Chapter 339: Tragic (4K)

"Done?"

Zhang Jian's expression was somewhat surprised; he hadn't expected Liu Xin and the Purple Origin Daoist to still have such value.

Zhang Jian casually took the purple-gold spirit sphere, hesitated slightly, then immediately began examining the ancient technique structure contained within it.

His vast primordial spirit consciousness shot out with his thought, instantly sinking into the purple-gold spirit sphere.

As he had expected, this purple-gold spirit sphere also contained three intact technique structures.

One was woven from countless dragon qi, resembling a magnificent golden imperial canopy.

Another was formed by countless golden runes coalescing into an extremely special sharp cone, containing within it a heavy, sharp force.

One could imagine that once unleashed, it could pierce through heaven and earth, shatter mountains and rivers, with immense power.

At the same time, Zhang Jian also captured part of the information from this technique.

"Mountain-Piercing Cone!"

This is a technique inheritance of immortal-level.

Once cultivated, it can destroy anything, specializing in breaking defensive-type spirit treasures or techniques, making it highly advantageous.

These are all good things.

The last one is a special technique model formed by the interweaving of yin and yang qi, resembling swimming yin-yang fish constantly rotating, capable of tearing through the void and the azure heavens.

Clearly, it is a powerful yin-yang type technique divine ability.

Zhang Jian gazed at it with utter longing.

Within the two purple-gold spirit spheres, most of the six immortal techniques are immortal-level inheritances; if deciphered, their value would be immense, greatly benefiting his strength enhancement.

"In this world, only my master is still the best!"

Zhang Jian couldn't help but sigh.

The Slay-Demon True Lord glanced at him and let out a light snort.

"Wicked disciple, when did you learn to flatter!"

Though she said so, a hint of a smile appeared at the corner of her mouth.

After thinking, Zhang Jian flashed his figure to appear before the hundred-zhang golden man, pouring the purple-gold spirit spheres into it, letting the two purple-gold spirit spheres fuse.

Zhang Jian clearly sensed that as the two purple-gold spirit spheres fused, ripples of purple-gold color appeared in the gray-white sea of consciousness of the Junwang Golden Man, and the majestic dragon qi within the golden man's body began to undulate, faintly trembling.

Next, he only needs to refine this purple-gold spirit sphere to regain control of the Junwang Golden Man.

However, this is only preliminary control; to perfectly master it, it's best to also assist with a high-level puppet secret method.

"Moreover, the core position of the golden man seems to be missing a 'power source'; if relying solely on the dragon qi within the Junwang Golden Man's body and my own mana, I fear I'll exhaust my mana after just a few moves..."

Zhang Jian thought to himself.

The six techniques contained within the Junwang Golden Man's body undoubtedly possess tremendous power, but the mana required for consumption is also enormous.

He needs to find a heavenly material and earthly treasure to replace the North Star Pearl.

In fact, he also has substitutes on his person.

For example, the Tai Xiao Blazing Fire Pearl.

The Tai Xiao Blazing Fire Pearl contains vast dragon qi like an ocean, and as the core within the Junwang Golden Man's body, it is even more suitable and can also unleash immense primordial spirit immortal techniques.

However, in Zhang Jian's view, this is somewhat wasteful.

Dragon qi is too precious; he plans to gradually absorb it, integrating it into the Four Heavenly Sons' destiny patterns, to perfect the Four Heavenly Sons' destiny patterns.

The Red Dragon Pearl can also achieve this.

But the greater function of the Red Dragon Pearl lies in suppressing fortune's mandate.

……

Zhang Jian did not simply wait for news from the Slay-Demon True Lord; after comforting the many civil and military officials in Haojing City, he prepared to make a trip to Yuanchi Pass.

In Yuanchi Pass, there are still hundreds of thousands of elite troops of the Great Qian on expedition; if he could bring them all back, this struggle for the dragon would already be half-won in advance; if these hundreds of thousands of elite troops fell into others' hands, that would be no ordinary trouble.

In the dynasty's struggle for the dragon, although the Primordial Spirit True Persons transcend life and death and possess national power, they cannot recklessly act against ordinary commoners.

