Battle God's Cradle

Du Chen slowly lowered his head, giving a few dry laughs, then suddenly jerked his head up and let out a sky-rending roar! The Sixth Trigram was fully unfurled, the Precious Lotus Scripture had traversed three-quarters of its path, and the Fiendkind and Scarlet Army had not perished. Wolf’s Great Prophecy of the Savior still continued. At this moment, it could be said with absolute certainty: he would not need to reincarnate; in this very life, as Francis, he would complete the cultivation of the Precious Lotus Scripture!

With only two trigrams of the Lotus remaining, Du Chen desperately needed to vent!

However, Fifth Brother, completely oblivious, interrupted Du Chen, “Hey, stop that foolish roaring. Check your rear first!”

Du Chen gave a faint smile. At this moment, he no longer needed to exploit Francis’s ‘wolf-gaze, eagle-sight’ physiological trait from this life to look behind him. With a sweep of his Divine Sense, the progress was clear in his mind.

Du Chen wasn't intimately familiar with the Bagua, only knowing the names of three or four of its trigrams. Now, he ‘saw’ that of the Bagua, composed of thirty-six lotus blossoms, only the last two trigrams remained—the Eighth Trigram, which Du Chen recognized as the ‘Kun Trigram’ formed by six lotuses, and the Seventh Trigram, whose name he couldn't recall. This Seventh Trigram consisted of five lotuses, the first of which had already bloomed halfway! Du Chen nodded slightly, quite satisfied with this result! “Starting from the First Trigram, the Arcane Artifacts were the Third-Grade Lotus Pedestal, Water Veil Shield, Fire Lotus Lantern, Sands of the Hourglass, and a partial wind-and-cloud ability from the Fifth Trigram! Dus, what comes after the Fifth Trigram is fully assembled? And what Arcane Artifact is the Sixth Trigram?”

Dus grinned mischievously, “Care to guess?”

Du Chen chuckled, “Master Grape once said that the first four trigrams of the Precious Lotus Scripture were to wash away my past life’s sins. A sinner, naturally, wouldn’t receive anything too good! I can only say that the Fifth and Sixth Trigrams must be Arcane Artifacts far superior to the first four!”

Dus gave a thumbs-up, “Clever! After the Sixth Trigram opened, many things appeared in my mind—Master Grape’s message: the first four trigrams were indeed for cleansing your sins, and those few Arcane Artifacts were merely for you to perform Acts of Benevolence; they could only be considered the ‘Way of Weapon Refinement’! But after the Fifth Trigram, you began ‘cultivating your body,’ and what you gained was no longer external Arcane Artifacts, but the strengthening of your physical body and Primordial Spirit, the sheer might of your true form!”

As he spoke, Dus lightly beckoned, and Du Chen appeared atop the Primordial Spirit's bud. Fifth Brother gently patted his back, “The Fifth and Sixth Trigrams are both within your body now!” Du Chen suddenly felt an unbearable itch on his back. Following this, within the world of his Primordial Spirit, the sounds of wind and thunder abruptly intensified, howling gales and sharp heavenly lightning filling the entire space! With two muffled thuds, two fleshy wings actually sprouted from Du Chen’s back!

In his Divine Sense, Master Grape’s voice suddenly resounded, “Disciple, your Lotus Benevolent Dharma Art has achieved minor mastery. Your Master bestows upon you the Wind and Thunder Dual Wings, granting you control over the transformations of heaven and earth’s wind and thunder. Never use them for evil, otherwise, your Master will search the three thousand Grand Worlds and ensure your soul and spirit are utterly annihilated!” Du Chen’s spiritual platform cleared instantly; he gained an insight and smiled, “Thank you, Master!” As he spoke, a strange feeling arose in Du Chen’s heart. In his previous life, he had heard old folks say that the mythical Thunder God had wind and thunder wings. Did Master Grape mean… the Thunder God was about to retire, and he should prepare to take over!? Haha, just a joke to himself!

