Chapter 378 The Most Stressed Man in the World
That was because the pope of the Magic Sun Temple was one of the Nine Superbs.
Emperor Qin Ming had killed one of the Nine Superbs with his sword. What did that make him?
He was an emperor in the mundane world and a pretty remarkable martial art pract.i.tioner. Regardless, all the people on that planet was convinced that only the Nine Superbs in the World could stand at the top of the legend of martial arts. An emperor in the mundane world might stand up to the Nine Superbs with his political power but not with his individual strength. However, Emperor Qin Ming had just taken out the pope of the Magic Sun Temple!
That completely flipped the stereotyped view of the ma.s.ses.
That meant the legend of the Nine Superbs was broken.
So was the balance the Nine Superbs had maintained.
A monarch of an empire in the secular world had owned the power superior to the Nine Superbs. What would that bring to the Divine Land?
Lots of people were asking themselves that question.
With that, many of them were seized by panic.
Those who first lunged into panic were the members of the government of the Northern Song.
The emergence of the emperor who could kill the Nine Superbs in the West Qin meant that no matter what kind of mayhem the West Qin Empire was in, it would survive. Even if the capital of the Western Qin had been taken by the other empires and Emperor Qin Ming was the only royal member left, the Western Qin would not be destroyed. Instead, as long as Emperor Qin Ming was willing, he could quickly re-establish or even build a stronger empire on the Divine land.
If an individual’s martial strength had reached the top, he could totally turn the fate of the state around all by himself.
In fact, the power Emperor Qin Ming demonstrated had not only reached the top but been over the top.
And if we looked back to the changes that occurred on the Divine Land in the last year, the Northern Song was one of the three forces that seized the border area of the Western Qin.
So, how could the Northern Song not be gripped by fear?
By then, the only Superb in the Northern Song, Dao Chongyang, had been killed. The protective Holy Clan had fallen apart. The lords and the n.o.bles were too busy struggling in the domestic turmoil to care for anyone else. Thus, it was safe to say that the Northern Song had entered the weakest era in a millennium. If Emperor Qin Ming chose to retaliate the Northern Song for the lost border area right after he was done with the desert race…
Who in the Northern Song could tackle Emperor Qin Ming’s blazing sword then?
There seemed to be no option left other than submitting to the emperor of the Western Qin, did there?
Over the past millennium, the Northern Song had first realized it was in danger of being gobbled up.
What was more depressing for the Northern Song was the one who was about to annex it was the Western Qin, who was still its fellow sufferer not long ago.
In addition to Northern Song, the Southern Chu, being one of the three great empires, also felt the pressure.
The source of that pressure was obvious.
On the surface, it was because the disputes between the Southern Chu and the Western Qin were never scarce during the era of the tripart.i.te confrontation that lasted more than 1,000 years. The two empires certainly had born deep grudges against each other. But the reason beneath the surface was even simpler— how could one have a sound sleep when someone stronger was sleeping beside him? Certainly, Emperor Qin Ming had shared power with the other two empires during the period of the tripart.i.te confrontation. Yet, now that he had suddenly obtained the power to dominate the world, he would be a real fool if he remained satisfied with the current power structure.
Some other parties that had once ruffled some feathers of the royal family of the Western Qin were stressed as well.
The alliance of witches and wizards in the extreme south was one of them.
Not long ago, these barbarians who lived in the midst of miasma and marsh were still clamoring to counterattack against the central area of the Divine Land, to destroy the Western Qin Dynasty. But now? They began trembling in fear. And the low-key demeanor and the self-fettered policy the Great River and the Diancang Faction had adopted all along made them feel guiltier.
Also, there were plenty of other people being on pins and needles, such as the rebellious Lord Zhenxi, the crown prince of the Great Moon Empire occupying the border area of the Western Qin…
For the time being, all the people and forces that had once been opposed to the Western Qin were deeply perturbed whenever at the thought of Emperor Qin Ming’s sword.
Of course, nearly everyone had unanimously agreed that the one who was most stressed in the world must be the old Lord Taibai and current “humble folk”, Li Mu.
