Chapter 196: Blasting the City, Breaking Through the Realm! (6K)

"General Pang, please rise quickly." Zhao Xing leaped twice, helping Pang Guangyao to his feet. "With the General's aid, I have gained an army of a million."

Hearing these words, Pang Guangyao felt warmth in his heart.

Truly, as expected of an heir from a great family, his words are so pleasant to hear.

Unlike the princes of Wang Ting, each one arrogant beyond measure, looking down on others through their noses.

"This guilty general feels ashamed and cannot bear the heir's false praise," Pang Guangyao said with a bow of his hands. "I am merely a Mountain Patrol Envoy and hold no important post."

"The heir previously sent a messenger with a letter. Fearing I could not assist the heir and might instead ruin your great plan, I delayed replying. I hope you will forgive me."

Zhao Xing did not know what Xia Jing had said to Pang Guangyao, but he knew how to paint a pie: "The General has suffered an injustice."

"A mighty Sixth-Rank powerhouse, yet sent here to suffer. Wang Ting is truly blind!"

"However, since General Pang has now submitted to our Great Zhou, you are a person of Great Zhou. The past hardships and grievances will all become history!"

"I, Xia Jing, swear by my family's honor: the promises made previously will be fulfilled one by one after we capture the Strong Pass!"

"The grievances the General suffered in Wang Ting will never be repeated in Great Zhou!"

"Once we conquer the Fire Demon Tribe's territory, I can even let the General return to your hometown to serve. I will never let the General suffer even the slightest grievance!"

"If I break this oath, I, Xia Jing, am unworthy to be a son!"

Pang Guangyao had long been suppressed by Wang Ting. Now that he had surrendered, hearing such a promise from a weighty heir moved him immensely.

To swear by family honor—how highly did they regard him, Pang Guangyao?!

Immediately, he knelt down with a thud.

"Pang Guangyao wishes to serve the heir as a dog or a horse!"

The pie was painted; now something practical was needed.

Zhao Xing gave a glance to Long Xiao and Chen Shijie: "General Pang, you shall first serve as a Vice General in this mixed vanguard camp, acting under my valiant Captain here. Once we are beneath the Fire Dragon Pass, I will petition the Military Realm to formally promote you."

"This subordinate obeys the order." Pang Guangyao immediately clasped his fists and accepted the command. He knew his decision to come and submit this time was impulsive.

'Xia Jing' certainly could not have prepared any documents or appointments.

Looking again at the entourage beside 'Xia Jing', as expected of a Little Marquis of Great Zhou: a Seventh-Rank Sword Cultivator accompanying him, a Sixth-Rank Military Agronomist by his side, and a bloodline-strong exotic beast serving as a battle pet.

For someone who had just defected on the spot, being made a Vice General was already quite good. As for later matters, they would have to wait until merits were established.

Inside Zhizuo City, the eastern gate military camp where the Black Armor Army was stationed.

"Achoo~"

Xia Jing rubbed his nose, somewhat strangely putting down the military book in his hand.

"I have already perfected the Fiend Qi. Why did I suddenly sneeze?"

"Yuan Yang, Yuan Yang!"

Yuan Yang, this military doctor, belonged to the Black Armor Army. Xia Jing had many geniuses from the Ten Yang Grotto-Heaven by his side, and Yuan Yang was one of them.

"General, what is the matter?" Soon, Yuan Yang replied from outside the tent. Since Xia Jing had won the hearts of all the camps of the Black Armor Army, in formal settings, Yuan Yang had also started addressing Xia Jing as General.

"Come in quickly and examine me. Is there something wrong with my body? With the great battle imminent, there cannot be any hidden dangers," Xia Jing said.

"Yes." Only then did Yuan Yang push open the tent and enter.

After entering, he observed, listened, asked questions, and took the pulse. Then he had Xia Jing remove his battle armor. After a careful examination, Yuan Yang fell into thought.

"How is it?"

