Chapter 362: Subduing Feng Zhenghao
A moment later, Feng Zhenghao spoke again: "If Lord Lu can agree to my two conditions, I am willing to surrender."
"Let's hear it."
Upon hearing this, Feng Zhenghao said, "First, if you save my mother, I also hope you can rescue the important family members of my two trusted aides. They are my brothers, and if they can assist me, I would be more at ease and able to act freely."
There was no doubt that Feng Zhenghao was emphasizing the importance of his two trusted aides. Feng Zhenghao was no fool; the reason the other party was trying to recruit him was, just like the Feng Family, because they valued his skills.
Lu Hong didn't mind this, after all, he was having Di Shu handle the rescue, and saving one or several people made no difference.
"I agree to your first condition. What's your second condition?"
"The second condition is that if you are strong enough, I hope you will allow me to lead the vanguard in annihilating the Feng Family!"
Feng Zhenghao's face showed a trace of madness as he spoke. To be honest, he hated the Feng Family, but their power forced him to suppress this anger deep inside, to the point where he himself almost forgot it and dared not mention it. The strength of Lu Hong gave him a glimmer of hope, bringing forth memories of being treated coldly, insulted, and targeted since childhood. His sealed memories surged, and his eyes turned blood-red, especially at the thought of his bedridden mother with broken arms and legs, which pained him deeply.
"I can do that. I promise you," Lu Hong nodded and said, "After this incident, you will become my special envoy in Song Dynasty. I will give you some simple support, but from there, everything will depend on your own efforts. If you can build Song Dynasty into a great power capable of swallowing the Feng Family, then I will not stop you from destroying the Feng Family and will even provide you with absolute support and assistance."
Upon hearing Lu Hong's response, Feng Zhenghao was somewhat surprised. To be honest, he originally thought he would be sent somewhere else, merely training troops, never actually having a day in authority. But clearly, he was wrong. The other party seemed to have absolute confidence. You must know, Feng Zhenghao was not lacking in means or ruthlessness. Once given enough autonomy, he would grow rapidly. Song Dynasty, although not his now, he believed that in the near future, a change of dynasties might not be a difficult task!
Lu Hong seemed to be aware of Feng Zhenghao's thoughts and said, "You can manipulate the imperial authority of Song Dynasty, but you must never replace it, understand?"
Hearing this, Feng Zhenghao nodded, understanding that this was Lu Hong's test of him, or rather, a means of restraint. As long as the legitimacy stood firm, he would always be restrained somehow.
However, Feng Zhenghao did not feel displeased about this, after all, the autonomy given was already significant. If he couldn't even accept a bit of restraint, what kind of surrender would that be?
Seeing that Feng Zhenghao did not object, Lu Hong pointed at the Feng Ling Army, who were still being slaughtered, and said, "There are less than half of them left. Do you still want them?"
Looking at the Feng Ling Army soldiers who were being massacred by the Blood-colored Divine Might Army, Feng Zhenghao's face hardened as he spoke, "Lord Lu, these soldiers are not on the same mind with me. Killing them counts as curbing the development of the Feng Family for the next ten to twenty years."
Lu Hong nodded, "If that's the case, I won't spare a single one, and you should draw portraits of your mother and your relatives under your command; I'll send someone to rescue them."
After saying this, Lu Hong ordered Di Shu to shut down the portal leaving the Song Dynasty world.
The soldiers of Feng Ling Army, oppressed by the Divine Might Army and retreating to the portal, panicked upon realizing they couldn't leave this world.
A dead-end, they had stepped onto a dead-end themselves!
The soldiers of Feng Ling Army felt a chill in their hearts, but it also brought about a final frenzy.
A desperate struggle is especially fierce.
Knowing they couldn't escape death, the soldiers of Feng Ling Army erupted with astonishing power.
Unfortunately, with the massive loss of soldiers, their numbers no longer held an advantage, especially as their level was lower than that of the Divine Might Army.
No matter how fiercely they struggled, death was inescapable.
Very soon, three hours passed, and with the last Feng Ling Army soldier being killed, the war was completely over.
