"These people really have no respect!"
On the other side, Zheng Mo also looked furious, but An Jing felt that his indignation was a bit excessive, as if he was possessed: "Even if they don’t give face to An Jing, how can they not give face to the Virtuous King!"
An Jing, stroking his chin, spoke impatiently: "It’s completely nonsensical. They don’t think I’d be scared, do they?"
—With the power of my ancestors within me and the Virtuous King at my side, I command Linjiang City, backed by the Civil and Military Formation Plate. I have two tokens of divine power on me, and if all else fails, I could just simply flee.
—Who exactly is this fool daring to provoke me? Do they no longer wish to live?
Indeed, neither An Jing nor Hang Mofeng could quite get their heads around some issues.
However, while Hang Mofeng would keep pondering the issues he didn’t understand, An Jing would deal with those who made him question things in the first place.
Accompanied by the roaring engine of Tengshuang White, An Jing didn’t say another word and had already driven the hovering motorbike away from the city wall. He turned into a white streak, racing toward where the Martial Army was stationed!
At this moment, within the Martial Army, surrounded by the adulation of many junior officers, Protector-General Song suddenly stiffened and then looked up to the sky: "Who is that?"
The white streak in the sky suddenly vanished, and An Jing’s figure turned into a straight vertical line. Without assuming any impact-resistant posture, he crashed straight down onto the ground, kicking up a cloud of ice, snow, and dust.
Just as Protector-General Song was about to call out loudly, An Jing’s voice, larger, clearer, and more righteously indignant, echoed through heaven and earth: "Who goes there!"
As the mist dispersed, An Jing, holding the Decree of the Virtuous King, appeared before the Martial Army. He stood alone facing an army, yet he was fearless: "I am An Jing, City Lord of Linjiang City at Broken Blade Mountain, directly appointed by the Martial King of Da Chen, who is also the Northern Virtuous King Xuan Guang Ge!"
"You have approached the frontier military city without notification and have moved the Earth Vein without permission!"
"Do you recognize your crime now?"
The presence from the decree manifested and the Martial Army took notice. The soldiers looked at each other in confusion, not daring to collide with a noble person and at a loss for action. Within the Martial Army, the Song Family’s Inward Officer appeared incredulous as he looked at An Jing, raising his hand but unable to utter a single word.
Because, that was exactly what he had intended to say!
He had originally planned to accuse An Jing of failing to receive the envoy and of disrespecting his superiors, to strip An Jing of his command over Linjiang City without exerting any effort, reclaim the city, and take the ’Civil and Military Formation Plate’ that likely had already nurtured several strands of Dragon Qi. He could just pluck the well-developed peach that was Linjiang City.
As for the Iron Li’s Iron Cavalry, even if An Jing could easily take down the Vanguard Camp, they must be nothing more than chickens and dogs; no match for the soldiers of Da Chen, easily taken down to be credited as his own achievements.
And An Jing? After taking him down, he would be sent back to the Prefecture Government to be disciplined and tormented, then have a few people play the good cop, rescue him, treat him with even greater courtesy—and thereby win him over.
If An Jing truly was oblivious to his own good fortune, determined to make a stand against them... ha, the blood of Divine Mandate, unlike the Strange Mandate, possessed uniqueness that allowed it to be passed down like a Demon Spirit, or perhaps with the skills of the Heaven’s Will Demon Sect, he could perform any number of underhanded substitutions...
It was a well-laid plan, but it fell apart at the first step—how could Protector-General Song have expected that An Jing would actually take the initiative to attack?
But upon seeing that An Jing was alone, the shock in Protector-General Song’s heart quickly doubled into fury and hatred, and he gnashed his teeth, saying: "How dare you, intruding into the military formation uninvited! Seize him!"
At once, warriors clad in armor, physically strong, leaped into action, hurling themselves toward An Jing in the hope of capturing him with a single blow.
At the same time, Protector-General Song turned his head and looked toward Hang Mofeng, bellowing: "Aren’t you going to act?"
Yet unexpectedly, Hang Mofeng seemed to have seen something, his expression bizarre as he stood still; not only did he not move forward, but he also turned his horse and backed away ten steps, giving off a vibe of "don’t let the blood splash on me."
Protector-General Song now had an unsettling feeling. He turned his head and looked in An Jing’s direction, only to find that the ’Decree of the Virtuous King’ he held was slowly burning, turning into a wisp of smoke surrounding An Jing and the Martial Army soldiers poised to pounce.
Those Martial Army soldiers who had followed Protector-General Song’s orders to capture An Jing now found themselves stripped of their connection with their armor, suddenly unable to move, frozen in place, drenched in cold sweat.
The power emerging from the Martial Army was effortlessly suppressed by an even higher power—nothing within the Da Chen system could deny the will of those higher up in the Imperial Court.
And An Jing also spoke gravely: "It seems you wish to quibble—but the evidence is irrefutable, and all these Martial Army generals serve as living proof!"
"If you still refuse to admit your guilt, then it is you who should be taken down!"
How could Protector-General Song not realize that An Jing truly belonged to the Virtuous King’s forces? Could the pampered prince who was luckily chosen have unknowingly formed ties with this Divine Mandate figure? His family couldn’t have failed to consider this possibility... so was he just a disposable pawn sent to test the waters?
Considering this possibility, he understood what his last chance to turn the situation around was—to follow the most basic rules of Da Chen, of Embracing the Void, to defeat this young city lord head-on, to capture him directly!
Although he rarely used Martial Force, with the resources of his family piled up and augmented by Imperial Court Talismans, he too was at the Martial Meridian realm!
The rumor was that An Jing had defeated three Martial Meridian warriors alone, but the wise knew that An Jing relied on the power of his master and the Kanming Bell, and that it was impossible to surpass a major realm on his own strength!