"Brother…"
"I've failed you. I couldn't avenge you."
Hearing Nezha's words, a trace of guilt surfaced on Yang Jian's face.
But Nezha shook his head. "Second Brother, this isn't your fault. Even though you have the privilege of only obeying orders when you choose to, Heaven has always been wary of you. If you ever made a move, the Heavenly Emperor definitely wouldn't hold back. He may have been waiting all this time for an excuse to suppress you completely."
"This Zhao Feng he's your chance for revenge."
"I'm more and more eager to meet him myself."
"Entering Heaven with just avatars and still making Heaven suffer such a loss…"
"I can practically see the look on Haotian's face," Yang Jian said, a smile of gleeful schadenfreude curling at the corners of his lips.
"Second Brother…"
"If you do meet him, what will you do?" Nezha asked with a grin.
"I'll test his strength first," Yang Jian smiled.
"But I heard Heaven is searching for Zhao Feng with all its might and still can't find him," Nezha said with a strange smile.
"Haotian has the Heavenly Mirror, which can observe any place under the heavens. He managed to avoid it?" Yang Jian was even more surprised.
Even someone like him
If the Heavenly Mirror was watching, he could sense it, but he couldn't avoid it.
"Maybe he has some supreme artifact that conceals him from the Heavenly Mirror's detection."
"After all, Zhao Feng's origins are mysterious. They say he came from the mortal world, but his strength is enough to kill the Golden Immortals. And he doesn't even cultivate the Immortal Path he's walking an entirely different path," Nezha explained.
"A different cultivation path?" Yang Jian's curiosity deepened.
"Well, Second Brother…"
"I'm supposed to be guarding the border between two continents, and I came here secretly. I'll be off now."
"Wouldn't want Li Jing finding another excuse to come down on me."
After delivering the news from Heaven to Yang Jian, Nezha didn't plan to linger. He left immediately.
"Zhao Feng…"
"This world is getting more and more interesting."
"To challenge Heaven to challenge Haotian's authority…"
"For countless years, other than the ancient Chiyou who once defied Heaven and left Haotian helpless, no one else has done it."
"The only reason I survived my defiance was because of the protection of the Sage Patriarch."
"Now, another rebel emerges… I hope you can keep walking this path," Yang Jian thought to himself.
Just then
From the heavens above, a golden light suddenly flashed.
A group of celestial soldiers escorted Taibai Jinxing down from the sky.
"True Lord Erlang Shen,"
"By decree of the Heavenly Emperor, all of your conditions are granted."
"From this day forward"
"Your divine domain may expand further. You may protect mortals within your domain. No immortal sects may be established within it, and no Ascension Ceremonies may be held."
"Will the True Lord now accept the decree to eliminate the demonic threat?"
Taibai Jinxing smiled as he spoke.
"If the Heavenly Emperor has agreed, then I shall act."
"Hand over the decree." Yang Jian looked up and spoke calmly.
Upon hearing this
Taibai Jinxing's smile widened, and he immediately raised the imperial edict and waved it toward Yang Jian.
The decree floated gently into Yang Jian's hands.
"We ask the True Lord to set off at once and slay the demon," Taibai Jinxing said.
"Where is this demon located?" Yang Jian asked.
"Well…"
Taibai Jinxing looked a bit embarrassed, then said, "True Lord, this demon can conceal themselves from heavenly detection. The Heavenly Emperor has already ordered a full-scale search across the mortal realm. The aura of the demon is sealed within the decree. With your abilities, you will surely find them. Also, if any celestial soldiers or generals patrolling the world or local mountain gods and land spirits detect this demon's presence, they will immediately report it to you."
"Very well."
Yang Jian didn't say anything more.
…
Southern Jambu Continent
A nameless location.
Amid towering mountains wreathed in mist.
To mortals, these mountains were utterly unreachable for a lifetime. The peaks of the immortal world were unlike those of the mortal realm each one towering tens of thousands of feet, impossible for non-immortals to ascend.
Within one of these vast mountain ranges, inside a cave
Zhao Feng sat, a faint look of reflection on his face.
"Haha…"
"This time, I probably pissed Heaven off real good."
Zhao Feng didn't know that his exploits in Heaven had brought joy to two of Heaven's rebellious sons. But regardless, he was laughing heartily.
Alchemists, blacksmiths
From the moment he entered Heaven through the ascension passage, he could tell how much they treasured those professions.
But this time, he had killed at least 40% of Heaven's alchemists and artificers, if not half.
He made Heaven pay dearly.
And that wasn't all.
The Heavenly Soldiers Pavilion, where Heaven stored its armor and weapons, had been completely looted by Zhao Feng.
Perhaps that wasn't the only storage site for their weapons and armor but at least this one had been thoroughly emptied by Zhao Feng.
"Let's see how many weapons and suits of armor I got this time."
