Heavenly Dao Engine
Chapter 597 - 597 0394 Surrendering at the First Sign of

Chapter 597: Chapter 0394: Surrendering at the First Sign of Danger_2 Chapter 597: Chapter 0394: Surrendering at the First Sign of Danger_2 Qi Tian asked about the situation of the woman in the black robe, learning many things from her. For example, she was named Gao Jinmei, and like Qi Tian, she was not a native of Great Zhao, nor born and raised in Wanjie City. Her hometown was beyond Wanjie City, and after a fortunate turn of events, she came to Wanjie City. Afterwards, she cultivated for a long time and finally formed her Gold Core with great difficulty.

The reason Gao Jinmei appeared in Marquis Ma Mansion was that she had no foundation in Wanjie City. In order to earn cultivation resources, she had to find a way. Her choice was to join an assassin organization in Wanjie City called Wanxue Tower. Through accepting various assassination tasks, she could earn cultivation resources. This time, Sun Xingbiao found her through Wanxue Tower. She could individually receive 20,000 middle-grade spirit stones, while Wanxue Tower could receive 30,000 middle-grade spirit stones. The price was quite astonishing.

Qi Tian asked Gao Jinmei for some information. From her accounts, Qi Tian learned that the Gold Core powerhouses he had killed, such as Meng Fandong and the fake Mansion Master, were all assassins from Wanxue Tower.

There were several assassin organizations within Wanjie City, and among them, Wanxue Tower was loosely managed with relatively low skill assassins, but the rates were low, so many foreign cultivators would choose Wanxue Tower to save money.

Gao Jinmei was now Qi Tian’s slave. She wouldn’t deceive or lie to him, so her words were indeed highly credible.

Hearing the secrets she shared, Qi Tian sneered repeatedly. He had always suspected that Meng Fandong, the fake Mansion Master, and other Gold Core powerhouses were hired by the Crown Prince, Chen Wenbo, and others. But lacking evidence, he kept the matter to himself. Now, with Gao Jinmei as a witness, he could act without so much caution.

Qi Tian walked to Marquis Ma and kicked his ass.

Having just finished vomiting, Marquis Ma was catching his breath as he sat on the ground. When Qi Tian kicked him, he immediately knelt in front of Qi Tian like a frightened rabbit. “Immortal Master, don’t kill me, I’ll cooperate with whatever you want me to do!”

Qi Tian took out the decree, had Marquis Ma sign it, then said: “Marquis Ma, do you know why I didn’t kill you? Because you have been a soldier and fought in wars, served as a general. Afterwards, for some reason, the court stripped you of your military power and made you Marquis Ma to spend your twilight years. But there’s no denying you know how to lead a war. Now I want you to spend all your wealth, enlist soldiers and buy horses, contact your old subordinates, and prepare to rebel.”

Marquis Ma had a bitter taste in his mouth, but what else could he do under these circumstances? He was just a mortal man. If the mighty Gao Jinmei dreaded death and became Qi Tian’s slave, how would he resist Qi Tian?

“Alright, Immortal Master, as you wish, I’ll enlist soldiers and buy horses immediately,” Marquis Ma expressed.

At this time, Deng Chuanliang came over, and said to Qi Tian: “Master, I’ve just thought about it. When we chased Gao Jinmei, she sought help from Sun Xingbiao. We could ambush him now, right?”

Qi Tian thought for a moment and said: “So much time has passed, there might be a possibility, but I think the chances are not that great. However, if you want to go, you can try. If you can kill Sun Xingbiao, I will reduce your servitude by another twenty years.”

Deng Chuanliang was overjoyed and turned to leave. However, to his dismay, he did not see Sun Xingbiao at all. At first, he thought it was because he was late as Qi Tian predicted, but he later found out that Sun Xingbiao never came. When Sun Xingbiao received the distress letter from Gao Jinmei, he burned it immediately.

