Saint Emperor Devourer of Heaven

Jun Wuxie returned to the border city, and near the mountains surrounding it, he dismissed the Blood鬃 Lion Hound Beast King.

He rode the Beast King to save time.

Compared to Lan Lan, the consequences of exposing the Blood鬃 Lion Hound Beast King were less severe.

After all, the border city was densely populated, with many eyes focused on it.

Although the Beast King's exposure was inevitable, he still didn't ride it directly into the city.

He estimated that Qingyun had received his talisman and the entire sect should have already set off for here.

Qingyun was a long way from the border city, across countless mountains and rivers, and he only hoped for a smooth journey without any accidents.

He secretly used his soul imprint to issue orders to the commanders of those passes, instructing them to pay attention to the people of Qingyun during these days.

If they saw people from Qingyun, they were not allowed to intercept them. If the people of Qingyun encountered danger, they must intervene to protect them and ensure their safe passage to the border city.

He didn't know if the people from the sect would pass through the area where the three major pass cities were located, but it was necessary to instruct them once, just in case.

Back at the City Lord's mansion, he saw Ning Wang and Anning, their expressions filled with shock.

Anning's eyes held a kind of unspeakable admiration, while Ning Wang's eyes were complex.

They had already received the news, having received talismans from the main commanders of the reinforcements.

This young man was actually able to open up the three major passes in such a short time, allowing the three routes of reinforcements to advance smoothly to the border city, which was truly unbelievable.

What Ning Wang found most incredible was that the letters from the three commanders all mentioned that Yue Wuxie had taken all the military camp commanders inside and outside the three major pass cities as slaves.

Ning Wang still couldn't believe it. This kind of thing sounded like a fantasy, even absurd.

A young cultivator in the Saint King realm had, within a few days, successively taken over a hundred people as slaves, including commanders in the Half-step Overlord Saint realm and high-ranking generals in the Great Saint Extreme Heaven realm.

If the three main commanders hadn't said so, he would have thought that the person who said this had a problem with their brain, or was mentally disturbed.

However, since the three commanders all said so, and the passes were wide open, and the reinforcements were indeed on their way, he had to believe the things in the talisman.

"I have already sent a talisman to Qingyun, asking them to come to the border city. They should already be on their way now. Anning, please arrange for a place for the tens of thousands of people from Qingyun to stay when they arrive. The border city is not peaceful now, and there are bound to be undercurrents, so we need to ensure the safety of my sect's people."

"Alright, the most peaceful area in the border city is the area around the City Lord's mansion. We will arrange for the people of Qingyun to settle down temporarily in this area. I will send more Talisman Armor troops to strengthen the patrols in this area for twelve hours."

"You're letting the entire Qingyun sect come to the border city?" Ning Wang's expression was a little unnatural. "If you do this, it seems that Qingyun is in danger. Is the Crown Prince going to attack Qingyun? But that doesn't seem likely."

"He will strike soon. When the battle in the border city starts again, the Blood鬃 Lion Hound Beast King will be exposed. By then, the people in the imperial city will know that I am the talisman master from the Flowing Cloud Forest. The Emperor once made an agreement with that 'talisman master' to invite that 'talisman master's' master to deal with you."

"Yue Wuxie, I have to say, you are really insidious, planning for both sides! So, back in the Royal Academy, those high-level officials knelt down and sent you out of the academy because you used your identity as a talisman master to threaten the Emperor to issue an imperial decree? But you were in the academy at the time, how could you be in two places at once?"

"I only attack those who want to deal with me, unlike you, who harms others for your own selfish desires."

Jun Wuxie's tone was very calm, but it was full of coldness, causing the temperature of the entire room to drop suddenly.

The muscles on Ning Wang's face twitched, and he couldn't help but reveal an embarrassed expression, not knowing how to respond to such sharp and direct words.

Because this topic concerned the fate of him and his daughter.

The air suddenly became quiet, and the atmosphere became tense.

Anning's heart was tense, her eyes were uneasy, and she wanted to speak several times but stopped.

"I'm sorry, I deeply regret the matter of True Martial Peak. I was wrong, and I brought hundreds of years of harm and pain to True Martial Peak..."

