Chapter 658 - The Divine Mother’s Dream, The Primordial Emperor Still Lives - Part 1

The 18 factions of the rebel alliance had finally come together. They’d chosen their leader, and now it was time to pick the day of the uprising.

They chose the eighth day of the eighth month in the following year.

By then, autumn would have arrived, and harvest season wouldn’t be far behind. Once they captured a territory, the rebel army wouldn’t have to worry about supplies. They could feed themselves off the land.

And not long after would come winter. In winter, every stronghold turns into a fortress: easy to defend, hard to attack.

It was, all things considered, an excellent day for a rebellion.

With the date set, Skyscale Mountain burst into motion. The place buzzed with activity. The excitement was palpable, but beneath it was a flurry of urgent preparations—flags and banners, a name for the new nation, standard uniforms, recruitment drives, reconnaissance missions, espionage, logistics, arms and armor... You name it, they were working on it.

You had to hand it to Yang Jiang—he might look like a mild-mannered scholar, but he had the nerve to name a nation “Shen,” the Kingdom of God.

Late autumn. The fire in the brazier burned hot, casting a red glow that danced like restless spirits.

Li Yuan sat outside, gazing at the stars. From the command tent behind him came the voices of heated discussion.

“If the Emperor of Great Zhou dares call himself the Son of Heaven, then we’ll call our nation the Divine Dominion! He may rule under the heavens, but we’ll rule above them. Heaven always stands above earth.And when that day comes, all of you will be divine warriors and generals!”

It wasn’t Yang Jiang who said this, but the third-in-command seated beside him. Still, everyone knew this speech had been agreed upon with Yang Jiang beforehand.

No one objected. Right now, everyone was riding high on dreams and firelight. The future stretched out before them, and just the sound of the word

divine

wrapped them in a sense of destiny, of something greater than themselves.

“Well said! From now on, Boss Yang is our Divine Sovereign! And we are the divine generals, the commanders of Heaven’s army! Hahaha!”

Cheers followed, laughter rolling like thunder. Even those who thought the term

divine

a bit much couldn’t deny that under a banner like

Divine Sovereign

, they’d stand toe to toe with Great Zhou in sheer presence alone.

Yang Jiang waited until the clamor settled before speaking. “Since the brothers have no objections, I’ll appoint the Seven Divine Generals. Their order will follow the order of the seats tonight. How does that sound?”

But before the words had barely landed, someone stepped out from the ranks.

“Boss, I’ve no issue with this. None of us do. But what about Young Lord Yu?”

Yang Jiang smiled. “I’ve already spoken with him. He doesn’t wish to be named among the Divine Generals, so I’ve created a new title, Divine Monarch, ranked just beneath the Divine Sovereign. It’s a title made just for him.”

Everyone nodded in agreement. After all, there was no ignoring that young man.

Who was he, really?

At first glance, just a prisoner who’d stepped out of a sacrificial cart destined for the Central Capital. But after spending these past few months with him, no one in the camp still thought of Li Yuan as some random child.

There were some qualities in a person that simply couldn’t be imitated.

Li Yuan’s presence wasn’t grand, nor imposing. It was ordinary, yet not the kind of ordinary that faded into the dirt. His was the quiet, vast kind of ordinary, like mountains, rivers, and open skies. A calm that made a person breathe easier just standing near him.

Even the most restless heart found peace in his silence.

There was something about his presence, an indescribable aura. None of them had ever seen anything quite like it, but it carried a weight, a sense of refinement and quiet power. It felt...elite. And formidable.

Divine Monarch Lord Yu had already become a household name within the rebel army.

And that name was only going to grow louder.

˙·٠✧🐗➶➴🏹✧٠·˙

Dead leaves drifted to the ground.

𝐟𝗿𝐞𝚎𝚠𝐞𝚋𝕟𝐨𝚟𝐞𝕝.𝕔𝕠𝚖

The young man sat atop a large rock, a jug of fine wine in hand. He drank as he watched the soldiers training in the martial field below. From time to time, he glanced at the Human Emperor’s Martial Canon in his lap, still poring over the breathing method that no one had ever fully unraveled.

The taste of mortal wine lingered on his lips. He could never forget it.

He couldn't get the rare Snowbrew or the elusive Three Springs Brew anymore. But even common wine held a certain charm. A flicker of warmth in a cold world.

Below him, the drills continued.

Whenever one of the soldiers had a question, they would come to him. And no matter who it was or what they asked, he would always answer.

Truth be told, Li Yuan's martial prowess had already reached the peak of mastery in the previous era. Compared to this one, it was like a god descending into a world of mortals.

