Gate of God

"That’s really fast!" Everyone had the same thought. And at this time, Prince Li of the First Rank, who was standing in front of King Xieluo, moved too.

His appeared much weaker compared to King Xieluo, but his speed wasn’t slow at all. He reached behind King Xieluo an instant after he moved.

But he didn’t overtake King Xieluo.

This made things a little awkward. Because someone who was truly powerful didn’t need much time to attack. And Prince Li of the First Rank couldn’t stop him in time.

So...

What’s the point?

Fang Zhengzhi saw them both charging towards him. And at this moment, he was impressed by Prince Li of the First Rank.

He’s old but still very powerful!

Fang Zhengzhi wasn’t stupid. Prince Li of the First Rank was initially in front of King Xieluo, and even if King Xieluo was any faster, Prince Li of the First Rank could hold him back if he tried hard enough.

Just like that time when Chen Feihua saved Ping Yang.

If one tried hard enough...

Everything was possible!

But apparently, Prince Li of the First Rank wasn’t about to risk his life for this. He followed behind King Xieluo intentionally.

"This old man wants me to be his ’shield’?" Fang Zhengzhi instantly recognized Prince Li of the First Rank’s plans. With Prince Li of the First Rank’s power, defeating a Demon King by himself would seem a little difficult.

In that case, dragging Fang Zhengzhi into this would be the best way.

For someone like Prince Li of the First Rank...

He couldn’t trust any personal relationship. And most importantly, there wasn’t much of a close relationship between them, to begin with.

They never dined, drank, or played cards together. Not to even mention visiting brothels, fighting in battles, or suffering together like brothers in arms.

They had only met once in the Throne Room.

Prince Li of the First Rank obviously would not risk his life for Fang Zhengzhi. Instead, he would be concerned with the bigger picture and try to save the Great Xia Dynasty.

Hence, he would use Fang Zhengzhi to block an attack, then in the heat of the fight, sneak a powerful attack on King Xieluo.

Fang Zhengzhi stared at the approaching King Xieluo, and Prince Li of the First Rank who was following tightly behind him. He sighed to himself: this old man had such confidence in him!

Prince Li of the First Rank didn’t fear that King Xieluo would kill him in a strike. But upon seeing Fang Zhengzhi smashing repeatedly at a desperate Qian Wu, he had reason to trust Fang Zhengzhi.

It was a pity that...

Fang Zhengzhi wasn’t stupid.

Neither did he had any noble ideas of sacrificing himself for the bigger picture.

Without any further hesitation, Fang Zhengzhi turned and ran away. Obviously, he didn’t just run in any random direction. He ran towards Emperor Lin Mubai.

Crying for help while running.

"Your Majesty, please save me!"

"..."

At this moment, everyone, including the Dragon Protection Squad, Royal Guards, Palace Guards and Southern Region Army, was shocked.

Because Fang Zhengzhi ran at a speed no slower than the both of them.

And more importantly, King Xieluo who was charging at him turned suddenly toward a different direction.

"Don’t come here!"

"Quick, run out of the palace!"

With Fang Zhengzhi approaching the emperor, the Dragon Protection Squad began to panic. Emperor Lin Mubai couldn’t even stand straight, and Imperial Concubine Hua Fei suffered injuries too.

And now Fang Zhengzhi would lead the Demon King to them. Didn’t he understand any idea of guarding the emperor? Hadn’t he thought of sacrificing himself to protect the emperor?

With a Demon King chasing behind him, he had decided to run toward the emperor.

And to ask the emperor to save him?

It was the Demon King!

But how could the Dragon Protection Squad even sustain a devastating blow from the Demon King?

"Run out of the palace?" Fang Zhengzhi curled his lips. King Xieluo was in the way of the palace gate. To run out of the palace was to seek an instant death.

That didn’t help.

Fang Zhengzhi was determined to run toward Emperor Lin Mubai, as if he hadn’t heard the Dragon Protection Squad’s advice, screaming as he ran.

"Save me! The Demon King is coming!"

"Oh no! Protect His and Her Majesty! Now!"

