The Imperial Observatory Strikes: Thunderous Wrath

Immediately, the thousand-ton Fuchuan broke in two.

The keel shattered instantly, and the hull was cleaved in two by a giant axe, capsizing to either side.

Hundreds of sailors on board fell into the sea, thrashing about in terror.

But the man in White Robe didn't stop; he leaped towards the second ship, the third, the fourth...

Every time a boat lands, a ship is bound to capsize.

Lin Cangming watched from afar, barely managing to prop himself up as he witnessed this unbelievable scene.

That wasn't a battle, that was a massacre.

The ocean-going navy, which the imperial court had built at great expense, was like a paper toy in front of this man.

Is the opponent a player, or a skilled local expert?

He leans towards the latter.

Because the opponent is too strong.

But then I think it's the former, because the other person was too pretentious.

This is something that ordinary indigenous people wouldn't do.

Kill them as quickly as possible, and strike various poses, like it's a live broadcast.

The imperial cannons were spinning rapidly, but they couldn't keep up with his speed.

The runic bird guns roared, but the lead bullets couldn't penetrate the three-foot-wide protective aura around him.

Even if those bullets were engraved with inscriptions, causing damage from fire, lightning, poison, or even curses at the drop of a hat, it wouldn't work.

Some of the bravest soldiers even jumped aboard and swung their swords, only to have the blades shatter into pieces the instant they touched the hem of his clothes.

"He's weird...he's weird..." someone cried out, breaking down.

"It's not strange." A Qianzong. "This is Grandmaster Level martial arts expert!"

This Qianzong recalled some unofficial historical records he had read when he was bored.

The book says that in the previous dynasty there was a sword immortal whose sword light chilled nineteen provinces.

There is also a Fist Saint, whose fists can withstand 100,000 soldiers.

At the time, he thought it was just an exaggeration by writers, but now he realizes that such people really exist in the world.

After all, he was just a minor military officer, and it was difficult for him to see those important figures.

Similarly, high-ranking officials in the imperial court generally do not display their power.

They all settled their affairs over drinks and in brothels.

They rarely fight each other to the death in the wild.

After all, they only have one life, and they won't easily fight with others unless it involves their core interests.

But now, this man in White Robe is recklessly using his full power.

The man in White Robe stopped when the twelfth ship capsized.

He stood on the wreckage of a multi-story ship, his White Robe finally stained with some blood—not his, of course, but splattered on.

Of the forty-eight warships, twelve have already sunk.

The remaining ships were fleeing frantically, their sails scattered like startled birds.

"That's enough," the man in White Robe said.

"Go back and tell your emperor," the man in White Robe raised his hand, pointing to the distant horizon, "That island is safe."

"From this day forward, these islands are not under royal control, nor are they subject to taxes or corvée labor. Anyone who objects—"

He snapped his fingers.

A hundred feet away, a speedboat that was fleeing suddenly exploded!

"Die!"

The sea suddenly fell into a deathly silence.

Then, it is unclear which ship started it, but many ships retreated at a faster pace than they had come.

The sails hurriedly disappeared into the twilight like the receding tide.

The man in White Robe did not give chase.

He returned to the island on the waves, stopped right in front of Lin Cangming, took out a pill, and put it into his mouth.

"It looks like you can survive," he shook his head, "But your legs are useless."

"I'm afraid I won't be able to walk anymore."

Lin Cangming felt the warm current from the dissolving pill and said with a wry smile, "It's good that I can live."

"It's alright, I'm a player, there's no such thing as being crippled."

"You'll recover once your blood volume is fully restored."

"However... although Your Excellency has temporarily retreated, the court will not let this go."

"Next time, it might be an army of 100,000, or perhaps an even more powerful expert..."

"There won't be a next time. Give a man a fish and you feed him for a day; teach a man to fish and you feed him for a lifetime." The man in White Robe interrupted him, looking at the islanders crawling out of the ruins. "I will stay here for three years."

"Teach ten disciples within three years."

"In this way, your island will be more than capable of protecting itself."

Lin Cangming was stunned. "You saved our lives, which already repays the favor I did for saving that little girl... Why is that?"

"Killing requires a motive, saving lives doesn't need a reason," the man in White Robe said, shaking his head.

"Wow, that's great! I totally agree with the host!"

"This streamer is really amazing; he not only saved lives but also gave people hope for the future."

"Unlike the others, who only know how to attack the imperial court but don't consider the consequences."

"Yeah, this streamer seems more trustworthy and reliable."

