Chapter 145: Martial Uncle, We're on the Same Side!

The Heavenly Demon Royal Court, the Golden Tent.

This was the core of the royal court, equal in status to the Great Shun's Capital. The Great Sages of the Eight Great Royal Clans normally oversaw affairs here, their blood qi filling the plains.

At the center of this blood qi lay a particularly unique strand. Its color was not the usual crimson, but an intertwining of green, yellow, red, white, and black that fanned out like a peacock's tail. It was the most vigorous of them all, carrying a tremendous force with every fluctuation that seemed capable of shaking heaven and earth.

This was because it belonged to the current master of the royal court.

The Luan Phoenix Khan.

At the source of this five-colored blood qi, in the deepest depths of the royal court, a man clad in armor opened his eyes and looked at the memorial tablets on the desk before him.

A striking crack had appeared on one of the tablets.

"The Golden Roc is dead."

Inside the gloomy tent, the Luan Phoenix Khan's voice was calm, yet it still carried a chill that made everyone present furrow their brows.

"Black Tortoise, speak."

The Luan Phoenix Khan shifted his gaze to the Black Tortoise Great Sage, who sat in the furthest corner, hunched over with his head tucked in. "How did the Golden Roc die?" he asked coldly.

"He died of stupidity!"

The Black Tortoise Great Sage shook his head, then vividly recounted the entire event, including the six-eared macaque who called himself the Heaven-Transcending Great Sage.

"Khan, if you ask me, this six-eared macaque is likely getting ahead of himself. To spout such arrogant nonsense right after forging his Totem and becoming a heavenly demon Great Sage shows zero respect for the royal court. He is no ordinary rebel; we must strike hard... If we do not kill this beast, panic will surely spread both inside and outside the royal court."

The Black Tortoise Great Sage declared with great assurance.

The Luan Phoenix Khan nodded. "Black Tortoise makes a fair point... Since that is the case, why don't you share my burden and eliminate this Heaven-Transcending Great Sage?"

The Black Tortoise obediently sat back down.

Seeing this, the Luan Phoenix Khan did not get angry. He turned to the other Great Sages present, but without exception, they were all staring down at their own noses, pretending not to notice.

Are you joking? Who would volunteer for this?

The Golden Roc Great Sage was dead!

As a Great Sage of a royal clan and a direct subordinate of the khan, the Golden Roc Great Sage's strength was obvious to all. He was definitely not weak; he could even be called a true powerhouse.

Yet this Heaven-Transcending Great Sage had smashed the Golden Roc Great Sage to death with a single strike of his staff. With such mountain-toppling divine strength, crushing them would probably be just as effortless. They definitely couldn't win one-on-one. Ganging up on him might work... but group battles carried risks too. What if the enemy desperately dragged one of them down with him before dying?

This was also a tradition of the royal court.

In a winning battle, everyone fought bravely to be first. In a losing battle, whoever ran the slowest became the vanguard. The concept of unity and cooperation had never existed in the royal court.

It was only because the current Luan Phoenix Khan was powerful enough.

Otherwise, every single one of these heavenly demon Great Sages was a local tyrant within their own clan. Why would they obediently gather here for a meeting, let alone listen to his orders?

"It seems I must intervene personally to take down this Heaven-Transcending Great Sage who suddenly popped out of nowhere?" the Luan Phoenix Khan's faint voice echoed.

"Interesting."

Right at that moment, the royal tent's flap was suddenly lifted. A messenger hurried in and delivered a letter into the Luan Phoenix Khan's hands.

"...Hah."

The Luan Phoenix Khan scanned the letter and let out a cold sneer. "This Heaven-Transcending Great Sage is starting to act up. He is attacking weaker tribes everywhere."

"He has even coerced a portion of them into joining him."

"He is saying things like, 'The khan's seat takes turns; this year it comes to my house.' He wants to establish a separate royal court. Everyone, what do you think his real purpose is in doing this?"

At this, the Luan Phoenix Khan's eyes narrowed slightly.

He absolutely refused to believe that someone could just appear out of thin air. He had secretly investigated the Six-Eared Clan countless times and had long confirmed that they had no powerful experts presiding over them.

There is definitely something wrong with this Heaven-Transcending Great Sage!

Could he be... a reincarnated venerable?

At this thought, the Luan Phoenix Khan could not help but look toward another corner of the royal tent. Sitting there was a monk with red lips and white teeth, bearing the appearance of a young boy.

"...May I ask the venerable."

After a moment of silence, the Luan Phoenix Khan spoke in a respectful tone, "Does this Heaven-Transcending Great Sage have any connection to you? Is he also a venerable from the upper Brahma realm?"

As his voice fell, the young monk opened his eyes and calmly replied, "There is no connection. However... if he is of the Six-Eared Clan, he should be proficient in Sound Perception. Having forged a Totem, if he intentionally eavesdropped, he might have heard our previous conversation... Which means, this could be a tactic to lure the tiger from the mountain."

"Lure the tiger from the mountain?"

The Luan Phoenix Khan was momentarily stunned before realization dawned on him. "Does he think that because you have just reincarnated, you are still weak, and so he wants to lure me away to assassinate you, Venerable?"

"Exactly."

The young monk nodded, a hint of curiosity appearing in his eyes. "If that is the case, then there should be an Immortal Gate mole behind this Heaven-Transcending Great Sage."

"Hiss!"

As soon as those words came out, the Great Sages present immediately showed expressions of terror, sucking in sharp breaths of cold air. They clearly had some understanding of the Immortal Gate the young monk mentioned.

