Chapter 417: Troops at the City Gates, Breaking the Barrier

Having silently finished recalling everything, Ming, the great general of the An Kingdom, chewed inwardly on the atmosphere, which was gradually becoming heavy with the solemnity of an impending storm, his gaze appearing deep and grave.

He had never paid any attention to that vanguard unit of the Blood Lotus Sect.

If they died, they died; if they were wiped out, they were wiped out; it was all the same. In fact, one could say that the entire army responsible for guarding the An Capital felt nothing but repulsion toward those crazy fellows who harbored such presumptuous ambitions.

As long as they could drag the opponent down as much as possible and deplete their strength...

"It seems there is nothing."

Accompanying this murmur, light visited this place.

Like the rising morning sun driving away the night, radiance appeared from the east of the horizon, spreading rapidly like a tide, crashing onto the wilderness of corpses and diseased bones.

Silent and soundless, it was blocked off.

To the east was the morning sun and dawn, to the west was the An Moon and sinking night, and in the middle was the wilderness of diseased bones and death.

The two sides of the great war looked at each other across this "river," but the An Kingdom side could only see the blinding dawn and could not yet see what was hidden within it.

But everyone knew that the enemy had already arrived!

They had arrived very quickly! The sharp-witted had already realized that the other side had used the An Moon's Shu Hua to reach the outskirts of the capital! "Enemy attack! Enemy attack!"

The shouts of the elites resounded through the sky; squads of soldiers wearing night-colored profound armor began to move, various war machines were pushed out, and streams of magic power erupted like wolf-smoke.

There was simply no time to delay or ponder; they quickly set up their formation, ready for battle.

However, these generals and soldiers were even further away from their great general, forming a formation with one person in the center, separated by a thousand zhang, with two wings extended.

The total number of these garrison troops was actually only a little over one hundred thousand, but not a single one had a cultivation base below the middle stage of Nascent Soul; generals of various levels at the Deity Transformation stage were even more ubiquitous. Through the pair of calm red eyes beneath their faceplates, one could see that they were also suffering from the strange disease, borrowing the power of the fluorite disease without losing their sanity.

The night grew thicker, but the An Moon remained.

"Uh, I have to say, is the other side... a bit weak?"

Jiang Ying looked on from afar, feeling somewhat unaccustomed, her emotions becoming inexplicable, and she muttered this quietly to the puppet Du En beside her.

As she said, although the An Kingdom's garrison troops at the An Capital looked quite strong and were the elite of the elite in this kingdom, even with the controllable fluorite disease, they had only reached this level. To be honest, it was somewhat unexpected and appeared quite weak.

Simply put, if not for the fluorite disease, the overall strength of the other side would drop by a large margin; the main body would then be at the Golden Core stage, the officers and generals would be at the Nascent Soul stage, and there would be almost no one at the Deity Transformation stage.

This was in stark contrast to the situation in the Holy Kingdom before the heaven and earth disease, where there were over a dozen Holy God Apostles, all of whom were strong geniuses at the Deity Transformation stage.

—Even now, there were only one or two at the peak of Deity Transformation on the other side, and not a single one at the level of a strong genius, so the overall feeling to Jiang Ying was inevitably unexpectedly weak.

Although she did not have much experience here and logically could not distinguish, looking around at the moment, those war puppets—each one a fifth-grade top-tier masterpiece, the best of the best, meticulously piled with materials—were truly astonishing. They were completely built in an attempt to match the diseased apostles and recreate scenes like the destruction of the Holy God Garden. Compared to the other side, a clear gap in strength was immediately revealed!

To put it bluntly, this garrison could only be said to barely surpass that vanguard unit of the Blood Lotus Sect! And that was only by winning through sheer numbers! The puppet Du En did not answer, maintaining the same current nature as its controller.

From within the fake hanging lamp, the somewhat drifting voice of the Holy God came: "Because the An God did not intervene."

"Did not intervene?"

"Yes, indulging the citizens of his own kingdom, choosing not to interfere, completely failing the name and duty of a god!"

The Holy God refuted the actions of the An God.

Hearing this, Jiang Ying felt inexplicably resistant.

Interference, manipulation, high pressure...

Thinking of the Bu Yi True Monarch, she couldn't help but speak: "Is interference really right? Disregarding or even distorting the will of others just to achieve one's own vision... I don't think that is right."

Halfway through, she realized that they were allies now, and it didn't seem appropriate to say this before the battle, even though the two sides hadn't officially engaged yet.

The An God side was mainly on the defensive, invisibly utilizing the corpses and diseased bones.

The Holy God side was still observing, merely leading the morning sun to arrive.