To prepare for battle against the imperial martial forces, the rebel army had formed elite units led by their best fighters. On Skyscale Mountain, they handpicked five hundred of their strongest and founded the Divine Gale Battalion.

Naturally, Li Yuan was made its instructor.

And today, he was teaching the Divine Gale Soldiers.

During a break, a towering, hairy man strolled over, swinging a massive battle axe over his shoulder. With a goofy grin and a respectful grunt, he said, “I reckon I’ve hit a breakthrough. Mind sparring with me? I’d like to see how far I’ve still got to go.”

Li Yuan crooked a finger.

The man was Sun Juli. And with a booming roar, he charged forward and swung the axe in a wide arc toward the seated young man.

His foot struck the ground with a sharp crack like a firecracker going off. The axe whistled through the air, accelerating mid-swing, as if it might slice the very air in two.

Li Yuan didn’t even look up. Still holding the wine in his right hand, he casually raised his left. With a flick of his index finger, the air rippled.

With a sharp

ding

, the deadly swing veered off course, knocked just enough to miss.

Sun Juli’s body stumbled to the side, as if a boat in calm waters had been hit by a sudden gust of crosswind.

BOOM!

The axe slammed into the massive rock beside Li Yuan, splitting it clean in two, stone chips flying in every direction.

The sheer power of that blow was terrifying.

Sun Juli reached to pull his axe free, but froze when he felt a light tap on his shoulder.

His pupils shrank.

He turned slowly and saw Li Yuan standing beside him, wine still in hand, the manual tucked under one arm. His left hand rested gently on Sun Juli’s shoulder.

Sweat poured down the man’s face. If that hand had landed on his throat instead of his shoulder, he’d already be dead.

Was the gap really this wide?

“You poured everything into that strike. No reserve, no backup. Against a real master, you’d be defeated in a single move.” Li Yuan said calmly. Then, after a pause, he added, “That said, you're not built for those fancy evasive moves anyway.”

Sun Juli scratched his head with a sheepish grin. “Yeah, yeah. I’m just a simple man. All I ever think about is chopping the enemy in half with one swing. I don’t know any fancy tricks, and I wouldn’t be able to pull them off anyway, heh.”

Li Yuan raised his hand and beckoned with his fingers.

Sun Juli blinked. “Huh?”

Someone behind him shouted, “You dolt, he’s going to demonstrate. Hand him the axe, quick!”

Panicked, Sun Juli held out his axe with both hands, offering it like a sacred object.

Li Yuan took it, gave it a casual glance, then suddenly swung it in a wide arc.

BOOM!

The axe carved a blazing circle through the air, ending in a deafening crack that split the silence. Even the air seemed to ripple and burst, scattering dust like smoke after an explosion.

It was just a basic move from the Nine Suns Divine Art, something he’d casually practiced back when he stayed with the Nine Flames Tribe in the Western Extremes.

And that was the weakened version because the Nine Suns Divine Art had to be powered by blood infused with Yang flame, and right now he was holding back.

Sun Juli stood frozen, jaw slack, heart pounding like a war drum.

He stared at Li Yuan’s hand and suddenly understood what it looked like to truly wield a killing weapon.

With strength like this...what in the world couldn’t be cleaved apart?

He dropped to his knees with a loud thud. “Please teach me!”

Li Yuan looked at him. “I will.”

His original plan had been simple. March on the capital, reveal his true power in the midst of a thousand troops, crush all resistance in a single overwhelming display, and force the Emperor, and whoever might be hiding behind the throne, out into the open.

But plans were made to be changed.

And that plan, in hindsight, had too many flaws.

It was like a chess match where both players had a single, game-ending move in reserve, something they could only use once. Why reveal his trump card too soon?

No, the smarter play was to engage first in close combat, let the opponent show their hand, and only then deliver the decisive blow.

Li Yuan hadn’t planned on joining any faction. He was going to walk into the capital alone.

But fate had steered him toward the rebel army. And since this happened to be the disciples of Xie Yu, he figured...why not? Go with the flow. Let them build up their name while boosting his own. Eventually, he’d fly the banner of

Disciple of Li Yuan

and wait for whoever might be lurking in the shadows to come knocking.

And when that person came, when they arrived thinking they were about to meet some young, brash impostor, they would find the real Li Yuan waiting.

If the mastermind never showed, he’d simply keep hiding his true power.

He’d seen too much to make the rookie mistake of revealing everything too soon. He knew all too well what it was like to draw his blade only to find his opponent pulling out a machine gun.