Three days later.

Capital Island.

Inside the Fourth Prince.

"Damn it, damn it!"

The Fourth Prince was in a rage, throwing teacups one after another onto the ground.

"These bastards have openly rebelled!"

"They even wiped out the imperial fleet sent to quell the rebellion!"

"What's most infuriating is that the Imperial Observatory hasn't even made a move!"

The three players just stood there watching the prince distribute the loot, but dared not offer any advice.

Because they know that it's difficult to persuade them otherwise, and they'll only get themselves into trouble.

What can be done?

They actually knew that the players weren't very strong.

They also knew that the imperial court's strength was still far greater than that of the player base.

The problem now is that neither the people from the Imperial Observatory nor the powerful figures in the imperial court are willing to take action.

The core military force of the imperial court must remain on the island.

Those with high-level martial arts skills, those powerful individuals above level 100, are also unwilling to leave the island.

Leaving the island means being schemed against and there are risks involved.

It's mainly weird...

Although the strange occurrences have subsided, that's only because there were no human interventions.

If they fall victim to it, they'll be targeted by a powerful and bizarre entity.

The so-called level 100, or even level 150 or 200, are no different from ordinary people in the face of powerful monsters.

They all broke the rules and died immediately.

Since the three players understood this, they were naturally helpless against it.

After raging for a while, the Fourth Prince finally calmed down a bit.

"It's infuriating that the Imperial Observatory is unwilling to take any action. If this continues, they will completely disgrace the imperial court!"

At this point, a player tentatively asked, "Your Highness, the Imperial Observatory receives a large amount of tribute from the court every year, so why are the high-ranking officials among them unwilling to step forward and deal with those rebellious players?"

"Your Highness, do you know why?"

The Fourth Prince sneered, "What else could it be?"

"They just want to use the players to put pressure on the imperial court!"

"They've always relied on this, always wanting to reap more benefits and shirk more responsibilities!"

"They've always wanted to be the retired emperor!"

"They want the imperial court to obey them completely!"

"I see," the player nodded.

He had already thought of this.

The reason for asking this question was to see if the Fourth Prince could see through this.

The other two players also realized that there were huge conflicts between the various factions within the imperial court.

"Your Highness, we are newcomers here. Could you please tell us about the history and background of the Imperial Observatory?" Player One asked again.

"In this way, we can also make some predictions for the Prince."

The Fourth Prince spoke up, "Alright, actually, the Imperial Observatory and the imperial court do not have a completely subordinate relationship."

"A very long time ago, the Imperial Observatory began to distance itself from the imperial court."

"Their cooperation is solely focused on combating the supernatural and researching Immortality."

"They are often those who obey orders but not proclamations."

"They also don't attend court on time; they just send a few people to the court."

Upon hearing this, the three of them understood completely.

This is precisely the fundamental reason why the imperial court has been unable to fully suppress the players for so long.

That's just how feudal dynasties are.

Their internal struggles far outweigh their external efforts.

Just like the Song Dynasty, the internal resources it expended were enough to wipe out external enemies.

"In that case, we need to find a way to get the Imperial Observatory interested in the players. Once they're interested, we won't have to put in any effort; they'll come looking for trouble on their own," Player One said.

When he said this, he completely forgot that he was one of the players.

This is the same as traitors; many traitors are more hostile to their own people than the Japanese, and are more proactive in committing evil deeds.

"Oh, tell me in detail..."

"It's very simple. You should know that we players can respawn after we die, right?"

"Yes, we know that. It's just that the Imperial Observatory has already studied this; you are enveloped by some kind of rule."

"To put it bluntly, you accomplished this by utilizing a powerful Divine Anomalies rule," the Fourth Prince said, shaking his head.

"If you think you can attract the Imperial Observatory with this, you're wasting your time."

"Because the Imperial Observatory has long since discovered that we indigenous people cannot exploit these rules. If we do, we will lose our minds and become puppets."

The three players nodded; it seemed the people in the imperial court weren't fools after all.

After all, possessing extraordinary power, their minds would not be confined by the feudal court.

An individual can use extraordinary power to shatter the deception of those Confucian scholars.

"Hehe, although we can't exploit these rules, we can extract talents from players. I know some strange beings that can do this. As long as we spread this news, I believe the people from the Imperial Observatory will definitely be interested." Player Two then revealed a secret.

It's not really a secret anymore.

After all, many players already know about this.

"We know about this," the Fourth Prince shook his head and said, "But we still can't use the Talent Stone we extracted."

