Chapter 198 — The Cult's Prestige
The Herdsman of the Wasteland · Page 3 of 4
The Poor Master shook his head and said, "In poverty, one perfects oneself alone; in prosperity, one benefits all under heaven. Imperial Teacher Jingping, your power is too great, and it brings the world no good. I oppose you not for my own interest, as they do, but for the sake of Jingping. I see your power blazing to the heavens. To remove you now is still possible; remove you a few years hence, and you will be emperor."
Standing upon the mountain peak, Imperial Teacher Jingping's voice, level and calm, spread on every side: "Who else opposes me?"
At once, from within Daxiang City, rose a rising and falling chorus of voices: "I!"
"Liao Yinzhi of the Tianxian Sect dares to oppose Imperial Teacher Jingping!"
"Qiu Zhiming, Grand Master of Splendid Happiness, dares to oppose Imperial Teacher Jingping!"
"Shan Mu, Marquis of Wuling, dares to oppose Imperial Teacher Jingping!"
"Qing Mingyue, Chief Secretary of the Protectorate, dares to oppose Imperial Teacher Jingping!"
"Chen Yao, Magistrate of Wuyin County, dares to oppose Imperial Teacher Jingping!"
…
Voice after voice came from Daxiang City—each one a great master of the Life-and-Death Realm or the Heaven-and-Man Realm. As one voice fell, another rose, rising and falling, one after another, growing ever more magnificent, ever more stirring, until the blood boiled.
The bronze-masked man too was stirred with heroic feeling, his blood surging, and he declared loudly, "Imperial Teacher Jingping, do you see? How utterly you have lost the hearts of the people! All under heaven would put you to death—with what face do you live on in this world?" His voice rang, strong and resonant!
Imperial Teacher Jingping's face was expressionless as he said calmly, "All under heaven? A mere few hundred thousand souls in this city—do they deserve to be called all under heaven? They are but petty common folk; wipe them out, and that is that. Only when you are dead will the world know true peace."
"In that case," said the bronze-masked man, "it can only end with one side exterminated."
"This mountain has already been sealed with the Heavenly Prison Binding, a radius of eight hundred mu. If we fight here, there is no need to fear it spreading abroad and harming the soldiers beyond. This time…"
He said coldly, "We will not keep to the jianghu's code of honor, nor the jianghu's rules!"
Shen Mu let out a breath and said to Si Yunxiang with a smile, "Then I can rest easy."
Monk Yunque's face was ashen, and he stammered, "Rest easy about what? We are inside the seal—we will be the first to be shaken to death. Do you remember Tianbo City? This great battle will be several times more terrifying than Tianbo City!"
Yue Qinghong and the others were pale as well. In that great battle at Tianbo City, only a portion of the Dutian Demon God's power had descended, and its foes had been the Master of the Dragon-Taming Sect and another expert of Cult Master rank—yet the destruction it wrought had been beyond imagining, so vast that even a mighty creature like the Dragon Qilin could not withstand the impact.
Should a great battle erupt here, the havoc would only be several times greater than that time!
And with eight hundred mu sealed all around, it meant the shockwaves these experts produced would churn and roil back and forth within this space alone!
By then, even the Dragon Qilin would likely be torn to shreds by the aftershocks of their clash!
Just then, all at once, banners came fluttering beyond the city walls, banner after banner in an unbroken line, running east and west for dozens of li.
The bronze-masked man and the others stood at a high place and looked outward, and their expressions changed drastically. They saw those great banners raised one by one, more than ten zhang tall, screening the enemy camp opposite—and beneath the banners were hidden countless troops and horses!