Ming Dynasty: Gain one supernatural power every day

After Xinfu County surrendered, the army rested for less than an hour before setting off again.

While Zhang Fu was organizing his troops, he also sent men to scout ahead towards Baihejiang.

Baihe River was the agreed meeting place between Zhu Di and Mu Sheng. The eastern land force would advance from the north bank of Baihe River, while Mu Sheng's western detachment would set off from Mengzi, Yunnan, and head south along the upper reaches of the Red River valley. The two armies were supposed to join forces at the riverbank.

Judging by the dates, Mu Sheng should have arrived by now and is waiting to join forces.

Zhu Gaoxi was too lazy to continue the slow march. The terrain of Baihe River was mainly plains, flat as a pancake, with no jungles or mountain passes that Zhu Bajie needed to clear.

So he simply opened a portal. He raised his hand and waved it on the flat ground by the river. The Divine Craftsmanship and the Teleportation Technique were activated at the same time, and a magnificent golden gate once again rose out of thin air.

The moment that door appeared, it terrified the sentries in the Western Route Army camp on the opposite bank.

In the camp on Baihejiang West Road, several sentries were yawning and sunbathing on the watchtower when they suddenly saw a flash of golden light on the flat ground on the opposite bank, and a large gate appeared out of nowhere.

A sentry rubbed his eyes: "Did I eat something bad for lunch? Why is there suddenly a door over there?"

The person next to him rubbed their eyes, glanced at it again, and their face turned deathly pale: "That seems...it seems real. There really is a door! And it's golden!"

"Don't rush, let me take another look!" The younger sentries examined it carefully and realized it really was a large gate. Their lips trembled as they stammered, "B-B-Commander...Quickly, go and call the Commander!"

The bugle call suddenly rang out, one after another, short and urgent.

The Western Route Army camp was in complete chaos, as if a hornet's nest had been stirred up. Soldiers rushed out of their tents, weapons in hand, their faces filled with terror. The entire camp was in utter disarray.

Mu Sheng was examining a map with several adjutants in the central command tent when he heard the bugle call. He abruptly stood up, his face darkening. "What's the panic! What happened?"

"General! Across the river...across the river there's suddenly a golden gate! It's a huge gate!" A soldier tumbled in, barely able to speak.

Mu Sheng frowned, grabbed his sword, and headed outside. He climbed the watchtower and looked in the direction his personal guard was pointing. Sure enough, on the flat ground on the north bank of the Baihe River, a magnificent golden gate gleamed in the sunlight.

That gate was even taller than the main gate of their camp, with several golden dragons coiled on top and jewels inlaid on the lintel; it didn't look like something that should exist in the human world.

Just as he was wondering what was going on, the door slowly opened.

Several figures emerged from the white light.

The first figure rode a fierce tiger with piercing eyes and a white forehead, its four hooves treading on clouds, a long sword at its waist. The tiger's body was snow-white, and the clouds surged around it. Even before the man approached, his imposing aura, though not angry, already pressed down on the river.

Mu Sheng's breath caught in his throat. Wasn't that Zhu Di?

But why does Zhu Di look so much younger than when I last saw him?

Behind him followed a burly man, also riding a tiger, with a full beard and wearing black iron chainmail; this was none other than Zhu Gaoxu, the Prince of Han.

As soon as Zhu Gaoxu came out, he looked around and muttered something under his breath.

Further on was a large cloud chair, on which lay a young man dressed in casual clothes, looking languid. Beside him was a golden-armored general riding a lion and carrying a rake.

From Kinmen, a pride of lions, rhinoceroses, and war elephants filed out, their hooves shaking the river.

"That's... His Majesty?" Mu Sheng's eyes widened in disbelief.

"It's His Majesty! And His Highness the Prince of Han! How... how did they come out of a door?" The adjutant next to him had his mouth agape, wide enough to fit a fist.

"What are those? Tigers? Lions? Rhinos? And elephants!" Another guerrilla general's voice changed.

"Are we still asleep?! How... how could this be?" Even a staff member who had read a few miscellaneous books was trembling as he spoke.

The Western Route Army camp was in an uproar.

The soldiers whispered amongst themselves.

"My goodness! This isn't an army, it's heavenly soldiers descended to earth!"

"Look at that tiger! And that lion! They're really scary!"

