Taiyi Dao Fruit-Chapter 1094 - 322: Now It’s Your Turn to Step Into the Trap, Great Venerable
After discussions between the main commander Kaiyang and the strategist Shen Hou, they devised a brilliant plan to temporarily avoid the edge, the army changed direction, and avoided the court's soldiers.
Under their unprecedented plan, the court's one hundred thousand Heavenly Soldiers advanced with unstoppable momentum, capturing twenty cities in a few days. Wherever they passed, regardless of what the local officials thought, they were directly suppressed by Dao Fruit, taken easily without any room for resistance.
The top-down suppression of the Great Zhou was vividly demonstrated in this battle. Local officials facing members of the royal clan had no power to fight back.
If it weren't so, the Heavenly Monarch wouldn't have placed so much importance on Shen Hou.
Without Shen Hou's God-beating Whip, even if the Heavenly Monarch could control half of Jiangshan Mountain, as long as the Emperor willed it, this half of Jiangshan Mountain could quickly rebel.
On one side, the one hundred thousand Heavenly Soldiers were advancing with unstoppable momentum, while on the other side, the Prince Dongping announced welcoming the court's soldiers, calling on all princes to crusade against the rebels.
Time thus moved three days forward, and the one hundred thousand Heavenly Soldiers had traversed more than half of Jingzhou, gradually approaching the other half of the region accessible by water.
Meanwhile, Elder Kaiyang and Shen Hou were waiting for the right opportunity, only waiting for the court's large army to head to Zhenze, at which point they would launch a pincer attack.
When the two armies clash, it's not unlikely that a main general or strategist might die, would it?
However, before this moment for the "pincer attack" arrived, thick water clouds appeared in the sky over Jingzhou. The Calamity Clouds, formed from rolling water vapor, surged, yet there was a great sun in the sky, with fierce light scorching and evaporating the water vapor.
"The demons from the Dragon Palace have taken action."
Riding the Dragon Whisker Tiger, Shen Hou soared into the sky and, seeing the water clouds swirling and the rain beginning to fall, couldn't help but frown.
Nowadays, as the Dragon Palace is helping the Heavenly Monarch, even though both sides have their own calculations, the alliance is real and needed by both. Since the Dragon Palace has taken action, there's no way Elder Kaiyang and Shen Hou can continue to idle around.
Since the Dragon Palace has taken action, we must support them promptly, without delay.
Thinking this, Shen Hou looked regretfully at the ground below, his gaze falling indifferently on Elder Kaiyang, 'Consider yourself lucky to live a few more days.'
If Shen Hou had caught the opportunity, with his Dao Fruit Divine Power, he could easily kill someone without leaving a trace.
Unfortunately, the Dragon Palace wouldn't watch the Heavenly Monarch's schemes unfold without taking action, and their timely intervention ignited the battle between the two sides.
On this, even though Shen Hou had the intention to sabotage, he couldn't act. If he did anything out of line, the Heavenly Monarch would sense it first and capture him, nullifying all his prior efforts.
'Why hasn't the Family Head disrupted the celestial mechanism yet?' Shen Hou sighed inwardly.
Only a chaotic celestial mechanism would suit his actions.
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Just as the two sides were about to start the battle, in Quanling County of Jingzhou, a Flame Light shot down from the sky, landing on a stone beach.
Not far away, a lake was surging with waves, the sound of the wind seemed to echo the anxious and chaotic state of the Princess's mind.
Upon receiving the message from the Divine Travel Grand Protector, she had been pursuing day and night, yet couldn't find any trace of that person.
Until now—
After landing, the Princess's eyes locked onto a figure in green by the lakeside.
A young man stood against the wind, seemingly feeling the cool breeze by the lake. His green robe fluttered, as if he could merge into the wind at any moment.
Noticing the Princess's arrival, the young man slowly turned around, revealing a face that could only be described as delicate, yet carrying an indescribable temperament. It was like a stubborn stone weathered over thousands of years, marked by time and wear, etched with the ruthlessness and unpredictability of time.
Feng Manlou!
The person the Princess had wanted to see all along finally appeared before her.
"To find me, you didn't hesitate to put down important matters, was it worth it?"
"Feng Manlou" showed a gentle smile and slowly said, "To provoke me into appearing, you didn't hesitate to pay such a price, was it worth it?"
The important matters refer to consolidating the people of the Ji Family willing to submit and taking down Jingzhou as quickly as possible.
The price, of course, was practicing Innate Qi.