The Dragon Protection Squad was shocked. Due to Fang Zhengzhi’s "panic" and his loss of ability to think clearly, they had no choice but to fight their death to resist the attack.

They couldn’t just kill Fang Zhengzhi like that, right?

And even if they had such a thought, now was not the time to do so.

The Royal Guards, who were attacking the Palace Guards, snapped back to reality but they were unable to help.

After all...

Regardless of King Xieluo or Prince Li of the First Rank, or even Fang Zhengzhi, these people were moving much faster than what the Royal Guards were capable of. They were unable to stop them.

It all happened in an instant.

And it so sudden that no one could stop Fang Zhengzhi from running toward Emperor Lin Mubai, not even Yan Xiu or Shan Yu.

He’s reaching!

Everyone was watching closely as Fang Zhengzhi almost reached beside Emperor Lin Mubai when King Xieluo was only meters away from him.

But if King Xieluo were to change his target at this moment...

Then Emperor Lin Mubai would most likely lose his life. Well, it was clear that King Xieluo’s was chasing Fang Zhengzhi, but what if that happened?

When the Emperor’s safety was hanging by a thread, no one would allow for such a possibility.

Crown Prince Lin Tianrong and King Duan Lin Xinjue were also flabbergasted. Even Qian Wu clenched his fists.

"Don’t..." Ping Yang screamed. She wanted to scream "don’t hurt my father", but neither did she wish for Fang Zhengzhi to be hurt.

It was a dilemma which stopped her words.

"Don’t hurt the Emperor!" At this moment, Prince Li of the First Rank’s voice thundered aloud. It resonated like a giant bell from the heavens, shaking the souls of everyone present.

At the same time...

The thin and frail Prince Li of the First Rank, who was following closely behind King Xieluo, closed on him with a sudden burst of speed.

His bony fingers pressed on King Xieluo’s shoulder and rays of light in rainbow colors glowed brilliantly.

Red, orange, yellow, green, blue, violet, indigo...

As these rays lit up, King Xieluo was stopped mid-air, his demonic, ashen face look somewhat surprised.

"Oh? It seemed I have underestimated you!" King Xieluo turned behind, looking at the rainbow rays wrapped around Prince Li of the First Rank’s skinny frame and the dark green rays flowing in his eyes.

Prince Li of the First Rank looked extremely stern. While the dark green flow rays had disappeared, the rainbow rays now concentrated in his eyes.

This scene was incredibly shocking to the surrounding onlookers.

"Those rainbow rays were..."

"That should be correct!"

As they set their eyes on the rainbow rays surrounding Prince Li of the First Rank, they all thought of one thing. Something that everyone knew but only a handful had really witnessed it.

It was rumored that there were thirty-six Sacred Rocks in the world, and upon each of them was an inscription of a divine Dao which allowed one to instantly reach the Sagely State.

But only a few knew how exactly one reached the Sagely State or how the Sacred Rocks looked like.

But everyone knew it was a fact that there was a Sage Land in the Great Xia Dynasty in which thirteen Sacred Rocks were hidden.

A staggering number.

Very staggering indeed, because even the Heavenly Dao Pavilion had only nine Sacred Rocks.

For an empire like the Holy Barbarian Empire, which was comparable in power to the Great Xia Dynasty, its share of Sacred Rocks could be described as pitiful.

In fact...

The Holy Barbarian Empire only had one Sacred Rock!

Of course, this was not to say that the Holy Barbarian Empire was not powerful enough. But because a very long time ago, the entire world only had one country: Great Xia.

But as time passed, Great Xia was separated into many countries and the concept of a united Great Xia was lost.

Until a few thousand years ago...

The Great Xia Dynasty emerged once again. Five Sacred Rocks were exchanged for five hundred thousand troops, and together with the combined strength thirteen residences, they conquered the world and rebuilt the empire on this very piece of land, forming the Great Xia of today.

It was another glorious period of the empire. Although it was not comparable to the glory of ancient past, they still stood proudly on their original land. Only it was a pity that in a few thousand years, the number of Sacred Rocks declined, till the thirteen Rocks of today.

