All Heavenly destiny reduced to ashes
Chapter 481 - 102 Turbulent Undercurrents (3/3)

Chapter 481: Chapter 102 Turbulent Undercurrents (3/3)

It turns out that not only Zheng Mo had come, but also the thoughts of the Virtuous King, and with them the entire power at the disposal of the Virtuous King, including the Kanming Bell!

The thoughts of the Virtuous King, along with the Kanming Bell, hovered over the Earth Pulse Hub. The pitch-black thoughts pondered, "Little Zheng, tell me, has An Jing noticed my presence?"

"Your Highness, I think probably not?"

Zheng Mo wasn’t sure why the Virtuous King would think so. He racked his brains but found no reason for his own exposure, "Although I may not have performed very well, he probably wouldn’t think of this level!"

"At least you’re aware of your own limitations."

The Virtuous King said irritably, "Even though I know small talk might seem more genuine for a while, don’t forget you are my envoy. An Jing is not a fool. Seeing the body of a Nether Envoy and the identity of my messenger, he would know right away that you’re involved in the strife for control against the Town King related to him."

"Given that, what you need to do is not to waste words but to straightforwardly convey my intentions to him, making him aware of the perilous situation he’s in!"

The Virtuous King commanded sternly, and Zheng Mo dared not say another word. He nodded vigorously, repeatedly expressing agreement.

In truth, the Virtuous King wasn’t very angry because he himself was a bit of a hack. He hadn’t performed much better than Zheng Mo back in the Imperial Court; it was just that lecturing felt really good.

After the pleasure of lecturing comes the need to get down to business. The Virtuous King had brought the Kanming Bell this time to secretly hide it within the Earth Vein Great Formation of Linjiang City, to stabilize the Earth Veins of Linjiang City and prevent it from being breached by the technique that the Iron Cavalry utilized to break Earth Veins.

Beyond that, if anyone intended to make some moves through the Earth Vein, weaving plots and schemes within Linjiang City, he could remotely control the Kanming Bell to strike, teaching those who wished to make sneaky moves a harsh lesson!

Of course, this was not something An Jing could be allowed to know.

The Virtuous King still hoped that An Jing would stir up some significant action on the surface. If he could take this opportunity to save An Jing’s life and have An Jing owe him a favor, that would be great—after all, he had only a few men under his command. If he could have someone like An Jing, a Heaven’s Chosen under Divine Mandate, representing him, many things in the future would be much easier to handle.

"Sigh, if only I had a Heaven’s Chosen under Divine Mandate like An Jing in my hands, why would I worry about the chaos at the Northern Border?"

But the Kanming Bell, attempting to merge with the Earth Vein, suddenly emitted a perplexed chime, jolting the Virtuous King from his daydreaming about the future, "What now, another unexpected event?"

The Kanming Bell indicated its confusion; its nascent Spiritual Wisdom couldn’t analyze what the unexpected event might be.

With so few subordinates, and them not being particularly sharp, the Virtuous King was forced to address everything personally. He went to observe, "Let me see... Huh? Wait a moment..."

Upon closer inspection, the Virtuous King’s thoughts hesitated, followed by astonishment, "There’s actually a Divine Weapon within the Earth Vein?"

In his perception, the Civil and Military Formation Plate was slowly rotating. Although it was not as powerful as a Divine Weapon, it held the same rank and could also utilize the Earth Vein to control the Great Formation!

The thoughts of the Virtuous King grew heavy, "What is this Formation Plate? It clearly isn’t listed in the catalog of Divine Weapons of Da Chen, so why can it merge with the Earth Vein? And this aura..."

"Is that Dragon Qi?!"

Perhaps because he was just ordinary Emperor’s Blood of the Imperial Clan before becoming a Town King, the Virtuous King suddenly felt a headache coming on, "What in the world is this? Stealing the Earth Vein, condensing Dragon Qi privately, is to commit a crime of rebellion!"

"Did An Jing do this? No, it was before An Jing, the Linlang Commerce Chamber, those people in the court... Damn, they were so audacious, and they didn’t send anyone over to deal with this thing?"

Though he had been mediocre before, the Virtuous King was still someone the Imperial Court had selected as a Town King; it was just that he was lazy. He quickly understood the cause and effect.

Following the treaty signed between Da Chen and the Children of Calamity agreeing upon the conflict zones, the Northern Border used the pretext of ’Tianwu Concealment’ to take away all Divine Weapons, leaving the Earth Veins unoccupied.

Against this backdrop, a force from the court took the opportunity of the Divine Weapons being unoccupied to place similar Civil and Military Formation Plates in various locations, conducting experiments in using Earth Veins to accumulate Dragon Qi.

Such experiments were surely not limited to Linjiang City. Likely all cities in the Northern Border meeting the criteria had seen similar activity, not allowing the qi of the Earth Vein Heavenly Sea from that period to go to waste.