Fifth Brother said, “The Fifth and Sixth Trigrams are these two wings. You already know most of the functions of the Wind Wing: acceleration, generating wind, invisibility—in short, all for helping you escape with your life. But its ‘Invisibility Cloak’ also has an additional function: to help you retract these wings in daily life, so you don’t have to be a flashy bird-man! As for the Sixth Trigram’s Thunder Wing, its effect is just one sentence… you’ll have to experience it for yourself!”

Fifth Brother didn’t elaborate, merely offering a mysterious smile. But what other use could lightning have? Was it for cardiac resuscitation?

Du Chen nodded, “I understand, the Fifth and Sixth Trigrams are one for defense, one for offense. So, what is my current strength?”

“I, Fifth Brother, haven’t seen many Godslayer Marshal-level Masters, so I can only give you an assessment by comparing you to Andy—with the Wind and Thunder Dual Wings, you could defeat Andy in his full transformed state. But once Andy adds Moonlight, you could only maintain an undefeated stance!”

“So that’s Thirteenth-rank peak level! By the way, what about Anya? My son’s power also seems to be lightning; how does his lightning compare to my Thunder Wing?”

“You underestimate Alex too much. That little fellow just thinks killing with lightning is cool, which is why he likes that move. As for his true abilities… I can’t discern them; go ask him yourself!”

Du Chen stretched, then flopped onto his Primordial Spirit. “Excellent! It’s rare to have leisure time; I’ll hide within my Primordial Spirit for a while to find some peace!”

Dus was startled. “Hey! You’re slacking off…”

“It’s fine, Liana is still with the army; she’ll handle everything for me!”

“But, but don’t you want to investigate where these millions of Merit came from?”

Du Chen raised an eyebrow, sitting up. “Did you see Syngh’s tail? When I left the City of Penance, I said that I would lure the Huhuhu Beast into the Subterranean Abyss. Regardless of whether they or the Fiendkind won or lost, I would have eliminated a terrifying threat to humanity, performing an immense Act of Benevolence… So, the Heh-gakka Huhuhu Beast was wiped out by the Fiendkind. The Fiendkind played the main role in this benevolent act, and I was secondary. Is it really that surprising that I reaped millions of Merit?”

In truth, even if Du Chen hadn't wanted to slack off, he couldn’t have. The enormous Merit from the Huhuhu Beast’s demise was greater than all the Acts of Benevolence he had performed combined previously! A vast power, unlike anything he had ever felt, surged through his body. Even Du Chen would certainly be overwhelmed by it; he would need a long period to digest this immense power!

And Du Chen could relax and slack off so comfortably, truly thanks to Liana!

After Du Chen fell unconscious, Liana immediately took over all affairs of Du City as the former Grand Governor. Her primary problem, naturally, was how to deal with the Thornwood natives! As a result, Liana reached a series of agreements with Sha. Due to the Pontiff's secret order to eliminate witnesses, it was impossible for the Thornwood natives to openly appear in the short term. So, Liana designated two large islands within her Miki Duchy and instructed Sha, in the capacity of Francis’s vassal and retainer, to lead the Thornwood natives to settle on those two islands. Far from the emperor’s gaze, they would be well out of the Pontiff’s sphere of influence! Of course, their public identity was merely the Purple Thornwood City-state, subordinate to the Miki Duchy!

However, during this period, a rather interesting detail emerged: Liana keenly observed during negotiations that Sha, this Thornwood native, was surprisingly considerate of Du Chen at every turn, sometimes even willing to sacrifice the interests of Thornwood Valley to benefit Du Chen! Why would this be? After much thought, our Queen Liana vaguely realized something. Quietly, she began staring at Sha’s chest all day… making Sha almost bristle with discomfort!

Secondly, Liana also integrated the military reforms that came with Ted’s arrival—Dud remained the military's number one figure, commanding the Beastkin slave army. However, Ted was separated, and with his seven thousand family army and Brockman family’s Fiendkind soldiers as the foundation, a ten-thousand-strong military intelligence division was formed, stationed in a secret base protected by Duding! By this point, including the tens of thousands of existing Thornwood Valley troops, Du Chen’s forces now exceeded a staggering one hundred thousand!

