Patrol Captain

Just as Chen Yuan was clashing with several immortal kings in the burial ground,
Beyond the forbidden area, in Chengdu, at the Ninth Mountain Zhonglang Hall.

It was morning, and clouds drifted through the mountains.

The tranquility was broken by a loud shout.

"Nowadays, demons and monsters, all sorts of evil spirits and demons, have flocked to Zushan in Anping County. The situation has completely spiraled out of control and has even spread to Chengdu."

"If this continues unchecked, it could lead to disaster, and no one could bear the consequences of His Majesty's punishment."

"We urge Lord Chen to emerge from seclusion immediately and take charge of the overall situation!"

"Yes, yes, look at what it's like now."

"."

Below the steps outside the palace gate, Fang La, the Imperial Censor who had been sent by Chen Yuan to deal with the mess, stood outside the gate with a group of officials, cupping his hands and shouting.

Unlike his previous arrogant act of forcibly breaking into the main hall, Fang La has learned his lesson this time. Last time, he was humiliated and his questioning was rejected. He was even given a reason to deal with the mess at Zushan, leaving him looking disheveled.

He was scared. The people outside Chengdu had gone mad. They were acting under the name of the imperial court, but they were basically useless. Most of them were tough guys and he couldn't control them at all.

Even if the Heavenly Army were handed over to him, he wouldn't be able to intimidate anyone.

The situation was different in Chengdu. Those monsters and demons who entered the city did not cause too much trouble. Although there were people who killed in the streets and fought fiercely, no one was heard to have confronted the city's guards. The troublemakers would choose to back down when facing the soldiers. Overall, things were relatively peaceful.

After all, the predecessors planted the trees so that the successors could enjoy the shade. Even those from other places who entered Sichuan knew the name of the Ninth Mountain. The general there became the current Imperial Envoy, all of which earned his prestige through battle. Any martial artist or force that deeply understood the general's deeds would try to keep a low profile, restrain their followers, and avoid causing any trouble.

This is the prestige that belongs to Chen Yuan!

So, these officials sent by the imperial court to form a check and balance still have to obediently stand at the door and invite the imperial inspector to come out and take charge of the situation.

This is their second time here.

Right now, they are all standing at the bottom of the steps outside the hall. At the entrance of the hall, soldiers and armor still stand in rows, and the guards are strict.

Only one cavalryman remained standing guard in front of the palace gate.

Yun Tiansheng stood with his sword drawn, clad in red armor and surrounded by other armored figures, exuding a unique and imposing aura.

"My lords, I will report these matters to the general. The general's injuries have not yet healed, so please be patient."

"After all, if the general does not recover to his peak condition as soon as possible, it will be difficult to control the current situation."

His eyes flickered slightly, and he clasped his hands in a fist salute.

"General Yun, you used the same excuse last time. It's not that we don't care about Lord Chen's injuries, but the situation is such that we can't control the situation."

"Lord Chen should at least show his face and tell us what to do. Shouldn't we also send someone in to find out what's going on? Five days have passed. Otherwise, we'll just stay outside and not know anything about the situation. How can we explain this to His Majesty?" To Fang La's left rear, an official dressed in a blue bird-patterned robe spoke up. He spoke tactfully, but he didn't forget to mention His Majesty at the end to emphasize his stance.

This is a chief secretary in the prime minister's office.

"Or is Lord Chen planning something else? A few nights ago, a teleportation beam was activated, quite a show of force. We haven't received any intelligence about sending troops. If we had, shouldn't we have been informed so we could make the necessary preparations?"

The other party mentioned the teleportation beam of light from that night, which caused quite a stir; many people had seen it, and it was impossible to hide it now.

This person guessed that the Daofu Division might have taken other actions without informing them, and casually mentioned it here, clearly with some suspicion.

After all, things are in such a mess outside now. Even if this Imperial Envoy is injured, he should at least show his face and calm people down. His continued refusal to appear inevitably makes people wonder.

Upon hearing this, Yun Tiansheng's eyelids drooped almost imperceptibly, and he quickly noticed that the other officials' gazes were also on him, seemingly watching his reaction and waiting for his answer.

His heart sank.

Just then, a powerful aura swept through the Zhonglang Hall like autumn wind sweeping away fallen leaves, and then quickly disappeared.

The scent carried a familiar aroma.

Fang La and the others were startled. Yes, it was that Lord Chen!
At this moment, Yun Tiansheng's expression changed. "My general sent a message, asking all of you to wait a moment while I go and inform him."

With that, Yun Tiansheng turned around, pushed the main hall door open a crack, went in alone, and then slammed it shut, disappearing into the shadows inside.

After a short while, Yun Tiansheng returned. He came out, walked to the steps, and clasped his hands in a fist salute.