An Jing happened to break the Linlang Commerce Chamber’s presence in Linjiang City and obtained this Civil and Military Formation Plate. However, An Jing also didn’t understand (according to the common knowledge of most people, including the Virtuous King) Earth Veins, and things like the Civil and Military Formation Plates and Dragon Qi are not normally detectable, even with sensitivity. So, he presumed it was an artifact naturally part of the Earth Vein Great Formation and left it in place.

No... perhaps An Jing might grasp that these things are abnormal.

The Virtuous King suddenly recalled how An Jing had once entered the Earth Pulse Hub to observe Divine Weapons and had awakened and enlightened the Kanming Bell, allowing it to advance. So, An Jing was not entirely ignorant about Divine Weapons and Earth Veins.

He must have also discovered the Civil and Military Formation Plate, aware that it might be somewhat unusual, but not knowing its use or its impact.

And An Jing might have also seen that the very thing representing his consciousness, or himself, was on Zheng Mo, so he acted accordingly.

"So, An Jing deliberately retired to let Zheng Mo—or rather, to let me discover this?"

The Virtuous King murmured to himself, "This does make sense. The only thing I’m not clear about is why the group that created the Civil and Military Formation Plate didn’t send someone to destroy it after An Jing defeated the Linlang Commerce Chamber."

Actually, this was understandable as well.

First, few people understood the function of the Civil and Military Formation Plate; only Dragon Blood warriors who had achieved a little and members of the Imperial Court could sense the Dragon Qi. Even if An Jing had managed to beat the Linlang Commerce Chamber, it was not certain he would detect anything wrong with the Civil and Military Formation Plate, much less sense the Dragon Qi.

Rashly sending people to destroy it might have alerted An Jing prematurely.

And most importantly, even if it was discovered, who would investigate? If it wasn’t the Town King himself who found out—would An Jing report to the Prefecture Government or the domain governor? Would they handle it properly, report it to Shenjing?

No....

"Besides that, other Town Kings are involved—Ha, both my elder brothers of the Conquering King and the Solemn King from the northwest, definitely there are dirty hands! Their agreements with Chen Li and the Five Sects is the main reason for the Northern Border’s situation!"

The heart of the Virtuous King sank like a stone into the sea; he realized that the forces he faced were likely to be larger than he had initially thought, with an intrigue as deep as the ocean.

He sighed, feeling a splitting headache: "I’m just a Town King who was hastily pulled in.... Guangyun, what a mess you’ve left behind!"

After the headache, the Virtuous King actually realized that if the shadowy powers within the Da Chen dynasty truly wanted to deal with the Civil and Military Formation Plate, the best opportunity wasn’t any other time ... it was after!

The Reinforcements afterward, and the Inward Officer in command!

Outside the Earth Pulse Hub.

"I hope the Virtuous King can understand these key points,"

An Jing said in his heart to Subdue Evil, "Although I don’t know his capability, I’ve heard he was a leisurely Prince before, but being chosen as a Town King, he must have some skills."

"And if he doesn’t discover it? Or if he does and pretends not to know, wanting to play dead?" said Subdue Evil, and An Jing smiled, "Then I have plenty of opportunities to force him to confront it—for example, I could find an opportunity to battle with a Martial Meridian warrior of the Iron Cavalry, feign some of my strength as being overwhelmed, then call for the boost from the Civil and Military Formation Plate."

"This way, all parties wanting to pretend ignorance would not be able to; they would be compelled to take action."

"You’re quite deviously cunning, and really not afraid of danger, huh? With such antics, you really might get smacked dead by a big hand reaching out of nowhere," Subdue Evil commented, and An Jing was nonchalant: "Right now, I have the ancestor Chenyinzi with me, next door there’s His Highness the Virtuous King, and even a shard of Divine Sense from Gu Yunzhi lurks within the city. It seems dangerous, but our side’s power is actually quite complete."

"If not taking risks now, then when?"

At this point, An Jing’s expression was determined: "The machinations and schemes of these major figures currently don’t affect me... my power is not strong enough, and I can only serve as their proxy and pawn in the struggle."

"Even so, I can still influence the situation... as long as I can defeat the Iron Cavalry and settle the potentially scheming Inward Officer from Shenjing, my development in the Northern Border can be said to be limitless."

"Even if I have to go and study at the Chen Li Bright Mirror Sect and leave my family behind in Da Chen, the Virtuous King would protect my mother for me, allowing me to rule over Linjiang City from afar and leaving me a thread of fate."

"The premise is that you can win, beating the Iron Cavalry and the rest,"

Subdue Evil added, also breaking into a smile, "It’s what you’re most familiar with, isn’t it?"

"Mmm."

An Jing agreed, his smile emerging as he called forth Tengshuang White, preparing to head out for cultivation at Primordial Spirit Cave: "I can’t guarantee other matters... but when it comes to battle."

"I’m confident, I won’t lose."

Soon, merely days later, two major events nearly occurred simultaneously.

First, in the morning, the Martial Army Armor promised by Gu Yunzhi arrived at Linjiang City, along with the Children of Calamity squad led by Cang Linzu.

Second, the reinforcements from the Prefecture Government also arrived in the vicinity of Broken Blade Mountain by the afternoon of the same day.