The Emperor Reigns Them All

Chapter 332 He Must Be Killed

The sky was turning bright. In the south of Taiyuan, there was a steep mountain in the desolate land. On the summit, Li Ye stood against the wind on top of the pine tree, his hands clasped behind him as he quietly looked at the beautiful eastern sky scene.

When the sunlight shone over the land, mountains, and crept up Li Ye’s shoulders, the people he was waiting for appeared.

It had been seven days since the Imperial Army surrounded Taiyuan. In these seven days, the Imperial Army didn’t take any action, and Li Ye looked like he was going out for a visit and to camp outside Taiyuan.

Li Ye had been waiting for seven days with many Great Cultivators and more than 300,000 troops, so the people he waited for were, naturally, very important.

Li Ye raised his head slightly and looked at the people coming towards him.

In the red clouds, two immortals with an untainted temperament walked toward Li Ye as easily as walking on firm earth, their robes fluttering.

They didn’t walk fast.

While Li Ye was looking them up and down, they also looked Li Ye up and down from afar.

But they didn’t look at each other the same way.

The two were leaders of the 72 Earth Devils in the Immortal Court.

Chen Jizhen from the Earth Beast City and Huang Jingyuan from the Earth Devil City.

At this time, in Xuanwu’s capital city, Bianzhou, the commissioner, Zhu Wen was standing at the gate tower looking towards the north.

To the north, crossing the Yellow River, passing Weibo and Zhaoyi, was Hedong.

That was the place where he was supposed to go.

But now, he didn’t go because of the people standing behind him.

They were the cultivators from the Immortal Court with an elegant and immortal bearing.

After a long time, Zhu Wen began speaking slowly, “Before Prince An sent troops to Hedong, he sent someone to inform me. I also told Prince An that I would send troops to help him suppress Hedong together with him. However, Prince An’s troops have already reached the gate of Taiyuan, but my Xuanwu Army has not crossed the Yellow River yet.”

He said that with a guilty look and a long sigh. “After the battle, Prince An will definitely blame me!”

Among the four immortals standing behind Zhu Wen, one had a jade-like face, and his features were more feminine than ordinary women’s. His robe was light blue. He had a neutral beauty.

But he was known for his ferocity and fearlessness. He was Jia Cheng from the Earth Bravery City, ranking third among 72 Earth Devils.

Jia Cheng’s voice was as clear as an oriole’s, like a female voice. When he talked, he was used to lowering his voice. “If Li Ye blame you, so what? As a commissioner, you have the military and political power of the Xuanwu Army. You’re a feudal prince. Are you so afraid of Li Ye?”

Zhu Wen shook his head and sighed. “Yes, I certainly am, but not of Prince An. I’m afraid of my conscience because I broke my promise. I feel guilty towards His Highness Prince An.”

Jia Cheng chuckled. “I heard that you and Prince An are old friends because of having fought together in the battlefield.”

Zhu Wen sighed. “Prince An and I indeed have a close relationship.”

Jia Cheng smiled with sarcasm. “The Pinglu Army is fighting the Hedong Army in Taiyuan, but you’re ready to kill Li Ye, so you are feeling guilty because you betrayed your friend.”

Zhu Wen nodded seriously. “You’re right.”

Jia Cheng laughed with contempt. “As a feudal prince, to obtain great achievement in troubled times, you should throw away the fetters of secular morality. Don’t you understand that the so-called benevolence, righteousness, and morality are just tools created by rulers to educate ordinary people, stabilize the secular order, and maintain their own rule? As a master, are you going to be hindered by the tools in your hands instead?”

Zhu Wen looked to the north without turning around. He didn’t respond to this lecture, neither with anger nor in shame

Instead of answering Jia Cheng, he asked another question, “Prince An has great power and prestige, and he also holds nominal military and political power in Shandong. Although he only takes office in Pinglu, all of the Guandong vassal states fear him. What’s more, Prince An’s cultivation has reached the Spiritual Master Realm, and he can even kill the immortals in the Land Buddhism. When he comes back from Hedong, it will be the end of my Xuanwu Army.”

Squinting at Zhu Wen with scornful eyes, Jia Cheng sneered. “Are you going to reverse the plan you made with us and stop fighting Li Ye just because of guilt and fear?”

Zhu Wen turned around.

He looked at Jia Cheng solemnly in the eye.

It was like worshipping heaven.

He bowed to Jia Cheng deeply.

There was more contempt in Jia Cheng’s eyes.

How could such an indecisive and inconsistent person become a master?

Zhu Wen understood Jia Cheng’s gaze, but his expression didn’t change.

He slowly said in a firm tone and a sacred attitude, “I feel very guilty about lying to Prince An. I’m uneasy about the assassination of Prince An. I’m very anxious at thought of Prince An’s anger and revenge after the event. So, please. You must kill Prince An!”

Jia Cheng was a little stunned.

Zhu Wen said seriously, “If Prince An doesn’t die, I won’t be at ease. Only when Prince An is dead can I be free from guilt and fear.”

Jia Cheng took a deep breath.

He had to size Zhu Wen up differently now.

