The Emperor Reigns Them All

Chapter 358 Cooperate or Not

Chapter 358 Cooperate or Not

The Imperial Palace, Chang’an.

It was gloomy in the afternoon. Dark clouds were gathering in the sky, and there was thunder from time to time. It seemed oppressive before the storm. In the West Garden, Li Yan was sitting in the hall of a dragon boat on the Taichi Lake, enjoying the song and dance listlessly.

Maybe because of the severe oppression, Li Yan became more and more restless. He got up, left the hall, and went out on the deck. He looked at the sky with his hands clasped behind his back, frowning.

“Your Majesty, what’s on your mind?” the Lieutenant of Regal Guards, Yang Fuguang, asked with concern behind him.

Li Yan was distressed. He said, “I don’t know why I always feel upset and irritable these two days, as if something bad is about to happen!”

Yang Fuguang quickly comforted him. “Huang Chao is dead, and the country is generally peaceful at the moment. Although some vassal states are still obstinate and unruly, they can no longer cause trouble...” Speaking of this, Yang Fuguang asked tentatively, “Your Majesty, are you worried about the battle in Hedong and His Highness Prince An?

That was exactly what was on Li Yan’s mind. Clutching the side of the boat, he said worriedly, “To suppress Li Keyong, this rebel, Brother Ye spared no pains to send troops to Hedong, for the sake of the country’s righteousness. But I heard that there were many changes in the Xuanwu Army and that they seemed to send troops to Pinglu! What’s more, many anomalies happened in Hedong recently, as if immortals were at war. Although Brother Ye is powerful, he can’t fight so many enemies alone...”

The more he said, the more he became upset. He could no longer finish his words.

At this moment, an official rushed in with an urgent letter of the military situation. After Yang Fuguang opened it and scan it, his expression changed immediately. He promptly gave it to Li Yan.

After Li Yan read it, he felt shocked. “Uighur has captured Yi Prefecture. The Guiyi Army was defeated. How could that be?”

Yang Fuguang was stunned. “Since Minister Zhang established the Guiyi Army, fought Hexi and the Western Regions, and recaptured 11 states, he has been invincible. It’s the first time for Uighur to capture a state from the Guiyi Army... It has been only a few years after Minister Zhang left the Guiyi Army. Why this kind of thing would happen to the Guiyi Army?”

After all, he experienced a lot of changes, so he soon restored his calmness. He quickly said to Li Yan, “Your Majesty, Uighur’s capture of Yi Prefecture may change the situation in the Western Regions and Hexi. This is a big deal. You should summon Prime Ministers and ministers to the imperial court to discuss it.”

It seemed that Li Yan didn’t hear what Yang Fuguang said. He clutched the side of the boat harder. His eyes soon turned red, and his face darkened. Finally, he gnashed his teeth and said, “I won’t spare these b*stards!”

After the Huang Chao Uprising, the imperial court’s majesty was ruined in today’s Tang Empire. If Uighur invaded the Hexi Corridor on a large scale and the Guiyi Army couldn’t resist them, then which vassal state in the Tang Empire was able and willing to fight the Uighur Army? The Tang Empire was beset by enemies inside and out. Even though there were famous officials who could save the country from danger, they couldn’t solve all the problems at the same time.

...

Huang Jingyuan’s calm smile finally faded away, and he looked proud. “Feihong Bodhisattva, you really live up to your name. Only when we used this method could we win. And many of us died. How can we be at ease without killing you first?”

Huang Jingyuan’s scheme against Feihong Bodhisattva and Li Ye was very vicious, but its principle was simple. That was to show their weaknesses to the enemy, lure the enemy into making mistakes, and then fight back in despair.

The Immortal Court, the demon clan, and the Land Buddhism were enemies of each other, and none of them would trust each other sincerely. Moreover, the rule of the ruins was only when one faction of cultivators existed would the copper billets appear and the light shield open so that people could leave. Under the imminent threat of the purple-blue grid, there was no choice between life and death.

Huang Jingyuan was sure that Feihong Bodhisattva would immediately fight Li Ye as long as she defeated them. No matter who won, one would fall in the end.

Once the alliance between Feihong Bodhisattva and Li Ye was broken, Chen Jizhen and Huang Jingyuan would take the lead.

Besides, both Li Ye and Feihong Bodhisattva were not easy to deal with. If they fought each other, even the winner had to pay the price and would become very weak. Then, they could take advantage of it.

