The gods began by supporting Guo Jing to become emperor

Chapter 366 The Northern War Ends, the Jingyan Palace Opens

Shi Zhixuan smiled nonchalantly, displaying the elegance of a renowned scholar. He had his own calculations behind this. No one knew what was inside the Temple of War God. With so many people coming, they could be used as cannon fodder to scout ahead for them.

Regardless, the biggest beneficiary is still the imperial court, because whether it is a contest of experts or power, the imperial court's strength is beyond doubt. No sect, whether Buddhist, Taoist, or demonic, can compare to the imperial court.

Even if they obtain the opportunity of the War God's Manual, it won't change anything. Even if they get it, they might not be able to hold onto it.

This matter was also presented to Emperor Song Que. Upon seeing Shi Zhixuan's proposal, he smiled and immediately approved it. As the founding monarch, he had a magnanimous heart to embrace all things.

Although the War God Manual is an unparalleled opportunity, so what? There are many divine martial arts manuals in this world. Sun En, Yan Fei, and others did not have the War God Manual, but they were still able to break through the void. I and Shi Zhixuan and others did not have the War God Manual, but we still reached the level of Grandmaster.

In this world of martial arts, it is the person who makes the difference, not the skill. People are different, and even if they practice the same martial art, there will be huge differences. Some people can turn the ordinary into the extraordinary, while others can only follow the steps.

Song Que put down his vermilion brush, walked to the front of the main hall, looked up at the sky, and said, "Three years later, ha!"

……

While Su Ming awaited the birth of Jingyan Palace, the war in the North suddenly broke out.
The fourth year of the Kaiyuan era, the first month.

Li Jing ordered Kou Zhong to lead 5,000 elite cavalry in a surprise attack on the grasslands. At that time, it was snowing heavily in the north. The Turks were not expected that the Wu people would launch a surprise attack at this time, and they were all shocked. The Turkic royal court was burned to the ground.

Uran Khan led his people and fled north.
At the same time, Xu Shiji also led his army from Yunzhong and encountered the Turkic army at Baidao.

Wu Jun fought fiercely and routed the Turks. Wu Ran Khan suffered repeated defeats and heavy losses, so he retreated to Tieshan to gather his remaining troops, leaving him with only tens of thousands of men.

However, shortly after they retreated to Tieshan, Li Jing led 10,000 elite Wu cavalry to the scene, and another great battle ensued. In this battle, DTZ suffered heavy losses, and to make matters worse, Wuran Khan himself was captured alive on the spot.

After being captured, Wuran Khan intended to apologize to the Wu army, requesting that the entire country submit to Wu and guard the northern lands for Wu, and expressed his willingness to send a hostage to the court. In reality, he only wanted to stay on the grasslands to prolong his life, waiting for the grass to grow green and the horses to grow fat, then escape to the north of the desert and make a comeback.

They were the largest force on the grasslands. After defeating them, the various forces on the grasslands scattered and were no longer able to invade the Central Plains.

When the battle report reached Luoyang, the entire court was shaken. No one expected that Li Jing would completely destroy DTZ in just one battle, not only reclaiming the Imperial Seal of the State, but also capturing the Wuran Khan alive and taking hundreds of thousands of cattle and sheep as captives. His achievements were outstanding in the world.

After Li Jing's great victory, Su Ming, who was far away in Jingyan Palace cultivating in seclusion, opened his eyes and his mind sank into his sea of ​​consciousness.

Mirror owner: Su Ming

World: The Legend of the Twin Dragons of the Tang Dynasty
Identity: Grand Preceptor of Wu, Master of Xu Ziling, Jade Daoist, Number One Person Under Heaven

Origin of the World: 993,200

World collapse level: 99.3%.

Number of times spacetime reflections were captured: zero
Number of times: zero
Sensing the change, Su Ming muttered to himself, "It seems that Li Jing has won in the north. Looking at the world, Wu is almost invincible."

The main focus of the Wu Kingdom now is not to wage war, but to recuperate and restore its national strength. Since Yang Guang ascended the throne, the country has been in turmoil, and after the three major campaigns, the land was engulfed in flames of war.

The Song Clan took about five years from its initial military campaign in Lingnan to its eventual conquest of the country, and most of its territory was acquired through sheer force. This is unlike the original novel, where the Li Clan conquered half the country, but Kou Zhong ultimately had to abandon his own efforts to unify the nation.

……

Luoyang, the City of Purple Myrtle.

Inside the Qianyang Palace, Song Que, dressed in a black dragon robe, gazed at the Imperial Seal of the State before him. His usually calm eyes were unusually turbulent. Before him, invisible waves of energy swept in all directions, and a sense of unease arose, causing him to fall out of his state of communion with the heavens.

Since becoming a Grandmaster, Song Que's sword intent and Dao heart have been honed to perfection, and his skills have reached their peak. However, there are still things in this world that can easily shake him.

