Tension in the air
For several days, Zao Tian spent all possible time focusing on meditation. The whips he suffered daily did not cease at any moment.
Zao Tian could not feel a single trace of the spiritual energy of the universe. He just stopped meditating when he needed food, other physiological needs, and of course, when Huolong Ji arrived.
The damage to Zao Tian's body healed much faster than before. But the scars of the various lashes were still imprinted on his body.
The pain in his body, though it had greatly diminished, was still extremely difficult to tolerate. This often became a major obstacle for Zao Tian, who needed to achieve a state of extreme relaxation.
Four days after ...
It was only seven days before the end of Zao Tian's punishment, and he went into a much deeper state of meditation. Although he still does not feel the spiritual energy of the universe, Zao Tian made a great advance in meditation.
He entered a state that left him totally immune to visual and auditory stimuli. Anything that anyone did before him or any external sound did not affect his meditation at all. Unless someone shook or hit Zao Tian, nothing would hinder him.
It was a day like any other day. Hulong Ji was already getting ready to go downstairs. He had spent the last few days investigating what happened to the spiritual energy that existed in the Department of Punishment. After several unsuccessful attempts, the only joy he had in those days was when it came time for Zao Tian's punishment.
Huolong Ji descended the stairs to the basement while singing a song. He swung his whip from side to side as if warming. Each time the whip was swaying, a vast amount of scraping lard could be clearly seen.
Dwarfed by the happiness of that moment, Huolong Ji opened the cell with extreme happiness. He then stood before Zao Tian and laughed cheerfully as he said, "Hihihihihi ... Where is my favorite Junior? Let's have fun? Hihihihihi ... "
But this time, unlike before, Zao Tian did not respond or looked at Huolong Ji. Not that he did not want to, it was just that Zao Tian was totally disconnected from the outside world. That made Huolong Ji furious.
People like Huolong Ji felt pleasure in seeing the suffering of others. The screams of pain and the glares of suffering brought deep happiness to this kind of sadist. When Zao Tian did not respond, it fueled a tremendous fury in his heart.
"WAKE UP!" Hulong Ji yelled before continuing: "IF YOU DO NOT WAKE UP ... I WILL INCREASE YOUR PUNISHMENT YET!"
Even with Huolong Ji's screams of fury, Zao Tian remained the same.
Feeling completely ignored, Huolong Ji burst out: "DRUM SMELL! YOU'RE LEAVING ME HARD! THERE IS NO PLEASURE SOME IN HITCHING A CORPSE! IF YOU DO NOT SHOW ME THAT FACE OF PAIN ... I ... I'LL KILL YOU NOW! "
Zao Tian: "..."
Once again, Huolong Ji received no answers.
The fury of that fat man had finally reached its limit. He gripped the whip firmly in his hands; and began channeling spiritual energy and transferring it to the whip. A layer of spiritual white energy covered the entire surface of the whip ... The whip then became fully serrated. Each tooth of spiritual energy that covered the whip was extremely sharp. A single blow from that whip could leave Zao Tian in the middle.
"SUCK ... AFTER I WILL HAVE TO SOLVE THAT QUESTION WITH YE ZUO ... BUT HIS PUNISHMENT IS NOW DONE! I WILL DIVIDE YOU IN LOTS OF PARTS! "Huolong Ji screamed as he huffed with rage.
Even so, there was no response from Zao Tian ...
Huolong Ji swung the whip back and prepared to perform the final stroke.
"DIE!" Huolong Ji snorted.
The coup began to be executed; the whip began to cut through the air as it made a terrifying sound ...
* Brrrrrr ... *
The whip, which was heading toward Zao Tian, stopped abruptly.
* Brrrrr ... Brrrrr ... *
The entire punishment department began to shake. In the basement, the dust from the roof began to fall on Huolong Ji and Zao Tian.
Hulong Ji looked up, with the feeling that something strange was happening. Those tremors were definitely not normal.
* Brrrrrr ... Brrrrr ... *
The tremors continued evenly, if one calculated the time between each tremor, he would find that it was exactly the same.
At that moment, one of the guards of the Department of Punishment went downstairs and, with a startled look, called Huolong Ji.
"Elder ... O ... You must come up soon ... Something ... It's coming in the direction of the Department of Punishment!"
Huolong Ji glanced quickly at the guard.
