The closer you get to Shengming City, the surrounding scenes become more and more familiar. Even in the past eight hundred years, some historical sites have not been damaged.
"Shengming City, I am finally back!"
Zhang Ruochen stood on the bow of the boat and looked at both sides of the river.
Not far away, on the top of Kongle Mountain, stands a seventy-four-story tower, which was built by an ancient sage. Eight hundred years ago, Zhang Ruochen and Chi Yao climbed up together to view the splendid mountains and rivers of the Holy Ming Central Empire.
.
At the gate of the city, there are two sixty-nine-foot-tall bronze and gold lions, which symbolize the totems of the Shengming Central Empire. The war did not destroy them.
The towering city wall is like a row of towering black mountains, and the city gate is very magnificent, much like the holy gate leading to the heavenly palace.
Arriving at the dock outside the city, Zhang Ruochen had a lot of thoughts. He looked at everything around him and recalled some past events. His calm heart was filled with ripples.
On the pier, many dignitaries gathered together, forming a long queue, at least hundreds of people, as if they were welcoming some important person?
Zhang Ruochen glanced at Chu Siyuan and said, "Senior Chu, your reputation is really great. So many people came to greet you."
"Yeah?"
Chu Siyuan was a little surprised, rolled his eyes, and thought to himself, this time when he came to Shengming City, he had always kept a low profile and did not notify the Confucian and Taoist students in advance. How could anyone come to greet him?
Chu Siyuan straightened his clothes, walked out, and looked towards the pier, only to see that those people were not greeting him, but were staring in another direction.
In that direction, a metal ship more than 100 meters long slowly docked. A group of distinguished dignitaries walked down and entered Shengming City surrounded by people.
Zhang Ruochen said lightly: "So I'm not here to welcome you. Senior doesn't seem to have much influence in Shengming City."
He said this deliberately, mainly because he wanted to make Chu Siyuan angry.
Chu Siyuan suddenly felt displeased and snorted: "If I had informed you in advance, the number of Confucian and Taoist students and court officials who came to welcome you would have been ten times or even a hundred times more than his. But I keep a low profile and don't want to make such a big fanfare.
"
"maybe!"
Zhang Ruochen just smiled and said: "There is no such thing as a feast that lasts forever. Now that we have arrived at Shengming City, let's go and do our own things."
After saying this, Zhang Ruochen immediately used his physical skills and entered Shengming City at a strange speed.
Chu Siyuan stroked his beard and narrowed his eyes: "What is this kid trying to do in a hurry to get rid of me? There must be some ulterior secret."
If he were an ordinary person, Chu Siyuan would have no interest in him at all. The problem is, Zhang Ruochen is not an ordinary person. He has done many great things that shocked the world.
Chu Siyuan shook his wide sleeves and followed.
"Sure enough, Old Man Chu followed him. Is the master of the dignified painting sect so idle?" Zhang Ruochen was speechless.
He did not rush to the imperial mausoleum immediately, but walked around the city using neither slow nor hasty steps.
Just when Zhang Ruochen entered the Shengming Imperial City, the experts from Mingtang stared at him and followed him in the dark, monitoring his every move.
Shengming City has an ancient history and has existed since ancient times. It was not only the imperial city of the Shengming Central Empire, but also some ancient civilizations had their capitals here in more distant times.
After millions of years of prosperity and development, the urban area of Shengming City has continued to expand, and now it covers an area of thousands of miles, with at least one billion humans living in the city.
It is not an exaggeration to call it a country within a city.
After wandering around the outer city for most of the day, Zhang Ruochen headed towards the inner city. The streets and alleys became more prosperous, and some strong human beings with strong cultivation levels could be seen everywhere.
Suddenly, Zhang Ruochen smelled a faint smell of blood coming from a mansion on the left.
Outside the mansion, there was a group of sergeants wearing black armor.
They were riding on the backs of wild beasts, exuding a cold aura and surrounding the entire mansion.
There were even four formation mages in the army, who set up a large formation to cover the mansion and prevent anyone from escaping from it.
Zhang Ruochen grabbed a martial arts monk from the Tianji realm and asked him what was going on?
The martial arts monk said: "That's Ling Xiao? The Canglong Army of the Royal Palace is hunting down the remnants of the previous dynasty."
"The remnants of the previous dynasty... Mingtang?" Zhang Ruochen asked.
"It's not Mingtang. It is said that this mansion is inhabited by a descendant of the royal Zhang family. They have been hiding in Shengming City and were only discovered recently." The martial arts monk said in a low voice.
Hearing this, Zhang Ruochen revealed a strange light, and then sent the martial arts monk away.
After walking around the mansion, Zhang Ruochen found a weakly defended position, used space power to break a gap in the formation, and broke in quietly.
Until now, Zhang Ruochen had no news about the royal Zhang family. Now that he finally had a clue, he naturally wanted to go in and investigate.
Entering the mansion, the smell of blood becomes even stronger.
On the ground, there were all dead bodies, not just some monks who had practiced martial arts, but also many ordinary people, and even the bodies of children and the elderly.
There was blood all over the corridor.
