The Prince Can Do Divination

Chapter 408 - 252: Today, I, Lu Mingyuan, Confront the Holy Bright Palace and Ask My Father Emperor to Meet His Death

Upon seeing this person, the Piano Demon, one of the Tributors, broke out in a sweat on his fair forehead. Still, he stood before the man who had descended from the sky, blocking his path.

Lu Mingyuan quickly broke into a smile. ’To think I’d have the chance to fight alongside this man in my lifetime. What a fortunate turn of events.’

The phantom of a Five-Clawed Golden Dragon flickered continuously, its Golden Light brilliant. Destiny poured in like a torrent. The Great Yan Dragon Wall, condensed from the National Fortune, was in truth a vast plaza that housed an Array. It was constantly nourished by Dragon Qi, radiating a lustrous glow. This was the center of the world, the sole barrier before the Holy Bright Palace.

However, standing on this very plaza was an ordinary-looking man. He wore a perfectly plain straw hat and held a bamboo staff. His right hand was wrapped in white cloth, the wine gourd at his waist was never empty, and his beard was particularly scruffy.

Yet, the sight of this degenerate, middle-aged man caused the expressions of both the Piano Demon and the Fisherman to shift.

The middle-aged man glanced toward the Piano Demon and the Fisherman, let out a curious "Hm?" and then turned his head toward Lu Mingyuan. He smiled faintly, nodded, and finally raised his gaze.

He looked up at the impossibly high Great Yan Dragon Wall. Emperor Yong’an was standing atop it, and the wall itself was impregnable.

With a light stomp of his foot, the Array of the towering Great Yan Dragon Wall was forced to fully manifest, revealing its true form.

At the top of the Dragon Wall, twelve one-hundred-meter-tall Golden Armored Giants appeared within its confines, guarding Emperor Yong’an. Their eyes, each as large as ten lanterns, were incredibly intimidating.

The middle-aged man raised his bamboo staff, pointed at the Emperor of Great Yan on the high edifice, and chuckled.

"Saints love to spout nonsense, but there’s one thing they get right. When you’re wrong, you must admit it. It’s been true since time immemorial and will never change. Your Majesty, wouldn’t you agree?"

Seeing him arrive, Emperor Yong’an’s face turned grim to the extreme. He demanded, "Zhao Xuanwu, I believe I have treated you well. Do you intend to betray me too?"

Zhao Xuanwu chuckled, revealing slightly yellowed teeth in a grin. "Don’t be so sanctimonious."

"What I have always protected are the people of the Central Plains, not your Great Yan’s domain."

"Since you want to bully the few with your numbers, then I’ll just have to bully you all back!"

With that, Zhao Xuanwu swung his bamboo staff straight down.

An infinitesimally thin golden line appeared between him and the Great Yan Dragon Wall, surging forward like a tidal wave!

His momentum instantly soared to the apex of the Martial Dao. A Saber Intent shot to the heavens, as if a Saber God had descended upon the world.

Neither the Piano Demon nor the Fisherman dared to be careless.

The Piano Demon crossed his arms, placed the Guqin before him, and with a light curl of his fingers, strummed a chord that sounded like a silver vase shattering.

CRASH!!

The plaza beneath their feet cracked and splintered into huge spiderwebs under the assault of the sound waves.

However, when the thin golden line of Zhao Xuanwu’s Saber Qi touched the sound waves, all noise instantly ceased. Even the sleeve of the Piano Demon’s white robe was sliced open in an instant, as easily as a wire cutting through tofu.

The Piano Demon’s expression changed drastically.

The Magical Robe he wore was no ordinary item. It was a paramount Taoist Family Magical Treasure known as the "Flowing Water Hair Robe," the relic of an Upper Three Grades Taoist Qi Cultivator. It was said to be able to block all Magic and Divine Techniques below the Upper Three Grades.

Yet now, against Zhao Xuanwu’s Saber Qi, it had proven so utterly useless.

For sixty years, he had never once won against the Saber Venerable.

Now, after so many years, he had thought he would have improved. He never expected he still couldn’t even withstand a single one of his moves.

Just as he thought he would be either dead or crippled, a brilliant golden radiance erupted from the side. The Old Fisherman had made his move. He took the basket from his back, and suddenly, a surging flood with roiling momentum appeared before them.

With another great wave of his hand, a grand vista of a water surface freezing over for a thousand miles appeared behind him.

This, however, gave the Piano Demon a moment to breathe.

Zhao Xuanwu stood with his hands behind his back, holding the staff in one hand, his face a picture of leisurely ease.

The Old Fisherman, however, took a deep breath, his head covered in sweat as if facing a formidable enemy.

That sliver of golden Saber Qi, which had already reached the Harmonization Realm, still did not stop.

Instead, it chopped toward the twelve Golden Armored Giants.

