The Song Dynasty was the king for thirteen years before he knew that he was Tianlong.

Chapter 380 Unusual Change (Seeking Monthly Tickets)

"What? You want to join forces and head to Zhuozhou?" Zhao Ji was stunned for a moment, then shouted loudly.

"This is His Highness the Prince of Yan's order, to leave 10,000 men in Shuozhou, and the rest to join the army in Zhuozhou," Zhang Jie said, holding the letter in his hand and looking at the generals in front of him.

Zhao Ji looked at the generals, and seeing that they remained silent, he immediately became furious: "What does he want to do? Why does he want to unite the armies for no reason? Has he consulted His Majesty?"

“This…” Zhang Jie said, “His Highness the Prince of Yan must be planning to set up a stronghold in Youzhou. The Liao army has gathered a large force in Youzhou, about 300,000 men. Youzhou is a formidable city, and the eastern army is short of troops. It would be better to combine forces to besiege it.”

"Did he ask His Majesty? The two routes, east and west, are to attack Yan and Yun separately, but that was His Majesty's decree at the time. How could he have made such a move on his own?" Zhao Ji said with a grim expression.

“As the Pacification Commissioner of Hedong and Hebei, His Highness Prince Yan has the authority to make decisions independently and can therefore dispatch troops first and then report back,” Zhang Jie said.

“But, but…” Zhao Ji’s face turned ashen: “If we do this, won’t we lose all our military achievements on the western front?”

Zhang Jie looked at Zhao Ji with a puzzled expression: "Your Highness, even if we conquer all seven prefectures in the west, the merit will not be comparable to conquering the next prefecture, Yanjing."

"How can that be the same? If we can take down the seven states behind the mountain, they will all be mine... all thanks to the Western Route Army." Zhao Ji said angrily, "If we combine our forces, even if we take Youzhou, the Prince of Yan will claim all the credit, and it will all be attributed to him."

"Your Highness, why would you think that way?" Zhang Jie shook his head with a wry smile: "The matter of Youzhou is of great importance, and it is not appropriate to speak rashly. If we can really conquer this city, such a great achievement will be recorded in history. How could Your Highness and the generals be left out of the credit?"

“But…” Zhao Ji’s expression shifted, his mind in turmoil. This warrior, the Prince of Yan, must be afraid that others would share the credit, so he ordered the troops to join forces so that he could monopolize the credit. He is truly insatiable. I, I… must not let him succeed.

"But should we just ignore the seven prefectures behind the mountain for now?"

"The Prince of Yan's military order didn't mention the seven prefectures behind the mountain. Perhaps he has other plans. What do you mean, Your Highness?" Zhang Jie looked at Zhao Ji thoughtfully.

"What I mean is, we finally managed to capture Shuozhou, wouldn't it be a waste to give up now?" Zhao Ji said angrily.

"This..." Zhang Jie asked, "Does Your Highness wish to stay and protect Shuozhou?"

"Leaving them behind isn't necessarily a bad thing. We still have ten percent of our troops. Who knows, with my sword pointing the way, we might just reclaim the other six provinces in one fell swoop!" Zhao Ji snorted.

Zhang Jie shook his head and stroked his beard: "Your Highness's idea is excellent, but the Prince of Yan's military order specifically mentions that Your Highness must not stay in Shuozhou, but lead the monks of Shenxiao Dao to Zhuozhou to receive orders."

"What?!" Zhao Ji's eyes widened upon hearing this: "He even gave me orders in the letter? Let me see!"

He stepped forward and snatched the order from Zhang Jie's hand. He looked at it from head to toe, his face turning from pale to black. Finally, he slammed his hand on the table and said, "This is outrageous! This is simply outrageous! They are afraid that I will make great achievements here and surpass them, so they are suppressing me at every turn. I am so angry! I am so angry!"

“Your Highness, be careful with your words, be careful with your words…” Zhang Jie’s face twitched, and he hurriedly said, “The Prince of Yan said in his letter that Your Highness is proficient in magic and that the sorcerers of Shenxiao Dao are skilled in special methods. Summoning them would be of great use, and once we leave Youzhou, they will surely remember the greatest merit.”

"I don't believe he's so kind. I'll stay anyway and see what he can do..." Zhao Ji gritted his teeth.

“Your Highness, this is a military order.” Zhang Jie shook his head again: “Military orders cannot be disobeyed, and besides, the Prince of Yan must have also sent a memorial to the capital, informing His Majesty of this matter…”

"Hmph!" Zhao Ji glanced at Zhang Jie, then abruptly flicked his sleeve, turned around angrily, and slammed the door shut as he left.

Zhang Jie wiped his forehead, gave an embarrassed smile, and looked at the generals: "Let's continue the discussion, let's continue the discussion..."

