Chapter 1556: Wu Chang's Fury

Above the boundless sea, a figure descended from the sky and landed directly inside Medicine Valley.

"Who's there?" Several cultivators on guard flashed out to challenge him. The moment they recognized the newcomer, they immediately saluted. "Greetings, Sacred Venerable."

The newcomer was Wu Chang.

His cold gaze swept across them. "Where is Hei Li?"

The guards exchanged looks. One stepped forward and reported, "Sacred Venerable, Hei Li and his disciples left the day before yesterday. They went traveling."

Wu Chang roared, "Traveling?"

The man who had answered trembled beneath his fury. "Yes."

Wu Chang flashed into the medicine cottage.

A moment later, the entire building exploded apart, fragments flying in every direction.

Wu Chang shot back out and rushed into the house where Hei Li and the others ordinarily lived.

There was no one there.

One building after another shattered beneath his overwhelming spiritual power as he vented his rage. The cultivators throughout Medicine Valley were terrified.

After wreaking havoc for a time, Wu Chang flashed to the island's highest peak and landed at the sulfur-reeking mouth of the volcano.

He stood against the wind, face dark, fists clenched so tightly with fury that his whole posture seemed rigid.

The moment he heard Hei Shi's report at Qiyun Sect, he had realized he had been deceived.

That was why he had rushed here first. He only wanted to confirm it.

Now the answer was clear.

He truly had been deceived.

At this point, everything made sense.

This had been a deception from beginning to end, meticulously laid out for him!

From the moment he saw Kunlin Shu make his move in the Desolate Marsh Deadlands, a trap aimed at Wu Chang had already been prepared, waiting for him to walk into it himself.

The exposure of Maolu Villa had been bait.

The information supplied by Ghost Doctor Hei Li had existed only to make that bait more convincing.

Whoever designed this trap had not hesitated to expose their own people.

They had not hesitated to place everyone's lives directly in Wu Chang's hands.

To construct this scheme, they had gambled with their lives. They had staked the lives of everyone involved.

The ruthlessness behind it was almost appalling.

The person who laid the trap had been willing to hand everyone's lives over to Wu Chang and let him dispose of them as he pleased, all for the sake of putting his mind at ease.

That meant Wu Chang's intentions, his ambitions, even the way he thought had all been within the opposing player's calculations.

They had calculated his greed and therefore dared gamble their lives against him.

They had used Wu Chang's own ambition against him.

Boom!

Half the mountaintop collapsed beneath the force of his rage.

He wanted nothing more than to destroy everything before his eyes.

Then he shot into the sky and rapidly disappeared into the distance.

The people of Medicine Valley finally breathed again.

Wu Chang's fury had frightened them badly, but none knew what had happened...

At Nanzhou Prefectural Capital, Wu Chang descended from the sky into the Maolu Annex.

Everything around him was peaceful.

"Who's there?" Several soldiers on rotating guard duty rushed in.

Wu Chang swept one arm backward.

An invisible force blasted all of them away together. They hit the ground coughing blood.

Wu Chang made a grasping motion.

One man flew through the air and was pulled directly into his hand. Wu Chang caught him by the throat and demanded to know where the people of the Maolu Annex had gone.

The answer was the same.

They had left the day before yesterday.

No one knew where.

Boom!

The newly built Maolu Annex was destroyed in Wu Chang's fury.

Boom!

A large portion of the newly built princely residence was destroyed as well when Wu Chang found no one there.

Even Feng Ruonan and Shang Chaozong's son were gone.

What more needed to be said?

The All-Under-Heaven Money House in the city collapsed with another thunderous crash, half of it destroyed as Wu Chang searched for somewhere to vent his rage.

He had wanted to use the Money House's eyes and ears, only to discover it had already been looted clean. All its wealth had been carried away.

He forced his way into several government yamens and found that the important officials had fled too.

He could not even find a few leading figures to kill and vent his anger upon.

His strength was unrivaled here, certainly.

But if he had to rely on himself alone to search for people, how long would it take to find them?

Was he truly supposed to stay here personally and slowly hunt them down one by one?

