Chapter 773: War-Blood Brand!

"The death of Chen Yan is not the death of a Divine General, but the death of the national spirit of you people!"

Above the sea of clouds.

Xia Yuan sat cross-legged, and opposite him, the white-haired Pond Master spoke softly.

Beneath the two of them lay the devastated land of Qinzhou, where smoke of war rose everywhere and the sounds of killing and shouting echoed from all directions.

Xia Yuan had long been hiding as the Second Marshal of Jizhou; the day Chen Yan died, Xia Hanzhou was overcome with rage and retreated into seclusion.

After the battle between Lu Xunyang and the Chen Master, he was forced to go into seclusion to recover.

And Xia Yuan became the current acting ruler of the Great Xia.

"Why was Xia Hanzhou so desperate that day, so reckless as to fight my Five Clans to the death?

His anger was one thing, but what mattered was that he understood that Chen Yan's death was a catastrophic disaster for your Great Xia.

Once Chen Yan died, the Great Xia began to collapse like a broken dam.

The Pond Master's eyes were calm, but inside, he was sighing.

Chen Yan was a monster; he gave no time to others, nor did he give time to himself.

The plan for the surprise attack on Jizhou was, in itself, a miraculous feat for the entire Great Xia.

No one had expected Chen Yan to do that, and no one had expected that Lu Xunyang would truly return.

Even the Yu Master seemed to have made some kind of deal with Chen Yan.

He protected the million-strong army of Xia Hanzhou and the Great Xia as they headed toward the Forbidden Land of Ancient Gods.

This strategy seemed dangerous, but in reality, it was earth-shattering!

But Chen Yan miscalculated one person.

The Chen Master!

He miscalculated the Chen Master's thoughts, and he miscalculated the Chen Master's methods.

The Chen Master not only had the Lu Master hidden in the Jizhou Royal Court in advance, but also used the powerful divine skill 【World Instant】 to rush back to Jizhou and fight a great battle against Lu Xunyang.

A single mistake, and everything was wrong!

Chen Yan's failure was the failure of the Great Xia.

Xia Yuan's expression was cold, and his heart sank to the lowest point.

He knew some of Chen Yan's plans.

This was what Lu Xunyang had told him.

Reversing life and death, living a life anew—the Battle of Jizhou was the funeral Chen Yan had prepared for himself.

But what exactly Chen Yan's preparations for resurrection were, no one knew.

Even Lu Xunyang only knew the general idea, not the details.

When the enraged Xia Hanzhou learned of Chen Yan's plan, although his mindset became a bit calmer, it was still difficult to accept.

When it comes to resurrection, how could it be that simple?

What's more, the one who struck against Chen Yan was the Chen Master.

The unfathomable Chen Master, who already stood at the pinnacle of the human world.

Could Chen Yan's methods deceive the Chen Master?

No one knew.

Everyone was gambling, gambling that Chen Yan could return.

But the entire Great Xia did not know they were gambling, just as the Pond Master had said.

After Chen Yan died, the hearts of the people died, and the morale of the army scattered.

Even though Lu Xunyang had returned, the Dao wounds from that battle with the Chen Master were severe, making it difficult for him to emerge from seclusion.

No matter how powerful or outrageous Lu Xunyang was, he could not compare to Chen Yan.

Chen Yan carried the expectations and illusions of the entire Great Xia.

Now, the entire Great Xia could only stall for time.

But stalling was a national policy, and it was a last resort.

The reason still lay in the number of Eighth-Tier experts.

In Chenzhou, new Eighth-Tier experts had appeared, and not just one!

Heaven knows how many the Chen Master had actually prepared.

If Eighth-Tier experts entered the war, it would be an even greater nightmare for the Great Xia.

"Qinzhou can belong to you people; the Great Xia only wants a one-month truce," Xia Yuan said in a deep voice, hiding the anger in his heart.

"A truce?" The Pond Master raised an eyebrow:

"That day, when Chen Yan launched a surprise attack on Jizhou, would he have agreed to a request for a truce?

The people of all Jizhou were crying out, yet he still slaughtered the Jizhou Master in front of everyone in the world."

A look of disappointment appeared in the Pond Master's eyes:

"Xia Yuan, although you can deceive the heavens and cross the sea, and kill the Great Marshal of Jizhou,

you are not as good as Xia Hanzhou. You should let Xia Hanzhou come out to govern the Great Xia.

