Chapter 1 The Grudge of Xianghuo

A Tatar sorcerer had come here a year ago, beheading the corpses of White Lotus Sect believers and taking the heads away. This coincided with the incident of Li Rusong's death at the Hun River in Liaodong. A powerful general bearing the weight of the nation's destiny, and fighting on the border of his own dynasty's territory, could not possibly assume the post of General of Liaodong without the protection of a powerful divine entity.

In a world filled with gods, ghosts, and strange forces, the imperial court's powerful military generals, especially masters at the level of a General, could not be ambushed and killed by a mere ten thousand troops in their own border region, especially when he had three thousand light cavalry at his side.

The Tatars came prepared, and with quite a commotion. This unnatural death must be related to the ancient Mongolian curses passed down in the grasslands.

Perhaps it could make the other party's divine entity ineffective?

"What rotten luck, daring to snatch my incense."

Ji Xiang was slightly annoyed.

I'm usually the one borrowing from others, never the other way around. I didn't expect to be intercepted by a barbarian sorcerer from the northern desert. Although those killed were all from the White Lotus Sect, could your killing of the White Lotus Sect be the same as mine?

You killed the White Lotus Sect, that's attacking my Great Ming's people. I killed the White Lotus Sect, that's eliminating a cult. How can this be called double standards?

This is just being shameless.

But then again, the White Lotus Sect itself is composed of a large number of farmers, commoners, craftsmen, bandits, refugees, mountain robbers, cult leaders, sea merchants, monsters, landlords, bureaucrats, and crazy people. It is spread throughout the north and south of the country, and its composition is very complex. Everyone has their own reasons for believing in the White Lotus Sect. Farmers and refugees are doing it to survive and have food, bureaucrats, cult leaders, and landlords are doing it to amass wealth, mountain robbers and bandits are doing it to find backing and act as thugs, sea merchants and craftsmen are smelling black business opportunities, monsters are doing it to wear human skin and eat people reasonably, and crazy people... they truly believe.

Humans, demons, and monsters are all welcome. As long as you believe in the Wusheng Laomu (Eternal Venerable Mother), we are blood brothers, just with different fathers.

However, even if the White Lotus Sect is causing trouble, they are indeed people of the Ming Dynasty. The Ming Dynasty people will suppress them themselves, but an attack from outsiders is called invading the land and harming the people.

The yellow weasel, listening to Ji Xiang muttering to himself, saying things like "you kill, I kill," opened its mouth to remind him: "It wasn't the Tatar sorcerer who killed them, it was the monsters from Changbai Mountain who killed them."

Ji Xiang waved his hand: "Anyway, even if the monsters from Changbai Mountain didn't kill these people, the Tatar sorcerer would have killed them sooner or later. Although the form of death is different, the result is the same. He has the motive and the ability, and even after others are dead, he still has to cut off their heads. He's definitely not taking them back to drink with."

The yellow weasel: "?"

The yellow weasel's little paws touched its mouth, falling into deep thought.

It sounded like it made sense, but it also seemed to make no sense at all.

"Coincidentally, Fushun is not very far from here."

Ji Xiang departed on the clouds, a gust of heavenly wind surging. He saw a not-so-wide river. The smoke of war had not dissipated for too long. The corpses on the riverbank had naturally been collected and buried by the subsequent reinforcements, but there were still large patches of black bloodstains between the land and the wild grass, seeping into the earth and becoming one with nature.

Killing a Tatar shaman doesn't yield much profit. Shamanism, like Shinto, is a product of ancient witchcraft left behind and transformed with the changing times. However, although you can still see some of its original features, it is vastly different from true ancient witchcraft. It would be better to say that it inherited the outer skin of ancient witchcraft and redeveloped into later witchcraft.

Later witches worship nature. Ancient witches emphasize both humans and nature. Ancestral gods and nature gods are often placed on the same level, while later generations mostly do not speak of ancestral gods, or they turn nature gods into their own ancestral gods, which in a sense can also be considered "the unity of heaven and man."

