In the vast Shengming City, aside from Zhang Ruochen and the several dozen Nine-step Saint Kings of the Heavenly Realm, there was naturally a Heavenly Realm army and a small number of old Shengming cadres who were being pursued as well.
Just like Prince Mingjiang and the others, they were being pursued by a Saint King squad of the Heavenly Realm faction. If Zhang Ruochen had not arrived in time, they would have either all been dead or captured. They would then end up like those who were at the city gate.
With Zhang Ruochen obtaining the Imperial Providence’s blessing, he could rouse Shengming City’s might of heaven and earth as well as provide protection to those old Shengming cadres who were fleeing inside the city.
Now, there were about 54 thousand people of the old Shengming cadres who were able to stay alive while being hunted down by a Heavenly Realm army.
The reason they survived thus far was not that they were strong, but they had taken full advantage of the terrain.
Of course, if this was to drag on, the old Shengming cadres might very well be wiped out.
At that moment, all of the survivors of the old Shengming cadres were extremely excited. Originally, like Prince Mingjiang, they had only been left with despair.
Currently, they were regaining hope.
“His Highness is invincible. Kill those butchers!”
Almost all of the old Shengming cadres were shouting.
Many of the old cadres were in tears, as they saw their friends and family being slaughtered, but they could do nothing.
Now, however, everything had changed. Their crown prince was invincible, and he would avenge their fallen relatives and friends.
When Zhang Ruochen had been forced to leave the Kunlun Realm back then, a vast majority of the old Shengming cadres, who had participated in the siege of the Lingxiao Heavenly Palace and the Peakless Mountain, had all moved to Shengming City. Meanwhile, the imperial forces had been pulled back.
With Chi Yao becoming god, there was no fear of the old Shengming cadres kicking up a storm.
Inside a dilapidated ancient temple, Cai Yuanxi, the elder patriarch of the Cai Clan was covered in blood. There were two gaping holes in his chest, and his organs were badly damaged. His wounds were extremely serious.
“Hahaha! With His Highness back, and invincible, Shengming will not die.” Cai Yuxi forced himself up and burst into laughter.
The next moment, he spat out a mouthful of blood with large chunks of shattered innards mixed in, and his body swayed.
“Milord.”
Lord Cai immediately hurried forward and extended his hand to assist Cai Yuanxi. His face was full of concern.
Cai Yuanxi sat down slowly as he swept his gaze past the dozen or so Cai Clan elites.
Everyone gathered there was part of the Cai Clan’s elite force. All of them were Saint-level and above elites. Three of them were of the Saint King realm, namely Lord Cai, Cai Tong, and Cai Jinglun.
Of course, Cai Yuanxi was himself a Saint King level elite, and his cultivation base was far beyond the other three.
It was thanks to the Kunlun Realm’s recovery. Otherwise, no matter how deep the Cai Clan’s history was, it would be impossible for them to give birth to three Saint Kings consecutively.
“Our Cai Clan has been following the Zhang Clan to conquer the world and establish the Shengming Central Empire. Shengming is the root of the Cai Clan. Remember that, no matter what, never betray Shengming.
“I’m at my limits, and I will never be able to see the day that Shengming is rebuilt. But I believe His Highness will definitely provide the people of Shengming a better tomorrow. From now on, serve His Highness well, and just like how our clan ancestors aided the Zhangs in the past, help him build another everlasting empire. Cough, cough.”
As he said that, Cai Yuanxi spat out a mouthful of blood as his breath weakened considerably.
“Milord, stop talking. You’ll be fine.”
All of the Cai Clan Saints knelt before Cai Yuanxi with a pained expression on their faces.
Cai Yuanxi smiled. There was no fear of death in his eyes at all as he said, “Eight hundred years ago, I should have perished alongside Shengming, but to protect the Cai Clan, I had to submit to Chiqing Central Empire. I am a sinner, so death to me is perhaps a form of release. I should really be going down there to meet my good brothers.”
“Milord.”
All of the Cai Clan Saints lowered their eyes as tears flowed from their eyes.
All of them knew the pain in his heart, yet they could not share his burdens. As descendants of the Cai Clan, they were just too useless.
At this moment, Zhang Ruochen’s voice suddenly rang out. “Elder Cai, you have endured much shame and burden to preserve Shengming’s strength. Shengming has not been rebuilt yet, and we need to rely on you for so many things, Elder Cai. So, how can you die now?”
Before his words even trailed off, it began to drizzle inside the dilapidated ancient temple. Rain formed from the Springwater of Life rained upon every Cai Clan elite, healing all of the wounds they had sustained.
“Your Highness.”
Cai Yuanxi’s eyes were filled with emotions as tears could not help but flow from his old eyes.
Even when Zhang Ruochen was fighting against powerful foes, he still took notice of him, and that touched Cai Yuanxi.
After he received nourishment from the Springwater of Life, the wounds on Cai Yuanxi’s body healed at a speed visible to the naked eye. His broken flesh and innards were completely restored.
Dupdup! Dupdup!
A powerful heartbeat rang from inside Cai Yuanxi’s chest, giving off a powerful vigor.
Although Cai Yuanxi’s wounds were not fully healed, he was not in any more mortal danger.
“I will definitely give my life for Shengming.” Cai Yuanxi stood up and said with ardent fervor.
