Witch Wind

Chapter 412 Unyielding Spirit (Part 1)

Li Xing.

Lishan.

Lishan Sacred Palace.

The palace, which blends Han and Tang styles, uses massive stones and exquisite carvings, and features numerous sculptures of mythical gods and beasts on its facade, has a haphazard and awkward feel to it because of its mixed styles.

In front of the palace, which stretched out to both sides like a goose feather, on a vast plaza, rows of small but custom-made warships, incorporating the highest technology of the Holy Dynasty and the cultivation civilization of Shu Han, were silently taking off and landing at high speed. Each warship displayed a large family crest, highlighting the noble and extraordinary status of its owner.

On the surface, the Holy Palace appeared calm and composed.

Secretly, tensions were running high.

Countless fixed gun emplacements hidden in the mountains are ready to be deployed. When each custom-made warship, no more than fifty feet long, takes off or lands, at least a hundred large-caliber heavy cannons lock onto these 'delicate and cute little guys' from all directions.

We must be careful! These unconventional, custom-built warships, though small in size, possess terrifying destructive power after incorporating the cultivation civilization of Shu Han. Their 'thin' defensive armor can even withstand continuous heavy blows from a low-level Quasi-Saint, and their destructive power easily reaches the peak level of the Great Luo Realm.

Moreover, both the defensive power of a Quasi-Saint at the initial stage and the offensive power of a Great Luo at the peak stage are measured according to the proper and orthodox standards of Shu Han cultivators. The cultivators of the Great Li Holy Dynasty are generally three to five times weaker than the Shu Han cultivators of the same level. Any one of these small warships could stir up a bloodbath on Li Star and in the Li Mountain Holy Palace.

At the very least, if the guys who control these custom-built warships want to assassinate the emperor or do something outrageous to the current Holy Emperor, they would have a very high chance of success if they could pinpoint the Holy Emperor's exact location and fire a single shot!
And did the heads of these powerful and influential families attempt to assassinate the king?

Ninety-nine percent of them probably want to kill the current Holy Emperor, Huangpu Buming.

With a slender figure, a slightly withered face, and two rather imposing swallowtail beards, Huangpu Buming stood in the Hanguang Hall of the Lishan Holy Palace, with his hands behind his back, head held high, quietly admiring the enormous 'Heavenly Descendant Divine Demon Subduing and People-pacifying Picture' in front of him, which was nearly twenty zhang high and a hundred zhang wide.

This enormous mural, whose artistic achievement is unparalleled, was created by a certain Master Zhang.

At the very bottom of the murals are raging fire, lava, floods, and venomous insects and beasts. Countless tiny figures are struggling in the floods and beasts; many have already starved to death, many have been decapitated, and many more are being devoured by venomous insects and beasts.

In the center of the mural are all sorts of gods, each with a unique and bizarre appearance.

Those deities were enormous, with a powerful aura, surrounded by terrifying energy fields, including earth, water, fire, and wind, as well as thunder and blizzards. There were also huge creatures, such as flying dragons, giant pythons, and ferocious beasts, and even strange objects such as mountains, lakes, seas, and metal puppets, following behind them.

This was during the ancient times of the Great Li Holy Dynasty, millions of years ago. In that chaotic world of war, all the emperors and nobles worshipped their own gods and constantly waged wars in the name of the gods, holding grand and bloody sacrifices to please the gods and to gain power, youth, lifespan, and the power and wealth to last for generations.

The emperor at that time held supreme power.

The nobles of that time were also high above, serving as gods and local rulers who tended the common people, and they also wielded enormous power.

The emperors of that time were the true emperors.

The nobles of that time were the true nobles.

But look at the upper part of the mural. Amidst rolling, auspicious clouds of seven colors, vast armies of cultivators clad in armor and waving banners bearing the names of "Liu" and "Han" break through the air. They pilot enormous warships, drive flying dragons and phoenixes, ride unicorns and flying tigers, wield various dazzling divine weapons, and unleash countless radiant magical treasures...

They killed all the ancient gods.

They brought new civilization to this world and offered more possibilities.

As a result, imperial power was weakened.

As a result, even the nobles became lowly.

