Ming Dynasty: Gain one supernatural power every day

A few minutes later, Zhu Gaochi leaned back in his chair, his once gentle smile gone, replaced by an utterly shocked emptiness.

His thick palms pressed against the table, and his whole body trembled as if he were on steroids.

The fourth prince can be deified. The Heavenly Court and the Underworld are empty!!

He took a deep breath and reopened the video to check it again.

You didn't misread it, not a single word.

His fourth brother, his own younger brother, would later become the Heavenly Emperor.

He replied to Zhu Gaosui with a message, his fingers still trembling slightly as he typed: "I saw it, Third Brother. I'm speechless about what Fourth Brother said. Come over, we'll talk about it together when you get here."

"Get out of the way, I'll take care of something." He touched the pile of unfinished documents on the desk and silently pushed them aside.

Today, I can't get any more official documents approved.

Zhu Gaosui replied almost instantly: "Boss, wait for me, I'm coming right away! This is terrifying, I need to catch my breath on the way!"

After sending the message, Zhu Gaosui stuffed the keel blueprints into the shipyard manager's arms, summoned his somersault cloud, jumped on it, and flew away.

All the shipyard workers saw was His Highness Prince Zhao soaring into the sky like a gust of wind, leaving without even a word of explanation.

Zhu Gaosui stood on the cloud, his heart pounding in his chest.

The Investiture of the Gods—the fourth brother can be made a god.

From now on, the world will not be defined by the size of the Ming Dynasty, but by the Zhu family.

A message also came from Empress Xu's side.

[Empress Xu Miaoyun]: Xi'er, is the video your second brother recorded real? Is the Investiture of the Gods true?

Regent Zhu Gaochi: Fourth brother, this news is too frightening. My heart can hardly take it.

Seeking progress while maintaining stability [Prince Zhao, Zhu Gaosui]: Fourth brother! After reading your message, I almost fell off the cloud!

Iron-willed yet tender-hearted [Prince Zhu Gaoxu of Han]: Mother, the news in this video is true. If you don't believe me, ask my father.

Zhu Di: This news is indeed true; the fourth prince did say those words.

With confirmation from Zhu Di and Zhu Gaochi, the group chat exploded once again.

Zhu Gaoxi stood atop a cloud, watching messages pop up one after another in the group chat, a slight smile playing on his lips.

He pressed the voice button, first replying to Empress Xu's message, then replying to Zhu Gaochi and Zhu Gaosui.

[Zhu Gaoxi]: Mother, it's true. The Dao Ancestor did indeed entrust me with the power to confer the titles of gods...

[Zhu Gaoxi]: Eldest brother, third brother, you two take care of yourselves, don't get too excited...

Before he could finish speaking, another message popped up in the group chat.

[Iron-Blooded Tenderness (Prince Zhu Gaochi of Han)]: Oh, I almost forgot to mention, there's one more thing. My fourth brother invited a celestial general from heaven to assist us, named Marshal Tianpeng, who commands 80,000 naval troops from the Milky Way!

Immediately afterwards, Zhu Gaoxu posted a photo showing a burly figure in mid-air wearing golden chainmail and holding a nine-toothed rake, surrounded by a light golden halo, grinning at the camera.

The Ming army formations below covered the valley floor in dense array, their banners fluttering in the wind.

Regent Zhu Gaochi: ? ? ? ?

Seeking progress while maintaining stability [Prince Zhao, Zhu Gaosui]: Fourth brother, could you open a portal? I'd like to go take a look too!

[Iron-Blooded Tenderness (Prince Zhu Gaochi of Han)]: You just stay put, Third Brother, we're about to start fighting. Fourth Brother is busy, I'll talk to you after the fight.

After sending the message, I held up the card, facing myself, grinned, revealing two rows of big teeth, and snapped a picture.

In the photo, he is riding on the back of a tiger king. Not far behind him is the profile of Zhu Di sitting on the tiger's back. Further behind is Zhu Bajie carrying a rake, which is glittering in the air. Next to him is Zhu Gaoxi, who is wearing a black robe.

The photo was imposing and exuded a smug air. Zhu Gaoxu glanced at it with satisfaction and immediately shared it in the group chat.

This caused an uproar in the group chat.

Zhu Gaoxi stood atop a cloud, watching the exclamations and questions popping up on the screen, a slight smile playing on his lips.

