In the guest room.
Qī Shǒu completed his words, and his gaze had already fallen on Chen Yún's face.
So was the heavenly maiden on the side, blinking not blinking and watching, as if to see Chen Yun's reaction.
As the divine ancestors of the Khitan people, they are naturally eager to get a share of the pie now that they see the Khitan Empire thriving and have hopes of establishing themselves as the dominant power in the world.
For example, by grabbing the reins of command, they can thereby achieve the greatest glory.
In fact, when it comes to Qí Shǒu and Tian nǚ as the founders of the Khitan people and their matriarch, they are indeed entitled to be the supreme commander of this battle.
After all, the Khitan Eight Banners are their descendants.
However, the actual establishment of dominance in the world still requires the Khitan army and horses.
Naturally, they have this qualification.
Being qualified is one thing.
However, the other thing is that Chen Yún has spent a lot of mental energy to persuade Ye Luxianguang to start a war against the Later Jin, and has even brought together numerous sacred warriors from the Ganjiang Two Immortals Temple. It can be said that they have played an important role in this.
Now he has done his homework well.
Are you all coming to pick the fruits now?
Any other person may not be willing, and it would probably be rejected by more than seven-eights.
Even without considering the comfort of the individuals involved, the outsiders would find it hard to accept.
As Qi Shou's words fell, Feng Mengyao, known as the Black Mother, sitting beside him, spoke indifferently: "It is not the age that matters, but the ambition; without plans, even a century of empty talk is futile. Chen the Immortal may be young, but his victory in the battle of Baizhou City is evident to all, showing his strategic prowess in planning and defeating the enemy."
Although Qi Shou hasn't explicitly stated that Chen Yun should "resign and let others take over," the Black Mother's statement is already very clear. She doesn't support replacing the commander in chief on the battlefield, and is actually supporting Chen Yun.
Chen Yun looked at the Black Mother in surprise, never expecting that this woman he had just met would vigorously support him.
Hu San Taoye followed closely behind, saying, "The Black Wind sect master speaks sensefully. The achievements of Chen the Immortal are for all to see. We all follow his orders."
Li Taoye, Huang Er Da, Bai Laodao, and Hui Taitai looked at Qi Shou and Tian Nu with a smile that was not quite a smile, faintly disdainful.
Yes, today the Black Mother was invited by Hu San Taoye and others to assist Chen Yun.
The reason for this is because the spirit mediums and the Shamanism both belong to a "religio-political dispute."
The spirit mediums belong to a branch of Taoism.
Even if they are not the genuine ones, they look down upon the Shamanism as an external religion.
How could they allow Shamanism to ride roughshod over them and leave its mark?
As for why they were able to invite the Black Mother, it is because of her connection to the Taoist pantheon.
Because Hu San Taoye and Hu San Taitai are the protector gods of the Black Mother.
Additionally, the Black Mother is also the overall protector immortal of the northeastern Taoist branch.
He is in charge of numerous temples and immortals, including Hu, Huang, Bai, Liu, and Hui.
Of course, the "manager" position is usually handled by Hu San Taoye.
In fact, there is another great immortal in the Northeast Taoist sect who is very powerful, known as the Immortal Li Changgeng with Long eyebrows.
If this name may seem unfamiliar to many, then his another name known as "True Incarnation of Deliverance" should be more familiar.
This immortal is the main deity of the Jiu Ding Tiecha Mountain in the Northeast, and the Black Mother is the great protector of the Long eyebrows Immortal.
It is precisely because the Black Mother holds a high position in the Northeast and has the support of the Long eyebrows Immortal, so he does not hesitate to stand up against Qí Shǒu and Tian Nu, these two primary ancestors and matriarchs of the Khitan people.
Qí Shou's eyes narrowed slightly, and then he flashed a cheerful smile, "The achievements of Chen the Immortal are indeed obvious to all, and I do not deny this."
Chen Yun had thought that this time would be a contest between himself and Qi Shou.
In the end, after a few words, he realized that it was a confrontation between spirit mediums and Shamanism.
He couldn't help but chuckle dryly, and instead of speaking, he sat there quietly.
Qi Shou continued to speak, "In the battle of Baizhou City, although there were Gui Xu and General Zhao Da on the other side, these two celestial deities did not take action. It was just a minor scuffle."
The Black Mother smiled slightly and said, "Is your meaning that Chen the Immortal can only command minor skirmishes?"
"I didn't say that," Qi Shou denied it outright, "I'm just not sure how familiar Chen the Immortal is with the strategies of troop deployment and battle formation. Therefore, I want to ask for clarification, so as not to delay our military progress due to a major war in the future."
