At this moment, in the Myriad Spirits Hall where Empress Chuge of Da Yu was situated.
On the palace walls of the Myriad Spirits Hall, there were lifelike carvings of numerous spirits; they would illuminate the palace without the need for lamps at night, as they would guide the spiritual light from the Rivers and Mountains Map to brighten the inner court.
A green young man, led by the empress’s personal maidservant, entered through the palace walls.
The green young man’s body was stiff, and when he walked, it seemed like a puppet devoid of spirit, with a red mole between his eyebrows.
“Old friends meeting need not be overly formal; take a seat.”
Empress Chuge appeared casual and dismissed the maidservant.
“Her Highness still remembers old feelings; I am truly humbled.”
The green young man was at a loss and knelt on the ground cautiously, not daring to rise.
Empress Chuge looked at him and said softly, “Having put on human skin, are you so reluctant to take it off?”
Upon hearing this, the green young man’s body stiffened, and his expression gradually turned cold. He smiled and said,
“Her Highness has enjoyed performing so many roles in front of others, haven’t you? I was curious, but now I find it somewhat interesting.”
“I did not call you here to talk about these things.”
Empress Chuge’s expression, which was already without much emotion, turned colder.
This kind of cold wasn’t cruel, but rather like a stone statue submerged in a deep abyss.
“Is it to reminisce?”
The green young man couldn’t hide a trace of sarcasm, “Recalling how we returned from the upper realms, reshaped the Nine Heavens and Ten Earths, killed those deities, each taking their roles, establishing the first dynasty. I taught humanity to transport vital energy, temper their bodies, and created dreams with Cloud Dream, weaving beautiful dreams.
If we hadn’t discovered that returning to the heavens was still possible from the Nether Reaches, or if we hadn’t realized that the collective power of the spirits could transform the Nine Heavens and Ten Earths into a vessel carrying our own paradise, would you and I still be the same as before?”
With every word he spoke, Empress Chuge’s aura became more profound, as if beneath her beautiful exterior lay something terrifying that would devour someone at will.
The green young man’s gaze became more playful.
He wanted to see Empress Chuge’s outer appearance become like his own, with the ugly and filthy soul revealed, like a flood spilling out once a crack appeared…
But he was disappointed.
After a moment, Empress Chuge’s aura returned to calm, and she smiled charmingly,
“I do not know what you are talking about.”
“Huh, I forgot, you were always disgusting, now even more so.”
The green young man’s venomous words sounded pale and powerless.
He also lost patience and asked,
“Tell me, why did you bring me out of the Heavenly Phoenix Domain?”
“Your body will break its seal soon and appear in the Heavenly Phoenix Domain; you will retrieve it yourself.”
“Hmm?”
The green young man narrowed his eyes, seemingly understanding something, “You prefer to return my body to me, yet you’re not afraid I’ll run away. You want to keep that woman in the Heavenly Phoenix Domain…”
As he spoke, he laughed,
“You fear her just as much as I do, hahaha, how pitiful we all are!”
Empress Chuge’s face finally darkened,
“Get out.”
“Haha…”
The green young man didn’t move, saying,
“The City of Divine Beings is about to fall into chaos. She alone cannot cause any trouble. Besides… even the ‘Referee’ is on my side; you can rest assured.”
“If you really worry, then worry about what I might do to you after leaving.”
As he spoke, the green young man’s body began to decay until it finally turned to dust and vanished with the wind.
He knew the Underground City had staged a mock exercise and guessed what Li Mo intended to do.
He decided to go along with it.
…..
In the Rivers and Mountains Map, time flowed faster again.
Before long, it was the day of the exercise.
Heaven, Earth, and the City, due to Xiao Li’s coordination, placed great importance on this exercise, and they had been waiting on the city walls of the Underground City long before, with a scale no less than when Jiang Yu went on an expedition.
…..
The atmosphere should be more relaxed. In the eyes of the Celestial Race and the noble families of the Underground City, the threat from the Ink City was clearly not as severe as natural disasters.
As long as full preparations were made, there wouldn’t be any problems.
Soon, a dark wave of people appeared on the horizon.
“Are there so many people participating in the exercise?”
Lei Ze, standing on the city wall, asked hesitantly.
“Li Mo said that he has high prestige in the Human City, so involving some mortals isn’t a problem. He also persuaded some of the captives from the Ink City to defect to us, and with the martial artists from the Underground City joining the ranks, it makes it as close to reality as possible.”
“It’s quite realistic.”
“Come to think of it, if I didn’t know it was an exercise, I’d have thought it was real.”
The celestial beings nodded, Li Mo indeed handled matters reliably.
“What’s the first part of the exercise?” Chun Mang was eager, finding it oddly enjoyable.
“Li Mo said we start with the simplest thing.”
Po Jun turned around, preparing to head back to the City of Heaven.
“What’s the simplest thing?”
“Surrender.”
That made sense, after all, no one knew whether Ying Bing would participate in this rebellion.
If she did, surrendering would be a sensible path.
The celestial beings found no issue with this and returned together to the City of Heaven, leaving the scene to the martial artists of the Underground City.
“All departments, please note, the first part of the exercise is about to begin. Please open the gates and surrender in an orderly manner. Make sure to discard any slack attitude and treat it seriously.”
Lei Ze’s voice echoed through the clouds.
To be honest, Li Mo had often thought that it was no wonder the Celestial Race was so powerful.
Perhaps they traded their wit for it.
These wits were enough to sit at the same table as Senior Brother Xiao Bao; why bother competing for the throne?
“Ink City is attacking!”
“Bao, they’re coming in force, we can’t hold them off!”
“Tell me, my dear, I love her forever, and I will fight the rebels to the d*ath!”
“Ahhh! I’m dead!”
The defenders of the Underground City were very cooperative.
The competition for the Best Supporting Actor at the First Golden Awards of the Heavenly Phoenix Domain was fierce.
“…”
Li Mo watched them perform so proficiently, even doubting that their acting lacked technique and relied solely on emotion.
They might have rehearsed in their hearts how to surrender.
For the martial artists of the Underground City, they understood everything. It was quite challenging to apprehend them before they surrendered.
Fleeing in panic, fighting to the bitter end, vowing that the city would stand as long as they did.
Some were particularly dedicated, even managing to get hold of the captives’ clothes from the Ink City and putting them on right there.
Then they joined the rebel army, rushing into the city to grab women.
Before grabbing the women, they apologized, “Such things are reasonable, it’s just for show, miss, don’t take it seriously.”
They were surprisingly polite.
Overall, chaos reigned in the Underground City, and the results of the exercise exceeded expectations.
“Ah… let’s go in.”
Li Mo shook his head, just about to ride into the city gate.
Beside him, Dong Ge Yu suddenly draped a robe over him.
Li Mo: “?”
Looking down, he saw a yellow robe that dazzled the eyes, embroidered with a true dragon.
Wait, the City of Heaven hadn’t been ‘taken’ yet.
Wasn’t it too early to wear the yellow robe? And this exercise…
Oh, it didn’t seem like an exercise at all.
Little Li student realized he might have gone too far with the drama. He was using the exercise as an excuse to actually rebel.
