There were several green tents in the densely packed Great Mang army outside Meteor City.
Within one of the tents was a sand table that modeled all of the military trends within several dozen li around Meteor City.
Right now, the six or seven Great Mang high ranking officers around this sand table were all in great despair. Their eyes were all focused on the body of a middle-aged man dressed in silvery white colored armor.
For some reason, this middle-aged man with a scar above his brows revealed an expression of slight mockery, his hand pressing against the sand table.
The armor he wore flickered with faint radiance, as if there were countless daffodils blooming on the silvery white metal surface.
The sand table collapsed, turning into a pool of scattered sand.
“Let’s go.”
The radiance on this middle-aged man’s silvery white armor faded. He began to walk out of the tent.
“Let’s just carry out an all-out assault.”
After he walked out from the camp, this middle-aged man raised his head to give the slightly dazzling sunlight a look. He gave the great city in front of him that was flickering with sunlight a look, saying this quietly.
“Great General!”
The expressions of all of the Great Mang high ranking officers behind him changed. They were in complete disbelief as they looked at this calm middle-aged man who only seemed to carry a bit of an iron-blooded aura because of the scar above his brows.
“What? Do all of you want to retreat too?”
The expression of mockery on the face of one of Great Mang Seven Armies’ Chief Commanders, Qi Qiyun, disappeared. The scar above his brows also moved slightly with his brows, his expression becoming cold.
He turned around to look at the high ranking Great Mang officers behind him, saying coldly, “With East Scenery and Harmony Splendor’s defeat, we have already lost this great battle. However, all of you should not forget that we still have a day and night of time. Yunqin can at most bring a few cultivators through these Divine Wooden Flying Cranes. Their reinforcements have no chance of arriving in just a day and night’s time.”
After a slight pause, this Great Mang commander’s voice became even colder. “You all shouldn’t forget that we are fighting in Yunqin and not in Great Mang King City. If this was a battle in Great Mang King City, then our defeat means all of Great Mang would no longer exist. However, losing here doesn’t mean that we would stop fighting Yunqin. We still need to consider the following matters, we must consider if we can hold Thousand Sunset Mountain, if we can stop Yunqin army’s retaliation. These soldiers have all taken too much medication, even if we retreat, once the medicine’s effects wear off, they won’t be able to hold on any longer themselves, they don’t have much fighting strength to begin with. That is why rather than having them be captured or killed by Yunqin’s pursuing army, they might as well just fight to the death here. Even if there is no chance of taking down Meteor City, destroying some of Meteor City’s storerooms and goods can bring our Great Mang some benefits.”
“Yes, Great General!” A pale faced Great Mang high ranking officer whose forehead was covered in fine sweat was the first to reply through clenched teeth. When he saw how his surrounding colleagues were still hesitating, this Great Mang officer took a deep breath, and then said fiercely, “Our Great Mang is even on the verge of being destroyed! What are you all still hesitating over?!”
The other high ranking officers’ bodies shook, their bodies also pouring out cold sweat.
The words of this high ranking Great Mang officer were enough to completely wake all of them up.
This battle was related to too much, the loss too great, already enough to damage Great Mang’s foundation. This was already not a single military defeat, but rather one that would drag Great Mang into the abyss.
Great Mang was indeed already experiencing a country eradication danger!
These high ranking military officers whose entire bodies were dripping with cold sweat no longer hesitated, all of them starting to run out with pale faces, loudly issuing military orders to the order passing officers.
“Even though Qi Qiyun’s cultivation level is the lowest among the Great Mang Seven Army Commanders, if Wenren Cangyue didn’t head to Great Mang, he might be the one who understands how to judge the hour and size up the situation best among all of Great Mang’s high ranking officers, the one who is best at war.”
On Meteor City’s southern gate city walls, Gu Yunjing’s white hair fluttered about, turning around to say this to the stern high ranking officer who always wore a dark red metal mask.
This dark red masked stern officer said, “My army is already too weary… With my army’s current situation, I fear that they already cannot stop Great Mang’s army from entering the city… Should we give up the city walls and instead fight an alley battle?”
“The number of Great Mang Sacred Experts that appeared here is so few, which means that the number of Sacred Experts who have gone to East Scenery and Harmony Splendor is much higher. Even Wenren Cangyue went to Harmony Splendor… East Scenery and Harmony Splendor’s ability to seize victories is a miracle in itself.” Gu Yunjing shook his head. He laughed, and then gave that streak of yellow light spiraling about Meteor City’s skies a look. “Now that even Lin Xi hurried over, if he isn’t in a hurry to give me some suggestions even now, then that means we also have a chance to experience some miracles here.”
…
Lin Xi was like most of the Yunqin soldiers on Meteor City’s walls, weary to the point where if he just closed his eyes, he might immediately fall asleep.
However, the current situation was one where he still couldn’t sleep.
He also believed that after learning of East Scenery and Harmony Splendor’s news of defeat, the Great Mang main army attacking Meteor City would start to withdraw. However, this Great Mang army instead moved out their entire army, not hesitating to throw their lives away at Meteor City.
Right now, he didn’t know if there would be any miracles either.
He was only waiting, waiting for one person to appear.
Before he rushed to East Scenery City, he already received news, realizing that Zhantai Qiantang was also going to hurry to South Tomb Province’s front lines.
Zhantai Qiantang was rushing towards South Tomb Province’s front lines, but he didn’t appear in East Scenery or Harmony Splendor… Unless he experienced the worst luck, just happening to encounter some formidable Great Mang Sacred Experts, then he should already be in Meteor City at this time.
