The Last Sentinel

Before the housekeeper could even extend an invitation, a commotion arose outside the door.

The old butler had just bowed and hadn't even stepped out of the door when a commotion erupted outside the corridor.

Two voices, one on the left and one on the right, rushed into the flower hall with the wind, startling a flock of birds perched under the eaves into flight.

"Young Master Mo Lijie is incredibly unlucky to have been saddled with your clan! Which family's main branch fears a successful member? It's probably not just your Four Heavenly Kings clans!"

"Mo Lijie is a member of one of our Four Heavenly Kings families. Do you, an outsider to the Heavenly Family, have the right to point fingers here? You dare to say that?"

"How am I unworthy? Let's not even talk about how the greedy leader of the Seven Absolute Prodigies is already dead, and the highest celestial official in the Heavenly Court is Young Master Mo Lijie! Just look at the current situation. Without the highest celestial official's orders, who will give command in the battle of Flower Fruit Mountain, and who will be responsible for the entire battle?"

"..."

Before he finished speaking, two old men, one on the left and one on the right, pushed and shoved their way into the Li family's flower hall.

The old man on the left is frail and aged, with white hair and beard, his withered eyes darting about wildly, spittle flying everywhere, his voice booming – he is clearly an elder of one of the Four Heavenly Kings families. The old man on the right has black hair and beard, a square face, and the air of a great general. Every step he takes makes a dull thud on the brick floor, clearly a general in the imperial army.

The two old men entered the flower hall and immediately saw Hua Xiaobai. They paused their confrontation and stared at him with a mixture of suspicion and apprehension in their eyes.

The elders of the four Heavenly King families reacted the fastest. Their old faces furrowed, and they forced a smile as they went up to greet him: "Isn't this Fairy Flower? How was it? How did your chat with Li Jiazhu go?" Before they finished speaking, a pair of withered hands had already reached out, as if they wanted to seize the friendship.

The Heavenly General only looked at Li Jing, his eyes like knives: "Old Li! You can't compromise on this matter. We must protect the interests of the Arrogant Young Master, we can't compromise with them! Now the entire Heavenly Court looks up to the Arrogant Young Master!"

It looks like they're about to form opposing camps and start fighting.

Hua Xiaobai acted as if he hadn't heard, not even bothering to lift his eyelids. He simply raised his hand and waved it lightly at the elders of the Four Heavenly Kings families: "Alright, stop right there. Don't come any closer. Our relationship isn't as good as you think!"

Elder Tianwang's outstretched hand froze in mid-air, his old face flushing red as he awkwardly forced a smile: "This, this is what happened before, isn't it? Now our goal is to overthrow Mo Lijie! We're all on the same side!"

Hua Xiaobai then turned his face to the present and said righteously, "Who said I was going to bring down Young Master Jie? I'm here to support Young Master Aoman, and I've come to the Li family to seek refuge!"

"what!"

The elders of the Heavenly King family were dumbfounded, their mouths agape, unable to close for a long time, their Adam's apple bobbing up and down, yet they couldn't utter a single coherent word. Seriously, you can turn your gun on that fast, kid?

The general smiled and said, "Those who understand the times are heroes. Flower Fairy Lord has achieved such a high position, truly demonstrating extraordinary insight!" As he spoke, he stroked his long beard, but his eyes held a hint of probing.

"Stop flattering me!" Hua Xiaobai rolled her eyes at the general. "What's your relationship with Young Master Jie? Others might not know, but do you? Before, your imperial family went crazy trying to curry favor with Young Master Jie's greed, filing charges against him for arrogance. I still have all that evidence and indictment! Do you believe I'll give all that stuff to Young Master Jie?"

The general's smile froze instantly, his back stiffened, and he hurriedly cupped his hands and said, "Flower Fairy, those are all things of yesterday, why bring them up again!" A thin layer of sweat had already seeped from his forehead.

"Quiet down, both of you!" Hua Xiaobai yelled at the two of them. "Sit down!"

The voice wasn't loud, but it struck the hall like a muffled thunderclap. The two powerful figures from the immortal race trembled simultaneously, glared at each other, and finally sat down one after the other, flicking their sleeves and turning their faces away.

With just a few words, Hua Xiaobai had the two powerful immortals completely under his thumb. Li Jing stood aside, watching his nonchalant demeanor, her admiration deepening.

Hua Xiaobai stood in the hall with his hands behind his back, and said calmly, "The important forces in the Heavenly Court right now are nothing more than a few of us. I, Hua, will speak frankly."

"Some of you here want to kill the young master!"

"Someone wants the young master to be kidnapped alive!"

"But I must tell you two that no matter what you think, Young Master Jie will not answer you."

The general frowned and abruptly stood up: "How could this be?"

"It's true," Li Jing said, lowering her voice. "I've been maintaining contact with Young Master Jie, but he only receives messages and doesn't reply! I suspect this is related to Sentinel Ye Feng. Ye Feng wants to track Young Master's coordinates through some means; Ye Feng's ultimate goal is to wipe out all the Seven Absolute Prodigies!"

The general was taken aback: "Is Ye Feng really that powerful?"