Not only will the State and Ancestors' Divine Way interfere, but it will also affect their own cultivation; at most, they can only serve as commanders, directing the three armies in battle.

Under such restrictive conditions, the role of hundreds of thousands of elite troops is of utmost importance.

And if he could gain the recognition of these hundreds of thousands of troops, his own Four Heavenly Sons' destiny pattern would likewise have support, and his power would further manifest.

……

In Yuanchi Pass, the expeditionary army under Commander An Ruoming, after the ancestor of the Dongshen Teaching went missing, already had unstable morale.

Losing the ancestor of the Dongshen Teaching, this expeditionary army was as if its spine had been pulled out, morale plummeted, and coupled with the backlash of the Great Qian's fortune mandate intensifying, many Primordial Spirit True Persons' mana was exhausted; now they face the fierce counterattacks from all sides of North Chu.

If the previous expeditionary army was an unstoppable cone that tore through North Chu's north and south, throwing the North Chu situation into utter chaos, now it has become a 'lone army deep in enemy territory'!

Many ancestral elders from various sects who had besieged the Dongshen Teaching's ancestor, after the battle at Guangyuan City ended, departed; they either feared interference from the State and Ancestors' Divine Way, or were unwilling to taint themselves with meaningless evil karma and did not continue to participate in the subsequent great war, but a portion of demonic path Primordial Spirits nevertheless took advantage to return to the North Chu side, seizing the opportunity to stir up trouble.

Among the two national guardians of North Chu, the other, the Three Appearances Old Ancestor, has also reappeared.

The appearance of the Three Appearances Old Ancestor has given great pressure to the Primordial Spirit True Persons of the Great Qian.

North Chu originally enshrined two national guardian true persons: one was the Blood Sea Holy Lord of the Blood Shadow Demon Sect, and the other was the Three Appearances Old Ancestor of the Evil Demon Sect.

The Blood Sea Demon Lord was previously severely wounded by the Gan Hai True Lord, but the Three Appearances Old Ancestor is far more cunning; this old demon hid before the war, and now seeing various sect true lords depart, he has reappeared.

Within the headquarters of the Divine Strategy Army

At this moment, seated in the main seat, An Ruoming had a stern expression; he swept his gaze over the people and spoke in a deep voice.

"All true persons, now is no time to wait for me; we must find a way to return to the Great Qian, otherwise, once supplies run out, our army fears collapsing without being attacked!"

Seated below, the Huanghe True Lord had a gloomy face; black qi emanated from the depths of his brows, he coughed slightly, then spoke in a deep voice.

"Transporting grain can still be arranged, but the current problem is how to deal with the Three Appearances Old Demon; if we don't deal with him, none of us can hope to leave this place alive!"

An Ruoming, in the main seat, furrowed his brows.

A demonic path old ancestor hiding in the dark is indeed enough to make one's heart tremble with fear; if not so, with the power of the many Primordial Spirit True Persons, they could display immense techniques, block rivers, split the land, and allow the Divine Strategy Army to retreat calmly.

It's a pity that Senior Feng and Senior Taiyin have left; otherwise, that old demon could not have run amok.

An Ruiming slammed his palm hard on the nearby camphor table.

His voice carried a deep sense of regret.

The remaining several Yuanshen True Persons in the arena also had their eyes flicker; originally there had been nearly ten or so Yuanshen True Persons in the arena, but now only three lonely ones remained.

They were Huanghe True Person, Fenglei True Person, and Xingxiu Palace's Yinghuo True Person.

As for the other Yuanshen True Persons, some left on their own following the disappearance of the Dongshen Sect Ancestor, like Taiyin Xianzi and Fengshanhai!

These two completely disappeared after the battle in Guangyuan City.

Some Yuanshen True Persons saw them and left on their own after the Dongshen Sect Ancestor went missing.

These two powerful Yuanshen True Persons, after the Dongshen Sect Ancestor went missing, had no one to suppress them and apparently were unwilling to risk themselves for the Great Qian anymore.

