Translated by: Hypersheep325

Edited by: Michyrr

The tens of thousands of Great Zhou cavalry were still on the journey from the various provinces and counties to the capital, still very far from the Mausoleum of Books, but Wuqiong Bi's expression still underwent a sudden transformation. As an expert of the Divine Domain and member of the Eight Storms, her strength had reached an extremely profound level, so she could easily see the terrifying army on the distant plains, and also the Red Falcons and Red Geese flying through the rain clouds like lightning bolts.

"It seems that this was originally all part of Tianhai's plan. We have to leave." She turned towards her husband, her face pale.

The horsetail whisk soaked from the rain drooped lifelessly from the crook of her elbow, just like her morale.

Tonight, the two sides still had not formally begun to fight and it was impossible to ascertain the situation, but the Tianhai Divine Empress's composure and confidence had already drained Wuqiong Bi of all her confidence.

She found it impossible to forget that time in the capital when the Divine Empress had launched a distant attack at her from atop the Dew Platform. Deep within her heart, she was utterly lacking in the courage to straightforwardly confront her foe.

Courage was something that might require ten-odd years or longer of humiliation and restless nights to accumulate, but to lose it often required only a second.

Gazing at that formidable figure at the summit of the Mausoleum of Books, those princes from the provinces also began to change the look on their faces. Some were like Wuqiong Bi, taken with the impulse to retreat.

The situation truly was not clear yet, but one fact was clear: tonight's trap which had originally been planned out by Daoist Ji had now become the Divine Empress's trap.

Since the Tianhai Divine Empress already knew of everything, just who could defeat her?

Yet, at this juncture, even if they wanted to go, it was already too late to leave.

As the cry of an eagle resounded through the capital, various places in the capital suddenly responded.

Boom! In the Capital Garden of Peace, the moist ground subsided and a large cave appeared, sand and stone falling from it and water gushing out.

With the gushing of water, an obsidian statue of a sage appeared.

This statue was covered all over in mud. As it was gradually washed clean by the spring water, its true appearance was revealed, and it also began to emit a mighty strength.

In the center of the southern part of Red House Street, a crack about three feet long appeared. This crack was unfathomably deep, yet the air that rose from this crack was not cold, but broiling hot. It was like some bronze stove that burned throughout the year was at the bottom of this crack. The rain water on the street poured into the crack and was instantly converted into steam.

In a few seconds, this famous street once renowned for its peace and quiet became a mist-ridden fairyland, so beautiful that it did not seem part of this mundane world. However, the blazing Qi within the mist made clear the danger within.

In the third courtyard in the northern part of White Paper District, there was a clack, and then the beams of all the buildings within seemed to suffer the corrosion of one thousand years, gnawed at by insects and eroded by storms, visibly rotting away and collapsing into dust, leaving only the foundation. This was an ancient and shallow set of paths paved with bricks.

The only well within the courtyard also collapsed. The well water rushed up past the ruined walls of the well, pouring into the shallow paths making up the foundations of the building, thus making it a canal.

An extremely chilly and stern Qi arose from the canal into the night sky.

In North Li of Achieving Merit was a mound like a small mountain. Under several centuries of care, many pines and grass had been planted upon it. It was a very serene and beautiful sight, and on normal days, the denizens of the capital would choose this place to take a stroll. They had long since forgotten that several hundred years ago, this place was a grand mausoleum.

With a clap, a thunderbolt descended from the heavens and struck the mound.

The thickest green pine was struck by this thunderbolt, releasing a stream of smoke before slowly collapsing.

The collapse of the pine on the mound sent mud flying and crushed the grass beneath it.

Soon after, this mound gradually split apart, revealing the scene within.

There was no coffin, no funerary objects, only countless bones.

These bones were those palace maids who were willing to follow Emperor Taizong in death.

Yet the cold and hateful Qi within this great mausoleum made the word 'willing' seem debatable.

This cold and hateful Qi had no effect on the people living around North Li of Achieving Merit.

Because a powerful Qi arose from the underground river at the bottom of the mound. Like a cool breeze, it easily washed away this resentment, cleaned those bones.

This Qi soared upwards, straight into the night sky. It released a faint golden luster, shining in awe-inspiring divinity!

In various places in the capital, similar sorts of phenomena occurred: a stone sculpture as foundation, a crack in the ground attracting flames, a spring flowing in reverse as a soup, or the majestic appearance of an imperial Qi.

Countless powerful Qis soared into the sky, some piercing through the leaden clouds straight into the night sky while others dazzled with a brilliance that outshone the stars. Gradually, they formed into a majestic and spectacular great array.

This array was impossible to see, but cultivators could clearly feel it. They instantly felt as insignificant as dust and also boundlessly reverent.

The reversed spring water that had poured into the foundation in the White Paper District had magically transformed into the famed Golden Broth of the Orthodoxy, yet it was only an extremely small and unremarkable part of this great array.

The imperial Qi that had arisen from North Li of Achieving Merit and broken out of the tomb, cleaning the bones and ascending above the nine heavens, suddenly fell into the Imperial Palace.

The Lingyan Pavilion that had been tightly sealed for several hundred years and was dark as the night began to exude ray after ray of milky white light.

At the same time, an incomparably tyrannical, dignified, and upright Qi appeared in the perceptions of everyone.

This was the head of the Tier of Legendary Weapons that had not appeared for many years: the Frost God Spear!

When he sensed the Qi of the Frost God Spear and the change within the Lingyan Pavilion, Bie Yanghong's expression finally turned grave. The little red flower tied to his pinkie finger suddenly stopped swaying, hovering in the wind.

A river wound around the Mausoleum of Books. Suddenly, the water in the river completely vanished. It had not dried up, but seemed more like it had all been sucked away by the earth.

Seventy-odd objects that seemed like Heavenly Tome Monoliths appeared on the riverbed, a stone forest. The surface of these monoliths exuded a solemn Qi.

The rain clouds that had originally been dispersing in all directions sensed the call of the great array within the capital and gradually began to return. Although they did not completely block out the starlight, they cause the many stars to greatly dim.

The awe-inspiring aura of the array was like countless sharp swords, able to sever even the laws of the world. The strength contained within was enough to execute experts of the Divine Domain!

Wuqiong Bi's face was already very pale, the tyrannical feeling on her face already replaced by fear.

Guan Xingke remained silent. His bamboo hat obscured his plain and unremarkable face, yet it could not hide away his true feelings at this moment.

"This is the Imperial Design?"

Zhu Luo's expression fiercely changed. He turned to the peak of the Mausoleum of Books and asked incredulously, "You are not of the Imperial clan, so how?"