Furthermore, a small incident occurred during the military reforms: hadn’t Crimson, the Eighth Head of Thornwood Valley, defected and joined Du Chen? Unfortunately, during the reorganization of the troops, Adams ‘accidentally,’ ‘regrettably,’ and ‘unpredictably’ had a conflict with Crimson. As a result, Tenth-rank Adams ‘accidentally’ dismembered Crimson… In response, Du City’s military was exceptionally enraged and applied an extremely rare punitive measure to the perpetrator, Adams—fining him ten years’ salary! However, two days later, when the victorious army was being rewarded, Adams received a lavish reward for being the first to breach Thornwood Valley: twenty thousand Gold Coins, enough for him to live a life of luxury!

Finally, reporting to and misleading the Pontiff, arranging for troop withdrawal and return to the city, calming the morale agitated by Du Chen’s unconsciousness… these and other matters need no further elaboration. In short, ten days later, when Du Chen opened his eyes, he was lying in the grand bed of his Lord’s Manor, with a stack of documents on his bedside. With a flourish of his brush, a single signature settled all subsequent affairs concerning Thornwood Valley! Two words: simply done!

Ten mornings later, Du Chen, having re-assumed power, sat in his study, maliciously pondering how to ‘deal with’ Alex—just after signing off on Liana’s recent decisions, he immediately sought out Anya, asking his son why he had suddenly grown so strong. But the little fellow’s single phrase, “The Master needs no reasons,” immediately choked Du Chen speechless! That troublesome boy! A paternal smile played on Du Chen’s lips as he looked up at the person sitting opposite him across the desk and chuckled, “Sha, you are now my retainer. Don’t you want to remove your mask?”

Avril lightly chuckled and shook her head, “My Lord, why do you need to see my appearance? Sha’s face is unsightly, unfit to be seen!” Du Chen smiled, thinking, ‘Strange! Sha still refuses to show her true face, yet Liana gave her a ‘reliable’ evaluation and told me not to trouble her… Fine, for Liana’s sake, I’ll let it slide this time!’ “Very well, this matter is as you wish!”

Avril breathed a sigh of relief. She rather liked the feeling of helping Francis from behind her mask, but she still had one matter on her mind. She hurriedly said, “My Lord, when Thornwood City was under siege, I secretly entrusted a mysterious friend to find a way to rescue Thornwood Valley. Now Thornwood Valley is history, but that friend might still be laboring for my commission… Sha wishes to take a few days’ leave to inform that friend of the true situation in Thornwood Valley, lest he misunderstand that my Lord truly slaughtered all the Thornwood natives!” She was talking about Zigurd! That day, Zigurd said he would give Sena a reply within half a month, but now ten days had passed since the great battle of Thornwood Valley concluded, so why was there still no news from him!?

Du Chen rubbed his nose, looking at Sha with an amused smile. “You mean… if your friend believes I utterly destroyed Thornwood Valley, it would cause me considerable trouble?” Avril felt flustered under Du Chen’s gaze and quickly laughed, “I just don’t want that friend to worry too much! If My Lord has no objections, Sha will take her leave! Also, the Thornwood Council of Elders has secretly executed Thomas, and the Ice Toxin antidote can be delivered tomorrow…”

As the two were speaking, a knocking sounded from outside. Bairu, looking troubled and hesitant, walked in. He had two people with him: one was naturally the inseparable Mas, but the other surprised Du Chen immensely—Godfather Ferdinand, one of the three Arch-Godfathers of the Papal Curia, who had helped Du Chen cheat on his exam back then! Du Chen waved Sha away and chuckled, “Last time, two Arch-Godfathers sought me out simultaneously to attack Thornwood Valley! Now, three Arch-Godfathers arrive together… surely you don’t want me to invade the Labyrinth of Life to fight the Fiendkind, do you?”

Bairu gave a dry laugh, “My brother jests; how could that be? We’ve just returned from reporting our work at the Holy Mountain. His Holiness the Pontiff, upon hearing you eradicated Thornwood Valley, was overjoyed…” Bairu rambled on with the Pontiff’s praises, but Du Chen, observing the three, noticed that Ferdinand’s expression was quite off. How to describe it… it was as if Ferdinand expected Du Chen to explode in anger but still had to grit his teeth and say something! As Bairu spoke, he suddenly changed the topic, awkwardly chuckling as he used the Kuran Alliance Assembly as a lead-in: “My brother, rest assured about the Assembly matters; a Grand Marshal position in the Holy Alliance will certainly be yours! However… His Holiness the Pontiff will also nominate His Excellency Zigurd to serve as the Grand Speaker of the Holy Alliance at the Assembly—that is a position second only to one, above ten thousand others. We humbly ask for your support for this resolution!”