She did not mind Jiang Ying's words and answered gently: "Interference indeed has two sides; the good is guidance, the bad is manipulation, and gods should guide living beings."

"... Are gods such beings?"

Jiang Ying accepted her statement; through their time together on the march, she felt that this Holy God was indeed quite good, but she still couldn't help but ask this.

Because she had also received a lot of spoon-fed learning and could be considered well-informed, she naturally knew about gods, those special beings favored by heaven and earth.

Although they had the instinct to practice the laws they embodied, which made the authority they exercised more profound and made them always choose to be consistent in appearance and reality.

However, a god who practiced pain would bring pain to living beings; a god who practiced nightmares would bring nightmares to living beings... the so-called consistency of gods was exactly this kind of situation.

Guide living beings?

That was something only a god who practiced the principle of guidance would do; they themselves might not even fully approve of it, let alone generalize it to include the entire group of gods.

"Therefore, I have come to crusade against him."

The Holy God's answer took Jiang Ying by surprise.

It didn't matter if other gods didn't approve; she would just crusade against them and finish them off.

When only she remained as a god between heaven and earth, then her criteria would be the criteria of the gods! "Uh, may I ask, is the authority you exercise, the principle you correspond to, the guidance of all living beings?"

Jiang Ying blinked, cold sweat actually breaking out on her back; she couldn't help but ask this, even though her heart was screaming at her not to talk too much.

"No."

She said it!

It really was like this!

This, this, who exactly is the outlier among the gods!?

Jiang Ying felt her mouth go dry for a moment.

Because since the Holy God refuted a point of the divine standard, it proved that what was being done here was actually contrary to nature, yet it was said so matter-of-factly!

It completely suppressed the original nature, instinct, and appearance, but the key was that this person seemed significantly stronger than the An God on the other side, who had previously been forced to release the fluorite disease!

Clearly violating the nature and duty of heaven, one should have been weakened by the backlash...

The more Jiang Ying pondered, the more terrified she became, and the more she sank into silence.

Her gaze couldn't help but look at the scattered corpses and diseased bones, feeling the faint traces that echoed with her own origin. Gradually, it was as if the dying wails of countless people were coming through, known to her side.

"Ah! So painful! So painful!"

"Cough, cough, cough! Ugh! Cough!"

"My Lord, why? Why?!"

"I am a citizen of the Dark Nation, you—cough, cough..."

"Why kill me? Don't come over, don't come over, ah!"

"Hahahaha, the ones who killed me in the end were not those fellows from the Holy Nation, but my own people, hahaha!"

"I curse you! I curse this fallen nation! May the holy radiance eventually burn away the malicious Dark Moon!!!"

The emotions and cries of countless people before death, through the contamination of the Fluorite Disease, were transmitted gradually, rapidly, and fiercely into the heart of Jiang Ying. This plain of corpses and diseased bones was built precisely by the citizens of the Dark Nation!

The one who dealt the blow was, without a doubt, the Dark God who indulged the citizens!

She was lost in thought, she gritted her teeth, because she clearly understood at this moment that the source of this terrible disease was actually only one, and had always been only one: herself!

True Monarch Buyi spent a thousand years cultivating a suitable incubator, using various calculations and various guidance to let her be born smoothly, and took her away at the first opportunity.

Then, he interfered with the origin of this supreme physical body, extracted the original body of the Fluorite Disease, and began further experiments.

It could be said that although her physique was astonishing and rare in ten thousand years, she still had to walk up step by step, which was also due to the lack of origin in her childhood and the fact that she had been tampered with.

And now, the evil consequences of its development and festering were laid bare before her eyes...

A gentle light covered over, instantly eliminating the lingering sounds of those who had died.

"Child, are you alright?"

The Holy God's call brought Jiang Ying back to her senses.

She felt some attachment to this gentleness, her heart was warm, yet she felt helpless and powerless regarding her own encounter, ashamed of the evil consequences she had caused, and sincerely and rationally believed that everything was the fault of that scoundrel Buyi; then, she felt even greater dissatisfaction, annoyance, and self-reproach toward herself for fearing the other party...

Her emotions were extremely complex, and her heart was incomparably heavy.

The Holy God looked on with gentle eyes, not asking much, just sharing a portion of light.

Jiang Ying calmed down.

She looked at the puppet Du En.

Although it was a puppet, it looked the same as the real person.

It looked back silently, as if in affirmation.

Thus, Jiang Ying took a deep breath and suddenly began to charge forward, leaving the warm light she was attached to.

"I can no longer save you, so I can only send you to liberation!"