The Black Mother replied with a pointed question, "What if he is familiar? What if he is not? If Chen the Immortal is not fit to be the commander-in-chief, according to you, who should take the position? Could it be... do you want to take it yourself?"
Qi Shou originally had such thoughts in his heart.
But such things cannot be said out loud.
It's like how Cao Pi seized the throne; he had to go through the charade of Han Xian Di offering and declining the throne three times.
He originally wanted to persuade Chen Yun to voluntarily resign his position, but was caught off guard by the Black Mother's retort and didn't know how to respond.
Qi Shou was silent for a while before he managed to say, "I was just concerned that Chen the Immortal lacks enough battle experience, so..."
The Black Mother laughed and said, "Even if Chen the Immortal lacks sufficient battle experience, he is accompanied by Li Jing, the God of Vishnu and General of the Tang Dynasty's military. How can he not be able to fulfill his duties as Chen the Immortal's assistant?"
Qi Shou was retorted into silence, and he simply stopped speaking there.
Chen Yun listened for a while and his smile on his face became even more prominent. He whispered, "I am indeed young, and my cultivation level is relatively low. It is difficult for me to fulfill the duties of the current commander-in-chief. Today, I am curious about whether Mr. Qi Shou and the Black Wind Sect Master can take on this heavy responsibility. If either of you can do it better, I will follow your orders."
"Ahh?"
"Ugh?"
"Chen the Immortal, what are you doing..."
The Black Mother, Qi Shou, Tian Nu, and the various chief teachers of the spirit mediums were all stunned.
They really hadn't expected that, even though the Black Mother had already blocked Qi Shou's mouth with words, Chen Yun would make such a move.
This surprised everyone, and they couldn't understand why Chen Yun would do this.
Chen Yun naturally would not tell everyone that the Khitan's conquest of Later Jin was not the true Shang-Xian (Zheng） war, and no merit could be gained from it.
Therefore, whether or not he became the leader of these cultivators and immortals was of no consequence to him.
This is a reason, but not the most important one.
The most important reason is that Chen Yun hadn't expected to directly enter the stage of refining Yang after killing Gouteng Daoist.
He now urgently needs free time to ensure the success of his refining Yang practice.
Now, someone else is willing to take over this "mess."
Deep down, he certainly welcomes it.
What's the matter with commanding the Khitan to conquer Later Jin?
And he cannot gain any merit from it.
He just needs to control the direction and ensure that the Khitan can conquer Later Jin. The rest is not important.
Chen Yun thought to himself, "With that time, I might as well spend more effort on cultivation."
Qi Shou's eyes sparkled and he asked, "Chen the Immortal, are you really saying that?"
The Black Mother, Hu San Taoye, and other chief teachers all frowned.
Chen Yun said indifferently, "Truly, if any of you have the ability, you may take on this burden. I will inform my subordinates to follow your commands. I have some things to attend to, so I will not chat with you all for the time being."
After saying that, he stood up and walked out.
The Black Mother and Hu San Taoye, and others, exchanged glances.
Qi Shou and Tian Nu exchanged a glance, both looking bewildered.
They were all bamboozled by Chen Yun and couldn't figure it out.
Qi Shou, although unable to understand what was happening, was eager to seize the power.
As soon as Chen Yun left, Qi Shou said immediately, "Black Wind Sect Master, all the teachers, with Chen the Immortal having said that, who do you think should lead the overall situation?"
Hu San Taoye and others turned to look at the Black Mother.
The Black Mother looked at Chen Yun's back, took a moment to consider, and said, "As an old woman, I don't understand such things as troop deployment and battle strategies. You all can make your own decisions."
After saying this, she also stood up and walked directly out the door.
Seeing that the Black Mother had no intention of competing for power or gaining control, Hu San Taoye and others reluctantly breathed a sigh of relief, indicating that they would follow Qi Shou's orders in the future.
With the successful competition for power, Qi Shou was overjoyed and immediately declared, "In the future, I will deploy the best of the Shamanism warriors and ensure that this war is successfully accomplished!"
Hm, unfortunately, he didn't know that Kui Mulang had summoned the other eight celestial officials from Kui Mu, nor did he know that he would need to invite the nine celestial officials from Mao to assist. Otherwise, Qi Shou wouldn't dare have taken such a bold action today.
...
On the other side.
Chen Yun had just reached the door of the inner courtyard.
Behind him, a shout from the Black Mother could be heard, "Chen the Immortal, please stop for a moment."
Chen Yun stopped and turned around, "What is the matter that needs to be addressed?"
The Black Mother stepped forward and said, "Chen the Immortal, do you know why I came out of the mountains to help you today?"
