Demoness, where are you Fleeing to?
Chapter 839 - 697: The Devastating Losses of Heaven Palace

Chapter 839: Chapter 697: The Devastating Losses of Heaven Palace

As dawn broke, the gold-gilded Jinque Palace in the skies above Tian Mountain, the scene of an openly hostile plunder, was drawing to a close.

"We can retreat now!"

From within the Nine Heavens Ten Earths Pimo Divine Shuttle, Xue Yunrou, who was in charge of communicating with the direction of Xiangyang, warned everyone, "Xiangyang reports that Dasiming has escaped from the Zhengfan Xiantian Beidou Stars Array and is on his way to Tian Mountain. It is estimated it will take him no more than an hour to reach Tian Mountain."

A hint of puzzlement flashed in her eyes.

After all, according to Li Xuan’s arrangements, although it couldn’t be said that Dasiming and the numerous heavenly level cultivators of Jinque Palace had no chance of survival, it was expected that they would suffer a loss of a dozen or twenty people. As for Dasiming himself, he was very likely to perish or be severely wounded.

But the message from Xiangyang carried a warning, saying that Dasiming was unscathed and at the peak of his Mana.

This made Xue Yunrou somewhat incredulous—

Fortunately, at this time, their plundering was mostly complete.

They had begun their operation yesterday during the Hour of Xu, secretly infiltrating Jinque Palace under the guidance of Dongfang Liang, and managed to quietly penetrate deep into the levitating immortal island of Jinque Palace, reaching the edge of the Nine Palaces. It was then that the forbidden spell of the "Dabuzhou Zhengfan Jiugou Divine Array" was triggered.

This provided an opportunity for their inside agents to act. The two hidden agents of Master Zhongliu, embedded within the palace, took advantage of the panic and chaos inside the palace. They not only severely injured three of their colleagues but also destroyed part of the array’s core.

This forced the remaining two heavenly level cultivators to fall back to defend the Nine Palaces, unable to focus on external threats. This allowed Xue Yunrou and her group to plunder the resources of East Island without restraint.

Dongfang Liang sold off all valuable stores of East Island, leaving nothing behind.

There were many extra gains, which pleasantly surprised Xue Yunrou.

She had initially thought that obtaining forty million patterned silver worth of various treasures was impressive enough, but the stores of East Island exceeded her estimates by double.

However, the truly valuable items had been moved at the beginning of the Hour of Zi, almost entirely.

After all, the most precious things didn’t take up much space.

The rest of the time, they had used several dozen Space Artifacts they had brought with them to transport the granary storage from the palace on East Island.

The ’East Island’ of the Heaven Palace was actually a mountain peak with Jinque Palace floating beside it. From inside the palace, ’East Island’ appeared like an island floating in the sky, hence the name East Island.

There were a thousand granaries here, with the total amount of food reaching tens of millions of stones, piled up like mountains and seas.

Although it was old grain accumulated over the years, it was well-preserved and indistinguishable from newly harvested grain.

Xue Yunrou and the others used space artifacts to fill with grain and then transported it 3,000 li away, near the Jin Dynasty’s border to find a hidden place to store it.

When Master Zhongliu and Shaofu Yu Jie and others arrived, they would be armed and escort the grain, forcibly taking it away.

But even with all their might, by the time dawn came, they had only transported eight million stones of grain, with no chance to carry away more.

"Burn it all!"

Luo Yan, looking at the mountains and seas of grain, released hundreds of fire butterflies without hesitation, and they fluttered towards the granaries, "Li Xuan said if we can’t take it with us, then destroy it all."

"Burn everything?" Yue Qianqian couldn’t help but be shocked. There was a touch of regret in her eyes, "It’s a pity. I’ve heard that there will be a poor harvest in the whole North this year."

Jiang Hanyun also felt some reluctance. Although it was only mid-July, the signs of a poor harvest across the world had already begun to show.

The weather in the North had been abnormal for the past two months. Some places had gone nearly half a year without rain, while others were facing deluges and frequent flooding.

Only Shanxi had fair winds and steady rain, but for some reason, the wheat ears there were noticeably smaller than in previous years.

