Undying Life
Chapter 337: War at Changsheng Hall

Chapter 337: War at Changsheng Hall

A massive dragon of fortune descended from the skies, its imposing presence causing all who looked up to feel a sudden constriction in their hearts. This was the dragon's final struggle, its last act of defiance. If it were the Great Xuan Emperor, a mere wave of the hand would have crushed it instantly.

But Zhongshan was different. Or rather, he didn't have the luxury to resist. The golden dragon of fortune surged forward and in an instant, plunged into Zhongshan's body.

It wasn't that Zhongshan couldn't resist; he simply chose not to. Long before this moment, he knew the outcome. In fact, when the dragon of fortune approached, it was Zhongshan who guided it into himself.

How did Zhongshan guide it? With his divine awareness, using the Eight Extremities Heavenly Tail!

Suddenly, the Eight Extremities Heavenly Tail opened its eerie maw wide. In one gulp, it swallowed the dragon of fortune whole!

The Eight Extremities Heavenly Tail knew no taboos; any pure energy could be consumed without hesitation.

The Eight Extremities Heavenly Tail was exceedingly advanced, requiring boundless energy for its growth. Its enhancement of Zhongshan's power demanded efforts many times that of ordinary divine awareness, but its rank far exceeded any others.

As the Eight Extremities Heavenly Tail absorbed the dragon's fortune, it also overflowed, enhancing Zhongshan's own strength.

It was akin to the ancient supreme realm experts refining their primordial spirits.

Devour, devour! Consume, consume!

The dragon's fortune was swallowed by the Eight Extremities Heavenly Tail.

Zhongshan's entire body was bathed in golden light!

Without hesitation, Zhongshan swiftly sat cross-legged and began circulating the Pure Yang Thunder Prison Technique!

All the marshals stared at Zhongshan, thinking he was in danger, unaware that he was reaping immense benefits.

The cleansing of one's body by the dragon's fortune assisted in breaking through karmic obstacles!

The fire continued to rage, consuming the imperial palace until it became a heap of ruins.

Afterward, the generals reorganized their forces and awaited Zhongshan.

Three days later, under the worried gaze of Princess Qianyou, Zhongshan sitting cross-legged suddenly emitted a faint flash of thunder at his palm. Zhongshan opened his eyes.

Everything remained unchanged, except Zhongshan's eyes now seemed brighter!

However, the powerful experts present could tell—Zhongshan had broken through to the ninth level of the Golden Core stage?

Was he truly at the ninth level of the Golden Core?

The marshals exchanged strange looks. When they had previously seen Zhongshan at the eighth level, they thought he might be concealing his true cultivation with some hidden technique. Now, it seemed he was genuinely only at the Golden Core stage?

But none dared to question Zhongshan, appointed by the Great Xuan Emperor himself!

Zhongshan stood up, giving Princess Qianyou a reassuring look, then turned his gaze to the vast army.

"Clear the ruins of the imperial palace and establish our camp here!" Zhongshan commanded.

"Yes!" the generals responded immediately.

"I will oversee the Heavenly Sky City. The rest of you, marshal your forces to purge those cities that refuse to acknowledge the Great Luo Dynasty. Ensure all former cities of the Great Yu Dynasty raise the Great Luo flag," Zhongshan ordered.

"Yes!" the generals replied in unison!

Another three and a half months later, on Tianlang Island...

Upon a white cloud, carrying nearly a hundred and fifty people, they flew towards the direction of the Grand Duojen Dynasty.

Leading the way on the white cloud was Zhong Zheng, with Yihan and Tiexue scanning their surroundings. Beside them walked a man—Lu Jianping!

Lu Jianping, the disciple of Wu Wanli, the city supervisor of the Great Luo Dynasty, who had been captured by the Great Yu Dynasty and later subdued by Zhongshan.

Behind the white cloud were their family members and reliable subordinates!

"Mr. Yi Yan, Mr. Lu, General Tiexue, we're almost there!" Zhong Zheng smiled.

"Mm," everyone nodded.

"Boom~~~"

Suddenly, a fireball exploded in the distance.

"Boom~ Boom~ Boom~"

More and more fireballs and ice balls burst in the sky, creating a spectacular display even in broad daylight.

Simultaneously, after each explosion, they formed rows of illuminated subtitles.

"Welcome, Mr. Yi Yan!"

"Welcome, Mr. Lu Jianping!"

Amidst the confusion, a large cavalry of wolf riders emerged from the mountains and forests, each fireball and ice ball spat out by the wolves.

As they flew onwards, the light and shadows never ceased, forming a special welcoming procession that extended in a direction.

General Tiexue continued to pilot the cloud.

Before long, they saw stretches of plains. On these plains, numerous iron tracks carried large iron boxes that moved without any magical fluctuations.

The group exchanged glances, clearly intrigued.

Flying swiftly, they soon crossed several plains. Amidst the fireworks-like welcome of the wolf cavalry, they flew straight to the capital of the Grand Duojen Dynasty.

Hidden within, Zhongshan, accompanied by officials of the Grand Duojen Dynasty, awaited quietly in front of Changsheng Hall.

Upon arriving at the palace, countless fireworks shot into the sky. Iron Blood, however, rubbed his eyes repeatedly, softening, and then again. How could it be Zhongshan? Wasn't he supposed to be in the Divine Land? Iron Blood wasn't the only one; everyone else seemed equally bewildered and slightly stunned by the incomprehensibility of the situation.