One day ago, Emperor Qin Ming sent out his imperial edict. But since Li Mu refused to accept the edict, it did not make it to Taibai County.
But the content of the edict was announced by an imperial commissioner at the foot of Taibai Mountain and then spread across the land.
Emperor Qin Ming deprived Li Mu of his n.o.ble t.i.tle, reduced him to humble folk, and ordered him to go to the capital and confess his crimes within half a month.
That did come within the bounds of reason.
Before, people on the Divine land had joked that Li Mu had risen to fame by stamping on the heads of the royal members. He first murdered the son of Lord Zhenxi, then the second prince, and now the crown prince. Following that pattern, the mission would be accomplished if he killed the emperor of the Western Qin.
So, how could Emperor Qin Ming continue to bear with Li Mu after he killed the crown prince?
The only thing that surprised the ma.s.ses was precisely Emperor Qin Ming’s reaction to Li Mu’s case. Normally, wouldn’t Emperor Qin Ming wipe out the forces in Taibai County right off? Why did he request Li Mu to go to the capital turn himself in? That punishment seemed rather light, didn’t it?
And would Li Mu go to the capital as he was told?
Many parties swiveled their eyes to the Taibai Mountain in Chang’an.
…
…
“Confessing what fu*king crimes!”
Li Mu, who had returned to Taibai County, snapped as if it was a given.
Each of the murders of royal members he committed had its justifications. If he traveled back in time, he would kill them all the same. Although Li Mu was never the kind of man who enjoyed killing, he did not think he had any sins to atone for finis.h.i.+ng off a few darned b.a.s.t.a.r.ds.
As to the imperial edict Emperor Qin Ming issued… given that he already went openly hostile to the emperor, what could the edict do to him?
To put it in the pretentious phrase on Earth, whether the emperor was treated like an emperor depended on the will of his subjects. When Li Mu decided to disregard him, he was n.o.body. So, how could he expect Li Mu to be summoned to the capital and face his execution with an edict?
The principle Li Mu adopted now was to be defiant.
For the time being, he would continue to take refuge in Taibai Mountain and hone his body. Also, he had several tasks to attend to.
The first one was built the Transmitting Array between the Taibai Mountain and the Yue Mountain.
A couple of days ago, he had left the brand of the tactical deployment in the Yue Mountain Faction before he took his leave. He had also employed the star power the All-side Starlight Deployment stored for a millennium as the motive power and directed it into the brand, which laid the groundwork for the long-distance Transmitting Array between the main peak of the Yue Mountain and the Taibai Mountain. In plain words, he had basically built up a signal station on the Yue Mountain. When the signal station in Taibai County was established, the line could get through.
Thus, in the next few days, Li Mu engaged himself in the work at the Dragon-a.s.sembling Pattern in Taibai Mountain. He gathered the geomancy power and the Spiritual Qi to build the “signal station” on the Taibai Mountain. After that, he worked on the s.p.a.ce Taoist patterns that helped connect the two spots together.
Building the signal station was quite easy. But inscribing the s.p.a.ce Taoist patterns was rather onerous. Because carving the Taoist magic arts figures required much time and effort.
Anyway, seizing that opportunity, Li Mu once again mended and fortified the more than 1,000 deployment branches across the Taibai Mountain. After the battle in the Yue Mountain Faction, his strength had soared again. Every time Li Mu’s strength was taken up a notch, he fixed the deployment with his new powers, for it was the only thing he counted on in that world. The more power the Dragon-a.s.sembling Pattern was, the safer Li Mu was. Plus, studying and carving the figures for the tactical deployment did not contradict with improving his cultivation. The art of tactical deployments, the Taoist magic arts, and the martial arts all shared the same principles. By studying all those arts at the same time, Li Mu could draw an a.n.a.logy and quickly grasp the whole subject so as to enhance his overall strength.
After about five days and five nights, Li Mu completed that task.
The very first Transmitting Array connecting the two mountains was finally accomplished.
