Above the Imperial City.
A flying boat arrived late, slowly descending from the clouds and hovering above everyone's heads.
Four people stood at the bow.
The handsome youth leading them was Lu Changfeng.
Beside him stood the black-faced Man Running Ox and Zhou Xuan, who never took off his bamboo hat.
At the very back was the delicate boy, Wang Ziyu.
The flying boat had not yet settled.
Running Ox's eyes widened as he scanned Chang'an City below in confusion.
The thick Evil Qi was not enough to make him like this... Jiang Yuechu had previously left them behind to head to Chang'an alone; it was likely that something had happened there.
Given the current situation, it was clear that the person who caused the trouble had been dealt with... what really made his skin crawl were the powerful, blatant auras all over the city.
One, two, three... there were no fewer than a dozen Denglou Realm auras entrenched around the Imperial City.
Last time he came, though he did not stay long, he had felt them briefly.
In the vast Chang'an City, only two auras had startled him.
One was freaking Jiang Yuechu.
The other was elusive and hard to track... at the time, he only thought it was some Old Ancestor of Great Tang, but later heard from Wang Ziyu that it was his Master, Thirteen Wu Immortal Master.
But now... a bold thought surfaced in his mind.
Is Great Tang pretending to be a pig to eat the tiger?
Are they only now revealing their true depth?
But... that's not right!
If Great Tang really had such depth,
then why would Jiang Yuechu desperately seek the Golden Body Technique?
Isn't that like taking off your pants to fart—completely unnecessary?
Lu Changfeng and Zhou Xuan also looked at each other, their eyes full of suspicion.
Clearly,
the scene before them was vastly different from what they had heard.
"Something's wrong..."
Just then,
the boy beside them spoke up.
Running Ox looked back at Wang Ziyu in confusion: "Little Daoist... what's wrong?"
Wang Ziyu narrowed his eyes and said deeply: "These... aren't people from Great Tang."
Everyone was stunned: "Not from Great Tang?"
Wang Ziyu nodded slightly and explained: "Setting aside everything else, just the unique spiritual charms of various Dao Lineages—there are several kinds..."
After speaking, he turned to Lu Changfeng: "Fellow Daoist Lu is from Mount Qingcheng; you should be able to tell, right?"
Lu Changfeng frowned slightly and closed his eyes to sense carefully.
The next moment,
his expression turned uneasy as he said in shock: "Wuxiang... Liuhong... Cinder of Calamity, Fuluan..."
There were four Dao Lineages he recognized alone!
What exactly is going on with Great Tang?
Why would people from so many Dao Lineages gather here?
Hearing this, Running Ox felt completely out of sorts.
In this godforsaken place, what could be worth such a massive mobilization?
He laughed awkwardly, trying to lighten the mood: "Since they aren't from Great Tang, what are they here for... they can't be here to propose marriage, can they? Moo-hahahaha..."
"..."
Wang Ziyu glanced at him without speaking.
Seeing no one respond, Running Ox shut his mouth sheepishly.
A bunch of stiffs with no sense of humor... Below, atop the Imperial City.
The girl who had been sitting cross-legged with her eyes closed seemed to sense the movement above.
She slowly opened her eyes.
Her gaze was cold as it pierced through the layers of mist and landed directly on the flying boat.
Feeling the girl's gaze,
everyone's hearts sank for no reason.
Especially Lu Changfeng.
This Lu Family qilin child's heart was currently a mess of emotions.
Over a dozen Tower-Ascending Martial Immortalss.
Except for the twenty-five Dao Lineages, this wasn't a lineup any force could just throw together.
Now they were all squeezed into a city of a mortal Dynasty.
However... Lu Changfeng took a deep breath.
He forced down his suspicion.
Since he was already on this boat, even if there were stormy waves ahead, there was no reason to give up halfway.
The Lu Family wanted to rise, to stop being watchdog dogs.
If they didn't dare take this risk, they might as well go back to Qifeng Ridge to raise kids; why bother cultivating the Great Dao of Longevity?
Moreover,
the messier the situation, the more valuable the favor of providing help in a time of need would be.
With that thought,
Lu Changfeng no longer hesitated and formed a hand seal.
The flying boat slowly descended toward the Imperial City... In front of the Imperial Palace hall.
Emperor Li, leading the High Ancestor and Cheng Buxiu's remnant forces, finally reached the area below the girl.
He happened to see the flying boat landing.
The two groups stared at each other from dozens of paces away.
The Emperor's heart suddenly skipped a beat.
How many days had it been?
Why did she bring back more?
His gaze scanned the people on the boat.
Aside from the familiar black-faced Man and the boy... of the other two, one wore a bamboo hat and looked suspicious.
As for the other... he was tall and handsome with an extraordinary air about him.
A sense of crisis instantly spread through his heart.
But given the current situation with enemies surrounding the city, it clearly wasn't the time to worry about romance.
The Emperor took a deep breath, forcing down his jealousy.
He straightened his messy dragon robes and stepped forward quickly.
But he didn't head toward Lu Changfeng and the others.
Instead, he walked straight to the Girl in Black Robes who had just floated down from the roof.
"Lonely Moon..."
The Emperor opened his mouth, a thousand words stuck in his throat, but in the end, he couldn't say a thing.
He just took half a step back.
Straightened his clothes.
And bowed deeply.
This gesture
was the respect of a monarch for the one who saved the collapsing Dynasty.
It was also respect for that peerless aura of one person guarding a whole city.
Seeing this, the people behind him also looked solemn and stepped forward together.
They were all pillars of Great Tang, and at this moment, they had no complaints as they bowed solemnly: "We welcome Your Highness the Grand Princess back to the capital!"
The civil and military officials, and the Imperial Guards gathering from afar, also bowed in unison.
"We welcome Your Highness the Grand Princess back to the capital!"
"We welcome Your Highness the Grand Princess back to the capital!!"
"We welcome Your Highness the Grand Princess back to the capital!!!"
The waves of sound surged, echoing above the Imperial City.
It was as if at this moment,
Great Tang had finally found its backbone again.
Jiang Yuechu stood there, turning her head slightly to avoid their fervent gazes, her brow furrowing as she waved her hand somewhat awkwardly.
In both her past and present lives, she disliked these grand scenes the most.
"Enough, enough, we're all on the same side, don't do this..."
Seeing this from afar, Wang Ziyu whispered: "This display... I'm afraid even Xuanzhen Grotto-Heaven isn't this glorious."
After saying that, he spotted a certain slovenly figure in the distance, straightened his expression, and quietly approached him.
"Master... what heavenly law did Great Tang break?"
"How did it attract all these monsters and demons from the Eastern Region?"
"I saw clearly from above; just from those few Ascending the Tower auras, there are traces of several Dao Lineages..."
Thirteen Wu rolled his eyes and gave the boy a hard rap on the head: "Why are you snooping? You're not from Great Tang, go play in the mud."
"..."