"Mr. Yi Yan, Mr. Lu Jianping, long time no see!" Zhongshan smiled. His words snapped everyone back to reality, yet they still looked at Zhongshan with suspicion.

"Welcome back, Crown Prince!" the court officials exclaimed in unison.

After this call, all eyes turned to Zhong Zheng, for everyone could sense that this was the correct form of address.

Crown Prince? Zhong Zheng was the Crown Prince? Was this a country? Court officials? Did that mean Zhongshan was the emperor?

As the white cloud descended, Yi Yan reacted the quickest, slightly furrowing his brows as he adjusted himself.

"Greetings, Mr. Zhongshan!" Yi Yan said.

"Greetings, Mr. Zhongshan!" Lu Jianping followed suit promptly.

Zhongshan reached out, grasping Yi Yan's left wrist and Lu Jianping's right wrist.

"Let's go, into Changsheng Hall!" Zhongshan said joyfully, leaving a strong impression on the court officials that these two were highly favored by the Emperor.

Behind them, Ying Lan wrinkled her nose in jealousy.

Inside Changsheng Hall:

"From today onwards, I appoint Lu Jianping as the Supervisor of City Construction for the Grand Duojen Dynasty, overseeing the development of our cities," Zhongshan declared from his throne.

"Your will be obeyed!" Lu Jianping responded promptly. Clearly, Lu Jianping had also quickly come to his senses. This was the so-called Mr. Zhongshan. As for why there was another one in the Divine Land, that was a question for later.

Zhongshan nodded in satisfaction, and a eunuch quickly ushered Lu Jianping to his designated position.

"From today onwards, I appoint Yi Yan as the Commander of the Third Legion of the Grand Duojen Dynasty, tasked with strengthening our kingdom!" Zhongshan declared again.

Just as Yi Yan was about to accept, Iron Blood interjected angrily.

"Why should the Grand Commander settle for being just a legion commander? And the third at that? Even in the Great Yu Dynasty, Grand Commanders oversaw all the armies of the realm. In your tiny kingdom, a mere small dynasty, there are two ranks below the imperial dynasty. Back in my day, I was..." Iron Blood erupted.

Clearly, Iron Blood was deeply displeased by Yi Yan's alignment with such a minor kingdom. A kingdom? What did it even amount to?

"Iron Blood?" Yi Yan frowned. It was evident he wished to intervene.

"And who are you to speak out of turn in the court?" Ying Lan interjected, unable to bear it any longer.

"You!" Iron Blood glared at Ying Lan.

In the hall, only Ying Lan dared to defy conventions, focusing solely on the Lord, and now a crude fellow dared to bellow in court, much to Ying Lan's displeasure.

"Heh, are you suggesting that even you were once a legion commander in an imperial dynasty?" Zhongshan chuckled.

"And so what?" Iron Blood stared defiantly.

At this moment, Yi Yan remained silent, quietly observing from the sidelines.

"Because the Great Yu Dynasty of yesteryears was far inferior to my Grand Duojen Dynasty!" Zhongshan asserted confidently.

"Haha, what a joke!" Iron Blood scanned the room, shaking his head in disbelief.

A quick glance around revealed not a single Nascent Soul stage cultivator. The highest in cultivation, Zhongshan, at the ninth level of the Golden Core stage, could crush everyone in this small court on his own. Granted, the wolf generals outside the court could attract Iron Blood's attention, but however one looked at it, the strength of such a minor kingdom couldn't compare to that of an imperial dynasty.

"Lin Xiao, Ying Lan, step forward!" Zhongshan commanded.

"Here!" Lin Xiao and Ying Lan promptly emerged, aligning themselves in two rows.

"Lin Xiao, Commander of the First Legion of the Grand Duojen Dynasty. Ying Lan, Commander of the Second Legion of the Grand Duojen Dynasty. General Iron Blood, formerly Commander of the First Legion of the Great Yu Dynasty, here in my Grand Duojen Dynasty, you can at most be a minor deputy," Zhongshan's voice resonated sternly.

Iron Blood's eyes widened in disbelief.

"General Iron Blood, don't believe it? No problem. You may choose either of these two. If you can defeat them in a military contest, the authority over the military of the Grand Duojen Dynasty will be entirely in your hands," Zhongshan affirmed with unwavering confidence.

"I don't want military authority. I want to remain the Grand Commander here," Iron Blood insisted firmly.

Iron Blood knew Yi Yan had already agreed to the terms and would not go back on his word, ensuring that he would stay here. Naturally, Iron Blood sought to secure more power for Yi Yan. Even if he couldn't dominate, he would be superior to all others.

"Hehe, very well!" Zhongshan nodded.

Zhongshan's actions weren't just for Iron Blood's benefit but to show Yi Yan and Lu Jianping what the Grand Duojen Dynasty truly represented!

Ying Lan snorted disdainfully, while Lin Xiao smiled calmly, neither humble nor overbearing.

In the hall, a massive jade platform was promptly erected, known as the 'Battlefield Demonstration Platform,' designed for instructing military officers on tactics. Using spells, it could simulate various terrains and deploy different types of energy puppets based on highly sophisticated principles—essentially, a mock battlefield. However, before a commander stood an odd luminous screen, limiting their view to only their troops. To see the arrangements of other troops, they must send out scouts to investigate.

It closely resembled a real battlefield.

"The map covers the territory of the Great Yu Dynasty. All troop speeds are increased by a hundredfold. You may deploy and command troops as you wish. With both me and Yi Yan as judges, choose now between my two legion commanders!" Zhongshan smiled.