This should have been news to make Feng Manlou angry, but at this moment, there was no sign of anger on "Feng Manlou's" face. His voice was gentle yet unwavering, carrying a sense of calm detachment.
He is Feng Manlou, yet he isn't Feng Manlou.
Feng Manlou is his past, and he is the future of Feng Manlou.
—In an unknown how many years into the future······
And his purpose for showing up—
Silently, divination images, symbols, star tracks continuously expanded, layer upon layer of formations unfolded, covering the Six Harmonies, locking the Ten Directions, trapping the Princess within.
The Princess felt the space around her solidifying, and her True Qi was as motionless as a stagnant pool, not moving at all. She was like an insect sealed in amber, gradually losing the ability to move.
For this, she had no ability to resist.
Even the Southern Ming Li Fire of the Vermilion Bird Dao Fruit couldn't burn through the solidifying space, nor penetrate the stagnating Cosmic Light.
Facing a Supreme, especially a Great Venerable proficient in Cosmic Light, even the Princess who ascended to the third grade had no power to resist.
However, in facing all this, the Princess appeared extraordinarily calm.
The agitating Qi Mechanism had long been suppressed, but the unaffected anger disappeared suddenly, as if her emotions also calmed down along with the formation.
"I think it's... worth it."
The Princess stared at the figure in green, speaking in an unusually cold tone, "Otherwise, how could I lure you out?"
"Feng Manlou's" calm expression showed a slight ripple.
"You know my nature well, and know that I've always been provoking you to appear, whether by spreading news in the Divine Capital or revealing Innate Qi during the previous move. The contention between Tianxuan and the Master of Rain is likely fake, and my move to stop it, revealing Innate Qi, might be genuine, not staged, or it might be fake."
"But only one thing is certain and true, which is that I was provoking you to appear."
True or false, not even a Great Venerable would dare affirm a certain distinction.
But one thing he can be certain of is that whether true or false, the Princess harbored the intention of provoking him to appear.
The act of cultivating Innate Qi itself was provocation and even if not exposed at that time, it would be exposed at another time.
The Great Venerable knew well the Princess could achieve this step, so he exploited the Princess's psychology, using his own trail to lure the Princess away suddenly, and only appeared at this place a few days later, trapping her.
In calm and serene words, the Princess elaborated on how she fell into this situation.
Her psychology was manipulated by the Great Venerable, and despite being a crucial moment, she was lured away and trapped. As a result, the court would momentarily lose a third-grade combat power, even being constrained because of the Princess. The subsequent search and rescue efforts for the Princess would also be essential.
Jiang Li and his men would consequently fall into a passive stance.
"I look like a fool, don't I," the Princess said self-deprecatingly.
However, the Great Venerable did not think she was a fool.
Because foolish people are not self-aware.
She claimed to be foolish, which in turn showed she wasn't foolish.
The formation surrounding the Princess was collapsing. Though it was fine a moment ago, it was now cracking continuously, like a crumbling stone wall, the cracks spreading like a spider web.
"You played my psychology, but isn't your psychology also manipulated?" the Princess mocked.
Because he determined the Princess was willing to go to great lengths to provoke him to appear, the Great Venerable released the news, letting the Princess drop everything and step into the trap willingly.
But this thought, this manipulation, couldn't they also be manipulated by others?
The Princess stepped into a trap, while the Great Venerable inevitably appeared.
The fire in the backyard wasn't the trap, the real trap was the resolute decision of the Princess to provoke the Great Venerable to appear at all costs.
This decision was already showing signs and gradually taking root and sprouting, and the Great Venerable wouldn't have any doubts upon seeing it. Because this decision was originally true.
Once the Great Venerable needed it, he decisively exploited the Princess's mindset, but because of this, he was also counter-exploited.
"Your appearance is a need, a need to trap the Princess, to constrain us. And we, in turn, can perceive your needs through this."
A Jade Scroll flew out from the Princess's sleeve, within which came a familiar voice. A faint glow circulated, outlining a familiar figure.
"Do you need our side to fall into a weak position?"
"Or do you need the Dragon Palace to acquire the Thunder Ancestor Dao Fruit?"
Jiang Li's figure appeared here, questioning the Great Venerable.
Simultaneously, the formation which trapped the Six Harmonies and froze the Cosmic Light in the sky completely collapsed.
"Great Venerable, now it's your turn to step into the trap."
The Princess said indifferently, turning into a Flame Light and fled, with no sign of pausing at all.
