Long before this, the Dongying (Japanese) martial artists had already paid their respects to Jingtai, who had only recently ascended the throne. At that time, the patriarch of the Yagyu (Liu Sheng) clan had personally come to the Central Plains, seeking a piece of land to gradually encroach upon China.

However, they were refused, and so they turned to more covert methods.

Upon hearing Ito Shisei's words, the civil and military officials in the Golden Luan Hall erupted in uproar. A chorus of rebukes echoed through the hall.

"Preposterous! How dare you Dongying dwarfs set foot on the sacred soil of the Central Plains?"

"The vast land of China is not for the likes of you Dongying to trespass upon!"

In the Central Plains, the civil officials were even more concerned about such matters than the martial artists. Well-versed in literature, they unleashed a torrent of sharp criticisms upon Ito Shisei.

Completely disregarding his Transformation Yang cultivation.

Ito Ichito listened to the disdainful voices, his face darkening. A flash of murderous intent and humiliation flickered in his eyes. In Dongying, the Ito clan was like the heavens.

Revered by all.

But in the hearts of the Chinese, even with their heaven-defying cultivation, they were still barbarians and dwarfs!

He recalled the words of a senior:

"The prejudice in people's hearts is a great mountain.

No matter how hard you try, you cannot move it." This was vividly displayed by these ignorant Chinese. He suppressed his anger.

Daring not to offer any retort.

Because Dongying did not have the strength. Even if the three great clans joined forces, they probably could not contend with the Great Jin Dynasty.

They could only endure!

In the hall, there were several Transformation Yang experts who could easily suppress them.

Even his father, Ito Shisei, did not reveal any unpleasant expression.

Jingtai remained unmoved, gazing at Ito Shisei and saying:

"When I first ascended the throne, the patriarch of the Yagyu clan mentioned this matter. Now, my answer remains the same: the glorious Central Plains, the vast land of China, has not a single inch of superfluous land."

Ito Shisei's eyes narrowed, and he said in a low voice:

"Your Majesty misunderstands. In fact, Dongying and the Central Plains share the same lineage. Not long ago, we discovered an ancient mausoleum in Dongying, revealing that thousands of years ago, after Emperor Wu established his rule and delineated the martial arts realms, one of his subordinate Divine Venerables crossed the sea to Dongying, where his descendants thrived..."

"What?"

Hearing this, the officials were filled with suspicion and disbelief.

Was China actually the ancestor of the Dongying dwarfs?

"Nonsense! The events of ancient times have long been lost. How can we ascertain the truth of your words? Do not try to use this as an excuse," someone rebuked in a low voice.

"Indeed, how can you Dongying dwarfs claim to share the same origin as our superior Chinese nation?"

Of course, not all voices were rebukes. Some said:

"This may not be impossible. Among all the barbarians, the Dongying are most similar to the Chinese."

"Yes, yes."

"It is precisely for this reason that Dongying truly desires to integrate with the Central Plains. We hope Your Majesty will have mercy..."

Jingtai's eyes flickered, and he remained silent for a moment.

The Bodhisattva Puxian (Samantabhadra), standing to the side, put his palms together and said:

"This humble monk believes that this matter would benefit the Central Plains."

"Oh? What do you mean by this, Imperial Preceptor?"

"As fellow members of the human race, we should treat all beings equally. The Central Plains are vast and boundless, spanning tens of thousands of miles. Dividing off a corner of land to allow the Dongying martial artists to integrate would not be a bad thing.

Our dynasty could also greatly increase its national strength."

"This humble official does not agree with the Imperial Preceptor's words. The land of the Central Plains is already insufficient; how can we spare a piece to give to Dongying? Of course, if the Buddhist sect has the ability to wipe out the Northern barbarians, sending these dwarfs to the grasslands would be acceptable," said Xiao Jing, the Heavenly Envoy.

His cultivation was indeed inferior to that of the Imperial Preceptor Bodhisattva Puxian, but the Grand Commandant had entrusted him with the authority over the Sky Patrol Division before going into seclusion. Therefore, he had significant influence.

"This humble minister agrees."

Zhang Yantong said.

"This humble minister agrees."

"This humble minister agrees."

Two military generals also spoke up at this moment.

Although there were conflicts between the Sky Patrol Division and the military, they could still maintain unity in the face of matters of principle. They all believed that the territory should not be given to Dongying.

"Your Majesty, this humble minister believes that if we open the borders and allow Dongying to enter, it may become another Blood Province in a few years," the Minister of War said in a deep voice.

