The Lord of Void and Real
Chapter 540

Chapter 540: Chapter 536: Secret Manipulations Chapter 540: Chapter 536: Secret Manipulations “Hehe, Duke Cheng truly is the backbone of the Great Tang. Your 'Unparalleled Strike' has managed to shatter my Sky Demon Claw,” said the man in the black robe, known as Yuan Zui, smiling.

“Enough with the talk! Our last skirmish was not enough. Let's fight again!” Cheng Yaojin pointed his giant axe at the man in the black robe.

“If Duke wishes to instruct, I am more than willing to accompany. However, our battle could cause a wide range of damage, as before. Why don't we take it to the sky again?” Yuan Zui pointed at the sky.

“Exactly what I was thinking!” Cheng Yaojin laughed heartily, preparing to ascend into the sky.

At that moment, the ground rumbled in the distance, as a black light pillar, about a hundred feet thick, shot from the earth to the sky, like a heavenly pillar.

In the southern part of the city, black light flashed, and hundreds of smaller black light pillars sprouted like bamboo shoots after the spring rain.

“What?!” Yuan Zui's face visibly changed at the sight.

Oppositely, Cheng Yaojin's eyes lit up, and his face was full of joy.

The gigantic black pillar began flashing wildly, revealing bulges on its surface that rapidly swelled and promptly exploded.

The smaller light pillars, seemingly connected to the gigantic one, subsequently shattered one by one.

The dark clouds in the sky, seemingly linked with the light pillars, also started to churn like stormy waves and quickly began to disperse.

The numerous ghostly figures battling the Great Tang monks became transparent and disappeared one by one as if forcibly sent away by a mysterious power.

In just a few breaths, almost all of the ghostly figures in the sky vanished, leaving only the Body Refining Platform monks and a few un-summoned ghosts.

The evenly matched battlefield instantly started tipping in favor of the Great Tang Government.

“So, that's what happened. No wonder the Tang Government suddenly launched a full-scale counterattack. It was a diversion for their main force to serve as a distraction so that others could go and destroy the summoning array!” Yuan Zui looked horribly pale and spoke coldly.

“Exactly! Otherwise, do you think I would waste my time brawling with your minions! You old demon, now that you've lost your ghosts, let's see what skills you've got to offer!” Cheng Yaojin sneered, his body surging with golden light, preparing to strike.

“Duke Cheng is correct. Without the assistance of the ghosts, my Body Refining Platform is incapable of contending against the Great Tang Government. Hence, I must take my leave.” Yuan Zui's anger suddenly receded like a tide, and he resumed his previous smiling demeanor, catching Cheng Yaojin off guard.

Taking advantage of Cheng Yaojin's momentary bewilderment, Yuan Zui quickly retreated, growing faint, and disappeared into the void in an instant.

The Body Refining Platform monks in the sky and on the ground immediately began retreating as well. Tang Government officials and Chang'an city's monks were about to pursue them when the remnant ghosts suddenly went berserk, desperately attempting to hinder them.

At the same time, large billows of black smoke appeared all over the city, enveloping the entire southern part of the city.

Tang Government officials' monks could not see clearly due to the situation and dared not pursue too far. They quickly stopped their pursuit.

“What just happened?” Yellow Wood and others flew by Cheng Yaojin's side, all wearing perplexed expressions.

“I don't know.” Cheng Yaojin tensely furrowed his brow. His joy at accomplishing his mission was gone, replaced with a heavy, uneasy feeling.

“Could it be that they were fighting hard just for show, while in secret they were planning something else? We should know that in this great battle today, the Jing River Dragon King never appeared.” Yellow Wood said.

Upon hearing these words, the look of worry on Cheng Yaojin's face deepened.

Imperial Palace of Chang'an.

An imposing imperial city surrounded by another ring of tall walls, the city wall stands twenty or thirty feet high, all decked out in red paint and yellow tiles, resplendent in gold and jade green.

Within the imperial city, layers upon layers of palaces towering, gardens, flowing streams, and jade pavilions are just too many to count, filled with an atmosphere of grandeur, strength, and beauty, no less than the palaces in heaven.

Due to the ghost infestation in the city, the Imperial City is already under martial law, patrolled everywhere by the Imperial Forest Army, without interruption every twelve two-hour periods.

These Imperial Forest soldiers are even sharper than those outside, each clad in heavy iron armor, with swords and knives hung around their bodies, looking like steel warriors. Moreover, there will inevitably be a monk in each team, anyone who undertakes actions detrimental to the Imperial City will be ruthlessly executed.

Countless defense, and alert prohibitions are laid out around the palace, turning the entire imperial city into an iron barrel, with not even a fly able to fly in.

Outside a gorgeous palace to the east of the Imperial City, the Imperial Forest Army is gathering, vigilantly scanning every movement in the surroundings.

Inside the palace is a luxurious sleeping hall, a middle-aged man dressed in a yellow dragon robe is standing inside, looking at the horizon through the window, his eyebrows tightly furrowed.

This man seems to be not young, with a slight white at his temples, but he shows a dignified aura of ruling the world.

“Your Majesty need not worry. With Duke Cheng present, we will certainly defeat those ghosts and reclaim the southern part of the city” a stunningly beautiful woman said carefully by his side.

“I hope so.” the middle-aged man sighed.

The man in the yellow robe is none other than the current Emperor Taizong, Emperor Tang Li Shimin.

Just at this moment, the ground outside the palace suddenly shook, a surge of black Qi appeared from nowhere and quickly spread on the surface. In the blink of an eye, it formed a black magic array of a few tens of feet in size.

Inside the array, black figures appeared immediately, startlingly they were various types of ghosts, upon revealing their bodies, they charged straight towards the palace.

Immediately, a large array of white light appeared in the void near the palace, streaks of firework-like white beams shot into the sky, emitting sharp, whistling sounds. That's the surrounding alert prohibitions being triggered.

“There are ghosts appearing! Protect the Sleeping Hall!” The Imperial Forest Army outside the palace acted very swiftly, half of them immediately protected the vicinity of the Sleeping Hall while the other half charged forward and got into a fight with the ghosts.

These ghosts are not weak, with each possessing the power of Grain Avoidance Stage, and the leading few even reached Soul Condensation Stage.

The Imperial Forest Army defending this place, however, are the elites, containing quite a few monks. Using their superior numbers, they quickly stopped the momentum of the ghosts.

“Damn! How did these ghosts suddenly appear? Quickly, exterminate them all!” The leader of the Imperial Forest Army, a burly man with a black face and whiskers, saw that the situation has stabilized and immediately instructed the Imperial Forest Army to counterattack.

The whistling sound of the alert prohibitions spread out, the Imperial Forest Army patrolling in the distance immediately converged here, and the monks from all over the palace also turned into escape light, shooting towards here.

But just at this moment, the black magic array on the ground suddenly lit up again, the sound of a sharp ghost howl rang out, a large amount of blood light emerged from the array, turning into an appalling ghost that was seven or eight feet tall.

This ghost took a human form but was completely blood red, with a triangular face and four eyes, sharp teeth, and tusks, looking extremely terrifying.

A huge bloody smell erupted from the body of the ghost, far exceeding the level of Soul Condensation Stage, reaching the peak of the Nascent Soul Phase Realm, just one step away from the Mahayana Stage.

Those Imperial Forest soldiers in the front were enveloped by this overwhelming bloody smell, their all faces turned red as though drunk, their hands and feet became weak and nearly half of them fell down.

The monks in the army couldn't escape it either and were even more seriously affected, they turned their eyes white and fainted on the ground.

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