One of them, a Taoist Golden General a hundred zhang tall and clad in Piyao-patterned armor—a Talisman Armored General whose chest, upon closer inspection, was inscribed with countless Golden Character Talisman Cloud Patterns—glowed with a treasured light as its hands desperately gripped the golden thread, which was disproportionately small compared to its massive body.

It retreated again and again.

In the end, this Divine Techniques Talisman General, meticulously crafted by a great Taoist sect, was sliced in two. The golden thread, now only slightly dimmer, continued to advance toward the Great Yan Dragon Wall.

After the Taoist Golden Armor Puppet Giant was dismembered, it collapsed with a great crash. However, behind it, an old man in a vermilion official’s robe appeared. He extended a hand, blocking the thin line.

Lu Mingyuan hadn’t expected that such a terrifying strike could be stopped by this person.

He was curious about the man’s identity, and was slightly startled when he finally saw his face.

The newcomer was none other than the man who had presided over the Imperial Court for thirty years, through storm and shine: the Imperial Tutor, Yuan Xuangang.

Yuan Xuangang’s voice was hoarse as he asked, "Saber Venerable, why do you insist on making an enemy of the Holy Emperor? Can you not stop here?"

Zhao Xuanwu frowned. "Yuan Xuangang? I thought you had retired. I didn’t expect to see you here. Back then, in the Confucian Temple, you were just one step away from the position of Director of Justice at Jixia Academy. Disheartened, you didn’t remain in the Temple but came to the Great Yan Dynasty instead, and here you’ve been for thirty years."

"In these thirty years, have you forgotten all the teachings of the Confucian Temple?"

"Or do you believe that stealing the Destiny of the Three Religions is the right thing to do?"

As Yuan Xuangang resisted the golden thread, blood seeping from his palm, he replied helplessly, "It’s a long story."

"This world is a cycle. We go around and around, but doesn’t the endpoint always lead back to the Saint Ancestor Masters? If the Central Plains World wants to fight for a glimmer of hope, this is the only way."

Zhong Yuli and Chi Ming Red each took a step forward. Zhong Yuli seemed unafraid of this number one Tributor of Great Yan and said coolly,

"Saber Venerable, it’s true you are powerful, but this is as far as you go."

Zhao Xuanwu shook his head and said with a strange sigh, "You all are quite strong too. I’d love to have a good fight with you, but unfortunately, I’m not the only one who has come here today."

"What do you mean?"

Zhong Yuli frowned.

In the distant sky, several rainbow-hued streaks of light flashed and vanished.

Multiple voice transmissions echoed at the same time.

The first to arrive was a dark-haired woman of devastating beauty, dressed in a Black and White Tai Chi Long Robe.

She wore a Lotus Hairpin, her beauty pure and otherworldly. Her eyebrows were long like the crescent moon, sweeping up toward her temples. Her eyes sparkled with spirit, and a vermilion dot marked the spot between them, giving her the full air of a Fairy.

Her face was pale and flawless, as if carved from ice crystals. The line of her nose was straight and elegant, and her full lips were a soft pink, lightly closed.

She was seen arriving on a cloud, holding a Duster, and announced coolly, "Sui Yuqing, True Disciple of the Celestial Master’s Mansion, National Preceptor of the Lion Frost Country. My Daoist title is Ci Hang."

Following close behind, a tall and graceful figure stood amidst a hazy white mist, suspended in the void. She wore the Star Sacred Robe, and her entire being exuded an incomparably noble aura.

"Liu Zixuan, Saintess of the Ziwei Immortal Sect. A Twelfth Realm Sword Cultivator."

A barefoot, White-robed Monk arrived, holding a Zen Staff and seated cross-legged upon a Golden Lotus. His other hand was pressed together in a prayer gesture. His face was as handsome as a deity’s; his head was bald, his features were well-proportioned, his earlobes were slightly long, and he suddenly chanted a Buddhist prayer:

"Jiang Shan, Chief Zen Master of the Great Golden Cicada Temple. Nirvana Realm."

The next to appear was a White-robed Celestial Master with a Peach Wood Sword on his back. He stood atop the Imperial Palace against a faintly lit dawn sky, his Daoist Robe fluttering, a broad smile on his young face.

"Xu Changqing, one of the twelve Celestial Masters of the Celestial Master’s Mansion. Twelfth Realm."

...

One after another, powerful experts arrived at the Capital City. It was as if aid had come from all eight directions; masters from the Three Religions had all answered the call.

With each person’s appearance, Emperor Yong’an’s expression grew a shade uglier.

Before everyone, Lu Mingyuan raised his saber and stepped forward, his eyes blazing as he declared:

"Today, I, Lu Mingyuan, shall confront the Holy Bright Palace on behalf of Elder Mr. Qi and ask my imperial father to accept death!!"

...