Chapter 45

Cultivators at the sixth realm, the Meditation realm, had cultivated an external golden core, which allowed their souls to leave their bodies and fight fiercely with others.

Even if they were defeated, their souls could quickly fly back to their physical bodies, giving them one more chance of survival.

But right now, two huge hands formed from clouds captured the soul and physical body of Elder Tang Chi of the Forgotten Truth Temple from both sides.

He had nowhere to run.

The two palms slammed toward the middle, forcibly smashing Tang Chi’s soul back into his body. Moreover, both his soul and physical body suffered serious injuries at the same time.

Wounds riddled his physical body, making it look just like a ragged pocket riddled with holes, from which countless blood arrows shot out.

His soul was like a piece of porcelain covered in cracks that was about to shatter.

Tang Chi fell to the ground while on the brink of death.

The huge hands drew near and seized the other Daoist priests of the Forgotten Truth Temple.

The people inside and outside the fortress gasped at the sight.

All of them knew that the actual lord of the fortress was not Mister Black Cloud or the old bloody shadow demon, who often had frequent dealings with them.

They also knew that the mysterious Chang’an Fortress Lord’s cultivation was above Black Cloud’s and Bloody Shadow’s.

But at this moment, they were still shocked to witness the Fortress Lord instantly break the Cloud Net Canopy and capture Tang Chi and the others.

His actions seemed otherworldly and so easy…

“When the Tang Dynasty army attacked the fortress, His Majesty defeated the well-trained and experienced Tang Dynasty army by using the refugees’ bodies…” The young man from the Chen clan who stayed in the fortress smiled bitterly.

The other Chen clan members beside him nodded in silence.

When they looked at each other, they could see the flames dancing in one another’s pupils.

They did not need to fear the Eastern Tang Dynasty’s royal family hunting them down when they were in Chang’an Fortress.

They could even look forward to more in the future…

“Let’s put aside things that are still far in the future,” an old man of the Chen family whispered. “Contact and find the other scattered clan members and let them come here as soon as possible for their safety.”

The rest of them nodded in agreement.

In contrast to them, the people of the Cold Mountain Sect were completely relieved.

They had picked the right choice!

The Forgotten Truth Temple was no match for Chang’an Fortress!

When they had switched sides earlier, they had been worried about being attacked by the Forgotten Truth Temple.

But now, the people of the Cold Mountain Sect all felt relieved.

“Even if the abbot of the Forgotten Truth Temple comes personally, he can only wait to be captured with his hands tied!” Cao Feng’s eyes turned red in excitement.

Hui Tianyu’s one eye shone with brilliance. “With Chang’an Fortress’s care and advice, as long as our sect is given enough time, we won’t need to be afraid of the Forgotten Truth Temple.”

The Cold Mountain Sect Master beside them took a deep breath and did not speak.

But he looked smug.

The people of the Thunderclap Sect in the fortress were also shocked.

Apart from Wu Qiong, it was the first time that anyone had witnessed the might of Chang’an Fortress with their own eyes.

At this moment, everyone was horrified beyond words.

The same thought arose in everyone’s mind at the same time.

Significant political changes were likely about to occur in Longbei County, an area in Dragon Ridge, and even the entire northwestern region of Eastern Tang.

“His Majesty is unfathomable and reigns supreme!” Wu Qiong was the first to come to his senses and bowed toward the Great Ming Palace.

The other members of the Thunderclap Sect awakened and followed suit.

Looking solemn, Chen Jiezhi also bowed toward the Great Ming Palace.

Mister Black Cloud, who was wearing black, stood at the side and bowed while saying, “I am sorry for disturbing you, Your Majesty.”

Phantom, who was kneeling on the ground with one hand pressing down by him, had an uncertain expression.

The turquoise crystals or the Forgotten Truth Temple did not matter.

His greatest reward for coming into Chang’an Fortress this time was being able to see the mysterious Chang’an Fortress Lord’s strength, which was astounding and unfathomable!

No wonder it had managed to pacify the Tang Dynasty army and completely disregard the Eastern Tang Dynasty.

I was probably asking for it by sneaking into this place… Phantom smiled bitterly.

The blood phoenix flew back to the fortress from afar.

It spread out blood threads to tie Tang Chi and the other Daoist priests of the Forgotten Truth Temple.

Compared to others, the old bloody shadow demon did not feel very good.

Tang Chi always carried with him the Cloud Net Canopy, a Dharma artifact treasured by the Forgotten Truth Temple, which had blocked it for a moment and allowed Tang Chi to escape narrowly.

His Majesty eventually had to take action, and the old bloody shadow demon concluded that it had failed the errand.

Despite wanting to perform well in front of His Majesty, it was both ashamed and frustrated for failing to do so.

The old bloody shadow demon wished he could slap Tang Chi, who was in his hands, to death.

But now, the other party was not his captive. He belonged to His Majesty.

No matter how much resentment it had, it could only suppress it and bring the man back to the fortress.

When it arrived in the fortress and saw that Mister Black Cloud had successfully captured Phantom, it was in an even worse mood.

It had thought of overpowering the other party, but wasn’t the old man overshadowing it?

The old bloody shadow demon’s state of mind exploded.

“Send them to the mine.” At this moment, a clear, dignified voice came from the Great Ming Palace.

Mister Black Cloud and the old bloody shadow demon responded in unison, “We obey Your Majesty’s orders.”

The hearts of Wu Qiong and the other members of the Thunderclap Sect, however, were slightly moved.

“Senior, the mine His Majesty mentioned is…” Wu Qiong asked.

Mister Black Cloud shot him a faint glance. “Follow me.”

He and the old bloody shadow demon walked to the other fortress gate with the people of the Forgotten Truth Temple and Phantom.

Wu Qiong and the other hurriedly followed behind.

Zhang Dongyun sat in the Great Ming Palace and was tapping his fingers in the air.

Within the scope of the system, a pit suddenly appeared silently in the mountain ridge outside the fortress.

It was as though an invisible force was digging into the pit, extending deeper and deeper.

It only stopped after it had gone more than a thousand meters underground.

An invisible force reinforced the pit, making it impregnable.

The old bloody shadow demon had heard Mister Black Cloud mention the mineral veins, but this was its first time at the mine.

It went all the way down deep into the pit with the people of the Forgotten Truth Temple.

When they reached the bottom, a turquoise luster appeared in front of everyone’s eyes and lit up their faces despite the darkness at the bottom of the pit.

“It is indeed mineral veins of turquoise crystals, and the quality is very high. The raw ores only need to be processed slightly to get pure turquoise crystals.”

The people of the Thunderclap Sect exclaimed in shock.

At the same time, they also understood why Mister Black Cloud was confident that Chang’an would be able to supply such a large quantity of raw stones.

It was very difficult to mine mineral veins.

Ordinary mortals would only be able to do it with limited speed and limited production unless a vast population filled in to do the work.

But things were different with cultivators.

It was much easier and faster to mine.

But the problem was, how could any cultivators be willing to do hard labor in this world?

Thus, such labor depended on ordinary people to dig slowly.

However, Fortress Lord Zhang had no such intention from the beginning.

Indeed, I don’t have any construction machinery.

But I do have human excavators.

This is what ‘cultivation is the best productivity’ means.

In the Great Ming Palace, Zhang Dongyun leaned back and rested on the back of his throne.