Though Jiang Hanyun was pampered from childhood and had never experienced hardship, she knew that without enough food for the people, big problems would arise.

As for Luo Yan, she thought that precisely because of the food shortage, everything should be burned. Otherwise, would it be left for Jinque Palace and Prince Yi, Yu Jianshen, to win people’s hearts?

If Yu Jianshen managed to gain the allegiance of the people of Shaanxi, it would lead to endless troubles.

Meanwhile, Dongfang Liang, Xuanchenzi, Luxue, and Master Mu had already started setting fires on all sides.

Aside from Dongfang Liang, who was entitled to a cut, Xuanchenzi, Luxue, and Master Mu also had a collective share in the spoils.

Therefore, the four were exceptionally active in their tasks, and they carried out Li Xuan’s orders without compromise.

"Burn!" Xue Yunrou also flew up into the air, with a gesture of her Mana, causing the ’Red Cloud Phoenix’ behind her to soar into the sky, transforming into a size of a hundred zhang. It circled in the air, scattering countless feathers of fire below.

"There’s plenty of food, Xuan doesn’t need to worry. It’s actually the situation in Shaanxi; if the stalemate there continues, it’s very detrimental to the Yu State, and it will wear down the people, causing big problems."

She was deeply involved with the Shen Nong Institution and knew the root of the world’s food production.

She thought, combined with the eight million stones seized from the Heaven Palace, this year’s food supply was more than abundant.

As for next year, it wasn’t a problem either—

Jiang Hanyun and Yue Qianqian no longer hesitated. The group combined their strength to cast thunderfire techniques, and together with the oil they spread in advance, it took but a brief few breaths for the entire East Island to turn into a towering inferno.

Nevertheless, everyone waited until the food supplies were fully consumed by fire, reaching a point where it was difficult to extinguish, before they boarded the Nine Heavens Ten Earths Pimo Divine Shuttle and fled the scene.

Indeed, after their departure, the numerous Taoist boys and the two remaining Heavenly level cultivators left in the Heaven Palace surged out from the Nine Palaces, attempting to extinguish the flames.

But by then, the entire East Island had turned into a crimson sea of fire, with astonishingly intense heat.

Even the techniques employed by the Heavenly level spell cultivators seemed as trivial as a cup of water against a burning cart in front of this sea of fire.

All they could do was to summon soil and stone at the edges with all their might, hoping to cover the flames and preserve a portion of the food supplies. Yet, within less than a moment later, the core of the fire sea suddenly exploded with a deafening roar.

The impact of the high-temperature blaze caused dozens of the Heaven Palace’s Taoist boys in the vicinity to evaporate into the fire, while the others were blown away by the forceful gales and shock waves. Most of them suffered heavy injuries and were left unconscious.

The two Heavenly-level Guardians who had stayed behind also retreated a thousand zhang, bleeding from their noses and mouths, their faces turning extremely pale.

About half an hour after this incident, Dasiming finally arrived at the Jinque Heaven Palace, delinquently riding the Ziwu Optic Disk.

Gazing in the direction of the still-burning East Island, and at the numerous bodies of the Taoist boys, the wrath within Dasiming’s eyes seemed as if it could ignite heaven and earth.

"What has happened here?"

She directed her question to her eldest Disciple, Wenshifei, who had been recently appointed Lord of the Ziwei Palace, "Why such heavy casualties?"

Wenshifei forced a bitter smile, "That Young Heavenly Master from Tianshi’s mansion is utterly ruthless. Before leaving, he planted five ’Annihilation Cores’ at the center of the fire. We were unprepared, resulting in heavy losses."

Dasiming’s fists clenched tight at once, her voice strained as she asked, "How much supplies do we estimate we’ve lost?"

"Almost entirely stolen, with an estimated value of ninety million patterned silver."

Feeling the intense killing intention emanating from Dasiming, Wenshifei couldn’t help but shudder, "It was Dongfang Liang who showed them the way. The former Lord of the Heavenly Market Palace has been in charge of financial matters in the palace for many years, and Dongfang Liang also once managed the East Island’s storehouse; he knows every method of opening it. It’s been less than a year since he defected from Jinque Heaven Palace, and we’ve had no chance to change the locks."

