“The army of the Country of Yan?”
Su Hong frowned, feeling perplexed. “The Country of Yan is without a leader. The first thing right now should be to elect a new king, and to keep the army and the officials’ morale high. Why would they lead an army to deal with us?”
“It doesn’t make sense.”
Uncle Zheng shook his head as well. “There are hundreds of thousands of soldiers. That is the entire army of the Country of Yan. Will they go to this extent just to deal with the Su family? I don’t think so.”
“Cultivators?”
There was a coldness in Su Zimo’s eyes and he thought to himself. “It must be the Joyful Clan!”
Ten days ago, the Joyful Clan sent hundreds of cultivators to hunt down Su Zimo. In the end, all of them were slain in Cang Lang Mountain Range. The Joyful Clan could not possibly take this lying down.
Furthermore, the Su family and Su Zimo had no interaction with the cultivation world, their only enemy was the Joyful Clan.
“Brother, bring the Su family to retreat to Cang Lang City first. I will follow thereafter,” Su Zimo said in a deep voice.
Su Zimo had just finished his sentence and he seemed to sense something, looking into the far distance.
At the far end of the sky, there was a group of more than one thousand people rushing over in alarming speed. All of them were cultivators and they were executing the Sword Kinesis Flight in mid- air!
Su Zimo squinted his eyes, he could see them very clearly.
The cultivators were moving at a fast speed, they were already at the Foundation Establishment realm!
This was a group that was made up entirely of Foundation Establishment Cultivators. Could the Joyful Clan be so powerful?
“It’s too late.” Song Qi looked grim as he shook his head.
Su Hong clenched his fists, saying in a cold voice, “I will gather the black armored cavalry. We can’t possibly sit here waiting for our deaths.”
“Wait a minute.”
Su Zimo stopped Su Hong, shaking his head. “Don’t act rashly, we will act according to the circumstances.”
Regardless of whether it was Su Hong or Song Qi, they had not sparred with Foundation Establishment Cultivators before. But Su Zimo knew the abilities off the Foundation Establishment Cultivators very well.
If the group of more than one thousand Foundation Establishment Cultivators attacked them, a 50,000 strong black armored cavalry would be wiped out, notwithstanding a 5,000 strong black armored cavalry!
They were not at Cang Lang Mountain Range. Su Zimo was not the opponent of one Foundation Establishment Cultivator, let alone one thousand Foundation Establishment Cultivators.
They could do nothing but wait.
The one thousand Foundation Establishment Cultivators reached the sky of Ping Yang Town in no time. They were dressed uniformly, and they exuded the harsh and murderous aura. They did not look like cultivators, instead they seemed more like the national army.
At the furthest front of the one thousand Foundation Establishment Cultivators was a graceful and magnificent carriage that floated in the air. It was adorned with brilliant jewels and pearls, dazzling and sparkling in midair. Although no one carried the carriage, it floated steadily in midair.
There was sparkling bead curtain at the front of the carriage. There seemed to be someone seated in the carriage. One could not tell the person’s facial features due to the bead curtain.
“This is…”
Everyone in the Su family was shocked.
Song Qi, who was a Qi Refinement Warrior, had never seen such a large army either, he was dumbstruck.
“Something is wrong.”
Uncle Zheng said softly, “The markings on the cultivators’ costumes seem to be that of the Great Zhou Dynasty.”
Every Foundation Establishment Cultivator who was in midair had an exquisite five-clawed golden dragon imprinted on the sleeves. It was very realistic and majestic.
Right then, the leader of the Foundation Establishment Cultivators came out from the crowd. He wore a golden Taoist robe and stood floating in the air. He swept his sharp gaze over everyone in the Su family, pausing slightly when he saw Su Zimo.
He then took out a golden silk from his storage bag and spread it out.
Su Hong and Uncle Zheng had a big shock at the sight of the golden silk, exclaiming in surprise. “The Emperor’s imperial edict!”
The Great Zhou Dynasty was the only one who had the right to issue the golden silk and it was from the Emperor of the Great Zhou Dynasty!
Who was the Emperor of the Great Zhou Dynasty?
He was the supreme leader of the Great Zhou Dynasty. He had achieved a lot of meritorious deeds, surpassing the ancients and dazzling contemporaries, holding absolute power in his hands!
