Hebu, upon hearing the words of Bishop Faville, realized that their lines of thinking were not on the sa page and thought to himself: "High-ranking clergy really have issues with their psyche."
At that mont, the fleet commander suddenly sensed animosity. Turning his head toward the distance, he locked eyes with Count Spee from Jiade.
Hebu's expression suddenly turned icy cold!
It was this man who had signed a military sales agreent with the Shun Dynasty, equipping them with the latest 303mm cannons, which led to his own crushing defeat!
Moreover, he had spearheaded the purchase of ironclad warships, giving the Shun Dynasty a true navy!
"Idiot! Turn to ashes under the scorching sun!"
"Your soul will wail in a silver box for a thousand years!"
The two exchanged a cold gaze and then looked away from each other.
~~~~~~~
Apart from the two of them, another two groups were also full of hostility, as if they wished to slay each other on the spot.
Nakajima Masao's hand rested on his katana, his fingers gently tapping the hilt.
In the distance, Count Vladimir from Rakshasa had eyes that were a bright, bloodshot red.
The two faced off for a short mont before turning their bodies away. Everyone was no fool; they knew the purpose of their visit today and how it would be foolish to fight and beco a laughingstock on the spot.
To a straw man about the size of a palm resting on his shoulder, Nakajima Masao said, "Minister Komura, the Western countries have all sent Earl-level combatants, that is, Innate Realm."
And incredibly, the crudely made straw man began to speak:
"That's normal; the Shun court wouldn't allow Duke-level individuals to enter. But be careful, these are all famous strongn from their countries, and they definitely have their trump cards prepared."
Nakajima Masao frowned and said, "Minister Komura, I'm just the head of a newspaper office, after all. You should be dealing with such matters."
The Minister Komura he ntioned was "Kotaro Komura," who had just taken over as Minister to the Shun Dynasty.
Kotaro Komura's voice beca faint as though it was being interfered with:
"You don't need to be humble. The newspaper you started has been very useful; the intelligence you've gathered has allowed to quickly establish a foothold in the Capital of Shun Country...
I have a more important mission in the Capital of Shun Country and cannot get away...
Rember, your mission is not to fight; rather, you should find out the secret of Hong Renkun...
The shikigami I gave you..."
The Mind Force within the straw man slowly dissipated, and Kotaro Komura's voice went from intermittent to completely silent.
But Nakajima Masao understood his aning crystal clear!
As a country facing the Shun Dynasty across the sea, Izumo had benefited greatly from this teacher and had a far better understanding of the Shun Country than other powers.
Izumo had been planning the "Shun Country Conquest Strategy" for decades, hoping to swallow an elephant like a snake, and had established nurous intelligence agencies within the Shun Dynasty.
The newspaper founded by Nakajima Masao was one of them.
By bribing a maidservant who served Hong Renkun's close, he had obtained an important piece of intelligence—
Hong Renkun had inadvertently entered an Immortal Qin ruin years ago and had an extraordinary adventure, which allowed him to transform from an ordinary person into an out-of-body strongman in just five short years.
This "Immortal Qin Ruin" was exactly what the cabinet and military were eager to obtain!
~~~~~~~~~
At this ti, the crowd of onlookers outside the city was growing, including international figures as well as martial artists from the Shun Dynasty itself.
The gathering of powerful figures from various countries had different goals. Countries like Einheit and Frandi sought the "Divine Manifestation of God in the Mortal World";
Shun Country martial artists yearned for Hong Renkun's Spirit Refining thod, especially the thod of inducing Divine Manifestation right after reaching the Innate Realm.
Everyone watched the city wall rigged with explosives with eager anticipation.
Before long, a thunder-like explosion sounded out of nowhere, and the explosives laid by the Governnt Forces were detonated!
With the violent tremors of the earth, a section of the Jinling City wall transford into bricks and dust, shooting up into the sky mixed with soil.
As the dust settled, a passage wide enough for four cars to drive abreast appeared.
The gathered powerhouses were reinvigorated; what was coming up was the main event!
~~~~~~~~
After the city wall collapsed, the Governnt Forces sward in, and it wasn't long before they cleaned up the remnants of the enemy.