"There is no problem. Your Five Elements Qi remains balanced; only the Kidney Fire is slightly excessive." Yuan Yang shook his head. "Your sudden sensation may also be caused by pre-battle nervousness."

Hearing this, Xia Jing relaxed: "That is good."

To say he was not at all nervous about attacking the Fire Dragon Pass would be a lie.

Although Zhao Xing had prepared Fire-Repelling Magical Robes to cross the mountain, and he had spies as inside agents, the Fire Dragon Pass had never been breached after all; its reputation stood there.

Xia Jing had brought several camps to the east, separating from the main force of the Black Armor Army in the north. This was also a risky move.

Following the main force in the north, one might not have smooth sailing, but at least one would not suffer a great defeat.

But here, one might just suffer a defeat.

Yuan Yang instructed Xia Jing to rest more and then left the tent.

Yet Xia Jing could not sleep no matter what.

"Tomorrow we must cross the Flame Mountain, and the day after tomorrow we will begin the siege. I wonder how many people Ye Chongxian has persuaded to defect."

On the fourteenth day of the ninth month, the Black Armor Army, the Divine Might Army, and the Sea-Quelling Army gathered in the Marching Hall to discuss affairs, mainly to assign combat tasks.

The Fire Dragon Pass stretched for thirty li, large enough for a grand army to deploy its formation.

On the side of the Divine Might Army, there were mainly two detachments under Wen Shaoyang and Liao Rulong, totaling over seventy thousand people.

The Black Armor Army had only the fifteen thousand plus people led by Xia Jing.

The Sea-Quelling Army had the thirty thousand plus people led by Jiang Ming.

There were also fifteen armies of various sizes. However, the numbers in these armies were relatively small; the largest had only four or five thousand people, the smallest only two or three thousand. Most of the leaders were only Seventh-Rank. Coming to the east was purely because they could not get a high combat sequence in their original armies, so they wanted to come here to try their luck.

The Divine Might Army wanted to break the Fire Dragon Pass, link up with the Divine Thunder Army in the west, attack the Qinggang Mining District together, and try to get a piece of the meat by following them.

These fifteen flank armies, adding up to forty or fifty thousand people in total, held the same idea. They just wanted to follow the Divine Might Army, which had recently risen like a strange army, and get a bowl of soup.

Among the three main armies, under Wen Shaoyang, there was a special camp: the 'Great Halberd Warrior Camp'.

The special camp under Liao Rulong was the Five Elements Camp. As for the Divine Machine Camp and the Nine-Jointed Camp, these were standard configurations that everyone had.

However, since Zhao Xing joined, the Nine-Jointed Camp, which already had Chen Shijie, also became a specialty of Liao Rulong's division.

Under Xia Jing, there was a two-thousand-strong Black Armor Dragon Cavalry, because the Black Armor Army had three exotic beast breeding bases, one of which was on the Sub-Longdao in Pinghaizhou.

This place bred some hybrid dragon breeds. The mounts of the Tiger-Jiao Army also came from Sub-Longdao.

Two of the top armies of the Ten Yang Grotto-Heaven had both achieved high rankings in the Military Realm Army Grand Tournament and occupied a place on Sub-Longdao.

Being able to ride Dragon Cavalry was the foundation of a strong army.

Therefore, although Xia Jing brought only fifteen thousand plus people, he also had a Sixth-Rank Agronomist and a Priest assisting him, plus two thousand Dragon-Blooded exotic beasts. One could say his strength was actually the strongest.

Only the combined forces of Liao Ru's and Wen Shaoyang's divisions of the Divine Might Army could reliably suppress him.

Jiang Ming of the Town-Sea Army specializes in warships.

Warships of the Great Zhou typically refer to aerial warships, and their numbers are generally quite small.

Only fifth-tier vessels may be called warships; flying boats are all below the fifth tier.

The scale of the warships determines the scale of the Divine Machine Camp, for the carrying capacity of siege engines depends entirely on how many warships there are.

Marquis Lan Hongming of the Town-Sea Army had gone to great lengths to get two divisions of the Town-Sea Army ashore.

