Chapter 1823 - 166: The God of the Great Snow Mountain, Beiman’s Second Strongest!

Taiji Hall.

Shen Xiao looked at Jiang Ning, his thoughts complicated, yet he also understood that this matter could not be falsified.

For he knew Jiang Ning’s strength: the current second under heaven, far above himself.

What’s more, he had achieved the realm of an Immortal of Primordial Spirit, his body turning into Tunneling Light, traversing a thousand li in an instant.

Thus, Jiang Ning having gone to Five Mountains Prefecture yesterday and resolved this affair—though it sounded legendary—was in fact entirely normal.

Whether in strength, in methods, or in repute, he knew Jiang Ning could accomplish it.

Yet when he compared it with what he himself had just said, his heart was filled with an unspeakable desolation.

He had made his name for several decades, ranking as a First-grade Great General, but to resolve the crisis in Five Mountains Prefecture, facing the two armies led by the two Heavenly Kings of the Yellow Heaven Sect, he would need to lead tens of thousands of elite troops out in force to have sufficient assurance.

Jiang Ning, however, was alone. He went to Five Mountains Prefecture a single time by himself, and the crisis of Five Mountains Prefecture was thereby resolved.

Placed side by side, in an instant he felt that all these years he had lived like a dog; the disparity was simply too great!!

At this moment, Ji Minghao covertly sized up the civil and military officials below. Seeing the succession of expressions on their faces, a faint smile appeared upon his own.

"Holy Emperor, since King Luoshui has rendered such service, he ought to be rewarded!" Just then, Xiang Yuan took the initiative to rise, cupping his hands toward Ji Minghao as he spoke.

"Holy Emperor, this minister concurs!"

"Holy Emperor, this minister also concurs!"

"This minister concurs..."

Hearing Xiang Yuan’s request, many officials immediately reacted, following Xiang Yuan’s lead and speaking up in agreement.

Seeing that nearly half of the civil and military officials below had stood forth, jointly pressing him, the expression on Ji Minghao’s face shifted slightly, then swiftly drew in, turning back into a faint smile.

"My beloved ministers need not trouble yourselves over this matter! As for the reward for King Luoshui, I already have arrangements in mind!"

As his words fell, Ji Minghao raised his hand slightly toward the leading ministers below.

"Martial King, rise."

"My beloved ministers, you may rise as well."

Upon hearing this, the ministers all secretly lowered their heads, letting their gazes dart sideways, wanting to see the choices of others.

Then, that figure at the very front straightened his back, and his voice rang out at the same time.

"The Holy Emperor is wise!"

Seeing that the Martial King had already expressed his stance, officials immediately followed, likewise straightening their backs.

"The Holy Emperor is wise!"

"The Holy Emperor is wise!"

"The Holy Emperor is wise!"

"..."

Voices of flattery rose one after another; yet when they fell upon Ji Minghao’s heart, they were not particularly pleasing to the ear.

He then secretly drew a deep breath, calming his inner feelings somewhat.

"My beloved ministers, do any of you still have important matters to report?" Ji Minghao sat upon the dragon throne atop the Nine-layered Platform and spoke again.

"Reporting to the Holy Emperor!" Just then, from the ranks of the military officers, a middle-aged man whose eyes were filled with murderous resolve stepped forth of his own accord: "Holy Emperor, the Beicang King and Prince Zhenbei have jointly petitioned for aid. The great army of the northern grasslands is pressing upon the borders, and the North Barbarian State Preceptor, King Zhuanlun, has personally arrived before Celestial Palace City. If no great army and mighty experts rush to reinforce them, I fear the northern bulwark will be lost!"

With these words, the court was instantly in an uproar.

"King Zhuanlun? He signed a treaty on behalf of Beiman—how does he dare come?"

"He chooses this moment to lead troops to knock at our gates? Could he perhaps be secretly colluding with the Yellow Heaven Sect?"

"King Zhuanlun breaks the treaty and takes advantage of others in their peril—does he not fear that the old Martial Saint will come to take his head from his shoulders?"

"..."

On the court, as the news from Beiman was announced, bursts of commotion erupted at once.

The entire Taiji Hall in an instant seemed to transform into a bustling marketplace; all manner of noisy debates echoed without cease.

Hearing these voices, information concerning Beiman and King Zhuanlun surfaced within Jiang Ning’s mind as well.

Before his own rise, there had been a total of five in the realm of "second under heaven."

One was the Imperial Family’s King Shoulder-to-Shoulder, Ji Xuan; one was the Yellow Heaven Sect’s Yellow Heaven Taoist; one was Qingxu Temple’s temple master; one was Ku Hai, the abbot of Vajra Temple.

Aside from these four, there was one more, namely the State Preceptor of Beiman, King Zhuanlun.

These many years, Beiman had always been a hidden danger to Great Xia’s heartland, persisting for more than eight hundred years without change.

The reason for this was not merely that King Zhuanlun ranked as second under heaven.

For King Zhuanlun was still only second under heaven.

Within the territory of the Thirty-Six Prefectures of the Great Xia, there were as many as four who could contend against him.

To say nothing of the fact that Great Xia had a Martial Saint, the first under heaven, sitting in town.

He also knew the true reason.

Because Beiman possessed a god.

A Honorable God worshiped by the entire tribe, enshrined at the summit of the Great Snow Mountain.

A god said to be without defect, possessing a Divine Domain of his own.

It was the existence of that god that allowed Beiman, for over eight hundred years, to stand independent outside Great Xia, a god who had once confronted the Martial Saint.

Yet that god, too, was confined upon the Great Snow Mountain, confined within the Divine Domain, unable to take even a single step beyond that mountain.

As for the reasons therein, Jiang Ning himself did not know.

The hidden secrets, in his view, perhaps concerned the Ancient Era, and perhaps only that Martial Saint was privy to them.

For throughout Great Xia, regarding that Beiman god trapped upon the Great Snow Mountain, only the Martial Saint had ever made contact.

The records spoke of events eight hundred years ago.

Once the Martial Saint first achieved his realm and stabilized Great Xia’s situation, he stepped into the territory of the northern grasslands and went to the Great Snow Mountain.

That day, the tremors borne from the north could be felt even in the Royal Capital ten thousand li away.

Afterward, when the Martial Saint walked out from the Great Snow Mountain, from that point on the Founding Ancestor of Xia relinquished his intention to eradicate Beiman.

Though the reasons were never recorded,

those who came later all understood that it must be related to that Great Snow Mountain upon the grasslands,

and must be connected to that Honorable God within the Great Snow Mountain.

Relevant information flashed swiftly through Jiang Ning’s mind.

Just then.

Ji Minghao, high upon the Nine-layered Platform, saw the unrest below, and could not help but knit his brows slightly, then lightly cleared his throat.