Book 03 Chapter 139: The Strongest Foundation

At the location of the Southern Suppression Army’s sixth battalion:

The Ying Nation’s army suffered consecutive defeats while Gao Xianzhi’s sixth battalion enjoyed victory in all their battles. However, after the Ying Nation’s army fell, he would have to face the Yuan Imperial Dynasty’s army.

The Southern Suppression Army would meet with resistance, but nothing was too difficult for Gao Xianzhi. He slowed his battalion’s march and started to analyze everything about the defenses of the cities ahead of him. This was something he learned from Gu Hai: Know yourself and your enemies, and your victory is assured.

During this time, Baili Zhan did not dare to disobey Gao Xianzhi. He had also fully handed over the sixth battalion to Gao Xianzhi. Fighting to his heart’s content and enjoying victory had felt fantastic. Previously, the sixth battalion was the one dragging the army down. Gao Xianzhi taking over command had been like gaining divine assistance. Baili Zhan had already come to accept Gao Xianzhi, but at the same time, he also had his orders from Prince Shenwu.

“Mister Gao, your ability to command is too incredible. I have not fought to my heart’s content like this in years,” Baili Zhan praised.

Gao Xianzhi smiled faintly but showed no further reaction as he continued reading the information.

“Lord Gao, the supreme commander sent rewards again. Every time he does, he sends even more than before. The supreme commander values Mister Gao extremely highly. If Mister Gao remains in the sixth battalion, I, Baili Zhan, will approve with both hands!” Baili Zhan said with a smile.

“Many thanks, General Baili. However, I am just taking command temporarily.” Gao Xianzhi shook his head while smiling.

Baili Zhan appeared slightly anxious. “Mister Gao, the supreme commander is sincere in recruiting you. You have a bright future if you follow the supreme commander. If Mister Gao is willing, it would not be difficult for you to become a third-grade official of the Qian Heavenly Dynasty. Your talents are wasted in the Han Royal Dynasty. Really!”

“Wasted? I don’t feel so.” Gao Xianzhi smiled.

Baili Zhan: “…”

Why can’t Gao Xianzhi understand this point?

“A third-grade official of the Qian Heavenly Dynasty is on equal footing with the master of a royal dynasty, possibly even higher and with more authority. That Gu Hai is quite capable, but he is just in the Golden Core Realm. Isn’t it a waste for you to be subordinate to him? Come under the supreme commander, and you can command even Heavenly Palace Realm experts,” Baili Zhan said with anticipation.

Gao Xianzhi shook his head and smiled. “Many thanks, General Baili. However, I still prefer the Han Royal Dynasty. Although the Han Royal Dynasty is not strong now, it will grow stronger eventually. Furthermore, if not for my Han Royal Dynasty, how could we have defeated Lu Yang’s army so easily?”

“That’s true. Gu Hai did do a lot, making big contributions every time. However, no matter how strong Gu Hai is, can he deal with Lu Yang alone without the Southern Suppression Army?” Baili Zhan countered, unconvinced.

Suddenly, Gao Xianzhi’s expression changed. He put down everything and stood up, appearing to be listening to something.

“What’s wrong?” Baili Zhan asked in confusion.

Then, Gao Xianzhi abruptly raised his right hand.

Whoosh!

Suddenly, all of Gao Xianzhi’s energy drained, leaving him limp, and he slumped over.

“Mister Gao, are you alright?” Baili Zhan exclaimed.

Gao Xianzhi smiled faintly and said, “What a coincidence! Sorry to disappoint General Baili. His Majesty is currently fighting Lu Yang alone!”

“How could Gu Hai face Lu Yang without our Southern Suppression Army?” Baili Zhan said skeptically.

——

In the distant north of Foundation Deity City:

One hundred flying ships coursed through the sky.

Prince Shenwu, Sima Changkong, and others stood on the flagship. Everyone rushed to Foundation Deity City at full speed from Southern Suppression City. The flying ships moved faster, after all, so they approached rapidly.

Boom!

Huangfu Chaoge’s dragon vein’s self-detonation near the distant Foundation Deity City seemed to toss up the land and turned the world dark.

The expression of everyone on the flying ship changed.

“Hurry!” Prince Shenwu called out.

Whoosh!

The one hundred flying ships accelerated, rushing to the distant battlefield.

——

Outside Foundation Deity City:

Gu Hai and Lu Yang faced each other while standing on their respective dragon veins. Gu Hai managed to drag things out, tricking Lu Yang into wasting time. At this time, all the Divine Foundation Royal Dynasty citizens had raised their right hands, lending him vast energy to fight Lu Yang.

Rumble…!

The blessings cloud sea churned. Golden energy gathered from all directions and poured into Gu Hai’s body.

Earlier, when the energy from Nine-Five Island poured into Gu Hai’s body, he had gained the strength of a Fifth Nascent Soul Stage cultivator. Now, his aura soared again.

Due to Gu Hai’s increasingly ferocious aura, a storm now blew around him.

Gu Hai grew stronger and stronger and still stronger.

If it were in the past, Lu Yang would not have cared about Gu Hai’s explosive growth in strength. However, he was currently injured. His Heavenly Palace Realm strength was extremely unstable at the moment.

“Gu Hai, how dare you trick me?! Die!” Lu Yang roared. Then, his figure flashed as he threw a punch at Gu Hai.

Boom!

A large, blue manifested fist suddenly appeared. The moment the manifested fist appeared, it immediately parted the flaming storm around Gu Hai. Even when severely injured, a Heavenly Palace Realm cultivator was still extremely mighty.

Gu Hai showed a ferocious expression as he stepped forward and punched.

A golden manifested fist clashed with the blue manifested fist.

Boom!