Since Zhantai Qiantang believed that he could be of some use in this great battle, if he didn’t appear previously, and still didn’t appear during this type of time when the great battle was already nearing its end, then there would be no meaning in him rushing over.
That was why subconsciously, Lin Xi believed that Zhantai Qiantang would show himself quickly.
The Divine Wooden Flying Crane flew extremely high in the air.
The skies already cleared up, the visibility extremely high.
That was why Lin Xi immediately saw a small boat no one inside or outside the city saw.
This small boat set off from a small island in Meteor Lake, shooting across the water surface with astonishing speed, dragging out long white waves as it sped towards Meteor City.
The corners of Lin Xi’s lips revealed a bit of a weary smile.
…
On this type of battlefield, a small boat seemed insignificant. Even as it approached shore, it didn’t draw much attention.
However, when this small boat approached shore, it wasn’t only the Yunqin soldiers on the city walls, even most Great Mang soldiers noticed this small boat’s existence.
It was because there was suddenly a dozen or so meters tall flame pillar that appeared in this world. Standing on the very top of the flame pillar was a single person.
“What a domineering appearance, how dazzling.”
Lin Xi smiled, giving it this type of commentary.
In front of the bitterly fighting battlefield, the seemingly negligible Zhantai Qiantang released his sword.
His sword was connected to a chain.
The sword was released, nailing itself deeply into the ground in front of him. Meanwhile, his chain instead shot up perfectly straight, erupting with crimson flames, bringing his body high up into the sky.
It was as if he was stepping on a burning tilt.
This type of appearance was naturally extremely special, extremely eye-catching.
Only, the higher he reached, the more casualties he witnessed, the more down-hearted and complicated his expression became.
It was because even though Wenren Cangyue and Purgatory Mountain were his enemies, in the end, he was still from Great Mang. His teacher who established this empire placed this entire empire into his hands.
“I am Zhantai Qiantang… All of you should know who I am.”
His body surged with soul force, doing everything he could to make his voice a bit louder, a bit clearer, wishing to send it a bit further.
“Wenren Cangyue’s conspiracy has corrupted politics and forced me out of Great Mang… You all have obeyed his orders, yet in the end, what have you all obtained? What has Great Mang obtained?”
“Apart from war and death, what else? After Wenren Cangyue entered Great Mang, everything has begun to change.”
“Think back to when the late emperor established Great Mang, think about the current Great Mang, think about your families in Great Mang… What all of you need to be doing the most is precisely to follow me, to kill Wenren Cangyue, and not listen to his orders, throwing away your lives in this place. Only by killing Wenren Cangyue and killing those people who have changed Great Mang to this type of state, will Great Mang return to its original state.”
“The current puppet who is occupying the throne also only listens to Wenren Cangyue. This won’t bring all of you peace and stability, they won’t bring all of your families the same type of lives as before. They will only cause Great Mang to be destroyed, making it disappear from this world. I am the one who will restore Great Mang to what it was like before, a place where the people live in peace and prosperity.”
…
Zhantai Qiantang’s voice was louder than any other time in his entire life, clearer than ever before.
Even Gu Yunjing at the top of the city heard every word clearly.
“Isn’t that Zhantai Qiantang?”
“Worthy of being the one who Great Mang’s old emperor was willing to fight against Purgatory Mountain over to bring onto the throne… he indeed has a great level of achievement.” He released a light sigh of praise. “He clearly understands that the one behind Wenren Cangyue is Purgatory Mountain, yet he didn’t say a single word about Purgatory Mountain, only focusing the speartip at Wenren Cangyue. This way, there won’t be a backlash from the dignity Purgatory Mountain has accumulated… appearing at this type of time is indeed a miracle.”
“The medicines all of you have taken are refined from the Devil Eye Flower of Thousand Devil Nest.” Zhantai Qiantang’s voice was still rumbling like thunder. “Thousand Devil Nest’s Devil Eye Flower covers the mountains and plains, but ever since the ancient times, Thousand Devil Nest has always strictly controlled it, rarely using it. The main reason is because it has addictive properties, it will harm the body. This is especially the case when too much is taken at once, the damage will be extremely great. Wenren Cangyue gave all of you this medicine because he doesn’t empathize with your lives at all. Once the medicine’s effects wear off, your bodies will weaken to an unimaginable level.”
“Listen to my orders, do not attack the city any longer! I will try to let all of you return to Great Mang, return home.”
Zhantai Qiantang’s voice, at a normal time, wouldn’t be of any use to this Great Mang army. After all, most Great Mang people were even skeptical towards the late emperor’s decision to place his student Zhantai Qiantang on the throne. For most of these ordinary soldiers and commoners, Great Mang’s inner conflict was still something too distant.
However, at this time, for these Great Mang soldiers who felt despair, the voice of someone with his status instead became their sole hope.
When they thought about Great Mang’s previous rule, about how the war continuously escalated, the families who experienced more and more difficult livelihoods, when they thought of these things… most of these Great Mang soldiers, despite being stimulated by medicine to the point where they were already half mad, still stopped their steps.
“Zhantai Qiantang!”
An explosive roar sounded from Great Mang’s army, even oppressing Zhantai Qiantang’s voice.
This voice was released by Qi Qiyun.
This Great Mang commander understood that if he couldn’t stop Zhantai Qiantang here, this army he commanded would immediately become chaotic, experience mutiny.
As such, he surged with soul force, fiercely berating, “Zhantai Qiantang, you traitor! Not only did you plot against the imperial throne, today, you even wish to assist the enemy country, disturb my Great Mang’s military spirit!”
When facing Qi Qiyun’s berating, Zhantai Qiantang didn’t argue with him at all, instead directly saying, “Qi Qiyun, you traitor! Great Mang’s people, kill him!”