Witch Wind

Chapter 418 Relentless Pursuit (Part 1)

It is billions of light-years away from the Great Li Dynasty.

In the void, there is a nebula shaped like a phoenix, and within it, a large star shines brightly, perfectly set in the eye of the nebula phoenix.

Around this giant star, there are thousands of planets with diameters of over a million miles, clustered together like a Dyson sphere, revolving along strange trajectories.

Of these 1,080 stars, only 12 are natural planets. The other 1,000-plus stars were moved from other star systems by the famous ministers and generals of Cao Wei a million years ago and arranged into a grand mountain and river formation that integrates offense and defense.

At the core of the great formation, atop a giant star with a diameter of over ten million miles, stands a majestic ancient city.

Dressed in royal robes, the young boy, who looked to be less than ten years old, led two hunting dogs and walked slowly forward along the winding city wall, which resembled a giant dragon. On his delicate little face, a pair of bright eyes were 'greedily' gazing at the vast mountains and rivers outside the city.

Warships shuttled through the sky.

On the ground, cars streamed like dragons.

Within the ancient city walls, dozens of gates of varying sizes stood open. Nine-foot-tall elite soldiers of Cao Wei, fully armored and helmeted, stood alongside tiny figures about three feet tall, guarding the gates and scrutinizing the passing vehicles and people.

The young boy raised his head and looked at Cao Mengde, who was over nine feet tall, wearing a royal robe, with a slightly dark complexion and a rather dignified appearance.

"King Wei, King Wei, this world is so vast, I want to go and see it all." The boy's tone was very sincere.

"Of course. As the emperor who rules this world, how can I not know my own territory and my own people? However, if you want to go out and see the world, Your Majesty, have you thoroughly studied the Four Books and Five Classics?" Cao Mengde's voice was extremely deep and resonant, like an ancient bronze bell ringing loudly in the morning light.

"Furthermore, although our Great Jing Dynasty is indeed powerful, we have newly opened up many colony star regions, and there are always unruly people who intend to establish their own independent states. Therefore, the world is not at peace." Cao Mengde looked down at the young emperor and smiled, "Your Majesty should only travel after you have reached the cultivation level of a Golden Immortal... Otherwise, this old minister will not be at ease! Nor will many of my ministers be at ease!"

A terrifying pressure emanated from Cao Mengde, causing the small, spirited emperor to shrink back and obediently nod: "Yes, yes... Speaking of those colonies that want to become independent, what should we do with them? Execute them all?"

The young emperor looked at Cao Mengde with eager curiosity.

"They are all subjects of my Great Jing, how can you indiscriminately behead them all?" Cao Mengde said patiently, "As for rebellion, some people rebel for wealth and glory, while others are forced into rebellion by officials."

"If they are those traitors who are willing to incite unrest for wealth and glory, then slaughter their entire clan."

"If it's the type where officials force the people to rebel, then we need to investigate carefully. We need to find out exactly where the problem lies in the court, and who is at fault... We must find the root of the problem, remove the sore and heal the poison, cure the disease and save the people, so that our dynasty can continue to prosper and shine for eternity."

Cao Mengde was very serious, as if this little man were his own son. He broke down and explained the principles of governing the country bit by bit, feeding them to the young emperor.

Although the Cao Wei regime was powerful, and the Cao Wei group had already controlled this small, indigenous nation called the Great Jing Dynasty, all power was in the hands of the Cao Wei group from top to bottom.

However, Cao Mengde still supported this young emperor... Not only him, but also his ancestors had supported hundreds of emperors, supporting them generation after generation, personally taking them under their wing, giving them instructions and teaching them the principles of governing the country. They personally issued orders and made the Great Jing Dynasty flourish.

From an indigenous kingdom confined to a small planet, it has developed over millions of years into a colossal nation with a territory spanning billions of light-years and nearly 100,000 habitable planets.

Among the surrounding dynasties, the Great Jing Dynasty is undoubtedly the most powerful, with the largest army, the largest fleet, and the most and strongest native cultivators who are skilled in combat.

The foolish natives of the Dali Holy Dynasty restricted cultivation methods to the royal family and noble families.

As for the Great Jing Dynasty, under the leadership of Cao Mengde, even the lowest commoners underwent aptitude tests from childhood and were taught cultivation methods. As a result, countless cultivators rose from humble beginnings and were recruited by the imperial court.

