“Gu Hai?”
The expression of the Azure Emperor, who was shouting to Heaven for help, changed. He followed the direction of Jiang Lianshan’s gaze and saw Gu Hai standing on a mountaintop, holding the Black Mountain Token.
“Why are you here?” The Azure Emperor glared at Gu Hai as he clutched the stump of the arm Jiang Lianshan cut off.
Whoosh!
Ao Shun flew to Gu Hai. The nearby Nezha also flew to Gu Hai’s side, protecting Gu Hai.
Gu Hai looked coldly at the Azure Emperor, not saying anything.
The Azure Emperor turned his head to look in the Qian District’s direction. The Qian District was still a black ball. The Thirty-Two Line-Pair World Ritual Array remained active, with all the experts isolated inside.
Why is Gu Hai here?
“Who is in there?” the Azure Emperor roared while glaring.
Jiang Lianshan turned his head to the distant Qian District and revealed a cold smile. “What a cunning escape plan! We find it strange too. It is one thing for the Azure Emperor to do that, but how did you do it? Humph!”
Jiang Lianshan snorted coldly. Then, he waved.
Whoosh!
Strong winds suddenly blew in the distance. Jiang Lianshan had stopped the Lianshan Ritual Array from operating in the Qian District.
When the Lianshan Ritual Array stopped, the Thirty-Two Line-Pair World Ritual Arrays it supported crumbled. The black clouds of the black ball immediately dissipated.
Boom!
With the dark clouds gone, everything in the Qian District came to light.
Earlier, in the Qian District:
As the “Azure Emperor” made another move, the ritual array covering the entire Qian District isolated the Qian District from the outside world.
The faces of the White Emperor and the various consecrates sank as they coldly watched the two playing Go and kept their guard up against them.
As “Gu Hai” made his move, the battle between the Imperial Emperor Xi Yu cloud beast and the Supreme Genesis cloud beast intensified. Fortunately, the consecrates protected the surrounding citizens.
However, the “Azure Emperor” paused at this moment, apparently thinking.
Boom! Boom! Boom!
While Xi Yu and the Supreme Genesis battled fiercely, the two players turned silent.
“Imperial Lord, something does not seem quite right,” Tang Gu said with slightly narrowed eyes.
“Oh?” The White Emperor looked at Tang Gu.
“It is too calm,” Tang Gu said with a frown.
Some of the White Emperor’s subordinates looked blankly at the intense battle in the sky. This is calm?
The White Emperor narrowed her eyes at the distant “Azure Emperor” and “Gu Hai.”
“Indeed. This is not their style. Focusing on Go? The Azure Emperor should be making a move to deal with Gu Hai instead,” the White Emperor said.
“Indeed. This subordinate thinks so as well. However…,” Tang Gu said with a faint, bitter smile.
“The Azure Mountain Token and the Black Mountain Token are indeed in their hands. Our White Mountain Token can sense them,” the White Emperor said with a frown.
Most of the experts in the surroundings did not notice anything strange. However, those that did could not figure out what was wrong.
“Why doesn’t the Azure Emperor make a move,” some people in the surroundings said, finding it strange.
“Could it be that the Azure Emperor’s Go Dao is weaker than Gu Hai’s?”
“That’s impossible, right? That Supreme Genesis is not weaker than Imperial Emperor Xi Yu!”
The surrounding people discussed this matter.
Suddenly, a loud sound rang out.
Boom!
After the noise, the dark clouds surrounding them suddenly scattered. The Lianshan Ritual Array and the two Thirty-Two Line-Pair World Ritual Arrays crumbled.
“What happened?”
“The ritual arrays crumbled?!”
The surrounding experts’ expressions changed in bewilderment.
The White Emperor narrowed her eyes. “His Holy Eminence scattered the Lianshan Ritual Array?”
“What’s happening? Isn’t there the Go battle? They are only midway through, and the Azure Emperor still has not made his move. Ah?!”
The countless experts suddenly cried out in shock in mid-sentence.
After the ritual array scattered, the fog covering “Gu Hai” and the “Azure Emperor” suddenly dispersed explosively.
