Book 5: Chapter 183: Ao Shun Taken Hostage

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Crown prince’s official residence, Borderless Heavenly Capital:

Gu Qin summoned Mo Yike, Meng Tai, Chen Tianshan, and Gao Xianzhi.

“Mo Yike, was Imperial Father implicated in the conflict with the Solar Divine Palace? Are you sure Imperial Father said he was in danger?” Gu Qin asked, his face sinking.

“Yes. His Majesty told me not to worry. However, I felt that His Majesty was just consoling this humble one. He should be in grave danger.” Mo Yike nodded.

“Then, why are we focusing on taking over the Yuan Nation’s former territory? We should immediately head to the Solar Divine Palace! Saving His Majesty is the most urgent matter!” Gao Xianzhi immediately said anxiously.

“However, His Majesty has already issued his orders,” Mo Yike said with a bitter smile.

“The field commander may have to decide against the sovereign’s orders. I feel that it is more important to rescue His Majesty!” Gao Xianzhi said anxiously.

“I agree as well!” Chen Tianshan said in a resolute tone.

If the emperor were no longer around, what would be the point of expanding the territory? As long as the emperor was fine, they could take back whatever territory they lost now.

“I feel that…this is unnecessary,” Meng Tai suddenly said with a frown.

“Huh?” Everyone frowned at Meng Tai.

“I know that everyone is loyal to His Majesty. However, do you have no confidence in His Majesty? Who is His Majesty? How much danger has he encountered before? When has he failed to eliminate the danger? Furthermore, His Majesty has a zither puppet. If he is in danger, he can just inform Long Zhanguo. Besides, do you think we can consider His Majesty’s safety more comprehensively than His Majesty?” Meng Tai said seriously.

Everyone fell silent.

Indeed, everyone trusted Gu Hai. However, how could they not worry when he was in danger?

“Alright. Lord Mo, Lord Gao, do as my imperial father commanded. Prepare the soldiers to take over the Yuan Nation’s former territory. This is Imperial Father’s command. You cannot change it,” Gu Qin instructed.

“Yes!” Mo Yike and Gao Xianzhi nodded while frowning.

“As for the Solar Divine Palace, this prince is still worried about it. I will personally lead a group of people over,” Gu Qin said.

“Crown Prince?” Everyone’s expression changed as they looked at Gu Qin.

“Don’t worry. The enemy is in the open, while I will be hidden. Nothing will happen.” Gu Qin shook his head.

“This official will follow Crown Prince,” Meng Tai immediately called out.

“Huh?” Gu Qin looked at Meng Tai.

“Crown Prince, this official is loyal to His Majesty. Previously many of the Embroidered Uniform Guards entered the Asura Path Secret Realm with us. Although there were not as many as Lord Chen’s Divine Demon Army, there were still quite a lot. We can help Crown Prince there,” Meng Tai implored.

Gu Qin nodded after some silence. “Alright.”

“This official is willing to follow Crown Prince to the Solar Divine Palace!” Chen Tianshan called out.

Gu Qin shook his head and said, “Lord Chen, you cannot go.”

“Why?”

“Lord Mo and Lord Gao are leading soldiers to take over the Yuan Nation’s former territory. Meng Tai and I are heading to the Solar Divine Palace. Imperial Mother has also left Borderless Heavenly Capital. We need someone to take charge of Borderless Heavenly Capital. Right now, you are the most qualified, aside from us. You can ensure peace if you take charge of Borderless Heavenly Capital,” Gu Qin instructed seriously.

Chen Tianshan remained silent for a while. Eventually, he nodded.

“By the way, Lord Chen, His Majesty declared that Lord Mo would be the Yuan Annexing Supreme Commander while I would be the Yuan Annexing Deputy Supreme Commander. We are to lead the Divine Demon Army to take over the Yuan Nation’s former territory. However, you lead five hundred thousand of the Divine Demon Army. Would you hand command of them over to Lord Mo and me for now? We will return them to you after we take over the Yuan Nation’s former territory.” Gao Xianzhi looked at Chen Tianshan.

Chen Tianshan frowned slightly as he looked at Gao Xianzhi. “Previously, six hundred thousand soldiers entered the Asura Path Secret Realm with us. Among which, one hundred thousand officers were assigned to Lord Gao. Lord Gao, are those not enough?”

“It’s not that they are insufficient. Just in case!” Gao Xianzhi smiled.

