Chapter 1278: Chapter 1276: Lure the Tiger Away from the Mountain
The Investiture of the Gods battle quickly made the once talent-depleted Heavenly Court lively again. A large portion of the deities here naturally found themselves bound by the Investiture of the Gods and assumed positions within the Heavenly Court.
Worldly people all think immortals are free-spirited, living long without aging, but little do they know, this is the greatest joke.
To these deities, the Investiture of the Gods is like a restraining band tightly fastened onto their heads, forcing them to obediently follow the Jade Emperor’s arrangements.
On this day, a valiant general who commanded twenty thousand heavenly edges was sitting in his own residence within the Heavenly Court.
Clad in armor, he had immortal maidens and divine power warriors attending to him in the residence. With his cultivation level as a Taiyi True Immortal, he was considered a mid-upper-level manager in the Heavenly Court.
However, the constraints of the Investiture of the Gods prevented him from attaining true freedom.
A few days ago, the Jade Emperor’s God-Beating Whip was taken, and the valiant general’s heart started to stir secretly. With his cultivation level as a Taiyi True Immortal, if he could escape the Jade Emperor’s control, he could descend to the Mortal World, seize a mountain, and reign over an area as king, couldn’t he?
Although he commanded twenty thousand Heavenly Soldiers here in the Heavenly Court, these troops were just nominally under his control, not his private army.
"Valiant General..."
Just as the valiant general was seated, eyes closed, with myriad thoughts swirling in his mind, suddenly a voice arose, causing the valiant general to open his eyes.
"You are!?" Seeing the figure emerge from the darkness, the valiant general’s expression changed, speaking with surprise.
The figure before him was dressed in a striking Silver Dragon Robe, but what drew more attention was the God-Beating Whip in his hand, a whip the valiant general would never mistake.
"In these years, you have been restrained by the Investiture of the Gods, unable to gain freedom. How about it? Valiant General, are you willing to join me in toppling the Jade Emperor’s rule?" The figure holding the whip, the Good Corpse, spoke to the valiant general.
Upon hearing these words, the valiant general had yet to reply, and the immortal maidens and divine power warriors serving around him exchanged alarmed glances.
Is such heaven-defying dialogue something that small fry like us can overhear?
"To speak such words openly!?" Listening to Good Corpse, the valiant general’s eye twitched, secretly criticizing in his heart.
Reasonably, even if one truly wished to overthrow the Jade Emperor’s rule, at least it should proceed in secret, accumulating strength before seizing the opportunity to act, right?
But this fellow before him directly jumps out and blatantly shouts about it? Can such a person truly succeed?
"Presumptuous, I am an appointed divine general by the Jade Emperor, how can I follow you to defy the Jade Emperor?" Secretly complaining of this silver-robed person being courageous yet clueless, the valiant general spoke aloud, harshly reprimanding.
"Since you cannot be of use to me, then! You have no significance," hearing the valiant general’s rebuke, Good Corpse shook his head in a disappointed tone.
As he spoke, the whip in his hand lifted, striking toward the valiant general directly.
With the whip’s restraining ability, within moments, the Taiyi Realm divine general dropped to the ground, unconscious.
"Ah!" Witnessing the silver-robed person, transformed by Good Corpse, unleash the strike rendering the valiant general unconscious, the immortal maidens and divine power warriors on the hall let out terrified cries before scattering like birds and beasts, fleeing until not a single figure remained.
...
At this moment, the Jade Emperor was also seated within his bedchamber. Before him was a finely crafted Treasure Mirror, displaying images of competitions already underway in the Mortal World’s Chang’an City.
Watching the Legends of the Three Kingdoms matches, the Jade Emperor felt immersed as if present personally, in a fierce battle that finally determined a winner after some time.
"Alas, unfortunately, now that the Four Imperial Guardians have been utterly defeated, all great and minor matters must be undertaken by me single-handedly. Otherwise, I would register in the Mortal World when free!" As the competition concluded, the Jade Emperor put away his Treasure Mirror, sighing secretly in his heart.
"Your Majesty, something has happened!" At this moment, a divine general hurriedly ran before the Jade Emperor, reporting anxiously.
"Oh? What has made you so flustered?" Hearing that, the Jade Emperor slightly furrowed his brows, looking towards the divine general before him.
"Your Majesty, that silver-robed person has appeared, at the valiant general’s location, forcing the divine general to defy Your Majesty together. The divine general refused and has been defeated; a few immortal maidens and divine power warriors escaped to report to you..." The divine general quickly detailed the recent events to the Jade Emperor.
"Oh? That silver-robed person has appeared!?" Upon hearing this, the Jade Emperor stood up abruptly.
Lately, due to the God-Beating Whip being taken, the Jade Emperor had been secretly investigating the silver-robed person’s whereabouts, yet he had made no progress.
Unexpectedly, he himself came to the Heavenly Court? Even secretly enticing immortal gods to betray him?
Though unsure why the silver-robed person acted so recklessly, since he has appeared with the God-Beating Whip in his hand, the Jade Emperor certainly cannot stand idle.
Afraid the silver-robed person might quickly vanish again, the Jade Emperor moved directly to pursue him.
Because of the God-Beating Whip, dispatching other Heavenly Soldiers and Generals to capture him is futile.
