At the front line of Cangwu Immortal City, Master Emperor only left behind an elite force and withdrew the other troops. At the same time, he recruited skilled craftsmen from all over the country to build more heavy weapons to fight against the First Sword Formation.
On the other side, Master Emperor reported to the Immortal Court and informed them of the death of Master Long Tian.
In front of Cangwu Immortal City, the large-scale war came to an end.
Shi Weiran and others then trained the troops, dividing them into different generals with new recruits, leading them to raid and harass the enemy camp, learning how to win on the battlefield and how to save their lives. The old soldiers then led the new recruits and quickly spread the experience.
Occasionally, one or two small-scale battles would break out, and the number of immortal casualties would never exceed ten. The two sides would often have a brief contact, try to kill the opponent as much as possible in a short period of time, and then retreat before the opponent's generals could react.
Two months later, soldiers from Dongting, Pengli and other fairy cities came to take turns to train the new recruits so as to avoid having to rush into the battlefield.
In the imperial capital, after recovering, Su Yun bathed and burned incense again, then brought the prince to the rear court to ask for an audience with the Queen Mother of Heaven.
The Queen Mother of Heaven received the invitation and led the crowd to welcome him. She said, "I heard that Master Emperor betrayed the alliance and colluded with the rebellious emperor Bu Feng. They dared to attack the imperial court. I can't help but feel heartbroken and worried about Su Daoyou. Fortunately, Su Daoyou made proper arrangements and didn't let Master Emperor succeed."
Su Yun said ashamedly: "If it weren't for the great fortune of the queen and the protection of the witch fairy tree, how could the master emperor retreat in the face of difficulties?"
He paused, introduced the prince, and said, "Does your Majesty know who this is?"
"The Crown Prince pays his respects to the Queen Mother." The Crown Prince stepped forward and bowed.
The Queen Mother of Heaven hurriedly returned the greeting and said with a smile, "God Emperor, you are embarrassing me! You and I have known each other since the time of Emperor Shu. There is no need to be so polite."
The prince said solemnly, "I don't deserve to be the God Emperor. I am just a dog that has lost its home. Back then, the Heavenly Queen and the Emperor were so virtuous that I was defeated and abandoned my armor and weapons. My wife and children were killed and injured innumerable. My descendants are all treated like fish and straw dogs, and are slaughtered at will. It's all thanks to the virtuous couple."
Su Yun and Yingying were horrified and their hair stood on end when they heard this.
The prince's words were filled with resentment, and he was filled with hatred towards the Queen Mother and the Emperor. The blood feud between them was so deep that it could not be written on the bamboo of the Pi Xiu, and could not be washed away by the water of the North Sea!
The Queen Mother of Heaven smiled and said, "It's not just that. Daoist friend, every time you were reborn in the new fairyland, you were captured and suppressed by my husband, and you never escaped. If my husband hadn't passed away in this life and Daoist friend Su hadn't rebelled, you wouldn't have seen the light of day! You were able to escape, thanks to my husband's death and Daoist friend Su's rebellion, which is really lucky."
The prince sneered repeatedly.
Su Yun's heart skipped a beat: "The God Emperor asked me to speak for him, meaning to ask the Queen Mother to give him the Xiantian blessed land. But right from the start, they seemed to have eaten the Chaos Tribulation Fire, spewing tribulation ashes from their mouths, wishing to spray each other to death. How can I negotiate with the Queen Mother?"
He gritted his teeth and said with a smile: "Since you two are old acquaintances, it will be much more convenient. Madam, to be honest, the Demon Emperor has also been released."
The Queen Mother of Heaven was slightly shocked, but she said calmly, "Does Bu Feng really want to anger the heavens and the people? The God Emperor is easy to deal with, after all, there are things to do and things not to do, and I respect you as a man. If you release the Demon Emperor, aren't you afraid that she will go crazy and start killing people?"
Su Yun said: "Fortunately, the God Emperor is upright and willing to help the imperial court fight against the rebellious emperor Bu Feng. Your Majesty, the Demon Emperor will definitely be eyeing the Xiantian Blessed Land when he comes out this time. Your Majesty, we are all in the same boat, why not lend the Xiantian Blessed Land to the God Emperor and let him fight against the Demon Emperor? Or, it can save your Majesty a lot of trouble."
The Queen Mother of Heaven smiled and said, "This is a trivial matter. Why do you need to ask Daoyou to come here in person? Daoyou Divine Emperor can just practice at the Xiantian Blessed Land. Daoyou Su, did you come here just for this trivial matter?"
The prince's original intention was to seize the innate blessed land and take it for himself. He would refine the innate Qi inside and his demons would be eliminated and his spirit would grow. His own cultivation strength would surely far surpass that of the Demon Emperor!
