192: Chapter 192 The Mandate of Heaven

"Dao?" A hint of confusion appeared in Xie Changhuan's eyes.

"That's right, Dao." Gao Feng slowly stood up from the throne. He walked up to Xie Changhuan, his eyes as deep as the stars, as if they could see through the past, present, and future.

"What you practice is the 'King's Way.' You emphasize balance, checks and balances, political maneuvering, and the art of imperial rule. You hope to control everything by winning over some people to suppress others."

"This path cannot be called wrong. For the past thousand years, countless emperors and generals have relied on this path to ascend to the Peak of power."

"However, the times have changed."

Gao Feng's voice suddenly became filled with endless dominance and confidence!

"And what I practice is the 'Way of the Hegemon'!"

"I don't care what noble family you are, what warlord you are, or what schemes you have! Before me, there are only two paths!"

"Either submit to me and become a part of the wheel of history that I am pushing forward!"

"Or be crushed to pieces by me, along with your decaying, backward old era!"

"I am destiny! I am the era!"

Gao Feng's words were like thunderbolts from the Nine Heavens, ruthlessly striking Xie Changhuan's already shattered heart!

He looked at the young monarch before him, who was filled with endless dominance and overwhelming confidence. In his cloudy eyes, all unwillingness and resentment vanished at this moment.

Replacing them was a heartfelt, deep submission.

He knew he hadn't lost unjustly.

He hadn't lost to a single person, but to a brand-new era that he could neither understand nor resist!

"I... understand." Xie Changhuan slowly lowered his once-proud head, his voice filled with endless bitterness and relief.

"Gao Feng... no, Your Majesty. My Xie clan is willing to guard Jiangnan for Your Majesty, and will not refuse even unto death."

Gao Feng looked at the completely submissive Xie Changhuan and nodded with satisfaction.

He knew that from this moment on, the entire wealthy region of Jiangnan was truly in his pocket.

Having taken the entire Jiangnan region without shedding blood, Gao Feng's prestige reached an unprecedented Peak at this moment!

And the gains he obtained were equally immense!

First, there was the "Black Water" fleet, which, despite heavy losses, still retained part of its organization.

Gao Feng reorganized and integrated the surviving tower ships with his own ten steam warships, and appointed an outstanding talent who had graduated from the navigation department of Panshi University as the first admiral of his future invincible fleet.

He knew that his journey was the sea of stars.

This fleet would be the first cornerstone for his future conquest of the wider world.

Secondly, there was the entire Jiangnan region, with its unimaginably wealthy treasures, population, and resources!

After receiving the treasury of various places in Jiangnan, Li Qingzhao was overjoyed!

The mountains of gold and silver jewelry, the tens of millions of shi of grain and cloth, and the massive population of tens of millions all injected the strongest and most surging power into Gao Feng's industrial revolution that was about to sweep the entire world!

And what surprised Gao Feng the most was an unexpected discovery in the treasury of the Chu Palace!

That day, under the personal guidance of Xie Changhuan, Gao Feng walked into the secret treasury that had preserved the accumulation of the Chu monarchs for hundreds of years.

Inside the treasury, rare treasures dazzled the eyes, enough to drive any emperor crazy!

However, Gao Feng's gaze was immediately and deeply attracted by a purple sandalwood box enshrined in the very center of the treasury!

He could clearly feel a vast Dragon Qi emanating from the box, which was of the same origin as the Dragon Qi within his own body!

He slowly walked forward and opened the box.

Inside the box lay half of a broken Imperial Jade Seal, carved from the finest mutton-fat white jade, with the eight ancient characters "Ordained by Heaven, May You Enjoy Eternal Prosperity" engraved on it!

The Imperial Jade Seal!

And it was the other half that had been lost for hundreds of years!

Gao Feng's heart thumped wildly at this moment!

He took out the half of the jade seal he had obtained by chance from his bosom.

The two halves of the jade seal merged perfectly into one!

"Hum!!!"

A vast dragon roar that seemed to come from the ancient primordial era exploded throughout the treasury!

The complete Imperial Jade Seal erupted with unprecedented, brilliant golden light. A visible phantom of a nine-clawed golden Dragon soared into the sky from the jade seal, circling above Gao Feng's head, emitting joyous dragon roars filled with endless delight and submission!

Destiny fulfilled!

At this moment, Gao Feng knew that the last and most important piece of the puzzle for his ascension to the throne and ruling the world had finally been completed!

Holding the warm, jade-like Imperial Jade Seal that radiated a vast Dragon Qi, and feeling the Qi and blood in his body boiling and surging due to the fusion of Dragon Qi, an unprecedented ambition to control the world surged wildly in his chest!

However, just as Gao Feng was integrating Jiangnan, winning over the hearts of the people, and preparing to accumulate strength to launch the final strike against the Blood Wolf King entrenched in the Divine Capital.