Everyone stared at the two, whose faces now looked different.
“Seven Kills? It’s not the Azure Emperor? How can this be possible?!” someone exclaimed.
Seven Kills’s expression changed as well. As he held the Azure Mountain Token, he showed a shocked expression. Didn’t I just have to buy time? Why did the Lianshan Ritual Array disappear? Has the imperial lord succeeded?
“Gu Hai? He’s not Gu Hai! Who is that?!” Someone looked at “Gu Hai” in shock.
“Long Aotian’s jiangchen zombie?!” The White Emperor’s expression changed.
Then, that jiangchen zombie clenched its fist, crushing the token in its palm into powder.
Long Sanqian looked at Seven Kills on the other side. “Hall Master is right. Indeed, it is not the Azure Emperor.”
“Did the hall master succeed?” Long Aotian narrowed his eyes.
“Gu Hai is not Gu Hai; the Azure Emperor is not the Azure Emperor. We got fooled?”
“However, why did they fool us?”
The various experts’ expressions changed. When they turned their heads, they happened to see the chaos at the palace in the Gen District. The Divine Yan Hall lay in ruins. Countless palace guards were dead or unconscious.
The Azure Emperor hovered in the air, missing an arm, staring at the Qian Nation’s residence in horror.
The Yan Heavenly Emperor rose into the air, holding the Azure Emperor’s torn-off arm. Gu Hai stood on a nearby mountaintop.
“There! Gu Hai and the Azure Emperor are there!” someone shouted.
“What happened at the palace?”
“There are many people! How chaotic!”
The surrounding experts exclaimed.
The expressions of the White Emperor, the guest consecrates, and the officials changed.
“Oh no! Something happened!” everyone suddenly cried out in alarm.
Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh!
Everyone immediately flew towards the palace.
Leaving her carriage behind, the White Emperor led the charge, flying at the forefront.
The palace’s entrance:
“How could it be like this? Gu Hai, you tricked me!” the Azure Emperor said with a ferocious expression.
“Azure Emperor, didn’t you lie to me too?” Gu Hai looked coldly at the Azure Emperor.
The Azure Emperor was shocked, feeling that he had fallen into an iron trap, forced into a dead end.
“No! This is not real! Heaven! Heaven! Where are you?! Where?!” the Azure Emperor roared at the sky.
Right now, Heaven was his last hope. Although he suspected he might have been tricked, he had no other choice; he could only call out to Heaven in hopes of help.
However, Jiang Lianshan looked coldly at Gu Hai. “Gu Hai, did you force the Azure Emperor to rebel?”
Gu Hai looked at Jiang Lianshan and shook his head. “Yan Heavenly Emperor, I do not admit to such a charge. I just coincidentally saw the Azure Emperor switching out and leaving, so I followed to see what he was doing.”
“Followed to see? Humph! Did you send Ao Shun into the palace? Was that merely following to see?” Jiang Lianshan asked while glaring.
“The Azure Emperor was rebelling. This humble one wanted to protect the Yan Heavenly Dynasty’s peace. Hence, I sent Ao Shun to help deal with the rebellion and protect Yan Heavenly Emperor. I’m sure there is merit in protecting you. Yan Heavenly Emperor, it was all done out of kindness,” Gu Hai said.
“Out of kindness? You followed to watch the Azure Emperor rebel out of kindness? Or were you inciting him to rebel?” Jiang Lianshan said coldly.
“By rebelling, the Azure Emperor had the intention to do so in the first place,” Gu Hai countered.
Jiang Lianshan’s face sank.
Gu Hai was right. The Azure Emperor had thought of rebellion in the first place. It was just that the Azure Emperor had kept it hidden.
“Didn’t you say that you would play Go, using the Go Dao to determine life and death? Who is the one playing Go at the Qian Nation’s residence, then?” Jiang Lianshan asked coldly.
However, Gu Hai took a deep breath and replied gravely, “This humble one did say that we would use the Go Dao to determine life and death. That is what this humble one has been doing. Determining life and death using the Go Dao does not necessarily refer to the game itself. This humble one has been playing all the while—playing a Go match of life. It has never stopped.”