"My lords, my general is at a critical juncture and cannot be disturbed. I have already conveyed your message."

"My general said that no one has come out of the ancestral mountain yet, and the situation is still unclear. He told you gentlemen not to be anxious and to remain calm. If the court blames us, I will take full responsibility."

"These are the general's exact words!"

Upon hearing this, some officials frowned slightly, while others nodded, but none of them doubted it.

The suspicion between the Imperial Censor Fang La's brows lessened somewhat. Although he still had some doubts, after thinking about the other man's actions, he decided not to humiliate himself.

"Since that's the case, there's nothing we can do. Please convey my message that I request Lord Chen to come out and take charge of the situation as soon as possible." Fang La said expressionlessly, glancing at the tightly closed doors of the Zhonglang Hall with a glint in his eyes. Then, he rolled up his sleeves, dusted himself off, and turned to leave.

Other officials followed suit and left the area one after another.

After these people left, Yun Tiansheng, who was standing guard, relaxed his tense muscles slightly, and his eyes gradually turned gloomy.

Then, without a word, he pushed the palace door open again, went inside, closed it, and then walked through the main hall to the inner chamber at the back.

In a room, the dazzling golden light was slowly fading.

Yun Tiansheng stood outside the door, clasped his hands in greeting, and said, "Mr. Gongyang!"

As soon as those words were spoken, a breath or two later, the protective light surrounding the room door quickly dissipated.

Yun Tiansheng pushed open the door and entered. Inside a quiet room filled with the fragrance of sandalwood, an old man with a goatee sat cross-legged in front of an incense table. Before him was a book that shimmered with light. On the unfolded scroll, small golden characters, like vortexes, rapidly spun into the turning pages, carrying a powerful and mysterious aura.

The aura was exactly the same as the one that had flown out of the hall just now.

After about seven or eight breaths, all the small golden characters disappeared into the scroll, and the scroll itself transformed into a stream of light that flew into the old man's dantian.

Gongsun Yang opened his eyes, a sharp glint in them, and slowly exhaled.

"Although I can borrow three parts of your strength, General, I can only borrow three parts."

"The longer this drags on, the officials outside the court will definitely notice something amiss."

"That's secondary. The real concern is that this news might leak out and trigger a chain reaction."

Gongsun Yang's voice was firm yet tinged with worry.

Yun Tiansheng, who had just entered, stopped in his tracks, his voice deep and somber, "Sir, are you still unable to contact the General?"

Gongsun Yang stood up from the futon, slowly shook his head, and frowned in thought, saying, "For several days in a row, I have been trying to contact the general using the incense clone, but there has been no response."

“Logically speaking, when the general and his party went to conquer the Ten Thousand Mountains, no matter how far they went, as long as they were still in this world, the incense could be sensed through the Void Realm.” “We have never encountered this situation before.”

"I can only think of two possibilities at the moment."

At this point, Gongsun Yang's eyes grew increasingly worried. "Firstly, the general's primordial spirit has fallen into a coma or is seriously injured, making it unable to respond to his clone."

"second,"

"It means the general is trapped in a space that incense cannot reach."

"Fortune and misfortune are unpredictable."

Upon hearing this, Yun Tiansheng took two steps forward, his brows furrowing. "Sir, is there no other way?"

Gongsun Yang raised his eyes, "Of course!"

But his gaze soon dimmed. "But my cultivation is still shallow, and I cannot use my skills. If I break through Musashi, I can barely give it a try."

"I will do my best, but we must not lose our composure. We have followed the general through so many trials and tribulations, and we know his abilities. As long as my clone is unharmed, everything will proceed as usual."

Yun Tiansheng remained silent and nodded. "Let's wait for news from Liu Qing and Lu Ming. The two teleportation channels left by the general in the Ten Thousand Mountains have been cut off, so we can only use a clumsy method. They teleported to the front line and sent their subordinates, the Qi Yao, to the Ten Thousand Mountains to gather information. Fortunately, the general still has a Heavenly Dog left in the Ninth Mountain."

"This is the only way!"

While Gongsun Yang and Yun Tiansheng were searching for Chen Yuan's whereabouts, the court officials who had come down the mountain were whispering among themselves.
"Do you think Lord Chen was really that badly injured?"

"Maybe so, after all, he fought two great demons and finally killed them."

"I find it strange that this person is ignoring such a big matter. It's not like him. Could it be that he thinks there are too many powerful people and wants to keep quiet?"

"Who knows? We are acting on His Majesty's orders, and there's nothing we can do right now."

"."

People were chatting in small groups, whispering among themselves.
After they left the gate of the Ninth Mountain Camp, they saw an eunuch from the Directorate of Ceremonial Affairs standing outside the gate, followed by several Skywalker soldiers.