Du Chen’s heart tightened; something was indeed amiss! Logically, Zigurd was his teacher, so how could he oppose his elder going to be the Grand Speaker? But why was Bairu speaking so hesitantly, rambling on to ask if he supported this resolution that would greatly benefit his teacher? Damn it, did his teacher gain the Grand Speaker position at the cost of something else!?

As expected, Bairu continued, “However, according to the outcome of discussions between His Excellency Zigurd and His Holiness the Pontiff, His Excellency Zigurd, while serving as Grand Speaker, will no longer concurrently hold the position of Dean of Battle God Academy…” Du Chen’s gaze grew chillingly cold, and he sneered, “Then who is the new Dean of Battle God Academy?” Bairu lowered his head and didn’t answer, gently pushing Ferdinand with his hand. Ferdinand gave a wry smile, “I will serve as the Dean of Battle God Academy, while Godfather Bairu, with his original post unchanged, will concurrently act as the liaison between the Holy Church and the Academy…” Du Chen gave a strange laugh, “Then shouldn’t I congratulate you two?”

Bairu let out a bitter laugh, “My brother, don’t feign ignorance with us! You and I both know that the Papal Curia and Battle God Academy have always been at odds. Although the Academy is nominally affiliated with the Holy Church, His Holiness the Pontiff has no authority to mobilize any of its resources! Now that Zigurd has resigned, and Ferdinand and I are in charge of the Academy, this is tantamount to Zigurd being promoted in name but demoted in practice, and His Holiness the Pontiff having annexed Battle God Isle! I know you must be dissatisfied seeing your teacher’s lifelong efforts fall into His Majesty’s hands, but please, don’t unleash your anger on us; we’re just as bewildered!” Bairu thought to himself, ‘If it were anything else, we wouldn’t stoop to such a humble tone with you; the Papal Curia doesn’t fear you, Francis! But this concerns Zigurd. Although you, Francis, are powerless to change Zigurd’s fate of losing Battle God Isle, and while you can’t do anything to the Pontiff, you can secretly deal with Ferdinand and me! That’s why the moment we heard of this appointment, we rushed over to find you, to forewarn you and distance ourselves, lest you resort to underhanded tricks to deal with us later…’ ‘That little fellow Alex’s methods of killing are truly terrifying. We certainly don’t want to be dispatched by a single glance or a snap of his fingers, with no one able to trace the cause!’

Du Chen stared at them for a long time. Seeing that they didn’t seem to be lying, he asked, “Ever since Thomas caused the Ice Toxin Detonation, Teacher Zigurd left Battle God Isle to find a way to counter the Ice Toxin. He’s been out of touch all this time, so how did he suddenly go to the Holy Mountain and negotiate such a resolution with His Holiness the Pontiff?” Bairu spread his hands. “Zigurd sought out His Holiness the Pontiff thirteen days ago. But at that time, I was still with you, campaigning in Thornwood Valley, and Godfather Ferdinand was also in the Einz Diocese—neither of us knows the specific details. We only know that Zigurd suddenly visited His Majesty that day, and the two held a secret discussion for a full half-day. Following that, His Holiness the Pontiff issued the personnel transfer order!” Du Chen frowned, “Is Teacher Zigurd still at the Holy Mountain?” Bairu shook his head, “The personnel transfer order has already been made public. Zigurd is currently on his way back to Battle God Isle. Seven days from now, he will preside over the handover ceremony at Hot Spring Mountain, passing his position to us… My brother, this is all we know. We’re telling you beforehand, this matter has absolutely nothing to do with us! If you have any objections, you can ask Zigurd, or speak to His Holiness the Pontiff, but please, don’t trouble us!”