Li Que's division was utterly unremarkable.

But Jiang Ming had brought an entire warship camp!

This was because, upon learning that Zhao Xing had created the Earth-Fire Lotus as fire-proof armor, he immediately increased his stake.

He had dispatched a significant number of additional warships and flying boats to Jiang Ming!

Just the fifth-tier warships numbered one hundred and twenty!

The flying boats exceeded five thousand!

Only the Town-Sea Army could refer to its warships as a "camp"; the combined warships and flying boats of the Black Armor Army and the Divine Might Army did not even match the Town-Sea Army's numbers.

Furthermore, in other armies, warships were used solely for aerial flight.

However, because Jiang Ming bore Marquis Lan Hongming's expectations for merit, one-third of the warships he had dispatched were dual-purpose for both water and air.

There were even three peculiar fifth-tier supreme warships named the "Five Elements Warships"!

Not only could they operate on both water and air, but the warships could even burrow underground.

These three Five Elements Warships were accompanied by many flying boats configured for land travel and subterranean burrowing.

When Zhao Xing initially agreed to cooperate, Marquis Lan had not disappointed him; in terms of warships, the Town-Sea Army had provided immense support.

After the warships were dispatched, Jiang Ming straightened his back, walked with a breeze at his heels, and spoke with a louder voice:

"Commandant Liao, half of my division's warships can be reassigned for the brothers of the Divine Might Army and the Black Armor Army to use!"

"Our Town-Sea Army's Divine Machine Camp can operate the Five Elements Warships to burrow underground and breach the subterranean defenses of Fire Dragon Pass."

"The alien races underground both north and south of the pass can also be left to our Town-Sea Army for the main assault!"

"We have nothing else, but we have many ships!"

"According to intelligence, my division can at least paralyze the underground defense mechanisms and three magical arrays spanning twenty li north and south of Fire Dragon Pass for over three double-hours!"

Jiang Ming shouted loudly, "Brothers on the ground need not worry at all about falling into pits while fighting, or being tricked by the Fire Demon Tribe's mechanisms."

"Good, very good." Liao Rulong clasped his hands and smiled, "Then we owe you a debt of gratitude, Commandant Jiang."

"With the assistance of Commandant Jiang's warship camp, we will surely capture this pass!" Xia Jing also offered a word of praise.

The wheel of fortune turns; at this moment, Jiang Ming had also been promoted to Commandant Jiang, rather than "that guy."

There was no choice; the Town-Sea Army had only landed two flank divisions, unlike the Divine Might Army and the Black Armor Army, where Xia Jing, Wen Shaoyang, and Liao Ru's divisions were merely parts of larger forces.

The Divine Might Army and the Black Armor Army were not only fighting the Fire Demon Tribe territories of the Wang Ting in the Golden Feather Wang Ting, but had troop deployments in other war zones facing the Holy Spirit Wang Ting, the Purple Long Wang Ting, and the Blazing Light Wang Ting.

Jiang Ming's division was the sole branch of the Town-Sea Army on land; whether they could earn merit depended entirely on him, and the resources mobilized by Lan Hongming were all bet on this army.

"Tonight, our three armies will jointly dispatch a total of eighteen thousand men to cross the Flame Mountain."

"They will seize four castles in total, located south and north of Fire Dragon Pass, with the objective of destroying the main pass defense array."

"If even one location is breached, the main army outside can attack inside!" Liao Rulong said. "To create conditions for the troops infiltrating inside, the three armies will attack tomorrow at the hour of Xu!"

"The thunderclap in the Gusting Wind Layer will be the signal!"

Starting at noon on September 14th, a total of fifteen thousand men crossed the Flame Mountain. Because Zhao Xing and Chen Shijie had already led three thousand men inside a day early, the actual number was eighteen thousand.

Xia Jing led a column of four thousand men, crossing from a place named "Guanshan North" on the Flame Mountain.

As for the command of the Black Armor Army, it was temporarily handed over to the Vice General Jin Ming.

