Chapter 1806: Landing
Fifty miles from the planet, the water’s surface was no longer calm. The current was strong and waves were hundreds of feet high.
Palaces and rocks the size of a mountain were flying along the waves at ten times the speed of sound, forming an isolation zone.
Even the Saint Kinghood cultivators were wary to pass through as it was too dangerous.
The wind screamed past with a horrific howl as if it was going to blow away all the cultivators.
The round nebula above the white-jade sacred ship suddenly swelled to ten times its original size. It shrouded the ship within it. The ship passed through the dangerous zone safely and arrived below the planet.
The cultivators on the sacred ship looked up to study the black planet.
Two beams of golden light suddenly rose above the planet’s atmosphere. They then turned into two figures wearing gold-threaded sacred armor and looked down at the white-jade sacred ship.
Judging by their armor and accessories, Zhang Ruochen recognized them. There was a strange look in his eyes. “The golden-armored imperial guards of the Dizu prince.”
He finally understood the 14th prince’s intention.
One of the golden-armored imperial guards seemed to fail to recognize the white-jade sacred ship. “Whoever you are, turn away. This planet now belongs to the prince of the Dizu Divine Dynasty.”
Bai Shang, the guy carrying the broadsword on his back, stood on the ship and sneered. “His Highness is rather too assertive. This is Kunlun Realm, not his little manor in Giant Pluto. What makes him think he could take whatever he wants here?”
“That’s right. We are going to land on the planet and start harvesting sacred herbs,” said Nie Qingli.
A commotion rose among the cultivators on the ship as they condemned the Dizu prince for overstepping the bounds.
Right then, someone brandished a sacred sword and struck with a mile-long trail across the sky, hitting the two gold-armored imperial guards into the water. No one knew if they were still alive.
Following immediately, the white-jade sacred ship rose into the air. It then flew into the black planet’s atmosphere and landed on the rock-covered surface.
The planet grew with many sacred herbs that gave out a strong herbal aroma.
Those cultivators on the ship became ecstatic. They faded into streams of light as they lunged out of the ship in all directions.
But they returned quickly. In fact, they were forced to return.
There was a loud rumble in the air. Nearly one hundred gold-armored imperial guards, carrying halberds and riding on golden-glitter, giant deer beasts, had come surrounding them. Each of these imperial guards was in their Saint Kinghood and emanating a powerful shock wave of the Path.
Their sacred armors and halberds had the same array of inscription. Once activated, they would form a massive array.
The more the people, the more powerful the array would become.
When the nearly one hundred gold-armored imperial guards came together, even a Nine-step Saint King would have to beat a retreat.
Zhang Ruochen sucked through his teeth. “The Dizu Divine Dynasty is really a force to be reckoned with. Even a prince could command such an army of sacred imperial guards,” said Zhang Ruochen through telepathy.
For comparison, there were only about 3,000 Saint Kings in the entire Guanghan Realm.
And the number was even lesser in the Kunlun Realm.
To put it into perspective, so long as the Supreme Kings and gods did not interfere, a prince of the Dizu Divine Dynasty had the ability to conquer half of the Kunlun Realm.
Of course, after the recovery of the Kunlun Realm, the number of Saint Kings and Saints had skyrocketed. Many cultivators, who failed to make ascension previously, had become Saint Kings.
“The Dizu prince’s mother is Immortal Dizu’s wife and the daughter of Sky Sect’s leader. Besides, the prince’s uncles are also influential figures of the dynasty. How hard could it be to take charge of an army of imperial guards with such a background?” said Ji Fanxin, also through telepathy.
Zhang Ruochen chuckled. “What a man! That Immortal Dizu could marry both the Saintess of the Nebula Sect and daughter of the Sky Sect’s leader.”
“Let us look at it this way: it is because of his marriage to the Saintess of the Nebula Sect and the daughter of the Sky Sect’s leader that Immortal Dizu could reign the Dizu Divine Dynasty and become an Immortal,” said Ji Fanxin.
This kept Zhang Ruochen thinking.
So Ji Fanxin continued, “Immortal Dizu’s aptitude and intelligence must be extraordinary since he was small. But without the support of the various ancient forces, he couldn’t have developed and become an Immortal.”
“The best way to amass support is to through marriage.”
“When Immortal Dizu ascended to the helm, he was representing the interests of these various forces that supported him. Of course, Immortal Dizu isn’t someone to be sniffed at. After achieving immortality, he has gradually gotten rid of the influence of the Nebula Sect and Sky Sect. Instead, he has turned around to exert his influence over them to consolidate his ruling power.”
Zhang Ruochen sighed. “I didn’t know that a prominent figure like Immortal Dizu had to rely on compromises and someone else before his rise.”
Ji Fanxi seemed to have read what was on Zhang Ruochen’s mind. “If you want to rebuild the Shengming Central Empire and the glory days of the Kunlun Realm, your only choice is to leverage on the major forces to succeed.”
“I am no longer a cultivator of the Kunlun Realm. Their glory and decline have nothing to do with me,” said Zhang Ruochen.
“The future is always cruel. How would you run away when you alone have to decide the life and death of a billion people?”