Hearing this, the Black Tortoise Great Sage patted the turtle shell on his back in lingering fear. That was a close call! Fortunately, he had held himself back and not rushed to Mount Tianzhu, instead tricking the Golden Roc Great Sage into going... From this perspective, the Golden Roc Great Sage had not died unjustly. It would be more accurate to say his death was only natural.

"Then what does the Venerable think we should do...?" the Luan Phoenix Khan continued.

"Turn their fake act into reality."

The young monk's tone remained calm. "You are the trump card for conquering the Eight Trigrams Furnace this time. You cannot be easily exposed right under the Immortal Gate mole's nose."

"Go and capture the Heaven-Transcending Great Sage."

"This physical body of mine is already eight years old. Although I have not yet returned to my peak, I have already recovered my Divine Powers. Even an Immortal Gate True Transmission disciple could not kill me."

"There is no need to worry."

The Great Sages present were taken aback before quickly catching on. The way the Venerable phrased this—did he want to intentionally let the Immortal Gate mole slaughter his way into the royal court?

Wouldn't the royal court be in danger then?

The next second, the Black Tortoise Great Sage, who had only just sat back down, suddenly leaped to his feet. His old face was inscribed with an undying loyalty to the royal court.

"Khan! Please let me join the battle!"

"The Heaven-Transcending Great Sage... That damned monkey has so thoroughly defiled the dignity of the royal court. As a Great Sage of the royal court, I absolutely cannot tolerate it. Going into battle is my unshirkable duty!"

That old beast!

The other Great Sages had reacted too slowly and failed to stand up immediately. They cursed him inwardly but hurriedly echoed his sentiments, volunteering for battle one after another to offer their strength to the royal court.

"All of you, shut up!"

The Luan Phoenix Khan irritably interrupted the Great Sages' petitions. "If all of you leave, wouldn't that be a dead giveaway? It would make it painfully obvious that there is a trap."

The Black Tortoise Great Sage shook his head. "Be that as it may, someone must still accompany you, Khan. Otherwise, what if the Immortal Gate disciple sees you all alone, changes his mind, and attacks you first? Wouldn't that defeat the purpose? It is highly necessary to pick a dozen or so Great Sages to go with you."

"And I, this old man, am best at defense."

"If you take me with you, Khan, even if we encounter true danger, you can use me as a meat shield to block the most fatal attack."

Hearing this, the Luan Phoenix Khan shot a glance at the Black Tortoise Great Sage.

A meat shield? Give me a break!

This old beast had always chased advantages and avoided trouble. If they really encountered danger, he would absolutely be the first to run... Thinking of this, the Luan Phoenix Khan felt deeply exhausted.

"Forget it. There is no need to fight over this anymore."

"The old rules. We will draw lots."

...

Outside the royal court's Golden Tent.

Deep beneath the layers of the earth's crust, Wang Ping quickly saw a full dozen Great Sage auras leave the vicinity of the royal court, centering around that five-colored blood qi.

They sped toward the direction of the Heaven-Transcending Great Sage.

"They were actually lured away?"

Wang Ping's expression was calm. He pondered for a moment before shaking his head. "It seems that reincarnated venerable has mostly recovered. At the very least, he has regained his Divine Powers."

Although he had decided on the tactic of luring the tiger from the mountain early on, he was not naive enough to think it would not be seen through. The fact that the tiger had actually been drawn out surprised him greatly. Rather than hoping his opponents were careless, Wang Ping firmly believed they were deliberately inviting him into a trap.

"Hm..."

Thinking of this, Wang Ping glanced at the Outer Heavenly Demon in the Great Peace Mortuary. The cooldown had long since ended, and he had even stacked his resurrection count to seven.

With this, he had the confidence to do many things.

Some risks still needed to be taken... At this thought, Wang Ping no longer hesitated. He immediately circulated his magic power and silently slipped into the royal court.

"Interesting."

The vast royal court, which had previously been surging with blood qi, was now completely silent. The Great Sages who remained were, without exception, staying behind closed doors.

They dared not look, nor did they dare to listen.

Of course, Wang Ping had the cover of the Latent Concealment art, so even if they had the intention, they would be powerless to spot him. However, their attitude indirectly revealed a fact.

Wang Ping strolled casually through the layers of tents. Along the way, whether they were maids, attendants, or guarding soldiers, none of them noticed a thing. Just like that, he arrived before the Golden Tent in the very center, casually lifted the tent flap, paced inside, and spotted the young monk sitting cross-legged in the seat of honor.

"Amitabha."

In an instant, the Golden Tent, which had seemed completely ordinary, began to shake. The scenery inside the tent remained unchanged, but the outside abruptly blurred, as if a separate world had been partitioned off.

"This humble monk is Jin Hai. Greetings, benefactor."

The young monk opened his eyes but looked somewhat puzzled. Clearly, he had not expected the target to take the bait so easily, rendering his numerous preparations completely useless.

However, the intruder's actions in the next second completely stunned him.

"Martial Uncle! We're on the same side!"

Wang Ping looked incredibly excited. With a heavy thud, he dropped to his knees and respectfully kowtowed three times. "Disciple greets Martial Uncle Jin Hai!"

"...Martial Uncle?"

The young monk blinked and then laughed. "Realizing you have hit a dead end, you want to fool me with sweet talk? Aren't you looking down on me a bit too much?"

"You call me your martial uncle. Then who is your master?"

Hearing this, Wang Ping did not hesitate in the slightest.

"My master is Kongzhi!"

Holy shit?

As soon as these words were spoken, the young monk, who had been certain the other party was bluffing, instantly froze. This was because that dharma name was not something just anyone could casually spout.

Did he really know him?