Then, the black horse stood there, looking completely bewildered.
"What's going on?" Hao Jiu asked, puzzled.
"Could it be that it was frightened when it passed through the passage?" Xiang Yu patted Wuzhui horse to comfort it.
After a while, the black horse finally looked more normal, and then, led by Xiang Yu, it left the secret room.
"Did Xiang Yu forget something?" An Qisheng blinked. Was this some kind of magical horse resurrection? When did the black horse run inside?
"Lord An, I must return to the palace now, I will be back soon." After saying this, Xiang Yu mounted his black horse and headed straight for the palace.
Xiang Yu didn't give the order to charge at all; the black horse galloped down the mountain like lightning.
However, before they even reached the palace, a warhorse came galloping from the opposite direction. It was none other than the Black Steed from the first split plane!
hoo~~~
The two horses glanced at each other from a distance, then accelerated and charged toward one another.
However, the expected collision did not occur. Instead, when the two horses were about a body length apart, the Black Steed from the split dimension transformed into specks of starlight and merged into the body of the real Black Steed.
Hao Jiu suddenly realized that the main body and the clone needed to be close to each other to merge. It seemed that both of them knew where the other was and had a strong desire to merge.
"So this is how I, the King, also merged. It was just that it was too close and too fast at the time, and I didn't notice," Xiang Yu murmured.
hoo~~~
With a neigh, the black horse's entire demeanor changed abruptly, and it began to dance wildly...
Just then, several guards also arrived in front of Xiang Yu, following the black horse.
"King Xiang!" All the guards bowed in unison.
"Yes, you may inform the Empress Dowager and the Crown Prince that I have returned to retrieve my horse and will be leaving soon." Xiang Yu knew that to the people of the First Rank, he had actually only been gone for less than a day, so whether he saw them or not was irrelevant.
"Here you go."
"Xiang Yu, don't rush off. Let's feed the Milky Way water and the immortal herbs to your black horse right here," Hao Jiu suggested.
Xiang Yu understood Hao Jiu's intention after a moment's thought, and said, "Good."
Right under the noses of his guards, Xiang Yu conjured a bunch of magical herbs and a handful of water and fed them to his black horse, Wuzhui, leaving the guards speechless with astonishment.
Everyone says that Xiang Yu became a god, and now it seems that it is indeed true!
However, what happened next left the guards speechless with astonishment, so much so that they forgot to breathe!
As soon as Xiang Yu rode his black horse for two steps, four white clouds gradually appeared around the horse's four hooves.
Then, the black horse gradually left the ground and took flight.
If Xiang Yu hadn't been constantly stroking the mane of the black horse to soothe it, the horse would probably have been so frightened during its first flight that it would have fallen to the ground.
Of course, Wuzhui was also a very intelligent and swift horse, and under Xiang Yu's guidance, it quickly mastered the skill of running in the sky.
"Giddy up! Hahaha..." This was Xiang Yu's first time flying, and the feeling was simply too dreamlike!
The black horse circled once in the sky, then flew straight towards Fangxian Temple.
The guards then realized what was happening and began to pant heavily.
Are we dreaming?
"King Xiang has become an immortal! We must quickly report this to the Crown Prince and the Empress Dowager!"
...
The guards of Fangxian Temple were also in a state of chaos. Almost all of them who saw this scene had their mouths agape in shock, their heads turning in sync with the black horse in the air.
"Look up at the sky! Xiang Yu is flying on horseback!" a guard shouted, pointing to the sky.
The guard opposite him scoffed, "Stop lying. I've heard of people exaggerating their abilities, but I've never heard of someone exaggerating their abilities."
"Why would I lie to you! Quickly bow, King Xiang is back! Welcome King Xiang!"
hoo~~~
The black horse gradually slowed down in the sky, its altitude naturally decreasing, and it landed accurately in the courtyard of Fangxian Temple.
An Qisheng looked at Xiang Yu and his black horse with great enthusiasm, "Welcome, Great God! Welcome, King Xiang! Congratulations, King Xiang, on acquiring the heavenly horse!"
"Hahaha... Immortal Master An, I have important matters to attend to, so I will take my leave now!" After saying this, Xiang Yu spurred his horse's flanks, and the black horse leaped into the air once again.
Then, a flash of white light appeared, and the man and horse soaring in the air vanished instantly!
Chapter 137 Continuous Time Travel
The Kingdom of Huainan had a capital city of six cities.
The once quiet night was suddenly filled with lightning and thunder.
Snap! Rumble...
"Hahaha, this time I won't have to fall off the sky again!" Hao Jiu laughed triumphantly.
Despite it being late at night, Hao Jiu could tell at a glance that it was still above the hidden military pavilion in the Yingbu Palace.
"God of Wine, should I retrieve my sword?" Xiang Yu asked.
"Uh, of course we have to get it back!" Hao Jiu always felt that the sword was unusual, but according to the rules, a true heaven-defying treasure cannot be copied at all, and a slightly inferior spiritual treasure will merge with the original body just like a living being. Only mortal objects like the Black Gold Armor can be copied into many independent individuals.
So when Xiang Yu discovered he had two swords with him during his first time travel, Hao Jiu was actually a little disappointed. But even if he was disappointed, they were still precious swords that could cut through iron like mud and were sturdy and durable.
This has already been proven by Xiang Yu in the first split plane; even after slaughtering a mountain of corpses, his sword remained as sharp as new.