The battle wasn't intense, and had it not been for the Corps Commander of the Governnt Forces' notorious reputation for "shaving heads and killing those who surrender," and allowing his troops to loot after capturing each city, the defending army would have surrendered long before.
However, the Governnt Forces ceased their advance after occupying the city walls because the situation inside the city was too peculiar.
Since the siege began, only the lower rank followers of the sect had put up a fight, not a single high-ranking mber had been seen.
Even if sothing had gone wrong with Hong Renkun, the other titled kings couldn't just turn away and cavalierly give up Jinling.
As for where the titled kings had gone, these lower rank followers knew nothing when asked, as they hadn't seen their own titled kings for a long while either.
Only one Corps Commander of higher status confessed:
After the last ti the Eastern King, Yang Qing, returned from chasing the "Heavenly Kingdom Imperial Tutor," he suddenly, along with the other titled kings, stord into the Heavenly King's Mansion in anger and then there was no further news of them.
The generals looked at each other after hearing this news. Could it be that the leaders of the sect had been wiped out in internal strife?
At that mont, the commanding censor, Zeng Boquan, issued a strange military order with a cold expression:
"Move the massive cannons to the city wall, aid at the 'Heavenly King's Mansion.' Withdraw all our n. Let the foreigners and samurais outside the city go up to explore first."
A hesitant subordinate inquired, "Sir, capturing the enemy leader is a great accomplishnt. The n have risked their lives without regard, determined to exhaust Hong Renkun to death..."
Zeng Boquan sneered, "No matter. As my brother said, the mistake Hong Renkun has made is not a small one, it's uncertain whether this bunch will survive."
No one dared to say more. This person was the younger cousin of Grandmaster Zeng, who had slaughtered tens of thousands after capturing Anqing, earning himself the nickna "The Barber."
~~~~~~~
The Governnt Forces began to scour the city for silver, money, and treasures but purposefully left the "Heavenly King's Mansion" untouched, even clearing the way into the city.
The people outside were quite pleased, although so realized they were ant to test the waters. But with opportunity cos danger, and how could they seize the benefits without taking risks!
Under the indifferent watch of the Governnt Forces, the crowd eagerly entered the city, heading straight for Hong Renkun's Heavenly King's Mansion.
~~~~~~~~
Lu Yao and two others were hiding in a small grove beside Xuanwu Lake, operating a drone to observe.
They saw countless locals and foreigners surrounding the Heavenly King's Mansion, but not a single one daring to enter.
Because the outside of the Heavenly King's Mansion was piled with firewood and cannons were set up, ready to set fire and bombard it.
The crowd was sowhat prepared for this spectacle, as occasionally there were martial artists who, in practicing Spirit Refinent, went mad, going insane. It seed that the sect's followers desired to kill their crazed leader.
But Hong Renkun was a powerful practitioner who had achieved both the "Spirit Refinent" and the "Innate Realm". Most present wouldn't be able to withstand even one of his blows, so the rit of being the "first mover" was not easy to claim.
After waiting a while, it was the clergy who grew impatient. Bishop Faville, praising the sacred words of the Lord, was the first to enter!
Such matters often required soone to make the first move, and seeing soone enter, those behind, fearing the benefits would be snapped up by others, instantly unleashed their divine skills and sward in.
The Heavenly King's Mansion was grand in scale, spanning over ten li and was built lavishly.
However, there were pockmarks and dilapidated ruins here and there, as if there had been intense fighting.
The crowd searched cautiously, but only found countless silver coins.
But this group that went straight for the Heavenly King's Mansion were certainly not there just for the money.
Soone questioned, "Could it be that Hong Renkun has already fled?"
"Impossible! Various covert investigations have confird that after repelling Grandmaster Zeng, Hong Renkun has never left the Heavenly King's Mansion!"
Just then, soone shouted, "Hong Renkun is sitting on the Dragon Throne in the grand hall!"
The crowd rushed to look and indeed, on the Dragon Throne in the grandiose great hall of the Heavenly King's Mansion sat a person.
"Strange, so many people have been searching for several rounds, but right under our noses, we didn't notice him!"
"He really does seem to have gone mad."
"Look at his hands!!!"
Hong Renkun sat rigidly, his eyes vacant and unblinking, on the Dragon Throne.
But the crowd's attention was now drawn to the Lead Box in his hands!
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