Chapter 48

It still wanted to attack another enemy, but Zeng Feixiong raised his blade and brought it down, chopping off half of its head, and only then did this heroic spirit turn into flying ash. Facing such a fierce enemy, the Heishuicheng troops also lost their fighting spirit and fled back quickly. After all, they were ordered to explore, not to fight to the death.

He Chunhua calculated that even if he could win, it would be a pyrrhic victory, and furthermore, the enemy leader still looked as vigorous as a dragon and as fierce as a tiger; it seemed he could take on twenty or thirty more people in single combat without any problem!

Sun Fuping seemed to see the worry in his heart: "Rest assured, as long as you use the national fortune, you can hold out for a long time."

At this time, Zeng Feixiong had already led the remaining team back into the formation. His left arm had been slashed, and the entire limb was nearly severed, yet he acted as if he didn't feel it, only caring to raise his blade to the sky and shout: "Unite our efforts and protect our Great Yuan!"

Everyone roared together: "Unite our efforts and protect our Great Yuan!"

The beast head on the staff suddenly shone brilliantly.

It was a pale green light tinged with a bit of gold, yet it was enough to make the surrounding vengeful spirits stop their pursuit and reach out to shield their eyes, as if the light were blindingly bright. Their mounts also shook their heads and tails uneasily, stamping their hooves on the ground.

This was the national fortune attached to He Chunhua's Yuan coins, catalyzed by the State Preceptor! It was the confidence and consensus condensed from the vital energy of all the living people in Qiansong County, fused and reinforced by the morale of Zeng Feixiong and the other county soldiers, instantly transforming into a majestic and upright righteous energy!

If those dozen or so opponents were not heroic spirits who had fought a hundred battles in their lifetimes, but ordinary vengeful spirits, they would have been instantly annihilated upon being touched by the light.

Zeng Feixiong turned his head and shouted at Boss Situ Han: "Why aren't you shouting?"

Boss Situ Han was startled: "W-we have to as well?"

"You have already been incorporated into the Heishuicheng defense force; you are one with us, no longer sand bandits or marauders!"

So their incorporation was for real? Since it was a time to live and die together, Boss Situ Han turned and gave an order, and his subordinates followed the main force in shouting the slogan.

With these dozens of people joining in, the quantitative change finally triggered a qualitative change.

The light of the monster on the staff faded, and it suddenly let out a roar toward the sky.

A cyan, glowing orb flew out from its mouth, and as it swayed in the wind, it grew into a cyan bird over five zhang tall, with a high crest, gorgeous tail feathers, and an elegant posture.

It circled above everyone's heads once before diving upward into the cloud layer.

This was the guardian divine beast for which Great Yuan was named.

Of course, the true Cyan Yuan was still guarding the capital, and what appeared here was merely a manifestation of the national fortune.

When it disappeared into the clouds, the dense gray clouds covering the sky immediately swirled into a vortex, within which lightning snakes danced wildly; one could only imagine how much cyan and purple light was hidden within the cloud mass.

At this time, many vengeful spirits were still wandering in mid-air, and seeing this, they scattered and fled like a school of fish pursued by a white shark.

After only a few breaths, a thick bolt of lightning struck down from the sky, precisely hitting the eye of the talisman formation.

The lightning snakes slithered along the formation Sun Fuping had drawn. If one looked down from the sky, the entire formation was glowing with a bright silver light.

This series of changes took a lot of effort to describe, but in reality, it only took a few dozen breaths.

Facing this display, the Great Wind Army soldiers who had turned into heroic spirits finally showed fear and retreated repeatedly.

They had seen countless strange abilities and arts in their lifetimes, but after death, they feared the might of heaven most of all.

After all, they were now ghosts.

The commander tilted his head, and immediately one rider charged forward.

As soon as the horse's hooves stepped onto the talisman formation, a flash of lightning occurred, and the knight, along with his horse, vanished into smoke.

