Chapter 274: In the Midst of Ten Thousand Troops, Seize the Enemy General

Yang Zhenhao’s expression turned anxious.

He could see the young man with the sword approaching from afar.

His own officers and guards were no match at all; everyone standing before the boy fell like ripe rice cut down.

He couldn’t understand why such a powerful spirit beast existed.

“Charge! All of you, charge! Crush him with numbers!” Yang Zhenhao roared, trying to mask his fear with rage.

At that moment, he regretted it—had he known, he never would have listened to An Wang’s advice and launched the campaign early.

If only he had waited until the final Yin-hour-born woman was added to the Contest of Beauties to evolve it into the Anthology of Blossoms, how could he have ended up like this?

Numbers seemed to have lost their effect; Yang Zhenhao watched as the boy drew ever closer.

“Useless fools—I’ll have to rely on myself.” Yang Zhenhao forced himself to calm down; he still had a chance.

Three thousand Contest of Beauties spirit souls had been lost defending his escape, but over a hundred still remained combat-capable.

As he spoke, all the Contest of Beauties spirit souls were released; he opened his mouth and swallowed them all in an instant.

Once inside, a torrent of power surged forth from within him.

“Die!” Yang Zhenhao had no time to revel in his sudden surge of strength—he hastily raised his arm and punched the flying sword hurtling toward his neck.

Tearing~

The imagined scene of his fist shattering the sword never came; instead, searing pain spread from his arm straight to his heart.

The flying sword had pierced fully into his arm, bringing unbearable agony.

“Aaaah!!!” Yang Zhenhao screamed in pain; moments later, the sword burst out through his shoulder blade.

He staggered uncontrollably, but his personal guard reacted swiftly and caught him.

“You talk big, but your strength is mediocre,” Guo Ming had now reached Yang Zhenhao’s side; the Su Nu Sword swung down toward his skull.

Yet a radiant glow surfaced on Yang Zhenhao’s body, barely halting Guo Ming’s Su Nu Sword for an instant.

That single delay triggered another life-saving treasure on his person, whisking him away once more.

When Guo Ming’s Su Nu Sword shattered the glow, it struck nothing but air.

“Run? Ha—I’ll see how far you get.” Guo Ming swept his sword qi, slicing every soldier around him into fragments.

Then his gaze locked again—once more fixed on Yang Zhenhao.

This time, the life-saving treasure’s effect was clearly weaker than before.

Previously, it had teleported him straight from the vanguard to the central command tent; now, it only moved him a hundred meters.

For him, a hundred meters was nothing.

“Old villain, take this sword!” Guo Ming shouted; four flying swords leapt into the air, splitting into a torrent of sword qi.

Yang Zhenhao instinctively turned back—saw the sword qi torrent surging toward him—and turned pale with terror.

Without hesitation, he consumed another precious treasure to teleport away once more.

But this time, the distance was even shorter.

At the same moment, he looked up—and saw the blade’s edge filling his entire vision.

The sword qi and sword intent on the edge made him feel its ultimate sharpness even before it touched his skin.

“Old villain, opposing Chu Danqing is suicide.”

Yang Zhenhao heard those words—he didn’t even know who “Chu brother” was—but then he saw his own vision rising into the air.

Before his consciousness faded, he felt a hand firmly gripping his skull, and saw his own headless corpse spewing blood as it collapsed helplessly.

“Here is the false emperor’s head—surrender at once!” Guo Ming held aloft Yang Zhenhao’s head, while his sword qi torrent shredded the army’s standard to pieces.

“Avenge the Emperor!” The loyalists snarled, shouting slogans as they charged.

But they were few; most soldiers, shattered by Guo Ming’s feat and Yang Zhenhao’s death, immediately broke morale and surrendered.

The loyalists barely took two steps forward before Guo Ming’s sword cut them down.

Meanwhile, greater chaos erupted from the vanguard.

Guo Ming snatched up the shimmering, exalted-level treasure chest that had appeared on Yang Zhenhao’s corpse and immediately raced toward the chaos.

He recognized the location as Chu Danqing’s area.

That meant the disturbance was tied to Chu Danqing.

He had no confidence in Chu Danqing’s combat ability and feared he might be in trouble.

On the other side, Chu Danqing had merely seen the standard shatter—and then his mission completed.

Chu Danqing understood this meant Guo Ming had successfully slain the false emperor, Yang Zhenhao.

[Mission complete. You have received: Paradise Points ×20000, Attribute Points +5]

[Mission complete. You have received: Spirit Beast Codex · Rebirth and Nirvana Lotus]

Both side quest and chain quest completed; trial quest still unfinished.

Either wait a day, or Chu Danqing must annihilate the entire Ning Wang army.

