Everlasting Immortal Firmament

Chapter 1—The Military God King

The sixth of June! Whereabouts: Longgang, Chen Kingdom!

Black clouds covered the sky, a chilly wind sweeping across the ground.
In Longgang tens of thousands of injured soldiers were stationed, giving off the impression that a defeat in battle had occurred recently.
In the center of the crowd, guarded by a multitude of soldiers, stood a yellow tent.

The yellow tent was filled with officials, all looking worriedly towards an imperial couch.

On the imperial couch sat an elderly man dressed in sovereign court robes¹, around sixty years old, his complexion pale, unceasingly coughing.
By his side stood a chamberlain who carefully attended to him, from time to time wiping off the blood that was coughed onto the corners of his mouth.

On the imperial couch, there was also an approximately forty year old man clothed in white, at the moment both of his hands supported the back of the robed elderly man.
It seemed as if he was helping the robed elderly man transport qi, who was healing ever so slightly.

“Pu!”

The robed elderly man spurted out a mouthful of fresh blood, his healing having come to an end.
Moreover, the robed elderly man’s condition seemed to have taken a turn for the worse, his appearance even more deathly pale.

“Father²!” In the midst of the crowd of officials, a middle aged man wearing a court robe suddenly shouted in alarm.

“Emperor!” A multitude of court officials suddenly shouted in alarm as well.

The robed elderly man paid no attention to his audience of officials, rather looking towards the white-clothed man who was helping him transport qi.

“Third Grandfather, you don’t need to save me any more, I know about my circumstances.
The fact that the veins and arteries in my heart are exhausted and breaking down, I already have a general idea!” The robed elderly man faintly exclaimed, bitterly speaking.

The white-clothed man gave a faint sigh: “The veins and arteries in your heart are exhausted and breaking down, Chen Taiji, this time you were too greedy for meritorious deeds and advanced prematurely! Why didn’t you wait for me?”

“I wanted to make an all-out effort, to obtain victory this time for the sect, but I underestimated the Song Kingdom’s military god, Gao Xianzhi! Gao Xianzhi is so powerful; when he was defending Nanjiang, I didn’t know that he would be so powerful, so that my army even celebrated our victory beforehand, singing a song during the entire journey.
Who would have thought that the King of Song would have given the authority to lead the army completely to Gao Xianzhi, the army delivered all into his hands, as if by divine intervention or some supernatural force? We had the advantage, but it was completely disassembled by them, their army coming in like the tide and forcing us to make an all-around retreat.
The King of Song, he really is something! Cough! Cough!” Chen Taiji coughed as he bitterly spoke.

“I’ve said it to you before, this time the war between the Chen Kingdom and Song Kingdom is beyond the scope of anything you can imagine.
The sect backing the Song Kingdom is similar to us, laying down their lives according to orders, to them victory is compulsory.
Whoever ends up the victor of the war, the sect that’s been hiding behind them, no matter if turns up to be either us or them, will be able to recieve the newly discovered Spirit Stone mine!” The white-clothed man gave a faint sigh as he spoke.

“The grandson earnestly requests his Third Grandfather, please defeat Gao Xianzhi, otherwise, my Chen Kingdom will suffer a crushing defeat, enough to wipe out the kingdom!” Chen Taiji pleaded as he spoke.

The white-clothed man knitted his eyebrows into a concentrated stare as he shook his head: “I’ve said it before, this time the situation is too widespread.
Previously it was only for the sake of some Spirit Stone mine, but this time there is actually an important person who has expressed interest in this, that important person wants to see a profane battle, and thusly has forced us not to get involved with this.
Not just me, but also Sect Leader, will not, for the purpose of your secular country, offend that very important person!”

“What? You cannot get involved? Cough! Cough!” Chen Taiji once again coughed out a mouthful of blood.

The white-clothed man assuredly nodded his head: “The sect backing the Song Kingdom, cannot get involved as well, therefore you should not think that the injury was caused by the sect backing the Song Kingdom, it was entirely inflicted by Gao Xianzhi!”

“Cough! Cough! Cough! Cough! Cough!” Chen Taiji once again went into a peal of coughing.

“Report!”

A young soldier rushed into the large tent, bending onto one knee; at seeing the pale emperor cough up a mouthful of blood, his expression immediately went rigid.

“Speak!” Chen Taiji fixed his attention onto the soldier.

“Reporting to the emperor, the Tong Pass has fallen!” The soldier spoke in a panic.