Ning Wang finally responded. He softened, no longer the sharp, powerful, and unmatched Ning Wang of the past.

"Don't apologize to me, what's the use of saying these things. In your mouth, it's just a few words, a sentence, but for True Martial Peak, it's hundreds of years of suffering, it's the pain that is inflicted on them every day!"

Ning Wang sighed and said nothing more.

In the past, he was wholeheartedly trying to seek hegemony, but now that he thinks about it, for thousands of years, he has had a kind of biased obsession, using any means to achieve his goals.

His hands were covered in blood, and many innocent people had become the bones on his path to seeking hegemony.

Now he realizes that everything is just a reflection in the water. After the ups and downs of emotions, his mentality has changed, and he has walked out of his obsession.

Only then did he realize that he had gone astray at some point.

Why did he swear to seize imperial power and become the supreme existence of the Great Gan?

The original intention was to better protect the people he cared about.

The premature death of his son, and the near-death experience of himself and his consort, and being driven to a remote small city, made him have new thoughts about life.

But now that he thinks about it, those things he did for hegemony over the years have turned him into the person he once hated the most.

He has also become the person who once forced him to this point.

How ironic.

"How is the situation with the Wu'an army?"

Jun Wuxie broke the silence.

"The Wu'an reinforcements began to arrive yesterday and are now resting. I estimate that they will not wait until all the reinforcements have arrived before attacking. After resting, they are very likely to launch a siege tomorrow!"

Speaking of the war, Ning Wang's expression immediately returned to normal, and he also adjusted his mentality, "Well, they also sent an envoy yesterday, saying that as long as my Great Gan gives up the right to participate in the ancient tomb, they can stop the war. I kicked him out at the time."

"Can they stop the war?" Jun Wuxie sneered, "The so-called ceasefire is just a ceasefire during the time period when their people enter the ancient tomb and have not yet come out. Once they complete the exploration of the ancient tomb, they will immediately launch a war. The ancient tomb is just an incidental small purpose of Wu'an's war."

Speaking of this, Jun Wuxie stood up and said: "The matter of exploring the ancient tomb should be put on the agenda, and we can't drag it on any longer."

Ning Wang said: "Indeed, the entrance to the ancient tomb has already appeared, and no one knows whether the ancient tomb will change with the passage of time, or whether it will disappear one day. However, Wu'an wants to monopolize the ancient tomb. Now that the war between the two sides is in a stalemate, if a consensus cannot be reached, no one can enter the ancient tomb."

"Then let them have no choice but to reach a consensus with us."

Jun Wuxie said as he walked outside, and came all the way to the high platform built in the City Lord's Mansion, and said: "Ning Wang, find a time to send a letter to Wu'an, telling them that we are willing to share the ancient tomb, and anyone who intends to explore the ancient tomb can enter. If they agree, send someone to talk."

"They will definitely not be willing." Ning Wang shook his head, "The Wu'an reinforcements have arrived one after another, and with the original army, the strength may reach tens of millions. Now, the original low morale has been greatly improved due to the arrival of reinforcements. It can be said that the current Wu'an army is a group of tiger and wolf divisions who have been injected with chicken blood!"

"Injected with chicken blood? Even if he's injected with duck blood, it's useless."

Jun Wuxie said, soaring into the air, heading towards the northeast corner of the city.

Xu Yan'ning followed him closely, and Ning Wang and Anning followed suit.

Before long, Jun Wuxie landed on the north city wall, and Ning Wang and the others quickly landed beside him.

The general guarding this section of the city wall hurriedly brought his subordinates forward to kneel down.

"You may dispense with the formalities, go do your own thing."

Ning Wang asked them to retreat, and then looked in the direction of Jun Wuxie's gaze.

Outside the city wall was the battlefield, located in the northeast corner of the battlefield, near the edge of the battlefield.

Their eyes fell outside the edge of the battlefield, between a series of rolling mountains.

These mountains all belonged to the subsidiary mountains at the foot of the Hengduan Mountains. The Hengduan Mountains constituted the natural barrier of the border city. There was only a canyon more than a hundred meters wide that could pass through, and each end was connected to the eastern and northern main lines of the Hengduan Mountains.