But he couldn’t kill them all—they were a potential asset.

Just moments ago, his speech had successfully turned many soldiers, sparking chaos and mutiny in the vanguard.

Then the danger grew greater.

The turned soldiers didn’t live long—they were killed for desertion—but the sudden betrayal bred suspicion that spread rapidly.

Those he had turned were only a tiny fraction.

A thousand-mile dike can collapse from an ant’s hole—but only if given enough time.

Then he saw Guo Ming arrive, riding his sword.

One hand held Yang Zhenhao’s head, the other wielded the Su Nu Sword, single-handedly quelling the regional chaos.

His aura of dominance swept the entire field; sword intent hovered above, forcing most vanguard soldiers to freeze in place.

“Here is the false emperor’s head—lay down your weapons and surrender!” Guo Ming shouted again.

This time, the effect was perfect—everyone obeyed without hesitation.

“Chu brother, are you alright?” Guo Ming, having secured the scene, immediately asked after Chu Danqing.

“Just my arm’s a bit sore—otherwise fine,” Chu Danqing replied. What trouble could he have? The enemy’s stats were far below his, and he had multiple protections and great treasures nearby supporting him.

Aside from the slight fatigue from wielding the Moon Orchid Totem Pole—due to lack of combat experience—he had no issues at all.

As for possible attacks slipping through?

Not to mention his three layers of shields—did they think the Five Elemental Spirits were just decorations? They weren’t highly intelligent, but they could auto-attack and auto-defend.

Especially since the Five Elemental Spirits inherited Chu Danqing’s stats and received multiple buffs—they were never weaker than him.

Added to that, spiritual enhancement had significantly raised their intelligence since their initial activation.

In compensating for his greatest weakness, Chu Danqing spared no effort.

“Good. What now?” Guo Ming said, handing the treasure chest to Chu Danqing.

Chu Danqing’s eyes nearly bulged out—he’d actually dropped a shimmering exalted treasure chest.

There was a high chance it would yield a special Purple Palace talent.

As for “wasting” a talent book: Purple Palace? At first glance, yes—but not really.

If he didn’t use the Purple Palace talent book first, he’d miss the final chain quest step: killing Ning Wang.

And since Chu Danqing hadn’t triggered the next chain quest, he wouldn’t know he needed to assimilate a spirit beast—and would miss the Twin Lotus Seed.

This would trigger a cascade of problems.

“For now, stabilize the situation and minimize casualties,” Chu Danqing said immediately. “I’ll summon Grand Coordinator Xiong—he’s far more experienced than we are.”

“But he’ll need time to arrive. Until then, Guo brother, you must break the rest of them.”

As he spoke, Chu Danqing immediately summoned Xiong Zhigang via the Shanhe Covenant.

[You summoned Covenant Partner #2. Paradise Points consumed: ×60]

[Covenant Partner responding...]

Guo Ming nodded. “I’ll be back shortly, Chu brother—stay safe.”

With that, he soared into the air on his sword, heading toward the remaining army.

He needed to find a few commanding officers who would cooperate with him; alone, he could never stabilize nearly a hundred thousand troops.

“Your Excellency,” a mid-level officer asked cautiously after Guo Ming left, “you said earlier we were eliminating the false emperor—does that still count?”

As for rallying the army again? It wasn’t impossible—but only if they could withstand Guo Ming’s sword.

Guo Ming had slain Yang Zhenhao in the midst of a hundred thousand troops; killing one more wouldn’t be hard.

“What do you think?” Chu Danqing smiled, offering no clear answer.

Had they defected before Yang Zhenhao’s death, no matter how many, Chu Danqing would have protected them.

But now that he was dead, and they had been enemies, they were no longer enlightened defectors—they were surrendered prisoners.

“I think it should count,” the officer said, watching Chu Danqing’s expression closely.

“You wiped your snot on your sleeve—too late now,” Chu Danqing sneered. “Wait for your punishment.”

“But don’t worry—we’ll only execute the ringleaders. No mass purges. You’ll keep your lives, though your ranks depend on circumstances.”

Chu Danqing’s words were true—but he omitted the second half: all spirit beasts evolved through heretical means must be dealt with.

Fortunately, among the false emperor’s hundred thousand troops, heretically evolved spirit beasts were extremely rare—only a small fraction of elite troops received such enhancements.

Hearing Chu Danqing’s words, the mid-level officers breathed a sigh of relief.

Failed rebellion, and not dying was already a miracle—why expect to keep their ranks?

“Your Excellency, please speak well of us—we were misled and coerced, never harboring any rebellious intent,” another mid-level officer quickly added.

The mid-level officers only realized they were rebelling after the army had already marched.

In the end, he could only grit his teeth and follow—by now, there was no turning back.

(End of Chapter)