Looking from an outsider’s perspective, Ji Fanxin could see much more clearly than Zhang Ruochen.
Boom!
Boom!
The earth trembled as four gold-armored giants, each a hundred-meter-tall, stepped out from among the army of gold-armored imperial guards.
One of the gold-armored giants looked murderous. “Get out or die!”
The faces of the Saints and the Saint Kings turned pale instantly. Some even quivered in fear, almost on their knees.
The 14th prince walked out of the white-jade sacred ship and scanned the surroundings. “We all are the Celestial Court’s cultivators and comrades in this Battlefield of Merits. Are you going to defy the laws of the Celestial Palace and Fane of Merit?”
The cultivators at the scene knew that the 14th prince was using them.
But they could not give up the sacred herbs on the planet and leave just like that.
So some cultivators came to heel. “This planet belongs to the Kunlun Realm, not the private property of the Dizu prince. Who gives you the authority to drive us away?”
“Over my dead body! I am the son of Emperor Yun of the Wind Realm.”
“Everyone gets a share of the abundance of opportunities in the Kunlun Realm. Not even the Dizu prince could keep it all to himself.”
The four gold-armored giants looked like some ancient vicious beasts; rumbles of thunder rose inside their bodies. Apparently, they were summoning their Saint Qi and about to attack.
The mighty energy burst out from their bodies caused some Saint-level cultivators to go weak at the knees and fall to the ground.
The 14th prince watched on with a smile on his face. Beside him, Ling Tong was holding a scroll and ready to record what happened at the scene.
“Adjunct!”
A skinny old man with four arms flew out to stop the four gold-armored giants.
This old man was Que, the Eunuch. He was the first elite fighter of the Dizu prince.
The 14th prince cupped his hands and greeted Eunuch Que.
“Be at ease, Your Highness. Since these cultivators are the men you bring, they are of course allowed to stay on the planet. But don’t say I didn’t warn you. This planet reeks of dangers. Don’t simply loiter around or you will get yourself killed,” said Eunuch Que creepily.
The 14th prince just shrugged with a smile. “Why are you alone here? Where is my elder brother? I miss him pretty badly after so long.”
“His Highness isn’t on this planet. I’m afraid that Your Highness would have to wait for some time,” said Eunuch Que.
“Looks like my elder brother is courting that princess again. I wish him all the best. Let’s go.”
The 14th prince tucked away the white-jade sacred ship and brought Ling Tong, Bai Shang, Nie Qingli, and others out of the encirclement of the gold-armored imperial guards.
The other cultivators onboard the white-jade sacred ship were no idiots. They did not follow the 4th prince but performed a skill and disappeared into the black mountains.
“Those guys are ungrateful lots! They didn’t even say their goodbye before leaving!” said Ling Tong.
The 14th prince shrugged it off with a smile. “Each of us just took what we needed. Do you really think they are so dumb as to go against the prince of the Dizu Divine Dynasty?”
Nie Qingli let out a smile. “Those guys must be thinking His Highness’s men dared not kill him. If not for Your Highness, those gold-armored imperial guards would have killed every single one of them.”
The 14th prince looked as if he was deep in thought. “My brother must have gone to visit the Heavenly Lady of the Tianchu! I heard that the Heavenly Lady was in Luoshui. She must have occupied one of the planets here.”
“I heard that not long ago, the Heavenly Lord of Tianchu Civilization had recovered from his injury and passed the Yuanhui Tribulation. His cultivation base has gotten an enormous boost. With the blessing of the Heavenly Lord, the Tianchu Civilization would only get better and stronger during the next Yuanhui Tribulation,” said Tong Ling matter-of-factly.
“If His Highness finds favor in the eyes of the Heavenly Lady of Tianchu, he would essentially have the support of the entire Tianchu Civilization behind him. That would mean he will become even more powerful than ever.”
The 14th prince’s expression was unchanged. “The Heavenly Lady of Tianchu is one of the fairies in the Portrait of the Nine Beauties. Even if she isn’t the Heavenly Lady, it is worth meeting her.”
But Nie Qingli disapproved. “The so-called Nine Fairies Painting is just a painting drawn by Hua Chunqiu, the wanderer. It doesn’t mean that those nine girls are the most beautiful women in the entire Celestial Court.”
The 14th prince, Tong Ling, and Bai Shang knew what Nie Qingli was thinking, and they all laughed.
Zhang Ruochen and Ji Fanxi did not follow the 14th prince but headed straight to the polar region of the planet. That million-meter-tall stone column was right at the center of the polar region.
“We have company,” said Ji Fanxin.
Zhang Ruochen snickered. “Those must be the gold-armored imperial guards of the Dizu prince. By the looks of them, they are coming to expel us.”
Zhang Ruochen and Ji Fanxin stopped and waited for a moment. Sure enough, beams of golden light arrived from the horizon with a series of loud sonic booms.
There were twenty-seven gold-armored imperial guards and a gold-armored giant.
Apparently, they must have known how powerful Zhang Ruochen and Ji Fanxi were and had sent a quarter of their men to intercept them.