Chapter 1251: Huai Wang Arrives, and the City Is Ours

"Scale the walls! Scale the walls! Scale the walls!"

"Heaven births the myriad things to nurture man; man has nothing to repay heaven — only killing. Kill! Kill!"

"Comrades, meritorious deeds and great careers, enfeoffment as marquises and appointment as ministers, enfeoffing wives and sheltering children, leaving names in the blue annals — it is this very morning, this very morning!"

A Wu waved the great banner, blue veins bulging on his neck, brushing past the soldiers behind him.

The Shuofangtai city walls cracked inch by inch, opening several huge breaches; a great fire blazed within the city. Dense crowds of people surged and swarmed, clinging to the ramparts, like black ants that have found a sweet sugar cube, climbing and scrambling upward.

This time there was no blood-rain hell, no morale collapse from the Eight Beasts' deaths, yet with the Wu Sheng's withdrawal and the battle line falling back, it still turned into an utter, thorough rout.

"Thud-thud-thud!"

The Mountain Boar wore a pointed helmet, charging savagely, unstoppable; its heavy hooves trampled the earth, knotted muscles twitching strand by strand, brown bristles harder than steel needles. Wherever it passed, it gouged three great gullies in the ground, its aura rising ever higher with the charge.

The Wolf King led the wolf pack retreating from the front line, wheeling to block the Mountain Boar; halfway there, ice caltrops exploded out of thin air, the mounts halted their charge abruptly, several sharp gashes torn across their ruffs and necks.

The Eight Beasts' Wolf King felt a stabbing pain in his brow, eyes showing wariness; his peripheral vision caught a streak of white light sweeping across, and he snapped his head down.

Wind rose above his crown.

Gazes crossed in midair; the Wolf King froze for an instant, disproportionately long legs crossing in a diagonal kick, the boot hooking his jaw — the Wolf King flew sideways through the air. Long Eying twisted and turned, the Beiting Wolf King blasted out several layers of conical shockwaves, embedding into the gate tower, exploding a huge cloud of dust.

The great demon wolf roared, wildly shaking its head, hair like steel needles, fur like armor; frost froze the long hair, Long Eying pressed down, stepping on the wolf's head and driving it into the earth.

The Wolf King leapt out of the gate tower, returning in towering rage.

Activating the third level of the Startling Dragon Transformation, Long Eying stood one zhang five chi tall, two pairs of jade horns on her head, a white-scaled dragon tail swaying behind her, her figure tall and slender, strikingly conspicuous on the battlefield.

Seeing the Wolf King blocked by the dragon girl, unable to act.

The Bear Beast roared, leaping and charging before the Mountain Boar, eyes sharp, muscles swelling, surging to a zhang in height, fingers interlocking, preparing to intercept the Mountain Boar barehanded — suddenly, he raised a hand behind him, swiftly pinching at the back of his neck; an armored beetle waved its limbs, snapping its mandibles, struggling desperately even while caught, gnawing at its enemy.

Southern Border Gu insect?

"Charge charge charge!" The Mountain Boar's shout was right at hand.

*Crack! *

The Bear Beast crushed the Gu insect; green juices burst from his fingertips, and dense bee-buzzing immediately rang out across the sky.

"Bone Fiend E Qi Rui!"

The Bear Beast exhaled through flared nostrils, eyes blood-red.

Southern Border traitor!

Using a flimsy pretext, and with the treacherous, cunning Huai Wang, coming to Beiting to run wild.

E Qi Rui showed no fear, bathed in blood, charging at the forefront with a terrifying, bloody killing intent, his speed so great that even He Ningyuan and the others behind him could not match it.

"Marquis Cang Pi! Marquis Cang Pi! Marquis Cang Pi!"

Soldiers shouted behind him, in a trance infusing E Qi Rui with boundless power; rage exploded and burned in his heart — the earlier pretext had already become fuel for boundless anger, and he bore down on the Bear Beast, pressing forward.

"You Beiting people go back on your word, go back on your word!"

The Fox Beast, Eagle Beast, and Mastiff Beast fared no better.

The Sick Tiger disappeared; adding Long Eying, even with the Great Khan temporarily sending dozens of Zhen Xiang masters to support Shuofangtai, including three top experts, the two sides were merely evenly matched. Moreover, Liang Qu consumed Zhen Xiang to sustain his divine ability, forcibly raising everyone's opponent level by half a tier.

Defense was passable, counterattack powerless.

The great saber killed soldiers; he swung it to shake off the corpse. Halu Khan fought while retreating, seeing the Eight Beasts each mired in bitter struggle, he could only remain silent, powerless.