Du Chen let out a helpless laugh and waved his hand, “Alright, I certainly must attend my teacher’s retirement ceremony. I’ll ask him myself then!” After seeing the three Arch-Godfathers off, Du Chen rubbed his nose and walked to the window, his mind heavy with suspicion. From what Bairu and Ferdinand implied, it seemed his teacher had voluntarily given Battle God Isle to the Pontiff! But Zigurd, that rigid old man, had always detested the hypocritical and slick Sama IX. How could he willingly surrender Battle God Isle!? The more Du Chen thought, the less he understood. He commanded, “Harry, prepare the Wyvern Carriage; I’m going to Battle God Isle!”

Battle God Isle and Du City were separated by only an expanse of sea, merely three to four hundred nautical miles. At the speed of the Wyvern Carriage, Du Chen landed in Battle God Square in less than half a day! But just as Du Chen landed, something strange occurred in his home base, Durkus City! In the Lord’s Manor backyard, Duding appeared to be an ordinary tall tree, but its roots delved deep underground, spreading to cover the entire city of Durkus, forming Du City’s subterranean base! The lowest level of the base contained only one room, secretly housing the Fourteenth Raging Fire Scorcher Cannon, which Du Chen still hadn’t fully comprehended!

“Where’s Adams? Adams, come play with me quickly!” This Thunder Cannon already possessed a basic sentience, though not a high one, akin to a two- or three-year-old child. At this moment, it was complaining of loneliness in its mind: “Hmph, without Adams, I’m practically bored to death!” The more the Thunder Cannon thought, the more bored it became. Its body trembled, and a large, dark-cyan eye opened on its egg-shaped belly. With a fierce blink, the air in the entire secret chamber suddenly began to twist, and all elements instantly converged towards the Thunder Cannon. However… without Adams to act as a human absorber, it could only be considered a ‘dud.’ It tried, then dejectedly closed its eye. “Ugh! I don’t want to stay here; I want to go out and play, Adams, I want to go out and play!” As the Thunder Cannon’s master, Adams easily sensed its smothered frustration. However, recalling his benefactor’s instructions and the Thunder Cannon’s danger, he gritted his teeth and pretended not to hear, letting the Thunder Cannon fire ‘duds’ repeatedly without responding.

Although Adams ignored it, a burly man in a green robe in Du City’s hotel suddenly trembled, as if talking to himself: “Leiming, Eldest Brother, I am the Seventh! Yes, I have reached the designated location—Durkus City. But I’ve discovered something strange here, something I can’t quite grasp. I must ask you, Eldest Brother, to come personally confirm it! Alright, I’m at…”

Barely half a day later, another eight people arrived at the green-robed man’s room. The leader’s face was like pale gold, and his beard and hair were all dazzling golden, appearing at first glance as if a figure cast entirely from gold! “Seventh, our nine Venerables of the Scarlet Army have all taken their positions, just waiting to simultaneously fire cannons to destroy Battle God Isle! Why have you urgently summoned us!?” “Eldest Brother, today I was searching for a suitable firing position in this city when I suddenly sensed a call from underground. This calling voice shares our origin and lineage, and it’s clear and coherent, clearly possessing sentience!”

Leiming’s golden eyes suddenly widened, “Impossible! Back then, fourteen of us brothers were born together, but only we nine Venerables possessed sentience. The other brothers either served as human lackeys or had already disappeared and been destroyed…” The Seventh Venerable of the Scarlet Army anxiously said, “Eldest Brother, this city is protected by a strange force. It’s difficult for me to ascertain the truth under the interference of this power, which is why I urgently requested you to investigate personally. Look, the calling still continues, listen…” Leiming listened intently for a moment. In the past, Adams’ Thunder Cannon, even before unleashing its full power, had forced Margaret to sever her arm to survive. So what was Leiming’s current strength!? He was originally the strongest of the fourteen Thunder Cannons, had absorbed Divine Emperor Prince dry, possessed the Divine Emperor’s unparalleled wisdom, cultivated for a millennium, and also controlled a Life Tree Seed—this was Leiming’s capital! His Divine Sense pierced through Duding’s protection, and Leiming’s face suddenly lit up with wild joy. “Yes, it’s our brother! Haha, he’s still so small, so adorable… our little brother!”