The commander seemed not to believe it, and once again threw his eight-foot-long spear like a javelin.

With a "pop" of electricity, the spear pierced less than a foot into the formation before it, too, silently dissolved.

This was the heavenly lightning defense summoned by Sun Fuping with the help of the State-Protecting Token. The stronger the national fortune attached to the token, the greater the power of the formation.

Using the strength of a whole county to resist a mere dozen or so heroic spirits should be enough.

"Prefect He, I leave this place to you." Sun Fuping patted He Chunhua on the shoulder and turned to walk toward the pool.

"Wait!" He Chunhua saw he was about to slip away. "I will go with you!"

"You cannot go." Sun Fuping pointed to the staff standing in the formation. "The State-Protecting Token will lose its effect if it leaves its owner by more than a hundred zhang. I need every one of you to stay here and hold the line, in case the vengeful spirits pursue us into the pool."

Only then did everyone notice that this old fellow had just used his quick hands to include the entire pool within the heavenly lightning defense formation. As long as the formation did not disappear, the vengeful spirits could not return to the pool.

The State Preceptor wanted to go in and seize the treasure himself, but he wanted them to guard the gate here. He Chunhua's face darkened slightly, but he also knew that Sun Fuping had brought so many people here precisely to do this, but—

"I will look after your son; you and your son will be reunited soon, rest assured!" Sun Fuping was in a hurry, so he gave He Chunhua a hasty word of comfort before jumping into the pool.

"Thud," he also vanished, leaving only the candle thrown by the side of the pool, its flame still burning dimly.

Boss Situ Han said indignantly: "That old fellow is using us!"

The expression on He Chunhua's face shifted, and he suddenly summoned Zeng Feixiong to his side: "Take a few men and go help Chuan'er."

Although He Lingchuan had long been a lucky charm, he was alone in an unpredictable place, and with Nian and Sun both harboring ill intentions, as a father, he truly could not rest easy.

Zeng Feixiong responded, quickly picked five men, and leaped into the pool.

He Chunhua stared at the pool water, knowing he had been outmaneuvered again. Sun Fuping had intentionally left him and the Heishuicheng troops outside; this was an open conspiracy, as his hundred-odd men could not enter the blood pool while they were needed to defend against the Great Wind Army heroic spirits.

However, when he looked back, he was slightly startled: "Why is there one less Great Wind Army soul?"

Boss Situ Han said: "While you were talking to the State Preceptor, one of them slipped away."

He Chunhua thought to himself that this was bad, but he still had to muster his spirits to encourage everyone: "No matter how powerful the Great Wind Army was in life, they are now ghosts, intolerable to heaven and earth, and limited by supernatural arts! As long as we remain calm and steadfast, the heavenly lightning defense will be an impenetrable wall!"

The morale of an army comes from confidence; if he wanted the State-Protecting Token to remain effective, he had to work hard to boost the troops' morale.

Everyone had seen the power of the heavenly lightning with their own eyes, and their hearts were greatly steadied, so the light of the beast head grew even brighter.

But just at this moment, Boss Situ Han pointed to the horizon and exclaimed: "What is that?"

The night was pitch black, and the lightning and thunder in the clouds had already vanished, but the western sky was flashing with an unusual red light.

That light was getting closer and closer.

He Chunhua also saw it clearly, and his expression changed: "It's reinforcements. That heroic spirit from just now went to find reinforcements."

What was going on with these Great Wind Army souls? They didn't lose their sanity like other vengeful spirits; not only did they know how to figure out how to wound human bodies, but they also knew how to bring in reinforcements.

This was trouble. He Chunhua couldn't help but gasp; the new batch of Great Wind Army souls was coming on aggressively!

￥￥￥￥￥

He Lingchuan was also given a huge fright when he fell into the water.

He wanted to swim back, but his body was unable to move, and there was an inexplicable suction force dragging him down with all its might.

The light in the dark red water was dim, and even with his eyes open, he couldn't see very far.

(End of chapter)