"And elephants! So many elephants! Where did they come from?!"

"Stop talking, stop talking! That's His Majesty! His Majesty is coming!"

Mu Sheng, being a veteran, suppressed his shock and led several lieutenants to jog forward to meet them.

He walked up to Zhu Dihu, knelt on one knee, and his voice trembled with excitement: "Your subject Mu Sheng welcomes Your Majesty! I was unaware of Your Majesty's arrival and have failed to greet you properly; I deserve to die!"

Zhu Di dismounted from the tiger's back and gestured for him to rise: "Get up. What crime has the army committed in joining forces? It's just that the way we joined forces was a bit unusual!"

After he finished speaking, he glanced back at Zhu Gaoxi, who had already risen from his cloud chair, and said to Mu Sheng, "Mu Sheng, this is my fourth son, Prince Rui, Zhu Gaoxi. These are all his masterpieces. I suppose you don't know this yet! Let the second son... let Qiu Fu tell you about them later..."

Mu Sheng looked up at the young man who had gotten up from the cloud chair and was walking over.

Zhu Gaoxi was not wearing armor, only a plain robe with a python pattern. He had handsome features and a calm expression.

"Your subject Mu Sheng greets Your Highness Prince Han and Your Highness Prince Rui!" After he finished speaking, everyone went to the main camp to gather and discuss matters.

On the way, Qiu Fu sidled up to Mu Sheng and chuckled, "Old Mu, isn't our army impressive?"

"That's so impressive!" Mu Sheng exclaimed sincerely.

"Would you like this lion mount?"

"We want it! Old Qiu, where did you get this lion?"

Qiu Fu chuckled, cleared his throat, and began to tell Mu Sheng about the origins of Prince Rui.

He recounted what he had heard before, starting with how Prince Rui was a disciple of the Daoist Ancestor and how he saved Empress Xu, and then went on to talk about the Investiture of the Gods plan.

However, because there was so much information, he spoke in fits and starts, remembering one thing at a time.

Even so, Mu Sheng was still stunned by what he heard.

"What?! His Highness Prince Rui is a disciple of the Dao Ancestor???"

"What? His Highness Prince Rui has a dragon, but he's not riding it???"

"What?! His Highness Prince Rui is the reincarnation of Yama, the King of Hell?!"

"What?! His Highness Prince Rui can... can... can be deified???"

"Is there anything else?"

"I can't remember right now. Anyway, there are still many things, I'll tell you about them later."

Mu Sheng had been in Yunnan, which was too far from the capital, so news traveled slowly. Therefore, he hadn't heard any news about the protagonist when he went to war.

Therefore, every time he heard one of these, he felt his entire worldview was refreshed.

First he was a disciple of the Taoist patriarch, then a deity, and even managed to be granted godhood. He also invited Marshal Tianpeng from heaven to descend to earth to help him.

His mouth was agape, unable to close for a long time, his mind buzzing as if someone had hit him several times with a gong.

Qiu Fu felt incredibly satisfied seeing Mu Sheng's expression.

Along the way, he had only heard others tell him these things: teleportation portals, ferocious beast mounts, ice, fire, and thunder gourds, the God-Sealing Plan—each one of them left him stunned.

Now it was finally his turn to tell his old buddy these things. Looking at Mu Sheng's eyes widening, Qiu Fu felt incredibly comfortable, even better than if he had drunk a whole jar of fine wine.

"Old Mu, how's it going?" Qiu Fu nudged Mu Sheng with his elbow.

"Old Qiu, I... I never thought I would see such a scene with my own eyes and hear such news with my own ears in my lifetime," Mu Sheng murmured.

"This is nothing." Qiu Fu lowered his voice, looking mysterious, and pulled a jade pendant from his crotch: "There's something even more ruthless. You'll see for yourself later. His Highness has many gourd-shaped magical treasures. Those gourds can release thunder, fire, and ice, and can even trap people inside to refine them into elixirs. They're incredibly ruthless..."

Mu Sheng opened his mouth, and after a long while, he managed to squeeze out three words: "A gourd-shaped magic weapon?? An elixir?"

"Yes, the elixir, the taste, tsk tsk tsk, I can't even imagine..." Qiu Fu patted his shoulder, "Old Mu, you're lucky, you caught this wave."