Ji Xiang continued forward on the clouds. Suddenly, a cloud of darkness blotted out the sky ahead, forming an impenetrable barrier. Ji Xiang tried to disperse these dark clouds, but from within came countless mournful cries of eagles. Pairs of wings flew out of the dark clouds, gathering in large numbers towards a certain direction and falling down.

.........

The Tatar camp was hidden among the mountains and ravines, with tents stretching in a continuous line.

This place was close to important towns such as Xuanfu and Datong, and it was also an important area in Liaodong. The Tatars came and went like the wind, with various offensive routes from west to east. Although they could not break through the cities, they were strong in various harassments and maneuvers. The Central Plains dynasty, which lived by cultivating land and defending cities, was obviously difficult to compete with the Tatar tribes in terms of mobility.

In the last offensive, they even accidentally killed a "big fish."

Eastern Mongolia, residing on this land, the Tumote tribe's Chao Hua clan had often carried out raids here in the past few years. Now, in addition to these "local people" of the Chao Hua clan, there was also a "royal court."

A blood-stained helmet was placed in the large tent. Buyan Sechen Khan, the leader of the Khalkha tribe at the time, stroked the helmet with a satisfied expression.

He wore a cloak, his sturdy body sitting on a camp bed.

The death of the General of Liaodong would open a new chapter for Mongolia.

Southern Mongolia, Northern Mongolia, Eastern Mongolia, the divided territories had many leaders who did not listen to his orders, each with semi-independent large tribes. After the death of his father, Zasaketu Khan, Mongolia fell into disarray again, a chaotic situation where the three sides fought separately. He, the nominal legitimate Great Khan, although he obtained the imperial seal lost by the Northern Yuan, was ignored by the other two sides because he established a camp in Liaodong. They were even about to establish new Great Khans themselves.

Such a situation had happened in the past. Anda Khan of Southern Mongolia unified that area, and repeatedly confronted the ruler of the Eastern Royal Court, the legitimate Great Khan, his father Zasaketu Khan. He even opened border markets with the Ming Dynasty to obtain powerful equipment to arm himself. This situation could not happen again.

There could only be one Great Khan in the world. Even if he didn't aspire to return to the glory of the Northern Yuan, he had to at least unify two of the three sides, namely the Eastern and Southern sides. As for those people in the Northern side, let them fight among themselves. That land wasn't important anyway. As long as the Southern and Eastern Royal Courts were in his hands, the Northern side, under the pressure of the two sides, could only obediently submit. There would be no second choice.

"Our Khalkha tribe itself came from the Northern side. Now, we have established a camp in the old land of Chahar and established a Royal Court in the Eastern side. The Northern tribes have not come to pay homage, and even have different ideas. They truly deserve to die."

"Now that we have seized the divine entity of the Ming Dynasty and killed the General of Liaodong, what does the National Preceptor think, when can we reorganize and reclaim the Southern side and dominate the Northern side?"

Buyan looked at a red-robed lama near him. The old monk had a fair face and a large belly. Each of his wrists wore four strings of Buddhist beads, exposed from his sleeves. Upon closer inspection, the four strings of beads were all shaped like skulls, small and exquisite, and the eyes of those skulls seemed to have a faint white light, occasionally leaking out, flickering and burning like will-o'-the-wisps.

"With the death of the General of Liaodong and the end of the Korean War, the next focus is not on the Northern and Southern sides, but on stabilizing the Eastern Royal Court to avoid being forced to relocate."

"The Ming Dynasty will definitely carry out a purge here, but for us, this is a good opportunity to strengthen our strength once again. Great Khan, rest assured, since this monk has come here, he will definitely help you ascend to the throne of the Lord of Mongolia."

"Only because in your hand, there is still the Yuan Dynasty seal."