"What do you mean, anything? What's coming? "
"Elder ... We still do not know! It's still a long way off and ... Even being so far away ... Whatever it is that's coming ... That's causing those earthquakes! "The guard said slowly, his face filled with astonishment.
At that moment, Huolong Ji had already completely forgotten about Zao Tian. The whip in his hand returned to its original form and soon after, Huolong Ji hurried out.
Exterior of the Department of Punishment ...
Outside the Department of Punishment, all two thousand guards, accompanied by Huolong Ji, watched something.
In the deserted plain where sand was barely visible... Far far in the direction everyone looked, there was a great cloud of dust raised. The dust cloud was several kilometers wide and its length was difficult to determine.
Huolong Ji was wide-eyed, his body trembling all over, and he was sweating like a pig. He could not utter a single word and only stutter came out of his mouth.
The guards were filled with apprehension, especially as they stared at the frightened Huolong Ji.
One of the guards finally took the initiative and headed to Huolong Ji.
"Elder, what's going on? Why are you so nervous? Can you see what's inside that? "
Huolong Ji turned his face in the direction of the guard and amidst stammering, he began to respond.
"That ... That ... That ... It's not ... A beast ... Or ... Something ... That's ..."
As Huolong Ji tried to utter a complete sentence, that cloud of dust, which most resembled a strong sandstorm, was approaching ...
* Pommm ... Pommm ... Pomm ... Pooooommmmmmmm ... *
The sound of a loud and severe trumpet sounded. That sound came from the direction of the dust cloud.
The sound of the trumpet caused shivers to the spines of all the guards, while the frightened Huolong Ji ... Finally he finished his words ...
"That ... That's a ... An ... An army!"
When those words came out of Huolong Ji's mouth, all the guards who were there, without exception, began to tremble. For with the confirmation of Huolong Ji and the size of the dust cloud that army raised ... That army should have at least a hundred thousand men.
The army marched and with each step the army gave ... The earth trembled.
Finally, those outside the Punishment Department were able to visualize the army.
Everyone trembled even more ... For when they visualized the colors and the robes of that army, they saw something very shocking.
* Pommm ... Pommm ... Pomm ... Pooooommmmmmmm ... Bummm ... Bummm ... *
The war trumpets sounded again and this time, they were followed by the sounds of the war drums.
The march of the army made the earth tremble even more, with every step that was approaching.
Huolong Ji lost control of his legs and fell to his knees as he stared in amazement.
The colors and vestments of that army, the number of soldiers, the sounds and trumpet sounds and drums of war, could only mean one thing. Something that all guards and even Huolong Ji would never dream of seeing one day.
It was something that practically all the practitioners of the continent never saw before and they could only recognize, because of the tales of those who once saw that army.
Huolong Ji: "Why ... is this army here? Are they just passing through? "
Huolong Ji murmured these questions even though he knew the answer. He tried to believe that they were only passing, but the trumpets of war are only sounded the moment an army reaches its destination.
Some of the guards who had not heard about this army were confused. By the time one of them took courage and asked Huolong Ji:
"Elder, why are you so scared? Does Elder know the origin of that army? Are they hostile? "
The bombardment of the guard's questions caused Huolong Ji to return to sanity. Still kneeling, he looked deeply into the army and said with a little difficulty:
"No doubt ... That army ... It can only be ... The personal guard ... of the Emperor of the Yang Dynasty!"
When those words came out of Huolong Ji's mouth, All the guards lost control of their legs and fell to their knees. Completely astonished, the guards did not know if this was a good or bad thing.
"This is absurdly exaggerated ... How can a personal guard have so many men?" One of the guards said.
"Not only that! If this army is here ... That means ... "
"Yes! The strongest man in the whole Andros continent ... The Emperor of the Yang Dynasty ... Yang Hao, he's here! "Huolong Ji said helplessly.
After Huolong Ji's words, eight middle-aged men, armed with light, red and extremely ornate armor, approached.
The eight men appeared to be about forty years old, all had short black hair and had a large burn mark on the right side of their faces. The burns were exactly the same, it was as if they had been marked with some sort of thing.
The eight hovered over the guards of the Department of Punishment and in a solemn voice and a menacing tone, one of them announced:
"Bow everyone! You are facing the greatest strength of the entire Andros continent! Revere the only emperor of the immortal Yang Dynasty! Bow before Yang Hao! "