Strong gales appeared out of nowhere as a result of the clash.

Gu Hai pushed hard with his feet and barely managed to block Lu Yang’s punch.

Blargh!

Gu Hai vomited a mouthful of blood. Clearly, Lu Yang’s punch was too strong. Gu Hai found it somewhat unbearable.

Lu Yang’s expression changed. “Your strength improved that much?”

“Ha! My strength is at the level of peak Nascent Soul Realm. It is still not comparable with your Heavenly Palace Realm strength. But…hahahahaha! Lu Yang, is that all the strength you have?” Gu Hai laughed with a ferocious expression.

Currently, Gu Hai’s face flushed red, looking like he could not hold on for much longer. However, he still had a ferocious expression.

“It is sufficient to destroy you!” Lu Yang said with hatred in his eyes.

“No, if that is all you have, then you have lost. You are defeated,” Gu Hai guffawed with a flushed complexion.

The citizens’ power came from the twelve cities, endlessly strengthening Gu Hai as more energy gathered.

The two fists pushed against each other in a stalemate. While Gu Hai was at a disadvantage, his strength grew gradually as the energy flowing into him increased; his disadvantage diminished slowly.

Lu Yang’s expression changed as he increased the force in his fist.

However, the strength in Gu Hai’s fist also increased.

“You have lost. Hahaha! Before I even gathered all of the citizens’ power, you already reached your limit. You have lost!” Gu Hai said ferociously.

“No! I have not lost! The one dying is you!” Lu Yang laughed ferociously.

“Oh?” Gu Hai showed some disdain on his face.

“You can make use of a nation’s power. Indeed, you can still grow stronger. However, what about your cultivation? It is just at the Golden Core Realm. Just at the Golden Core Realm, your body cannot endure the Heavenly Palace Realm’s power. Once you reach the Heavenly Palace Realm’s power, you will explode. Hahaha! I’ll wait and watch you explode. Go on! Explode! Hahahaha!” Lu Yang laughed maniacally.

“My body cannot endure it? That is just what you think!” Gu Hai said coldly.

“Huh?” Lu Yang’s expression changed.

Gu Hai was still growing stronger and stronger.

Boom!

Suddenly, Lu Yang felt his fist tremble. Gu Hai’s strength had crossed the threshold of the Heavenly Palace Realm in the earlier instant.

Gu Hai’s strength was still growing. Although his face flushed red earlier, it had already recovered to his usual complexion.

“That’s impossible. You are only a Golden Core Realm cultivator. How could you endure such power?” Lu Yang said in disbelief.

“Do you think that I am an ordinary Golden Core Realm cultivator?” Gu Hai smiled coldly.

Lu Yang’s expression changed as he recalled the information on Gu Hai that he read back then.

“You reached the Innate Realm through physical cultivation?” Lu Yang’s expression changed.

Internal cultivation cultivated energy while physical cultivation cultivated the body.

Gu Hai had reached the Innate Realm through physical cultivation. His physical body was several times stronger than others’. As his cultivation improved, the effects of physical cultivation became more apparent.

“No wonder that old fogey from the Qian Nation scattered his cultivation and recultivated from scratch using physical cultivation. He cultivated physically to attain the strongest body? No, no, you laid the strongest foundation for your bones and muscles, but what about your internal organs? Your heart, liver, spleen, lungs, and kidneys are the weakest organs. Can they endure the Heavenly Palace Realm’s power? Your dantian and organs will explode!” Lu Yang glared with disbelief.

“Haha! My foundations are not limited to just my bones and muscles!” Gu Hai said coldly.

Boom!

Gu Hai’s strength continued soaring, surpassing Lu Yang’s; now, he suppressed Lu Yang.

“Cough! Cough! Cough! No! You cannot possibly defeat me. I am the Ying Royal Emperor!” Lu Yang roared as he brought out all the strength he had.

“I did not defeat you alone. Do you see it?! Long Wanqing, Huangfu Chaoge, and countless citizens are standing behind me. They defeated you together with me. Lu Yang, you are defeated!” Gu Hai said ferociously.

Lu Yang was severely injured. Even when he brought out his full power, he was no longer Gu Hai’s match. However, Gu Hai was still growing stronger. Lu Yang’s face slowly started to flush red.

Blargh!

The clash between the fists caused Lu Yang to spurt out a mouthful of blood.

“I…I am going to lose to Gu Hai?” Lu Yang looked at Gu Hai in despair.

As Lu Yang looked, he seemed to see Long Wanqing and Huangfu Chaoge standing behind Gu Hai, glaring at him hatefully. It seemed like countless Divine Foundation Royal Dynasty citizens stood behind Gu Hai—ten thousand, one hundred million, one billion—all showing hatred on their faces. They all showed the same expression as Gu Hai—an expression of bone-deep hatred.

Gu Hai alone carried everybody’s hate and suppressed Lu Yang.

“Die!” Gu Hai said hatefully.

When Gu Hai shouted in hatred, Lu Yang seemed to hear countless voices.

Die! Long Wanqing’s voice rang out.

Die! Huangfu Chaoge’s voice rang out.

Die! The voices of more than one billion citizens rang out.

This was the hatred of the world. As Gu Hai put in more force, he vented all this hatred.

When Gu Hai used his full strength, Lu Yang’s blue manifested fist exploded. Gu Hai’s golden manifested fist contained cataclysmic force as it struck Lu Yang.

“No!” Lu Yang roared in despair.

Boom!

The punch sent Lu Yang flying back and crashing into a distant mountain that a dragon vein had created.

Bang!

Lu Yang crashed through the mountain and out the other side.

Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang!

Lu Yang crashed through twenty mountains before coming to a stop and falling into a forest.