Chapter 277 – Civil War

The Attack of the Wastrel

When Xie Jianyu saw that there were only three Imperial Guards left to protect the King of the Fengyang Kingdom, he felt depressed. When he saw Rong Yuan’s knowing smile, he became even more depressed than he already was.

He did not understand why he felt this way when he was the one who had planned everything.

The space that he was in was surreal and beautiful, but it was not the actual world. Meanwhile, his target, the King of the Fengyang Kingdom, stood three meters away from him. The Imperial Guards that surrounded him just a few moments ago now disappeared. Rong Yuan smiled at him cheekily, reminding him that he owed Rong Yuan yet another favor.

“Alright, the pests have been eliminated. I’ll hand the King of the Fengyang Kingdom over to you now, if you have some words that you would like to say to him,” Rong Yuan tilted his chin and pushed the King so that he was standing right in front of Xie Jianyu. Rong Yuan then rejoined Gu Lingzhi at the side to watch the scene unfold.

Xie Jianyu looked at the King who looked battered and exhausted as he struggled to stand up straight. He opened his mouth a few times, contemplating what to say, before some words flowed out. “Brother, I have fought for you for so many years, have you ever treated me like a brother instead of an… enemy?”

The King stared back at Xie Jianyu for a moment, before laughing breathlessly, “Does it matter whether I did or didn’t? Would you let me go if I said that I did?”

Xie Jianyu curled his fists into a ball before looking at the King unsurely, “And what if I said that I would?”

Xie Jianyu’s words made the King stunned for a while, and even Gu Lingzhi and the rest were shocked that he would give the King a chance.

“Though I would like to see this conversation continue, I have to remind you that your time in the Fenlan Painting is up.”

Just as Zi Zi’s voice had resonated in Gu Lingzhi’s mind, everyone lost consciousness for a moment and the next second, they had reappeared back at the palace. The difference was that the hundreds of lives that had been lost in the Fenlan Painting had remained there.

“Your…Your Highness! Are…are you okay?” the burly man who held two hammers asked worriedly. He was the first one to rush into the palace.

At this moment, the few of them that had disappeared into the Fenlan Painting looked at their surroundings. It was no longer the extravagant palace that they remembered. Now, the Taihe Palace was a complete mess. The Imperial Guards and the armored troops of the Fengyang Kingdom had been fighting in their absence. The two parties had only stopped fighting after they had reappeared out of nowhere.

The King of the Fengyang Kingdom opened his eyes gradually and before the rest could react, he ran towards the Imperial Guards. Rong Yuan stretched his arm out to stop him, but before he could touch the King, a purple-black rattan creeper appeared and shot towards Rong Yuan. When Rong Yuan was blocking the attack, the King had reached a safe distance away and stood behind a number of Imperial Guards. He smiled coldly, “Brother, you’ve made a mistake by not killing me earlier when you had the chance.”

The King then mumbled under his breath, “Get rid of them.”

Then, the ground underneath them started to shake intensely. Sand flew from all directions in the air, creating a desert in the palace.

“It’s a realm,” Rong Yuan’s eyes shone with eagerness. Previously, when he was in the Fenlan Painting, with the Illusory Spell, it had been too easy for him to get rid of the Martial Sage.

He was excited to meet a Martial Artist of the same level as him as he prepared himself for battle. Hopefully, this opponent would be strong enough so that he could finally meet his match.

Not many Martial Sages had the ability to manipulate space-dimension realms, so Rong Yuan decided to keep it a secret for now. He rushed into the illusion headfirst, towards an old, short and plump man that was standing beside the King.

The next moment, countless rattan creepers appeared around his legs in an attempt to trap him in place. It seemed that this Martial Sage had two kinds of Spiritual Roots – earth and wood.

Though the rattan creepers were quick, Rong Yuan was quicker. The rattan creepers brushed against his legs but did not manage to trap him.

“Hmm, this is interesting,” Sun Wu laughed to himself. When he had brought the King to a safer corner, he rushed towards Rong Yuan. Whilst Rong Yuan unleashed his Martial Skills, Sun Wu tried his best to retaliate.

On the other hand, Gu Lingzhi was also hard at work. When Rong Yuan had left to fight Sun Wu, Gu Lingzhi stood behind Yuan Zheng as she shot out Frost Arrows.

Hua Qingcheng was engaged in a battle with another Martial Sage. They fought ferociously in mid-air.