In the past when he went on a mission to Da Shun, he was the mission's undisputed tiger-hunting genius; but on this asura field, a Middle-stage Zhen Xiang with Upper-stage Zhen Xiang strength could not influence the overall battle at all, only able to follow the waves of the other masters, colliding with the Da Shun people, becoming one spray among countless sprays.

Charge, charge, charge again!

Rout, rout, rout again!

Yang Xu summoned all his strength, using Beiting speech, roaring loudly: "Sick Tiger Su He Ba Lu has surrendered to Da Shun! Sick Tiger Su He Ba Lu has surrendered to Da Shun! Those who surrender will not be killed!"

The surging sound wave momentarily drowned out the sounds of slaughter.

Seeds of doubt were planted in the soldiers' hearts.

"Nonsense!"

"Da Shun people spouting nonsense!"

"Nonsense. Then why is the Fierce Tiger General not seen? Why is the Fierce Tiger General not seen?! With him here, how could our Shuofangtai have come to this!" Yang Xu concealed his figure, questioning in a Beiting accent.

A Wu and the others followed closely, chanting in unison: "Why is the Fierce Tiger General not seen? Why is the Fierce Tiger General not seen?! With him here, our Shuofangtai, how could it have come to this!"

"The Fierce Tiger General has defected, abandoning Shuofangtai and leaving!"

"The Fierce Tiger General has defected, abandoning Shuofangtai and leaving!"

"Abandon the city! Abandon the city! Abandon the city!"

"Run."

Shuofangtai city was covered by the Da Shun army corps; on the towering walls, blade light crossed, the Beiting banner tilted and fell, replaced by a gilded great banner bearing the character "Shun".

Zhang Longxiang, Liang Qu, and the others still pursued the Wolf Lord and the rest, cutting them down; they ran out of Shuofangtai, ran onto the great grasslands, crossed snow mountains, crossed rivers, arriving above the Ehe River.

Distant Southern Border.

Half a mu of square pond opens like a mirror; carp wag their tails, swimming to a corner of the pond.

The old Tusi "unemployed" at home, staring blankly.

"Grandpa? Why such an expression today?" Xie Hongyu brought the meal, setting it on the table, "Could it be something happened on the Beiting side?"

"Mm." The old Tusi picked up chopsticks, picked up fish meat and dipped it in the white saucer of soy sauce, "Beiting defeated, the battle line shifted from Shuofangtai to the Ehe River; unknown if the White Dragon King in the Ehe River will make a move."

Xie Hongyu, having guessed correctly, froze in place: "How can this be? Beiting lost? Did Da Shun up the ante? Did a Wu Sheng fall?"

"No Wu Sheng has fallen for now, only there should be a Beiting Wu Sheng heavily wounded."

"This————" Xie Hongyu stared wide-eyed, tongue-tied, "Only two days, just two days, what does Da Shun rely on?"

The Yinglong facing off at the Da Shun-Beiting border have always been those few Yinglong: the Wolf Lord at eleventh stage, Zhang Longxiang at tenth stage, the remaining several middle-to-high-stage Martial Saints as wings; nothing has ever gone wrong. This time it's merely adding a Liang Qu, a Wan Nan He Wang————

Liang Qu again?

Liang Qu is clearly a second-stage Wu Sheng, Wan Nan He Wang is fifth-stage; mixing into the battle cluster is originally a huge disadvantage for Da Shun, how could they shatter Beiting in a single exchange?

"Yeah, how could that be possible————"

"Unacceptable, unacceptable!"

The Ironhead Fish King paced and shouted, "I knew the Northern Court was blustering — useless trash, spineless cowards, fair-weather friends, stinking calabashes, pig noses stuck with scallions, pretending to be elephants!"

The front line shifted too exaggeratedly, too swiftly; no frontline battle reports were needed — just by the position of the Wu Sheng 'Stone in the River,' everyone under heaven knew the Northern Court's crushing defeat was a foregone conclusion.

——

The Martial Saints of both sides could not stand by and watch; they continuously upped the ante, sending in more people and more supplies, one Yaolong Wu Sheng after another dispatched.

Meteors tore through the night, gods descended, propping open heaven and earth, a great fire burning across the land.

"Bu Neng Dong" spewed green mist, separating the marshland, alleviating the injuries on the Heavenly God; Liang Qu swapped out the Fat Fish's 【Gather Scatter Formless】 and replaced it anew with "Bu Neng Dong's" 【Greenwood Life Spirit】.

