Two Realms: I Will Become the Immortal Emperor

Chapter 291: Chapter 263: Mortal World, Pleasant Surprise

”Where are the letters?”

Jin Chaoheng looked back, and the other man immediately handed over four envelopes engraved with inscriptions.

He opened one and his brow immediately relaxed.

After reading all four letters, Jin Chaoheng couldn’t help but burst into ecstatic laughter.

”Excellent! Truly excellent!”

”Ancestor, are they really willing to make a move?”

Noticing his excited expression, the middle-aged man asked.

This unremarkable-looking middle-aged man was named Jin Yangtong, the current Patriarch of the Jin Family and a Foundation Establishment Eighth Layer cultivator.

”See for yourself.”

Jin Chaoheng casually handed the letters to him. After Jin Yangtong read them, his face also lit up with elation. The four families had said almost the exact same thing: as members of Shuzhou, they were willing to give their all to resist the Hunzhou army.

In fact, they had agreed so readily that Jin Yangtong found it a little hard to believe.

”Ancestor, could this be a trap?”

”They still understand that if we fall, they’ll be next.”

A corner of Jin Chaoheng’s mouth curled up as he said smugly, ”If our clan falls, do you think True Master Duobao will spare them?”

Shuzhou was True Master Duobao’s territory.

Although it appeared to be a conflict between two states, it was actually a struggle between two Golden Core cultivators. As long as the Golden Core masters themselves didn’t act, the Primordial Sect naturally wouldn’t intervene. But with a Golden Core True Master’s reputation on the line, victory was the only option; defeat was not permitted!

It wasn’t just them; the same was true for the other side.

”The advantage is ours!”

Jin Yangtong clenched his fists, saying with utmost confidence, ”We have three more Foundation Establishment Great Perfection Cultivators than they do. By gathering the power of the Five Races, we can completely overwhelm them.”

...

”Have you found the core of the array?”

「Three days later.」

Chen Yin’s patience was wearing thin.

”N-no... I still need three more days.”

Elder Daoist Qingsong wiped the sweat from his forehead. ”This is no ordinary Tier Three Array. I can’t find the core in such a short time. It’s most likely hidden within the mountain, and with the one controlling the array currently inside... there are almost no blind spots.”

”That’s what you said three days ago.”

Chen Yin’s voice grew cold.

...

On Juejian Mountain, the sound of the rebuke could be heard.

Chen Che glanced at the trembling Elder Daoist Qingsong, then looked up. The storm clouds over Thunder Accumulation Mountain were growing denser. With the arrival of the drizzling rain, the cloud cover had more than doubled in size, and the lightning within was even more blinding than before.

Even from such a great distance, he could feel its power.

’Looks like there’s no breaking through it anytime soon.’

Chen Che shook his head. The moment he saw this array, he had asked Ye Zhihan about it.

However, she had said that with the array activated, it was like the owner being at home with the door locked. Besides brute force, there was no other way to break it.

’Over there is...’

Shaking his head, Chen Che’s gaze suddenly focused as he stared into the distance, as if trying to peer across space itself to see the source of his surprise.

Under his Divine Sense, where the heavens met the earth, vast waves of Qi and Blood and Evil Qi surged into the sky.

”The mortal armies... they must have started the siege. Otherwise, there wouldn’t be such a massive scene.”

Meng Changtu’s complexion had improved considerably, and he too was now gazing into the distance.

”I wonder how the battle is going over there? Shall we go take a look?”

’The Mortal World?’

The Great Chen Royal Family had split its forces, attacking on two fronts simultaneously: the Mortal World and the Cultivator World. Not only were the cultivators blocked by Thunder Accumulation Mountain, but the mortal army also seemed to be struggling to advance.

Chen Che didn’t refuse.

To Thousand Eyes, the Mortal World was more important than the Cultivator World. He wanted territory, but he also wanted population. The reason for eradicating the local cultivators was to sever their heritage and prevent new cultivators from rising within his domain.

Therefore, every time the Hunzhou army conquered a place, they would burn all books related to cultivation.

”Alright, let’s go take a look.”

The din of battle shook the heavens. An army of tens of thousands marched in a vast, seemingly endless tide. The sea of black banners they raised was like a dark cloud blotting out the sun as they surged toward a giant city built against a mountain.

”A mortal’s life is no life at all!”

Meng Changtu lamented.

The millions of mortals in both states would never have dreamed that their fates had been completely altered by a single sentence from Thousand Eyes. Such was the immense power of a cultivator. The higher one’s Cultivation Realm, even if they weren’t a Divine Spirit, they were no different from one.

Chen Che glanced at the battlefield littered with thousands of corpses and nodded.

”Indeed.”

Let alone mortals, what about cultivators?

Weren’t the Meng Family, the Great Chen Royal Family, and Jinyun Valley all gathered here because of a single sentence from Thousand Eyes?

The main command tent was located at the rear, heavily guarded and conspicuous.

He accompanied his father-in-law inside.

The tent was quite spacious. Chen Xi and Lu Ping’an were both present, along with many armored mortal soldiers, but there were even more cultivators. When the two of them entered, a group of mortal soldiers was arguing about something while Chen Xi and Lu Ping’an, seated at the head, remained silent.

Lu Ping’an’s Soul Body had become much more condensed; he had clearly profited greatly from this battle.

Seeing the two enter, the arguing crowd fell silent.

”You are dismissed.”

Chen Xi shot them a cold glance, and everyone in the tent immediately withdrew.

”My apologies for that embarrassing display, Fellow Daoists. Many Mortal Grandmasters have mixed in with their ranks. Our army has been attacking for over half a month, yet we still can’t even get onto the city walls. I don’t know how long this will take. What’s more, there are cultivators assassinating our officers...”