In the Divine Might Army, Liao Rulong sent Yu Ziqi as a camp commander to lead five thousand men, crossing the Flame Mountain from "Guanshan South."

Wen Shaoyang's division sent "Fei Liangxun" to lead six thousand men, crossing from "Fire Pass Tail."

As for the men of the Town-Sea Army, they would not participate in the sneak attack but would join the main force for the frontal assault outside the pass.

Time rewound to the hour of Chen on September 14th.

With Pang Guangyao as the guide, Zhao Xing, Chen Shijie, Long Xiao, Gao Jue, Xu Quan, Zhang Ying, and others, leading three thousand men, had already crossed the Fire Dragon Mountain Range and quietly arrived inside the pass.

Using the high-tier Five Elements Mist Concealment spell as cover for the three thousand men, they silently left the patrol zone of the Flame Mountain Range and arrived in a dense forest outside a pass city.

"Your Highness, ahead lies the 'Full Moon City Pass' of Fire Dragon Pass," Pang Guangyao said. "It is one of the array foundations of Fire Dragon Pass."

"Within a radius of twenty li, there are twenty-one cities of various sizes; however, the others are merely defensive garrisons. Only Full Moon City, built upon a fire vein, is one of the main array foundations of Fire Dragon Pass's defense array." "If it is destroyed, the defense arrays for twenty li south of Fire Dragon Pass will all be paralyzed. Even if backup arrays are activated, their power will be reduced by more than sixty percent, and many alien races underground will even be suffocated to death."

"Even with emergency repairs, it would take at least four double-hours or more."

"And if Full Moon City is destroyed, reconstruction would take more than four double-hours; judging by the Fire Demon Tribe's efficiency, that would require three or four months." Pang Guangyao spoke with slight mockery.

Zhao Xing, of course, knew the importance of Full Moon City.

Full Moon City was, in its entirety, a mechanism city!

Why was Fire Dragon Pass known as a formidable pass?

Other array foundations, such as the Water-Clear-Distant Array that Wang Ji set up in Yun City for him, had only eighty-one array foundations.

Each array foundation weighed roughly one hundred tons; they could be transported by flying boats, easily hoisted by a three-tier Dragon Gate crane, and even lifted out of a river.

But the array foundations of Fire Dragon Pass, the smallest of which were castles occupying four or five hundred mu.

They could house people and were themselves magical arrays.

Castles like Full Moon City occupied a staggering one hundred thousand mu!

There were forty-nine such cities within Fire Dragon Pass.

Using the cities and castles as arrays, they continuously drew power from the fire veins to supply the operation of the arrays before Fire Dragon Pass.

To capture it was simply impossible; one could not even pass a single fifth-tier "Fire Dragon Array."

Just think about the scene when they crossed Flame Mountain — even fully prepared, they still got burned to death by the strange earth fire that sprayed out unexpectedly.

But at Fire Dragon Pass, this earth fire is controllable, and can even be shaped into dragon-form flames to attack the enemy.

The barbarians defending Fire Dragon Pass only have about thirty to forty thousand real combatants, but as long as nothing goes wrong inside, these thirty to forty thousand holding the pass mean that even a million men coming wouldn't matter in a war at the peak Sixth Rank.

"The City Lord of Round Moon City is named 'Badasi.' He's Yue Haisheng's nephew." Pang Guangyao continued introducing, "He's only at early Heavenly Gang."

"No other Sixth Rank?" Chen Shijie asked.

"None." Pang Guangyao shook his head. "Though there are two or three hundred at peak Earth Sha, all of them are Badasi's guard."

"This configuration sounds a bit unreasonable," Long Xiao said. "Such an important city, and there's only one Sixth Rank?"

"Because he's Yue Haisheng's own nephew. Add another Sixth Rank, and the benefits wouldn't be enough for his nephew to split." Pang Guangyao mocked, "The Earth Fire Lotus in the lava caverns, the flame crystals in the Guanshan mining area, the heavenly materials and earthly treasures in the Round Moon forest area — which of these isn't a treasure ground? Everything that passes through hands leaves oil behind!"

