179: Chapter 179 Those who offend my Heavenly Court shall be punished!
The Little Heavenly Court had changed.
If the Heavenly Court before was a new home built upon ruins, full of vitality, peace, and harmony, then now, it was a war beast awakened from its slumber.
Every inch of immortal soil, every wisp of air, was taut, as if it were a bowstring ready to snap at any moment.
There was no more laughter from the Immortal Maidens, nor the playful noise of children.
Instead, earth-shattering battle cries rang out from the training grounds, the Artifact Refining hall roared day and night, and the medicinal fragrance above the Alchemy Department was so thick it could not be dispersed.
No one had their usual relaxed expression, but in their eyes burned the same fanaticism.
The imperial decrees of the Heavenly Emperor, issued one after another from the Lingxiao Treasure Hall, were like precise instructions that seamlessly integrated every person and every resource of the Heavenly Court into this massive war machine, pushing it to operate at an unprecedented speed.
No one complained, and no one retreated.
The sense of crisis brought by the mark from the Boundary Sea hung over the heart of every member of the Heavenly Court like a dark cloud.
Yet, beyond this crisis, Li Xuan had also injected them with a shot of adrenaline called hope and self-confidence.
As long as the Heavenly Emperor did not fall, the Heavenly Court would not be destroyed.
This was the only thought on everyone's mind now.
…At the core eye of the Zhou Tian Star Array.
Here, starlight and array patterns were mixed and intertwined, a chaotic expanse.
Billions of star array patterns wove into a sea. Li Daoyan's small figure flashed within it. The innate array diagram mark between his brows shone with the light of the beginning of Grandmist, constantly deducing, reconstructing, and upgrading every detail of this array.
Beside him was the fully focused Li Qingyue. Using her Lunar Holy Body as a guide, she continuously mobilized Lunar Power to assist her younger brother.
Above them sat Li Xuan, legs crossed.
Before him floated the lu xian sword quietly. The killing intent capable of slaughtering gods and buddhas was firmly confined within three feet of him, forming a "Domain of Silence."
In his left hand, the Bodhi seed he had seized from Arhat Fatian, which carried a trace of Immortal King-level Buddhist Dao insight, had completely lost its luster, turning into a handful of fine powder that slipped through his fingers.
In just a few days.
Not only had he relied on this Bodhi seed to stabilize his Realm as a Grand Unity Golden Immortal (Second Layer), but he had also used it as fuel to push his Divine Thought to a brand-new level.
He had successfully fused the one-quarter of the killing intent missing from the Zhu Xian Sword Array with the Zhou Tian Star Array he had mastered.
He had turned that concept of "lu xian" (ending) into a core killing pattern, imprinting it into this supreme array protecting the Heavenly Court.
The current Zhou Tian Star Array was no longer just for simple protection.
It was now a super war fortress ready to drink blood at any moment!
Li Xuan opened his eyes and exhaled a breath of turbid air, which transformed into an invisible Sword Qi that pierced the Void Realm, leaving a black crack ten thousand zhang away that did not heal for a long time.
He knew that time was running out.
That mark was like a death warrant, bringing real disaster at any unknown moment.
He stood up, nodded to the two children still busy below, and took a step, returning to the highest point of the Lingxiao Treasure Hall.
He sat on that ancient, majestic throne carved from ten-thousand-year immortal wood.
He reached out and grasped the lu xian sword.
The cold touch from the hilt and the craving for blood and destruction emanating from the sword body made the Battle Intent he had suppressed for a long time surge even higher.
"Summon Li Changsheng, Li Yuanbao, and Ao Qingxue to see me."
His cold voice reached the ears of the Immortal Maidens standing outside the hall.
Soon, the three of them walked into the hall that represented the highest power of the Heavenly Court.
Li Changsheng was wearing a specially made suit of small armor, still carrying the scent of gunpowder and sweat from the training grounds.
His expression was no longer his usual lazy self, but a precocious sharpness.
Li Yuanbao had changed out of his festive little red jacket into a tight-fitting outfit. In his hand, he held not the purple-gold abacus, but a ledger made of immortal gold, with data streams constantly flashing across it.
His little face was taut. Between his brows was the exhaustion brought by mobilizing massive resources, yet there was also the composure of someone coordinating the overall situation.