Hearing the words "Blood Province," Jingtai's eyes darkened.

This place was not always called Blood Province. It only gained that name after demonic forces established a foothold there, causing endless chaos, coupled with the court's repeated setbacks.

This place was also a major concern for the court.

A hidden danger left over from the beginning of the dynasty, where remnants of the former Chu dynasty were most likely hiding.

"This matter is not to be discussed further. My answer is one and the same: the Central Plains has not a single inch of superfluous land. The court's allowance of Dongying martial artists to freely enter and exit is already a great favor."

Jingtai's voice echoed in the Golden Luan Hall.

Ito Ichito took a deep breath, feeling extremely indignant.

Ito Shisei, however, remained unchanged, with no hint of disappointment on his face. He had anticipated this outcome before coming, only holding a trial attitude.

If it could be achieved, that would be for the best. If not, they would continue their gradual scheme.

"Does the Dongying envoy have anything else to report?"

A eunuch asked in a high-pitched voice.

Ito Ichito's ears twitched, and he nodded slowly. Then, he stepped forward and said:

"Reporting to Your Majesty, Ito Ichito has a report."

"Bold!"

The eunuch immediately rebuked.

The chief envoy was Ito Shisei, and the eunuch's question was directed at him. The others were only accompanying him. Except for when they first entered the Golden Luan Hall and were able to respectfully address the emperor,

They were not allowed to speak at other times.

"Please forgive him, Your Majesty. This is my youngest son," Ito Shisei said. Then, he turned and feigned a reprimand, saying:

"Shut up! This is a solemn place. When is it your turn to interject?"

Such clumsy acting naturally could not deceive Jingtai. He raised his hand to stop Ito Shisei's reprimand and said calmly:

"What is it that you wish to report?"

Ito Ichito took a deep breath and said loudly:

"In response to Your Majesty, the officials in the hall just now referred to Dongying as Dongying dwarfs, their words filled with contempt. Ichito is not convinced.

The Central Plains is a celestial empire, a land of propriety. How can it be so crude?"

"Oh? And what do you wish to do?"

Jingtai's expression darkened, seemingly displeased.

"Ichito is thirty-one years old this year and wishes to invite martial artists under the age of thirty-five in Kyoto to a challenge. If the Central Plains martial artists can win, Ichito will naturally submit and the Dongying martial artists will never dare to show the slightest disrespect again.

If the Central Plains martial artists lose, Ichito hopes that Your Majesty can issue a decree that from now on, all Chinese martial artists and officials must not refer to Dongying as dwarfs."

"Preposterous! How dare a mere dwarf challenge the masters of China?"

"Hmph, you know not what you seek."

"What do you think you are, daring to force His Majesty to issue a decree?"

"Quickly get out of China and never set foot in China again."

Some radical officials immediately rebuked.

Cao Zhengxian slowly said:

"Your Majesty, this old minister believes that this is inappropriate. Winning the competition would be of no benefit to the court, but... moreover, how can our dignified China bully the young?"

Many people, including Jingtai, understood that the bet the other party was proposing definitely had a strong grasp of the situation. Looking at this person, though he was not old, his aura, though well suppressed, was exceptionally powerful.

In his judgment, he could easily sense that this person had reached the Heavenly Pill realm.

There were indeed Grandmasters below the age of thirty-five in the capital who were at the Pill realm, but there were only one or two who had reached the Heavenly Pill cultivation. The chances of winning were very low.

He was about to refuse immediately.

Who would have thought that Ito Ichito would speak again:

"It seems that there are not many martial artists in Kyoto who can break through to the Heavenly Pill cultivation under the age of thirty-five. In that case, the way Ichito competes can also be changed."

Jingtai frowned and was about to rebuke this person's disrespect.

But Sima Ke, under Ito Ichito's subtle prompting, gritted his teeth, stepped forward, and said:

"What method do you want to change to?"

"My Dongying's three great clans have spent a hundred years to refine a strange treasure, called Sumeru Illusion Realm, which has the effect of tempering the Dao heart. This object has been opened to my Dongying martial artists, but no one except Ichito has been able to successfully pass the challenge.

This time, we have brought it here specifically, and also want to see the strength of the Central Plains martial artists. As long as the martial artists below the Transformation Yang realm can all try to pass the challenge. As long as they pass the challenge successfully, Ichito will bow and retreat."