If we're talking about high-level cultivators above the Taiyi level, the number of those in the Great Jing Dynasty is more than a hundred times that of the Great Li Dynasty.

The number of ordinary cultivators below the Golden Immortal level is ten thousand times or even more than that of the Great Li Holy Dynasty.

If it weren't for the Shu Han behind the Dali Holy Dynasty, it would have been truly troublesome.

Cao Mengde's gaze was deep and his hand hung down as he gently stroked the head of the young emperor who had just been chosen and had been on the throne for less than half a year. He raised his head and looked towards the direction of the Great Li Holy Dynasty, billions of light-years away.

"Li Tian is dead, the Han Dynasty shall rise." Cao Mengde grinned strangely: "Ha, our Liu Huangshu, is he unable to restrain himself any longer? Or has he finally broken free of his mental shackles and begun to prepare to take over the Great Li Holy Dynasty?"

"Back then, Liu Bei borrowed Jingzhou and never returned it... Heh heh, if you, Liu Xuande, were to make a move now, the Great Li Holy Dynasty would probably be turned upside down, right? Hmm, I should be careful." Cao Mengde muttered to himself, "Even if Shu Han replaces the Great Li Holy Dynasty, its national strength will not be able to threaten my Great Jing within three to five thousand years."

"Those Jiangdong rats, we need to be careful... Tsk, they actually developed the heinous Death Pill, which can directly refine their people into body-cultivating zombies with strength comparable to Golden Immortals?"

Cao Mengde frowned: "This...we must be careful. The cowards of Sun Wu don't treat the people under their rule as human beings, but I, Cao Mengde, am..."

This is Cao Mengde's way.

For many years, Cao Mengde played the role of "holding the emperor hostage to command the princes" in the Great Jing Dynasty, acting as a "loyal and powerful minister" who could replace the emperor at any time. However, he always suppressed himself and the desires of his fierce generals and good ministers, making the Cao Wei group work diligently to contribute to the prosperity of the Great Jing Dynasty.

He had a premonition.

If he could "hold the emperor hostage to command the feudal lords," allowing the Great Jing Dynasty to completely suppress the Sima Jin Dynasty, Shu Han, and Sun Wu, and utterly destroy them, thus unifying this world and creating an unprecedented unified dynasty among these native little people, then he could ascend to the throne.

"Sima Yi, you old dog thief."

“Sun Bofu is a reckless fool; Sun Zhongmou is nothing but a conservative.”

"Only Shu Han... Shu Han... Yun Chang, Yun Chang... Kongming, Kongming... Tsk! Headache." Cao Mengde raised his hands, his two thumbs sinking deeply into his temples.

The thought of the Shu Han dynasty gave him a splitting headache.

Even though he had already reached the pinnacle of Quasi-Saint cultivation, his Dao realm could not advance even the slightest bit further. With his cultivation level, no illness could possibly afflict him in the slightest. Yet, his chronic headache... this wasn't a physical ailment, but a psychological one.

The thought of Shu Han gives me a headache; I'm truly at a loss.

Suddenly, Cao Mengde's expression changed drastically; his slightly dark complexion turned deathly pale in an instant. In the void, streaks of light shot towards him, and his many renowned ministers and generals, sensing the aura, tore through the void and teleported over.

They all looked in the direction of the Dali Holy Dynasty.

Even across billions of light-years, they could still sense that the Heavenly Dao of the entire world was boiling. The Heavenly Dao of this world, which was originally as calm as a deep pool, was now churning like a boiling pot of water. A colossal creature was slowly emerging from the bottom of the deepest pool, step by step, causing the Heavenly Dao of the entire world to tremble violently.

The colossal creature possessed boundless Daoist energy, resembling giant dragons stirring up the sea, constantly winding their way out and merging into the Heavenly Dao system of this world.

Thus, the inherent laws of this world were completed, enriched, and greatly enhanced.

Like a vast ocean a million miles in diameter, the appearance of this colossal object caused an immense amount of water, of unknown origin, to fall from the void and merge into this ocean. Thus, the sea expanded; the ocean, a million miles in diameter, gradually grew to two million miles…

The Heavenly Dao is boiling.

Heaven is grateful.

The heavens bestowed an incredible blessing upon that colossal creature.

Cao Mengde and the others could clearly sense that the aura of that colossal being, which was originally weaker than Cao Mengde's and seemed to be isolated by countless thick barriers, and was extremely different from the present world, was now increasing infinitely.

