Chapter 608: The Shura Appears, Jiangnan is Pacified

Chapter 608: Asura Appears, Jiangnan Pacified

Upgrading Dark Steed was simpler than upgrading Dragon Sparrow.

Dragon Sparrow required a forge, blazing fire, a good furnace, and repeated smelting and forging over a long time—conditions none of them had been able to meet since overseas.

But raising a horse needed nothing—just food.

Of course, the horse wouldn’t directly eat dragon meat. Zhao Changhe took out the relevant herbs obtained from Tianya Island, had the Tang family find some supplementary ingredients, and combined dragon meat, dragon blood, and blood turtle meat with the herbs for refining. It took only about a quarter of an hour to finish, then he mixed the medicine into fine horse feed and coaxed it to eat.

Dark Steed chomped on the beans, and as it ate, its eyes began to turn red.

Not the red of Zhao Changhe’s bloodlust flaring up—it was the outward sign of lifeblood being transformed.

One could see black flesh showing red patterns, muscles bulging, and the horse pawing the ground uneasily, as if about to bolt at any moment.

Zhao Changhe reached out and gently stroked its forehead, a faint golden aura gradually seeping in.

The restless Dark Steed quickly calmed down, the golden aura merging with the blood energy in its body, penetrating its soul and every limb and bone.

Third Lady and Xia Chichi crouched nearby, curiously eating melon seeds, marveling inwardly—it actually worked…

As followers of a faith, Third Lady was now something of a divine heir herself, though her faith power hadn’t yet spread. Such a status should have made her unflappable in the face of any “miracle.” Yet even they had never seen such an outrageous thing as species transformation—it truly exceeded the bounds of what anyone in this world could do.

At this moment, Zhao Changhe seemed more like a god than Third Lady, and he didn’t even need to expend much effort—it had little to do with cultivation.

The two women exchanged a glance, thinking that if this kind of “miraculous” manipulation were used well, they could push him to become the Night Emperor without needing the Night Emperor’s Sword… but first, they’d have to deal with that fierce and stubborn old woman.

“Hey, what about the Venerable One…”

Third Lady knew what she meant and found it amusing: “Mm, I’ll try. That woman really is hard to handle.”

Xia Chichi asked cautiously, “Does Senior Aunt have any ideas? Um… how should I cooperate?”

When it’s business, she calls her Senior Aunt; when not, it’s old woman… Third Lady ground her teeth inwardly but smiled sweetly: “Nothing much. I’ll have to see her and then act according to circumstances.”

Xia Chichi was shocked: “You can still act according to circumstances?”

Third Lady: “?”

Xia Chichi assumed a defensive stance, feeling she might be kicked flying again any second.

But Third Lady ground her teeth for a long time before squeezing out a smile: “If I can persuade Vermilion Bird to agree, what will you do?”

Xia Chichi patted her chest: “Whatever Senior Aunt says, I’ll do.”

“There’s an echo—stop patting.”

“?”

Third Lady giggled and hugged her: “It’s settled then. When the time comes, you’ll cooperate however I need, and if I succeed, you can’t refuse anything.”

Xia Chichi felt that these women’s twisted minds were no scarier than copying books, so she agreed readily.

Third Lady showed a simple, honest smile.

A knock came from outside the courtyard gate: “Lord Wu orders us to report to the Asura King.”

Zhao Changhe, who was channeling dragon energy to transform Dark Steed, nearly jolted. Since when did Tang Buqi become Lord Wu? Next, would he be called Great Wei’s Wu King?

“Whoa!”

Three or four people were just entering the courtyard when suddenly a horse’s long neigh rang out. They looked up to see a black steed rearing on its forelegs, neighing to the sky, then leaping straight into the air.

On the horse’s body, faint dark red and golden patterns intertwined, forming a dragon shape. The dragon’s head merged with the horse’s head, roaring as it ascended to heaven.

Zhao Changhe sat astride the horse, holding the reins, laughing loudly: “Good, good, good! Done!”

He seemed to be talking to someone, his laughter echoing from the air: “Learn from Dark Steed—so easy to raise. Look at you…”

Wu Weiyang and the others stared dumbfounded.

What was all this?

Wait, you call that easy to raise?

Dragon Sparrow was furious inside the ring: “I don’t even eat a blade of grass from you normally—how dare you say that?”

“Uh…” Zhao Changhe quickly soothed: “I’m just anxious for you…”

“I think you just want to show off in front of others,” Dragon Sparrow fumed. “How did I end up with such a boring master?”