Shouting this was the horn that sounded the battle.

The puppet Du En still had no expression at all, because it was just a dead object being controlled, and even the controller was a calm fellow, so it was naturally impossible to produce any expression functions.

"However, it really is more awkward the more I look at it; isn't this just completely a wood-and-earth puppet..."

The Holy God muttered in his heart, giving a poor review of the puppet's imitation level.

The puppet had no blood or tears and did not care about the perceptions of a god and a person; it just began to carry out its side's plans in an orderly manner under the control of the controller.

The great army, attack! With Jiang Ying as the arrowhead, puppets of all kinds—sea, land, and air—began to surge toward that plain of corpses and diseased bones.

In an instant, Qi collided, the murky water glowed, and the disease net reappeared, about to trap the incoming radiance.

The elite soldiers and fierce generals of the Dark Nation could not help but become nervous.

This wasteland of corpses and diseased bones was not only the trace left behind after they killed the infected citizens, but was also treated as a line of defense used to block the enemy.

They themselves possessed reason, so their feelings were mixed and varied.

Yet, with things having reached this point, they actually became unanimous, all unable to help but hope that it could block the military force of that terrible Holy Nation!

Citizens of the Dark Nation, pay for the Dark Nation one last time! But just at this moment.

"Ha!"

Jiang Ying, looking heroic and with a resolute gaze, was the first to land. With a shout, she erupted with supreme great power. Suddenly, blood energy surged like dozens of great rivers, directly whipping up a violent torrent, crushing space and shattering matter. With one punch, it was truly unstoppable.

Slap! Slap-slap-slap! Boom-boom-boom! Breaking through the shackles of talent and revealing the inherent strength of the flesh, she could finally stand tall and confidently say: my physical body is supreme and invincible.

With great power and great strength, show a soothing heart! Send those resentful lingering sounds trapped in the diseased bones back to nothingness!

The disease net shattered, the bones turned to ash, and the pathogen was torn apart. Her face became increasingly resolute. Various unwillingness, various resentments, and various questions still echoed in her ears, among which began to mix some relief, some pleasure, and some fueling of the flames.

Kill!

Destroy! Destroy the Dark Nation!

"Hmph!"

A cold snort, heavy as Mount Tai, directly pressed down and smashed these weak emotions.

The enemy general slowly stood up at this moment, like a black hole, like a star. He existed there without needing to do anything; his excessive mass would wantonly manifest his own gravity.

The Dark Nation soldiers, who had been terrified and uneasy, immediately stabilized.

Jiang Ying, who had been in a state of sudden realization and mental transformation, was instantly knocked back to her original state.

"It seems you have improved a little compared to before, but you still have to rely on those weak mindsets and states of mind to unleash your talent. You are still as naive and fragile as ever!"

This general was unceremonious, his words like chisels, directly stabbing Jiang Ying until her face turned pale. Subconsciously, she felt somewhat flustered and at a loss, secretly carrying many emotions that she could not suppress and that began to churn.

"Hiss!!!"

The mount, a great snake, also had its scales stand up at this moment. Its body grew larger, coiling on the city tower like a mountain, opening its blood-red mouth to cheer and add momentum for its master.

For a time, the morale of the Dark Nation's side was boosted again and again.

Until the puppet army began to follow behind and quickly appeared in the light of dawn.

Without a doubt, Jiang Ying had indeed paved a road to the gate of the Dark Capital, and Du En had not expected her, who was all show and no substance, to be of much help.

In the end, he still had to rely on himself.

With a step, five light wheels began to emerge and manifest. Mountains of skulls were trampled into dust in an instant. The puppet Du En, looking like a real person, had already appeared on the city wall, in front of the enemy general.

The great snake's pupils suddenly shrank sharply; the Dark Nation soldiers had no reaction.

Only the general's gaze was calm, moving as he moved.

Clearly, he had noticed.

However, this side is not fighting alone!

"Woo—"

One long howl after another, one lingering cry after another.

In the air, Soaring Kun descended from the clouds, and Startled Ni swept past.

The Kun fell and crashed down; amidst the slapping strikes, space shattered, and it began to destroy the city directly.

The Ni opened its mechanical belly, and all sorts of fire essences were immediately dropped, as if a sea of fire were pouring down.

"Do you think this will be of any use?"

The Dark God General clenched his fist, his aura incomparably violent, like a towering mountain or a rising peak, about to blast those incoming Soaring Kun puppets from afar.

But the puppet Du En only stared fixedly at the opponent, his pupils suddenly turning crimson, and he directly unleashed the Phoenix Crimson True Flame.

(End of chapter)