Amnesty
Chi Ling arrived at Zhongmiao Town, south of Wenzhou, and looked at the surging Bailong River in front of her. "This time, I won't make a mistake again, right?"
Having said that, she flew above the Bailong River and shouted down at the river below, "Where is the water god of the Bailong River? Come out and see me at once!"
In an instant, a true dragon, its body entirely white, emerged from the water and flew to Chi Ling's eyes, transforming into a handsome and refined man.
"I am Ao Qing, the water god of the Bailong River. May I ask who you are, sir?" Ao Qing bowed to Chi Ling.
Chi Ling said, "I am Chi Ling, the Grand Commandant of the Jade Palace of the Mortal Realm."
Ao Qing's expression turned solemn, and he cupped his hands again, saying, "So it is Grand Commandant Chi Ling. Ao Qing greets you here. May I ask what brings you here, Grand Commandant?"
Chi Ling said, "I have come on the orders of the Divine Firmament Emperor."
Upon hearing this, Ao Qing's expression hardened, and he quickly bowed and said, "Your subject respectfully obeys the golden decree of the Divine Firmament Emperor."
Chi Ling said, "The Divine Firmament Emperor did not issue any decree to the Dragon King. The Divine Firmament Emperor ordered me to come here because of the seven hundred private soldiers that Zhu Yu, the mountain god of Huoshan, privately raised."
Upon hearing this, Ao Qing immediately laughed and said, "I see. Grand Commandant, you've come at the right time. Those people are just plotting something right now."
"Oh?" Akane looked surprised. "What do you mean?"
Ao Qing gestured and said, "Grand Commandant, please come into the Water Palace for tea. I will explain everything to you in detail later."
Chi Ling looked up and glanced around. As Ao Qing had just manifested his dragon form, many mortals on both banks of the White Dragon River were already bowing and worshipping. "Alright," Chi Ling nodded.
Ao Qing then led Chi Ling into the White Dragon River and returned to the Water Palace.
The Bailongjiang Water Palace appears quite simple, consisting of only a main hall and a small courtyard, with the rest being simple dwellings.
Chi Ling nodded slightly. This Dragon King of Bailongjiang was calm and composed, neither humble nor arrogant. It seemed that he was still a frugal celestial official.
Upon entering the main hall of the Water Mansion, Ao Qing invited Chi Ling to sit down, and then personally brewed tea to serve her.
"In this remote mountain area, we have no good tea to offer, please forgive us, Grand Commandant," Ao Qing said as he presented the spirit tea.
Chi Ling took the teacup and smiled, "Dragon King, you flatter me. With a pure heart, the tea will naturally be fragrant." After saying that, she took a sip of the spiritual tea.
“Hmm, not bad,” Chi Ling said. “This tea is not much different from the spiritual tea I drank at the Southern Mountain Divine Palace.”
Ao Qing laughed and said, "That should be the tea that my Water Mansion presented as tribute last year. Grand Commandant, you may not know this, but Bikou and Zhongmiao are famous for their tea production. So every year I go there to purchase some, some of which is presented as tribute to Nanyue, and some I keep for myself."
"I see." Chi Ling nodded slightly. As the Heavenly Emperor, the Five Sacred Mountains Emperor had all the large and small divine palaces under his jurisdiction report to him and pay tribute every year.
No matter what you offer as tribute, whether it is expensive or cheap, good or bad, you must offer tribute.
On the contrary, Zhuang Yan, since becoming the emperor, has basically stopped accepting tributes from below. He accepts the most tributes from the Five Sacred Mountains Divine Palaces, and returns most of the tributes from the lower-level divine palaces.
Later, this became a precedent, and whenever someone offered tribute to Zhuang Yan, the Fire Spirit Immortal would handle it in the same way.
Getting back to the main point, Chi Ling asked Ao Qing, "What did the Dragon King mean by saying that those private armies are all plotting something?"
Upon hearing this, Ao Qing immediately replied, "It is like this, does the Grand Commandant know about the 'Collecting Lost Items'?"