A moment later, he smiled. “Don’t worry. We will definitely help you get the Luck of heaven in Taiyuan. As for Li Ye, we’ll get rid of him for you.”

...

Li Ye narrowed his eyes slightly as he watched the two middle-aged men in the sunlight. They stepped on to the clouds like stepping on the carpet, coming closer and closer.

Of course he knew they were cultivators from the Immortal Court.

Those were the very people he was waiting for.

Half of Hedong was occupied by him, and even Taiyuan was besieged by his troops. He would capture the city next. Neither the Immortal Court nor Zhu Wen would want to see him occupy Taiyuan. When both Li Ye and Li Keyong suffered great losses in the battle, Zhu Wen would benefit from it.

Of course, Li Ye wouldn’t give Zhu Wen this opportunity, so he chose to postpone the attack on Taiyuan.

In other words, although Zhu Wen promised to help when Li Ye sent troops to Hedong, Li Ye never believed him and was always vigilant against him.

The two middle-aged men had very different appearances. The left one was stocky with a majestic and fierce face. He looked like the top general in the battlefield. That was Chen Jizhen. The one on the right was of average built and had an elegant appearance, like a scholar. He was holding a folding fan in his hand. That was Huang Jingyuan. The two of them looked like a general and a military counselor.

Li Ye didn’t know these two immortals.

But these two immortals knew him.

Far away, Chen Jizhen snorted with dissatisfaction and said to Huang Jingyuan, “Why doesn’t he run away?”

Huang Jingyuan waved the folding fan calmly. “Why does he need to run away?”

Chen Jizhen said coldly, “I heard that this guy has the cultivation in the Spiritual Master Realm.”

Huang Jingyuan nodded. “Yes.”

Chen Jizhen said, “He can sense us even at this distance.”

Huang Jingyuan said, “He has already sensed our arrival.”

Chen Jizhen’s face darkened. “But he doesn’t run away!”

“Maybe, he doesn’t think that he has to run away.”

“Does he look down on us and think we can’t kill him?”

“Of course, we can kill him!”

“Then, why doesn’t he run away?”

“Shows how foolish he is.”

“He is indeed foolish.”

“Because he is foolish, he believes he can survive under the protection of the demon clan.”

“Then he is indeed too foolish!”

“Maybe, he thinks the demon clan can fight us because they are also in the Sky Immortal Realm.”

“Humph! Our Taoist Immortal Court has suppressed the demon clan for many years, so we have many means!”

They quickly approached Li Ye as they talked. Although they descended to the human world, they still had the cultivation in the Sky Immortal Realm. By the time Li Ye saw them, they could’ve reached Chen Qing instantly, but they didn’t do that.

They walked unhurriedly, and they still had time to talk on the way, as if they were taking a stroll in the garden.

They were calm because of confidence.

Because of confidence, they were patient, graceful, and imposing.

Because of their imposing manner, their momentum was like mountains and they had great pressure on people.

When the two stopped 300 meters from Li Ye, their Sky Immortal Realm strength made the illusory and real images change constantly at the place where they stood, as if the blue sky and white clouds had become illusory. That was the unreal feeling caused by the distortion of space after the Spiritual Qi had been completely withdrawn.

Like mountains and tides across the sky, the two people had earth-shaking abilities. Li Ye, who stood 300 meters away from them, seemed to be as small as a tree, having no power to resist.

That was the contrast between both sides and the collision of power between the territory and the Immortal Area.

When he faced Chen Jizhen’s and Huang Jingyuan’s power of Immortal Area which was like mountains and tides, Li Ye’s power of territory could only protect him in the area equivalent to the size of a tree. This tree was swaying in the sky. Sometimes, it showed the shape of a mountain, and sometimes, it showed the shape of tides. But mostly, it seemed fragile in the twisting and changing Spiritual wind.

It was so fragile that it looked like it could be destroyed any time.

But it wasn’t.

This small tree didn’t collapse but stood strong when it faced pressure from Chen Jizhen’s and Huang Jingyuan’s power of Immortal Area. It was motionless, like an island in the middle of an ocean.

It was small, but it was not easy to knock down.

That was Li Ye’s power of territory.

After Chen Jizhen and Huang Jingyuan tried several times, they made a preliminary judgment of Li Ye’s strength.

Chen Jizhen was a little embarrassed and angry. He snorted and glanced at Li Ye coldly, “Do you think you are invincible and you can run amok with the help of several inexperienced junior demons? Don’t you know there are immortals in the sky? Or are you so stupid that you think you can play the fool with us?”

Li Ye smiled with indifference and said with ridicule, “It doesn’t matter if I’m invincible or not, but it matters that you’re not invincible. You said that I run amok. From the way you said these words, it seems that you really hate me and even my death can’t dissolve that hatred. It’s a shame. Most of the time, people’s anger come from hatred of their own incompetence. The more incompetent you are, the angrier you become.”

The muscles on Chen Jizhen’s face twitched. Instantly, his face went red, and his mouth moved, but he didn’t say a word. It looked like he couldn’t wait to attack.

Seeing him uncomfortable, Li Ye chuckled. “You look so uncomfortable that I begin to pity you. Do you want to kill me? Just do it!”