As for the other Xingxiu Palace True Person, Xingji True Person, he was slain by a demonic path Yuanshen True Person of the Blood Shadow Magic Sect.

As for Yinshi True Person Zhaomu, he fought all the way with the Northern Chu Grand Tutor Tuoba Zhenwu and disappeared together into the depths of the void; to this day he has not returned, and it is feared that misfortune outweighs fortune.

Several other Yuanshen True Persons who fought as guests either left wounded or were directly slain.

This battle was extremely tragic.

Only the three Yuanshen True Persons remaining in the arena could maintain their full combat strength.

But basically, each of them was injured!

Huanghe True Person, Yinghuo True Person, and the Great Qian's fate are deeply intertwined; at this moment, there is also a backlash of fate between heaven and earth, and his strength is less than one-tenth of what it once was.

Fenglei True Person had decent luck and preserved most of his combat strength, but this wandering cultivator True Person now looks troubled; he also cannot defeat the Three Appearances Old Ancestor, let alone the fact that the Three Appearances Old Ancestor has returned this time, bringing two heterodox Yuanshen with him.

If it were not for saving face, Fenglei True Person would also very much like to take his leave.

An Ruiming took in everyone's expressions, his heart also somewhat anxious; without these experts protecting them, the remaining four hundred thousand elite of the Shenji Army would likely be buried in this foreign land.

An Ruiming does not fear death, but dying like this is too stifling.

Just when everyone was at a loss, an armored soldier hurriedly came to report.

"Reporting to the Commander, a cultivator has arrived at the gate, claiming to be Zhang Daoxue, the Grand Scholar of Jingdu City, saying he has come to help the general relieve his worries!"

"Zhang Daoxue? How did he come?"

Upon hearing this, An Ruiming's expression stirred; he felt a hint of surprise in his eyes.

Naturally, he recognizes Zhang Jian, but his impression remains fixed on the 'zhuangyuan,' 'scholar-official,' and the image of a close minister of the emperor.

Huanghe True Person, however, raised his head, a hint of joy flashing in his eyes, and he exclaimed happily.

"The savior has come!"

Hearing this, An Ruiming could not help but look over, unable to refrain from asking: "Senior Huanghe, what do you mean by that? This Zhang Daoxue is merely a frail scholar, how can he be considered a savior?"

Huanghe True Person shook his head and smiled: "General An, you greatly underestimate Zhang Daoxue; Zhang Daoxue is a Yuanshen True Person, and moreover, he is from the Tongshan Dao lineage, a Yuanshen True Person who has actively come here, surely he has a method to slay the enemy!"

"That's wonderful!"

An Ruiming's eyes lit up, and he immediately said: "Quickly invite Zhang Daoxue in... no, I, the Commander, will personally go to welcome him!"

He immediately rose and went straight to the front of the command tent to welcome him; Huanghe True Person closely followed, rising as well, and Fenglei True Person and Yinghuo True Person also rose and followed together.

Fenglei True Person had personally witnessed Zhang Jian's methods, so he was also in a much better mood; only Yinghuo True Person remained half-believing, half-doubting, but since Huanghe Daoist spoke with certainty, he naturally also hoped this Zhang Daoxue could truly save everyone from their predicament.

At the gate of the command tent, Zhang Jian was gazing toward the military camp, but saw black qi shrouding the camp's sky, fierce blood qi surging like a boiling flood; once erupted, it could form a mountain-moving, sea-overturning force; under such might, even if Yuanshen immortal arts descended, they would be scattered by more than half.

Meanwhile, on the other side, Guangyuan City similarly had dao qi and blood rushing to the heavens, a golden dragon raising its head, the nation's fortune dragon soul manifesting as a huge golden dragon soaring into the sky, though this golden dragon's scales were damaged, barely clinging to life, its dragon qi circulation only slightly better than that of Great Qian.

Shortly afterward, Zhang Jian looked into the command tent's interior and from afar heard footsteps approaching.