“I know, it’s the official gazette published by the Western Mountain Divine Palace.” Chi Ling realized, “You mean those private soldiers saw the gazette?”
“Yes,” Ao Qing said. “They were previously supported by the Huoshan Divine Palace and cultivated here. However, before they could serve, the Huoshan Mountain God was executed, so these people are now looking for other ways to make a living.”
Chi Ling asked, "Are they still in the Water Palace?"
Ao Qing said, "These people are not in my Water Palace, but are cultivating in the 'Black Dragon Pool'."
"Oh? Black Dragon Pool?" Chi Ling asked curiously.
Ao Qing said, "The Black Dragon Pool was formed from the death of a black dragon 30,000 years ago. At the bottom of the pool is a Black Scale Pool, which was formed from the dragon scales on that black dragon's body. It has a great effect on tempering the physical body. These 700 private soldiers are all scattered cultivators recruited by Zhu Yu, the former mountain god of Huoshan, from various places in the Southern Continent. So they were sent to this Black Dragon Pool to temper their physical bodies day and night in the Black Scale Pool. Now all of them have achieved physical immortality."
Chi Ling was greatly surprised to hear this and asked, "How long have these people been cultivating?"
Ao Qing did some quick calculations and then said, "It's almost been a full sixty years."
Chi Ling frowned and said, "Is this Black Scale Pool really so miraculous? Can a body cultivator reach the realm of physical immortality in just sixty years?"
Ao Qing laughed and said, "The Black Scale Pool is just a tempering place. What really matters is the various spiritual medicines and pills provided by the Huoshan Herb Garden to nourish the body, as well as the monthly stipend of ten purple coins per person. Without these things, the Black Scale Pool would just be a vicious pool that wears down the body."
Chi Ling suddenly realized that this explanation made sense to her. Leaving aside the spiritual herbs and pills, the acquired purple coins inside the purple coins alone had the effect of nourishing and refining the physical body.
However, very few people in the Three Realms are wealthy enough to use purple coins to nourish their physical body; that would be far too extravagant.
At this point, Ao Qing said to Chi Ling, "Now those people have split into two factions. One faction is led by Sun Chengdong, who wants to lead everyone to join the Buddhist sect in order to gain a proper status."
Chi Ling asked, "What about the other faction?"
Ao Qing said, "The other faction, led by Ang Zhengxuan, wants to establish its own sect, occupy the mountain as king, and become a powerful demon in the region."
“These two factions are currently arguing fiercely, and they have fought quite a few battles, but so far no one has been killed.” At this point, Ao Qing looked at Chi Ling and said, “It’s fortunate that you came, Grand Commandant. I was really worried that one day they would cause a big disturbance and affect the living beings on both sides of the river and my White Dragon River Water Palace.”
After hearing Ao Qing's story, Chi Ling immediately stood up and said, "Please, Dragon King, lead the way and take me to Black Dragon Pool to subdue these creatures."
Ao Qing immediately stood up, cupped his hands, and said, "This humble deity obeys."
At Black Dragon Pool, another conflict broke out between the private armies led by Sun Chengdong and Ang Zhengxuan.
Sun Chengdong and Ang Zhengxuan became the leaders of their respective factions because their physical cultivation had both reached the level of Xuanli Martial God.
Hundreds of people from both sides were locked in a fierce battle, displaying all sorts of martial arts and movement techniques. Although it was only seven hundred people fighting, the two sides fought with the momentum of seventy thousand people.
These people are not only highly skilled in martial arts, but also know battle formations. In particular, they are all immortals who have achieved physical sainthood, so they are extremely powerful when they fight.
Soon, several people on both sides were bleeding, and some were knocked to the ground unconscious. Sun Chengdong and Ang Zhengxuan rushed over and, seeing the scene before them, exchanged a glance before immediately stepping forward to mediate the fight.
The two rushed into the crowd, their bodies radiating red immortal light—the unique aura of those who had achieved immortality through their physical bodies.
The two charged into the fray like two elephants charging into a swarm of ants, quickly separating the fighting crowd.
"Stop!" The last two shouted, immediately intimidating both sides.