Zhao Feng sent his divine sense into his storage space for a look.
And what he saw
Made his grin stretch from ear to ear.
"Heaven is filthy rich, ruling over the world!"
"Even a conservative estimate puts this at over a million pieces of armor and weaponry."
"Excellent."
"Before, I thought I'd have to create a separate Black Armor Army just to make use of these arms, but now… there's no need to be so particular."
"Our Great Qin's five military camps can all be equipped with these celestial armors. Just need to reforge the weapons into polearms like the Mo-Dao."
"One million immortal troops this is wealth!"
Even Zhao Feng was pleasantly shocked by the sheer volume of weapons.
This trip to Heaven had truly been worth it.
Without hesitation
Zhao Feng summoned the Heavenly Profound Mirror.
"Father," Zhao Feng called.
In an instant
The Heavenly Profound Mirror connected to Ying Zheng.
Wu City, Eastern Victory Continent.
Seeing Zhao Feng reach out, a warm smile appeared on Ying Zheng's face.
Then
Zhao Feng's projection appeared in the great hall.
All the ministers were present.
Each one is a key figure of Great Qin, deeply loyal with no chance of betrayal.
"Greetings, Your Highness the Crown Prince!"
Seeing Zhao Feng, the ministers bowed one after another in reverence.
There was awe in every salute.
"Feng'er."
"How have you been lately?"
Although Ying Zheng didn't show it on his face, there was clear concern in his tone.
"Pretty well," Zhao Feng replied with a smile.
"Managed to deal another blow to Heaven."
"How's Great Qin's development coming along?"
"Reporting to Your Highness," said Wang Jian.
"Great Qin is steadily expanding across the Eastern Victory Continent. We've now reached the western border, directly neighboring the Southern Continent. We even spotted a towering fortress with heavenly soldiers patrolling it."
"That fortress was likely built by Heaven to block the connection between the two continents and prevent the Immortal-Mortal Miasma from entering the Eastern Victory Continent," Zhao Feng responded.
"There's no need to provoke them. Just expand steadily."
"Understood," Wang Jian nodded, then continued, "After reaching the western border of the Southern Continent, we halted expansion westward and turned our focus northward."
"As of now, the territory of Great Qin has reached this extent Your Highness, please have a look."
As he spoke
Wang Jian waved his hand, and a massive map materialized above the hall.
It was a divine projection of the Eastern Victory Continent powered by Heaven's force under Great Qin's control.
Currently, Great Qin has already conquered the entire southern region of the continent, and even parts of the eastern coast near the East Sea.
If the Eastern Victory Continent is divided into ten parts, then based on the map, Great Qin had already taken about three of them.
And just those three parts held a population of over 200 billion.
The human race protagonists of this world reproduce endlessly. One continent alone could easily have over a trillion people.
(Previously I underestimated it, thinking it was only 200–300 billion. I was ignorant. In the world of Honghuang, the human race dominates the four great continents.)
"The Eastern Victory Continent is Heaven's livestock pen. Expansion among mortals is easy the real challenge is the immortal sects," Zhao Feng said solemnly.
"Be cautious. Don't draw Heaven's attention just yet."
"Rest assured, Your Highness."
"We've already destroyed seven or eight immortal sects during our expansion. Their communication artifacts with Heaven Celestial Threads have all been preserved. There's been no disruption."
"However, these sects used to offer Spiritual Essence to Heaven each year. Soon, celestial envoys will come to collect it."
"There's no avoiding this," said Lü Buwei with a serious expression.
"What about the Spiritual Essence of those sects?" Zhao Feng asked.
"All preserved," Lü Buwei replied immediately.
"But that essence is made from the life force of our human race. Great Qin has no use for it."
"Then add all that essence to the Immortal-Mortal Miasma. If Heaven sends envoys, just have our immortal cultivators disguise themselves as members of those sects and make the offering."
"Also station immortal cultivators in the areas where those sects were based. Don't let anything slip," Zhao Feng said after a moment of thought, already having come up with a solution.
Heaven is arrogant.
Although the Eastern Victory Continent was home to countless immortal sects, aside from the legacies left behind by ancient sages, nearly all sects were viewed by the Heavenly Court as mere ants. As long as they delivered sufficient spiritual essence, Heaven simply wouldn't care what they did.
"This method is quite sound."
"Great Qin doesn't just have martial cultivators."
"If our immortal cultivators infiltrate those sects and pose as their members, Heaven definitely won't pay much attention. They certainly don't bother with the affairs of mere mortals."
"After all, in their eyes, the human race is nothing more than livestock they've penned up for their use," Ying Zheng sneered coldly.
"Your Highness,"
"There is one matter that still concerns me."
"Great Qin's immortal cultivators are not like the wicked immortals of this world who feed on flesh and blood. If someone from the Heavenly Court visits one of those sects, might they notice something's wrong?" asked Wei Liao, clearly worried.
