"Heavenly Court? This is the Human Race's land, the territory of Great Shang. What does it matter if you're some wild god appointed by the Heavenly Court?" Yuan Hong said disdainfully.
Before he left on his expedition, the King had told him about the Deities, but he hadn't paid it any mind.
So what if a Deity had been appointed by the Heavenly Court?
Could the Heavenly Court control the Yao Race? Or the Human Race?
What a joke! In the eyes of the truly powerful, the Heavenly Court was nothing special.
Today, he would kill this Mountain God right in front of him and see what the Heavenly Court could do about it.
As he spoke, he could no longer contain his rage. He raised the One Qi Water and Fire Rod, ready to strike.
But then, as if he'd suddenly remembered something, he lowered the One Qi Water and Fire Rod.
"I advise you to think carefully about the consequences. If the Jade Emperor flies into a rage, you'll regret it!"
He had no idea who this man really was. All he knew was that his opponent was terrifyingly powerful.
He was only a Mountain God, with a cultivation level of Earth Immortal. In the Heavenly Court, he was nothing more than a minor figure.
When the man before him raised his iron rod, he had nearly panicked, afraid the other fellow was reckless enough to attack without regard for the consequences.
Fortunately, the other man had lowered his iron rod again. The Mountain God took this to mean that he was afraid.
After all, he was a Mountain God appointed by the Heavenly Court. No matter how powerful his opponent was, surely he wouldn't show him no respect at all.
Now that he felt more confident, he wasn't as arrogant as before, but his words still carried a certain force.
"Wild god, listen carefully! It's not that I'm letting you go. The King issued an Imperial Edict long ago!" Yuan Hong said solemnly.
He really had been ready to strike just now, but then he suddenly remembered what the King had told him before he set out.
The King had said that if they encountered Deities interfering, they must first read out the Imperial Edict and establish their guilt beyond doubt.
The King trusted him enough to put him in command of the army. How could he forget what the King had told him?
That was why he had lowered the One Qi Water and Fire Rod instead of striking at once.
At the same time, in Chaoge City, Zi Shou stood high above the ground. His gaze seemed to pierce through the void, reaching a distant place.
"Judging by the time, Yuan Hong should be facing a Deity by now. The Imperial Edict ought to come into play soon!" Zi Shou murmured.
He had no doubts about Yuan Hong's strength. Killing a Deity would be no difficult task for him.
But the Imperial Edict represented legitimacy. It was a judgment against the Deities issued by him, the Human Sovereign!
What's more, that Imperial Edict was no ordinary document. It was an experiment in wielding the Human Race's Fortune.
At the same time, Yuan Hong had already taken out the Imperial Edict. The moment he unfurled it, golden light burst forth and shot into the sky.
Brilliant golden radiance soared into the heavens, transforming into a vast Imperial Edict that slowly unfurled.
"Now there is a fiend who, under the false guise of a Deity, has thrown Great Shang into chaos and plunged our Human Race into the calamity of war. This crime is heinous!
"From this day forth, no Deity may enter the lands of Great Shang. Any who disobey shall be executed!"
The majestic words resounded throughout heaven and earth, full of authority, as if a supreme Heavenly Emperor were passing judgment.
Compared to this, the Mountain God's voice from earlier had been utterly feeble.
The dazzling golden radiance was already blinding, and around the enormous Imperial Edict, flames roared and blazed.
These were the flames of the Human Path Luck. Ordinary humans might not feel a thing, but to the Mountain God and the Meishan Seven Saints, they were something else entirely.
"It's gathering the Human Race's Fortune, and the Luck Flame is blazing! The King's Imperial Edict is actually so extraordinary?" Yuan Hong thought, stunned.
He had assumed the King gave him the Imperial Edict merely for show, to make his position clear.
After all, this involved a Deity from the Heavenly Court interfering in the affairs of the Human Race. As the Human Sovereign, the King naturally had to make his stance known.
He had never imagined that a mere Imperial Edict could do more than that.
But the truth showed him this was no ordinary edict. It was an Imperial Edict infused with the Human Race's Fortune.
Even he felt an urge to fall to his knees before that vast, radiant Human Race's Fortune, blazing like the Great Sun.
If he felt that way, the Mountain God was in even worse shape. He no longer looked anything like the arrogant figure from before.