Inside Xingzhou City, in a formerly abandoned mansion, the Lingjiu Palace members looked around in bewilderment. Tonglao looked at Lan Jian and asked in confusion, "Where did you get such a spacious place?"

Lan Jian smiled and said, "Before the young master left, he gave various instructions, including how to take care of Grandma if she came."

Granny Tong frowned and said, "Did he predict that I would come looking for him?"

Lan Jian shook his head: "Young Master is being prepared for any eventuality, only striving for absolute certainty."

"He's certainly thought things through." Granny Tong glanced at the soldiers with swords on either side of Lan Jian: "Who exactly is he? Why are there soldiers following you around?"

Lan Jian asked, puzzled, "Doesn't Grandma know?"

Granny Tong said, "I only knew that he was an official and possibly a member of the Song royal family, but I didn't know anything more."

Lan Jian blinked and mumbled, "Young Master is indeed a member of the imperial family and is currently in charge of some affairs in Xingzhou, so I have soldiers protecting me."

The old woman asked, "Where has he gone now?"

Lan Jian said, "Since the Song and Liao dynasties have started a war, they have gone to Yanyun. However, Grandma can rest assured that no one will come to cause trouble. Those people from Kunlun will not dare to come to Xingzhou City to cause trouble."

The old woman pondered and said, "Those people all possess magic, especially the leader, Murong Fu, whose magical power is so great that ordinary martial arts are difficult to deal with him."

"It's alright," Lan Jian laughed. "Even the strongest can't withstand an army's encirclement and attack. Besides, there are people in the government who are skilled in magic. Grandma, don't worry."

"That's good then." Granny Tong nodded. "No matter what, we shouldn't cause him too much trouble, otherwise he won't stay here."

"Grandma is overthinking it. Grandma and all the sisters from the Nine Heavens and Nine Departments should rest. If you need anything, you can come to my home in the north of the city to find me," Lan Jian said.

"Oh, right..." Granny Tong suddenly said, "He only told you to carry your sword all day, but didn't he take you into his room?"

Upon hearing this, Lan Jian blushed and said, "Grandma, you..."

The old woman's face showed a slight embarrassment, and she waved her hand, "Never mind, it's none of your business anymore."

Lan Jian hurriedly said, "Then Grandma and all the sisters, please get ready first. I'll arrange for some food and drinks to be delivered over tonight to welcome you all."

"Go on..." Tong Lao nodded, watched Lan Jian leave, and began to direct everyone to clean the courtyard.

After a while, the tidying up was almost complete, and the three Mei sisters and the leaders of the nine departments gathered around to discuss the allocation of accommodations.

The Lingjiu Palace had several hundred people, but the residence was also quite large. It was the residence of a prince of Western Xia at the time, and he had this many maids and servants on a regular basis, so accommodating so many people was not a problem.

Granny Yu said, "I originally thought that after arriving in Xingzhou and meeting the sect leader, the sect leader would arrange for us to live separately. I didn't expect there to be such a large place where we can live together. It's really great."

Fu Minyi said, "It's a pity the sect leader isn't here, otherwise I could have paid him a visit. I wonder when the sect leader will return."

Mei Jian said, "Let's ask Lan'er for details when she comes over tonight, or we can have her write a letter to the sect leader to let him know we've arrived."

The old woman, displeased, blinked and said, "Why bother writing a letter? He'll be smug when he hears of our arrival, thinking he's all-knowing and all-knowing." Hearing this, everyone exchanged glances, then lowered their heads and smiled without saying a word.

Seeing this, the old woman became annoyed and said, "You must remember that when you're under someone's roof, you have to bow your head. Don't think that he really cares about us. Isn't he just showing off his magnanimity and shrewdness?"

Mei Jian quickly changed the subject, saying, "Grandma is right. Everything is ready now. Please assign accommodations, Grandma."

The old woman remained silent for a moment, her face flushed pink, her long eyelashes trembling slightly. She glanced at her and said, "You two can discuss it. I'm a little tired, I'll rest for a while." After saying that, she turned and walked into a hall behind her.

Everyone agreed and began to discuss it animatedly.

Hearing the discussions behind her, the old woman's expression was complicated. She bit her lip and went into the room.

Tokyo, Imperial City, Funing Palace.

Inside the secret chamber, Zhao Xu was enveloped in a shimmering white light, rings of which, like Buddhist light, were spreading outwards and upwards.

The higher the light went, the greater the gap between each circle became, and the color gradually dimmed. However, if one looked up from within the palace, it was still faintly discernible.

It has thirty-two floors and is suspended in the air like a white rainbow. It looks amazing and almost makes people think that a miracle has occurred.

The outer edge of the thirty-second floor barely touches the white clouds, while inside, mist flows and light is hidden, causing birds to hesitate and eagles to circle around.

Just then, a faint light began to emerge from outside the thirty-second floor, slowly rising upwards, seemingly forming a halo around the thirty-third floor.