As both sides stopped fighting, Ang Zhengxuan Great Sage said, "We haven't even found a way out, are you going to kill your own people first?" "Who's one of us?" a rogue immortal on the other side said, "If you want to become outlaws and monsters, who's one of us?"
"Who's the monster? Who are you calling a monster?" The rogue immortals on Ang Zhengxuan's side immediately retorted, "We want to establish our own sect and create our own great enterprise. Who said we want to become monsters? It's you who want to become dogs for Buddhism."
Soon the two sides started arguing again, and Ang Zhengxuan and Sun Chengdong had to stop everyone once more.
Then Sun Chengdong said to Ang Zhengxuan, "Brother Ang, we must decide on our choice as soon as possible."
Ang Zhengxuan nodded in agreement. This matter was urgent, and if a direction wasn't set soon, the conflict between the two sides would become uncontrollable.
So, under the leadership of Ang Zhengxuan and Sun Chengdong, the two sides had no choice but to temporarily stop arguing and sit down to continue their discussions.
The differences between the two sides are obvious. Sun Chengdong's faction advocates joining the Great Religion in order to obtain a proper social status.
Ang Zhengxuan's faction advocated not to align themselves with any side and to be independent.
Then the two sides argued again, but after arguing for an hour or two, they still couldn't reach a conclusion.
Seeing that both sides had run out of patience, Ang Zhengxuan immediately suggested, "Since we still can't reach a conclusion, let's each go and find our own way out."
At this point, Ang Zhengxuan suggested, "It doesn't matter to us who you choose to serve. You can leave if you want. We will make this Black Dragon Pool our home and build a great enterprise from now on."
As soon as Ang Zhengxuan said this, he immediately received the support of everyone behind him.
But Sun Chengdong's side objected, "You're dreaming! Why should Black Dragon Pool belong to you? Even if we join the Buddhist sect, we will still use Black Dragon Pool as our place of practice."
Well, before the two sides have even reached an agreement, they're already arguing over the Black Dragon Pool again.
This time, even Ang Zhengxuan and Sun Chengdong couldn't hold back. What is Black Dragon Pool? It's a treasure trove for body cultivators to temper their bodies; how could they give it up so easily?
Which of these people wasn't tempering their bodies in the Black Scale Pool to achieve immortality? How could they possibly give up the Black Dragon Pool?
Seeing that another fierce battle was about to begin, Ang Zhengxuan and Sun Chengdong immediately prepared to take action to suppress it.
However, at that moment, a dragon's roar rang out outside the Black Dragon Pool, and the people who were about to make a move immediately stopped.
"The Water Dragon King has arrived," Sun Chengdong said.
Ang Zhengxuan quickly said, "It's the water god of Bailong River. Everyone, don't fight yet."
As they were talking, Ao Qing and Chi Ling flew in, because Black Dragon Pool was located in a valley between two mountains.
Sun Chengdong and Ang Zhengxuan immediately stepped forward and bowed to Ao Qing, saying, "Water Dragon King, what brings you here today?"
Ao Qing returned the greeting with a cupped hand, said nothing more, and pointed directly to Chi Ling beside him, saying, "I have come here today for no other reason than that Grand Commandant Chi Ling wishes to see you."
"Grand Commandant Chi Ling?" Sun Chengdong looked at Chi Ling, then asked, "May I ask who this Grand Commandant Chi Ling is?"
Ao Qing said, "He is the Grand Commandant of the Jade Palace of the Mortal Realm, in charge of the General's Office, and is granted the title of 'Marquis of Panlin'."
"The Jade Palace of the Mortal Realm?"
"The Grand Commandant of the General's Office?"
Ang Zhengxuan, Sun Chengdong, and the others all looked puzzled. Then, Ang Zhengxuan asked, "What is the Grand Commandant of the Dust Realm Jade Palace doing here?"
“Yes,” Sun Chengdong said, puzzled. “We wandering immortals from the Southern Continent don’t seem to have any connection with the Zhechong Prefecture, do we?”
Ao Qing was about to speak when Chi Ling stopped him. Chi Ling stepped forward and said, "I have come to offer you amnesty by order of the Divine Firmament Emperor."