“The five hundred thousand-strong Divine Demon Army is the Han Royal Dynasty’s strongest army. It is an important tool of the nation, and His Majesty has handed them to this official. Lord Gao, please forgive me. I can only hand them back to His Majesty, never to a third person,” Chen Tianshan said seriously.

“Huh?” Gao Xianzhi’s expression froze. He had not expected Chen Tianshan to reject him directly.

Speaking of which, although Gao Xianzhi did not look down on Chen Tianshan, he did not consider Chen Tianshan that capable. Chen Tianshan’s skills in managing the nation, leading troops, and foreign affairs were all average. In any case, all of Chen Tianshan’s abilities were average. Hence, Gao Xianzhi did not understand why Gu Hai valued Chen Tianshan so much, to the point of handing the Divine Demon Army to him.

Claiming that I am not jealous would be a lie. However, His Majesty said that I should lead the Divine Demon Army. You should hand it to me.

“Lord Chen, His Majesty said that Lord Mo and I should lead the Divine Demon Army,” Gao Xianzhi reminded with a frown.

Mo Yike, Gu Qin, Meng Tai, and the others frowned at Chen Tianshan’s stance.

“When you feel you need the Divine Demon Army, you can send a message to me through the zither puppets. I will be in Borderless Heavenly Capital. I will command the Divine Demon Army to do what you cannot do,” Chen Tianshan said seriously.

“If we want to command the Divine Demon Army, we have to go through you? Lord Chen, you should know that the military values speed. Many things can change in an instant on the battlefield. How much time would we waste by informing you first before you command the Divine Demon Army? That will deprive us of many opportunities!” Gao Xianzhi argued anxiously.

Mo Yike frowned at Chen Tianshan.

“Sorry. Lord Gao, I have to be responsible to His Majesty. I have to do this,” Chen Tianshan said stubbornly.

Gao Xianzhi glared, rendered speechless. This Chen Tianshan is overly pedantic.

Mo Yike, Gu Qin, and Meng Tai looked at Chen Tianshan with strange expressions.

Previously, they had felt that Chen Tianshan did not stand out in any field and wondered why Gu Hai made him the Han Royal Dynasty’s Second Corps commander. Now, they finally figured out what Chen Tianshan’s capabilities were: inflexibility and excessive pedantry.

His Majesty already said to let Gao Xianzhi lead the Divine Demon Army. Yet, you pedantically refused? You want them to command the Divine Demon Army through you? Just how pedantic is that?

However, Chen Tianshan persisted in it, so no one could do anything about it.

No matter what, the Han Royal Dynasty went into action. Long Zhanguo’s decree had opened the gates to the Yuan Nation’s former territory to them.

Gu Qin and Meng Tai led a group of people and silently left Borderless Heavenly Capital, entrusting the city to Chen Tianshan.

——

In the morning, in the Solar Divine Palace’s territory:

“I’ve returned!” Anticipation flashed in Lu Ya’s eyes as he looked into the distant sky.

The flying ship flew straight up for five hundred thousand kilometers. Gu Hai saw what seemed to be giant planets.

Each planet was at least ten times larger than Earth and seemed to have many mountain ranges. Furthermore, he saw various buildings and pavilions on the planets and even animal spirits walking around.

“These are planets?” Gu Hai said in awe.

“Planets? Hah! The word that you made up is really funny.” Lu Ya revealed a cold smile.

“Is that wrong?” Gu Hai asked, stupefied.

“These are stars! In the Divine Solar Palace, they are called spirit stars. These are where the various animal spirits live—subordinate cities to the Solar Divine Palace,” Lu Ya sneered.

“Spirit stars? Three hundred sixty-one? The number of a cycle?” Gu Hai counted the stars where the animal spirits lived.

“You have good eyes.” Lu Ya showed a cold smile.

The number of a cycle? Gu Hai felt that the stars seemed to surround something. At the same time, it felt like they were revolving around something.

Gu Hai looked at the center, trying to find what the stars were revolving around. Soon, he found it—a vast sea in the distance. However, there was nothing on the vast sea.

Buzz!

Just then, the first rays of the morning sun shone. It seemed like boundless flames poured from the sun into the sea. As the golden flames poured in, they seemed to ignite the sea, triggering the release of vast amounts of golden light. Then, the golden light coalesced into a towering tree.

This towering tree was a fusang tree.