The source of all the problems was this small Imperial Seal of the State right in front of him.

Song Que concentrated his mind and calmed his spirit, maintaining a clear and focused mind, and re-entered a state of communion with heaven and earth, while the He Shi Bi continued to emit its extraordinary power.

The closer one gets to the He Shi Bi jade, the more one is affected by its radioactive energy fluctuations, and the unease that penetrates to the very soul is enough to make any spiritual practitioner give up.

Despite the extraordinary power of the He Shi Bi, Song Que held it in his hand and examined it closely. At this moment, the influence of the power on him became stronger and stronger, as if the He Shi Bi had a spirit. The stronger he became, the more powerful the invisible power of the He Shi Bi became. Realizing the situation, he couldn't help but laugh, "Good, as expected of the He Shi Bi. Such power can help me hone my primordial spirit and sharpen my sword intent."

"Someone, give the order: State affairs will be temporarily handled by the Ministry of Personnel. I am going into seclusion."

……

Inside the palace, Su Ming received Song Que's letter and, with a hint of doubt in his heart, asked Shi Zhixuan, "Is the He Shi Bi really that powerful?"

Shi Zhixuan nodded and replied, "The He Shi Bi has extremely powerful abilities. It can not only affect the body and true energy of cultivators, but also touch the spirit and mind of Taoist and Buddhist masters. Those with unstable minds are easily trapped in illusions and go astray."

"I once came into contact with it by chance, and its powerful ability almost caused my power to surge and my blood to flow backward."

Su Ming glanced at him without saying a word. At that time, Shi Zhixuan might have been a newly emerged demon cub, cultivating demonic arts. His temperament was inevitably affected, and his mind was unstable. It was only natural that he was influenced by the He Shi Bi. Otherwise, he wouldn't have been driven to a mental breakdown by the people of Cihang Jingzhai later.

If it were Song Que, he would never have done it this way. He could sit in Lingnan for decades, relinquishing power to hone his sword intent. His Dao heart is truly admirable.

However, Jingyan Palace was still some distance from Luoyang, and he didn't want to move. He shook his head and said, "Forget it, I won't go back to Luoyang for now. I'll leave the He Shi Bi there and go there after I've explored the War God Temple."

……

Two years later, the imperial court sent invitations to all the top sects to jointly explore the Temple of the God of War.

At the Louguan Temple on Zhongnan Mountain, the old Taoist Qi Hui gazed at the stars in the sky, his voice filled with complex emotions, "The Temple of War Gods is actually about to be born!"

Such scenes also occurred at Longhu Mountain, Maoshan Sect, and other major Buddhist and Taoist sects. Even Zhu Yuyan of the Yin Kui Sect received an invitation.

Although the imperial court issued an invitation, the major sects still kept the news under wraps, limiting its circulation to a small circle. The War God Temple is related to the War God Record, and no one is not enthusiastic about it. Once it is spread, it will inevitably cause a great uproar, and no one would be that foolish.

Even if some people were trying to take advantage of the chaos, they would realize that since the matter was initiated by the imperial court, they must have already made preparations. It would be impossible for a few martial arts practitioners to achieve their goal.

Time passed quickly, and two years later, figures arrived at Jingyan Palace.

Qi Hui, the Old Celestial Master, and various masters from different sects were all present, numbering in the dozens. Yet these few dozen people represented the most elite fighting force in the martial world. Jingyan Palace was large enough that they each found a place to stay after arriving, living in peace and restraining each other.

But no one expected that Song Que would also come. Not only did he come, but he also brought with him masters such as Kou Zhong, Xu Ziling, and Lu Miaozi. Many of the younger generation of experts from Wu Kingdom also came.

Upon seeing Song Que, everyone present was startled, thinking that the imperial court was about to take action against them, and they quickly bowed, saying, "Greetings, Your Majesty."

Song Que, dressed in casual clothes, exuded an aura of profound power. "Rise. Today, we are not in the imperial court, but only in the martial world. You may all address each other as fellow practitioners." With that, he led his men into the main hall.

Inside the main hall, only Su Ming and Shi Zhixuan were present.

Shi Zhixuan quickly bowed and said, "Greetings, Your Majesty."

"No need for formalities." Song Que waved his hand, his gaze falling on Su Ming, and said with a smile, "Brother Su, it's been a long time. You still look the same."

In the center of the main hall, Su Ming, dressed in a Taoist robe, was as handsome as ever. "Brother Song, how have you been?"

The two looked at each other and smiled simultaneously. Since the Battle of Luoshui, Su Ming had lived a secluded life, detached from worldly affairs. Song Que, having become emperor, was busy with countless affairs of state and naturally had little free time.

The two have met only a handful of times in the past few years, but Su Ming's attitude towards him remains the same as when they first met: neither humble nor arrogant, and detached from worldly affairs.

"Master."

"senior."

