Supreme Golden Palace

Chapter 169 Xiaohan (Part 1)

As the convoy approached the ancient Xiaohan Road, dusk settled, the mountains stood tall and imposing, and only the sound of hooves broke the twilight.

Wu Wenhe opened his eyes, his gaze turning cold, when he suddenly heard a strange noise coming from the forest.

Moo!
The drivers pulled hard on the reins, and the oxen pulling the cart kept letting out low growls.

"Prime Minister Wu,"

The driver on the left, with one hand on the short spear at his waist, stared at the bend in the mountain road and whispered.

Not far ahead, phosphorescent lights, like beans, gradually lit up, hundreds of eerie blue points floating among the trees, flickering with the mountain breeze, like ghostly eyes.

Those who saw the ghostly fire felt a chill run straight to their heads, while those with weaker spiritual energy were so frightened that the hairs on the back of their necks stood on end.

Wu Wenhe, who was in the car, sensed something was wrong and gently knocked on the car wall, saying calmly, "Don't panic, let me see."

As he spoke, he raised his hand and parted the corner of the carriage curtain to examine the eerie blue phosphorescent flames blocking his way.

"What did I think it was?"

After a moment, Wu Wenhe chuckled and said, "So it's a remnant of the Fei Beast, borrowing some of the remaining energy of the withered corpse to forage for food in these mountains."

Having attained the state of a sage, transcending the ordinary, and having comprehended the nature of the Dharma and understood its origins, one can naturally see through appearances and perceive the ferocious beast behind the Netherfire.

"The Flying Beast?"

The charioteer's face was slightly pale as he whispered, "It's a calamity beast of the world, a descendant of the Fei!"

The Classic of Mountains and Seas says: Mount Tai is rich in gold, jade, and pine trees. There is a beast there, which looks like an ox but has a white head, one eye, and a snake's tail. Its name is Fei. If it moves water, the water will dry up; if it moves grass, the grass will die. If it appears, there will be a great plague throughout the world.

This pure-blooded ferocious beast, every time it is born, can wreak havoc across vast areas and bring down more than a dozen countries and states.

Fortunately, they are now facing a remnant of the Fei Beasts, not the pure-blooded Fei Beasts that cause the spirituality of plants to wither and the vitality of water to dry up wherever they go, bringing a great plague to the world.

However, even though it is a remnant of the Fei Beast, the ominous aura it inherited from its ancestors still makes people turn pale at the sight of it.

Wu Wenhe instructed his men, "Gentlemen, take up your spears and form a defensive formation to protect the head and tail of the caravan. Let me scare this beast away!"

As he spoke, he took out a bronze talisman engraved with tadpole-like characters from his sleeve and tossed it into the air.

hum!
The talisman hung above the convoy, emitting a faint golden light that kept the ghostly blue phosphorescent flames at bay. When the phosphorescent flames touched the golden light, they made a boiling sound and were extinguished.

Boom!Boom!
At the bend in the mountain path, a giant beast resembling an ox slowly emerged, with a white head, a single eye, and a long snake tail trailing on the ground, making a rustling sound.

"You beast, get out!"

Wu Wenhe snorted coldly, his divine blood surged, and the bronze talisman suspended in the air shone brightly with golden light, sending down several golden flames that struck the remnant of the Fei Beast.

The giant beast let out a muffled roar, its black aura sizzling as it was burned by the golden light, forcing it to retreat several steps.

When the golden light weakened slightly, it struggled forward again, opened its mouth wide, and spewed out a cloud of black mist, which was filled with a putrid stench that made people nauseous.

"go,"

Seeing that the giant beast was still approaching the caravan, Wu Wenhe frowned, his talisman trembled, and transformed into a beam of light, heading straight for the beast's single eye.

Ouch! !

Wu Wenhe struck with full force. The giant beast had no time to dodge. The black mist was dispersed, its single eye was pierced, and it let out a shrill scream.

Having suffered a severe blow, the giant beast became wary, realizing that Wu Wenhe was indeed not to be trifled with. After hesitating for a moment, it roared at Wu Wenhe, then slowly retreated into the forest and disappeared into the darkness.

"They escaped?" Wu Wenhe looked at the desolate mountain forest, his eyes shining, and after a long while, he said softly.

