Chapter 682: The Scholar Sage
Chapter 682: Chapter 682: The Scholar Sage
Ten Phoenix Kings lay limp on the ground, while Prince Lietian stood with his hands behind his back, his gaze cold. The three-legged Golden Crow and Kong Shang stood on either side of him.
Thousands of phoenixes glared angrily below!
Prince Lietian looked at the countless phoenixes, then at Zhong Shan, and finally at Wang Ku!
"Scholar Sage? You actually know about the Scholar Sage?" Prince Lietian looked at Wang Ku with a hint of suspicion.
"Are you a descendant of the Kong family, or an inheritor of the seventy-two disciples of the Scholar Sage?" Wang Ku asked again.
Prince Lietian\'s eyes turned cold as he looked at Wang Ku, "You know too much!"
With that, a massive peacock phantom suddenly emerged from behind Prince Lietian. The phantom soared into the sky, and in an instant, the heavens and the earth changed color. The surrounding sky turned blue, and a sharp killing intent surged straight at Wang Ku.
At this moment, a gigantic peacock claw suddenly descended from the sky, moving in a bizarre trajectory, aiming directly at Wang Ku. The claw didn\'t tear through space, but Zhong Shan, standing not far away, felt his hair stand on end, overwhelmed by an extremely fierce killing intent.
"Crack! Crack! Crack!"
Strange sounds emanated from Wang Ku\'s body.
In front of him, the bronze throne suddenly emitted a burst of deadly aura, freezing the surrounding space and producing large amounts of drifting snow. The bronze throne rapidly enlarged.
"Boom~~~~~~~~~~~!"
The bronze throne and the giant peacock claw collided fiercely once again. Upon impact, the peacock claw shattered, but the bronze throne remained immovable. A massive black hole, about a thousand feet wide, appeared around them, causing the phoenixes to quickly retreat.
The black hole slowly disappeared, but the scene left everyone stunned.
The bronze throne was so sturdy? Witnessing this, not only was Prince Lietian shocked, but even Zhong Shan\'s pupils contracted.
"What kind of immortal artifact is this?" Prince Lietian asked, frowning in astonishment.
Prince Lietian couldn\'t believe it. The nine-grade treasures of the world shouldn\'t be stronger than the \'Blue Peacock Claw\' just now. This wasn\'t a spell but a jade talisman from the Great Thousand World, which, despite having a single-use effect, possessed the power of a Celestial Immortal. Yet, such formidable power had no effect against the bronze throne, not even causing it to shake. How was this possible?
"This is my throne!" Wang Ku sneered.
"Your throne?" Prince Lietian\'s pupils shrank, his gaze growing even colder.
"Wang Ku, I bestow upon you a nine-grade sword to aid your might!" Zhong Shan suddenly spoke.
With a wave of his hand, Zhong Shan took out the broken sword of Lu Guitian and tossed it to Wang Ku.
"Crack!" Wang Ku caught the sword and slowly sat on the bronze throne, looking down at the scene below.
"The Sage\'s sacred sword?" Prince Lietian\'s pupils shrank, a look of horror flashing in his eyes.
Suddenly, Prince Lietian glanced at Zhong Shan, a look of surprise in his eyes, while Zhong Shan merely wore a cold smile.
"It was you? You killed Wuhuan? And Lu Guitian too?" Prince Lietian asked in shock.
"The Taishui Heavenly Dynasty, like Da Li, has become history!" Zhong Shan sneered. However, he remained cautiously alert.
Because the Red Luan Pink Lotus in Zhong Shan\'s brow was undergoing strange changes, turning blue one moment and pink the next. Blue signified great misfortune, great misfortune? Zhong Shan\'s heart clenched in anxiety! But his expression remained unchanged.
Prince Lietian\'s eyes flickered with uncertainty as he looked at Zhong Shan, then at Wang Ku, and finally at the sacred sword, his expression growing increasingly complex.
"We\'re leaving!" Prince Lietian ordered coldly.
"But, Master, leave? We..." Kong Shang protested, frowning.
"I said, leave!" Prince Lietian commanded more sternly.
"Let them go!" Zhong Shan instructed in a deep voice.
"Yes!" Wang Ku nodded.
Prince Lietian took one last deep look at Zhong Shan, then, along with the three-legged Golden Crow and Kong Shang, vanished before Zhong Shan\'s eyes. For the first time, Prince Lietian was not victorious. Zhong Shan?
As Prince Lietian departed, Zhong Shan let out a long breath, his heart swelling with a sense of exhilaration.
"Ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha!" Zhong Shan laughed heartily. His laughter, however, carried a trace of bitterness. He wasn\'t laughing because he had driven Prince Lietian away but because the gap between him and Prince Lietian was narrowing. In the past, their first meeting had left him awaiting death; the second time, Prince Lietian could kill him at any moment. This third time, he wanted to kill him but was forced to retreat. Hmph, by the fourth time, Zhong Shan swore to further close the gap between them. One day, he would make Prince Lietian suffer a thousand tortures to soothe Kui\'er\'s spirit in the heavens.
After the bitter laughter, Zhong Shan\'s expression grew more resolute.
"Whoo!" Wang Ku also sighed lightly, slowly retracting the bronze throne.
"Your Majesty, that was close!" Wang Ku remarked.
"I heard the sound of your bones earlier. Are they breaking again? Are you more severely injured?" Zhong Shan asked with concern.
"Yes, I need to meditate for a while," Wang Ku replied.
