Above the Great Dao-Chapter 1447 - 672: Taking Everyone Away (2)

Chen Shi said leisurely, "Heavenly King, isn't there still nearly a hundred thousand Heavenly Soldiers and Generals in the Mud Great World? Rest assured, even after we leave, you will still be the General of the World."

King Li was so angry he nearly coughed up blood and roared, "Those Heavenly Soldiers and Generals, upon hearing that you're taking away two hundred thousand comrades, will surely have a large group who will leave the Heavenly Court as their contracts expire, and come to seek refuge with you! It's hard to say how many Heavenly Soldiers and Generals will remain under my command! You can't take these people away!"

Chen Shi smiled and said, "Heavenly King, in the past, Heavenly Soldiers and Generals didn't cost much; how many you wanted, you could have. You could send a battalion of soldiers to their deaths on a whim because you disliked someone, or sacrifice tens of thousands of troops in a single battle just to force the Heavenly Court to issue more pay. But now, the Heavenly Soldiers and Generals have become valuable. The Heavenly Court has no new soldiers. You won't be able to keep a single one."

In fury, King Li grabbed his sleeve, but Chen Shi had already turned and walked to the Battle Supervision Platform.

King Li grabbed at air and rolled off the stretcher.

Enduring the pain, he crawled vigorously towards Chen Shi.

Chen Shi, looking down from above, viewed the neat formations of Heavenly Soldiers and Generals below, like a general reviewing his troops, a surge of heroic spirit welled up within him.

King Li struggled to crawl over, grasping his ankle, and said hoarsely, "Chen Shi, if you take them away, you will ruin the Jade Emperor's military! You're rebelling! Do you understand rebellion?"

Chen Shi allowed him to clutch his ankle, without glancing at him, and called out loudly, "Fellow Daoists!"

His voice, clear and bright, under the control of mana, resonated throughout Western Heaven Swing, echoing back and forth.

"I, Mr. Chen, do not know what your identity was in the Mortal World, what kind of talents you had, nor what ambitions you held!"

"Chen Shi only saw you in the Heavenly Court as lowly, humble, lives akin to grass, meek and subservient, cultivation stagnant, aspirations unformed!"

"You were merely soldiers, mere cannon fodder, sacrifices that could be casually discarded! King Li didn't like one of you, and thus he could send your entire camp to die! When King Li led troops to battle, to him you weren't people, but mere numbers! You who died were numbers, replenish-able numbers!"

His voice grew in power, heavy and thunderous, detonating above the camps of two hundred thousand Heavenly Soldiers and Generals.

"You aren't people; you have no thoughts of your own, no mind of your own, you are merely consumables!"

"The meaning of your existence is merely to fight a victorious battle for the Heavenly Court, to establish faith for All Gods, and earn some incense! Your lives are only worth a bottle of Elixir, a bottle of Spiritual Liquid, a handful of Heavenly Yuan Notes!"

"Alive you're nameless, dead you're nameless too! Fame and fortune, what do they have to do with you?"

His indignation, transformed into sharp blades within his words, pierced the Dao Heart, stirring pain within all Heavenly Soldiers and Generals.

"However!"

He declared loudly, "Our contract with the Heavenly Court has expired! From today onwards, you are no longer anonymous, no longer numbers, no longer Heavenly Soldiers! You are ancestors, you are talents, you must rediscover your ambitions!"

"Come with me!"

"I will lead you to establish a new Xinxiang!"

"Come with me!"

"I will lead you to prominence! To establish careers and achievements! To accomplish grand and brilliant things! To fulfill the aspirations you held before Ascension!"

"We must live well, live brilliantly, we must have careers and accomplishments! Not for yourself, nor for me! It's to tell those who will ascend to the Earth Immortal Realm after, that this world hasn't completely decayed! To tell them, in this world, you can still live splendidly! To tell them, you still have the chance to rise up!"

"Come with me—"

His words fell, and below, there came a sound like a landslide and tsunami; King Li was struggling to grasp Chen Shi's clothes and pull himself up, the grand echo resounded in his ears, and he didn't hear clearly at first.

He was exhausted, collapsed, lay listening closely to the ground.