Some scholars in Shu Han even put forward the treasonous and absurd statement that "the emperor is subject to the same laws as the common people."

"To subdue demons and bring peace to the people?" Huangpu Buming muttered to himself softly, "You are the demons!"

In the hearts of almost all the royal family and nobles of the Dali Holy Dynasty, those outsiders from Shu Han were the real demons. They were the ones who weakened their power, restricted their privileges, and forced them to give away a large portion of their meager conscience and compassion to the lowly common people.

Damn it!

Therefore, Huangpu Buming, along with the elders of the royal family and the high-ranking members of the powerful noble families, tacitly approved of the young princes' misdeeds. For example, the Ninth Prince became a leading figure of the "restorationist" faction. Several princes, some nobles, and some high-ranking nobles were also involved in collusion and flirtation with the Sima Jin Dynasty, Cao Wei, and Sun Wu, these three major enemy states.

It's ok.

If you like flirting, then flirt.

If you want to flirt, then flirt!

If you can truly inflict substantial damage on Shu Han... if you can use various means to completely annihilate Shu Han.

Huangpu shook hands firmly.

In his conspiracy with the elders of the royal family, they were willing to pay a heavy price to eliminate Shu Han—they had already devised a plan that was sincere enough.

Whether it's the Sima Jin Dynasty, or Cao Wei and Sun Wu, as long as they can help the Great Li Holy Dynasty eliminate Shu Han, the Great Li Holy Dynasty can give away half of its current 48,000+ colony planets.

Their most optimistic expectation was that 50% of their colonized planets would be handed over to "friendly nations" in exchange for the demise of Shu Han.

If the enemy is insatiable...

Then, their bottom line can be lowered a bit more. For example, handing over 70% or even 80% of the territory to a "friendly nation" is not out of the question. Of course, if 80% of the territory is handed over to a friendly nation, then the friendly nation must also show a certain degree of sincerity. For example, their future heir to the throne must marry a princess of the Dali Holy Dynasty as his principal wife.

And their bottom line...

If 80% of the territory cannot satisfy the appetite of the "friendly nation"... as long as they can destroy Shu Han, as long as they can make them real emperors and real nobles, they can even learn from some "famous emperors" in the "history of the Nine Provinces" who "endured humiliation and endured hardship" and "slept on firewood and tasted gall".

Bowing down and submitting to the emperor, even calling oneself a "puppet emperor"... it's no big deal.

So what if I'm a son?
Everyone is a son... isn't that the truth?

It's just about having another father and another group of elders... But what is this little humiliation compared to destroying Shu Han? 'Sleeping on firewood and tasting gall', what a great story!
Huangpu sighed softly—he had worried himself sick over the country and its truly 'noble' people.

He seriously considered the current courts of the Sima Jin Dynasty, Cao Wei, and Sun Wu. Hmm, that old fox of the Sima clan is not easy to deal with... The rats of Sun Wu, those guys are treacherous and two-faced, they are no good either.

If one were to acknowledge a father figure, then acknowledging Cao Wei's Emperor Mengde as one's father would seem like a perfectly acceptable thing.

Cao Mengde was a hero of his time, which did not disgrace him.

Moreover, Cao Mengde loved other men's wives the most... Huangpu Buming was a little excited, hey, this is a kindred spirit!

“Cao Wei, Cao Mengde… Father Cao?” Huangpu Buming raised his head, looking at the huge “Emperor Taizu Slaying the White Serpent to Raise an Army” painting on the ceiling, also created by Zhang Sanye, and sighed softly: “I have really worried myself sick over this country! These incompetent good-for-nothing brats!”

Deliberately heavy footsteps approached.

The imposing, ten-zhang-high gates of the Han Guang Palace slowly opened, and dozens of top nobles of the Dali Holy Dynasty, their faces solemn and their eyes gleaming, entered. "Damn Zhang Yide!" Huangpu Buming slowly turned around, smiled and nodded, greeting these key ministers: "Gentlemen, it's been a long time. How have you all been?"

A group of tiny children hurriedly quickened their pace and ran towards Huangpu Buming with eager expressions.

But, but, but...

Damn Zhang Yide...