In addition, the silver-robed figure wielding an artifact like the Immortal-Slaying Sword is such a formidable foe that even war gods like Erlang God and Nezha, who aren’t restrained by the Investiture of the Gods, find it hard to assist.
Thus, facing this silver-robed figure, the Jade Emperor also understood that he had to take action himself.
The Jade Emperor’s speed was naturally fast. In the blink of an eye, he arrived at the residence of the valiant Divine General, and naturally, he also saw the gravely injured general on the ground, as well as the good corpse wearing the Silver Dragon Robe.
"You’re quite fast!" Upon seeing the Jade Emperor’s appearance, the good corpse spoke with a tone of surprise and quickly rose to flee into the distance.
"Is this a diversionary tactic?" Seeing the silver-robed figure turn and run upon seeing him, the Jade Emperor’s brows furrowed slightly.
As the ruler of the Three Realms, it’s only natural the Jade Emperor wasn’t foolish. The silver-robed figure seemed to be waiting for his appearance, but after he appeared, the figure immediately turned to run away. Was this not a ploy to lure him away—a tactic to lure the tiger away from the mountain?
However, since the matter concerned the sacred God-Beating Whip, even if the Jade Emperor suspected this was a diversion, he couldn’t just sit by and watch him leave.
With a flash of thought, the Jade Emperor left behind a command, instructing the Heavenly Soldiers and Generals to be extremely vigilant in their patrols, and then moved in pursuit of the fleeing good corpse.
"Did the Jade Emperor see through the good corpse’s intention?" Watching the Jade Emperor leave a command before departing, Jiang Liu murmured to himself.
But Jiang Liu also understood that because this involved the sacred God-Beating Whip, even if the Jade Emperor knew it was a ploy to lure him away, he would still fall into the trap.
Sure enough, after leaving clear instructions, the Jade Emperor swiftly pursued in the direction the good corpse had fled.
After waiting for a moment and estimating that the good corpse and the Jade Emperor should have traveled a fair distance, the evil corpse took action. Cloaked in the Shadow Robe, he flew toward the sleeping quarters of the Jade Emperor and the Empress.
"Who are you!"
The sleeping quarters were naturally guarded by Heavenly Soldiers and Generals, and due to the Jade Emperor’s orders, they had rapidly increased their protective strength. However, upon seeing the evil corpse, the Heavenly Soldiers and Generals were all terrified.
The identity of this mysterious black-clad figure was known throughout the world in recent years, and combined with his strength, which could battle those on the Quasi-Saint Level.
Thus, seeing the appearance of the mysterious black-clad figure, the Heavenly Soldiers and Generals were horrified, feeling no safety despite their numbers!
"Get out of the way!" Seeing the Heavenly Soldiers and Generals guarding the sleeping quarters, the evil corpse spoke bluntly, raising a hand.
A vast toxic green cloud was immediately unleashed, quickly engulfing the Heavenly Soldiers and Generals.
To deal with these Heavenly Soldiers and Generals, the evil corpse didn’t need the Tai Chi Diagram. With his own Daluo Golden Immortal Cultivation Level, he could easily handle them.
Seeing the Heavenly Soldiers and Generals’ health bars deplete, each falling into a critically wounded, near-death state, the evil corpse then stepped forward into the sleeping quarters.
Just as the evil corpse was about to step inside the sleeping quarters, a bright arc appeared, swiftly swinging toward him.
Without hesitation, the evil corpse instantly unfurled the Tai Chi Diagram, its 10 billion defense abilities completely blocking the attack.
...
As for how the battle in the sleeping quarters unfolded, for now, let that be. Meanwhile, on the other side, the good corpse, dressed in the Silver Dragon Robe, quickly fled into the distance.
But his cultivation level was, after all, only at the Great Luo Middle Stage, how could he outrun the Quasi-Saint Cultivation Level of the Jade Emperor?
Thus, even before he could escape the South Heavenly Gate, he was caught by the Jade Emperor.
Holding the Golden Divine Sword, the Jade Emperor wasted no words and directly swung the sword at the good corpse. The astonishing sword qi, imbued with regal Emperor’s Aura, slashed down toward the good corpse!
But as the sword qi descended, suddenly, a flag appeared, blocking the good corpse.
The Jade Emperor’s astonishing sword qi was stopped by this small flag, quickly dissipating into nothingness.
"Is it...? The True Martial Soap Carved Flag!?" Seeing the flag displayed by the good corpse, the Jade Emperor’s expression shifted, exclaiming.
The Jade Emperor naturally recognized the Soap Carved Flag used for protection by Emperor Zhenwu in the past.
He recalled that after Emperor Zhenwu was killed by the mysterious black-clad figure, shouldn’t this Soap Carved Flag have fallen into the black-clad figure’s hands? Why was it now in this silver-robed person’s possession?
"Could it be? Is the silver-robed figure in front actually the mysterious black-clad figure? Is he deliberately wearing a silver robe to confuse everyone?"
"Or did the black-clad figure give him the True Martial Soap Carved Flag?"
"Damn it! If it’s the latter, then the black-clad figure and the silver-robed figure are allies. With the diversionary tactic, isn’t the black-clad figure already taking action!"