A piece of news that exceeded everyone's expectations quietly reached his desk from the distant, wild lands of the Southwest through the top-secret channel of the "Skynet."

A mysterious religious force rooted in the depths of the one hundred thousand mountains in the Southwest, which worshipped the so-called "God of Fire"—the "Fire Worship Cult"—had swept across the entire Southwest in just a few months like a prairie fire, at a nearly insane speed!

Its leader, who called himself "Holy Fire Ming Zun," was said to be an unfathomably powerful Tier 8 Peak Martial Saint!

This person's Cultivation Technique was bizarre, capable of controlling terrifying divine fire that could burn mountains and boil the seas. He used cruel blood sacrifice rituals and fanatical religious beliefs to bewitch and control millions of ignorant mountain barbarians in a very short time!

He organized these barbarians into a fearless and mad "Holy Fire Army." They shouted the fanatical slogan "The Holy Fire descends, purifying everything," and like a plague of locusts, they began to crazily infiltrate and sabotage Gao Feng's newly stabilized rear in Jiangnan!

They burned villages, slaughtered the common people, and regarded everyone who did not believe in their "God of Fire" as "heretics," using the most cruel means to burn them alive as sacrifices to their god!

For a time, the border area between Jiangnan and the Southwest was engulfed in flames of war, people were panic-stricken, and countless commoners were displaced and suffered tragic deaths!

"Religion? It's this kind of thing that bewitches people's hearts again."

Gao Feng looked at the battle reports filled with blood and sin in his hands, and a trace of cold Killing Intent flashed in his deep eyes.

What he hated most were these cult organizations that exploited the weaknesses of human nature to turn living people into mindless fanatics who only knew how to kill!

This kind of thing was like a tumor attached to the body of the country; if it was not eradicated as soon as possible, it would surely cause endless trouble!

"It seems that before dealing with the Divine Capital, I must first pull out this tumor in my backyard."

Gao Feng slowly stood up, walked to the huge military sand table, and his gaze fell on the area marked as "Southwest Wilderness."

He knew that for dealing with such religious forces, simple military encirclement and suppression had very little effect.

As long as their spiritual leader, "Holy Fire Ming Zun," did not die, those brainwashed fanatics would be like weeds, growing back again with the spring breeze.

To catch the bandits, catch the leader first!

The only way was to strike like thunder, go straight to the heart of the enemy, and carry out the most direct and lethal decapitation strike against the so-called "Holy Fire Ming Zun"!

Thinking of this, a trace of resolute ruthlessness flashed in Gao Feng's eyes!

He wanted to do it himself!

He wanted to use the head of this Tier 8 Peak Martial Saint as a whetstone for his own entry into the Tier 8 Realm!

Three days later, an elite squad of less than a hundred people quietly left the heavily guarded Shouchun City, like ghosts blending into the night, galloping towards the unknown and dangerous one hundred thousand mountains of the Southwest.

The leader of this squad was none other than Gao Feng himself, traveling incognito!

And those following behind him were all the top fierce generals and elites under his command!

There was the General of Chariots and Cavalry Zhao Yu, whose spear technique was like a dragon and who was a master of military strategy!

There was the General of Cavalry Ma Qianli, with his white horse and silver spear, unstoppable!

There was the supreme expert Gu Shenwei, who was proficient in the art of assassination and held the sword of death!

There was also the barbarian fierce general Wulu, who came from the Southern Border, had an instinctive, beast-like intuition for the jungle, and was skilled in jungle warfare!

Of course, there were also his ultimate trump cards, the Iron Guard and the Purple Guard, who were like his shadows and never left his side!

Although this squad was small in number, the terrifying combat power it contained was enough to make any current super power tremble!

They were the reapers walking on earth!

They had only one goal for this trip, and that was—to hunt down a god!

The one hundred thousand mountains of the Southwest were a wild land full of primitiveness and ferocity.

Here, ancient trees reached the sky, blocking out the sun, and the area was shrouded in dark and humid miasma all year round.

The forest not only contained various deadly poisonous insects and fierce beasts, but was also filled with all kinds of bizarre and vicious traps set by the fanatics of the Fire Worship Cult.

However, these dangers, which were deadly in the eyes of ordinary people, seemed so ridiculous in front of Gao Feng's "Hunting Squad" composed of top experts.

"Your Highness, be careful! Three zhang ahead, under the fallen leaves, there is a nest of 'Fire Kiss Snakes'! This snake is extremely poisonous. Once bitten, you will turn into a pool of pus and blood within three breaths!"

The burly Wulu, who was like a wild bear, suddenly stopped. His nose, as sharp as a beast's, sniffed lightly in the air and accurately judged the location of the danger.

Before he finished speaking, Ma Qianli, who was beside him, had already taken action.