Neither the Great Gan nor the Wu'an dared to let their troops cross the mountains, and could only choose the long canyon of more than a hundred meters.

The Hengduan Mountains were very terrifying. Even if it was just its branch veins, it was full of dangers.

If you want to cross the mountains, you need to cross the ridge of the mountains. Even powerful people in the Overlord Saint realm may not be able to come back alive.

The mountains where Jun Wuxie and Ning Wang and the others were looking were relatively low compared to the mountains here, but they were also several hundred to nearly a thousand meters high.

They rose into the air and came to a higher position for easy observation.

There was a special area among the mountains.

It was different from other places, with a faint mist lingering around it, adding a bit of mystery.

In the mountains, such an area, such an environment, coupled with the relatively dim light, made people feel a bit eerie.

This was a scene that everyone could see, an atmosphere that could be felt.

In addition to these, Jun Wuxie's talismanic pupil technique saw a natural field there.

That kind of field did not have killing power, but it had a strange operating law, which exceeded the limit that his current talismanic attainments could see through and deduce.

Following a relatively wide mountain gully there, they looked all the way to the end.

At the end, there was a mountain, with an oval shape and covered with vegetation that was not very tall but very lush.

The growth distribution of those vegetations may not be unusual in the eyes of others, but in Jun Wuxie's eyes, there was a problem.

No, it shouldn't be said that there was a problem, it should be said that it was very magical.

They seemed to be born according to some profound array distribution, and the vegetation was quite extraordinary, containing the power of a domain.

"It seems to have the effect of condensing some special energy between heaven and earth…"

Jun Wuxie wasn't too sure. The domain was too profound, and it seemed to be a natural domain, not man-made.

The oval-shaped mountain, viewed from a distance, resembled a magnified tomb.

At the foot of the mountain, at the end of a wide gully, stood two massive stone doors, tightly closed.

The stone doors were engraved with blurred patterns, possessing an ancient charm, and the patterns contained array runes.

The two heavy stone doors were covered in the dust of ages, thick with mud, and even overgrown with climbing plants along the edges. At first glance, they resembled pythons clinging to them.

"This ancient tomb is not simple. I'm afraid it's not the tomb of a Ba Sheng realm expert as you thought. At the very least, it's a Sheng Huang level tomb…"

Jun Wuxie was now certain that a Ba Sheng realm expert could not have left behind such an ancient tomb. Just from the natural domain of its location, it was beyond what a Ba Sheng could achieve.

It could even be said that most Sheng Huangs couldn't do it, unless they were Sheng Huangs with extremely strong soul perception who could discern such a domain.

Ancient tombs are usually discovered unintentionally, or they appear due to drastic changes in the natural environment.

However, this ancient tomb was not like that.

According to Jun Wuxie's understanding, nothing unusual had happened in this area.

The ancient tomb had slowly emerged on its own.

This was very interesting, as if the tomb's owner had foreseen the ending when they were buried.

A person's tomb is normally a place for their own burial, a place of slumber. Few people want to be disturbed after death, with their tomb defiled and even their bones dug up.

But this tomb seemed more like the tomb owner had left behind a contingency plan, otherwise, how would it have appeared inexplicably before the eyes of the world?

If the tomb owner did it deliberately, then their purpose would either be to leave something for future generations, or to hope that future generations could bring them some help after entering the tomb, or there might be other unknown reasons involved.

Of course, it couldn't be ruled out that the tomb's emergence was due to something inside triggering an unknown cause and effect, with a pair of hands of order pushing everything forward, causing it to appear in this golden age for the people of the prosperous era to compete for opportunities.

"A Sheng Huang tomb?"

Ning Wang's eyelids twitched violently a few times. "If it's a Sheng Huang tomb, the things left inside will be unimaginable! If that's the case, why share it with others? When the reinforcements arrive, we can completely send the army out of the city and guard the mouth of that canyon, forcibly blocking the Wu'an army outside! At that time, you can enter the tomb alone to search for treasures, with no one competing with you, and all the opportunities inside will fall into your hands."