After he finished exchanging pleasantries with Song Que, Xu Ziling and Kou Zhong, who were standing nearby, bowed to him.

Su Ming nodded to them, looked them over, and then said nothing more. He turned to Shi Zhixuan and said, "Brother Shi, we can start now."

"it is good."

At the end of the day, the sun was slightly off its zenith and leaning to the west, and the Jingyan Palace stood majestically under the sunlight.

As Shi Zhixuan activated the mechanism, the massive palace began to tremble, the stone bricks on the ground collapsed, and a huge secret passage suddenly appeared. Shi Zhixuan stepped forward and jumped in, with the others following closely behind.

……

The space was pitch black; you couldn't see your hand in front of your face.

The bodies of the people continued to slide and fall, already more than ten zhang away. Everyone present was a master, and they had their own methods of deflecting the force. After slowly falling, they landed on a giant net.

In the darkness, Lu Miaozi lit a candle, the light illuminating all around. The others also took out tinderboxes and other items to light, and in the light, Su Ming was able to see where they were.

They were surrounded by an enormous, terrifying space. They stood on a giant silver net, at least thirty-five zhang (about 35 stories) above the ground.

This giant net is also six or seven zhang above the ground of this space, which means that the space itself is more than a hundred meters high.

No one could have imagined that there was such a vast space beneath the Jingyan Palace.

Looking around, they found themselves in a massive, square-shaped hall.

On the wall to the side was a huge circle, covered with densely carved patterns and designs. Standing in the center of the hall, at least twenty feet away from any of the walls, they could not make out what it said.

The other three walls each have three doors evenly distributed on each side. Each door is deep and heavy, giving one a headache and a feeling of being lost on a forked road.

The net in the center of the hall has a long cable of the same material at each of the four corners, which extends diagonally upwards at a 45-degree angle to connect to the four corners of the hall, giving people a very strange feeling.

Su Ming and the others jumped down from the giant net to the ground. Instead of checking the nine gates, they went to look at the wall that had no gates but was carved with a huge circle.

Illuminated by the firelight, the circle was at least five zhang in diameter, and upon closer inspection, it turned out to be a star map.

In an instant, everyone was immersed in the vast star map.

Su Ming and Song Que were the first to notice the anomaly of the star map. Their martial arts skills were already at the peak of the Grandmaster level, so they naturally discovered the extraordinary nature of this star map.

At their level of martial arts prowess, many things are easily understood and grasped at a glance. Astrology is not difficult for them, but even with their extensive knowledge, they were still astonished by this star chart.

The circular star map was filled with stars, among which a dozen or so were particularly large. Seven of them could be identified as the Sun, Moon, and five planets. The others were completely unfamiliar to them, but Su Ming knew they were the other major planets of the solar system.

These larger stars are marked with lines of varying thickness, showing their trajectories across the sky, forming overlapping circles that are quite beautiful.

Besides the Three Enclosures and Twenty-Eight Mansions familiar to the world, there are countless other constellations on the star map, many of which are not recorded in the classics of this world.

The circular edge of the star map was engraved with different degrees and strange names. Su Ming could clearly find the eighty-eight constellations in the outer sky of later generations on it, but this was not the entirety of the star map.

When Su Ming counted them carefully, he found that they were actually centered around 365 ancient stars, forming a vast and harmonious operational diagram that seemed to encompass everything and was unprecedented.

As someone from a later era, he knew these astronomical facts with ease, but to see such a complete star chart in this ancient underground temple of the God of War was truly astonishing. He wondered how the people who built this place knew about those stars.

In Su Ming's view, these stars moved along a mysterious trajectory, seemingly containing some kind of rule, but he didn't have time to think about it at the moment and could only put it aside for the time being.

After a long while, some candles burned out, and the group awoke in the darkness and continued walking forward.

They continued along a long corridor for more than twenty feet. In the distance, they could faintly hear a rumbling sound. After turning around a few more times, the rumbling sound grew louder and louder, deafening. The secret passage gradually became brighter, a dark red color, and they could see clearly.

Turning left, they saw a red-glowing square in the distance. Su Ming and his companions sensed that the light was not strong, but because they had been in darkness for a long time, even the slightest light felt glaring.

Although the group did not know what fortune or misfortune lay ahead, they were glad that there was a chance to turn things around, rather than being trapped in the dark for too long. They quickly picked up their pace and hurried forward. It turned out that this square was the end of the tunnel, and outside was the bottom of a large waterfall. The rumbling sound came from the rushing waterfall.

From Su Ming's perspective, the waterfall cascaded down, completely cutting off the outside world. The only thing that could penetrate the waterfall was the dazzling red light.

The crimson light dyed the waterfall blood red, and the entire secret passage was also shrouded in blood-red light, making people wonder if there was a netherworld cave outside the waterfall, and that the waterfall came from the underground Yellow Springs that separated humans and ghosts, and that they were no longer in this world.

(End of this chapter)