Then Zhang Jian saw the leader, striding forward with dragon-like steps and tiger-like gait—An Ruiming—his body radiating dazzling starlight, his blood and qi vast and grand; in Zhang Jian's eyes, it seemed a pillar of blood and qi light shot straight into the heavens, resonating with a great star deep in the firmament, wondrous power entwining around.

Half a month not seeing each other, An Ruiming's stellar martial arts had actually made further progress.

Behind An Ruiming stood three cultivators of different temperaments; Zhang Jian glanced over and instantly recognized them as old acquaintances.

From afar, he heard An Ruiming's clear voice.

"I heard Zhang Fu Ling came from afar; the Commander is not very pleased, but with Scholar Zhang coming to assist, our expeditionary army's momentum has greatly increased!"

Seeing the joyful expression of the commander of the expeditionary army, Zhang Jian's expression stirred slightly.

Zhang Jian smiled faintly and said: "General An, you overpraise me!"

"Zhang Xueshi!"

"Zhang Dao You!"

At this moment, Huanghe True Person, Yinghuo True Person, and Fenglei True Person also slightly clasped their fists, their spirits lifted.

An Ruiming said with a smile: "Zhang Xueshi, the Commander has already prepared some light wine in the main camp; please come inside, Scholar!"

Zhang Jian nodded, going along willingly.

The party stepped into the tent, Zhang Jian and An Ruiming walking side by side.

An Ruiming obviously did not yet know that he was that mysterious 'Qinglian Tianzun'.

But it doesn't matter; he will soon know this.

Inside the tent, everyone took their seats as host and guest; Zhang Jian glanced at the three Yuanshen True Persons within, his eyes showing a hint of surprise.

More than ten Yuanshen True Persons of Great Qian had set out together on campaign, yet now only these three remained before him?

This battle is truly too tragic.

These are Yuanshen True Persons.

Beings who have attained the Dao and longevity.

Before coming, he had also scouted inside Guangyuan City; the Yuanshen True Persons of Northern Chu also suffered considerable losses; he had thought the Great Qian expeditionary army would also have losses, but he did not expect the attrition to be so severe.

Zhang Jian immediately inquired in detail about the battle situation again.

"So, does that mean the Northern Chu side now only has the Three Appearances Old Ancestor of the Nie Mo Sect, and two or three heterodox Yuanshen True Persons?"

Yinghuo True Person nodded.

"Not bad, actually our Divine Strategy Army side was already on the verge of breaking Guangyuan City; if not for the Ancestral Teacher's defeat, we would have already..."

Zhenren Yinghuo's face was full of regret.

But that was also unavoidable; under those circumstances, not incurring the wrath of the various sect True Lords was already a stroke of heavenly luck—how could we dare to ask for anything else?

The three of them were actually quite fortunate, having timely fled back to the army, relying on the army's blood qi protection to escape a calamity.

This is much better than the other Yuanshen Zhenren who lost their lives.

Zhang Jian's heart stirred faintly; this matched closely with what he had scouted, though the depths of Bei Chu were certainly not limited to just one Yuanshen Great Zhenren.

After thinking, Zhang Jian looked toward An Ruoming and said.

"General An, fellow Daoists, the predicament of the expeditionary army is already known to this official; you only need to retreat, and this official will remain behind to block the Three Phases Old Ancestor, ensuring the expeditionary army can withdraw smoothly!"

At the main seat, An Ruoming heard this and his expression flickered with slight surprise.

"... This... Scholar Zhang, what technique do you have that can block the hundreds of thousands of troops within Guangyuan City pursuing in relentless succession?"

"I have a secret art, named the Five Dragons Great Art, which controls the Five Elements; by employing it, I can cleave a fissure hundreds of meters wide and stretching hundreds of li, temporarily halting the advance of those hundreds of thousands of Bei Chu soldiers... The only issue is that Three Phases Old Ancestor; you need not worry, for dealing with this old demon, this official naturally has means!"

Zhang Jian's expression remained calm.

Yet his pupils flashed with a fierce gleam.

To contend for the dragon, it is necessary to appropriately reveal part of one's strength; this can also deter those fickle, half-hearted fence-sitters under his command.

In this heaven and earth, only the strong possess centripetal force.