"You're right, doing so would indeed work, but it would cause heavy casualties among our soldiers, so we can't do that,"

Jun Wuxie said. If the war could be delayed, it should be delayed as much as possible. Unnecessary wars should not be fought. The more time is delayed, the more beneficial it is for the border city. The later the battle, the fewer the casualties.

"How should I understand this?"

Ning Wang didn't quite understand his meaning. Why would the casualties decrease if the time was delayed before fighting again?

The Wu'an Dynasty had the support of the Seven Killing Tower, and even people from the Jue Hun Valley and Wan Du Sect were heading to the Wu'an Imperial City, probably also wanting to achieve their goals through Wu'an.

In that case, as time passed, the Wu'an army would only become stronger and stronger, and the pressure on the border city would only increase, and the battle casualties would only increase sharply. How could they decrease instead?

"Because I need time to become stronger, and our Rune Armor Army will also become stronger with the passage of time. If you think that the Wu'an army has the support of top sects in Hanzhou, and their strength will only increase faster than ours, then according to that logic, we can surrender the city now."

"Alright, then let's do as you say. However, if various forces participate in the exploration of the ancient tomb, aren't you worried that the great opportunities inside will be snatched away by others?"

"What is called an opportunity? Having the chance and the ability to seize it is what makes it an opportunity. Otherwise, it's not an opportunity, but someone else's opportunity. The things in the tomb are not simply placed there for anyone to reach out and take. Besides, I'm not afraid of competition. Could it be that I can't compete with them?"

Jun Wuxie was very confident, firstly because of his own prosperous fortune, secondly because of his confidence in his own strength, and thirdly because the ancient tomb was built in a place with a profound domain. The ancient tomb must not be simple. How could it be so easy to obtain the things inside the tomb?

… …

Back at the City Lord's Mansion, Jun Wuxie and Xu Yan'ning entered the independent courtyard.

It was still early, just past noon.

Jun Wuxie sat under a tree in the courtyard, drinking tea while carving with his fingers.

In the void, countless rune traces intertwined, constantly evolving.

The speed of his finger carving seemed slow, but each time he waved, a ray of light would split into tens of thousands of rune traces, arranged at different angles and positions.

Xu Yan'ning sat beside him, her hands supporting her cheeks, her beautiful eyes shining as she stared at his profile.

He was so serious when he was focused on studying the War Rune Armor Technique.

Her eyes flickered with brilliance, her gaze somewhat infatuated, but she still didn't forget to pour hot tea into his teacup from time to time.

Each time Jun Wuxie carved a rune trace, he would activate his Rune Dao pupil technique, carefully staring at the runes that were intertwined and constantly evolving in the void in front of him.

During this process, he memorized the most critical points in the evolution of the rune traces, and then closed his eyes, performing deductions in the Qiankun Cave Heaven.

With repeated deductions, he quickly found ways to simplify and improve it.

However, the complete rune armor array diagram involved too many evolutionary key points. It would take a lot of time to simplify and improve all the key points, so as to enhance its power.

He was completely immersed in it, forgetting the time.

He studied from afternoon to night, from late at night to early morning, and then to dawn.

It wasn't until a glimmer of light appeared in the sky that he stopped, only to find that Xu Yan'ning had actually sat here with him all night.

"Why didn't you go to rest?"

Jun Wuxie shook his head helplessly, then sat cross-legged on the stool, closing his eyes to adjust his breathing.

Studying the Rune Armor Technique was quite energy-consuming, making his spirit feel a little tired.

It should be known that he had the soul realm of a Great Saint peak.

If it were replaced by other Saint Rune Masters at the peak of the First Realm, let alone whether they could understand these Rune Armor Techniques, even if they could understand them, their mental power would probably not last for long before they became exhausted.

He now had to restore his spirit to its peak as soon as possible, because the Wu'an army was very likely to launch a siege today.

If he wanted to enter the ancient tomb as soon as possible, then he had to get Wu'an to agree to the proposal of sharing the ancient tomb.

To get Wu'an to agree, he had to inflict a heavy blow on them on the battlefield, creating psychological pressure on them, forcing them to reconsider and make a different choice.