The remnants of the Fei Beast are born with a natural understanding of the laws of nature, and once they reach adulthood, they can overwhelm most True Immortals. With Wu Wenhe's cultivation level as a Perfected One, driving away and deterring the Fei Beast remnants is not difficult; the challenge lies in how to exterminate them.

After all, the wilderness is full of ferocious beasts, and there are even pure-blooded ferocious beasts lurking there. If this situation drags on, it is hard to guarantee that it will not attract the attention of those pure-blooded true spirits.

It should be known that even the weakest pure-blooded true spirits are comparable to perfect beings, and the top ones are so formidable that even the celestial gods find them extremely troublesome.

Once the pure-blooded true spirit is attracted, Wu Wenhe, with his supreme cultivation, will have a chance to escape. However, the other members of the caravan do not have Wu Wenhe's great cultivation, and most of them will not be able to escape the beast's jaws.

Therefore, Wu Wenhe secretly breathed a sigh of relief when he saw the remnant of the Fei Beast escape.

He retrieved the talisman, looked westward with a deep gaze that seemed to pierce through the night and reach the distant Jiao Kingdom. He immediately said to those around him, "Let's go, hurry up. This is a dangerous place, we can't stay here long."

"promise!"

The drivers immediately responded.

As the convoy set off again, the night was deep, and the wheels of the convoy rolled heavily over the gravel in the mountains.

Wu Wenhe leaned against the inside of the carriage wall, his palm stroking the indentation on the edge of the bronze talisman, and closed his eyes again to conserve his energy.

The Great Wilderness of Mountains and Seas is a paradise for ferocious and strange beasts. Along his journey, Wu Wenhe has encountered not only this one remnant of the Fei Beast, but also the remnants of other calamity beasts such as the Fuzhu, Yingyu, Qizhong, and Huashe. However, their bloodlines are of different purity, and Wu Wenhe has scared them all away with his supernatural powers.

With Wu Wenhe's martial prowess at the Supreme Human level, in the human realm after the separation of heaven and earth, unless he puts himself in a deadly situation, ordinary disasters would hardly be able to approach him.

This is also one of the reasons why Lü Shang sent Wu Wenhe as an envoy to Jiao State; Wu Wenhe's cultivation as a supreme being was his greatest guarantee.

After several days and nights of travel, with some close calls but no real dangers along the way, Wu Wenhe and his party finally entered the ancient Xiaohan Road.

“Xiaohan,”

As dusk settled, after the carriage had rolled over the last boundary stone, Wu Wenhe lifted the corner of the curtain, and the view outside the carriage suddenly turned somber.

The mountains on both sides are as if cleaved by a knife and axe, with jagged and grotesque rocks interlocking. The ancient road meanders like a snake through the canyon, with no end in sight.

The drivers of the caravan held their breath, while Wu Wenhe stroked the talisman and scrutinized both sides of the ancient road. The stone walls of the ancient road were covered with ink, glowing with an eerie firelight in the darkness, resembling countless curled human hands.

Further away, on the cliff face, several collapsed ancient caves can be vaguely seen, and the mountain wind seems to carry the wails of ghosts and gods.

------

Xudu,

"The ancient Xiaohan Road,"

Inside the palace, Lü Shang, dressed in a loose robe, gazed down at the cowhide map spread out on the table.

A bronze paperweight rested on the two corners of the map, while Lü Shang's index finger pressed against the center of the map, his fingertip stroking the rough edges of the cowhide surface.

"Expand westward, expand eastward,"

He looked at the map covered with tiny, densely packed markings and murmured to himself.

Each or even two tiny characters on this map symbolize a nation or a state.

This map is a geomantic map of Henan. From this map, one can see the scenic landscape and general topography of a corner of Henan, making it a national treasure.

The State of Xu is located east of Henan. If the State of Xu expands its power eastward, it is called eastward expansion; if the State of Xu expands its power westward, it is called westward expansion.

Upon seeing the mountain god of Lianqing Mountain, a deity of the human realm, who was making preparations for the future situation of the Nine Provinces after the collapse of the Xia Dynasty emperor's mausoleum, Lü Shang could no longer suppress his own ambition.

The emperor is the one who is strongest; this is an eternal truth that has remained unchanged throughout the vast wilderness of mountains and seas.

(End of this chapter)