After rampaging through Nanzhou Prefectural Capital, killing several hundred people and throwing the whole city into panic, Wu Chang departed urgently and headed straight for the State of Song.

In his fury, he did not stop for even a moment.

He went directly to the Chancellor's residence in the Song capital.

He was too late again.

The reports he had received had said nothing about this place, yet the people here had fled as well.

Once again, it proved he had been moving within the calculations of the other side's deception.

He destroyed half the Chancellor's residence.

No one could stop him.

After killing several people to vent his rage, he hurried to Shangqing Sect's grounds outside the city.

This time, there was not a single person to be seen.

Shangqing Sect had not even left him a gatekeeper.

There was not so much as one terrified voice begging for mercy.

The absence only stoked Wu Chang's fury higher.

Amid thunderous explosions, he flattened Shangqing Sect's entire compound.

From the collapsing buildings and rising dust, Wu Chang shot into the sky once again.

There was no need to visit Myriad Beasts Sect, Ling Sect, or Tianxing Sect.

He had already received reports that they had fled.

Going there now would accomplish nothing.

It would be a wasted trip.

Wu Chang rushed at once to the region outside Xiping Pass.

Only then did he discover that the Yan army had also broken itself into smaller parts and fled.

Standing on the hillside where the Yan army had once been encamped, he looked out over the vast land in every direction.

What did the scene before him mean?

He had intended to seize Shang Chaozong to vent his rage.

He had intended to destroy the command center of the army resisting Jin.

His opponent had anticipated it and refused to give him the opportunity.

The wind lifted his hair.

Wu Chang's chest rose and fell rapidly.

Hatred and towering fury filled him, yet cold laughter kept escaping his throat.

He understood.

What was there left not to understand?

Wu Chang had been using the other side to eliminate Lan Daolin and Du Wuxu.

But had the other side not been using him to eliminate Lan Daolin and Du Wuxu as well?

He had believed they were caught inside his scheme.

Only now did he realize that he too had been caught inside theirs.

Their two schemes had intertwined.

Victory and defeat had hung upon a single thread.

The opposing side's brilliance had been in seeing the opportunity first, staying one step ahead, and making its move before he did.

When Wu Chang remembered sitting at Qiyun Sect and watching that group escape, he almost wanted to spit blood from sheer fury.

He had plainly used them to eliminate Lan Daolin and Du Wuxu, yet he felt not the slightest joy.

There was only anger.

Reality had slapped him hard across the face.

Never in his life had anyone toyed with him this way.

He had been played for a fool.

Toyed with like a three-year-old child.

Wu Chang had actually been manipulated in the palm of another's hand.

How could he not hate it?

"Don't fall into my hands. If you do, I'll make every last one of you beg for life and be denied death!"

He ground the words through clenched teeth.

Then his gaze turned toward the towering mountain range in the distance.

With a whoosh, he shot away.

At Xiping Pass, turmoil broke out in the heavily guarded command area on the mountaintop.

Someone had descended straight from the sky and forced his way directly into the army's command center.

A group of cultivators rushed out and surrounded the intruder, but the aura coming from him was so oppressive that none dared act recklessly.

"Stop!"

A Qiyun Sect elder appeared. The moment he recognized Wu Chang, he hurriedly shouted for everyone to withdraw and rushed forward himself to bow in alarm.

"Greetings, Sacred Venerable Tianmo!"

When the others heard that Sacred Venerable Tianmo himself had arrived, fear spread through them.

They all bowed in submission. "Greetings, Sacred Venerable!"

Wu Chang barked, "Where is Gao Pin?"

Before long, Gao Pin and the principal generals hurried over.

The moment they heard a Sacred Venerable had personally arrived, who would dare delay?

They dropped everything and came to pay their respects. "Greetings, Sacred Venerable."

None of these men had ever seen what a Sacred Venerable actually looked like.

Today, at least, they had broadened their horizons.

Wu Chang's cold eyes fixed on the leading man. "You're Gao Pin, marshal of Jin's eastern campaign?"

Gao Pin cupped his hands and bowed, trembling despite himself. "This general is!"

