Spirit Vessel

Chang Daye was the number one expert in Ancient Jiang. Right after his birth, golden clouds came in the sky and out came the claw of a spirit beast to capture him.

Since he grew up with the milk of this beast, his bones and flesh far exceeded that of a regular person. He towered at six meters; his arms were thicker than another person's waist.

The beast chased him back when he was five. He was already two meters tall then.

He possessed the physical cultivation art of a spirit beast on top of having a master from the Daoist Gate. This allowed him to open his dantian to cultivate violet energy.

Two hundred years ago, he had entered the capital and fought against Heavenbattler, the strongest of the marquises, exchanging nine moves without losing.

Keep in mind that Heavenbattler was already a ninth-level Heaven's Mandate at that point on top of being a historical genius. These Giants were called Historical Giants and Supreme Giants.

It was extraordinary for Daye to come out unscathed after this brief duel against the marquis.

Feiyun's eyes lit ablaze. He saw the purest dao force coming from Daye. It engulfed his entire body with a trace of divinity. This indicated that the merit law he trained in was quite amazing. His master must have been someone special.

"Big Bro, stop hitting me, I know my mistake, just let me go back and kill that bastard Tuo Bahong." Dakai was mercilessly beaten with his head down on the mud while his butt pointed at the sky.

"You son of a bitch, come here and apologize to the Divine King right now!" Daye rubbed his fist and walked forward. His step was strong enough to flatten this area.

"If I'm a son of a bitch, then you are too…" Dakai quietly murmured before lifting his head out of the mud.

He swung his head back and forth to "fix" his disorderly hair before running towards Feiyun. He got on his knees and said: "Your Excellency, I was wrong, please forgive me!"

Dakai was a proud person. If Feiyun couldn't handle his three slashes earlier, he wouldn't have yielded even if Daye were to beat him to death, let alone getting on his knees.

However, Feiyun has displayed his strength and completely convinced Dakai. That's why he immediately kneeled without a trace of unwillingness.

In his eyes, kneeling before an expert wasn't shameful at all.

Feiyun tidied his official outfit and raised the guy up with both hands. He then patted the dirt off of Dakai and smiled: "Brother Dakai, you are being too polite since you didn't do anything wrong. This little fight only serves to improve our relationship. Let's go to the mansion, we'll drink till we can't anymore!"

Feiyun has never been one to win an inch and ask for a foot, with the exception of when dealing with women.

Dakai was almost moved to tears. 'Wow, he's a really nice guy!'

"Your Excellency, may I join as well?" Daye thunderously spoke.

Daye was a crafty person and only put on a show for Feiyun earlier. It was obvious that he was much smarter than his little brother.

Chen Daoran has been waiting for the entire time and invited the group to the official residence.

Feiyun and Ruxue shared the same carriage. They entered Witch God City and was met with an ancient aura existing in every tile and stone in the city. The altars and beast cauldrons had a long history to them. [1]

Unfortunately, the city wasn't in a good state. One could see bloody carriages filled with corpses covered in straw mats coming back all over the streets.

One couldn't see an end to this trail, perhaps more than one thousand corpses were present in this convoy.

"Everyone, come claim your loved ones." An armored Jiang shouted with a hoarse voice, trying his best to put on an emotionless expression before closing his eyes.

Women and children headed for the convoy to find their husband and father. Some would become relieved after not finding anyone, but those who have started howling with tears. No one could stay calm after seeing this.

Feiyun's group also saw the whole thing. The two tribe lords also stopped as their eyes slowly becoming bloodshot. Alas, they didn't say anything. This wasn't their first time seeing this.

Next, another group of soldiers was in charge of ten provision carriages. The leader announced: "Under the orders of the tribe lord, any family with one fallen soldier can receive fifty pounds of grains, thirty pounds of pork, and one tael of salt. Any family with two fallen soldiers can receive one hundred and fifty pounds of grains, eighty pounds of pork, and three taels of salt. Any family with three fallen soldiers can…"

One teary-eyed child kneeled before the leader and cried: "My dad's life is only worth this much? That's not enough to last fifteen days… What are we going after that…"

"Child, the entire tribe doesn't have enough food and everyone is hungry, it's fine to eat a little less so that our soldiers on the battlefield can have a full stomach… We, we don't want the meat and grain." His mother lifted him up.

The child was unreasonably strong and shouted: "No! We have nothing to eat at home, we're gonna start to death!"

The mother seemingly lost her strength after hearing this. She let go of the child and started crying by a corpse on the carriage again.

War has ravaged the area for two years. Heaven Worship Division was under attack by both the Dark Realm and Heaven Witchcraft Division. Every able-bodied man has joined the battle so they didn't have any hunter available. Their food reserve has virtually been depleted.

The grains meant for livestock have become their primary food. There wasn't that much left either.

This was a war of attrition. The surviving side would win.

The group suddenly lost the urge to party, feeling that the food and wine would be distasteful.

***

Imperial Palace of Jin.

Inside the Supreme Hall were gold and jade in glorious splendor. Smoke and fog floated around the thirty-six dragon pillars. There existed 360 chairs made of white jade, looking very majestic and noble.

Long Luofu sat on her throne; her skin whiter than snow; her figure - perfect. She didn't wear an imperial robe today, only a silk dress with draconic embroidery and an outer red gown. This made her look like a noble daughter instead of an imperious ruler.

"Knock, knock." A beautiful female official came in with a jade scroll and got on her knees: "Your Majesty, this is the latest update from Lord Yao regarding the martial army."

Luofu's shiny, crescent eyes looked towards the sky. Who knows what she was thinking?

She heard the official and withdrew her gaze. Her boundless aura returned as she seemingly turned into a celestial, impossible to fathom.

She accepted the scroll and didn't open it: "Why is Yao Ji not here in person to report?"

The official couldn't lift her head because of the heavy pressure: "Lord Yao traveled to Earthchild Prefecture yesterday with the goal of taking back military power from Peace and Hegemon Heavenly Marquis and send those two back to the capital."

"Hmph, they're from the Beiming and were lucky enough to be camping outside during the massacre. Yao Ji, good, she knows what's on my mind. If she is in charge of this matter, then those two might be chained on carriages already and are on their way here!"

She was very confident in Yao Ji's abilities. If it wasn't for apprehension regarding Yao Ji's identity, she might have made an exception and promote Yao Ji to become the first Grand Chancellor of Jin.

She then opened the scroll and read the first line. She slightly raised her brows with a violet flash in her eyes: "Promote Earthly Marquises, increase recruitments, and centralize authority."

Luofu agreed with this report. The army has always been under the rule of the eighteen Heavenly Marquises - something that has been worrying her all this time. If she could gather back full military authority, then another Beiming Moshou couldn't pop up with six marquises under his faction and gain so much influence.

Yao Ji's plan was to have her add seventy-two Earthly Marquises and use their name to re-allocate military command from the former eighteen marquises. This would allow her to have a full grasp of Jin's armies.

1. Not sure what a beast cauldron is, just a literal translation