”You can’t counter them?”

Meng Changtu asked.

Chen Xi slowly shook his head.

’Neither side of this war is going to be easy to resolve!’

Chen Che sighed to himself.

Shuzhou had every advantage in terms of terrain and popular support, and they were on the defensive.

This Taiping Fist was not as easy to land as he had imagined. The most crucial problem was that the Cultivator World of Shuzhou was also getting involved. War had always been this way; if a victor couldn’t be decided quickly, it would inevitably descend into a prolonged stalemate.

DING!

The sound of metal striking metal rang out.

The vast tide of soldiers quickly retreated. The gongs were sounding the signal to withdraw.

Chen Che lifted the tent flap and looked out. The previously sealed city gates suddenly swung open, and several squadrons of cavalry charged out in pursuit. These men were clearly stronger than ordinary mortals; there were even traces of power circulating within their bodies.

”Those are the Mortal Grandmasters.”

Chen Xi gazed into the distance. ”There are many more like them...”

Chen Che nodded upon hearing this.

Under his Divine Sense, the condition of these ’Grandmasters’ was laid bare before him.

The circulating power was True Essence. Although it was vast, it was dozens of times more dilute than a cultivator’s True Essence.

In the Mortal World, this kind of ’True Essence’ was called Inner Strength.

Clearly, their cultivation techniques were incomplete. But because of the abundant Spiritual Qi, they had still managed to figure out quite a bit. After pursuing for dozens of li, these Mortal Grandmasters even had the idea to charge the main camp. One of them even drew a bow and shot an arrow straight at the command tent.

Seeing this, Chen Xi’s eyes narrowed slightly.

But dozens of iron-clad cavalry squadrons quickly charged out from the camp. Seeing that things were not in their favor, the enemy immediately wheeled their horses around and fled.

...

...

Two days later, the Hunzhou army continued its daily siege, but each attack ended with them leaving the ground littered with corpses.

During this time, Chen Che had no intention of interfering.

It wasn’t just him; Meng Changtu and Chen Xi also had no intention of taking action. As Foundation Establishment Major Cultivators, killing one or two mortals was of little consequence. But truly slaughtering them by the tens of thousands was too great a violation of cosmic harmony. However, taking the opportunity to collect some blood for planting the Earth Store Profound Tree was fine.

Although mortal blood was inferior to that of cultivators, its effects weren’t weak after some refinement.

”Hm?”

That night, Chen Che’s eyes suddenly snapped open. He narrowed them, as if trying to pierce through the darkness.

At the edge of the battlefield, a skeletal old man sat atop a white tiger, loitering at the battlefield’s edge.

The white tiger he rode was over thirty feet tall and radiated an oppressive Evil Qi. Although it was slightly smaller than a typical Foundation Establishment Great Demon, what astonished Chen Che was that it had its great mouth open, devouring plumes of black mist.

”Easy now, precious. There are plenty of souls here for you.”

The old man patted the White Tiger beneath him, a faint grin on his face.

From the blood-soaked ground, plumes of black mist rose. Some of the mist even vaguely formed faces, but they all converged into a black torrent that was swallowed by the White Tiger.

”Wu Ming?”

Chen Che’s eyes narrowed.

On the very day the war began, portraits of important members of Shuzhou’s five great families had been delivered to Jinyun Valley. This was to prevent encountering them later, not recognizing them, and falling victim to their deadly attacks.

This man was the current Patriarch of the Wu Family.

The White Tiger he rode was the very same one that had caused chaos in Chi State. After seeing this man’s profile, Chen Che finally understood why the Foundation Establishment cultivators of Chi State had clearly trapped the Tiger Demon but dared not act, allowing it to escape.

They had to consider the master before beating the dog; how could they dare offend the Wu Family?

”This White Tiger is quite extraordinary... to actually possess the ability of Soul Devouring.”

Chen Che stroked his chin.

Although Demon Beasts couldn’t practice various cultivation techniques like cultivators, as their realm increased, they could awaken numerous talents. Of course, the power of these talents could also be gradually increased through subsequent cultivation.

Unfortunately, Xuan Peng had yet to awaken a single one of its racial talents.

’Do I have to wait until it reaches Core Formation?’

Glancing at the Little Chick on his shoulder, Chen Che couldn’t help but wonder.

There was no reason for a Tier Four Xuan Peng to lack Talent Divine Abilities.

”If this war drags on for a few decades, you might reach Core Formation too...”

Watching the White Tiger devour the souls, Wu Ming grew increasingly smug.

CRACK!

Suddenly, something seemed to get stuck in the White Tiger’s throat. It immediately opened its mouth and spat an object out to the side.

Wu Ming was slightly taken aback, a little surprised.

He knew that his mount was a Soul-Devouring Tiger, a Great Demon that could reach the Golden Core realm upon maturity. It could devour not just souls but even metal and stone. He never expected it to be unable to swallow this object.

With a flick of his wrist, he pulled it into his palm. A single glance made him narrow his eyes.

”What’s this?”

It was an object that looked like a jade pendant.

The Jade Pendant seemed to be broken in two, as if forcibly snapped by an external force. Even in the dead of night, the pendant emitted a soft, gentle glow.

”A Tier Three Jade Pendant? It looks like some kind of token, but there’s only half of it?”

Wu Ming examined it for a moment, then with a swipe of his hand, stored it in his Storage Ring. ”I never thought there’d be something decent in the Mortal World. I wonder where the other half is.”

He didn’t have high hopes for this half of the Jade Pendant.

The Cultivator World was full of incomplete items, and not everyone could restore them.

But at that moment, far away in the army’s command tent, Chen Che’s gaze sharpened.

’I can finally complete the key!’

He flipped his right hand over, and an identical half of a jade pendant appeared in his palm.