It was just that the Queen Mother was unwilling to give up the Xiantian Blessed Land, and he could do nothing about it. But fortunately, Su Yun fought for him to have the right to practice in the Xiantian Blessed Land, so it was not in vain.
Su Yun said: "I am here for another important matter. Madam, I beg you to send a message to the Emperor Changsheng, ordering him to attack Hou Tu from the South Pole. My imperial court will certainly respond. If the two families attack the head and the tail, the Emperor will be destroyed soon!"
The Queen Mother smiled but did not answer.
Su Yun frowned slightly and tried again: "Your Majesty, can you let Xiao Changsheng send out troops?"
The Queen Mother looked around and said something else, smiling, "Friend Su, you haven't married yet, have you? Do you have someone you like?"
Su Yun said with a sigh: "How can I have a family if the Rebel Emperor is not destroyed?"
The Queen Mother looked serious and said, "Human relations are the way of heaven. How can we neglect them? Especially you, as the master of the imperial court, with tens of thousands of capable ministers and generals under your command, how can you not have a mistress sitting in the back to help you solve your problems?"
Yingying was moved when she heard this, and whispered to Su Yun, "The Queen is not persuading you to get married, but she has other intentions."
Su Yun also heard her hidden meaning and asked, "Could you please explain clearly, Madam?"
The Queen Mother of Heaven stopped beating around the bush and said, "Fellow Daoist Su, why did Yinglong Bai Ze follow you? Why did Shui Yinghui, Song Xianjun, and Lang Jianxian follow you at the risk of their clan being exterminated? What did Fang Zhuzhi, Shi Weiran, and the exiled immortal follow you for? And there are also powerful beings like Sang Tianjun, Xishan Sanren, Yue Zhaoquan, and the God Emperor. Don't they follow you for anything?"
Su Yun frowned.
He understood what the Queen Mother meant, but it was somewhat different from his original intention.
He returned to the imperial court and established his power here only to protect Yuan Shuo and give Yuan Shuo space to survive and time to develop, without much selfish motives.
"My friend, you may not have any selfish motives, but everyone who follows you has their own selfish motives."
The Queen Mother of Heaven said meaningfully, "Even Yingying has her own selfish motives. The Seventh Immortal Realm is in disarray, and the major caves are independent, but they have lost their sovereignty one by one and fallen into the hands of the Immortal Court. How many people with lofty ideals are sad and lament, only regretting that they have no way to serve their country and have no reputation for their mission. You becoming an emperor at this time not only gives these people with lofty ideals who follow you a name, but also gives those who have not yet followed you a beacon of hope."
Su Yun fell silent.
The Queen Mother of Heaven said leisurely: "You didn't claim to be an emperor in the past in order to show that you had no ambitions, hoping that the Immortal Court would not notice you and Yuan Shuo, whom you protected. But now, you and your Yuan Shuo have become elephants that cannot be put in a box. You can't hide them no matter how hard you try. Especially with the defeat of the Master Emperor and the death of Long Tianshi, the Imperial Court has become the first target of the Immortal Court to eliminate! Can you still pretend to be harmless?"
Su Yun sighed and said sternly, "Your Majesty is right, but my father is still alive, so I dare not claim the throne."
The Queen Mother of Heaven chuckled and said, "Saint Emperor Su, do you want to conquer the world for a corpse? If you say this, see which of the heroes in the world will follow you."
Su Yun's face was uncertain. After a moment, he said goodbye and left, saying, "Queen of Heaven, let me think about it."
The Queen Mother saw him off.
The prince stayed and said to Su Yun: "I was captured and suppressed when I was born, and I have never practiced in the blessed land where I was born. I will practice here for a few days first."
Su Yun let him go and was about to take Yingying away. At this time, the prince smiled and said, "Does the Holy Emperor know why the Queen Mother of Heaven did not agree to help you?"
Su Yun stopped and asked doubtfully, "Because I haven't become emperor yet?"
The prince shook his head and said, "Who is the Queen of Heaven? She is the head of the female fairies. Even if the Holy Emperor is crowned as an emperor, his status is far from hers. The Queen of Heaven just said that those who follow the Holy Emperor often have something to ask for. So what does the Queen of Heaven ask for?"
Su Yun suddenly realized, and said, "Emperor Feng proclaimed himself emperor and imprisoned the Queen of Heaven in the rear court. By the time I lifted the ban, the world had changed, and people no longer respected the Queen of Heaven as the head of the female fairies."
The prince said, "What the Queen wants is to return to her own seat. How can Emperor Su Sheng satisfy her?"