This Hanguang Hall... no, the entire Lishan Sacred Palace was built under the personal supervision of Zhang Yide, who considered himself to have a certain artistic temperament, after the Shu Han dynasty descended upon the land.

It was one thing for this Master Zhang to be the supervisor, but out of sheer boredom, he actually scribbled all over the Lishan Holy Palace, creating more than two thousand huge murals. For example, the 'Heavenly Descendant Divine Spirit Subdues Demons and Pacifies the People' mural in the Hanguang Hall, which Huangpu Buming had just been admiring for most of the hour, was over twenty zhang high and more than a hundred zhang wide.

This is just a mural, a mural on a wall!
Think about it yourself. The Hanguang Hall is square, and if one wall is this huge, how big can the entire Hanguang Hall be?
Even for the common people of the Nine Provinces, it would take them quite a while to run from the entrance to the throne in the Han Guang Hall, let alone the nobles of the Holy Dynasty who are only about three feet tall.

If they could use magical powers, that would be fine.

But that Master Zhang, in order to ensure that his "artworks" would "be remembered for generations" and "last forever," actually added extremely terrifying supernatural restrictions to each and every mural.

Anyway, in the vast Lishan Holy Palace, you can forget about using any magical powers or supernatural abilities.

Let's keep our legs straight, shall we?
So, dozens of top nobles from the Dali Holy Dynasty, each a tiny three-foot-tall figure, 'huffed and puffed' as they took small, shuffling steps. They had to walk faster while maintaining their noble dignity; they couldn't just run like animals, foaming at the mouth.
Huangpu Buming stood with his hands behind his back, a stiff, gradually cooling smile on his face, helplessly watching the group of nobles run over, run over, run over... The little man, barely three feet tall with legs a little over a foot long, had to maintain the dignity and composure of a nobleman. Even if he quickened his pace with small, quick steps, his speed was truly pitiful.

I've waited so long, so very long...

A group of top nobles, adorned with jewels, finally arrived before Huangpu Buming.

Then, the attending eunuchs whispered a call, and Huangpu Buming and a group of key ministers exchanged greetings. The Dali Holy Dynasty had lasted for millions of years, with the royal family and various powerful clans intermarrying and forming alliances; everyone was related.

Of the dozens of noble family heads before me, more than 70% were Huangpu Buming's elders, and the remaining 30% were his distant cousins... They were all relatives... The empire was vast, and these family heads usually guarded and supervised various places, so they wouldn't come to Lixing unless necessary.

They first greeted each other with the courtesy due to a ruler and his subject.

Then, following the traditional etiquette within the nobility of the Dali Holy Dynasty, they inquired about each other's health, the safety of their families, the peace of their homes, the progress of their children, the favorable weather in their territories, and the prosperity of their livestock...

Thus, a full hour passed in the midst of pleasantries.

The eunuchs and palace maids had already arranged seats. Huangpu Buming and a group of family heads took their seats one after another. Tea, snacks, fresh fruit, melon seeds and other refreshments were served one after another. Everyone was in high spirits and had smiles on their faces. The harmonious atmosphere of a Spring Festival reunion and greeting arose spontaneously.

Wisps of celestial light slowly descended from all directions, severing all communication between the inside and outside.

Dozens of old eunuchs, who had mastered secret techniques and reached the Great Luo Realm, quietly circled around the Han Guang Hall. As they unleashed their secret techniques, a layer of pale blood-red net enveloped the entire Han Guang Hall.

This was the custom of the Dali Holy Dynasty—when the emperor summoned his ministers to discuss important state affairs, these matters had to be kept strictly confidential from the outside world. No one would admit that these restrictions and measures were to prevent espionage from Shu Han; that was definitely not the reason.

If Shu Han truly wanted to find the reason, the Dali Holy Dynasty had prepared sufficient explanations.

Historically, there have been more than twenty instances where secrets were leaked during discussions between the Holy Emperor and his court officials of the Dali Holy Dynasty, leading to large-scale rebellions on colonized planets and resulting in billions of deaths and injuries.

From then on, Shu Han tacitly accepted the Dali Holy Dynasty's way of doing things.

Even if it's a little petty, a little...