In truth, it wasn’t that they hadn’t had time to change the locks; it was that no one had imagined someone would dare to attack the Jinque Heaven Palace and rob its storeroom.

Although Dasiming had anticipated such an eventuality, at this moment, she couldn’t help but feel a wave of dizziness, her consciousness blurring.

How many magical instruments could be constructed with ninety million patterned silver? How many experts could be hired? How many armies could be equipped?

"Issue my command; raise the bounty on Dongfang Liang’s head to ten million patterned silver. Anyone in the Heaven Palace who spots him, kill without mercy!"

Dasiming ground out those words between clenched teeth. She then inquired, "How much food supplies do we anticipate rescuing?"

"Less than three million stones," replied Ziwei Palace Lord Wenshifei, looking towards the ravaged East Island, "We have already done our best."

Upon hearing this, Dasiming felt a tightness in her chest and immediately spat out black blood.

She realized that, although she had successfully escaped with the aid of the Changsheng Emperor of the South, the situation she faced was still perilous.

If there weren’t enough food supplies in Shaanxi, if they couldn’t hold Xi’an City, then the fate of this rebellion would be like a runaway horse, completely beyond redemption.

At this moment, Wenshifei looked at the crowd behind Dasiming with eyes filled with shock and horror, "How is the situation in Xiangyang?"

"Can’t you see?"

It was the Lord of Qinglong Palace speaking, and his mood seemed very foul. With his hands behind his back, his eyes were filled with resentment and helplessness, "A total of four Heavenly-level cultivators died in battle, along with three hundred and twenty-five Taoist boys."

Since its foundation, the Jinque Heaven Palace had only experienced such severe casualties when sealing those Extreme Heaven Demon Kings.

He believed that the calamity befalling Jinque Heaven Palace today stemmed from Dasiming’s ruthless killing of her colleagues. Yet, he also felt helpless against Li Xuan’s merciless brutality.

Without another word, Dasiming shot Qinglong Palace Lord a fierce glare before quickly forcing herself to eliminate those distracting thoughts. Determination flashed in her eyes, "Baihu Palace Lord, make a trip to the South for me, and relay this to the Luchuan Tu Division. If he hasn’t acted by August, then he can forget about receiving any further assistance from the Jinque Heaven Palace."

Lord Shi Tianze of Baihu Palace immediately obeyed the command and turned into a streak of light. Although most of the pressure had been borne by Dasiming during their escape and battle, Shi Tianze and the others still had to withstand the severe Sword Qi and infinite forbidden spells within the Zhengfan Xiantian Beidou Stars Array.

However, Shi Tianze realized that now was not the time to rest and heal.

Now that Tuotuobuhua had been captured alive, the Waci people had no remaining strength, and both Prince Ning and the son of Prince Xiang had died in battle.

The only ones left who could divide The Court’s attention were the brothers of the Lu River Xuanweishi, ’Si Renfa’, and ’Si Jifa’.

After Shi Tianze departed, Dasiming handed a golden Jade Talisman to her disciple, Ziwei Palace Lord Wenshifei.

"Go to the North Sea and ask the man sealed in the Jiuqu Yin Wind Cave a question. If he agrees to follow my orders and serve the Jinque Heaven Palace for twenty years, release him."

Wenshifei’s pupils contracted momentarily, and a hint of resistance appeared on his face.

The Qinglong Palace Master also frowned heavily, "What do you mean, Dasiming? That man is a Demon King who once caused chaos in the world and led to millions of deaths and injuries."

"I have my reasons," said Dasiming with a cold, determined look on her face as she clasped her hands behind her back, "I can guarantee with my life that even if he is released, he will no longer be able to cause harm to the world."

She thought back to how Jinque Heaven Palace had been greatly weakened since Shaosiming’s escape. If they didn’t have a powerful cultivator able to stand against Master Zhongliu, they would find it difficult to fend off The Court’s offensive.

And merely freeing this person was not enough; she had to devise another way to hinder the advance of County Prince Fenyang.

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