Exultant like the Creator, Li Mu “dialed the number” for the first time.
In a couple of minutes, the Transmitting Array connecting the two mountains was quietly put in motion, though most people in that world had no idea it existed.
The two cla.s.sic stone arches functioned as the eyes of the tactical deployment, which looked like the doors opening to the universe. s.p.a.ce elements were converging and rippling in the stone arches like the surface of a raging lake. Seconds later, the ripples died away, and the surface became smooth like a mirror. That showed the Transmitting Array had grown stable after being switched on.
In the meticulous scientific spirit, Li Mu transmitted several living chickens and ducks through the deployment before starting to transmitting people.
Having experienced the mandatory s.p.a.ce-travel package the old faker “gifted” him, Li Mu was quite at ease when operating a transmission that covered no more than a million kilometers. By contrast, Xu Yue, Qiu Yin, Xu Sheng looked kind of beside themselves in front of the Transmitting Array.
It was something that had not been heard of throughout the history of the entire Divine Land!
They were already very famous people on the Divine Land. But the first time they traveled a million kilometers through the Transmitting Array and arrived in Taibai County from the Yue Mountain in a trice, they were all dumbstruck. They could hardly believe it, as though it was a dream.
Li Mu soon summarized some small defects in the Transmitting Array.
The newly developed Transmitting Array could only transmit 10 people tops at a time. If there was a Sage among the pa.s.sengers, then, the Sage had to travel alone. And in the case of a mighty pract.i.tioner like Guo Yuqing, he could not use the Transmitting Array no matter how hard he tried to suppress his power, for the energy inside him was too immense, which exceeded the upper limit the deployment could take.
After all, any transmission was a transformation of energy and substance.
No matter which one exceeded the limit, the transmission would go wrong.
Li Mu was, after all, a diligent student in his physics cla.s.s in junior high. The theory he drew sure made sense.
Therefore, in light of capacity, that Transmitting Array was on a small scale and did not have any strategic use. It required continuously tweaks and expansion before it could truly interconnect the Yue Mountain Faction and the Taibai Mountain.
But that would take time.
The whole project of the Transmitting Array was, of course, highly confidential. In the Taibai Mountain, only Li Mu and Qing Feng, the little attendant, knew about it. While in the Yue Mountain Faction, no one but Xu Sheng, Xu Yue, and a few other key members were aware of it. Sure enough, Li Mu had gained the approval of the Yue Mountain Faction before the project began.
Later, when they were discussing the strategic expansion of the tactical deployment, Li Mu showed his generosity by pa.s.sing some files on s.p.a.ce Taoist magic arts he collected on to the Yue Mountain Faction. He let them take their time to study the arts and take care of the details themselves.
He had learned from his forefathers that sometimes he needed to delegate a bit and give the younger generation an opportunity to prove themselves.
The next day after the first Transmitting Array opened, Liu Zhiyuan, and her two children, who had been stuck in the Taibai Mountain for a while were transmitted through the deployment to the Yue Mountain Faction before they rejoined Guo Yuqing and went back to the Wolf Temple on the vast pasture. They had to leave Li Mu and Qiu Yin for a period.
Meanwhile, under Li Mu’s instruction, his men began to select local children of the right age within Taibai County and train them to be Li Mu’s loyal followers.
Aside from the above, Li Mu was still brewing some other plans.
He reckoned it would be much better if he could join hands with the Taibai Sword Faction and nurture the new talents.
The Taibai Sword Faction had lasted for nearly a millennium and had profound foundations. There was a large a.s.sembly of talents in that faction. So, it certainly had more resources than the emerging Taibai County. What Li Mu was considering to do was pretty much “run a school jointly” like the practice on Earth.
Li Mu started contemplating on finding a time to discuss the idea with Zhao Ling. He thought he might as well have a meeting with Zhao Xue, the Taibai Sword G.o.d, too.
As the days went a little less busy, Li Mu started to have spasms of headaches.
Because Bai Mochou was stirring up turmoil in the Knife Hut.