“What? Cough! Cough! Cough!” Chen Taiji once again coughed up blood.

“Report!”

Yet another young soldier rushed into the large tent.

“Reporting to the emperor, the Chenshan Pass has fallen!”

“Report!”

“Reporting to the emperor, the Jiayu Pass has fallen!”

“Cough! Cough! Cough! Cough! Cough!”

Within the large tent silence had fallen, the only remaining noises the sound of government officials urgently gasping for breath and the sound of Chen Taiji’s coughing.

On Chen Taiji’s pale face he had unexpectedly coughed so hard there was a smatter of red coloring on his cheeks.

The white-clothed man wrinkled his eyebrows, appearing as if he were witnessing Chen Taiji’s last moments, almost on the verge of death.

Within the large tent, a crowd of officials all betrayed expressions of alarm.

“Father, the Tong Pass, the Chenshan Pass, and the Jiayu Pass, these three important locations were lost within the span of one day.
What we have lost to the Song Kingdom are all flat plains, three-fourths of the territory in the Chen Kingdom has basically gone to the dogs!” The robed man’s expression exposed a frightened appearance.

The white-clothed man faintly sighed as he spoke: “Lost, we still lost, this Gao Xianzhi, really has such great capability.
The Chen Kingdom is absolutely hopeless now!”

Chen Taiji’s complexion had already swollen into a bright red color: “Using soldiers as if he were a god? Using soldiers as if he were a god, creating a diversion and breaking through the three passes at the same time, breaking apart the moral of our troops, what a good Gao Xinzhi, what a powerful Gao Xinzhi. Cough! Cough! Cough! Cough!”

“Chen Taiji, why don’t you let the crown prince succeed to the throne, the Chen Kingdom still has the Hulao Pass, we can hope to defend that for a while.
Ah, even if we were to defend it for longer, what is the purpose? This battle, we have lost.
It’s just that I pity your son, and hope that the Sect Leader will not take his anger on your son!” The expression on the white-clothed man was one that was rarely seen.

“What? Sect Leader’s anger?” Chen Taiji restrained his coughs as he looked at the white-clothed man.

The white-clothed man remained silent for a moment, nodding his head as he spoke: “It’s possible, I will probably also suffer implications.
This war is being watched by a very important person, in the case that the Chen Kingdom loses, the important person will be very disappointed with the sect, and Sect Leader cares very much about the important person’s opinion of him.
Perhaps, I hope that the Sect Leader will not get too angry, after all the opposite side’s military god is much too strong…!”

Chen Taiji’s body suddenly trembled, his eyes fluctuating rapidly, appearing as if he were making a very difficult decision.

“No, we haven’t lost yet, we still have Hulao Pass, still have Hulao Pass!” Chen Taiji said, trembling.

“Hulao Pass? The number of troops stationed in Hulao Pass are the smallest, furthermore they are all a bunch of imperial guards, compared to the soldiers in the other three passes, they are all just a flock of sheep that have never seen blood before; not only that, but their numbers are very small.
In what way can they withstand the tigers and wolves that make up the Song Kingdom’s army? Moreover, you are on the verge of death, and there is a huge discrepancy between your son’s capabilities and yours; even you can’t withstand their attacks, let alone your son? Furthermore, the country is on the verge of forfeiting three-fourths of its territory, a great amount of territory lost, the trust of the people lost, what do you gain from battling against the Song Kingdom? In addition, the opposition is the military god, Gao Xinzhi! The entire country is going to ruin, the condition of it deteriorating day by day, in this manner you can not prevent it from happening!” The white-clothed man slightly sighed as he spoke.

“No, we still haven’t lost!” As Chen Taiji trembled, he revealed a sinister expression as he spoke.

“Just relying on the scattered remnants of this defeated army? Kingdoms will all be destroyed one day, no one can stop it, Taiji, you should instead think of how to beg for forgiveness from the sect!” The white-clothed man bitterly spoke.

“Father, what kind of means do we still have? The sect is not willing to be involved…!” The robed crown prince revealed an agonized expression as he spoke.

Chen Taiji closed his eyes, his entire body shuddering; it was only after a long pause did finally open his mouth to speak: “No, there is still a person, he, he can go against the tide, he surely is able to!”

“Oh?” The white-clothed man faintly stared blankly.

The robed crown prince also revealed an confused expression.

