“Closed-door cultivation? He was severely injured, then!” Gu Hai said with a frown.
“Yes. His injuries had not healed yet. Back then, the Six Paths Immortal plundered the energy of all life; hence, this official fell asleep. When I woke up, I saw Crown Prince Ao Shun recuperating from his injuries with his eyes closed. He was the first one to wake up. Furthermore, he seemed to have woken up much earlier than the rest of us. If this official guessed right, he had cried right before. When this official asked him, he did not say anything. He only told this official, before entering closed-door cultivation, that he would properly repay Your Reverence when he came out of closed-door cultivation,” Meng Tai explained.
Gu Hai nodded.
“What about the zither puppets?” Gu Hai asked.
“Since Sima Changkong and Long Aotian knew about the zither puppets, we knew that our Han Nation’s zither puppets would be in danger. Mister Mo made a plan and discussed it with Yun Mo. They exposed the fact that Yun Mo could make the zither puppets and spread it all over the world. Now, the Silver Moon Mountain Manor openly sells the zither puppets. Due to this, we managed to keep some of the Han Nation’s zither puppets hidden, although some got snatched away. Now, Yun Mo’s business is doing very well,” Meng Tai said with a smile.
“The zither puppet messaging system is no longer a secret? Never mind. If it is lost, then so be it. Since we lost our previous network, we can just start from scratch again,” Gu Hai sighed.
“That’s right, Your Reverence, the Embroidered Uniform Guard sent in a piece of information earlier. It is about that Sun Wukong, the one Your Reverence had this official search for in the past,” Meng Tai said with a solemn expression.
“Sun Wukong?” Gu Hai’s expression changed.
“Yes, that Sun Wukong Your Reverence manifested using the ritual array. After Sun Wukong left, it headed west to the Spirit Mountain Holy Land and caused a lot of trouble there. I only just received the information,” Meng Tai said with a strange expression.
Meng Tai still could not understand why Sun Wukong went to seek trouble for the Present Buddha.
“What happened after that?” Gu Hai looked at Meng Tai.
“Sun Wukong barged through the Five Hundred Arhats Formation and headed further in. Then, his initial anger seemed to dissipate somewhat. No, I heard Sun Wukong seemed stupefied, as though he was attacking the wrong person. Later on, the Present Buddha conferred it as the Victorious Fighting Buddha. It is staying in the Spirit Mountain Holy Land, for now,” Meng Tai said.
“The Victorious Fighting Buddha?” Gu Hai showed a somewhat strange look.
[TL Note: In Journey to the West, Sun Wukong became a buddha after the journey to the west to retrieve the scriptures. His title was the Victorious Fighting Buddha.]
“Yes. Someone said Sun Wukong was not very happy in the Spirit Mountain Holy Land; apparently, it was forcibly installed as the Victorious Fighting Buddha. We do not know the details. However, we do know that Sun Wukong is currently in the Spirit Mountain Holy Land. It has established a cave residence there for itself, called the Water Curtain Cave, in the Flower and Fruit Mountain,” Meng Tai explained.
“Since you found it, that will be fine.” Gu Hai narrowed his eyes slightly.
Meng Tai was slightly bewildered. Why does His Reverence care about that monkey? It even ran away and refused to listen to orders.
However, that monkey was extremely important to Gu Hai.
If Gu Hai wanted to summon someone over from Earth, he needed to send Sun Wukong back first.
Sun Wukong was unruly and refused to obey orders. However, Gu Hai had already spoken with the immortals and deities from Earth. Those immortals and deities hoped they could come to the Six Paths Immortal Firmament. If he could summon them over, they would be of great assistance.
The prerequisite was sending Sun Wukong back to Earth’s immortal realm first.
Gao Xianzhi and Mo Yike deployed the soldiers posthaste.
On the third day, Gao Xianzhi led the First Corps out to capture cities. Although Mo Yike did not have one hundred thousand powerful soldiers like Gao Xianzhi did, he had amassed many Nascent Soul Realm experts over the years.