If the Emperor was angered, millions of people had to die!
Since the imperial edict was issued, every state in the Great Zhou Dynasty had to submit unconditionally, otherwise it would be seen as an act of defiance and they would be punished by the Great Zhou Dynasty!
“King Qian of Yan was unscrupulous and framed loyal subjects, causing chaos to his country and governance. It is right that he be removed. It was said that Su Hong is the son of Su Mu, and he is well-loved by the people and has courage and wits, loving the people like his own. He is qualified to be the next king. I hereby issue this imperial edict crowning him as king. Everyone is to spread the news and not to hinder the spreading of this edict.”
The golden armored leader who was in midair rolled the imperial edict. He stared at Su Hong and said in a deep voice, “Su Hong, accept the imperial edict.”
“This…”
Su Hong froze in place, looking shocked. There was disbelief in his eyes.
The Great Zhou Dynasty hardly intervened in the affairs of the various states. It was rare that it would issue imperial edicts, let alone crown someone as the king of a vassal state.
It was not that Su Hong did not want to be the king.
The reason why he rejected Wei Mingcheng’s proposal was that he was worried that if he was crowned king, war would definitely break out and it would implicate the innocent people of the Country of Yan.
But right now, with the imperial edict, Su Hong could be crowned the king and yet there would be no wars in the Country of Yan.
If anyone had objections and launched a war, he would not be going against Su Hong, but the imperial edict!
No one would be so foolish to do such things. It was akin to courting death.
More importantly, everyone in the Su family would no longer need to leave their homeland to go to other states, and the black armored cavalry would finally have a place to stay for good.
“Young Master, hurry, accept the edict!” Uncle Zheng was excited, he could not hide his happiness and he urged him softly.
“But…”
Su Hong was in a difficult position. He had never seen the emperor of the Great Zhou Dynasty before, and the imperial edict came all of a sudden. He could not help but feel worried and perturbed.
Su Hong looked toward Su Zimo automatically.
Su Zimo frowned, shaking his head.
He had never seen anyone from the Great Zhou Dynasty as well. The only possibility was that it was Die Yue’s doing.
Before Die Yue left, she told Su Zimo that she had left three gifts for him. One of them was the spirit root, but she did not tell him the remaining two gifts. Could it be that one of the gifts was the crowning of his older brother?
But that did not make any sense.
Su Zimo felt baffled, he whispered to his older brother. “Brother, you should accept the edict first.”
Su Hong nodded and took a deep breath, making a bow, before he knelt down on one knee, saying in a low voice, “Su Hong accepts the imperial edict.”
The golden armored leader waved his hands and the imperial edict landed softly on Su Hong’s hands. It sparkled with gold radiance, exuding a majestic aura, as if the emperor was here.
Right then, fumes and dust billowed in the wind from not too far away. There was a thunderous sound of hooves. The Country of Yan’s army had just arrived, they were led by famed generals of the Country of Yan, among them was Wei Mingcheng, the general of Jian An City.
Hundreds of thousands of soldiers came galloping over. There were so many of them, one could not see the end of the line.
The generals at the front line dismounted and knelt down on one knee at sight of Su Hong, shouting loudly, “We pay respects to the King!”
“We pay respects to the King!”
Hundreds of thousands of soldiers yelled and the loud voices resonated.
The Su family finally realized that the hundreds of thousands of soldiers were not here to seek revenge, instead they were here to pay respects to the new king of the Country of Yan, and to welcome him back to stand guard at the capital.
Although this was a good piece of news, the Su family seemed to be at a loss. They felt that everything was surreal and they seemed to be dreaming.
Su Zimo raised his head, looking toward the carriage that was floating in midair. He fixed his gaze on it as if trying to see through it.
Swoosh!
A porcelain white fair arm reached out from the carriage to lift the bead curtain. A beauty came walking out from the carriage. She was dressed in a yellow long dress, with a ribbon tied at her waist, fully accentuating her exquisite figure.
The lady had complexion that was fair as snow. She looked refreshing and mesmerizing. The moment she exited the carriage, the graceful and magnificent carriage seemed to pale in comparison to her.
“Zimo, didn’t I say that we will definitely meet again?” The lady waved her hands at Su Zimo, smiling.