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To gain Zhang Ruochen’s understanding, he had no more demons in his heart. Rebuilding Shengming would be his only goal in life.
The ancestors of the Cai Clan had helped the Zhang Clan to build an everlasting empire, and he, Cai Yuanxi, could do the same as well.
Aside from the Cai Clan, Zhang Ruochen had taken out a large amount of Springwater of Life to heal the wounds of other old Shengming cadres. He would not allow any more of the old cadres to die.
Seeing the miserable state that the old Shengming cadres were in, the fury in Zhang Ruochen’s heart grew. None of those from the Heavenly Realm would be forgiven.
By rousing the might of the heaven and earth of Shengming City, Zhang Ruochen suppressed all of the Heavenly Realm elites that were pursuing the old Shengming cadres and fed them to Moyin.
All of these Heavenly Realm elites had been on a killing spree in Shengming City, and who knew how many old Shengming cadres had died in their hands. Even a thousand deaths were not enough for them to pay for their crimes.
Immediately after, Zhang Ruochen used his skill to bring all of the surviving old Shengming cadre to his side.
“Greetings, Your Highness!”
All of the old Shengming cadres knelt down and respectfully saluted Zhang Ruochen.
In their eyes, Zhang Ruochen was already Shengming’s great emperor, an undefeatable god of war, and was full of awe.
“Rise, all of you. From now on, anyone who is a Demi Saint and above need not perform the kneeling salute,” Zhang Ruochen said as he helped Cai Yuanxi up.
The roughly fifty-four-thousand old Shengming cadres all rose and looked emotionally at Zhang Ruochen.
All of the surviving old Shengming cadres were cultivators and not overly weak, though. Even the weakest among them was of the Yulong Realm, while many were Demi Saints and Saints even. All of them could be considered the old Shengming cadre’s creme of the crop.
Many among them were faces familiar to Zhang Ruochen, there were those who had followed him to attack the Lingxiao Heavenly Palace, and the Peakless Mountain like Qin Yutong, Bai Xuanshuang and Bai Xuanyu, all of them had seen a significant increase in their strength.
“Although Shengming City is destroyed, but I will build an even larger Shengming City in the Qiankun Realm. Shengming will never be extinguished!” Zhang Ruochen yelled.
“Long Live Your Highness!
“Long Live Your Highness!”
…
All of the old Shengming cadres yelled emotionally with reverence toward Zhang Ruochen in their hearts.
Zhang Ruochen took out the Exquisite Dimensional Orb and brought all of the old Shengming cadres inside it. He placed them together with the other old cadres he had rescued earlier, allowing Mu Lingxi to treat their wounds.
By the time everything was settled, it would still not be too late to then relocate them to the Qiankun Realm.
Tens of thousands of Heavenly Realm cultivators all became Moyin’s nourishment as chilling screams rang out one after another.
Such a scene was undoubtedly horrifying.
“It seems like none of the Heavenly Realm elites in the city will survive, it doesn’t look like Zhang Ruochen is planning to spare anyone.”
“There’s a saying, provoke not the dragon on the pain of death. When the Heavenly Realm attacked Shengming City, they had totally provoked Zhang Ruochen, and how would Zhang Ruochen let them go?”
“What a forceful Zhang Ruochen, what a terrifying Zhang Ruochen, only he could kill Heavenly Realm elites without any care in the world.”
“Weird, it has been a while now, why did Shang Ziyan not rush back with his forces? Did something happen?”
…
Some of the cultivators who were close to the Heavenly Realm faction could not help but feel anxious.
They had already sent news to Shang Ziyan, and after waiting for so long, they did not see him coming back with reinforcements. Did Shang Ziyan plan to just discard so many of the Heavenly Realm faction elites inside Shengming City?
In a secluded location outside Shengming City, three figures were looking at the situation in Shengming City from a distance.
If Zhang Ruochen was there, he would immediately recognize them as Fairy Tianchu, the Butcher, and the Fool.
“My Lady, it seems like there is no need for us to intervene. I never thought Zhang Ruochen was that powerful,” the Fool said with a smile.
Fairy Tianchu faintly said, “Did I said anything about intervening?”
The Fool immediately responded, “No, no, we’re just here to watch the show. Just watching the show is fine too.”
“Sister Luoji, weren’t you training in Luoshui? Why are you here outside Shengming City?”
At this moment, a voice with a tinge of playfulness rang out.
Fairy Tianchu then turned around and saw The Thousand Star Maiden in a purple robe approaching her while riding a purple cloud.
The next moment, the Thousand Star Maiden came close and stood beside Fairy Tianchu.
Fairy Tianchu smiled. “Chenjing, I didn’t expect to see you here in the Kunlun Realm. Why didn’t you come and look for me even after so long?”
“The Kunlun Realm is so lively now, how could I pass the opportunity to have a look? I know that you’ve been in seclusion to cultivate, so I didn’t want to disturb you. I never thought to see you here, Sister,” The Thousand Star Maiden said faintly.
Fairy Tianchu said, “You’re here for Zhang Ruochen?”
“Are you not?” The Thousand Star Maiden asked back.
A strange look appeared in Fairy Tianchu’s eyes but she did not answer. Instead, she turned her head and cast her gaze at Shengming City again.
The Thousand Star Maiden did not say anything else as she also looked at Shengming City. Her Divine Eyes of Origin could see everything in the city clearly.