If all thirty-third layers of light were to appear, one would surely have entered the clouds, stood amidst the fierce winds, and be able to gaze into the distance.

However, the thirty-third layer of light was less than halfway formed. Just as it touched the white clouds, it suddenly shook in the air and then collapsed in just a few breaths.

The collapse of the 33rd floor directly affected the 32nd floor, which also began to shake. Then the 32nd floor collapsed, and the 31st floor also started to shake. This continued, with each floor collapsing until the very last one.

The white rainbow disappeared in a short time, as if it had never existed, just an illusion, a dream.

Inside the secret chamber, Zhao Xu's face suddenly turned paler than the clouds in the sky. He opened his mouth and spat out a mouthful of blood, then closed his eyes tightly.

After a long while, he finally moved, then sighed softly and muttered to himself, "That's all there is to it. If one day what the founding emperor said comes true, I can only do what I can."

He said this as he got up and left the palace, then walked out of the secret room and came to the outside.

Tan Zhen came over from the side and said, "Your Majesty..."

Zhao Xu nodded and said, "Let's go sit with Consort Liu."

Tan Zhen said, "It is Your Majesty. This humble servant will lead the way for Your Majesty..."

Southeast, Liangzhe Road, on the coast of the East China Sea.

Standing on the seashore, looking into the distance, one can only see the surging waves of the sea, rising and falling like clouds, a truly terrifying sight.

Since the southwestern Kunlun Mountains faced the Buddhist kingdom, a palace descended from the sky to suppress it, a broken sword cleaved Shambhala, and the snow-capped mountains collapsed, completely changing the world, the scenery in the sea has also undergone various changes.

As the world changed dramatically, some islands sank and disappeared, especially the four large islands in the distant East China Sea, as well as some scattered small islands in the surrounding area. All of them were destroyed, and the lives lost were tragic and unbearable.

The surrounding seas, spanning thousands of miles, became completely empty. Due to the revival of spiritual energy, many fish, shrimp, crabs, and shellfish underwent mutations, and many new marine creatures emerged.

Many of these newborn sea creatures have terrifying and bizarre appearances, with many having huge heads, bodies that look like piles of rotten flesh, and long tentacles, making them look like legendary sea monsters.

These monstrous sea creatures would occasionally come to shallow waters to stir up storms, capsize fishing boats, cause tsunamis, and flood coastal fishing villages, but they would not come ashore, clearly not adapted to living in waterless places.

The seaside became a restricted area, and the Song government posted notices and sent people everywhere to persuade and order fishermen to move away from the seaside and seek a living inland.

At this moment, the wind and waves in the sea grew larger and larger, looking as if the world was about to be destroyed and the seawater was about to overflow.

Meanwhile, on the sea surface about a thousand miles away, a terrifying sight appeared: several round tentacles, each as thick as a house, were tumbling up and down in the water.

One side of each tentacle is covered with countless suckers the size of windows. With each suck and release, they create powerful hurricane-like waves that reach as far as the coast thousands of miles away.

This enormous sea monster, half-submerged in the seawater, was slowly swimming northward, and wherever it went, the waves of the sea followed.

But less than an hour after it started swimming, when it reached another part of the sea, its body suddenly trembled violently and it began to struggle desperately.

It seemed as if something beneath the sea was dragging it down. Its enormous tentacles rose to the surface, creating raging waves, but they could not stop the powerful pull from beneath the sea.

In just a few breaths, its body had completely sunk into the sea, falling into the deep, dark, and enormous trench.

In the dim light, one could see two translucent, whisker-like structures wrapped around its massive body, rendering it utterly powerless and unable to resist any longer...

The vast grasslands, the shamanistic church, fifty miles northwest.

This place is nestled between two mountains, and was originally rich in water and grass, with beautiful scenery, making it a frequent destination for herders.

However, this place had been sealed off by shamanism for nearly a year. A huge altar stood between the two mountains, and hundreds of believers dressed in colorful clothes, chanting incantations and swaying their bodies on the altar, performing some kind of ritual.

As dusk fell, the bright moon hung high, and the stars filled the sky, but the ritual was not yet over. The shamans lit candles and bonfires, illuminating the sky with a red glow, and continued to pray and perform the ceremony.

As midnight approached, a tremendous commotion suddenly came from the nearby mountains. Trees fell, rocks rolled down, and thunder seemed to rumble.

Instead of stopping, the shamans on the altar raised their voices, increased their speaking speed, and swayed their bodies more vigorously.

The sounds from the mountains continued to grow louder, and then, as if a giant beast were turning over, the mountain began to tremble uncontrollably. Finally, with a loud rumble, the mountain peak collapsed in all directions.

Then a series of rough sounds, like countless overlapping echoes, came from inside the mountain: "Who, who is calling me?"

(End of this chapter)