As the mistress of the Heavenly Court's inner palace and the nominal leader of the Dragon Clan, Ao Qingxue was also in military attire. Her Chaos Dragon prestige merged subtly with the Luck of the entire Heavenly Court, adding a few degrees of a commander's majesty.
"Greetings, Father Emperor/Husband."
The three bowed together.
"How are the preparations?"
Li Xuan's gaze swept over the three of them.
"Reporting to Father Emperor."
Li Changsheng spoke first, his voice resonant:
"The Heavenly Court army has been reorganized. The million immortal soldiers of the Yuhua Immortal Dynasty are the 'Heavenly Spear Army,' the thirty thousand experts of the Dragon Clan are the 'Dragon Cavalry Army,' and the twenty thousand elites from the Heavenly Court Academy and various Loose Cultivators are the 'Heavenly Pivot Army'."
"We are ready for battle at any time!"
Li Yuanbao stepped forward, the light on his ledger shifting. "The Finance Department has entered a wartime state, and all resources are prioritized for military needs. The first batch of thirty 'Dragon-Pattern Immortal Ships' and three hundred 'God-Slaying Crossbows' have been handed over to the Ministry of War. The Medicinal Pill and immortal talismans are sufficient to support a high-intensity war lasting a hundred years."
"Very good."
Approval appeared in Li Xuan's eyes.
His two sons—one in charge of guns, one in charge of money—had both delivered answers that satisfied him.
His gaze looked outside the hall, toward the distance, his thoughts drifting to that unknown place called the "Boundary Sea."
Li Changsheng seemed to have sensed his father's mood. He stepped forward, lifting his small face. In those eyes, which were very similar to Li Xuan's, Battle Intent soared.
"Father Emperor, are they... coming?"
As soon as these words were spoken, the atmosphere in the hall became oppressive.
Li Xuan did not answer.
He simply stood up from the throne.
His left hand gripped the hilt of the lu xian sword.
"Buzz—"
An ancient and desolate sword hum echoed throughout the Lingxiao Treasure Hall.
Ripples of blood-colored killing intent radiated from the sword, staining the hall as if it were an Asura blood prison.
"Pass on my imperial decree."
His voice was not loud, but under the blessing of the Heavenly Court's Luck and the Will Manifests as Law Holy Body, it clearly resonated in the Sea of Consciousness of every living being within the Heavenly Court's territory.
The immortal soldiers and divine generals wrestling on the training grounds.
The Alchemy Great Master sweating in front of the Pill Furnace.
The Dao-seeking Disciples meditating in the academy.
No matter who they were, at this moment, they all stopped what they were doing.
In everyone's Sea of Consciousness, that majestic voice, like the Heavenly Law itself, rang out.
Li Xuan's eyes turned cold. His gaze seemed to pierce through the halls, clashing once again in the Void Realm with the prying eyes from across the Boundary Sea.
He let out a cold snort.
"No matter who it is."
"No matter where they come from."
"Daring to peek at the Heavenly Court..."
He paused, his hand holding the lu xian sword raised high, the sword tip pointing diagonally at the sky.
All the Luck and all the Battle Intent of the entire Heavenly Court condensed on that slender blade at this moment.
One word, like billions of Chaos Divine Thunder, exploded in his Sea of Consciousness and throughout the entire Heavenly Court world!
"—Execute!"
This word was not a sound.
It was an order, a Law, a will.
It was an invisible sword that severed the last thought of peace, signaling the beginning of a bloody battle for this newly born Immortal Domain.
Once this word was spoken.
On the training grounds, after a brief silence, a roar erupted that could overturn the heavens.
"Execute!"
"Execute!"
"Execute!"
The will of millions of soldiers merged into a torrent of iron and blood, surging into the sky.
Driven by this will, the cloud sea of the Heavenly Court's Luck churned violently, finally condensing into a blood-colored giant sword lying across the sky, pointing directly at the direction of that unknown Boundary Sea!
The war drums had been beaten.
And as for the enemies coming from the Boundary Sea, whoever they were, when they descended, they would face an iron-blooded Heavenly Court that had sharpened its fangs, mobilized its entire population, and stood ready for battle!
In the hall, Li Xuan stood holding the sword, his aura merging with the killing intent of the lu xian sword, his killing intent fierce.
He looked at the three children below who were equally high-spirited, feeling a surge of pride.
This was his Heavenly Court.
These were his children.
And they were the foundation of his courage to draw his sword against that unknown terror!