The smile on Buyan's face could not be concealed. Although he restrained himself, the corners of his mouth were still in an upward state. He only sighed repeatedly and shook his head with a regretful expression, saying: "Unfortunately, this Yuan Dynasty seal is only a 'treasure of shackles', not the one that is 'mandated by heaven'."

"Where the Yuan Emperor took that Imperial Jade Seal, who can know? We are busy fighting and have no time to search. The Ming Dynasty has been searching for two hundred years and still has nothing. If we could get that Qin Dynasty Jade Seal, then I would say that is the true person who is in accordance with heaven."

The red-robed old monk heard this, his big mouth turned up, revealing two rows of white teeth. The wrinkles on his face were squeezed together, and his expression was like a smile but not a smile, which was quite eerie: "That may not be the case."

"The Qin Dynasty Seal is extremely mysterious. Those without great fortune cannot bear it and will attract an unstoppable curse. Rather than saying it was a treasure carved by Emperor Qin Shi Huang, it is better to say that it is the embodiment of the anger of the Heavenly Dao towards Emperor Qin Shi Huang."

"For the Great Khan, the Yuan Dynasty seal is already enough. Unifying the Northern and Southern sides is the only way to compete with the Ming Dynasty."

Buyan thought that the Ming Dynasty would purge him next, and the smile completely肆放起来: "That's right! Now that I have the Yuan Dynasty seal in my hand, when the Ming Dynasty purges us next, they will find that the death of one General of Liaodong is not enough, and they will need more divine generals to fill this gap!"

The red-robed old monk nodded: "And it will become bigger and bigger! Their divine entities will all be obtained by us and used to connect with our national destiny. When I have seized enough divine entities from the Ming Dynasty, conquering the Southern side and intimidating the Northern side will be an easy thing. But if this is successful, there will also be a major cleansing within Mongolia."

"This monk believes that what Anda Khan of the Southern Royal Court did in the past was very good. Although the matter of forcibly uniting the various tribes was not completely completed, it is very valuable for reference. Only by becoming that kind of prototype can the glory of the Great Yuan be reproduced. And only by becoming this kind of true dynasty... can we re-enter the Central Plains and seize the Heavenly Dao."

Buyan suddenly stopped laughing, frowned, and said to the red-robed old monk: "National Preceptor, re-entering the Central Plains, I am afraid this is not an easy thing. A lot of people will die then. The Ming Dynasty has a large number of firearms, and Mongolia has nothing. Even if their military preparations are lax, my troops cannot break through the city walls of Xuanfu and Datong. If we forcibly attack, the chances of winning are probably not great."

"I just want to be the king of Mongolia. I used to think about restoring the Great Yuan, but now that I am the Great Khan, I know how naive my thoughts were. Even my father could not do it..."

The red-robed old monk raised his hand to stop Buyan's remarks and continued: "Your father did not catch up with a good time. Now that we have come, you should have this ambition. Otherwise, you will be replaced."

The old monk smiled, his tone was gentle, but these words made Buyan's eyebrows twist into a Sichuan character. After the two were silent for a while, Buyan squeezed out a two-point dry false smile: "If I die, whoever you replace me with will not be able to convince the public. At that time, you will not even be able to control the Eastern Royal Court. The Southern and Northern sides are even more leaderless now. Even if you want to find a new monarch to cultivate, I am afraid that his ability will not be as high as mine."

"Even I think it is difficult to defeat the Ming court. No matter who you choose from the Southern and Northern sides, the result will only be worse than me."

The red-robed old monk was still kind: "Of course, so as long as the Great Khan follows my deployment, there will be no problems. As for seizing the Ming Dynasty, when the time comes, even if the Great Khan does not forcibly seize it, this position will be reserved for you."

"Because that is our battle, it has nothing to do with you. If we lose, you can retreat back to the Royal Court. If we win, you will reproduce the glory of the Great Yuan."

"However, your war with the Ming court cannot be stopped. Every massacre you commit will weaken the national destiny of the Ming court and enhance the fortune of the Eastern Royal Court. Your battle is strengthening yourself, and the sacrifices you make for this are not called sacrifices."

