Ming Dynasty: pacifying the rebellion and defending the border, dominating the world

Chapter 117: Replace the Moon with a Light Bulb

Jiayuguan, Tiance Palace.

It was late, but Zhu Jinzhen's study was still brightly lit with candles.

He stood by the window and looked at the bright moon in the sky. He recalled the conversation with Zhu Houzhao before. He noticed that the bright moon hanging high in the sky suddenly flew away to the south, like a falling star. His eyes could not help but stare at the bright moon.

"Today's people cannot see the ancient moon, but today's moon once illuminated the ancients."

"I think it should be like this throughout history."

"I didn't expect that..."

Zhu Jinzhen sighed, a solemn look appearing between his brows.

He never dreamed that he would see the eternal wonders that only existed in history books.

A silent sense of terror harassed my heart.

He couldn't even maintain the joy of obtaining the spiritual mirror, a divine artifact that could monitor everything in the world.

"Your Highness, are you thinking about Yue Shi?" Li Chengen asked respectfully.

"Ah."

Zhu Jinzhen did not deny that anyone who watched the moon suddenly shift to the south without any warning, almost rushing into the boundless starry sky, and finally returning to its original position for unknown reasons would definitely not be much better off than him.

"The moon suddenly lost its course and headed south, then returned to its original course a short while later."

“This is weird.”

"What's even more strange is that I can clearly feel that the full moon above our heads is different from before." Zhu Jinzhen stared at the bright moon. Although he had been looking at it for more than twenty years, it seemed like he was seeing it for the first time.

As a celestial being on land who entered the Tao through sword, Zhu Jinzhen believed that his perception would not be wrong.

It's like meeting for the first time.

Ridiculous sense.

Also, extremely terrifying.

Li Chengen and everyone else's hearts skipped a beat when they heard Zhu Jinzhen's words.

Qin Yiyan, the deputy commander of Tian Ce, smiled bitterly and said, "So, Your Highness, you also feel this way? I thought I had just gained powerful strength and was hallucinating."

Upon hearing this, Zhu Jinzhen turned around and looked at them.

Including Li Chengen, all the high-ranking generals of Tiance and Cangyun who had synchronized power with Yin Zhong and were comparable to the powers of the gods, except for those who were leading troops outside, showed the same expression.

"Obviously, that wasn't an illusion."

"The moon is really different."

The moment Zhu Jinzhen finished speaking, the entire study fell into dead silence. Apart from the lights swaying in the night wind, the only sounds were the heavy breathing of high-ranking generals such as Tian Ce and Cang Yun.

The only slight consolation was that, although the moon seemed different, nothing earth-shattering had occurred and it was still as calm as usual.

It was as if the moon had suddenly lost its way and moved south, and then returned to its original position. It was just a different phenomenon in the sky and earth.

Zhu Jinzhen looked up at the sky and for the first time felt that the sky was vast and the laws of nature were mysterious. He even had an absurd thought that he was being manipulated by an invisible thug.

The sky changes, the earth changes, and the moon becomes new.

What exactly that meant, he had no idea.

But Zhu Jinzhen was clear about one thing: if there really was someone or some existence that could replace the moon silently, such power would be something that a mere celestial being like him could not withstand.

Zhu Jinzhen was extremely cautious, and at the same time, a thought emerged in his mind that made him laugh and cry, but also brightened his eyes: "Well, unless the other party is from the immortal way?"

One sword can make the immortal kneel down, which is an invincible sword technique for special attacks against immortals.

Zhu Jinzhen had tried it several times before.

When Yin Zhong attacked, he formed a sword with his fingers and tried using the Immortal Kneeling Sword technique to subdue Yin Zhong, but the effect was not ideal. Afterwards, Zhu Jinzhen reflected that perhaps it was because Yin Zhong's goal was to cultivate to godhood, and the Tong clan's system was not purely martial arts, so they were not considered terrestrial immortals. He then tested it with Tian Ce and Cang Yun generals, and found that the Immortal Kneeling Sword technique was surprisingly effective against all "opponents" at the terrestrial immortal level, and they were simply unable to resist.

Previously, Zhu Jinzhen had used this technique on Tong Chi in Shuiyue Cave.

The result is the same, there is no rule-level suppression.

If the mastermind behind the moon in the sky was related to immortals, Zhu Jinzhen felt that he would really laugh out loud.

But the most feared thing is that the enemy is not a powerful person in the immortal system.

"The background of gods and demons, Tong Chi clearly stated that there is a world with the legendary emperor. However, the upper realm that the First Emperor attacked was not the world with the background of Chinese mythology such as the Nine Heavens Mysterious Woman, Nuwa, and the Barefoot Immortal."

"Now such absurd things have emerged again. It is really a troubled time!"

Zhu Jinzhen couldn't help but sigh. He clearly wanted to play the game of hegemony peacefully, and live a life where he could hold the power of the world while lying on the lap of a beautiful woman. Why did it feel like such a peaceful life was getting further and further away from him?
Especially this world of comprehensive martial arts, which made Zhu Jinzhen increasingly confused.

"Your Highness, with your strength..."

"Impossible." Zhu Jinzhen directly interrupted the question Qin Yiyan wanted to ask, and replied in a deep voice: "The celestial beings on land are only human. I can cut through thousands of mountains and split the sea, but in the end, I am only invincible in this world. The moon is a thing in the sky, and it is difficult for my sword to reach it."

His ethereal swordsmanship coupled with his understanding of the rules of kendo.

If you want, it's no big deal to break through the air with a sword.

But the distance between the earth and the moon is more than just tens of thousands of miles.

"The First Emperor attacked the heavens and the world above."

"Now with such a dramatic change in the world, time is of the essence!"

Zhu Jinzhen sighed with deep emotion, then suddenly turned around and addressed the Tian Ce and Cang Yun generals: "From now on, all Tian Ce soldiers below the level of land immortals will cease their martial arts training."

"I must mobilize an army from the Land of Immortals in the shortest possible time to prevent the Moon from disappearing."

"Yes!"

Li Chengen, Zhu Jianqiu, Qin Yiyan, Cangyun's Xue Zhi, Yan Yimei, Song Senxue and others replied in unison.

"Yimei."

"The end will be here."

Yan Yimei bowed.

"Wang Yuyan's training will be accelerated. She doesn't need to resemble the Xixia princess, she just needs to be obedient." Zhu Jinzhen said, his eyes gleaming with brilliance. "I want to conquer Xixia in the shortest possible time."

In the past, he was cautious, worried that an immortal would pop up here or there, or that some terrifying gods and demons would appear one day.

But from Tong Chi, Zhu Jinzhen had already understood the superficial situation of this world.

The Qin Empire launched an all-out war against the Heavenly Kingdom, taking away almost all the powerful men at that time, both in the open and in secret. All schools of thought were almost wiped out after the war, and even Duke Chu Nan passed away in Mount Li not long after his return.

After the Chu-Han Contention, the only survivor was Zhang Liang, who disappeared into the mortal world and his whereabouts are unknown.

The others basically either died or disappeared during the Han Dynasty for some reason and no trace of them remained.

In this case, there is not much for him to fear.

Besides, there's no point in being afraid.

Zhu Jinzhen looked up at the moon in the sky helplessly.

The world is already so unsafe that even the moon can be used as a light bulb. Why should he be so cautious?

"The last general takes orders."

Yan Yimei bowed and accepted the order. It would take some time to train Wang Yuyan, but it would be much easier if she just wanted an obedient puppet.

(End of this chapter)