What a joke? Gao Jinmei is a Gold Core Third Level cultivator, and even she asked for his help against Qi Tian. Now, if he, being only at the Gold Core First Level, were to step forward, wouldn’t he be like a sacrificial lamb to Qi Tian? Only a fool would come to Gao Jinmei’s aid at this point. At this moment, all the sweet words he had once told Gao Jinmei were thrown out of his mind.

Marquis Ma immediately sprang into action, formally raising the banner to fight against the Crown Prince. He started recruiting and buying horses publicly, and the surrounding princes and nobles responded one after another. They all signed on the manifesto against the Crown Prince. It’s impossible to pretend to be an outsider at this point. Otherwise, no matter if Qi Tian or the Crown Prince wins in the future, they won’t end well. Only by closely following Qi Tian’s steps could they fight for a glimmer of hope for the future.

Having ruled over various regions for many years, the legitimate rule of Great Zhao had already taken deep root in people’s minds. So, theoretically, it should be hard for Marquis Ma to recruit forces when he’s being an outlaw. However, Marquis Ma declared that his rebellion was only against the Crown Prince, not against Great Zhao. Additionally, with wealth comes risks. If this battle succeeds, the rewards could be immense. Not to mention the future, even in the present, the conditions offered by Marquis Ma for recruitment were much more generous than those of the regular army.

Thus, in just a month, more than half a million soldiers were recruited by the numerous princes and nobles under Marquis Ma. Equipped with various military weapons, they set off for the capital city in a grand manner.

Qi Tian led his own staff from the County Master Mansion. He didn’t transfer any personnel from the Imperial Master Mansion. He led only those who belonged to him into the army. Unlike in the past, he no longer broke into the houses of princes and nobles to force them to sign the manifesto. By this point, such means were no longer of much use, and he didn’t need them anymore.

The action raised by Qi Tian caused a sensation throughout the Great Zhao. The entire Great Zhao was shaken. The Crown Prince and the court issued an edict to all officials loyal to the court to lead their troops to bolster the capital. At the same time, they ordered the cities and checkpoints along Marquis Ma’s path to be on full alert.

In the beginning, some generals at the checkpoints and cities would follow the court’s orders, closing their gates tightly. In the past, this method was very effective, like in the border wars between Great Zhao and the Chi Di, which would often last for a long time even with the involvement of cultivators. Nowadays, many weapons that threaten cultivators have been developed by conventional armies. Relying on these weapons, it’s not impossible to stop Qi Tian and his army.

But when it actually came to that, Qi Tian would let Xu Jifa, Wang Xiuwu, and Lu Jingfei, all at the Pseudo Core Realm, take turns in combat. Backed by a combat power comparable to the Gold Core Stage, and equipped with various tools given by Qi Tian, they cut into the stubborn checkpoints and cities like cutting into unpopulated territories, effortlessly decapitating the leaders in no time.

With the leader dead, the checkpoint or city was basically conquered. If there were still some who failed to recognize the situation and insisted on resisting, Qi Tian wouldn’t mind letting Xu Jifa and the others show them what killing was like – as simple as killing ants.

The attitude of Xu Jifa and the others toward ordinary people was indeed like treating ants. Although they couldn’t be called land immortals yet, many of their techniques were extremely terrifying.

Finally, those obstacles, the checkpoints, and cities recognized the situation. When Marquis Ma commanded the army to approach the capital, they all opened their borders and city gates, allowing Qi Tian’s troops to pass through.

The advance of the 500,000-strong army was swift. Sometimes, two or three cities could be captured in a day, not to mention the surrounding villages which surrendered at the mere sight of them, with no one daring to resist Qi Tian’s side.

The progress of the army was going smoothly, and Qi Tian was quite satisfied with this pace. He spent his days cultivating in a carriage, while the black-robed woman Gao Jinmei and Deng Chuanliang took turns to protect him, ensuring his safety.

Thus, the army advanced steadily for thousands of miles. Going at this speed, it would only take a few more days to reach the Capital City.