217: Chapter 216 The Immortal Emperor's Edict

"Lin Feng, receive the decree."

A grand, impartial voice that could not be identified as male or female, yet instinctively made one want to submit, emanated from the golden edict. This voice seemed to ring out directly in the depths of everyone's Soul.

"Thump!"

Below, including Liu Ming, thousands of Demon Suppression Division Cultivators could not control their bodies at all; their knees went weak, and they knelt down in perfect unison. This was a dual suppression stemming from both the hierarchy of life and the rules of the world.

Only Lin Feng did not kneel.

He stood straight, his legs sinking deep into the ground, his bones creaking as he desperately resisted the power of the rules forcing him to kneel.

"I don't even kneel to the heavens, so why should I kneel to a piece of paper?"

Lin Feng thought silently, his gaze as stubborn as iron.

The edict seemed to sense Lin Feng's "stiff bones" and did not force the suppression further, instead hovering in mid-air and slowly revealing a line of hot-stamped golden characters:

[Proclamation: The new master of the Demon Suppression Division, Lin Feng, is to depart immediately and travel to the Nine Heavens Palace's 'Lingxiao Palace' for an audience. Thus it is decreed.]

At the bottom was a seal of the Dao, complex to the extreme and dizzying to behold—[Haotian].

A short sentence, with no threats and no promises, only a command that took itself for granted. It was as if being summoned was the greatest grace one could receive.

After the reading was finished, the sky-covering edict transformed into a streak of light. It did not dissipate but flew directly in front of Lin Feng, turning into a palm-sized, jade-like golden token—[heaven-reaching decree].

This was a pass to the Nine Heavens and also a tracking device.

Lin Feng held the still-hot token, his brows furrowing into a " river" shape.

"What is this supposed to be?"

"Beat the young, and the old comes out? Or perhaps, when the snipe and the clam fight, the fisherman profits?"

His sword strike earlier had severed the Immortal King Seven Luminaries' surveillance and slapped Seven Luminaries in the face, and now the Immortal Emperor had immediately issued a decree summoning him. The timing was too subtle, so subtle that one could not help but suspect a conspiracy.

As everyone knew, the Immortal Court was not monolithic. Immortal King Seven Luminaries held monstrous power, controlled most of the Immortal Court's military, and was even suspected of having merits that overshadowed his master. Although the Immortal Emperor Haotian was the nominal co-ruler, he had been in a semi-retired state for years, rarely involving himself in mundane affairs.

"Lin... Master Lin..."

Liu Ming stood up tremblingly, his face even paler than before, cold sweat streaming down. "This... this is the Immortal Emperor's Dharma Decree! Even the former Master did not receive this kind of treatment often. This... this is likely not a good thing."

"I know."

Lin Feng toyed with the token in his hand, a cold smile appearing at the corner of his mouth. "This is no edict; it is clearly an invitation. A top-tier banquet known as the 'Hongmen Feast'."

"If I don't go, I am defying the decree, which is rebellion. The Immortal Emperor has ten thousand reasons to legitimately send a great army to crush me; he wouldn't even need Seven Luminaries to act, as the Immortal Emperor would act himself to maintain his authority."

"If I go, I am entering their chessboard, and my life and death will be in their hands."

This overt scheme was played truly well.

"Then... what should we do? Should we run? Escape to the Lower Realm? Or stay low at the edge of the Chaos Sea?" an Elder suggested tremblingly.

"Run?"

Lin Feng shook his head, his gaze becoming profound. "Under the vast heavens, is there any land that is not the King's? Where can I run? Take you thousands of people to be sewer rats for the rest of our lives?"

"And..."

Lin Feng glanced at the glaring [critical hit points: 0] on the System panel.

To continue growing stronger, to truly resurrect the Demon Suppression Division, and to uncover the full truth about how Sword Demon Zhang Cheng was killed, he had to go to the Nine Heavens!

Although it was dangerous there, it also held the most resources, the strongest opponents, and... the largest, fattest patch of leeks!

"Go! Why wouldn't I?"

Lin Feng suddenly laughed, his smile somewhat wicked and somewhat chilling.

"Since the Immortal Emperor is inviting me to dinner, even if the Manchu Han Imperial Feast is laced with poison, I must go and taste it."