Qin Zibai led the soldiers, following Mo Yike’s guidance. In five days, the armies had set out in all directions.
With Gu Hai’s return and the nation’s advancement to an imperial dynasty, the Han Nation citizens were in high morale. The word spread like it had grown wings.
The citizens in the forty-four captured cities soon heard the news.
“His Majesty has returned! Hahahaha! These bastards immediately increased our taxes after capturing the city. Increase our taxes? Increase? Let’s see what you are going to do now!”
“The Han Royal Dynasty? It is the Han Imperial Dynasty now. His Majesty—no, His Reverence—will send people to free us soon. Everyone, remember, don’t pay the taxes. There’s no need to pay the taxes!”
“We are the Han Imperial Dynasty’s citizens, not your lousy Glorious Night Royal Dynasty’s. Who dared to cause trouble when His Majesty was around? Yet, you invaded my Han Nation while His Majesty was in closed-door cultivation? You are simply seeking death!”
The Han Nation’s administration had its unique charm. Naturally, the citizens supported the Han Imperial Dynasty. Furthermore, the invaders captured these cities just recently. How could they have firm control over it?
When Gao Xianzhi’s army arrived, rebellion would break out in the city to welcome Gao Xianzhi’s army.
Occasionally, the opposing army managed to hold the city gates against the rebelling citizens. However, Gao Xianzhi’s one hundred thousand powerful soldiers simply smashed the city gates with brute force.
Fight?
What could they fight with?
The people defending these cities were only in the peak Nascent Soul Realm at best. They were nothing to speak of next to the one hundred thousand powerful soldiers. So, Gao Xianzhi recaptured these cities in the blink of an eye.
Gao Xianzhi moved very quickly, never taking more than half a day to capture a city. His one hundred thousand soldiers swept through everything before them.
Only the cities conquered by the Wu Imperial Dynasty had Heavenly Palace Realm experts. Unfortunately, they posed no challenge to Gao Xianzhi. He quickly recaptured those cities too.
As for Mo Yike, while he did not have one hundred thousand powerful soldiers, he had left many undercover agents. He split up his people to different places. When they reached a city, they would work with the many agents within the city.
By having insiders, Mo Yike needed even less time than Gao Xianzhi, capturing cities in the blink of an eye.
In just two months, the two retook all the forty-four cities. In fact, most of the time was spent traveling.
The alarming pace inspired dread in the people from the two royal dynasties and three sects.
The Han Imperial Dynasty came with great momentum, not giving them a chance to rest. It moved too quickly, sweeping through everything in its path and killing everyone in its way.
Gao Xianzhi had been stifled for too long. Now, he did not even care if he used force. The most important thing was to fulfill Gu Hai’s orders as quickly as possible to make up for his past offenses. Although Gu Hai had not blamed him, Gao Xianzhi still felt very guilty. The guiltier he felt, the harder he worked.
The people from the two royal dynasties suffered.
Now, Gao Xianzhi held an absolute advantage, no longer attacking cities one by one. Instead, he headed straight to the root of the problem, rushing towards the capitals of these royal dynasties with his one hundred thousand powerful soldiers.
What was it like for one hundred thousand Heavenly Palace Realm soldiers to march on an ordinary royal dynasty? It was like when Ao Shun led an army of dragons to Nine-Five Island back then.
Of course, Gao Xianzhi did not let his advantage muddle him like it had Ao Shun at that time. He was very clear-headed. Even when fighting a royal dynasty, he did not let his guard down.
The master of a royal dynasty could use blessings to push his strength to the Middle Heavenly Palace Realm or even higher.
While Gao Xianzhi would not be a match, he could run. He could advance when his enemies retreated and retreat when his enemies advanced.
When a sovereign used the power of their nation, Gao Xianzhi would withdraw, waiting for the power to run out before attacking again. When that sovereign used the power of the nation again, he would immediately withdraw once more.
Gao Xianzhi repeated this five times. The sovereign of the Glorious Night Royal Dynasty could not persist beyond that. It was not that the sovereign could not endure it but that the citizens could not.