He pointed with his index finger.

Streaks of green light drilled into the bodies of the various Martial Saints.

One person, one streak; one person, three percent; eight people raised by three percent.

Pig-rush fierce advance!

Seeing the green light, the Northern Court Martial Saints all gnashed their teeth in hatred.

Just how many divine abilities does that kid have?

It's true Yaolong can construct more divine abilities, but first, the foundations of divine abilities all originate from the Three Great Creation Arts, whether fused with each other or elevated singly, there are traces to follow. Second, constructing divine abilities is extremely difficult, requiring time to research.

Not to mention Liang Qu's ascension time was short; enhancement, healing, severing, mistification, Golden Body, the bizarre force field————it's utterly traceless!

The green light flashed, and the front line fell back.

Tactics returned to the very beginning.

The Huai King still skirted the edges, only it was no longer five versus five, nor six versus six after the arrival of Bu Erhan Mountain and the Pingyang King, but ten versus ten!

Twenty Yaolong, twenty high mountains, stretching across this space.

Liang Qu even saw an old friend join in.

After withdrawing from Lingnan Province, the South Sea King who came north!

They count as having fought together from south to north.

The Northern Court's Wonan River King had already withdrawn, replaced by another Yaolong Wu Sheng; as the contending Yaolong increased, Liang Qu's room for maneuver not only didn't shrink, but gradually grew larger, and with more people he could even opportunistically slack off a bit, stealing moments to rest.

This is the Ringelmann effect, one plus one is less than two!

In a tug-of-war, as group size increases, average individual pulling force drops significantly. Taking individual strength when pulling alone as the baseline, when eight people pull together the per-person force falls to half, total pulling force merely equals the sum of four people working alone!

Besides that, there is another very common pattern.

The side with the advantage finds it easier to mobilize its own people.

Conversely, the more disadvantaged, the harder to mobilize.

The East Sea Grand Hunt is imminent; the Northern Court's Martial Saints are unwilling to move, and the Great Shun's Martial Saints are equally unwilling — the shod fear the barefoot, no Wu Sheng enfeoffed as a king wants to take risks for nothing.

Moreover, because the nation's founding isn't that long ago, most Martial Saints within its borders are from the previous dynasty, not exactly stable; yet with advantage already accumulated, the remaining Martial Saints coming up to pick up some merit are quite willing, and with numbers so large, the chance of accidents is further reduced.

Great Shun's enfeoffed kings are happy to gild the lily; Northern Court's enfeoffed kings refuse to send charcoal in the snow; forcibly mobilizing Martial Saints will only intensify internal power contradictions and conflicts!

Shock waves in the vault of heaven came wave after wave; surging qi waves brushed past the mountains, avalanches cascaded down the peaks, the snow line shifted dramatically, like a young lady lowering her lotus-skirt hem.

Zhang Longxiang's momentum rose higher and higher as he fought.

His third divine ability, unlike Liang Qu's patching gaps, came from researching the Owl God Seizing Fate life format; win a battle and his strength surges a large chunk, then slowly subsides, yet never subsides to the bottom — the remaining portion is thoroughly refined and absorbed, forever becoming part of his strength!

Northern Court surprise attack, two quarters of an hour to push back eight hundred li, one victory.

Then beheaded the Wonan River King, second victory.

Captured Shuofang Taicheng, third victory!

Northern Court tried to take away the Wonan River King's upper and lower body; he forcefully seized the lower half, fourth victory!

Momentum like a rainbow, practically Zhang Longxiang alone pressing down two opponents.

Northern Court Martial Saints simply didn't feel it was ten versus ten; clearly it was ten versus eleven!

Golden Royal Court, felt tent.

The Zhou Tian Star Orbit Mirror slowly turned. The Great Khan's face was dark as water, the atmosphere oppressive; surrounding officials dared not make a sound, even their writing movements slowed.

Between Shuofang Taicheng and the Ehe River lie many small and medium cities, separated by thousands of li, vast territory. Given the current situation, pushing further down would not only lose that last Flowing Gold Sea, thoroughly losing this blessed land, but what awaits the Northern Court behind is inevitably river-separated governance.

The Southern Frontier deliberately manufactured a Pseudo-Dragon, because the Pseudo-Dragon is useful.

The Ehe White Dragon King gave perfunctory responses, simply not heeding Northern Court orders.

Having a Dragon King and not having a Dragon King makes no difference; they still need to expend countless manpower and resources to build another defensive major city!

Compared to the Northern Court's felt tent, the capital's Qintian Monitor was filled with joy and encouragement.