Some of the houses were bursting with flames, and people were screaming inside. Soon they became quiet and lost their voice.
Zhang Ruochen took a deep breath and came outside the lobby.
Outside the door of the lobby, there is a team of cold Canglong troops standing on each side, guarding there.
A general of the Canglong Army was sitting at the top. He looked about thirty years old, with a strong back and a muscular body, and his eyes exuded an icy cold air.
This person's name is Xie Kui.
Below, kneeling are thirteen monks in gorgeous clothes. They are not ordinary people.
In addition, dozens of people fell to the ground, all of whom had their necks chopped off.
Xie Kui said in a deep voice: "You'd better tell me honestly, where are the other remnants of the previous dynasty hiding? Whoever tells you first, I, the general, will spare his life."
Immediately, Xie Kui pointed his finger at an eleven or twelve year old boy and said, "Say."
A two-meter-tall sergeant walked up to the young man, carrying a broad heavy sword. With a sneer in his eyes, he hung the heavy sword over the young man's head.
Obviously, if the young man doesn't say something valuable, he will be dead soon.
The boy was still very young, and he was very scared in his heart, but he had a determined look in his eyes. While trembling, he said: "You... you will not die well... When the emperor returns, we will definitely be able to take back everything we once had."
Xie Kui shook his head and waved gently.
The burly sergeant, who was two meters tall, smiled, raised his heavy sword, and swung down suddenly.
The thirteen monks kneeling on the ground all closed their eyes tightly, and one of the women even cried softly.
"Snapped!"
A crisp sound sounded.
The broad heavy sword was broken into two pieces out of thin air.
Half of it fell to the ground with a clang.
"who?"
The Canglong Army present will all draw their weapons at the first moment, exuding an astonishing evil aura.
Xie Kui was still sitting calmly on the chair, looking around in all directions, and laughed: "Have the masters of the Zhang family finally arrived? I thought that I couldn't force you out."
"Wow!"
Zhang Ruochen was wearing a meteor invisibility cloak, standing beside the young man, his body showing a translucent form, and said: "Are you from the Lingxiao Palace?"
Xie Kui knew that the other party was a master and did not dare to look down upon him. He immediately stood up and said: "The Lingxiao Palace is stationed in Shengming City just to clean up the remnants of the previous dynasty and establish a peaceful and prosperous age. You Zhang family people are too stubborn.
Eight hundred years have passed and we are still thinking about restoring the country."
Zhang Ruochen confirmed the other party's identity, then nodded, his voice a little cold, and said: "You have killed so many innocent people, should you pay some price?"
"If you want us to pay the price, it depends on whether you are that capable?"
Xie Kui ordered, "Do it."
The two-meter-tall burly sergeant closest to Zhang Ruochen waved the broken knife in his hand and struck at Zhang Ruochen's neck.
"Bang!"
Zhang Ruochen pushed out with a palm and hit him in the chest.
Suddenly, all the bones in the soldier's body turned into powder, like a ball of soft meat, spread out on the ground.
Immediately afterwards, Zhang Ruochen formed a sword formula with his fingers, and thousands of sword energy condensed in the sky above the entire mansion, and flew out at the same time.
"Pfft."
As the sword energy flew, the sergeants of the Canglong Army fell to the ground one by one.
Xie Kui was shocked. He didn't expect that the master who came over was so powerful. So he immediately took out a light talisman and burned a message, hoping to send the message out.
However, before he could hit the light talisman, Zhang Ruochen's palm print had already landed on him.
There was a blazing flame on the palm print, which burned Xie Kui's body red, and finally turned it into ashes.
The entire mansion became quite quiet.
In just a moment, the sergeant of the Canglong Army died cleanly.
"Thank you so much, my benefactor, for coming to the rescue."
"May I ask your grace, your surname?"
…
On the ground, thirteen descendants of the Zhang family stood up one after another and thanked Zhang Ruochen.
"I am also a descendant of the Zhang family."
Zhang Ruochen wore a golden mask, stared at one of the men with the highest cultivation level, and asked, "Can you take me to meet other Zhang family members?"
That man is the owner of this mansion, his name is Zhang Fengxing, and his cultivation level has reached the fourth transformation of fish and dragon.
Zhang Fengxing had a troubled look on his face.
It was obvious that he was not completely at ease with Zhang Ruochen and had concerns.
The eleven or twelve-year-old boy admired Zhang Ruochen very much. Just now, Zhang Ruochen's fighting prowess was like that of the God of War descending to earth. He had an unrivaled aura and could kill even a master like Xie Kui with one palm.
Being able to see such a powerful person made the young man very excited and wanted to have the same power as Zhang Ruochen.
So, he immediately said: "Father, this big brother, who killed hundreds of Canglong Army sergeants in a row, must not be from the imperial court."
Zhang Fengxing is a sophisticated man, not as simple as his son. He did not trust Zhang Ruochen easily. He said: "I must report this matter to the superiors before I can make a decision. I hope you can understand."
"It doesn't matter. There are still some people behind me who haven't gotten rid of me. It doesn't hurt to wait a little longer." Zhang Ruochen said.