Chapter 84: Execute His Nine Relations

  Anyway, even if Liu Bei's dragon energy is forcibly taken away by Liu Xuan, it will not endanger Liu Bei's life. At most, it will only make Liu Bei weak for a period of time, which is similar to being seriously ill. As long as he takes good care of himself, he can recover quickly.

  Actually, Liu Xuan's younger brother Liu Xie, under the foundation of that skill and a large amount of medicinal nourishment, has become much healthier. It seems that after a few more years, he will be no different from a healthy young man, and may even be stronger than an ordinary person, with a clearer mind as well.

  This is also a compensation given by Liu Xuan to him, and naturally, Liu Bei's side will not be inferior. Moreover, Liu Xuan attaches great importance to Liu Bei's ability - this person can start from scratch and establish a vast territory, his ability is self-evident. What Liu Xuan values most is Liu Bei's ability to identify people, truly talented individuals versus those who are merely famous in name only. This Liu Huangshu can almost distinguish between them in a very short period of time. Such an ability is extremely important for an emperor.

  Although Liu Xuan had a good understanding of this history, the people in his memory were limited after all, and he couldn't just rely on those people. So it was still necessary to promote and appoint some people, which made Liu Bei's role very important.

  He spat out a mouthful of turbid air, Liu Xuan ended his cultivation and stood up. The effect of tonight's cultivation was so good that he could hardly bear it. For the first time, a scene appeared in his body where the dragon egg was surrounded by swirling clouds of smoke that almost covered the dragon egg. In fact, this was the state that should have been at this stage. However, the dragon energy was thin before, and the amount of dragon energy absorbed every day was not enough for the dragon egg to absorb, so it was impossible to be rich enough to warm up the dragon egg.

  But did not think that today's war would severely injure Li Jue, and after Yang Ding's surrender, suddenly many dragon auras appeared.

  After some thought, it is estimated that this battle has a significant meaning, not only thoroughly eliminating Li Jue, but also clearing the obstacles between the imperial court and Longzhou, making Longzhou directly adjacent to the territory under the jurisdiction of the imperial court, so that Longzhou is no longer an isolated island.

  As a result, the region directly under the control of the imperial court has expanded several times. With the surrender of Li Jue and the elimination of this rebel, the fortune of the Han Dynasty can be said to have been thoroughly changed by Liu Xuan, recovering from that declining trend and re-exposing the vitality of a dynasty.

  The most intuitive benefit of this change is that the dragon energy between heaven and earth began to increase, and when Liu Xuan absorbed the dragon energy, it was no longer as difficult as before. At the same time, there was no longer a dying decline in the dragon energy - don't underestimate this little change, because even if Liu Xuan absorbs this dragon energy into his body, he can't use it directly, but needs to refine it and remove the declining energy.

  Otherwise, he can only cultivate a nearly dead old dragon with greatly reduced strength.

  As the dragon energy in the land began to change today, Liu Xuan's cultivation speed would undoubtedly accelerate again. How could he not be delighted? Moreover, after the dragon energy in his body was full, he could also pass through this embarrassing 'incubation period' more quickly. If one thought about it optimistically, until Li Jue was eliminated and the areas controlled by the imperial court were truly unified, and all rebels were gone, then he could borrow Liu Bei's dragon energy to break through this pass in one go.

  This was also his original intention, but Liu Bei unexpectedly benefited from the dragon energy changes in heaven and earth, forcing him to modify this plan and advance the extraction of the dragon energy from Liu Bei's body.

  The scene of introspection in his mind, the war outside had already come to an end. Liu Xuan relied on the dragon energy to project his divine consciousness and gaze at any place shrouded by the dragon energy, just like an emperor inspecting his own territory. The downside was that he couldn't take everything in at once, and could only focus on one place at a time.

  This was also the benefit he got after his cultivation increased again. Originally, when he was in Chang'an, he didn't have this ability——let alone that at that time, it wouldn't make much sense for him to have such an ability, since his territory was just a place as big as Chang'an; even without using divine senses to take a look, he would know what happened.

  Just now, Liu Xuan had already seen Li Jue's final outcome. This guy was really hard to kill. He was surrounded by several brothers of Liu Bei with horses and soldiers, and after a fierce battle, he still managed to escape with his life. As Zhang Fei and Guan Yu were about to launch a desperate charge, this guy shamelessly surrendered.

  This result made Guan Yu very helpless and Zhang Fei very angry, but since their elder brother Liu Bei was also present, they couldn't take charge, so they could only hold their noses and accept Li Jue's surrender, then bound him with ropes and rushed back to the main camp.

  Liu Xuan saw this scene and knew what Li Jue was up to, but he had already made up his mind, and it wasn't going to change just because Li Jue surrendered.

  It was Yang Ding who took the lead in surrendering and brought many soldiers with him. He could be spared this once, and if he worked diligently, he wouldn't mind promoting him.

  Liu Xuan emerged from the large tent, looking very spirited after a simple wash. Although he hadn't slept all night, his cultivation had made great progress, which was more comfortable than sleeping. At this time, he held his head high and strode forward, heading straight for the front camp.

  The camp was originally very spacious, and Liu Xuan had to ride a horse when walking in each camp. However, today Liu Xuan suddenly became interested and wanted to walk there on foot. As a result, the generals and officers he met along the way could only follow behind him on foot.

