As the lanterns first lit up, the grandeur and splendor of the palace were even more pronounced at night, with the translucent glazed tiles shimmering under the light of the flames.

However, within the bluestone slabs of the palace, cracks had formed one after another, all spreading to the main hall.

The three mountains crumbled and collapsed, the water in the pool was drained, and the trees and greenery within the palace seemed to have lost all vitality, withering and dying.

Inside the main hall, Cui Shuang stared blankly at Yang Minggui lying in a pool of blood.

The turn of events clearly exceeded everyone's expectations.

The Commander was actually backstabbed by the Military Advisor...

After a brief daze, Cui Shuang, in a panic, immediately shattered the teacup and shouted towards the outside: "Someone, quickly, someone!"

"Bang!"

The heavy doors of the main hall were pushed open, making a deep sound.

Thud, thud, thud!

A squad of well-equipped Armored Warriors marched in from outside, their synchronized, heavy footsteps combined with the crisp sound of armor leaves rubbing against each other, instantly heightening the tense atmosphere.

"The Military Advisor assassinated the Commander, seize him for me," Cui Shuang pointed at Xu Mu.

However, the incoming Armored Warriors surrounded Cui Shuang and the generals under Yang Minggui's command, their hand crossbows all aimed at their left chests, waiting for Xu Mu's command.

Cui Shuang's face changed dramatically: "You... are you planning a rebellion?"

With that, he was about to resist.

"I advise you not to act rashly..." Xu Mu brandished the hand blade in his hand, saying smugly, "I have planned for a long time just for today. Otherwise, why would someone with my background as an Advanced Scholar, tutored by one of the Three Ministers, pledge allegiance to lowly bandits like you?

All the soldiers in the city are under my command. Surrender to me obediently, and I might consider sparing your lives."

As soon as he finished speaking, more than half of the dozen or so generals under Yang Minggui's command immediately sided with Xu Mu.

They hadn't switched sides at this moment, but were already Xu Mu's people beforehand.

Yang Minggui's actions in Xia Lin had long lost the people's support.

With a slight offer of benefits, Xu Mu easily won them over.

"Pfft..." Seeing this scene, Yang Minggui, who was already barely alive, spat out another mouthful of blood and died completely.

The hall fell silent.

"So, the Celestial King Hall is actually a large array used for breakthroughs?"

Suddenly, Chen Mo stood up, and in his eyes, the red number on Xu Mu's forehead rose from "889" to "891" and continued to climb, leading him to speculate.

"Don't move." An Armored Warrior shouted sharply at Chen Mo.

"Shh..." Xu Mu gestured to the Armored Warrior who had shouted, then said, "Be polite to my guest."

Then he smiled and said, "That's right, this is the Soul Devouring Array, capable of seizing the Spiritual Qi of the heavens and the earth to nourish oneself."

Clearly, Xu Mu also did not take Chen Mo seriously, but that did not stop him from throwing an olive branch at Chen Mo, saying, "I'm not like him, and I bear no grudges against you. In fact, I've even saved your life. I see you have good aptitude; if you submit to me and follow my orders, in the future, I will also find a Land of Spiritual Excellence for you to break through."

A seventeen-year-old Sixth-Grade Martial Artist was worth recruiting.

"What kind of array is the Soul Devouring Array?" Seeing that Xu Mu had already risen to 898, Chen Mo remained calm and asked his lingering question.

But Xu Mu no longer spoke; he spread his arms greedily, just like Yang Minggui before, and said somewhat frantically, "Witness me stepping into the realm of Upper-Grade Martial Artists."

No wonder Yang Minggui once said he wanted everyone to witness his breakthrough moment.

Indeed, such an exhilarating and boastful event would lose much of its joy without anyone to witness it.

"Rip..."

Xu Mu's robe also exploded, and at the same time, the entire main hall shook once more, with dust falling.

Xu Mu's strength had already broken through 900, and it was still rising at a speed visible to the naked eye. Moreover, the aura surrounding him became increasingly terrifying.

"Gulp..." Cui Shuang swallowed a mouthful of saliva but dared not make any rash moves. Even the Commander had died at Xu Mu's hands; he was even less of a match.

But at this moment, Chen Mo spoke again: "Can I use this array too?"

"Of course." Xu Mu thought Chen Mo had chosen to submit to him and said with a smile: "The Soul Devouring Array draws on earthly fortunes, but Xia Lin's Earth Spirit can only allow one person to break through. When I find another Earth Spirit next time, I'll give it to you."

Of course, this was just a pie Xu Mu was painting in the sky.

A place with Earth Spirit like Xia Lin is rare throughout the Great Song Dynasty; even he took more than twenty years to find this place.

"Good, as long as I can use it." Chen Mo stepped out from behind the table and continued, "So, please make way; I can't wait any longer."

With those words, the entire hall fell silent.

Xu Mu raised his eyebrows: "What did you say?"

His voice was low.

"I said make way for me." Chen Mo said calmly.

"Insolence."

A powerful burst of Innate Spiritual Qi fired from Xu Mu's palm, surging towards Chen Mo.

But in the next second, Xu Mu was dumbfounded.