In just a few breaths, his aura had become so powerful that even those in the capital of the Great Jing Dynasty, separated by billions of light-years in the distant void, could clearly 'see' the appearance of that colossal creature.

"Liu Xuande! How could this be!" Cao Mengde's body convulsed abruptly. "Impossible, absolutely impossible... In this world, if one could ascend to the Saintly Throne, I would be the first... You are trapped by the shackles of that Buddha's golden body... You are entangled in the obscuration of knowledge; you want to practice benevolence, but that benevolence binds you..." "Without external assistance, you, Liu Xuande, will never be able to break through in this lifetime; you can only sink deeper and deeper until you are ultimately annihilated." Cao Mengde's face turned ashen, and he hissed, "Who is it? Who is it? Is it that outsider Taoist who ruined Dian Wei's plan, Bai Luanxing?"

Many of Cao Wei's generals and ministers all looked at Cao Mengde.

A man, extremely thin and wiry, with a slender build that seemed as if the wind could blow him away, a face with a sharp scalpel and high cheekbones, who looked rather mean and acerbic, but whose eyes were extremely large and bright, and whose gaze was as sharp as a blade, making people shudder, tugged at his goatee and said sternly, "My lord, if you hesitate, you will surely suffer the consequences."

"Your Majesty, I have a plan!" the middle-aged man shouted sternly.

"Shut up for now!" Cao Mengde waved his hand at the middle-aged man: "Things haven't reached the end of the road yet, Wenhe, you should shut up for now... Hmm, if Liu Xuande wants to cause trouble for someone, heh, the Sun Wu rats will be the first to have a headache, won't they?"

The middle-aged man, Jia Xu, rolled his eyes: "My lord, don't forget, they are related by marriage."

Cao Mengde opened his mouth.

Jia Xu continued, "They don't have much of a grudge against the Sima family."

Cao Mengde frowned and fell into deep thought.

Jia Xu coldly snorted, "Liu Xuande, who prides himself on loyalty and benevolence, did nothing but for the sake of the Han dynasty's continuation... The Han dynasty ended its reign in the hands of my Cao Wei."

Cao Mengde's face stiffened, and he looked coldly at one of his sons.

The tall, eagle-like-faced young man with sinister eyes had all his civil and military officials move aside, leaving him standing alone.

A little further away, a handsome young man, dressed in a crane feather cloak, clapped his hands and laughed: "Father, if Liu Bei wants to hold a grudge about Cao Wei's usurpation of the Han dynasty, whoever did such a thing should be handed over to Liu Bei to vent his anger... Hmph, to be honest, it is indeed true that it violates the way of a subject and disgraces the illustrious name of Father."

Cao Mengde remained silent.

The tall man stared fiercely at his dashing and elegant 'brother' whose literary fame would be passed down through the ages!
Bai Luan Star crosses a highly chaotic asteroid belt.

In the asteroid belt, which would normally take light two months to traverse, there are metal fortresses cast in metal and reinforced with magma on the outside, which at first glance look just like small meteors, wandering aimlessly among the asteroids.

There were also small warships, similarly decorated to resemble meteors, crisscrossing and crashing through the void.

Large groups of armored cultivators roamed the asteroid belt, spying on each other, ambushing each other, and assassinating each other. Every now and then, lightning and fire would explode, and three or five cultivators' mangled bodies, spraying blood, would drift slowly away into the distance.

This place is called 'Liusha River', which was the boundary river between the Dali Holy Dynasty and the Sima Jin Dynasty.

Ordinary cultivators or ordinary warships can cross this place in just three to five months by following a few fixed routes; if there are any daring and fearless individuals who forcibly cross the most chaotic asteroid belt, they can reach the other side safely in eight or nine months if they are lucky.

Therefore, both sides have laid numerous fortresses here, and stationed a large number of scout fleets and monks.

Small battles happen every day, while major battles occur every three to five years. On average, there is a relatively large-scale border war every three to five years.

In the asteroid belt, the mutual ambushes and killings between scouts from both sides continue.

In the very center of the asteroid belt, a boundary marker, a thousand feet high and with a base a hundred feet long and wide, stands majestically. Near the boundary marker, dozens of enormous banners move without wind, creating powerful ripples that maintain a spherical, pristine void with a diameter of a million miles.

