Chapter 198 — The Cult's Prestige

The Poor Master shook his head and said, "In poverty, one perfects oneself alone; in prosperity, one benefits all under heaven. Imperial Teacher Jingping, your power is too great, and it brings the world no good. I oppose you not for my own interest, as they do, but for the sake of Jingping. I see your power blazing to the heavens. To remove you now is still possible; remove you a few years hence, and you will be emperor."

Standing upon the mountain peak, Imperial Teacher Jingping's voice, level and calm, spread on every side: "Who else opposes me?"

At once, from within Daxiang City, rose a rising and falling chorus of voices: "I!"

"Liao Yinzhi of the Tianxian Sect dares to oppose Imperial Teacher Jingping!"

"Qiu Zhiming, Grand Master of Splendid Happiness, dares to oppose Imperial Teacher Jingping!"

"Shan Mu, Marquis of Wuling, dares to oppose Imperial Teacher Jingping!"

"Qing Mingyue, Chief Secretary of the Protectorate, dares to oppose Imperial Teacher Jingping!"

"Chen Yao, Magistrate of Wuyin County, dares to oppose Imperial Teacher Jingping!"

…

Voice after voice came from Daxiang City—each one a great master of the Life-and-Death Realm or the Heaven-and-Man Realm. As one voice fell, another rose, rising and falling, one after another, growing ever more magnificent, ever more stirring, until the blood boiled.

The bronze-masked man too was stirred with heroic feeling, his blood surging, and he declared loudly, "Imperial Teacher Jingping, do you see? How utterly you have lost the hearts of the people! All under heaven would put you to death—with what face do you live on in this world?" His voice rang, strong and resonant!

Imperial Teacher Jingping's face was expressionless as he said calmly, "All under heaven? A mere few hundred thousand souls in this city—do they deserve to be called all under heaven? They are but petty common folk; wipe them out, and that is that. Only when you are dead will the world know true peace."

"In that case," said the bronze-masked man, "it can only end with one side exterminated."

"This mountain has already been sealed with the Heavenly Prison Binding, a radius of eight hundred mu. If we fight here, there is no need to fear it spreading abroad and harming the soldiers beyond. This time…"

He said coldly, "We will not keep to the jianghu's code of honor, nor the jianghu's rules!"

Shen Mu let out a breath and said to Si Yunxiang with a smile, "Then I can rest easy."

Monk Yunque's face was ashen, and he stammered, "Rest easy about what? We are inside the seal—we will be the first to be shaken to death. Do you remember Tianbo City? This great battle will be several times more terrifying than Tianbo City!"

Yue Qinghong and the others were pale as well. In that great battle at Tianbo City, only a portion of the Dutian Demon God's power had descended, and its foes had been the Master of the Dragon-Taming Sect and another expert of Cult Master rank—yet the destruction it wrought had been beyond imagining, so vast that even a mighty creature like the Dragon Qilin could not withstand the impact.

Should a great battle erupt here, the havoc would only be several times greater than that time!

And with eight hundred mu sealed all around, it meant the shockwaves these experts produced would churn and roil back and forth within this space alone!

By then, even the Dragon Qilin would likely be torn to shreds by the aftershocks of their clash!

Just then, all at once, banners came fluttering beyond the city walls, banner after banner in an unbroken line, running east and west for dozens of li.

The bronze-masked man and the others stood at a high place and looked outward, and their expressions changed drastically. They saw those great banners raised one by one, more than ten zhang tall, screening the enemy camp opposite—and beneath the banners were hidden countless troops and horses!

The bronze-masked man was about to shout a warning when suddenly those great banners snapped and rolled, and at once three hundred sixty banners appeared within the city. Beneath them, strange figures in bamboo hats, each bearing a long cloth bundle on his back, abruptly shook out the banners—and tens of thousands of Jingping troops from beyond the city suddenly appeared within Daxiang City!

And only then did the bronze-masked man's voice come: "To arms—"

But it was already too late.

As the three hundred sixty strange figures furled their banners, beneath them appeared one murderous face after another, gripping sabers, spears, swords, and halberds, killing intent soaring to the heavens.

Beneath the banner cloth, golden-armored giants appeared together with cloud chariots; at the stern of the huge tower ships, bronze beasts had already begun spewing flame; great birds beat their wings and whipped up fierce winds.

When the great banners were fully furled into small flags, the battle cries had already risen. From the sword caskets came the sound of blades leaving their sheaths, mingled with earth-shaking roars.

This moment seemed to pass with extreme slowness, so slow that one could mark every shift in every face—from murderous to ferocious, from blank to panic-stricken.

The spray of blood as flying swords cut through living bodies seemed to burst forth from within by degrees and scatter through the air; the instant a head flew from its neck had a strange, poignant beauty.

"Elephant Transformation!"

A roar came, shattering that brief moment. A general of the infantry bellowed in fury, and thousands of infantry roared, their bodies swaying as they transformed into elephant-headed giants and suddenly charged the rebel army, scattering it.

And the cavalry had already surged into the sky, then swooped down, numberless flying swords raining downward like rain.

"Fire Gourds!"

Upon the tower ships, a command flag was waved, and the officers and soldiers aboard took the red gourds, half a man's height, from their backs and pulled out the stoppers. At once raging true fire spewed down from the ships, burning the defenders upon the city walls, turning countless souls into men of fire!

Boom—

A column of golden-armored strongmen hauled the cloud chariots, crushing countless soldiers beneath them along the way, and smashed savagely into the city wall, battering down several hundred zhang of it; the burning men upon the wall plunged down in droves. And beyond the walls, the Grand General Champion and the Grand General Huaihua raised high their spear and halberd, pointing toward Daxiang City, while behind them the countless hosts of Jingping raised the cry of battle, surging forward from the air and from the ground like a tide.