“Crown prince, you must go and plead for him to join us, as long as he is willing to come out of obscurity, as long as he is willing to come out of obscurity, we will be able to win, certainly! Cough! Cough! Cough!” Chen Taiji coughed as he spoke.

“Chen Taiji, this is not a time to joke around, now the Chen Kingdom is practically defeated, who can still turn around the tide? The Song Kingdom has recently become an impregnable force, furthermore they have the military god Gao Xinzhi to sing about on the road, their morale extremely high.
Without the sect’s involvement, it’s impossible to change the battle’s situation right now!” The white-clothed man spoke doubtfully.

“It’s possible, he can do it, he can definitely do it!” Chen Taiji’s face was extremely red.

“Who? Father, who is it?” The crown prince asked curiously.

“Gu Hai!” Chen Taiji spat out the name with extreme difficulty, as if it belonged to an exceedingly intolerable person.

“The richest person within the six kingdoms, Mister Gu Lao?” The crown prince asked inquisitively.

“The richest person within the six kingdoms? Cough! Cough! Cough! Gu Hai? Who would have thought, just before death’s door, I once again beg for you to help me!” Chen Taiji exposed a bitter smile as his spoke.

“Gu Hai? Precisely the person who began cultivating after he turned thirty, later on delusionally wanting to pay worship to our sect, that fellow with the extremely bad Gengu?”

“Third Grandfather, you know about him?” Chen Taiji stared, extremely amazed, towards the white-clothed man.

“I’ve met him before, in fact, most of the people in our sect who were in the Jindan territory have met him.
Just by staying in this world, that fellow would always be able to quickly find us, bribing us with every means possible, pleading to let him into the sect.
However, his Gengu was just too terrible, and additionally his cultivation was very slow, practically making no accomplishments; accepting him, would only cause the other sect members to ridicule us!” The white-clothed man nodded his head.

“Gu Hai? Ah, I thought that I had prevented any possible opportunities for him to contact the sect, who would have thought that he unexpectedly bypassed me a long time ago.
Such an obvious thing, to think I missed it, hehehe, cough! Cough! Cough! Cough!” Chen Taiji coughed up blood, bitterly speaking.

“Chen Taiji, you say that Gu Hai can reverse the flow of things? In what way are you sure? He is only an ordinary person, having just an Houtian cultivation level.” The white-clothed man frowned, knitting his eyebrows together as he spoke.

“Yes, Father, he is only a merchant, can he really unify the soldiers and fight in the war?” The crown prince also anxiously spoke.

“He can definitely do that! If Gao Xinzhi is the military god, then he, Gu Hai, is the military god king! Taizi, go bring the government officials with you to plead him! You must convince him!” Chen Taiji revealed a resolute expression within his eyes as he spoke.

“An ordinary person? The military god king?”

“Third Grandfather, please satisfy his requests as much as possible.
You are correct that he is a merchant, you are correct that he is an ordinary person, but only he has the capability to turn the tides; if we want to win back the victory, we can only ask him! I guarantee it on the crown prince’s life!” The color of Chen Taiji’s face had already swollen to a blood-red color.

The white-clothed man looked at Chen Taiji, knitting his brows with contemplation.
Originally it had already been impossible to save the situation, but Chen Taiji’s stubbornly insisted that Gu Hai would be able to reverse the situation; besides, Chen Taiji’s expression was not deceitful.
The white-clothed man gradually became solemn.
After all, this time the battle between the two kingdoms had too many great implications, there was no time to idle for any details.

“I will, Sect Leader this time gave me the privilege to get away with some things.
As long as it is not excessive, I will satisfy him to the fullest extent.” The white-clothed man solemnly spoke.

“Crown Prince, after you convince Gu Hai to take the leading position, if you want to reverse the tides, you have to obey everything that he arranges, remember, every arrangement.
Also, address him as Uncle Gu! He used to be the your father’s sworn elder brother! Cough! Cough!” Chen Taiji weakly, almost agonizingly, spoke.

“Uncle Gu?” The crown prince revealed an astonished appearance.

“Finally, on behalf of myself give him an apology, that year it was I that wronged him!” Chen Taiji exposed a trace of distressing pain.

After he had finished his last sentence, Chen Taiji closed his eyes, his red face fading in a split second, returning to a pale color, ceasing to have even a trace of a sound.

“Father!”

“Emperor!”

“The Emperor has died!”

Both outside and within the large tent, everybody immediately fell to their knees.
Everybody, without exception, endlessly called out cries of grief.