"Otherwise what?" Hua Xiaobai scoffed, "Otherwise do you think I was exploited and treated like a slave by Ye Feng back then because I did it willingly? It's because Ye Feng is too unpredictable! If others are cheating, then Ye Feng himself is a cheat!"

Upon hearing this, the Heavenly Elder smiled with satisfaction, stroking his white beard with his withered hand: "Very good. I hope the sentries will kill this scourge soon!"

The general sneered, "If Ye Feng hadn't killed Young Master Jie, he would have uprooted the Four Heavenly Kings families as soon as he returned! He would have cleansed all of you old bastards!" As soon as he finished speaking, the hall grew even colder.

"Stop arguing! We can't count on any of the Seven Great Prodigies right now!" Hua Xiaobai raised his hand and pressed down. "The key now is how to maintain the current battle situation without the guidance of high-ranking immortal officials, not to fight amongst ourselves!"

Li Jing cupped her hands and asked, "What does Hua Jun think we should do?"

Hua Xiaobai's gaze darkened: "In my opinion, a full-scale defense is necessary."

The general said unhappily, "Defense? The best defense is offense. The most important thing right now is to gather superior forces and take Huaguo Mountain with lightning speed, or rather, severely damage Huaguo Mountain and plug the loophole in the carbon-based universe!" As he spoke, he tapped his fingertips on the table.

"Easier said than done." The Heavenly Elder sneered, "General, have you considered being ambushed from behind by other natural disaster forces?"

The general said, "That's why I said we must act with lightning speed! We must be quick!"

The elder of the Heavenly Clan said, "Quickly? The three Heavenly Gates have already wasted almost a month and haven't even started fighting yet. I reckon the Qitian faction is already sharpening their knives and preparing to launch an attack on us!"

Hua Xiaobai said, "Therefore, comprehensive defense and shrinking the battle lines are what we need to do now! In my opinion, all the elite forces of the three Heavenly Gates should withdraw from the current battlefield, leaving the battlefield to the forces of natural disasters and the carbon-based universe, letting them create a chaotic situation!"

The elders of the Heavenly Clan's eyes lit up, and they clapped their hands, saying, "When they're on their last legs, we, the three Heavenly Gates and the Immortal Clan Alliance, will come out and reap the rewards!"

The general coldly replied, "Raising Gu poison? Aren't you afraid that the carbon-based universe will absorb other natural disasters, making the catastrophe we face even greater?"

"This is impossible!" Hua Xiaobai abruptly waved his sleeve, the wind from which whipped up a candle flame. "No one understands the carbon-based ancient races of the universe better than me. These Great Xia ancient humans have extremely extreme racial ideologies. In their eyes, the ancient humans of Blue Star, who have grown up alongside them for forty thousand years, are not their kind. Even the Fusang, who share the same civilization, are not their kind. Neanderthals and Fusang people have all been exterminated by them! This clearly shows that the Great Xia civilization and these catastrophe-like alien creatures are completely incompatible!"

Li Jing nodded and said in a deep voice, "What Fairy Flower Lord said is absolutely right! You two, the most urgent matter now is that the carbon-based universe has already deployed its forces and is in position. No matter who it is, none of the three Heavenly Gates want to be the first to be hit. In that case, let's take a step back, cede the battlefield, and focus on full-scale defense!"

"Agreed!" The general's brows furrowed deeply. "If we cede the battlefield, we will lose our crucial geographical advantage. With these important ruins lost, they will develop rapidly in the Ruins Battlefield, and we will be left helpless and anxious."

Li Jing recited, "General, if you save the land but lose the people, you will lose both; if you save the people and keep the land, you will have both! You surely understand this principle!"

In the flower hall, the three fell into a brief silence.

The candlelight flickered quietly, the tea smoke rose and dissipated in wisps, and the wind howled outside the window, as if swords were sharpening in the distance.

Just then, the old steward rushed in from outside, his hair disheveled from running, and burst into the hall, panting heavily, "Report! Report! News from the Tian family's front lines: violent spatial fluctuations have appeared at Flower Fruit Mountain, suspected to be Qi Tian constructing a large-scale star gate for hyperspace teleportation! The Northern Heavenly Gate requests permission to attack and interrupt Flower Fruit Mountain's teleportation!"

The elder of the Heavenly Clan slapped his thigh and exclaimed, "What did I tell you? Qi Tian might have already started attacking us! And sure enough, he's here!"

Hua Xiaobai said decisively, "Stop talking nonsense! Execute my plan. Everyone, focus all your strength on defense and wait for the Heavenly Officials to emerge from seclusion. Let these heretics and evil spirits fight each other out first!"

Li Jing looked at the general, softened her voice, and kept persuading him, "General Tianbeng, you wouldn't want the imperial family's talented young men to become cannon fodder, would you?"

The Heavenly General closed his eyes, and after a long while, he sighed, "So be it. As Hua Jun said, let's give up the battlefield and retreat to defend!" As soon as he said this, he felt as if a thousand-pound burden had been lifted from his shoulders, and his burden slumped a little.

The old steward hurriedly replied, "Yes, I'll go and give the order right away!" Before he finished speaking, he had already turned around and rushed out of the flower hall, his robes fluttering in the wind.