Sima Ke frowned. What Ito Ichito said now was very different from what he had said in the prince's mansion before. At that time, he said that no one in Dongying could succeed.

Was he deceiving him?

Just as Sima Ke was thinking, several officials who had been prompted by him spoke up:

"What a joke! How can a mere Dongying treasure stop my Central Plains martial artists?"

"The reason why only one of your Dongying martial artists succeeded is because you are all trash, how can you compare with my Central Plains?"

"That's right, that's right."

Listening to the echoes, Sima Ke's heart skipped a beat, feeling that something was wrong, because, apart from these people, none of the other officials spoke.

And behind him, there was a gaze watching him.

He could feel it, it was his imperial father!

"If that's the case, then please let the Central Plains martial artists try it. As long as they pass the challenge successfully, I will admit defeat and from now on, I will only follow Your Majesty's lead!" Ito Ichito then said.

Jingtai remained silent, neither agreeing nor scolding. Sudan Novels Network

Being echoed by several officials below, he was already in a bit of an embarrassing position. If he did not allow it, wouldn't that mean that the Central Plains martial artists were inferior to the Dongying dwarfs?

If this spread out, it would inevitably cause great public outrage!

Thinking of this, Jingtai's gaze turned to Sima Ke, his eyes slightly darkened.

Sima Ke's heart skipped a beat, not daring to look back, his eyes flickering.

Seeing that the atmosphere around them was a bit frozen, Ito Shisei said:

"Please forgive me, Your Majesty. This is just a casual remark from my son, it's not to be taken seriously. The Central Plains has countless geniuses, how can my Dongying compare?"

Cao Zhengxian snorted lightly:

"It's good that Patriarch Ito knows."

"What does the Imperial Preceptor think?" After pondering for a moment, Jingtai turned his gaze to the composed Bodhisattva Puxian and asked.

"This humble monk believes that it would be fine to try it. This humble monk saw this Sumeru Illusion Realm the other day, and it is indeed a bit extraordinary, it has the effect of tempering martial artists. If Your Majesty does not allow it, this humble monk can send monks from the Small Thunderclap Temple to temper their hearts."

Bodhisattva Puxian said indifferently.

"Reporting to Your Majesty, this humble minister believes that these Dongying martial artists dare to provoke the prestige of our celestial empire, so we should accept this battle, otherwise if it spreads out, wouldn't it mean that our dynasty is not as good as Dongying?"

A vice minister of the Ministry of Rites said.

"Reporting to Your Majesty, this humble minister thinks it is inappropriate. These Dongying martial artists came prepared, and their plan is probably like this, so we must not fall for their trick.

Aren't they trying to compare? Then compare with True Monarchs, these existences are the pinnacle of martial arts in this world, and they are also the most suitable candidates for comparison."

A military officer reported.

Then, voices began to ring out, some felt that they should compare, some felt that they should not.

"Ke'er, what do you think?"

Jingtai's voice slowly echoed in Sima Ke's ears, making his legs a little weak, but at this time, it was obviously impossible to back down, he could only go all the way to the dark, so he said:

"Responding to Father Emperor, this son believes... that it is feasible. The capital is the center of the world, a place where the essence of the court gathers, and there are peerless potential dragons like Chen Yuan and Chen Qing who are first in the Immortal Ascension Battle, so what worries does Father Emperor have?"

Jingtai looked at Sima Ke with a smile, his eyes narrowed, and then turned to Ito Shisei:

"It seems that Dongying has been somewhat unconvinced of my Central Plains in recent years."

"This humble minister dare not, Your Majesty, please calm your anger, these are just some of my son's wishes, which were delayed for some reasons before, and he did not participate in the world-famous Immortal Ascension Battle, and has always regretted it, so he had the idea of wanting to see the Central Plains genius."

Jingtai ignored these words and continued:

"Since you barbarians are interested in witnessing the great power of my Central Plains martial artists, I will naturally not refuse, but since it is a comparison between the two places, how can there be no reward?

If Dongying loses, then take out 10 million taels of silver to dedicate to the court, which can also be regarded as a punishment for your disrespect to the court!"

Ito Shisei frowned. 10 million taels of silver, that is, 10 million Yuan Crystals, this is definitely not a small number. If they lose, they will inevitably bleed a lot.

Moreover, the most important thing is that Jingtai did not say what would happen if the Central Plains lost.

Obviously, he also had some contempt for Dongying.