“Huh?” Jiang Lianshan narrowed his eyes.
Ao Shun and the others did not understand what Gu Hai meant. However, Jiang Lianshan did. Playing Go. Indeed, Gu Hai has been playing Go. However, what he was playing was not limited to that Go board. Instead, the Go board was the entire Divine Farmer City, using Divine Farmer City’s experts as Go stones.
After Gu Hai surrounded all the experts, he dealt the finishing blow.
The Azure Emperor completely lost this game?
“Humph!” Jiang Lianshan snorted coldly.
The Azure Emperor shouted at the sky but did not receive a response from Heaven. His heart sank. When he heard Gu Hai’s conversation with Jiang Lianshan, his expression suddenly changed.
The Azure Emperor understood what Gu Hai meant. This was a trap Gu Hai laid?
“Capture that black-robed man in our residence!” the Azure Emperor bellowed into the distance.
One of the Azure Emperor’s soldiers flew over in response to the Azure Emperor’s order. However, that soldier was covered in blood.
“Imperial Lord, that black-robed man fled. He fled! He’s gone!” that soldier yelled in fear.
“What?” The Azure Emperor’s expression changed.
Suddenly, the Azure Emperor understood everything. He turned his head and scowled at Gu Hai ferociously. “Gu Hai, it was you! It was you, right?! You planted that black-robed man. He is not Heaven’s envoy! He never was!”
Gu Hai looked coldly at the Azure Emperor. “Is there any point in discussing this now?”
“I’ll kill you!” the Azure Emperor roared in despair, rage, and grief.
Boom!
The Azure Emperor threw a palm strike at Gu Hai.
“Universe Hoop!” Nezha shouted.
Boom!
Due to his severe injuries, the Azure Emperor was not as powerful as before. Nezha’s move blocked the Azure Emperor’s attack.
Whoosh!
The White Emperor was the first to arrive. She took in the scene before her in shock. “Your Holy Eminence, what happened?”
However, Jiang Lianshan did not say anything. He merely looked coldly at the nearby Azure Emperor.
“Reporting to White Emperor. The Azure Emperor led men in rebellion and tried to assassinate His Holy Eminence,” Eunuch Zhao said softly from the side.
“The Azure Emperor? Rebellion?” The White Emperor’s expression changed.
Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh!
The various consecrates and powerful experts of the Yan Nation soon arrived.
“Your Holy Eminence!” The countless experts bowed respectfully to Jiang Lianshan.
Now that the various experts had returned, Jiang Lianshan no longer needed to make a move. As long as the Azure Emperor dared to show any disrespect toward Jiang Lianshan, he would die for sure.
The Azure Emperor was in an exceptionally sorry state. He looked at Nezha, the sky, his residence, and the various powerful experts flying over.
The Azure Emperor knew that there was no turning back.
The Azure Emperor wanted to say that he got fooled by Gu Hai. He wanted to beg for mercy from Jiang Lianshan, but would it work?
Had this happened in private, Jiang Lianshan might have spared him. However, Gu Hai had made it such that everyone knew about his rebellion and attempted assassination of Jiang Lianshan.
Even the citizens and officials knew about the assassination attempt. Soon, the entire world would know.
Even if Jiang Lianshan wanted to pardon him, it would be impossible.
If I remain fine after today’s rebellion, countless people will raise armies to do the same tomorrow. Rebellions have always been the greatest crime of any nation. The Yan Nation’s will will not permit Jiang Lianshan to spare me.
The Black Emperor had rebelled. Although the world did not know of it, he had died. What more me?
“Hah! Hahahahaha! Hahahaha! Jiang Lianshan, we rebelled. We failed to measure up to you. We have nothing to say about that. However, we are not satisfied. While we are not comparable to you, we are absolutely better than this inexperienced brat! I have one final request before I die!” The Azure Emperor’s eyes turned bloodshot as he looked at Jiang Lianshan.
Jiang Lianshan frowned as he looked back at the Azure Emperor.
“Let me finish this Go match!” the Azure Emperor said with an earnest gaze.
Chapters for August: 04 / 30