"Wuzhui is waiting for me in the sky," Xiang Yu instructed, and without waiting for whether Wuzhui could understand, he jumped down.
"Holy crap..."
Bang!
Splash...
Xiang Yu kicked a large hole in the roof as he fell from the air, landing steadily inside the hall. Without saying a word, he went straight for the box, drew his sword, and began to slash.
However, just as Xiang Yu picked up the sword from the box, the door to the main hall opened, and two guards immediately rushed in.
"Where... Ah! Don't kill me, brave warrior, spare my life..."
With lightning speed, Xiang Yu leaped between the two men, knocking one unconscious with the back of his sword, and then placed the other sword against the neck of the second guard.
"I ask you a question, or you will die. What year and what month is it tonight?"
"I? Ah, brave warrior, tonight is the tenth month of the eighth year of the Han dynasty." The guard thought to himself, anyone who dares to call himself "I" must be the king of a country. But who exactly is this person? Or is this ruthless thief just playing tricks?
Hao Jiu did some quick calculations and found that the time flow rate in the fourth plane was about nine times that of the main plane. With the sixth plane ahead of him, he no longer felt anything about anything within ten times, and even felt a little disgusted by it.
"What major events have occurred recently?" Xiang Yu asked again.
"I heard that Han Wangxin's former troops have rebelled again in Dongyuan, Zhao territory. His Majesty the Emperor personally led the expedition and defeated the rebels. He should be returning home by now," the guard said truthfully.
"Another rebellion?" Xiang Yu frowned.
Hao Jiu couldn't help but complain, "Liu Ji got what he deserved. There wasn't a single peaceful year during his reign; he always had to cause trouble."
"God of Wine, what else do you need to ask?" Xiang Yu glanced at the door.
"That's enough. Knowing this much information is sufficient to complete the mission." Hao Jiu remembered a major event that happened on Liu Ji's way back to the capital, which was perfect for an ambush, but the timing was a bit tight.
In fact, Hao Jiu always made Xiang Yu ask such detailed questions because he wanted to confirm Liu Ji's approximate whereabouts.
Area radar detection is too expensive, while linear radar is not well-suited for long-range detection and is greatly affected by terrain.
Without saying a word, Xiang Yu knocked the guard unconscious with his sword, then leaped up from the hole, touched the roof with his toes, bounced up again, and landed steadily on his black horse.
Only then did the palace guards rush into the main hall.
The black horse galloped through the sky, traveling in a straight line unaffected by the terrain, and soon arrived at Zhongshan.
After Xiang Yu finished carving out the cave, Hao Jiu opened the spatial passage and didn't return to the main plane. Instead, he traveled directly to the third plane. Anyway, the spacetime passage had been verified many times, so there shouldn't be any problems.
Snap! Rumble...
Bang!
Splash...
Again, six counties, again the royal palace's hidden military pavilion.
Xiang Yu swiftly retrieved his sword, inquired about the year, and then proceeded to Zhongshan once more.
This time travel occurred in early November of the sixth year of the Han Dynasty, which means the time flow was approximately three times that of the main plane.
The Qin Dynasty used October as the beginning of the year. Simply put, every October marked the start of a new year. October was the first month, followed by November, December, January, February, March, and so on, until September or the intercalary September.
However, November of the sixth year of the Han Dynasty was not the sixth year that Liu Bang proclaimed himself emperor and established the Han Dynasty, but rather the sixth year that Liu Bang was enfeoffed as the King of Han by Xiang Yu.
After Liu Bang of the Han Dynasty ascended the throne, he shamelessly erased the Western Chu Dynasty from history in order to cover up his true nature of rebelling against Xiang Yu. The records of the era also continued from the Qin Dynasty.
Therefore, the year Liu Bang ascended the throne became the fifth year of the Han Dynasty, and the second year after he became emperor became the sixth year of the Han Dynasty, which is the current era of the third plane.
Historical records show that nothing major happened in the first month of that year except for the large-scale construction projects.
However, starting from November of the sixth year of the Han Dynasty, which was the second month of the sixth year, several major events occurred in succession.
First, someone accused King Han Xin of Chu of plotting a rebellion!
Even after Han Xin was stripped of his military power, Liu Ji still distrusted him, or rather, feared him.
Because Han Xin is young, people are loyal to him now, but what will happen after he dies?
Moreover, Zhongli Mei, a former general under Xiang Yu, also defected to Han Xin, which led to an increasing number of supporters for Han Xin in the State of Chu.
Han Xin had the potential to truly control the State of Chu, which Liu Ji could not tolerate.
Objectively speaking, although Liu Ji had a lot of roguish habits and many flaws, he did make some efforts to consolidate his power after he ascended the throne. His strategies were also something he and Empress Lü had discussed in bed long ago.
That is to create pretexts, defeat them one by one, unite the majority, and take down the strongest first, which is a repeat of the Xiang Yu strategy, using the same old tricks.
Liu Ji was not confident in directly sending troops to attack Han Xin, so he used Zhang Liang's plan to immediately strip Han Xin of his military power after Xiang Yu's death and promised to make him the King of Chu.
Han Xin was unmoved by the opportunity to divide the world into three kingdoms. His loyalty to Liu Ji was as clear as day. Moreover, in Han Xin's eyes, the King of Chu was a little better than the King of Qi. The world had been unified, and it was time to enjoy it. Whether he had military power or not was irrelevant.
Then, Han Xin gave up his military power in Qi and became the King of Chu, a king without any real military power.