24: Chapter 24 The Rumors Are Wrong

Chu Xingyang felt slightly speechless, thinking to himself that the giant statue indeed only resembled him. But you, however, go to kneel and worship it every chance you get.

Therefore, he said with slight dissatisfaction to Emperor Tang Fei: "You really are senile, and your eyesight is failing; you are simply blind!"

After speaking, he looked down at the An Shen River below the mountain, where the corpses of nearly one hundred thousand Starfire Empire soldiers were blocking the river. The oil on the water's surface had burned out, leaving only charred bodies with exposed bones and large patches of dark red blood in the riverbed.

Chu Xingyang sighed and whispered to himself: "These young lives were all shouting my name before they died. It is a pity they are still soaking in the water now; let their final journey be a bit more dignified."

After speaking, he made a grasping motion with his hand in the air, and tens of thousands of corpses in the river immediately rose from the surface, floating in mid-air. After pausing for a moment, they simultaneously drifted toward the large, open field on the north bank. That open field had long been trampled firm and flat when the massive army assembled.

The sacrificed soldiers of the empire lay neatly on the ground, just as they had rested in their encampment before. Then, after a few minutes of darkness that blotted out the sky, tens of thousands of white cloths flew in and covered their bodies one by one.

The laborers responsible for retrieving and interring the corpses opened their mouths in astonishment; this was a workload that would have taken thousands of people half a month to complete, yet it was finished in an instant.

Emperor Tang Fei of the Starfire Empire finally understood. He prostrated himself on the ground, stumbling and crawling all the way to Chu Xingyang's feet, then wailed like a child: "Great Deity Xingyang, you have finally appeared again. You have always been watching over and pitying your people; we beg you to bestow a divine oracle, and we will surely obey your holy command."

The imperial soldiers and the laborers responsible for logistics all knelt down.

The soldiers and citizens of the Four Kingdoms who had just surrendered also knelt down.

Nearly two million people shouted in unison: "We pray for Great Deity Xingyang to bestow a divine oracle, and we will surely obey your holy command!"

This sound shook the mountains and earth, and the ground trembled because of it.

Chu Xingyang patted his head, which felt a bit uncomfortable from the vibrations, and looked indifferently at the millions of people prostrate on the ground: "I have no divine oracle. I just came to ask why the Emperor of the Starfire Empire wanted to slaughter all the Music People of the Southern State?"

Emperor Tang Fei looked pained: "Great Deity Xingyang, the Music People were blaspheming you. They said you were an Evil God, so naturally, I could not let them live."

The King of the Music People knelt on the ground, his whole body trembling violently from fear, as he gathered his courage to beg for mercy.

Chu Xingyang spoke first, however: "Forget it, I have seen those proclamations. They were just used to scare children who refused to sleep at night. There was nothing too malicious in them, so let it be; do not arbitrarily slaughter an entire race."

All the Music People knelt and kowtowed in gratitude: "Great Deity Xingyang, your grace is deeper and broader than the ocean. We, the Music People, will remember your kindness for generations to come, and our descendants will all be your loyal servants."

The others from the Four Kingdoms alliance also followed suit and knelt in worship.

Seeing this, Emperor Tang Fei naturally dared not go against the will of the deity and immediately ordered the troops to withdraw.

He then pulled one hundred thousand soldiers from his troops, ordering them to escort thousands of civil officials from the Star Fire Nation as they headed south to take over and garrison the Four Kingdoms of the Southern State that had just been conquered.

Thus, the Four Kingdoms alliance of the Northern Continent was destroyed, and only one nation remained on the entire continent: the Starfire Empire!

Two months later, in the capital of the empire, construction began on the magnificent Xingyang Temple.

The Emperor and the Crown Prince Tang Zhong, who had just been released from prison, brought the blueprints to the construction site to inspect the foundation work, while both silently lamented in their hearts: "I will not be able to see the completion of the temple in this lifetime."

Chu Xingyang told them not to be too extravagant or wasteful, as he was not necessarily going to live in this temple anyway.

But Emperor Tang Fei still insisted on following the grand specifications on the blueprints: "Great Deity Xingyang, without you, there would be no us, nor would there be the Starfire Empire of today. Please satisfy our desire to serve you."

As he spoke, he led the Xingyang God to the empire's highest meeting, the Legion Commander Council.

The commanders and deputy commanders of the five major legions would all attend this meeting to discuss and decide the empire's policies and direction.

Not noticing the arrival of His Majesty and the Xingyang God, everyone was arguing quite fiercely.

The commander of the lower army said indignantly: "The remnants of the Four Kingdoms can only be treated as second-class citizens. We should legislate to restrict some of their rights and prohibit intermarriage between the remnants of the Four Kingdoms and our people!"

Deputy General Tang Meng of The First Army had not been out of prison for long, but his eyes were still bright and spirited: "Since we all believe in the Xingyang God and are all loyal believers, why must we divide people into different classes?"

"Can the people of those four countries be the same as us? Although we all believe in the Xingyang God, the people of our five major legions are the true Child of God, and we all carry the blood of the god." The commander of the left army retorted.

General Tang Xing, commander of The First Army, clearly wanted to speak up for his deputy, Deputy General Tang Meng. Unfortunately, having lost both arms in the previous battle and barely saved by the military doctor's desperate efforts, he did not yet have the strength to argue at this moment.

Chu Xingyang walked in at this moment, looking puzzled: "What do you mean by saying you carry the blood of the god?"

The ten people in the conference room immediately knelt down, pressing their foreheads tightly against the floor: "We did not know the deity had arrived; please forgive our offense."

Emperor Tang Fei also walked in tremblingly, but with the Xingyang God present, naturally no one greeted the Emperor anymore.

Chu Xingyang continued to ask curiously: "So, you say you have the blood of the god—what does that mean?"

The room fell silent. After a long while, Deputy General Tang Meng stammered in reply: "The people of our five major legions are the descendants of the five Tang sisters from back then. Nearly ten thousand years ago, you taught them how to drill wood for fire and eat cooked food. Great Deity Xingyang, this is our origin; do you remember?"

"Of course I remember. I even played with those five Cat-eared Girls for a long time. I didn't realize ten thousand years had passed."

Deputy General Tang Meng looked sideways at the other legion commanders and continued: "Our ancestors, the five sisters, returned to the tribe and taught the people how to make fire and cook food. Soon, many tribespeople followed them. Then, they quickly became pregnant..."

"They all claimed that it was the god—that is, you, Great Deity Xingyang—who had intercourse with them while teaching them to drill wood for fire, which is how they became pregnant and how the five major legions of the Starfire Empire came to be."

Chu Xingyang was dumbfounded: "This must have been made up by the five of them, or fabricated by their descendants—your ancestors. I did spend half a day with them back then, but I did not have intercourse with them. After all, although they were cute Cat-eared Girls at that time, they were more like cats; they hadn't evolved into the way you women look now."

The high-ranking officers of the five major legions were first shocked, and after looking at each other, they all collapsed on the ground, realizing that their race did not possess the blood of the god after all.

"The Cat People, Artisans, Tree People, Music People, and Stone People on the Northern Continent were all created by me," Chu Xingyang said indifferently: "So I suggest you follow Deputy General Tang Meng's advice and treat everyone equally. In this way, the Starfire Empire will also become stronger and stronger!"