Chen Yun played dumb and said, "I don't know, please enlighten me."
The Black Mother said, "There are two reasons. First, our Daoist sect in the Northeast is weak. If the Shang-Xian (Zheng） war this time is dominated again by Shamanism, it will be even more unfavorable for the spread of faith in spirit mediums in the future. As the supreme protector deity of Northeast Daoism, I must ensure that I will not be suppressed by Shamanism any longer."
Chen Yun looked rather surprised, not expecting the Black Mother to be so candid.
"And the second reason..." The Black Mother slowly said, "I have some origin with your teacher Zheng Yangzi. Many years ago during the end of the Han Dynasty, when I was still a mortal, I encountered Zheng Yangzi. He saw me as a reincarnation of a great deity and feared that I would encounter hardships again. So he taught me some protective methods. In the past, when the epidemic occurred in Luyang in the twenty-second year of Hongzong of the Eastern Jin Dynasty, I used the secret formula of Fu Shui passed on by Zheng Yangzi to save those people."
Oh, another old friend of my master.
Chen Yun roughly understands why the Black Mother had previously supported him.
Chen Yun said courteously, "Thank you for your trouble, my esteemed elder."
The Black Mother, curious, asked, "Chen the Immortal, I apologize if my question is impolite, but since Qi Shou has been rendered speechless by what I've said, why are you voluntarily giving up your power?"
Chen Yun couldn't very well say that he wanted more time to refine his Yang spirit.
That would sound like a lack of distinction between public and private matters to others.
Moreover, he doesn't have a complete assurance that he will definitely succeed in refining Yang.
He thought for a moment and replied evasively, "You will know in the future."
The Black Mother's eyes brightened, "Could it be that Chen the Immortal has predicted some significant event happening in the future, hence this is a strategic retreat?"
Chen Yun continued to evade the question, "It's something like that, I have my own reasons and it's not convenient to explain right now."
The Black Mother's face immediately lit up with a smile, "I understand."
Chen Yun asked, "Is there anything else you need assistance with, master? If not, I still have some things to attend to."
The Black Mother said, "There's nothing, Chen the Immortal. You can go ahead and get your business done."
Chen Yun nodded, then turned and entered the inner courtyard.
...
In the days that followed, Zhao Yanzhou led a vanguard of 50,000 troops to camp on the southern bank of the Yellow River at Nanle City.
On the sixteenth day of the first lunar month, Ye Lü Diguang led the main force south with the vanguard troops, settling in Yuan City near Nanle, and besides surrounding Handan, he also sent troops to repeatedly harass Liyang.
As the commander of the vanguard army, Zhao Yanlong naturally took on the responsibility of attacking Liyang.
On the other side, at Liyang, the Jin court sent Zhuang Yanzhi, commander of the Right Guard and General of the Right God's Warriors, to lead his troops to resist stubbornly.
For the past ten days, Chen Yun has not been involved in any affairs, fully immersed in the process of refining Yang spirit.
He takes pure Yang Fire Dragon pills every day and uses the fifth transformation of Chen Xian Sheng's inner alchemy "Yang Sand to Bone" from the "Chen Xian Sheng Inner Dan Decipher", which has already produced some results.
Chen Yun calculated the progress of "Yang Sand to Bone".
It can be roughly judged that it has completed a quarter.
Today, Zhao Yanzhou had just led his troops to camp and prepared to rest for the night before attacking Liyang City tomorrow morning.
Li Yang City, Governor's Office.
Zhao Da, the Grand General, the nine celestial officials from Kui, and the nine celestial officials from Ang who had just arrived were looking towards the front sky and scanning to see which sacred beings among the Khitan army they were facing.
Zhao Da, the Grand General, looked at the radiant light and black mist on the other side and laughed, "Besides the few new earth spirit protectors who have arrived among the Khitan army, there are no significant changes there."
Kui Mulang also noticed and said, "I see the white light fluctuating continuously, the pure qi rising and spreading, and a trace of black wind mixed in. Along with various animal scenes, it's unlikely that spirit mediums and Shamanism are not making a full appearance. Although the Black Mother and Qi Shou have good cultivation, they are not a threat. Fortunately, the Long Eyebrow Immortal didn't come, otherwise we may have had to put up more effort."
As soon as the two of them finished speaking, the Astral Official from Mo suddenly nodded slightly and said, "The only ones in the Khitan army who might pose a threat to us are Nezha, Li Jing, and the Nine-Headed Demon King. It's not a problem. The Nine-Headed Demon King can be handled for a moment by General Zhao. My Mo group of nine stars will encircle Li Jing, and the Kui group of nine stars will attack Nezha. We will definitely achieve great success."