"Heh, the more we extract, the more likely we'll need it," the player said nonchalantly. "Besides, all we need to do is spread one message."

The Fourth Prince nodded. That was one solution.

It's not great, but at least it's somewhat useful.

Ten days later.

The figure of the man in White Robe walking on the waves was seen by the people of the bay island as a god or Buddha.

He single-handedly defeated forty-eight warships.

He is also training ten disciples.

These people should be used to fight against the imperial navy.

However, Lin Cangming, who knew all too well how deep the waters ran, remained uneasy.

In his view, they should take advantage of the victory and retreat to a remote island.

However, the man in White Robe refused to accept this offer.

That's a joke. Gao Linzhi is here to do a live stream.

If the target audience for the live stream all runs away, how can you possibly arouse the viewers' emotions?

"Sir," a young man named Shen Qing was pushing Lin Cangming's wheelchair, "Master spoke today about the 'Heaven and Man Correspondence,' saying that the ultimate martial arts can influence celestial phenomena. Why don't you go and listen?"

"A celestial phenomenon?" Lin Cangming looked north, where there was a cloud with a shape so regular it didn't seem like a natural object.

"Xiaoqing, have you ever heard of... the Imperial Observatory?"

Shen Qing shook his head blankly.

He was just a child; how would he know about such government institutions?

What is common sense to Ordinary Player is a secret to many native inhabitants.

Lin Cangming silent.

He recalled the news he had heard on Wolf Snake Island — the Sky Wolf Dynasty, whose court was very powerful.

But the Imperial Observatory was even more powerful.

In his early years, he was the "Surveillance Department," commanding three hundred sorcerers who could Wind and Rain Summoning, and move mountains and fill seas.

After Emperor Taizu ascended the throne, he reorganized the "Surveillance Department" into the "Imperial Observatory Astronomy," ostensibly for observing celestial phenomena, but in reality for monitoring the entire country and suppressing everything.

Of course, with one emperor after another, this behemoth developed its own will.

What he didn't know was that these messages were partly true and partly false.

The truth is that the Imperial Observatory) was already in a semi-independent state dozens of dynasties ago.

The version circulating now is actually the Sky Wolf Dynasty trying to embellish its image.

A muffled boom echoed from the sky.

It wasn't thunder.

Rather, it was a deeper, more authoritative voice.

Like a giant drum, like a heartbeat, or like some enormous creature turning over in the clouds.

The disciples on the island stopped their training and looked up at the sky with surprise and uncertainty.

Suddenly, the neatly arranged clouds in the sky began to spread.

Its edges are as neat as if cut by a knife, but its center is as black as ink.

It slowly rotates, forming an aerial vortex that covers the entire sea area.

The voice of the man in White Robe came from the center of the island.

"Heavenly Protection!"

His voice was grave. "Everyone, retreat into the village immediately!"

However, it was too late.

A beam of light descended from the center of the vortex.

It wasn't lightning, but pure light, blindingly white, as thick as a palace pillar.

It landed right in the center of the island.

There was no explosion, no fire, just erasure.

On the island's training grounds, a bottomless circular hole suddenly appeared, its edges as smooth as a mirror, as if that part of the world had never existed.

The three disciples who didn't have time to dodge vanished without even letting out a scream.

"Starfall Technique..." The man in White Robe frowned as he floated into the air.

His White Robe robes fluttered as he gazed at the cloud.

"Look closely, the Imperial Observatory's officials have finally shown up?"

These words were naturally meant for the viewers in the live stream.

"The Imperial Observatory?"

"I've heard of them. They're the most powerful figures in the imperial court. They have flying boats and are no longer human. They don't treat others as human beings, but only as objects."

"I do know that they are very powerful and capable of suppressing many powerful monsters."

And at this time...

Laughter drifted from the clouds. Gentle, yet aged.

"This gentleman has a good eye."

A figure is slowly emerging from the swirling clouds.

It was as if there were invisible steps in the void.

He wore Black Taoist Robe embroidered with the Zhou Tian Star Dou, a Purple Gold Crown, and held a Jade Ruyi in his hand. His hair and beard were all white, but his face was like that of an infant.

"The old Daoist Imperial Observatory Zhang Shouyi, along with nine deputy directors of the Imperial Observatory, have been ordered to quell the rebellion."

He smiled, his gaze sweeping over the trembling crowd on the island.

"Sir, you've caused quite a stir."

"If we return to the capital with the old Daoist priest now, His Majesty, being benevolent, might show leniency."