The key to this strategy was that they had to make Feihong Bodhisattva believe that they couldn’t fight any more in the case that Chen Jizhen and Huang Jingyuan remained fighting abilities. Only in this case would she turn to resist Li Ye.

The monks of Land Buddhism were the most in ruins. As long as Chen Jizhen, Huang Jingyuan, and Li Ye were defeated, the demon clan and the Immortal Court were nothing to worry about. Then, Land Buddhism would win.

The cultivators of the Immortal Court took the initiative to expose themselves in front of the crossbows of the demon clan and Land Buddhism. They suffered great losses and were no longer a threat to the Buddhist monks. Their sacrifices were the chip to remove Feihong Bodhisattva’s doubt about their deadly attack.

When Feihong Bodhisattva gave a full blow, the two people protected themselves by using the secret method of the Immortal Court. Although they were injured, they would save some of their fighting abilities.

As the emissaries sent down by the Immortal Court to deal with earthly affairs in Jiuzhou, it was not surprising that Chen Jizhen and Huang Jingyuan would have such a secret life-saving method.

But Feihong Bodhisattva was different. She was from the Land Buddhism and suppressed by the Immortal Court. No matter how many means she had, the effect would be diminished here.

This was what Huang Jingyuan knew.

Now he won.

This proved him right.

“I have defeated Feihong Bodhisattva. This fight is enough for me to become famous in the immortal territory and have a great future!” Huang Jingyuan brightly smiled as he thought of the reward from the Immortal Court afterward.

Huang Jingyuan knew that today’s victory was not his victory, but the victory of the Immortal Court over the Land Buddhism, the Immortal Court over the demon clan, and the immortal over the mortal.

This victory was inevitable.

Because there was a vast difference between each other’s strengths, the gap couldn’t be passed, and the result couldn’t be changed.

Huang Jingyuan didn’t hesitate and raised his sword with Chen Jizhen at the same time.

The Buddhist monks were anxious, but they couldn’t get rid of the immortal cultivators’ desperate entanglement and couldn’t support Feihong Bodhisattva in such a short time.

Feihong Bodhisattva slightly raised her face, and calmly looked at the swords that chopped toward her.

Her face was as beautiful as peach blossoms. But now, she looked like she craned her neck to be killed.

Show you something beautiful and then destroy it. That was a tragedy.

Feihong Bodhisattva’s cultivation reached the peak, and her mind was calm. She had no desire in her heart, so she was not interested in anything. But she didn’t intend to let herself become a tragedy.

She looked at someone with the corner of her eyes.

A seriously injured person sat down under the collapsed courtyard wall.

People couldn’t understand her gaze.

It was neither with something nor with nothing.

In Buddhist terms, the so-called dharma not only referred to Buddhist doctrines but also all the laws in the world.

It was just like Feihong Bodhisattva’s gaze at this moment.

Li Ye was holding his Luke Sword in his hand. He seemed motionless yet active, real yet imaginary as if he would take action the next moment, or as if he would never move — motion and motionlessness, or reality, and an illusion particularly unified at this moment.

Making eye contact with Feihong Bodhisattva, Li Ye blinked.

He hesitated a little at this critical moment.

It made him seem motionless yet active.

The hesitation flashed away as if it hadn’t existed because of the too-short time.

After hesitation, Li Ye jumped up.

Li Ye, who was supposed to be seriously injured and have no fighting ability, was full of vigor and momentum at this moment.

He had been saving up strength for a long time with his sword.

He wielded his sword toward Huang Jingyuan.

His sword roared.

It roared like a dragon.

The runes on the Luke Sword were lit up, with cyan light shining. Instantly, a 1.5-meter cyan dragon flew out from the sword, like a black dragon coming out of the sea. Carrying the sword, it went straight to Huang Jingyuan’s face.

Huang Jingyuan turned his head in astonishment. Shock, surprise, and panic crept up his face, like earthworms.

At the same time, Feihong Bodhisattva, who was sitting cross-legged, suddenly left the ground. She launched a strike with her palm, as powerful as a storm. It passed Chen Jizhen’s sword and reached his eyes instantly!

Her palm made a loud sound, like a chilly wind’s howling or a tiger’s roar.

Li Ye and Feihong Bodhisattva launched a sudden attack at the same time and joined forces.

And their fighting abilities were not worse than that in their heyday.

This shouldn’t have happened. The other cultivators in ruins stood stunned and opened their eyes wide, for fear of seeing something wrong.

Spiritual Qi was overflowing and exploding like tides. Once the four people hit each other, they separated immediately.