At this time, the small commander of the Blood-colored Divine Might Army came before Lu Hong, holding four messengers from outside families.
Under Lu Hong's instruction, Feng Zhenghao and the two trusted aides chose to fake their deaths.
Having passed through a path strewn with corpses, the four messengers sent to report military information were already terrified, trembling as they fell before Lu Hong, looking up only to see the unseeing eyes of Feng Zhenghao, which frightened them into backing away.
"Come here!"
At Lu Hong's shout, the four messengers, hoping to save their lives, forced themselves to overcome their fear and crawled back in front of Lu Hong, kowtowing and pleading, "Spare us, Lord! Spare us, Lord!"
"What are you here for?"
"We... we were sent by Ancestor Feng Xia to spy on military information."
"Then deliver a message to your Feng family ancestor for me."
"You... you say..."
"Tell your Feng family ancestor that although his Feng Ling Army is truly remarkable, the Feng Family may need to train a new batch. Also, I look forward to seeing the Feng Ling Army again; I just wonder how many batches your Feng Family can train?"
This message quickly reached the ears of the Feng family's ancestor. When he heard it, his face was terrifyingly grim, even gloomier than that of the He family ancestor from before, almost at the point of eruption.
Seeing the embarrassed Feng family ancestor, the two Heavenly God ancestors from the He family and Huang family, who had been furious before, were now mostly placated. This Feng family was worse off than them, haha, how amusing, they were so eager to rush in before, practically rushing to their deaths!
Though they mocked inwardly, neither of the two Heavenly God ancestors showed any expression on their faces. Even a fool could see the state of the Feng family ancestor—saying anything might provoke a Heavenly God battle.
After more than ten minutes, a Heavenly God gauged that the Feng family ancestor's anger had slightly subsided before speaking: "Now even the Feng family is defeated; the army stationed inside Song Dynasty is undoubtedly extraordinary. What should we do now?"
"Perhaps we should all go in together, without concern for who goes first or last. Everyone wants to be the first to pluck the fruit, but if we aren't careful, none of us may end up with it; instead, we could end up covered in dust."
This Heavenly God's suggestion gained the approval of most present.
However, those initial twenty families occupying Song Dynasty were still reluctant to relent.
But the truth was, one or two families' military power might indeed be insufficient to take down the special hidden forces within Song Dynasty.
At this time, the Bai family's Heavenly God ancestor summoned his subordinate and asked: "How's the investigation? Any results?"
Based on the initial information relayed back, many families sent people to investigate the army described in the reports, with their Crimson Battle Armor and a bizarre Battle Array linked through blood energy.
Unfortunately, after such a lengthy investigation, none of the intelligence networks among these over fifty families, even the Bai family, known for their intelligence dealings, had gleaned any information about it. It was as though this strong army had suddenly appeared in All Heavens and Myriads of Worlds.
"Since we can't find anything, let's turn to Du Tian Pavilion. Let them uncover who is stirring up trouble behind Song Dynasty!"
The Bai family's Heavenly God ancestor roared at his inefficient subordinates, dismissing them.
The Bai family's Heavenly God ancestor then looked at the other Heavenly Gods present and said, "Gentlemen, although Du Tian Pavilion charges a high price, if they can truly uncover the mastermind, the cost is worth it."
They understood the Bai family's Heavenly God ancestor's words—if they sought Du Tian Pavilion's help, the costs would need to be shared among them.
But indeed, if they could directly pinpoint the mastermind, they could minimize unknown losses in Song Dynasty. Knowing the enemy is essential to defeating the enemy.
Soon, people from the Bai family contacted Du Tian Pavilion.
Du Tian Pavilion also made a simple prediction about the current events happening in Song Dynasty. This prediction assessed the value behind the events to properly price their services.
However, as Du Tian Pavilion set their prophetic Compass to predict, an unexpected event occurred.
As basic information on Song Dynasty was input into the Compass, the divine-level Compass started to vibrate ominously.
This made the head of Du Tian Pavilion feel puzzled. Just as he attempted to use his Divine Soul to sense what was happening with the Compass, the next moment, it shattered into countless pieces on the ground.