"He Xi Your Majesty, felicitations Your Majesty, two great victories north and south within a year!" Lan Jicai twisted and leapt into a spinning dance, a crowd of officials behind him chiming in agreement.

"He Xi Your Majesty, felicitations Your Majesty, two great victories north and south within a year!"

"Good, good! The mighty Shuofang Pass, all fallen into my urn!"

The capital's Holy Emperor slapped the railing and shouted in delight.

Back when Shuofang Taicheng was taken, they actively offered indemnity to exchange for the city, because at that time the Southern Frontier was full of vitality, flood dragons lay dormant in the Huaijiang, the Guimu Sect awaited their chance————

All sorts of troubles, internal worries and external threats, the slightest carelessness and the whole game is lost.

Furthermore, the Northern Court Yaolong didn't act; the real hard battle wasn't fought, couldn't decide final ownership.

Forcibly seizing Shuofang Taicheng, afterward the Northern Court sandwiched by any two powers would most likely end up with effort expended and nothing gained.

Quit while ahead, both sides accept.

Now things are different; the Huaijiang swept clean, solid as a rock, thriving and prosperous; the Southern Frontier cannot even look after itself, Great Shun has ample manpower and energy to focus on nibbling away and digesting Shuofang Taicheng!

This battle, the Northern Court lost thoroughly and completely!

Either the Northern Court is pushed to the brink, the Wu Sheng war escalates further, they pull out Position Fruits, intensifying the ferocity.

Or else — 【122】 Sit down and negotiate! 【123】 One night of peace, the moon sets and the sun rises, the sun rises and the moon sets, the floating purple celestial light passes over the mountains. 【124】 After two days and two nights of arduous battle. 【125】 At the army group level, Shuofang Terrace was completely occupied, He Ningyuan set up camp, organized patrols, maintained order, counted the gains and losses in the city, and reported to the imperial court via the Purple Lightning Ship. 【126】 Under the watchful eyes of many, above the celestial instrument in the four wilds, another "Stone in the River" drifted in, entering the battlefield — not from the north or south, but from the west! 【127】 【Draconic Seed Aura: Two Strands】 【128】 【Draconic Seed Aura: One Strand】 【129】 【Draconic Seed Aura: One Strand】 【130】 【Consuming seven strands of draconic seed aura can generate one Yinglong pattern.】 【131】 【Draconic Seed Aura: Six】 【132】 The Inside Inside Ze Ding trembled, and several beams of light surged forth in succession. 【133】 The moon rose and set again, the lunar yin enhancement appeared and then vanished. 【134】 Liang Qu strained to dodge the offensive, fought desperately to weave through, Liang Qu, panting, gripped the broken half of Dragon Fubo, his trembling arm, his gaze sharpened. 【135】 The opportunity had come. 【136】 The qi mechanism was eerily calm, coming from the deep waters below. 【137】 The state of the Flood Dragon Martial Saints in the arena was hardly different from Liang Qu's — exhausted from the great battle, nerves taut, they successively ceased fighting. 【138】 On the upper Ehe River, the water bag suddenly swelled, reflecting the celestial light, Bai Guang leapt, the water bag burst open at the top, splitting into a slanting white current that curled, rolling up layers of foam. 【139】 The jade-white dragon horn broke the water surface, just like Long Eying's Shocking Dragon Transformation — not sharp and pointed like ox horns, but rounded and smooth at the tip like deer antlers, which also belongs to one of the true dragon's characteristics. 【140】 "White Dragon King!" 【141】 Liang Qu held his breath, his expression solemn. 【142】 The Perfected Demon King, holding the position fruit! 【143】 The true peak combat power of the Flood Dragon, unmatched. 【144】 The White Dragon King descended, and he could not even control the waters of the Ehe River! 【145】 Speaking of which, Ah Fat has been doing well, having seen the White Dragon King, Liang Qu has yet to see it until now — 【146】 Looking up and down. 【147】 Beautiful. 【148】 A breathtaking, captivating charm. 【149】 The dragon's body coiled gracefully, entirely pure white, diamond-shaped scales shimmering with a sense of order, where light struck, a layer of pale blue light flowed. 【150】 On either side of the White Dragon King followed a great demon, each pure white, each sinuous, half-dragon half-fish, with long, elusive whiskers — also the source of the fifth and sixth draconic seed auras of the Inside Inside Ze Ding. 【151】 Golden eyes deep and quiet, the White Dragon King surveyed all around. 【152】 "You all fought, disturbing my water kin and preventing them from living in peace." 【153】 Solemn. 【154】 The snow mountain collapsed, the heavy breathing echoed back and forth. 【155】 After a while. 【156】 The Great Shun Pingyang King and the Northern Court Bu'erhan Mountain bowed in apology, then turned backward to gesture. 【157】 Taking advantage of this step. 【158】 After days of great battle, the kings who had long reached their mental and pressure limits each responded in turn, successively departing. 【159】 Liang Qu locked eyes with the piercing gaze of Yingzhe Chuan Zha's face, face to face, eye to eye, they successively withdrew. 【160】 The horizon was azure blue, the mountains towering. 【161】 The gathered meteors re-exploded and scattered. 【162】 The golden meteor streaked across the long sky, without returning to the River Source Prefecture, Liang Qu flew straight to Shuofang Terrace, where He Ningyuan had already prepared the residence. 【163】 Going to the bedroom, he collapsed onto the bed and fell asleep.