"Alright," Zhong Shan nodded.
Wang Ku then produced a magnificent palace with a wave of his hand and placed it near Phoenix Palace before walking inside alone.
Meanwhile, the group of phoenixes had already flown down to where the ten Phoenix Kings were lying.
"Are you all alright?" Wu Luo asked as she approached.
"We were drugged by that bastard Kong Shang, and we can\'t break free!" Fire Phoenix sighed.
"What kind of drug is it?" Wu Luo asked.
"No idea! We\'ve never encountered it before! The effect is too strong," Ice Phoenix sighed.
Wu Luo was anxious.
"Drug? Let me try," Zhong Shan offered.
As soon as Zhong Shan spoke, Wu Luo made way for him.
A drug? Zhong Shan was a master of drugs.
Ignoring what kind of drug it was, he infused the Red Luan Miasma into Fire Phoenix\'s body. The miasma drew out the drug\'s essence and expelled the impurities.
The impurities emitted a foul stench, making the phoenixes wrinkle their noses.
"It\'s done. Hey? I\'m okay!" Fire Phoenix, quickly transforming back into human form, stood up excitedly.
Seeing the result, the phoenixes were overjoyed. Zhong Shan repeated the process for each phoenix.
Soon, all the phoenixes were cured.
Three days later, Wang Ku finally recovered and emerged from the magnificent palace.
During these three days, with Zhong Shan\'s abilities, the Phoenix clan\'s token, and saving the Phoenix Kings, he had completely earned the trust of most of the phoenixes. There were still a few who were skeptical, but they didn\'t pose any significant threat.
As Wang Ku stepped out of the palace, he saw countless phoenixes moving various items from Phoenix Island.
"Your Majesty, what is this?" Wang Ku asked, puzzled.
"The phoenixes have agreed to relocate Phoenix Island to the Dazhi Empire!" Zhong Shan said with a smile.
"Uh!" Wang Ku was slightly taken aback, then sincerely said, "I am impressed!"
How could Wang Ku not be impressed? In just three days, Zhong Shan had used his eloquence to persuade an entire clan of phoenixes. This was an extraordinary feat. Wang Ku knew that among all the clans in the world, the most proud were not the dragon clan, the wolf clan, or the tiger clan, but the phoenixes. Wherever they were, phoenixes were the proudest of all races. Yet, such a proud race had been persuaded by the emperor in just three days. It was truly unbelievable.
"They\'re just moving over," Zhong Shan laughed.
Moving? Once they were in your domain, would you ever let them go? Wang Ku thought, but he refrained from commenting further on this matter.
"Your Majesty, Prince Lietian is very strong, extremely strong. I feel he didn\'t even use his full strength!" Wang Ku said solemnly.
"Yes, I know," Zhong Shan nodded.
"Then why did he leave so hastily just now? Even if I bluffed him, he should have tested us further. If he had, I wouldn\'t have been able to hold on for much longer!" Wang Ku sighed.
"You bluffed him? Your strength is not weak either!" Zhong Shan laughed. He had seen the power of the bronze throne. Despite Prince Lietian\'s probe, the throne had not budged an inch. It seemed Wang Ku was a formidable figure in his own right.
"Forgive me, Your Majesty, I..." Wang Ku fell silent for a moment.
"No need to explain. As long as I know you are the commander of the ninth legion of the Dazhi Empire, that is enough," Zhong Shan shook his head.
"Thank you, Your Majesty!" Wang Ku sighed in relief.
According to his previous vow, Wang Ku could not lie to Zhong Shan. However, he had too many secrets to reveal. Fortunately, Zhong Shan was understanding, and Wang Ku felt a slight touch of gratitude in his heart.
"You asked why Prince Lietian left? That was because of you!" Zhong Shan smiled.
"Oh?"
"He was testing you. If you were just a fa?ade, he wouldn\'t have cared. But if you could truly threaten him, then his probing would result in a prolonged entanglement, and he didn\'t want to stay here too long. He needs to return; with Lu Guitian dead, he wants to take over the entire Taishui Heavenly Dynasty," Zhong Shan said gravely.
"No wonder..." Wang Ku nodded.
"You mentioned the Scholar Sage earlier. What is that about?" Zhong Shan asked with a frown.
"It starts with a clan from the Great Thousand World," Wang Ku explained.
"Oh?"
"The Peacock Clan. Among the beast clans, they are incredibly powerful and have deep foundations. Their strength rivals that of the Phoenix Clan, Dragon Clan, Witch Clan, and many other great clans in the Great Thousand World. They have many secret techniques, the most famous being the Seven-colored Divine Light. With each additional color, its power multiplies. Earlier, Prince Lietian could only use the three-colored divine light," Wang Ku explained.
"Three-colored divine light? Seven-colored divine light? Five-colored divine light?" Zhong Shan pondered.
"The five-colored divine light is the limit for most of the Peacock Clan. It is refined from the five-colored divine feathers of their own plumage and is said to be able to cleanse all things. The seven-colored divine light is extremely rare, with only a few members of the Peacock Clan capable of using it. It is so mysterious that no one knows its full extent. It\'s said that aside from sages, anyone who sees the seven-colored divine light dies," Wang Ku sighed.
"Oh?"
"Such a powerful clan was already formidable enough, but then a sage emerged from the Peacock Clan, known as the Scholar Sage, or Confucius. With the emergence of this sage, the already strong clan became even more powerful," Wang Ku marveled.