  Fortunately, the few people behind him had basically obtained Liu Xuan's cultivation method, and their physical strength was much stronger than that of ordinary people. It was just a short distance, and it wasn't difficult for them to bear. Moreover, on this road, Liu Xuan walked and stopped from time to time, occasionally looking at the busy soldiers around him, and when he remembered something, he would turn his head and chat with everyone for a few words, as if they were going out for a spring outing, so naturally, no one felt tired.

  For example, after Liu Xuan walked for a while, he suddenly asked Guo Jia: "Feng Xiao, how do you feel about your body in the past few months?"

  Guo Jia was originally in poor health and had been taking elixirs concocted by Fang Shi for years, which gave his face a strange, ruddy complexion. Now, however, all these unusual signs have vanished, leaving him looking rather pale, as he has only just recovered from his illness.

  But that was only superficial, inside it had changed dramatically. Guo Jia felt that this period of time seemed to have achieved some success in his cultivation, not only did he have a warm and vigorous energy flowing back and forth within his body, but even his breathing was much smoother than usual - Guo Jia seemed to have lung disease, usually his breathing was more urgent than normal people's, and he often had dry coughs.

  Now all these symptoms have disappeared, and walking also seems to be much more powerful. Not to mention anything else, just accompanying Liu Xuan for such a long distance, without even panting, it can be seen that his body is now stronger than before.

  "If it weren't for Your Majesty's kindness and virtue, how could a humble subject like myself be so fortunate?"

  As for Emperor Liu Xuan, Guo Jia was very grateful. This was not only because Liu Xuan helped him recover his health, but more importantly, Liu Xuan was willing to provide a stage for Guo Jia to showcase his talents. Isn't this what scholars like him pursued?

  Moreover, assisting Liu Xuan may very well leave a profound mark in history, and this temptation is not limited to just scholars.

  After walking for a while, Lü Bu was seen patrolling in front of the camp.

  The war had just subsided, and Lü Bu was busy with many things, so he couldn't be as carefree as Liu Xuan. Instead, the Emperor, who didn't ride a horse, led a group of people wandering around here, which surprised Lü Bu.

  "Your Majesty!"

  Lü Bu now showed great respect to Liu Xuan, and as soon as he saw him, he immediately came over to pay his respects. The other generals who were busy directing the soldiers to clear the battlefield and count the spoils of war also stood aside respectfully.

  Liu Xuan looked ahead and saw Lü Bu standing in front of him, followed by Cao Xing, Song Xian, Cheng Lian, Gao Shun, Xiahou Dun, and Xiahou Yuan. Only a few were not seen, probably because they were farther away or leading troops to stand guard.

  "Have the troops who went to meet Yang Ding returned?"

  Lü Bu nodded: "Your humble servant will lead the troops to cooperate with Yang Ding, and if everything goes smoothly, there should be a letter arriving soon. Your Majesty need not worry."

  After some thought, he felt that this was still not enough, so he added another sentence: "If Yang Huizhi dares to play any tricks, I will personally lead the troops to go forward and take Yang Huizhi's head."

  Liu Xuan nodded, he also knew that this matter couldn't be rushed. Hou Cheng would lead the troops to meet up with Yang Ding and then control some of the soldiers who didn't listen to Yang Ding's orders, which would take some time. Even if everything went smoothly, it would be quick to deliver the letter before noon. If something unexpected happened again, there was no guarantee.

  However, he didn't mind this. Li Jue had already been captured, and even if Yang Ting wanted to make trouble, getting rid of him would be as easy as waving his hand.

  It was Liu Bei who pressed Li Jue to return, and at this time he should have arrived at the front camp. Liu Xuan was here, and he wanted Li Jue to wait there. After estimating that the time was about right, he led a group of people to arrive at the front camp in a grand manner.

  At this time, Liu Bei was about to send someone to report to the Emperor, saying that the rebel leader Li Jue had been captured, and asked Your Majesty to come and decide for himself. Just as he hadn't had a chance to do so, he saw the Emperor leading his men walking in.

  After a glance, when Liu Xuan sat in the first place, everyone's eyes turned to Li Jue - this Western Liang general had lost his original glamour at this time, and was tightly bound by five flowers, just kneeling on the ground stupidly.

  When Liu Xuan sat down, Li Jue regained some of his composure and looked at Liu Xuan with a changing expression in his eyes. Finally, he knocked his head on the ground and said: "Your subject was momentarily confused and committed such a great crime; please punish me, Your Majesty!"

  He thought that if he surrendered voluntarily and pleaded guilty, the emperor might impose a slightly lighter punishment. Even if he couldn't save his honor, at least he could save his life.

  But unexpectedly, Liu Xuan didn't fall for it. Just by looking at the changes in Li Jue's eyes, he guessed what this guy was up to. As soon as Li Jue finished speaking, he didn't care about the reactions of the others and directly said: "With a large army, disobeying orders and rebelling is a great crime that should be punished by executing nine generations of his family!" After finishing speaking, he didn't wait for the reactions of the others and directly decided: "Since all of you gentlemen have no doubts, then let's issue the edict!"

  Having said that, he didn't even look at Li Jue, and with a wave of his hand, the guards dragged Li Jue out.