Wu Chang demanded, "The arrow is already on the string and the enemy is directly before you. Why have you still not given the order to attack?"

At this point, Wu Chang had only one path left.

He would use the forces under his control to sweep all beneath Heaven and rebuild the order of the realm.

There was no alternative.

The world was vast.

Relying on himself alone, or on the subordinates who had already lost control of the realm, finding people who had gone into hiding would be no different from searching for a needle in the sea.

They wanted to hide?

Fine.

He would see how long they could hide.

Let them hide for a lifetime if they had the ability.

Let them remain hidden until he had rebuilt an order capable of monitoring all beneath Heaven.

Gao Pin said fearfully, "The enemy situation has changed. The Yan army is behaving abnormally. This general has ordered men to investigate."

"There's nothing to investigate. The Yan army has already withdrawn. You should take advantage of the opportunity to attack and occupy their territory."

Gao Pin steeled himself. "Sacred Venerable, the Han army is watching from the side. If we rashly advance into Yan territory, they may strike across our middle and cut us in two. We cannot fail to guard against that."

"You don't need to worry about the Han army. I will act personally and clear that obstacle for you. Launch the attack immediately."

Wu Chang no longer cared whether the realm descended into chaos.

Nor did he care whether the sects beneath Heaven might defect to the other side and create resistance against Jin's advance.

Ling Sect and the others had already rebelled openly, and the forces that had once served the other Eight Saints were now scattered and in flight.

The resistance he had feared would arise during such a campaign was already inevitable.

What he had worried about before had already happened.

There was no longer any reason for restraint.

Now there was only one path.

Fight.

Even if they could not win, they would fight.

No matter how long it took, they would smash every faction and fight until all of them submitted.

Only when the order beneath Heaven had been rebuilt would Wu Chang stop.

The muscles in Gao Pin's face twitched.

He had no idea what had gotten into this Sacred Venerable and for a moment did not even know how to answer.

He quietly looked back toward the Qiyun Sect elder nearby, hoping for some hint on how to respond.

Wu Chang gave a questioning grunt. "What? Do you intend to defy my decree? Or does Qiyun Sect intend to disobey?"

The Qiyun Sect elder immediately panicked. "We would not dare."

He repeatedly signaled Gao Pin with his eyes.

Gao Pin had no choice but to cup his hands and accept the order. "This general obeys Sacred Venerable's decree!"

Wu Chang said, "You've had half a year to prepare. You should be more or less ready by now. Attack as soon as possible. There must be no delay."

With those words left behind, he vanished again with a whoosh.

Just like that, he was gone?

Everyone finally breathed easier and exchanged bewildered looks.

Gao Pin walked to the Qiyun Sect elder. "Elder, what in the world is happening?"

The elder sighed. "You ask me, but who am I supposed to ask? For now, do as he says. I'll contact the sect immediately."

Gao Pin nodded.

There was nothing else he could do.

He turned and immediately summoned the generals for a military council to prepare the offensive.

...

Outside the central command tent of the Han army, a figure descended from the sky.

"Who's there?"

A group of cultivators rushed out to intercept him.

All were alarmed by the speed with which the man had appeared. One glance was enough to tell them his strength far exceeded anything they could imagine.

Wu Chang stood expressionless.

His voice rang out like a great bronze bell, carrying two words with iron force.

"Wu Chang!"

"Ah!"

The cultivators were shocked.

None knew why he had come, but all immediately bowed. "Greetings, Sacred Venerable."

Wu Chang said coldly, "Where is Jin Jue?"

Jin Jue had already emerged after hearing the commotion.

When he heard himself called by name, he naturally hurried forward to pay his respects.

Wu Chang wasted no words.

He gave only one command.

Have the principal commanders of every division gather for a council.

Jin Jue did not dare refuse and immediately passed down the order.

Before long, the leading commanders of the various forces arrived one after another.

The moment everyone had gathered, Wu Chang suddenly flashed to Jin Jue's side.

Then, before the eyes of all present, he did something horrifying.

He seized Jin Jue by the head.

Like plucking a peach from a branch, he tore Jin Jue's head from his shoulders on the spot.

[End of Chapter 1556]