Enlightenment: Beginning as a Disposable Warrior

Chapter 373 - 222: Celestial King Presents the Blade, County Magistrate Offers Congratulations!

"The Celestial King is dead?!"

"Impossible! Absolutely impossible!"

The long howl echoed into Changfeng City, reverberating over the mountain city. Many in the city, especially among the Black Mountain Rebel Army, initially found it absurd. Within the city, some rebels questioned the soldiers atop the city walls, while others peered through the city gates.

"He’s dead, the Celestial King is dead, killed by Li Feiyu!"

"Impossible, how could Li Feiyu possibly kill the Celestial King... Reporting false information, shaking the army’s morale, cut him down!"

A Centurion shouted in anger, still in disbelief. However, when soldiers within the city saw the terrified faces outside, and the rebel army beginning to scatter and flee, everyone started to realize that this was indeed the truth.

Defeat was like a mountain collapsing.

Everything unfolded just as Li Qiu, Tao Xingzheng, and others had predicted. The Black Mountain Rebel Army was merely a rabble of bandits gathered by Wang Xuantian from the Three Counties, and Wang Xuantian was the soul of the rebel army.

Now that Wang Xuantian was dead, the morale of the rebel army naturally collapsed entirely, like monkeys scattering when a tree falls.

Su Mu took all of this in, recalling his previous conversation with Wang Xuantian, his eyes shimmering, pondering over something.

And as this man and his spear approached Changfeng City, in the eyes of the rebels, he appeared like a god of death descending, causing extreme fear, prompting them to drop their weapons and flee desperately.

On the Cyan Cloud Army’s side, it was the opposite. Their morale soared, their faces flushed with excitement, knowing it was time for revenge and glory in battle!

"Kill, kill, kill all these rebels!"

"I surrender, I surrender!"

With Wang Xuantian dead, the Left and Right Protectors had taken their own lives, the Four Celestial Generals were all wiped out. Many in the rebel army understood that the situation was hopeless, and further resistance would only result in becoming trophies of the Cyan Cloud Army. One after another, they dropped their weapons, kneeled on the ground after fleeing a bit further, choosing to surrender.

Killing those who surrendered was considered inauspicious and had always been so.

"Bah, you deserve to die!"

Yet, some rebels who surrendered by kneeling on the ground were beheaded by an enraged Cyan Cloud soldier, as they had lost family and friends to the rebels. However, this action was swiftly halted by a Captain within the Cyan Cloud Army, though it was merely called to stop.

The outcome of this battle had already been decided at the moment Wang Xuantian died, the rebel army’s grand scheme was over.

As Su Mu stepped into Changfeng City, the smell of blood overwhelmed him. The city, once the prosperous center of a county, was no more. Broken walls, collapsed houses, shattered gates of grand mansions bore marks of blades and swords.

The streets were desolate, bloodstains lingered in the crevices of blue bricks, hinting at the bloody events that followed the city’s fall.

Su Mu paused, his gaze shifted toward a small alley, his deep eyes penetrating the dimness, where he saw a dilapidated courtyard. Its wooden door was too broken to keep out the wind and rain, yet its courtyard gate remained intact, showing no signs of rebel destruction, not an isolated instance.

"Spare me, Hero Li, please don’t kill me, don’t kill me!"

A plea interrupted Su Mu’s thoughts, as he saw a rebel kneeling abruptly along the street, kowtowing and crying for mercy in front of Li Feiyu, but Su Mu didn’t even glance at such people.

After Su Mu left, the cries and pleadings of the rebels along Changfeng Avenue prompted the city’s citizens to gingerly open their doors and windows to look outside.

"The rebels are defeated... it seems the Chaos Army Celestial King has been killed?!"

"Who did it?"

"According to the rebel soldiers, it seems to be Hero Li!"

Soon, the alleys echoed with cheers of Hero Li, the name Li Feiyu resounding like mountains shouting.

Walking along Changfeng Avenue, Su Mu went straight to the Changfeng County Magistrate’s Office. As he entered the rear courtyard hall, his eyes sparkled, sensing a trace of the power of fortune about to completely dissipate.

Someone once possessing the power of fortune had died here. Although Su Mu had some suspicions before, seeing it with his own eyes was still somewhat astonishing.

As a result, his doubts subsided by three parts.

In the deep courtyard behind the main hall, resplendent red corridors and golden eaves caught his eye. The columns of the corridor pavilion were entwined with gilt coiling dragon patterns, providing an impressive sight.