Su Yun sighed and said solemnly: "I will marry first, then become emperor, and make my wife the queen, the mistress of all the generals. Then let my wife worship the Queen of Heaven, and respect the Queen of Heaven as the head of the female fairies. If I conquer the world in the future, the Queen of Heaven will have a stable position."
He bowed deeply to the ground and said, "Thank you, God Emperor, for your teachings!"
The prince bowed in return and said sternly, "I dare not. I just want something."
Su Yun left.
The prince sat down in front of the Well of the Innate, breathing in and out, absorbing the Shinto mysteries hidden in this blessed land.
The Queen Mother came over, raised her hand to pick up a flower and put it under her nose to sniff it, and said softly: "The Divine Emperor is so optimistic about Emperor Su? I thought that if Di Feng let you go, you would follow Di Feng wholeheartedly."
"Emperor Feng's bearing and courage are far inferior to Emperor Jue's. How can he be so virtuous as to convince me?"
As soon as the prince opened his mouth, he was unruly and said calmly: "The emperor must not let me submit. Di Feng is like a child in front of me and is not worthy of my submission. The person I want to follow is someone with the breadth of mind and spirit of Di Shu, not someone as mediocre as Di Feng."
The Queen Mother of Heaven was surprised and asked, "Is Emperor Su Sheng such a person?"
The prince said: "In terms of strategy, scheming, patience, and means, he is far inferior to Emperor Jue. But there is one thing that Emperor Jue cannot compare to, he has the spirit of Emperor Shu. As for whether he can grow to that level, it depends on the future."
The Queen Mother was silent for a moment, and then said, "I have long seen his extraordinaryness, so I have been patiently waiting until now. But man proposes, God disposes. It is hard to predict God's will..."
Su Yun returned to Ganquan Garden in the imperial capital, and after much hesitation, he went to Cangwu City in person to reward the soldiers.
The soldiers of Cangwu City cheered and were extremely excited. In their hearts, Su Yun was invincible. A black iron bell hung there, blocking millions of immortals, gods, and demons, preventing the Emperor Shi from advancing eastward!
Even the Celestial Master of the Immortal Court was killed by Su Yun's bell!
Su Yun’s undefeated legend was established from then on!
Now that Su Yun came in person to reward the soldiers, they were naturally extremely excited.
By the time the army review was completed, it was already night. Su Yun had dinner with the generals and also met with the generals of each army individually to discuss things on the battlefield.
Finally, Su Yun invited Zuo Songyan and Qiu Shuijing to come over. After much hesitation, he mustered up his courage and said, "I like Yu Qingluo. I'd like to trouble you two elders to go with me to propose marriage."
Zuo Songyan's face turned pale and he looked hurriedly at Qiu Shuijing.
Qiu Shuijing remained calm and was just trying to fool around like before. Su Yun sighed and repeated his conversation with the Queen Mother of Heaven, saying, "Qing Luo and I are childhood sweethearts and we love each other, but after this marriage, I will become the emperor. As my queen, you must worship the Queen Mother of Heaven as your teacher in order to get her full support. If she marries me, she will be wronged, so I dare not go there shamelessly."
Qiu Shuijing stood up and said generously, "Pavilion Master, don't worry. Zuo Pushe and I will go there."
Su Yun bowed.
Zuo Songyan hurriedly stood up and returned the greeting together with Qiu Shuijing.
After the two left, Zuo Songyan sighed and complained, "Why did you agree to this? Yu Qingluo may seem weak, but she is actually a strong-willed woman. Pavilion Master Su is a second-hand man, most likely even a third-hand one. How could she accept him?"
Qiu Shuijing didn't know whether to laugh or cry, and shouted, "Where did the second and third hand ones come from? I think there are already fourth hand ones! These have nothing to do with what we are going to do, so we won't ask about them. Yu Qingluo has the demeanor of a mistress, and she is also a human, born in Yuanshuo, a famous and upright family. If the Pavilion Master had chosen another mistress, such as a demon, or a relative, or a human demon, then you would have a headache!"
Zuo Songyan suddenly came to his senses, and said with awe in his heart: "Yu Qingluo is indeed the best candidate!"
The two returned to the imperial capital overnight, came to the hollow new world through the osmanthus tree, and asked to see Yu Qingluo.
Yu Qingluo waited for them to explain their intentions, thought for a moment, and neither agreed nor refused. He smiled and said, "Why doesn't the old groom come in person? Are you shy?"
Qiu Shuijing and Zuo Songyan laughed loudly, and returned to report, asking Su Yun to go in person, saying: "Master Yudong has been pondering for the sake of the king, and will nod as soon as the Pavilion Master goes."
On this day, Su Yun came to the empty new world and proposed to Yu Qingluo.