Chen Shijie shook his head repeatedly as he listened. A strong Heavenly Gang cultivator like Pang Guangyao could only be sent here as a patrol envoy. Yet Badasi, an early Heavenly Gang, guards Round Moon City.

With such use of personnel, no matter how impregnable the pass, the day of its fall will come sooner or later.

"Whether it's Badasi or someone else, it makes no difference." Zhao Xing smiled. "If Fire Dragon Pass can't stop them, another hundred Badasi would have the same effect."

"General Pang, do you have any personal ties with this Badasi?"

Pang Guangyao shook his head: "He and his uncle have humiliated me many times. I wish I could eat… cut him down."

Zhao Xing said: "After we take the city, I'll leave him to you to deal with. But you're now a general of our Great Zhou — do you understand what I mean?"

"This general understands." Pang Guangyao nodded. He wasn't really going to eat anyone.

"How much longer for the re-equipping?" Zhao Xing asked Old Chen again.

After crossing Flame Mountain, they naturally couldn't keep wearing the Fire-Warding Dharma Robes into battle. The robe's main function is warding fire; in other aspects it's rather ordinary and can't withstand more than a few strikes from a Fourth-Rank divine weapon.

The Fire-Warding Dharma Robes were all made one size larger, mainly to allow armor to be worn underneath. Also, some of the heavy supplies had been brought along.

For example, the Sinong's Wen Bamboo Boxes, and a small portion of siege weaponry, had been disassembled into parts and placed inside vehicles made from Earth Fire Lotus.

"Changed long ago." Chen Shijie said, "The soldiers are all resting now."

"How much time do we have left?" Long Xiao asked.

Zhao Xing pulled out the almanac and checked: "It's not yet Mao hour now. There are still two and a half days until the agreed time to take the pass."

Liao Ru-long is a sly one. He had three thousand men of the Divine Might Army come over first precisely to have ample time to prepare.

Zhao Xing's group had already arrived, but Xia Jing's group hadn't even set out yet.

It would be several more hours before Xia Jing's and Wen Shaoyang's troops crossed Flame Mountain.

By the time they arrived, it would already be tomorrow.

The main army would fire the signal to start the attack outside the pass, which would be the evening of the day after tomorrow.

So Zhao Xing's team had ample time to prepare.

If things went smoothly, after taking Round Moon City, they'd still have hands free to attack other places.

Do more things, earn more battle merits.

"Have the two Sinong teams take turns planting. Remember, don't make too much commotion." Chen Shijie ordered.

Although the Fog Concealment was interfering, just to be safe he still had the military Sinong in the vanguard camp keep their planting restrained.

Freeing up time served two purposes: one, to let the soldiers rest more fully; two, to let the Sinong prepare.

Prepare what? Materials for siege engines could be grown, food could be grown, even weapon materials could be grown — far too many to count.

They were stuck between Round Moon City and the Flame Mountain Range. The environment wasn't too harsh — at the very least they could grow some fire-attribute food.

Zhao Xing naturally also got to work planting. He knew the high-tier dharma of Benwo Sect. At this moment, as the military Sinong, he was the main auxiliary source for the three thousand men of the vanguard camp — whether food, tools, or higher-end materials, he was the primary provider.

With earth fire flourishing, the most suitable thing to plant was, of course, firecrackers.

Zhao Xing and Chen Shijie each lifted a box, peeled off the Earth Fire Lotus leaves on the outside, and took out the firecracker seedlings from within.

"How many are still alive?" Chen Shijie asked.

"I've got fifty percent still alive on my end. What about you?"

"About the same in my box," Chen Shijie said. "Fifth-Rank firecracker seedlings carried across Flame Mountain — having fifty percent survive is already pretty good."

People had died in the dozens, let alone seedlings.

But with more than half still alive, that was already quite good.

Planting Fifth-Rank firecrackers had many benefits.