Sit down and negotiate!

A peaceful night passed; the moon set and the sun rose, the sun rose and the moon set, and the floating purple sky-light crossed the mountains.

After two days and two nights of arduous battle.

At the grand army level, Shuofangtai was completely occupied; He Ningyuan set up camp, organized patrols, maintained order, tallied the city's gains and losses, and reported to the imperial court via a Purple Lightning Ship.

Under the gaze of all sides, upon the Four Fields' Sky Instrument, yet another "Stone in the River" came drifting in, entering the fray — not from the north or south, but from the west!

【Absorbed two strands of Dragon Species Qi】

【Absorbed one strand of Dragon Species Qi】

【Absorbed one strand of Dragon Species Qi】

【Consume seven strands of Dragon Species Qi to generate one Yinglong Pattern.】

【Dragon Species Qi: Six】

The Inside Inside Ze Ding trembled, and several streaks of radiance shot forth in succession.

The moon rose and set again; the Taiyin Zengchi appeared and vanished once more.

Dodging the onslaught with all his might, forcing his way through the gaps, a breathless Liang Qu gripped the half-piece of Dragon Fubo, his arm trembling, his gaze sharpening.

The chance has come.

The Qi mechanism was terrifyingly calm, coming from the deep underwater.

The Yao Dragons and Wu Saints on the field were in much the same state as Liang Qu, exhausted from the great battle, nerves strung tight; they stopped one after another.

Upstream of the Ehe River, the water bulge swelled abruptly, reflecting the sky-light; a white flash leapt, the water bulge split open at its crown, white currents spilling and curling, churning up layers of foam.

Jade-white dragon horns broke the surface — just like Long Eying's after her Startled Dragon transformation, they were not sharp, pointed ox-horns, but antlers with rounded tips; this, too, is one of the true dragon's distinguishing traits.

"White Dragon King!"

Liang Qu held his breath, his expression solemn.

A Perfected Yao King, holding a Position Fruit!

The genuine peak combat power of a Yao Dragon — none surpasses it.

With the White Dragon King's arrival, he could not even control the waters of the Ehe River!

Speaking of it, A Fei moves in wide circles, has met the White Dragon King, yet for Liang Qu this is still the first time he has ever seen him —

He looked him over from head to toe.

Beautiful.

Heart-stirring, soul-shaking charm.

The dragon body wound in graceful elegance, pure white all over, rhomboid scales gleaming with a sense of order, a layer of pale blue light flowing wherever the light touched.

On the White Dragon King's left and right, each followed a great yao, likewise pure white, likewise sinuous, half-dragon half-fish, long whiskers ethereal — they are also the sources of the Inside Inside Ze Ding's fifth and sixth strands of Dragon Species Qi.

Golden eyes deep and remote, the White Dragon King swept his gaze around.

"You all fought a battle, disturbing my water clan so they cannot live in peace."

Solemn.

The snow mountain collapsed; heavy breathing echoed back and forth.

A long while.

King Pingyang of Dashun and Beiting's Erhan Shan bowed in apology, then turned and gestured behind them.

Seizing this face-saving pretext.

After days of great battle, the various Wang-ranked experts, having long reached their mental and pressure limits, departed one by one in corresponding pairs.

Liang Qu locked eyes with Yingmu Chuanzha Nayan, face to face, eye to eye, then withdrew in turn.

The horizon was deep blue, the mountains towering.

The gathered meteors exploded and scattered anew.

A golden meteor tore across the vast sky; not returning to Heyuanfu, Liang Qu descended straight to Shuofangtai, where He Ningyuan had long since arranged a residence.

He went to the bedchamber, fell onto the bed, and slept at once.