Upon seeing everyone emerge, the eunuch immediately went to greet them with a beaming smile, gesturing to the assembled officials.
"Lord Fang, Lord Xie, and all the lords."

"Eunuch Cao!"

"What's the good news?" Fang La, who was leading the group, had a rather unpleasant expression, but upon seeing Eunuch Cao, he became quite polite, raising an eyebrow as he inquired.

After all, this eunuch from the Directorate of Ceremonial was personally appointed by His Majesty. He had come to supervise the army when the new Demon Suppression Envoy took office. Later, the incident at Zushan happened, and the Demon Suppression Envoy went into Zushan and disappeared. After that, this eunuch sent two urgent memorials, and His Majesty sent them here.

"Gentlemen, have you still not summoned Imperial Envoy Chen?" Eunuch Cao asked in a low voice, his eyebrows twitching.

"This guy doesn't even show his face now, saying he's still healing. Doesn't he know what time it is?" Fang La paused, a muffled sound coming from his nose, seemingly expressing his dissatisfaction.

"I see!" Eunuch Cao paused for a moment, then laughed. "But Lord Fang need not worry. His Majesty is already aware of this matter and has long had a plan."

Upon hearing this, the surrounding officials became interested and came forward, waiting for what would follow.

"Oh?" Fang La's spirits lifted. "What do you mean by that, Eunuch Cao?"

Eunuch Cao raised his eyelids, leaned forward, tilted his head slightly, and looked at Fang La's profile with a hint of solemnity. "I have urgently reported the recent events to the court. His Majesty has approved the report, saying that the Grand Preceptor has come to Shu with the army. Important matters can be reported directly to this old Grand Preceptor, bypassing the Imperial Envoy Chen."

Upon hearing this name, the Imperial Censor was startled, his gaze shifting to the side, meeting the eyes of the eunuch. "Has this person left the palace?"

The Imperial Preceptor of the current dynasty—just hearing his name tells you how important he is. He is an old sage who has served three dynasties. His seniority is astonishing. He has always been sitting in the deep palace, guarding the imperial court.

Even this person is here.

Eunuch Cao nodded.

So the Imperial Censor hurriedly said:

"This esteemed elder has arrived! We must hurry and pay our respects!"

"where?"

Eunuch Cao immediately replied, "This Grand Preceptor is elusive, appearing and disappearing like a dragon. His Majesty has issued an imperial edict, so a special method of communication is required to see him."

"Let's go back to camp and hurry up and deliver the message!"

Soon after, a streak of light flew out from the Southwest Three Heavens Army Camp, moving at an extremely fast speed.

Inside the camp, the group awaited the arrival of the Imperial Advisor!
What they didn't know was that this stream of light flew southwest, near the ancestral mountain, and then circled around there, as if it couldn't find its target. Finally, it plunged into the riddled void rift outside the ancestral mountain, turning into points of light and exploding.

Meanwhile, on the other side, in the burial ground, in the oasis of the white-robed king, a huge black bone claw on the lake struck upwards. The jagged, ferocious finger was over fifty feet long, slashing through the void.
"Tear!"

Like the sound of tearing silk, a black crack suddenly appeared in the sky.

As the black crack opened, the sounds of horses neighing, people talking, and whistling could be heard from within.

Then, six dazzling streams of light burst out from the crack, and exclamations of surprise rang out from within.

Immediately following behind, a torrent of armored vehicles emerged with a whooshing sound and the neighing of horses, their golden armor gleaming brilliantly.

The sound of a sword being drawn rang out, accompanied by a sense of alertness. Pairs of eyes stared at the enormous bone claw in the sky, their gazes filled with a tremor that seemed to penetrate to the very soul, and at the long swords that were being raised with great effort.

Just then, a gunshot rang out, and a figure was pinned down by the black bone claws.

Chen Yuan stood with his spear held high, his eyes blazing with intense light as he looked at the immortal king whose lips seemed to split open, and his spear emitted a dragon's roar.

The immortal king suddenly made a move, tearing apart his inner space; his actions were abrupt.

The white-robed king, his dark eyes sweeping over the golden-armored figures, suddenly laughed.

"I didn't expect you to have brought people with you. Even I was mistaken."

"These are my comrades-in-arms who fought under my command, isn't that normal?" Chen Yuan said with a sidelong glance.

"It's normal, but it's not normal that there's a Martial Saint hidden inside!"

The white-robed king's gaze was fixed on one person in the middle of the torrent of golden armor.

Chen Yuan's gaze sharpened, and he followed the other person's gaze with a dot of gold paint.

He was a soldier in golden armor.

Meanwhile, the nearby troops were in turmoil.

"Jiang Wen?" (End of Chapter)