The Astral Official from Mo was dressed in the ceremonial clothes of worship, with a full gold embroidery.
In sight, his jangling belts sounded like tinkling rhymes, and his swift wind-like voice was like a bell; the emerald feather fan opened the Mo group, and the heavenly fragrance wafted throughout the doorway.
Behind the Astral Official from Mo, there stood eight other celestial officials.
The Mo group, like the Kui group, also has nine celestial officials to guard it. The supreme deity is naturally the Astral Official from Mo.
The other eight celestial officials are known as the Tian A Celestial Official, the Yue Celestial Official, the Tian Yin Celestial Official, the Chu Hao Celestial Official, the Tian Yuan Celestial Official, the Juan She Celestial Official, the Tian Can Celestial Official, and the Li Shi Celestial Official.
In the astronomical section of historical texts in past dynasties, the Mo group has the following several meanings:
Firstly, the Mo group is known as "maotou", which represents the Hui people.
This is interpreting the cloudy and misty Mo star cluster as the image of the Hui people with unkempt hair.
In ancient times, people believed that the seven stars of the Mo group were big and moved together. If they jumped, it meant that Hui troops were in a major uproar.
Secondly, the Mo group is known as the "White Robe Society", which presides over military losses.
Ancients believed that the absence of a single star in the Mo group indicated an omen of military losses.
Thirdly, the Mo group is known as the Heavenly Ears and Eyes, which presides over communications and tongue-twisting, as well as over legal matters.
Therefore, ancient people believed that a bright and large Mo star represented a sovereign without nefarious courtiers; a dim and small star indicated the killing of a close advisor; and a trembling star signified that the sovereign was being deceived by slanderous speech and that he was killing the virtuous.
Zhang Heng believed that when the Mo star was bright, it meant that legal cases were handled fairly; when it was dim, it signified the abuse of punishment.
If all six stars are as bright as the big star, it means there will be a great flood, or a gathering of the White Robe Society, which symbolizes mourning.
Fourthly, the Mo group is located between the Bi group, forming the celestial street.
The Mo group represents the "maotou," which is the advance cavalry of the imperial parade.
The Bi group symbolizes the rare carriage used for hunting.
They are arranged on both sides of the celestial street, all serving as the advance guard for the emperor's procession.
Additionally, the Astral Official from Mo is one of the Twenty-Eight Constellations.
Its original form is a large rooster, and its divine mission is "to cry morning dawn."
These nine celestial officials are equally as powerful and omnipotent as the Astral Official from Mo, far from being mediocre.
Now that Kui Mulang has summoned the eight celestial officials of his own constellation, and with the assistance of the nine celestial officials from Mo, they hold a sure victory in their grasp.
...
On the Khitan army's side.
A group of cultivators and sacred beings have just come out of the main army tent.
Chen Yun, Qi Shou, and the Black Mother went to listen in on Zhao Yanlong and Zhao Yanzhang discussing how to attack Liyang City the next day.
Now the cultivators and sacred beings are gazing at Liyang City, hoping to see the auspicious light and analyze which deities are guarding it.
This is necessary work.
As the saying goes, "Know thyself and know thy enemy, and in a hundred battles you will never be defeated."
How can we have a strategy if we don't know what formidable adversaries are in the enemy's ranks?
Chen Yun looked at the various auspicious lights surging above Liyang City and remained silent for a long time.
The sacred beings such as Nezha, Li Jing, and the Nine-Headed Demon King were shocked and uncertain.
The leaders of the exorcism hall, including the Black Mother, Hu San Grandfather, and Liu Grandfather, all turned pale with shock and then sneered slightly at the sight beside them.
At this moment, the ones with the worst expressions were probably Qi Shou and the Celestial Maiden.
They saw the auspicious lights surging in Liyang City as if it were an ocean, clearly indicating the presence of numerous sacred beings, and they were very powerful ones.
Qi Shou and the Celestial Maiden were both in the realm of immortals, though just at the beginning level, their strength was far from that of Nezha, Li Jing, and the Nine-Headed Demon King. However, they had some knowledge and could deduce from those auspicious lights that Liyang City might have gathered nine celestial officials from the Kui group and the Mo group respectively, as well as General Zhao Da.
So, does that mean there are now nineteen late-stage celestial realm superpower strongmen within Liyang City?
Qi Shou and the Celestial Maiden felt a chill in their hearts. Even if it's just one of the nineteen who are late-stage celestial realm beings, they would be unable to defeat him or her alone!
At that moment, they realized why Chen Yun had so readily "abdicated his position" in the past. It turns out that he was digging a pit!