Su Mu’s eyes sparkled as he entered a side courtyard ravaged by the rebels, approaching an inconspicuous pine tree. With the tip of the Crimson Flame Spear, he unearthed a foot-deep black iron box.

The moment the iron box saw the light of day, a sense of evil and coldness, unable to be dispelled by even the blazing sun, emanated from it.

Su Mu’s eyes narrowed as he used Gang Force to protect himself, taking out the box and opening it to find a pitch-black short blade, the source of that cold, evil, and corrupt aura.

"So, this is the short blade Wang Xuantian referred to... fellow travelers..."

On close inspection, the blade had yet to dry bloodstains, emitting a faint glow of the power of fortune, matching the one Su Mu observed in the main hall.

Su Mu reached out to grip the short blade, and instantly a chill seeped into his body, the Gang Force unable to block it, while an evil, irritable, cold negative emotion rushed to his mind.

"Buzz!"

The remaining traces of power from the enlightenment of Fist Momentum activated at once, suppressing the evil thoughts. But even without this power of fortune, Su Mu believed he wouldn’t be swayed by these negative emotions.

He returned the short blade to the iron box, a flash of spiritual light put it into the Sumeru Ring.

Then he went to another side courtyard, taking out another iron box beneath a pine tree, which contained a roll of parchment.

Unrolling the parchment, Su Mu discovered it was a map of the Qifeng Mountain Range, with two marked locations, one black and one red, both deep within the mountains.

"One is likely the stronghold of the Black Mountain Rebel Army... what about the other?"

Su Mu’s eyes brightened, guessing one could be Wang Xuantian’s lair, but unable to deduce the purpose of the other. These items were what Wang Xuantian had asked him to retrieve before his death, along with handing him the sinister short blade and discussing another account.

Sensing the scant Gang Force left within his body, Su Mu knew it wasn’t the right time to settle scores. He nonchalantly comprehensively plundered the Changfeng County Magistrate’s Office.

The office served as the temporary Wangtian Mansion following the rebel capture of Changfeng City, amassing many treasures. Su Mu unhesitatingly gathered secret manuals, herbs, elixirs, gold, silver, and even valuable paintings and ancient texts, all of which he could pack up, as he now possessed four Sumeru Rings.

By noon, the allied forces of Qingyun and Canghe County had cleared the rebel soldiers, concluding the great battle with the complete rout of the Black Mountain Rebel Army.

"Mr. Li!"

Upon seeing Su Mu, the Qingyun County Magistrate, Tao Xing, approached with the delighted Lin Family Siblings, stepping quickly and bowing solemnly:

"Had it not been for your intervention in slaying that villain Wang Xuantian, our Qingyun County would have been hard-pressed to escape this calamity... Your great kindness is acknowledged, I express gratitude on behalf of Qingyun’s people. Having a figure like you in Qingyun is indeed our fortune and the people’s blessing!"

Before he finished speaking, Lin Xing, the Canghe County Magistrate, also stepped forward with a deep bow:

"I am Lin Xing, and likewise thank you on behalf of the people of Canghe! Your prowess with the spear and unparalleled divine fists slaying the rebels is something for our two counties to revere!"

The officials of Canghe behind Lin Xing bowed in unison, with the soldiers standing solemnly, paying attention.

"There’s no need for such, gentlemen. Everyone has the obligation to kill the rebel traitors."

Su Mu chuckled lightly, helping Tao Xingzheng and Lin Xing to their feet. Tao Xingzheng subtly examined Su Mu’s demeanor, eyes flickering with a hint of relief, while the Lin Family Siblings slightly relaxed their hands clasped behind them.

"Gentlemen, with the rebels now dealt with, I’ll be taking my leave."

"It’s a pity I couldn’t witness your splendor in slaying the rebels today. Should you come to Canghe in the future, you must give me, Lin Mou, an opportunity to host you!"

"Alright."

Su Mu clasped his hands again in farewell, sensed two slightly intense gazes, turned, and paused lightly in surprise upon seeing Shangguan Ke and Shangguan Qing, nodding back to them.

"Beyond a person, there are others..."

Staring at Su Mu’s departing figure, Shangguan Ke spoke with a sense of wonder, murmured appreciatively.

"This Qingyun County is but a small place, even in Canglan South County, it’s considered remote... Who would have thought such talent as Li Feiyu could arise from these shallow waters. As the elder of the clan said, no matter the vastness of the world, one must never underestimate others easily."

"Sister Xiao Qing, do you know this Li Feiyu..."

...