"Whether he wants to use me as a blade or a chess piece."

"As long as the stakes are high enough, it's not certain who will win or lose this game of chess."

"But before I leave..."

Lin Feng suddenly patted the high-grade Spirit Beast bag at his waist.

Inside, an aura that had been sleeping for a long time—extremely lewd yet permeated with a divine scent—finally stirred.

"My 'mobile wallet' should be waking up too."

...

"Burp~~~"

An earth-shattering, slightly pickled-vegetable-scented burp abruptly broke the serious and tragic atmosphere of the scene.

The Spirit Beast bag at Lin Feng's waist suddenly burst open automatically. A gray-gold light shot into the sky, flew around aimlessly like a headless fly for a few turns, and then with a "splat," crashed heavily into the pile of rubble in front of Lin Feng.

"Ouch! Who turned off the lights? Why is it so bright? No, wait, why is it so dark?"

As the dust cleared, a... how should one describe it?

The originally scrawny Huang Fugui, which looked like a cross between a weasel and a mongrel dog, had changed drastically.

Although its size hadn't increased—it was still the size convenient for burrowing—its formerly messy yellow fur had turned into a pure dark gold, as soft and smooth as top-tier silk. Its four paws were surrounded by faint wisps of cloud vapor, as if it were constantly walking on clouds.

The most eye-catching part was its tail.

Beside its originally bare tail, a new tail had actually grown!

The new tail was entirely a chaotic gray, covered with fine scales, and a small cluster of gray flames burned at the tip, looking full of mysterious and dangerous aura.

A two-tailed Divine Beast!

Moreover, its eyes were no longer those shifty, mung bean-sized eyes, but had turned into gold and silver dual-colored pupils—the left eye gold, the right eye silver. As they turned, they seemed capable of seeing through all the illusions and Karma in the world.

"Master! Master! I missed you to death!"

As soon as Huang Fugui saw Lin Feng, it instinctively wanted to pounce over, hug his leg, and cry about its misery.

But the moment it moved, its body vanished into thin air, and the next second, it appeared directly on Lin Feng's shoulder!

Space travel! And without any fluctuations!

"What the hell?!" Lin Feng was startled. "Does your teleportation have no cooldown? And it doesn't consume mana?"

"Huh? Teleportation? I don't know, I just thought about being by Master's side, and then 'whoosh,' I was here." Huang Fugui scratched its head, looking bewildered, then suddenly clutched its stomach with a wronged expression. "Master, I'm hungry."

"Hungry right after waking up? Are you a pig? There are plenty of Medicinal Pills here, eat them yourself." Lin Feng rolled his eyes.

"It's not... that kind of hunger."

Huang Fugui shook its head, its gold and silver heterochromatic eyes suddenly staring fixedly at Liu Ming, who was not far away.

To be precise, it was staring at the top of Liu Ming's head.

In Lin Feng's vision, the top of Liu Ming's head was empty.

But in Huang Fugui's vision, a faint, nearly dissipating mass of white cloud vapor floated above Liu Ming's head—that was the last bit of "Luck" Liu Ming had left at this moment.

"That... looks like it might be delicious."

Crystal-clear drool flowed from the corner of Huang Fugui's mouth. Unable to control itself, it opened its mouth and inhaled sharply in Liu Ming's direction!

"Slurp!"

It saw that a wisp of the white cloud vapor above Liu Ming's head was actually sucked over and drilled into Huang Fugui's mouth.

"Chomp, chomp..."

Huang Fugui chewed twice, then stuck out its tongue in disgust: "Pah! It's sour! This old guy must have been having terrible Luck lately; his Luck is rotten! Not only is it rotten, but it also gets stuck in my teeth!"

Meanwhile.

"Achoo!"

Liu Ming in the distance sneezed for no apparent reason.

Then, something weird happened.

Although he was on flat ground, he suddenly slipped as if he had stepped on a banana peel, fell backward, and crashed face-first onto the ground. What was even unluckier was that when he fell, his face happened to smash into a sharp rock, breaking his nose, which had just stopped bleeding, all over again.

"Ouch! What kind of Luck do I have? I can even fall on flat ground?" Liu Ming screamed, clutching his nose.

"..."