[TL Note: The fusang tree is a mythical tree from Chinese legends. It is also referred to as the tree of life and is thought to be a type of mulberry tree. Its name can be literally translated as propping mulberry tree. Here is the Wikipedia entry on it: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fusang.]

The fusang tree shone with bright light and had many branches, each of which bore a city. There were forty-nine cities in all, split between three main trunks.

At the tallest point of the central main trunk was a palace enveloped in fire. The signboard there read “Eastern Monarch Palace.”

The top of the main trunk on the left had purple energy surrounding it. The largest palace there had a signboard that read “Supreme Wa Palace.”

The top of the main trunk on the right had white energy surrounding it. The largest palace there had a signboard that read “Supreme Genesis Palace.”

“The Eastern Monarch Palace, the Supreme Wa Palace, and the Supreme Genesis Palace? So, they are all on this fusang tree. This is the Solar Divine Palace?” Gu Hai said in shock as he looked up.

The three hundred sixty-one spirit stars—the number of a cycle—surrounded the gigantic fusang tree.

After the first rays of the morning sun passed, the gigantic fusang tree slowly vanished. However, Gu Hai knew that it was still there; it just turned transparent, invisible. Nevertheless, it was there. Those palaces and cities were still on that tree.

“Ignorant! To think that you don’t even know this?” Lu Ya looked at Gu Hai in disdain.

Whoosh!

Suddenly, a beam of azure light shot over from one of the spirit stars, instantly arriving before Lu Ya’s flying ship.

Boom!

The beam of azure light stopped before Lu Ya. It was someone familiar to Gu Hai: Kong Xuan, the Great Light Sovereign Deity.

Kong Xuan approached, glanced at Gu Hai, and turned to look at Lu Ya. “Crown Prince Lu Ya!”

“Oh? Great Light Sovereign Deity? Don’t you dislike the spirit stars and usually stay in your Peacock Sea? Why are you here among the spirit stars to block me today?” Lu Ya frowned at Kong Xuan.

Kong Xuan shook his head. “There are three hundred sixty-one spirit stars. Each spirit star has an animal spirit king stationed there. Master assigned me to the Peacock Star. The Peacock Star is my station. What is wrong with me coming from there?”

“The Peacock Star is your fief; there is nothing wrong with that. However, Great Light Sovereign Deity, why are you blocking me?” Lu Ya asked.

Kong Xuan looked at Gu Hai. “Crown Prince Lu Ya, why did you capture Gu Hai? This person is a jinx, bringing bad luck and misfortune everywhere he goes. Now, Long Zhanguo’s army is approaching. By bringing him back, Crown Prince Lu Ya is bringing back boundless variables. How about you hand him to me, and I will destroy him before the battle begins?”

“Huh?” Gu Hai’s face sank.

Lu Ya’s eyes suddenly turned cold. “Oh? This means that you—the Great Light Sovereign Deity—have been waiting here for some time already? You remained on Peacock Star just to await my return?”

Kong Xuan looked at Lu Ya and bowed slightly. However, he showed an intense, murderous gaze when he turned to Gu Hai. There even seemed to be some resentment.

He had known that Gu Hai was not easy to deal with the moment he laid eyes on Gu Hai. Back then, he already wanted to kill Gu Hai. Gu Hai had been merely in the Innate Realm at the time. Just how long had passed, and Gu Hai had already reached the Heavenly Palace Realm?

To think that Gu Hai had managed to escape death time and time again.

This time, even if Kong Xuan had to offend Crown Prince Lu Ya and everyone else, he had to kill Gu Hai.

Lu Ya did not care about Gu Hai’s survival. However, he cared about his prestige. Even if Gu Hai was just his prisoner, no one could interfere with his possessions.

“Hah! This crown prince is curious. Great Light Sovereign Deity, how did you know about our movements?” Lu Ya looked coldly at Kong Xuan.

Kong Xuan turned his head to another direction. “They told me.”

“Oh?” Lu Ya turned his head and looked.

“Yehua and Yanxuan?” Gu Hai suddenly opened his eyes wide.

A group of angels stood on a distant flying ship. Yehua and Yanxuan stood there with a group of black angels.

The black angels had a wounded Ao Shun suppressed. Many chains ran through his body, bound to his bones. Blood flowed down his back.

“Hall Master, this subordinate is incapable. I fell for a trap along the way.” Ao Shun knelt on the flying ship, appearing pained and sorrowful.

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