What had caused this to happen? It’s too complicated to explain.

But even so, the Great Xia Dynasty now had thirteen Sacred Rocks. But the Sage Land no longer existed.

Then, where would the thirteen Sacred Rocks be?

Of course, no one had the answer.

Someone had guessed that the thirteen Sacred Rocks were hidden in the thirteen residences because each residence had a world of its own.

For example, the Divine Constabulary had the Heavenly Treasure Hall, the Stabilization Constabulary had the Blue Jade Terrace. If the Sacred Rocks were hidden in these worlds, no one would be able to find them.

It was a safe choice to do so.

As for the accuracy of this guess, no one dared to verify.

It was a hidden secret, but when everyone saw the rainbow glow in Prince Li of the First Rank’s eyes, that was what they thought of.

"So, the Great Xia Dynasty’s Sacred Rocks were in Prince Li of the First Rank’s residence!" Qian Wu looked at Prince Li of the First Rank, his eyes lit up while he smiled coldly.

Because he was also aware that it was only when one had mastered the inscription on the Sacred Rock, then he would shine with such brilliance.

Prince Li of the First Rank, Sage Land, Prince Li of the First Rank’s residence, gardening, bird-keeping...

Instantly Qian Wu understood why Prince Li of the First Rank always remained shut in his residence and the location of the thirteen Sacred Rocks.

Prince Li of the First Rank’s residence.

Yan Capital City, the capital of the Great Xia Dynasty, the home of the emperor. In such an open place with free flow of human activity, who would have thought to obtain them? Who would have even thought of it?

"When I conquer Great Xia, the thirteen Sacred Rock will belong to my Holy Barbarian Empire!" Qian Wu thought excitedly. This made him impatient. "King Xieluo, kill them now!"

"King Xieluo, as the Demon King, your actions have already crossed the line. Do you know the consequences if you dare to hurt the Emperor?" Prince Li of the First Rank asked, staring at King Xieluo as he pressed firmly on his shoulder.

"Consequence? Hehe... Let’s talk about this after you defeat me!" King Xieluo laughed, then continued: "And talking about consequences, do you know the consequences of stopping me? Can’t you tell that the one I’m killing is Fang Zhengzhi?"

Of course, Prince Li of the First Rank knew that King Xieluo was after Fang Zhengzhi. But as Fang Zhengzhi led him closer to Emperor Lin Mubai...

How could he tolerate this?

And more importantly, he wasn’t certain that after killing Fang Zhengzhi, King Xieluo would keep his promise and return to the Near-Life Gate.

Qian Wu’s words and the Demon King’s words...

Were they trustable?

With Prince Li of the First Rank’s age and experience, he wasn’t so naïve as to gamble a dynasty’s fate on a single "promise".

Now, the best solution wasn’t for King Xieluo to kill Fang Zhengzhi.

But...

Stopping him from continuing to kill.

Initially, Prince Li of the First Rank’s plan was for Fang Zhengzhi to take a blow from King Xieluo, and when King Xieluo was striking Fang Zhengzhi, he would sneak an attack of his true powers from behind when King Xieluo let his guard down.

But he never expected Fang Zhengzhi to run, and even without any hesitation, toward Emperor Lin Mubai.

Wait!

Where’s Fang Zhengzhi?!

Prince Li of the First Rank looked around for Fang Zhengzhi, but he was gone.

Turning back, Prince Li of the First Rank’s rainbow rays flickered a little as he saw a black figure dashing away in the distance.

And without question...

This figure was Fang Zhengzhi.

Prince Li of the First Rank was stunned briefly.

He wanted to call out to Fang Zhengzhi and say "Hey, let’s fight the Demon King together!"

But obviously, Fang Zhengzhi would never return. He ran so quickly, never once turning back. In the blink of an eye, there was only a tiny silhouette of him left.

"He ran away while I held King Xieluo back? This brat... he did that intentionally!" King Xieluo suddenly came to this realization.

"Move, move away, are you blind? Can’t you see the Near-Life Gate in my hand? Let me pass or I’ll smash this!" Fang Zhengzhi could be heard shouting from afar.

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