With a flick of his wrist, several silver needles gleaming with cold light shot like lightning, with absolute precision, into the seemingly ordinary fallen leaves!

"Hiss hiss!"

A series of shrill snake hisses rang out. Several venomous snakes, entirely crimson with hideous triangular heads, leaped up from beneath the fallen leaves. But before they could launch an attack, they stiffened in mid-air and fell straight down.

"Hmph! A bunch of beasts who don't know when they're going to die!" Ma Qianli snorted coldly and withdrew the silver needles from his hand.

Just then, Gu Shenwei, who had been moving like a shadow at the very front of the team, suddenly flashed strangely and vanished from where he stood.

The next second, a dull scream suddenly rang out from a towering tree not far away!

A lookout wearing the attire of the Fire Worship Cult, with strange face paint, could be seen. A blood line as thin as a hair had appeared on his throat, though no one knew when. His eyes, filled with disbelief, stared fixedly ahead, and then he fell heavily from the canopy, which was dozens of zhang high, like a broken sack.

Gu Shenwei's figure appeared once again at the front of the team like a ghost. The poison-tipped dagger in his hand flickered with a chilling, deathly cold light in the dim jungle.

Just like that, with the perfect coordination between Wulu's beast-like jungle intuition and Gu Shenwei's elusive assassination techniques, Gao Feng and his group avoided all traps and eliminated all lookouts without incident. Like a scalpel, they pushed straight through toward the Fire Worship Cult's headquarters, the "Holy Fire Temple," located in the deepest part of the Ten Thousand Mountains!

Along the way, they also encountered several patrol squads led by Protectors and Elders of the Fire Worship Cult.

But these so-called "experts" were completely unable to withstand a single blow in front of Zhao Yu and Ma Qianli, two peerless fierce generals who had already stepped into the Peak of the Sixth Realm!

Often, they were torn to pieces on the spot by the violent spear radiance and the sharp Sword Qi after just one exchange!

After a clean and swift ambush that completely wiped out a hundred-man elite squad led by the "Blazing Vajra," one of the four great Protectors of the Fire Worship Cult, Gao Feng unexpectedly found a secret record made of human skin, filled with an Aura of blood and evil, inside the "Blazing Vajra's" embrace!

When Gao Feng saw the contents of the secret record, his eyes, which were usually as calm as an ancient well, instantly ignited with a monstrous rage capable of burning the heavens!

"Blood sacrifice to the common people, the gods descend to the mortal world..."

That secret record clearly recorded a terrifying plan that was insane to the extreme!

The so-called "Holy Fire Ming Zun" was actually preparing to launch a massive blood sacrifice three days later that would affect millions of lives throughout the entire Southwest!

He wanted to use the flesh, blood, and Soul of those millions of innocent lives as a sacrifice to their so-called "God of Fire," in order to exchange for the supreme Divine Power that would allow him to break his shackles and achieve a Breakthrough to the Ninth Realm of the Human Immortal Realm!

"Beast! This is simply insane!"

Gao Feng clenched his fists tightly, his knuckles turning white from the force. A terrifying Killing Intent that could not be described in words erupted from his body, causing even the air around him to freeze!

He knew he had to speed up!

He had to wipe that madman from this world completely before that horrific and inhumane blood sacrifice began!

...

Before arriving at the "Holy Fire Temple" hidden in the deepest part of the Ten Thousand Mountains, Gao Feng's "Hunting Squad" had already obtained all information about this evil cult headquarters through the pervasive intelligence network of "Sky Net" and the harsh interrogation of captured high-ranking members of the Fire Worship Cult.

The detailed defense map of the temple, the patrol routes, and even the personal daily routine of the mysterious "Holy Fire Ming Zun" were already laid out in meticulous detail before Gao Feng.

They learned that every day at noon was the critical moment when the "Holy Fire Ming Zun" absorbed the Power Of Faith from his followers and conducted the evil blood sacrifice ceremony.

At that time, he would use the "Holy Fire Formation" that enveloped the entire temple and the massive Power Of Faith from millions of followers to temporarily raise his strength to a terrifying level comparable to a pseudo-Ninth Realm Human Immortal!

That was the moment his defense was strongest and he was most invincible.

But at the same time, it was also the moment his mind was most focused and he was least able to be distracted!

And this was Gao Feng's only Opportunity!

After formulating a meticulous "Hunting Plan," Gao Feng took out several "secret weapons" he had carefully prepared for this operation from his spirit spring space.

"This is the 'Ice Heart Pill'." Gao Feng distributed several jade bottles to each core member of the squad. "I personally refined this pill using several rare medicinal herbs with extreme cold properties. After taking it, you will not only be able to resist most of the fire's scorching heat for one hour, but it will also clear your mind and focus your thoughts, preventing you from being seduced by the Demonic Technique of that evil cult."