“Oh, you caught me. You know me, Dragon Sparrow.”

“And what’s this about easy or hard to raise? I don’t need you to raise me!” Zhao Changhe could almost see a little girl in the broadsword, hands on her hips, throwing a tantrum. “I’m already strong enough. I’m not like some useless thing that needs upgrading! Look, it can’t even talk to you now—no spirit, you know, no spirit!”

Dark Steed indeed hadn’t yet developed the intelligence for conversation and couldn’t retort. Zhao Changhe didn’t mind. Though it couldn’t talk, it could understand intent. Because it had fully absorbed his dragon energy, they were essentially of one mind. A squeeze of his legs, and it knew where he wanted to go—they had achieved perfect unity of horse and rider.

What more could he ask for?

“Alright, alright.” Zhao Changhe patted the sword hilt, feeling like he was soothing an angry cat: “Actually, I wasn’t showing off—it was intimidation. Tang Buqi was right: ambition needs soil. Cao Cao once only wanted to be the Han’s General of the West… When you have enough power to suppress, some people’s ambitions will never sprout.”

Dragon Sparrow had intelligence but couldn’t grasp Zhao Changhe’s convoluted thoughts.

“What’s that!”

“A flying horse?”

“Flying horse? No, it’s a dragon horse!”

Zhao Changhe was now riding the horse in circles around all of Gusu. Countless soldiers and civilians in Gusu looked up, mouths agape, in disbelief.

The horse didn’t fly very high, and many with sharp eyes could see the patterns on its body. The black steed’s muscles bulged, faintly showing dark red dragon patterns. The mere pressure from its aura made people tremble with fear; the timid couldn’t even stand.

Unconsciously, some began to kneel and kowtow: “Truly a divine being…”

Then, like falling dominoes, more and more people knelt: “Asura King, protect us…”

Zhao Changhe’s intimidation move unexpectedly netted him a bunch of faith and incense, something he hadn’t anticipated.

Tang Buqi stood with arms akimbo in front of his government office, shaking his head slightly. Suddenly he waved his hand: “Chop them.”

“Yes.” Several burly guards dragged two messengers out the door.

The messengers struggled and shouted: “Lord Wu, don’t kill the envoy!”

Tang Buqi asked in surprise: “What envoy? Did you see any?”

The surrounding Jiangnan officials all shook their heads: “No… Earlier, Longyou and Jinzhong said they would send envoys, but none of us saw them… Probably they met the Asura King on the road and got killed?”

Tang Buqi nodded: “That must be it. Well, let’s continue discussing the Penglai maritime trade. Everyone, inside for tea.”

The bodies of the two messengers were quickly removed, leaving no trace.

Zhao Changhe took in this small change from afar and smiled slightly. If he wanted to handle it secretly, he could have done it indoors—having them beheaded outside was a show for him. Damn, he never thought that one day he’d be playing this kind of long-distance tacit understanding with Buqi. Ah, if only life could be as it was at first sight…

He rode the horse back to the ground, looked around at Wu Weiyang and the others, whose mouths were still hanging open, and smiled warmly: “Ah, Weiyang, long time no see! And these are…”

Wu Weiyang quickly said: “Some colleagues from the Demon Suppression Bureau, and some strong warriors recruited by the Tang family from Jiangnan…”

When he said “strong warriors,” he paused, as if it was hard to say in front of a flying immortal, before continuing: “Now they are all generals in Lord Wu’s army.”

Zhao Changhe nodded: “Generals in Lord Wu’s army.”

The tone was sarcastic… Wu Weiyang bowed his head, not daring to say more, only murmuring: “I await your orders, Your Highness.”

Zhao Changhe said: “I don’t have time to stay long in Gusu. Wasting an hour on you is already too much. Now, immediately head north with me—I have some things to ask you on the way.”

Wu Weiyang breathed a sigh of relief, feeling cold sweat on his back.

Who would have thought that the young man who once came to size things up in that tavern beyond Mount Mang would now possess such a dragon's might, pressing down on people until they could scarcely breathe.

A man like this, suddenly returning from overseas to partake in the world's shifting currents, is like a heavy crossbow bolt viciously crashing into the heart of a battlefield—who knows what upheaval he will bring to the present chaos...

For now, a single encounter, and Jiangnan is pacified. This power to intimidate is no jest.

Originally, Chief Tang, trying alone to prop up a collapsing mansion, could never succeed—it would only crush her.

And this man is the Chief's staunchest ally...