"The Heavenly Profound Mirror can conceal our presence and even create an aura of blood and malice."
"Anyone below the Da Luo level won't be able to see through it," Zhao Feng said with a smile.
"I understand," Wei Liao immediately nodded.
"Alright then,"
"No need for more idle chatter."
"With Father overseeing the expansion and all of you managing governance, I am at ease."
"My purpose in contacting you today through the Heavenly Profound Mirror is to further enhance the strength of Great Qin's armies." Zhao Feng smiled.
With that, he transferred the one million sets of armor and celestial weapons he had taken from Heaven into the Heavenly Profound Mirror.
"Chen Ping,"
"I've placed a million sets of Heavenly Soldier armor and weapons into the national treasury through the Profound Mirror. Every piece is above the level of standard immortal artifacts."
"Have the artisans and blacksmiths in the Armory Hall begin reforging immediately and distribute them across Great Qin's five military camps," Zhao Feng ordered firmly.
"Your Highness…"
"I didn't mishear, did I?"
"One million Heavenly Soldier armors and weapons?" Chen Ping was dumbfounded.
Everyone else in the great hall looked equally stunned.
"Feng'er…"
"Did a million Heavenly Soldiers try to hunt you down?" Ying Zheng asked, his heart tensing.
"Father, I'm fine."
"I only sent an avatar to take a stroll through Heaven and on the way, I happened to loot their weapon and armor vault." Zhao Feng replied with a mischievous grin.
Hearing that it was only an avatar who had infiltrated Heaven
Ying Zheng couldn't help but laugh. "You must have made Heaven furious!"
"I don't know if they're angry," Zhao Feng chuckled, "but these million sets of armor have entered Great Qin, and our power has just surged."
"Rest assured, Your Highness,"
"With our current capabilities, we can reforge all of them within half a year and fully erase the Heavenly Court's branding," Chen Ping said with confidence.
"How is the strength of Great Qin's armies now?" Zhao Feng asked, turning to Wang Jian.
Aside from the Black Armor Army, Zhao Feng hadn't checked on the five military camps in a while.
"Reporting to Your Highness,"
"All soldiers in the five major camps who have entered the Immortal Realm are at least at the Martial Path Enlightenment realm. Every one of them can go toe-to-toe with a Heavenly Soldier. They've all trained in battle soul formations, further increasing their strength," Wang Jian reported.
"Very good."
Zhao Feng nodded with satisfaction.
Since entering the Immortal Realm, Great Qin had gained access to denser spiritual energy and richer resources. With the empire's full support, priority was naturally given to military development. As a result, the cultivation level of Great Qin's elite troops had risen rapidly.
Of course
The Black Armor Army, which Zhao Feng had invested in the most, stood above even Great Qin's million-strong army.
With 200,000 troops, the Black Armor Army now had no one below the Martial Grandmaster Realm.
Those above Commandant rank had already reached the Martial Law Integration Realm, and over 50,000 generals had stepped into the Martial Law Domain Realm. Their commander, Meng Tian, had even reached the Martial Law Command Realm.
In the Martial Path
This was the core foundation of Great Qin.
The realms of the mortal world were now outdated.
The Martial Path Enlightenment Realm marked the pinnacle of the mortal world.
At that level, one could already fight immortals and even overpower them thanks to the dual cultivation of body and technique in the martial path, which made it even more powerful.
Above that came the Martial Grandmaster Realm, Martial Law Integration, Martial Law Domain, and Martial Law Command. In terms of hierarchy, they could be compared to the realms of immortals, but in actual combat, martial cultivators overwhelmingly dominated.
And above the Martial Law Command Realm
There was the Martial King Realm, which was on par with Golden Immortal (Taiyi).
And the Martial Sovereign Realm, which rivaled the level of a Great Luo Golden Immortal.
"Father,"
"I have something else for you."
As Zhao Feng spoke
A gourd flew out of the Heavenly Profound Mirror.
"Inside is a Nine-Turn Golden Pill, which can help someone at the ninth level of the Martial King Realm break through to the Martial Sovereign Realm."
"There are also ten Six-Turn Golden Pills, which can help those at the ninth level of the Martial Law Command Realm reach the Martial King Realm."
"And one hundred Four-Turn Golden Pills, which aid those at the Martial Law Domain Realm to ascend to the Command Realm."
"As for how to distribute them, I'll leave that to your judgment, Father," Zhao Feng said.
"Such powerful pills exist?" Ying Zheng was quite surprised.
"They were a gift from a being of great magical power."
"Rest assured, Father they're safe to use," Zhao Feng said with a smile.
"Good." Ying Zheng nodded and took the gourd.
With these pills, properly distributed, Great Qin would soon see a new wave of mid-to-high-level martial cultivators.
It would be a great boon for the empire.
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