"Recruit amnesty?" Sun Chengdong, Ang Zhengxuan, and the others looked at each other in bewilderment, then suddenly burst into laughter.
"Recruit us in surrender? Your Zhechong Prefecture comes all the way to Nanzhanbuzhou to recruit us?" Ang Zhengxuan said after laughing, "Chiling Grand Commandant, are you still dreaming?"
Ao Qing's expression changed, and he immediately shouted, "You must not be disrespectful to the Grand Commandant!"
"Hmph!" Sun Chengdong snorted coldly and said directly to Ao Qing, "Water Dragon King, we only show you respect because you are the Dragon King of the White Dragon River. Otherwise, why should we, the seven hundred martial immortals, have to defer to a mere Water Dragon King like you?"
Ao Qing's gaze sharpened, and he said, "Fellow Daoist Sun, what do you mean by that?"
"What do you mean?" Sun Chengdong said, "It means I look down on you celestial officials. You all flaunt your power and look imposing, but in reality, you're all incompetent fools. The Great Emperor of Nanyue is even more of an incompetent fool. Just because of the pressure from the Jade Palace of the Mortal Realm, he actually killed his own son. What else could he be but an incompetent fool?"
At this point, Sun Chengdong looked at Chi Ling and said, "You think you can be recruited? Hmph, we are not those cowards from the Southern Mountain Divine Palace."
Ang Zhengxuan stepped forward, glanced at Chi Ling, and then pointed to the outside of the valley, saying, "Grand Commandant, we're giving you a chance now. If you crawl out on your knees, we won't make things difficult for you. Otherwise..."
Ang Zhengxuan chuckled maliciously, then reached out and wiped Chi Ling's cheek. "I think this Grand Commandant is quite handsome, isn't he?!"
Before Ang Zhengxuan could finish speaking, Chi Ling raised her hand and broke Ang Zhengxuan's arm into four or five pieces. As blood gushed out from the severed arm, Chi Ling reached forward with her right hand, grabbed Ang Zhengxuan's head, and gently lifted it. With a 'plop' sound, Ang Zhengxuan's head was pulled off his neck.
A jet of blood shot into the sky. Ang Zhengxuan blinked a few times, only to see that his body was headless and blood was still gushing from his neck. Then everything went black and he died completely.
Scalding blood splattered all over Sun Chengdong. He stared in shock as Ang Zhengxuan's headless body swayed a few times before collapsing to the ground. Suddenly regaining his senses, he pointed at Chi Ling and shouted, "Everyone, together!"
Before Sun Chengdong could finish saying "Let's go together," Chi Ling was already in front of him. Sun Chengdong was shocked and hurriedly attacked Chi Ling, but Chi Ling grabbed out with one hand, and with a flash of blood, the flesh on Sun Chengdong's neck instantly exploded.
Immediately afterwards, Sun Chengdong's head was propelled high into the air by a jet of blood, and then fell to the ground with a 'thud'.
Sun Chengdong's body was just like Ang Zhengxuan's before; he staggered a few steps before collapsing to the ground.
All of this happened in the blink of an eye, meaning that within ten breaths, Chi Ling killed two rogue immortals at the physical body level of the 'Xuanli Martial God'.
What is the concept of the physical realm of Xuanli Martial God? To put it simply, the physical realm of the Giant Spirit God is that of Xuanli Martial God.
All the scattered immortals stood there dumbfounded, staring in shock at the two corpses on the ground. Others might not know the strength of Sun Chengdong and Ang Zhengxuan, but did they not? These two hadn't become leaders of the group solely based on their physical strength.
Chi Ling lightly shook her hand, then looked at the seven hundred scattered immortals in front of her and said, "If you don't offer amnesty, then you are demons and rebels, and you should all be exterminated."
The scattered immortals looked up in shock, their eyes filled with horror as they stared at the tall, elegant figure before them, who appeared to be completely powerless.
The murderous aura emanating from Chi Ling was almost tangible. She stared fiercely at the crowd and said, word by word, "Do you obey the imperial decree?!" (End of Chapter)