Old Chen knew the Earth Escape art, and so did Zhao Xing. Among the three thousand men, there were also quite a few mages from the Five Elements Camp.

At least a hundred people knew an escape art.

Round Moon City wasn't outside the pass — the Fire Demon Race's own people went in and out, and some even lived inside.

Naturally, it couldn't be like outside the pass, where dozens of li underground were all guarded, with lethal formations and mechanisms.

The interior of an impregnable pass is always fragile. Infiltrating would be very easy.

As long as there were enough firecrackers, plant some inside Round Moon City — no need to lift a finger, the firecrackers alone would be enough to send Badasi to the heavens.

"Begin!"

Zhao Xing and Chen Shijie each led a team of Sinong and began planting Fifth-Rank firecrackers in the forest.

Since the firecrackers were already Fifth Rank,

there was no need to cast the Instant Primordial art.

Instead, spells like Wasteland Condensation and Wild Growth were more suitable for cultivation.

The Heaven's Timing art was forbidden — because Zhao Xing had already cast the Five Elements Fog Concealment, hiding this section of forest. If other Sinong cast Heaven's Timing arts, they might be discovered.

The Earth's Advantage arts could be used though — both King Di Zang's Return to Origin and the Earth Palace art were employed, one to gather primal energy, the other to regulate the intensity of the fire veins.

"Sizzle sizzle sizzle~"

The firecrackers grew at a startling speed, and soon a whole bamboo forest had sprung up.

Once they entered the growth period.

Zhao Xing immediately cast two other spells.

"Hundred-Mile Essence Analysis Technique!"

Compared with the Instant Primordial, the intermediate Hundred-Mile Essence Analysis Technique only made the firecrackers grow better, but did not break their original rank.

"Nine Dragons Bending Method!"

Immediately after, Zhao Xing cast a Benwo Sect spell again.

The firecracker branches quickly fell off; the top four segments of every firecracker withered and cracked open.

Their nutrients flowed back, pouring into the bamboo segments below.

The crimson-red bamboo forest instantly became bare.

"You have learned all four minor techniques of the Benwo Sect?" Chen Shijie watched from a distance; he was still waiting for his time to mature, while Zhao Xing had already matured a batch.

"Mm, if you learn, you learn by the basketful; the spells of the Benwo Sect all complement each other," Zhao Xing said casually.

"..." Chen Shijie didn't know what to say.

Who doesn't know they complement each other?

The problem is having the energy and talent to learn them!

He saw that Zhao Xing's four Benwo Sect techniques were all at intermediate perfection.

Additionally, he had a high-grade spell, Instant Primordial, at his side.

"What kind of monster did I bring out from Gucheng?" Chen Shijie even suspected whether Cao Xi had turned that place of Gucheng into some blessed land.

Pang Guangyao looked very puzzled; wasn't the heir apparent a martial artist? How could he also farm?

Farming—shouldn't that be the work of the Grand Zhou's Minister of Agriculture? Even here in the Southern Barbarians, only spellcasters do such work!

Is this person really the heir apparent, Xia Jing?

Pang Guangyao vaguely felt he had boarded the wrong carriage.

He had bowed to the wrong person.

However, since he was now beside Long Xiao and Mountain Cat, even if he had doubts in his heart, he dared not ask too much.

He had already killed a Mountain Patrol Envoy and was thoroughly on the Grand Zhou's bandit ship; at this point, even if he wanted to get off, it was impossible.

He could only wait until Huolong Pass was taken down.

Time passed in an instant; in the blink of an eye, two days had passed.

Today was the agreed-upon day for the three armies to assault the city and break the pass.

"The time is about right, isn't it?" Chen Shijie stood atop a large tree, gazing at the Gale Layer. "It is still one double-hour before Xu hour, but it is about enough; we are on the southern section of the pass, so by calculation, the fighting outside should have started by now."

"I think so too," Zhao Xing bared a mouthful of big white teeth: "In that case, let us prepare to blow up the city! Send Basida to heaven!"