He tucked the jade pendant back into his pocket, not looking at it again. Messages kept popping up in the group chat, but he had more important things to deal with right now.

In the valley below, the army had already formed ranks, the sound of war drums could be faintly heard, tigers roared under the clouds, and the war elephants had sounded their horns.

Zhu Di, riding the mighty Tiger King, slowly descended from the clouds, landing in mid-air in front of the entire army.

He looked down, his gaze sweeping over every face that looked up at him, took a deep breath, and spoke in a booming voice.

"Soldiers of the Ming Dynasty! War is about to begin. Do you have confidence?"

A deafening roar of responses erupted from below: "Yes!"

Zhu Di raised his hand and pointed upwards, towards the valiant general in mid-air, clad in golden chainmail and wielding a nine-toothed rake: "See that golden-armored general up there? That's Marshal Tianpeng, whom Prince Rui invited down from heaven! He commands 80,000 naval troops from the Milky Way! With him in command, you can charge forward with confidence!"

These words immediately caused an uproar.

"What? Marshal Tianpeng?"

"He's a heavenly general! I just saw him descending on a cloud!"

"Commanding an 80,000-strong navy! What an incredible figure that is!"

"His Highness Prince Rui has even summoned the heavenly generals; how could we possibly lose this battle?"

The soldiers shoved and jostled each other, standing on tiptoe to look up at the sky. Their eyes darted back and forth between the golden-armored general and Prince Rui's cloud formations. Their already high morale seemed to be doused with boiling oil, burning even brighter in an instant.

After the murmurs subsided, Zhu Di continued, his tone turning solemn: "The Annamese have been harassing the borders of our Great Ming Dynasty, plundering our people, and causing trouble for so many years! Today, I, the Emperor, have personally led the expedition, and Prince Rui has summoned the Heavenly Generals. Our army is pressing on the border; if Annamese does not submit, we swear we will not retreat!"

"Victory! Victory! Victory!" A deafening roar erupted from below. First, a few people took the lead in shouting, and then the entire army joined in, creating a spectacular scene.

Zhu Gaochi, riding his tiger king, stood beside Zhu Di, holding a jade tablet recording the event. He glanced sideways at the golden, glittering Pigsy in mid-air and laughed, "Marshal, what do you think of our army?"

Pigsy, carrying his rake, surveyed the surrounding area from his vantage point and grinned, "Not bad, not bad. Much stronger than any mortal army I've ever seen before. The most powerful and strongest I've ever encountered."

"Marshal, you flatter me," Zhu Gaoxu waved his hand, "This certainly can't compare to your Heavenly River Navy."

Pigsy chuckled.

Meanwhile, the situation on the Annamese rebel side was in complete chaos.

Before dawn, the two spies they sent out disappeared without a trace.

Such things are not uncommon under normal circumstances; when two armies are locked in a standoff, it is common for spies to be captured.

The Annamese commander, Nguyen Van Trung, didn't take it too seriously. He just cursed him as useless and sent two more men out to continue scouting.

But when the second group of scouts returned, their faces were even more ashen than if their fathers had died. They stumbled and crawled into the stone fortress, knelt on the ground, and couldn't utter a complete sentence for a long time.

"General! The Ming army... the Ming army has suddenly grown so many people! Countless! And rhinoceroses! And elephants! The rhinoceroses are wearing iron armor, the elephants are carrying provisions on their backs, and—"

"Bullshit!" Ruan Wenzhong slammed his fist on the table. "What rhinoceros and elephants? Do you think the Ming army is some kind of circus performer? Besides, how did they suddenly appear, and where did they get the rhinoceros from? Did it fall from the sky?"

"General, I wouldn't dare lie!" The scout knelt on the ground, kowtowing frantically until his forehead bled. "I saw it with my own eyes! A lot of people suddenly appeared in the Ming army's camp, along with many rhinoceroses and elephants!"

Ruan Wenzhong frowned, stood up with some doubt, and walked to the lookout point of the stone fort to look out.

On the terrace opposite the valley, he could vaguely see banners fluttering and a dense crowd, but he couldn't make out exactly how many people there were or what they were riding from such a distance.

He turned and glared at the scout: "Spy again! If you dare to give false intelligence, I'll use you as a sacrifice!"