His towering body had shrunk to the size of an ordinary man. Now he lay prostrate on the ground, not even daring to lift his head.
If he could, the Mountain God would probably have wished he were an ant, so tiny no one could see him.
As for ordinary people of the Human Race, they had never imagined that the King of Great Shang possessed such power.
It was only an Imperial Edict, yet it had such authority—more godlike than the Deities themselves.
Was this their King of Great Shang?
As everyone watched, the final character, "execute," fell into place, and a clear, ringing cry of a phoenix rang out.
The Human Race's Luck Flame swept across the Nine Heavens, becoming an endless sea of fire. A Phoenix was born in its flames.
With wings spread wide, it soared into the sky, trailing countless blazing flames as its cry echoed throughout heaven and earth.
A mysterious bird descended from Heaven, and Shang was born!
At that moment, everyone thought of the same words.
This was no Phoenix. It was the Mysterious Bird, formed from the Human Race's Fortune—the symbol of Great Shang.
Amid the clear cry of the bird, the Mysterious Bird plunged down. In the blink of an eye, it was before the Mountain God.
"No! I'm a Deity appointed by the Heavenly Court. I have a divine rank! Who could kill me?"
His voice was full of terror, but it could do nothing to change his fate. Despair filled the Mountain God's eyes.
The Luck Flame swept over him, cutting off his defiant cries. The Mountain God was swallowed whole.
When the Human Race's Luck Flame faded and the Mysterious Bird disappeared, the Mountain God had vanished from the world as well.
The Imperial Edict was the same as before. It fell back into Yuan Hong's hands, but he stared at it, momentarily dazed.
"So this is the Human Race's Fortune now? Is this what it means to be the Human Sovereign?" Yuan Hong murmured.
The Mountain God was nothing special. With his strength, he could have made him vanish from the world in an instant.
But what he had just witnessed was extraordinary. That was the Human Race's Fortune made manifest!
Since the Three Sovereigns and Five Emperors, one Human Sovereign after another had passed down the throne. But when had the Human Race's Fortune ever appeared in physical form?
An Imperial Edict that could kill a Deity—what it represented went far beyond the deed itself.
The light Imperial Edict rested in Yuan Hong's hand, yet it felt as heavy as a mountain. It brought countless thoughts to mind.
The other six members of the Meishan Seven Saints were no better off. They all stood there, stunned, as if they couldn't believe what they had just seen.
Only Cultivators like them truly understood what that scene meant.
But whatever the Meishan Seven Saints thought no longer mattered. There was no suspense left in this battle.
"That was the King's voice just now. I once followed the King on an Imperial Expedition. I couldn't possibly have mistaken it!"
"The King killed a Deity with a single Imperial Edict. What divine might!"
"What Deity? Didn't you hear the King? It was just a fiend, here to throw Great Shang into chaos!"
The soldiers of Great Shang erupted in cheers. What had just happened was simply too shocking for them.
An Imperial Edict had produced such a spectacle. No amount of praise could do it justice.
What's more, as the Luck Flame blazed and the Mysterious Bird appeared, they were not only stunned but filled with admiration.
This was their King of Great Shang. With a King like him, they would surely be invincible. What could they possibly fear?
By contrast, the rebel lords' forces had all bowed their heads, despair filling their eyes.
The Deity they had considered nearly omnipotent had actually died just like that?
He had been killed by a single Imperial Edict from the King!
What kind of being had they made an enemy of?
After witnessing that incredible scene, it was hard for them to feel anything but despair.
They lowered their weapons without thinking, their eyes vacant as they muttered to themselves like fools.
The rebel lord in particular kept repeating, "Great Shang is favored by Heaven's Mandate!"
At that moment, everyone present was probably thinking the same thing.
An Imperial Edict had killed a Deity, and the Mysterious Bird had appeared. What else could that be but Heaven's Mandate?
But if Zi Shou had been there, he would surely have scoffed at such words.
What did it mean to be favored by Heaven's Mandate?
What was this so-called Mandate? The Gods and Buddhas who stood above all? Or the Sages?
If those beings could decide everyone's fate simply because they were stronger, then what?
He had never believed in Heaven's Mandate. This so-called Mandate seemed more like a script someone had written in advance.
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