"This is the 'Qi Explosion Pill'." He then took out several Medicinal Pills that emitted a violent Aura. "The medicinal properties of this pill are overbearing; it is a potent medicine. After taking it, you can forcibly stimulate your own potential for one hour, allowing your strength to temporarily rise by one level. However, after the medicinal effect wears off, there will be a one-hour period of weakness. Do not use it lightly unless absolutely necessary."

In addition to the Medicinal Pills, Gongshu Ban also custom-made a set of brand-new "special equipment" for them.

It was a special light armor made of the lightest and toughest "Black Iron Wood," with a surface coated in a "fire-avoiding coating" mixed from dozens of rare minerals.

There was also a special "sleeve crossbow" capable of firing "Ice Arrows" containing the power of extreme cold.

Armed to the teeth, the "Hunting Squad" lurked silently outside the "Holy Fire Temple," which was emitting an ominous red light, under the cover of night like ghosts.

A hunt against a "god" was about to begin!

Gao Feng looked at the evil temple, which lay like a crouching ancient beast in the night, and a calm yet cruel cold light flickered in his deep eyes.

"Holy Fire Ming Zun, Eighth Realm Peak, can reach pseudo-Ninth Realm with the help of Formation and Power Of Faith; a head-on confrontation is the worst strategy."

"His greatest reliance is the Formation and his followers, so I will first cut off his limbs and then behead him."

"Gu Shenwei's assassination, Zhao Yu and Ma Qianli's harassment, and Big Fool and Wulu's frontal assault are all to create an Opportunity for the final moment... my truly fatal blow."

"This is a hunt, and I am the hunter."

Midnight, the night was deep and quiet.

A shadow, almost blending into the night, crossed the ten-zhang high wall silently like a ghost and sneaked into the heavily guarded "Holy Fire Temple."

It was none other than the top assassin who had just Cultivated the "Shadow Escape" secret technique to the Realm of perfection—Gu Shenwei!

He was like a god of death walking in the shadows, perfectly avoiding all visible and hidden sentries. Even the "Fire Demon Dogs" that were tamed to guard the house failed to detect his presence.

Like a scalpel, he arrived precisely and efficiently at the three key nodes that provided energy for the entire "Holy Fire Formation."

Those were three energy towers made of unknown red crystals, emitting a scorching heat.

Gu Shenwei did not choose to destroy them violently, as that would alert the enemy immediately.

He simply took three "Magnetic Storm Grenades" custom-made by Gongshu Ban from his bosom and placed them gently at the core of the three energy towers.

After doing all this, his figure disappeared again, and like a ghost, he sneaked into the sleeping quarters of the few Red-Robed High Priests responsible for presiding over the Formation.

Those three highly respected Red-Robed High Priests were meditating cross-legged in their respective rooms, completely unaware of the impending death.

"Puchi!" "Puchi!" "Puchi!"

Three almost inaudible soft sounds rang out at almost the same time!

Three heads filled with shock and disbelief soared into the sky!

The boiling blood, before it even had time to gush out, was instantly evaporated by the extremely fast blade!

The entire process was clean, swift, and silent.

It was not until the next morning, when the maid responsible for serving them pushed open the door and saw the three headless corpses that had long since turned cold, that a shrill scream filled with endless fear finally broke the silence of the temple!

And just as the temple was plunged into chaos and panic due to the mysterious deaths of the three High Priests.

The second wave of attacks arrived as scheduled!

"Kill—!" "Kill—!"

Two heaven-shaking roars filled with endless Killing Intent rang out simultaneously from the east and west sides of the temple's perimeter!

Two small but elite cavalry squads, like two of the sharpest knives, pierced fiercely into the Fire Worship Cult camp responsible for outer perimeter security with the momentum of a thunderbolt!

It was the "bait" troops personally led by Zhao Yu and Ma Qianli!

They did not choose to engage in a head-on fight with the enemy, but instead fully utilized the unparalleled mobility of the cavalry!

Using the prepared fire arrows and the few "Explosive Shells," they launched a hit-and-run harassment attack on the dense camp!

For a time, the entire outer camp of the Fire Worship Cult was ablaze, explosions rang out one after another, and it turned into a complete mess!

The "Holy Fire Guard" responsible for protecting the temple fell for the trick indeed!

They split into two groups and charged aggressively toward the two daring "attackers" to pursue and kill them!

But they soon discovered in despair that their infantry combat ability, which they were so proud of, was completely useless in front of these cavalrymen who were as slippery as loaches!

They couldn't catch up, couldn't hit them, and could only watch helplessly as the opponent weaved back and forth through their ranks, firing cold arrows at will, constantly devouring the lives of their companions, yet they were helpless!

They were completely plunged into the vast ocean of cavalry guerrilla warfare, unable to extricate themselves!