"Compete for the living population, compete for the souls of the dead. Whether it is the creatures of the Yang world or the wandering souls of the Yin world, we need treasures from both life and death."

Buyan opened his mouth, just about to say something, when suddenly a burst of mournful eagle cries came from outside. He and the red-robed old monk quickly walked out of the tent. The eagles fell from the sky like dark clouds, and after stroking the head of one of the eagles, Buyan learned about the situation they had encountered just now.

"A great cultivator has appeared nearby! He is from the Ming Dynasty! But there is only one."

The red-robed old monk's eyes suddenly lit up: "Amitabha! Isn't this just right! There is only one, which means he is powerful and came here with self-confidence to spy on our reality."

"Since he is here, he cannot leave. To entertain guests from afar, not only must we use the best local spirits and delicacies, but if necessary, we must also use the delicacies of his hometown."

The red-robed old monk's body emerged with bursts of halo, like the raging fire of the sun, and the whole person became flushed.

He opened his palm, and a burst of aura gathered, gradually condensing into a divine tablet. However, the words written inside the divine tablet had been covered, and there was an extra layer of wrapped materials on the outside. These materials gathered and formed a new divine position.

In this respect, it was very similar to Ji Xiang's method of occupying the Four Sages' divine tablet with the Celestial Venerable's divine tablet, using a substitute for the deceased.

There was no need to create a god out of thin air.

It was only necessary to use the existing divine tablet as the "foundation" for the existence of the new god.

In essence, it was rebirth by borrowing a shell and listing under a different name. Similarly, this method could still use the original god's abilities!

Buyan summoned his men, and the eagles flew into the sky, leading the way for this group of Mongolian troops!

Among the eagles in the sky, the head of one of the eagles changed, unexpectedly turning into a head similar to that of a human.

.......

The Demonic spirit of Lost Way invaded an eagle's body and saw everything, mixed in with the flock of eagles.

[Ambassador of Three Realms Inspection: God of Aversion to Evil. Lord Huanhou Yide (Zhang Fei), patrols the underworld every thirty years, patrols the Yang world every thirty-five years. May this old man eliminate the injustices between the two realms!]

[Heavenly Department Great Vocation Twelfth Rank! (Nationally Sealed)]

Twelfth rank, unable to surpass the Five Heaven Demon Kings and the Four Saints of the North Pole. Although there is the addition of national fortune, Guan Yu's position is still higher than Zhang Fei's. Even so, it has only been a few years since Guan Yu was conferred the title of Xie Tian Great Emperor, and Zhang Fei has not yet received the title of Emperor Lord.

Is this the divine entity on Li Rusong's body?

Unexpectedly, it was not the most powerful Military Fang Six Yao Great God. I heard before that the Military Fang Six Yao Great God was in Li Rusong's hands, but now it has become the Ambassador of Three Realms Inspection. If the most powerful Military Fang Six Yao Great God among the Ming Dynasty's military gods fell into the hands of the Tatars, the consequences would be unimaginable.

"Sure enough, there are means to make the divine entities ineffective. But these tricks are not considered great divine powers in front of me."

"Listen well."

Ji Xiang opened his mouth, and in an instant, his voice rumbled and vibrated, transmitting to dozens of miles away!

Buyan and the others were marching when they suddenly heard thunderous roars. In an instant, the army panicked, and the sounds of wailing filled the world!

"Invading my country, killing my people, severing their heads, this hatred must be avenged. Today, the Eastern Royal Court will be wiped out here. This old red-robed bald donkey, I don't care which celestial palace is behind you. Even if you are a flying immortal descending to the world today, you will have to leave your life here!"

After saying that, he raised one hand high into the sky, and the vast dark clouds were shattered, revealing the dark, true sky behind!

"Shangqing Thunder Tribulation Grand Formation."

"Activate!"