The citizens had just lent their energy to the sovereign, yet no sooner had they recovered their energy than the sovereign borrowed it again. Could the sovereign not do anything else?
After resting, my energy gets borrowed again. Then, after I recovered from that, my energy got borrowed again. Am I just a hen laying eggs?
The hearts of the citizens wavered, and fewer people lent their energy. After five times, the power of the nation decreased.
However, Gao Xianzhi’s army flourished, and its advantage grew.
Since Gao Xianzhi felt stifled, how could Mo Yike not be?
Mo Yike had Qin Zibai, a peak Middle Heavenly Palace Realm expert. He also had countless subordinates. Back when he was a part of the Yuan Imperial Dynasty, he had planted many men in these sects.
The Han Imperial Dynasty had advanced and was attacking the five factions in the name of avenging the nation, swearing to make an example out of them. The surrounding factions sensed danger, but no one came to help. Everyone could see Gu Hai’s determination. Likewise, they found Gu Hai unfathomable.
Just how much accumulations does the Han Imperial Dynasty have?
Aside from these two armies, there was still the five-hundred-thousand-strong Divine Demon Army. Furthermore, how strong was Gu Hai now? Why did Prime Feng Yue and Ao Sheng—two Upper Heavenly Palace Realm cultivators—flee upon seeing Gu Hai? Why did Long Aotian lose instantly when he had a zombie sovereign?
There were all sorts of thoughts about this battle, but no one helped. More importantly, Gao Xianzhi moved too quickly, leaving the factions no time to react.
Mo Yike made subtle moves, but he struck a weak spot of the three sects every time.
In just one month, he recruited one of the lower-tier sects without any casualty. With the first, a second followed, and then a third.
During this time, blessings continuously poured into Borderless Heavenly Capital’s skies.
On this particular morning, Soaring Palace Hall:
A crowned Gu Hai wearing black imperial robes with golden embroidery sat on the throne, looking down at the officials.
The officials stood respectfully in two columns, reporting the various developments in the region.
Boom!
Suddenly, a loud sound rang out in the sky as vast blessings rushed over.
An exultant official rushed into the Soaring Palace Hall. “I have a report! The Nation Rousing Supreme Commander reports that the Patron Sect is willing to surrender to the Han Imperial Dynasty and serve under us! Will Your Reverence permit this?!”
Boom!
Another wave of blessings surged in from the horizon.
“Reporting! Nation Protecting Supreme Commander reports that he has destroyed the Glorious Night Royal Dynasty. He executed its sovereign in its capital. Would Your Reverence please send some civil officials to take over the Glorious Night Royal Dynasty’s various cities?”
Joyous reports rang out as the officials listened quietly.
“Permitted!” Gu Hai said.
“Yes!”
“Congratulations, Your Reverence! Congratulations to the Han Nation!” Chen Tianshan laughed excitedly.
“Congratulations, Your Reverence! Congratulations to the Han Nation!” the officials congratulated happily as well.
They had finally taken revenge. Those royal dynasties and lower-tier sects had been arrogant previously. Nevertheless, the Han Imperial Dynasty had swallowed them up in just a few months. His Reverence is wise. Everything is different with His Reverence’s return!
On his throne, Gu Hai said with a trace of satisfaction amid his sternness, “Inform the Nation Rousing Supreme Commander and the Nation Protecting Supreme Commander that the two supreme commanders are permitted to record contributions from here on. All who made contributions can be logged. When they return, they will be rewarded in one go.”
Chen Tianshan quickly raised his head. Gu Hai’s meaning was clear. Gu Hai had finally forgiven Mo Yike and Gao Xianzhi, permitting them to accrue contributions.
“Your Reverence is benevolent!” Chen Tianshan said with a salute.
The news quickly spread to the frontlines.
After Gao Xianzhi received Gu Hai’s order, he reared his head back and laughed happily for some time.
Mo Yike finally showed a relieved smile.