If it were Xia Hanzhou, he would never propose a truce. He is a smart man; he knows I would never agree to such a childish request."

Xia Yuan narrowed his eyes:

"If there is no truce, it will cost you a great deal to take Qinzhou."

The Pond Master laughed:

"Cost what?"

"The entire military guard of Qinzhou has been torn apart by the Allied Forces. Now, all we need to do is to devour them rapidly."

Qin Province does not need you to yield it to us; we will take it into our own hands.

Your words now make me want to laugh; everyone says that you, Xia Yuan, are the destined ruler of Great Xia, and that Xia Qi is merely there to make up the numbers.

But that little ruler's spirit is simply not something you, this older brother, can compare to!"

The Pool Master does not hide his admiration for Xia Qi at this moment.

As an opponent, even the Chen Master is filled with emotion.

Daring to take the initiative to declare war on Ji Province, daring to entrust the world to Chen Yan—Xia Qi's ability was even stronger than Xia Hanzhou's.

"If Xia Qi were here, he would definitely have moved the capital to Tie Province and defended it to the death, let alone Qin Province to the north of Tie Province.

If Tie Province wins, Great Xia wins; if Tie Province falls, Great Xia falls!"

The Pool Master spoke with a sigh; this was the strategy he believed Xia Qi would have adopted.

And this style of warfare, where even a grain of sand is considered national territory, is exactly what the Five Clans least want to see.

In that case, the Allied Army's base camp could only be arranged on the sea, while Great Xia could deploy a dense defensive array in Tie Province and defend it with the strength of the entire nation.

That would be a true war, a tragic, decisive battle with countless casualties.

But Xia Qi is dead.

The only ruler Great Xia could choose is left as nothing more than an eight-year-old little girl.

This is Heaven wishing for Great Xia to perish.

The times have reached this point; truly, "Heaven sends down ruin, and it is severe. When people perish, the heart is filled with sorrow."

The Great Xia of today.

Is actually constantly retreating northward, constantly making concessions.

And the Allied Army only needs to pay half the casualties they expected to recapture Tie Province once again.

Now, taking Qin Province is also just a matter of time.

After Lu Xunyang returned, Great Xia even became weaker.

This makes the Pool Master sigh that Chen Yan's influence on Great Xia is still too profound.

The greater Great Xia's expectations for Chen Yan, the greater the disappointment.

The Pool Master is also glad that Chen Yan chose to launch a surprise attack on Ji Province instead of continuing to cultivate and grow stronger.

Chen Yan's decision was wise yet reckless, righteous yet foolish.

It truly is: a single thought destroyed a life, destroyed a nation.

Merit and fault, good and bad, are determined by the outcome.

History will only record that the Great Xia Heavenly God acted willfully, struck directly at Qin Province, and ruined the future of a nation.

Xia Yuan's expression turned ugly to the extreme; his gaze looked downward once more.

The land of Qin Province is like a tattered scroll licked by flames.

His vision is powerful; he saw the unextinguished blue smoke, the Great Xia military guards hiding everywhere, and the clearing operations of the Five Clans Allied Army.

The once fertile land of Qin Province has now evolved into a death hell belonging to the Great Xia military guards.

He clenched his fists tightly, his Qi roiling.

"Don't be irritable; this is reality. If you break the agreement, I can break it too," the Pool Master said calmly:

"The tragedy that unfolded in Ji Province back then, how can it be compared to today?

The despair of the people of Ji Province back then, do you feel it today?!"

The Pool Master's eyes turned cold:

"Xia Yuan, find Lu Xunyang and have him come out to talk with me. Now that the roles of attacker and defender have reversed, even he must speak to me calmly!"

Xia Yuan stared directly at the land below and suddenly saw one person.

That person held a blood blade, his entire body glowing with an eerie blood-red light, and a terrifying killing intent surged into the sky.

"Blood Brand, he is Ji Tianhe!"

"Exactly!" The Pool Master raised his head:

"Back then, Chen Yan killed his brother and father as if crushing ants, and he could only watch helplessly from within the Allied Army as his brother and father died.

Now, he carries boundless killing intent, making him the best master for Blood Brand."

Suddenly, a wild wind galloped and whistled, and the thick clouds were as heavy as lead.

Blood Brand, the seventh divine artifact in the world; it is rumored that the stronger the killing intent, the sharper the blade.

Sharp to a certain degree, it can sever divine artifacts, sever heavenly spiritual objects, sever rules, and sever all enemies.