Chen Mo kicked, shattering his Innate Spiritual Qi, and then his foot landed on Xu Mu's body.

The protective Innate Spiritual Qi around him shattered, and in an instant, he felt a tremendous force spread from his stomach throughout his body, and he, who had been standing straight, flew back like a shrimp bent by a bow, crashed heavily into the pillar behind, then fell to the ground, spraying out a mist of blood.

"If you don't let me, then I'll do it myself." Chen Mo stood where Xu Mu had just stood, and at once, a powerful energy merged into his body.

[Supplementing Earth Spirit Qi count +0.5, Purple Sun Transformation Skill experience +0.5.]

[Number of times Earth Spirit Qi has been replenished +0.5, Purple Sun Transformation Skill experience +0.5.]

[...]

Chen Mo opened the system panel and found the experience of Purple Sun Transformation Skill soaring again.

"Stop him." Xu Mu struggled to get up, roaring.

"Kill!"

The armored warriors in the hall all charged toward Chen Mo.

"Boom..."

The innate spiritual qi of the purple energy, like the surging river water, erupted violently from Chen Mo's body, like a furious dragon, sending those nearby flying away.

Li Yunzhang and Su Wen exchanged a glance, Su Wen ran towards the outside of the hall, with Li Yunzhang as cover.

Once Su Wen exited the main hall, he took out an item resembling a flint from his pocket, then took out an actual flint and ignited it.

With a "swish," a tongue of fire shot into the sky, exploding in midair, displaying brilliant fireworks.

Since gunpowder was invented, making such signaling fireworks was naturally no big deal.

Outside Celestial King Hall, Sun Meng saw the fireworks blooming above the hall, his face revealed tension and a bit of excitement.

"Clang..."

Sun Meng drew the horizontal saber at his waist, shouted, "Something's wrong in the hall, signal, follow me to fight..."

Behind Sun Meng, flames lit up one after another, a uniform display of Bright Armor, glowing with a chilling brilliance under the firelight.

A more dazzling tongue of fire, carrying thick smoke, shot up into the sky, bursting forth.

"Kill kill kill..."

...

Outside the city, in the military camp.

In the night, the flames in the fire pit flickered under the attack of the strong wind, Zhang River and a group of Divine Brave Guard soldiers gathered around the bonfire to keep warm.

Zhang River tightened the collar of his battle robe, placed his hand on the tang blade's hilt, feeling the cold touch, his heart calmed slightly.

"Bang... sizzle..."

A slight sound reached Zhang River's ears.

Zhang River looked in the direction of Xia Lin City, then suddenly stood up, after confirming, he drew his sword, pointed it diagonally at the sky: "Marshal Chen signaled, full army assault, target Xia Lin City!"

The war drums began to pound.

The deep sound of the war drums instantly spread through the entire camp.

And at the same time as the war drum began to beat, all Three Guard soldiers in the camp, whether resting or on duty, their bodies shook violently, the resting soldiers awoke instantly, quickly donned battle armor, walked out of the tents, and the soldiers on duty gathered instantly in the camp.

Though the Xianzhen Guard is still a ragtag group, they were trained for more than two months; regarding orders, the training was still pretty good, with no ambiguity.

"Kill!"

Soon, a mountain-and-sea-like shouts of killing erupted from the camp, sweeping towards Xia Lin City.

As Xia Lin City's defending army was drawn to the commotion from Celestial King Hall.

Below Xia Lin City, small sparks bloomed into a bright flare, then hundreds and thousands of torches were raised, converging to form a sea of fire.

"Duke Lei assist me!"

"Duke Lei assist me!"

"Duke Lei assist me!"

Over a dozen black pottery jars were flung onto the city walls.

"Bang bang bang..."

...

Meanwhile.

Inside Celestial King Hall.

Chen Mo's Personal Guard Team was in battle with the hidden Celestial Master Army soldiers within the hall.

Chen Mo's Personal Guard Team, all donned armor, selected from the elite of elites, after breaking into Celestial King Hall, first unleashed a volley of crossbows, then formed the Yanyue Array, left round shield, right horizontal saber, charged forward.

The iron cone hand and copper hammer hand responsible for breaking the array and shields were at the front; the array of hundreds formed like a sickle, mercilessly harvesting lives.

Swords and spears clashed, flesh flew.

Inside the main hall, two round heads were thrown out, rolled down the steps, rolled to the feet of the Celestial Master Army soldiers wanting to rush in, Li Yunzhang holding the blood-stained ring-headed saber, looked stern, shouted: "Drop your arms, surrender and be spared!"

Seeing the rounded heads of the Commander and Military Advisor, the Celestial Master Army soldiers glanced at each other.

"Stop, quickly stop."

Just then, Cui Shuang walked out from the hall, panting heavily, after a moment, scanned around, said:

"Military Advisor Xu Mu, betrayed Commander, Marshal Chen killed Xu Mu for revenge, which is of great favor to us, quickly drop your weapons."

Everyone fell silent for a moment, motionless until several more generals came out from the hall, asking them to drop weapons, then soldiers began dropping weapons one by one.

"Boom boom boom..."

As the ground cracked increasingly severely, earth water gushed out from the splitting cracks.

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