Once all the restrictions were in place, Huangpu Buming's expression suddenly changed. He smashed the teacup he had been holding and sipping slowly onto the ground.

'boom'!
The expensive porcelain teacup vanished in a flash, turning into wisps of smoke that rose in all directions.

The heads of various families, who had been laughing and chatting, exchanging greetings and fraternal ties with Huangpu Buming, stood up in unison and looked solemnly at Huangpu Buming.

Huangpu Buming's gaze turned icy as he coldly addressed one of the family heads closest to him—an elderly man with white hair and beard, his hair even tinged with ivory yellow—saying, "Elder Lu, Ninth Brother is finished. I'm planning to send him to Pegasus Nebula to quell the rebellion. What do you think?"

Lu Song, the current head of the Lu clan of the Dali Holy Dynasty, is the grandfather of Consort Lu, who is slightly favored by Huangpu Buming.

Oh, by the way, Lu Guan, the planetary ruler of Bai Luan Star, once boasted that his aunt was the current Imperial Concubine Lu. And speaking of which, Lu Song was Lu Guan's great-grandfather.

Lu Song lowered his eyelids and said softly, "Is the situation at Bai Luanxing and Ziyang Pass truly beyond control?"

The Ninth Prince is Lu Song's direct descendant and has been cultivated by the Lu family with enormous resources over the years, as their first choice to challenge for the throne and compete for greater power.

No matter how many strange quirks the Ninth Prince may have, he does indeed possess the purest bloodline of the Lu family, and the Lu family's enormous investment in him over the years is undeniable.

Huangpu Buming wanted to send the Ninth Prince to Pegasus Nebula to quell the rebellion...

As for princes, they can't actually command troops; they're more likely to serve as 'military supervisors'. And the role of 'military supervisor' has always been one of the riskiest positions on the battlefield, both throughout history.

In particular, not only was he a 'military supervisor,' but he also held the position of 'prince,' and behind him stood the enormous Lu clan... Ha, what a big and glamorous target!

How many people wanted the Ninth Prince to die there?
“No, let’s think of another way?” Lu Song stroked his long beard and said softly, “After all, Lao Jiu was also thinking of contributing to the country… His actions this time were a bit immature, but we tacitly approved of them.”

Beside Lu Song, Ye Kai, the head of the Ye family, whose status was equal to his and even slightly higher, laughed loudly: "Old Lu, what you say is true. Merit should be rewarded and mistakes should be punished. If Ninth Brother did a good job this time, would we treat him unfairly?"

"So, by the same token, he messed things up, especially since what he did has already caught the attention of Shu Han... If he doesn't take the blame, are you the one who should?"

Lu Song raised his head and gave Ye Kai a cold look.

He did not argue.

He didn't say anything—nothing like, "How do you know that what Lao Jiu did has already caught the attention of Shu Han?"

In this situation, to waste time and energy on these pointless arguments would be foolish!

That's it, that's it.

While the Ninth Prince certainly invested enormous resources, the Lu family's choices were never limited to just the Ninth Prince... This was true for the Lu family, and it was also true for other prominent families that stood shoulder to shoulder with the Lu family.

Lu Song smiled slightly. "That's true. After all, he's a prince we raised ourselves. Even if we have to sacrifice him to quell the anger of Shu Han and to stop their questioning and accountability, the Ninth Prince can't be sacrificed so easily."

He pondered for a moment, then slowly nodded: "Then let the Ninth Prince go... However, the Yellow Turban Army is powerful. In just ten months, they have swept through Bailuanxing, Ziyang Pass, and Ziyan Prefecture, and now even the Pegasus Nebula. This shows how formidable their military might is, it's simply astonishing."

“Old Ninth can go to quell the rebellion, but he can’t just be a military supervisor. He must have some military power to protect himself!” Lu Song said decisively. “Even if Old Ninth is to die, he should die a tragic and glorious death, so as not to disgrace the Lu family’s reputation. Is that acceptable?”

Huangpu Buming looked at Lusong with great displeasure.

However, after thinking it over for a while, Huangpu Buming still agreed with Lu Song's words: "Fine, let the Ninth Prince die like a hero... Alas, after all, he made a mistake."

(End of this chapter)