Thinking of Dongying's plan, Ito Shisei pretended to hesitate for a moment, then nodded and said:

"Your Majesty's decree, this humble minister should obey."

"Where do you want to compete?"

Ito Shisei said:

"How about near the Small Thunderclap Temple outside the city?"

Jingtai nodded:

"Okay!"

......

......

The time for the challenge was set at 3:00 PM on the same day, that is, around 2:00 PM. Once this matter was decided, it quickly set off a huge storm in the capital like a hurricane.

This was normal. First, the people and martial artists in the capital had been paying attention to the Dongying envoy's audience with the emperor recently, and second, they always had a kind of heartfelt contempt for Dongying.

They felt that the Dongying dwarfs were not worthy of being compared with the Central Plains martial artists.

Now that they heard that the Dongying martial artists were inviting the Central Plains martial artists to battle in front of the Small Thunderclap Temple, how could they not be curious? How could they not be angry?

They felt a deep sense of contempt.

At the same time, there were also some voices saying that those Dongying martial artists said that the Central Plains martial artists would not be able to pass this challenge and would definitely fall by the wayside.

This further aroused great public outrage.

The crowds began to surge.

And Chen Yuan also learned about this matter not long after. After the time and place were set, the Sky Patrol Division had already given the news to him, asking him to lead half of the Eastern Imperial City Division's martial artists to maintain the safety of the officials.

This kind of thing had always been the duty of the Sky Patrol Division, and this time, someone had predicted that it would definitely be a big scene, and it was not enough to just transfer the four commanders of the outer city,

The two commanders of the imperial city who belonged to the Sky Patrol Division were also transferred.

Of course, he himself was also hinted at by Jingtai, through Zhang Yantong, that he had to arrive today.

Those Dongying martial artists were so confident, they must have come prepared, if they could not pass, then they would be embarrassed in public.

Chen Yuan was equivalent to an insurance.

Although his strength was only at the Pill realm, his talent was definitely world-famous, he was the number one genius in the Central Plains in the past hundred years, and his reputation was extremely high.

Few people could compare with him.

Faced with the orders of his superiors, Chen Yuan naturally did not dare to neglect, but it was a pity that this big scene attracted most of the court's attention to the outside of the city. If he rescued Senior Molo at this time, it would definitely be a good opportunity.

But this matter came too suddenly, no one expected that the Taoist Masters of the Taoist God Palace had not made any preparations, and it was likely to fail if they took action now.

Moreover, Chen Yuan was also ordered to show up, which was a bit inappropriate.

Also, the location where Senior Molo was suppressed had not yet been determined.

After weighing all of this, those Taoist Masters, including Chen Yuan, finally decided to act according to the original plan, preparing to wait until the Ancestor Worship Ceremony more than a month later to take action.

As the news spread wider and wider, the various inns and vendors in the capital were discussing this matter, and many people wanted to see the excitement.

In addition, the nobles in the capital, including their families, and many concubines in the harem, all wanted to take this opportunity to leave the palace for a good trip.

For a time, the impact of this competition exceeded many people's expectations.

After that, the manpower of the Sky Patrol Division was not enough, and the court also transferred an army to maintain order.

Time passed very slowly. From noon onwards, the people and dignitaries in the capital began to converge towards the Small Thunderclap Temple in the west of the city.

Sometimes, there were even traffic jams.

Of course, this was a carriage...

And by the time they arrived, tens of thousands of people had gathered here, as far as the eye could see, it was boundless, all black heads, how spectacular.

This place was divided into an inner field and an outer field.

In order to prevent too many people from taking the opportunity to do bad things.

Those who could enter the inner field to watch the battle were basically dignitaries and their families. Ordinary people without status could only move a stool in the outer field to watch.

Chen Yuan calmly checked to see if there were any omissions on his side. After checking and finding nothing, he turned his gaze and saw the gathering place of those divine envoys of the Sky Patrol Division.

After thinking for a moment, he turned and went there.

He didn't know what the situation was, but he had a feeling that today's events were likely to be related to him.

This feeling was very mysterious and difficult to figure out.

As the time was approaching, a ceremonial carriage slowly descended from the sky, wrapped in yellow silk. Jingtai, dressed in a dragon robe, sat on it.

The ceremonial carriage landed in the very center of the inner field, surrounded by members of the imperial family. The place where several divine envoys of the Sky Patrol Division were located was also not far from Jingtai. In addition to this,

Chen Yuan also saw Consort Yang, whom he had offended before...