This is a pure weapon of slaughter.

Before the blade arrived, the blade aura had already shattered ten thousand mountains.

It is said to be the seventh in the world, but in reality, if the master's killing intent is infinitely strong, then Blood Brand's upper limit is also infinite.

Killing intent erupted in Xia Yuan's eyes; although Ji Tianhe is only at the Sixth Rank, he has already slaughtered tens of thousands of Great Xia military guards. He is an enemy Great Xia must kill, bearing the killing intent and hatred of countless people.

All of this is like the cycle of karma.

In a sense, it was Chen Yan who prompted the birth of Ji Tianhe.

But Xia Yuan knows that the decisive battle is approaching, and Great Xia and the Five Clans will eventually exhaust all their means.

Without Ji Tianhe, there would be Chen Tianhe or Pool Tianhe.

But now, watching his own army being slaughtered by Ji Tianhe alone, the killing intent in Xia Yuan's heart could no longer be suppressed.

Yet this killing intent could only turn into bitterness in the end.

If he makes a move, the Pool Master can make a move.

Eighth Ranks do not enter the battle; this is the rule of war.

It is just that his clenched fists and his livid complexion still betrayed Xia Yuan's thoughts at this moment.

The Pool Master gave a faint laugh.

This is the attitude the Great Xia should have when facing the Five Clans.

It was Chen Yan and Lu Xunyang who brought the Great Xia too many illusions, making them forget who they really are.

That is just how it is.

The Pool Master swept his gaze indifferently toward the ground below.

Ji Tianhe was surging with killing intent, like a walking blood beast; every Great Xia military guard before him would ultimately become a dead soul in his hands.

And those hundreds of military guards blocked by Ji Tianhe could only meet the most desperate end of their lives amidst endless despair and cries.

This is the price of being weak!

The Pool Master looked at Xia Yuan again; he actually felt a bit of appreciation for the angry yet helpless expression on Xia Yuan's face at this moment.

The Great Xia, which has reigned high above the human world for ten thousand years, is finally coming to an end.

The gates to a new world have already swung open.

But just at this moment.

"Hm?"

The Pool Master sensed something and looked down.

He saw a wisp of crimson flame igniting within the deep forest; the light was dazzling, carrying a thick pressure of will, frantically overflowing in all directions.

Even from high in the sky, the Pool Master felt that faint pressure of will.

He lowered his eyes to look, only to see a Great Xia military guard holding a long saber, standing like a swordsman in a golden ocean, wearing a cold sneer.

"Immortal Will..." the Pool Master murmured.

Will-cultivators are no longer rare, but those who have reached the second realm of the path of will are still few.

Unexpectedly, that seemingly weak and powerless Great Xia military guard had awakened an Immortal Will under the life-and-death pressure of Ji Tianhe.

The Pool Master revealed a look of surprise, but quickly returned to calm.

Immortal Will, so what?

There are gaps even between Immortal Wills.

Chen Min's Immortal Will compared to Chen Yan's is like a drop of water compared to an ocean.

Moreover, the Blood Brand in Ji Tianhe's hand is the seventh-ranked divine artifact in the world.

Even without the divine artifact Blood Brand, Ji Tianhe is at the peak of the sixth rank, while this Great Xia military guard...

"A mortal?"

The Pool Master was stunned; he had not sensed a single trace of physical tempering or life-blood energy on this person.

This is just a will-cultivator who only knows the path of will.

At this moment, the Pool Master, who had slightly piqued his interest, pursed his lips; even if this person awakened an Immortal Will, he is nothing but trash who would die to a single strike from Ji Tianhe.

He did not want to pay attention anymore.

And below.

"Immortal Will..." Ji Tianhe's pair of scarlet eyes stared straight at Li Zhiyi at this moment.

He was stunned at first, but the next moment.

"Blech!"

Ji Tianhe made a physiological vomiting motion; it was not intentional, but pale yellow liquid was truly spat out by him.

He clutched his neck, opened his mouth wide, and his complexion became incomparably ugly.

Just like the day he saw that existence, radiating with Immortal Will, casually slaughter his brother and father.

That day, he had clutched his stomach in pain and vomited, as if all the internal organs in his body wanted to escape him.

He could not scream, he could not cry; at that moment, his body felt as if it were no longer his own.

His internal organs were rebelling, his physical body was rebelling.

Everything he was vanished completely on that day.