Suddenly, the whole space-dimension shook as a golden light appeared on top of everyone. Gu Lingzhi looked at it and immediately, her face darkened.

It was not the sun. It was a huge fireball. Suddenly, many fireballs descended from a sky, as if it were a meteor shower. 

“It’s the Fire Realm that belongs to Yu Yuan, the head of one of the Three Great Clans in the Fengyang Kingdom, the Yu Clan!” Yuan Zheng exclaimed as he weaved between the fireballs in an attempt to dodge them, together with Gu Lingzhi.

They did not expect Yu Yuan to show up at this instance to assist the King. It seemed that Xie Jianyu’s plan to usurp the throne would not be as easy as he thought.

Xie Jianyu’s face turned sour when he saw Yu Yuan’s realm that had superimposed with Sun Wu’s one. When he looked at the people around him who had been engulfed in flames, he spoke, “Clan Leader Yu, are you sure you want to go against me?”

Yu Yuan scoffed, “Prince Yi, why are you trying so hard? Do you really think that just the few of you are able to defeat the King?”

“It’s time to find out!” Ba He, the burly man with two hammers who was standing beside Xie Jianyu bellowed, “You should worry about your Yu Clan first!”

Yu Yuan’s eyes narrowed, “How dare you!”

With a fling of his robe, about ten fireballs the size of a fist shot towards Ba He. With an angry snarl, Ba He crossed his hammers in front of his body, ready to take on the fireballs that were coming towards him.

Whoosh!

Before the fireballs could reach Ba He, it was blown away by a strong gust of wind and landed somewhere else, creating a cavity as big as a house. If Ba He had taken the hit, he would be severely injured or even killed.

“Clan Leader Yu, why are you taking out your anger on someone younger than you? We haven’t met for so many years, let’s have a good match between ourselves today,” a voice sounded out from behind Yu Yuan. Evidently, the gust of wind had been brought about from this man.

“Feng Yi?” Yu Yuan squinted his eyes to have a closer look. Feng Yi had also belonged to the Three Great Clans.

“On the account that we both belong to the Three Great Clans, if you leave now, I will pretend as if nothing has happened today.”

Feng Yi nodded his head, “That’s exactly what I would like to say to you too. If you leave now, I’ll pretend that I didn’t see you today, but I don’t know if Prince Yi and Ba He would feel the same.”

Yu Yuan lowered his voice in anger, “Fine, let’s fight then.” 

The next moment, numerous fireballs appeared on top of Feng Yi and a sea of flames surrounded him.

“Will he be okay?” Gu Lingzhi asked worriedly.

“He’ll be okay,” Yuan Zheng replied. As long as there was not a Demigod present, these Martial Sages could escape unscathed if they fought amongst themselves.

Suddenly, a small whirlwind appeared from beneath Feng Yi’s feet. It rapidly expanded and within a few seconds, it had become ten meters high, becoming a tornado.

What an idiot! Yu Yuan was secretly rejoicing, as the element of wind assisted fire. This was exactly why Feng Yi did not use his realm at the beginning, because if he had, it would only cause them to lose quicker.

However, Yu Yuan’s happiness was short-lived, because suddenly, things changed. The tornado sucked up the sand together with it. When Feng Yi stopped using his spiritual energy suddenly, the tornado extinguished the sea of flames that surrounded him. Shocked, Yu Yuan released yet another wave of fire spiritual energy that surrounded Feng Yi. Once again, the fire had extinguished the moment it came into contact with the tornado.

“How… how could this be?”

Gu Lingzhi that had watched the scene unfold in front of her eyes could not help but think that Yu Yuan was an idiot. It was true that wind could help to strengthen fire, but the sand that was mixed together with the wind was quick in extinguishing fire.

“Fool, sand trumps fire. Stop using fire to attack him!” one of the Imperial Guards that was protecting the King exclaimed as he charged towards Yu Yuan.

No one knew how Xie Jianyu had gotten so many Martial Sages to assist him. Many Martial Sages had valuable positions and would not interfere in inter-clan battles. Evidently, their help had come at a great cost to him.

The King watched as the battle ensued. However, it looked like he had a higher chance of winning and he could not help but smile.

“The Fengyang Kingdom still belongs to me after all.”

“The Fengyang Kingdom belongs to the entire Xie Clan and not just you!” a voice that belonged to an old man sounded out from behind. The next moment, everyone in the palace felt an insurmountable pressure on their bodies.