It seemed like countless cheers, countless excited voices overlapping, shouting from the heart, causing him some fear.

Facing the Heavenly Soldiers and Generals, he had never felt such fear before, previously treating them merely as replaceable digits, yet now he felt dread.

"King Li, did you hear this sound?"

Chen Shi's voice, amidst the roar of cheers, remained clear, entering his ears, "This force of human spirit, you've never mastered it. It can change days, turn Qian and Kun."

"You can't sustain these people!"

King Li glared up at him, gritting his teeth, "These Heavenly Soldiers and Generals consume daily a great amount of resources! Just the Spiritual Energy they consume could bankrupt you! If you don't feed them, they will retaliate!"

"This is no longer a concern for the Heavenly King," Chen Shi said smiling.

King Li, still with a tinge of selfishness, said, "Great Heavenly Venerate won't let you take them away, especially with the Heavenly Mechanism Strategy, he won't let you go, breaking free of his control! Chen Shi, you're walking into your own grave!"

Chen Shi shook his head and said, "The contract of the Heavenly Soldiers is up, if the Great Heavenly Venerate still doesn't allow us to leave, the word will spread, immortals across the world will lose heart and faith, how will you stand against the Immortal Court? The Great Heavenly Venerate will let us go, he won't risk losing more for less. However, the position of Grand Marshal of troops, Heavenly King, might not be kept."

In a rush of anger, King Li tried to grab his hem, but Chen Shi had already stepped out, walked away from the Battle Supervision Platform, leaving him grasping air.

King Li struggled to crawl outward, but the pain swept over him causing spasms, he gritted his teeth saying, "Quickly! Someone! Return me to the stretcher!"

However, no one was around to respond or assist him onto the stretcher.

King Li called several times, but still, there was no response.

"Heavenly King, we are going with Daoist Chen too!" A familiar voice called from outside the Battle Supervision Platform—it was the Heavenly General who had just carried his stretcher.

King Li cried out, fainting.

When he awoke, not knowing how long had passed, he found himself not on the Battle Supervision Platform of Western Heaven Swing but on a sickbed at home, Gods tending to him.

King Li urgently said, "Go! Quickly report to the Great Heavenly Venerate, saying Western Heaven Swing has rebelled, Chen Shi has confused and bewitched two hundred thousand Heavenly Soldiers and Generals, defecting from the Heavenly Court!"

The Divine General said, "Heavenly King, the Great Heavenly Venerate already knows."

King Li was shocked and delighted, "Then, he must have captured that traitor Chen Shi?"

The Divine General shook his head, "Not so. After leaving Western Heaven Swing, they headed to Western Heaven Gate, and from there attempted to leave the Heavenly Court. The Divine guarding Western Heaven Gate stopped them, preventing their departure. The garrison feared a mutiny, nearly triggering a battle. During the standoff, the Jade Emperor sent orders, allowing the garrison to let them leave."

King Li was stunned.

The Divine General continued, "The Great Heavenly Venerate said, with their contract term over, the Heavenly Court kept its promise and naturally cannot retract. So those two hundred thousand heavenly soldiers and generals arrived at Heavenly River Crossing, boarded over two hundred Star Shuttles, and departed from the Heavenly Court."

King Li urgently said, "Where are they headed?"

"I do not know either,"

The Divine General said, "Heavenly King, you were unconscious for five days, the Star Shuttles haven't yet returned, and it's unclear where they've gone."

King Li whispered, "The Great Heavenly Venerate really let them leave? Didn't they send anyone to intercept and kill along the way?"

Amid the torrent formed by starlight, the Star Shuttles broke open the flow, sailing towards the dim, distant stars.

Within the Earth Immortal Realm, looking up, they appeared as streams of light streaking through the Star River.

On one of the Star Shuttles, Chen Shi anxiously scanned the starlight stream ahead, worried that a mighty Divine might interrupt the Star River, capturing them all.

"The Heavenly Court, will it really let us leave?" he murmured.

"Penglai West, we're almost there!" The voice of the boatman reached him, waking him.

The Star Shuttles gradually slowed down, the grand expanse of the Penglai Western Holy Land, appeared before all eyes aboard the Star Shuttles.