The Dali Holy Dynasty and the Sima Jin Dynasty each had a fleet of three thousand warships, anchored at opposite ends of this void paradise. Numerous tiny figures, about three feet tall, clad in armor, floated in the void.

Below the boundary marker was a long table, where imposing men in long robes and tall hats, with golden seals hanging from their waists, sat at either end of the table, engaging in heated debates, using all sorts of vulgar language, without using profanity, to insult each other's kings, colleagues, and ancestors for eighteen generations.

These people are all highly intelligent and exceptionally talented writers.

Their curses sound like a gentle spring breeze, yet they carry the chilling cold of a dead winter.

Ordinary words are insufficient to describe the brilliance of his speech, so I will omit it here.

At both ends of the long table, on the side of the Dali Holy Dynasty, Jian Yong led the troops, with Ma Liang as his attendant, and Zhang Bao, Zhang Lan, and Zhang Zhu commanding the army to provide support. In the asteroid belt behind them, there was a main fleet of an astonishing size, consisting of 100,000 warships, ready to set sail.

On the Sima Jin Dynasty side, Sima Zhao himself appeared, with Xie Xuan as his assistant and Zu Ti as his general. They were all clad in armor and accompanied by a magnificent five-colored rooster with splendid plumage.

Sima Zhao had a fair complexion but dark circles under his eyes, giving him the appearance of a dissolute young man who indulged in excessive drinking and womanizing.

His aura was sinister yet extremely sharp and ferocious, clearly indicating that he had cultivated some kind of unorthodox swordsmanship. He rolled up his sleeves, revealing two arms with bulging veins, and gestured wildly, rubbing his fists together as he cursed at Jian Yong.

Wearing a blue robe and a feathered crown, Jian Yong, too lazy to maintain any semblance of refinement or modesty, rolled up his sleeves and exchanged greetings with Sima Zhao.

Both parties agreed to discuss the matter of redeeming Sima Ping, the Prince of Pingyuan, at this boundary marker.

The Sima Jin Dynasty was notoriously slow in its dealings, and it wasn't until today that Sima Zhao personally led a troop of soldiers to the boundary marker.

When the two met, they disagreed immediately, and Sima Zhao started a war of words.

So Jian Yong didn't hold back and started criticizing him directly.

The two sides have been sitting here, exchanging greetings for a full two hours.

Suddenly, Jian Yong slammed his hand on the long table, his silver-gray, crystal-clear palm leaving a three-inch-deep handprint on the lapis lazuli stone: "Sima Zhao, one word: do you want Sima Ping or not? If you don't want him..."

Sima Zhao rolled his eyes and said lazily, "You want to kill him? Then kill him... I've been worried about not having an opportunity to launch a full-scale war against your Dali... Now, I don't even need to find an excuse. If you want to kill him, then hurry up and kill him!"

Sima Zhao stood up, leaned on the long table with both hands, craned his neck to look at Jian Yong, and said coldly, word by word: "Kill him more cruelly, kill him more gruesomely, preferably by slow slicing with thirty-six thousand cuts. Record the whole process of killing him and send it back to my Great Jin... Heh!"

Sima Zhao laughed strangely, "Your Great Li has a territory of only 30,000 planets, which is only half the size of my Great Jin."

"Your Liu Bei, on the contrary, is compassionate towards the people's strength, saying things like 'rest and recuperate,' and 'don't drain the pond to catch all the fish.'"

"My Great Jin is different. The entire population is a soldier... Bah, there are no people, only slaves... All slaves are soldiers... At a single command, trillions upon trillions of slaves immediately don leather armor and go into battle. What will your Great Li... your Shu Han... use to stop them?"

"Use your brain, Jian Yong?"

"Or is it your skull, Ma Liang's?"

"Hmph, if you're going to kill, then kill him quickly... I've been wishing Sima Ping dead for ages... Kill him quickly, kill him ruthlessly, you absolutely must kill him ruthlessly!"

Sima Zhao smiled somewhat eccentrically: "I've been wishing he were dead for a long time... I'm so happy that you can do it for me."

Jian Yong and Ma Liang looked bitter.

Damn it, that bastard Sima Zhao... They realized that Sima Zhao really wanted them to kill Sima Ping!

What to do now?
Just then, Liu Xuande broke free from his confinement, and his aura, emerging from his cocoon, surged forth, reaching this place.

Everyone looked up at the same time, gazing in the direction of Pegasus Star.

(End of this chapter)