Chapter 370: Both Sides Suffered Disastrous Defeats, Dajue Flame Dragon Master, Two Dead and Three Injured

Clang…………

Xia Houzhang is a person who has been defeated once, and the injury on his left arm is clearly not healed yet. At this moment, facing the approach of the Vajra Master, how could he dare to have any carelessness? He raised his Ink Silver Saber and quickly blocked it in front of his face.

The Vajra Master attacked his head. The fist and the saber collided violently. Just like the situation when they exchanged moves last time, it emitted a violent sound of metal and stone clashing, exploding a wave of air in mid-air, instantly overturning hundreds of soldiers below.

Xia Houzhang resisted this blow, his body retreated more than ten meters, and the saber trembled frantically; while the Vajra Master who attacked him stood in place without moving, his eyes full of coldness.

The two are exchanging moves in the low-altitude area at this moment, at most two or three hundred meters from the ground. The strength of the Xianyang Grade is over hundreds of zong. Just colliding slightly, the aftermath can shake many Earth-Digging Realm cultivators to death.

Fortunately, the position where they exchanged moves was outside the east side of the pass. At this moment, the ones entangled here happen to be the two thousand town defense troops following Jiang Yuanlong, the Cold-Resistant Grade cultivators of the seven towns, and the monastery monks of Dajue Temple who locked the pass tightly and did not let them break out.

"Quick retreat!"

Xia Houzhang's high shout also exposed that his fighting intent was not strong. Choosing to exchange moves at low altitude here was originally to overturn the monastery monks on the periphery, so that Jiang Yuanlong and others could retreat in time.

"Retreat!"

Jiang Yuanlong and others could have retreated originally. They were to expand the escape channel for the Earth-Digging Realm cultivators in the rear, so they stayed here to be entangled. Hearing Xia Houzhang's urgent shout, how could they dare to continue to stay? With a high shout, they took the remaining town defense troops behind them and fled toward the east frantically.

The remaining troops of the Cold-Resistant Grade cultivators of the seven towns also followed behind him and ran out frantically.

Then there were the 180,000 Earth-Digging Realm cultivators. Of course, there are far from 180,000 now, estimated to be at most over 100,000. They also scrambled to flee out from the east gap, fearing that they would die if they ran a step slower.

"I am Yanxin, the first disciple of the Flame Dragon Master of Dajue Temple. From now on, all Earth-Digging Realm cultivators in the nine towns who kneel and surrender can survive. This Head Monk promises that after the war, I will send you all back to each town. Anyone who is stubborn and impacts the pass again will be killed without mercy!"

Yanxin's voice resounded through the battlefield. The number of people who put down their weapons for the first time was indeed not many, but as Jiang Yuanlong took the town defense troops and all the Cold-Resistant Grade cultivators to retreat one after another, and the pass was closed again, the number began to increase sharply.

"Demon Temple, their hearts are punishable"

Clang…………

"Military Head Xia Hou, worry about yourself first!"

Xia Houzhang heard Yanxin's high shout below, and his fear of Dajue Temple instantly climbed to the extreme. He was old, how could he not understand Dajue Temple's move of letting people go, clearly aiming at buying people's hearts.

Once this batch of people is released, who will fight to the death when they encounter Dajue Temple in the village-level camps below in the future?

It's a pity that as soon as he said the words "their hearts are punishable," he was entangled by the Vajra Master again. The Ink Silver Saber was panicked and held on top of his head to protect his vital parts, but he still couldn't avoid the normal state of being blasted away by a punch.

Hum…………

His right arm trembled violently, his tiger's mouth had burst into blood, and he almost couldn't hold the saber. However, the Vajra Master's offensive was like a tide, not giving him any chance to catch his breath at all.

Clang... clang…………

Xia Houzhang scanned the gap below with his peripheral vision, looking at more than half of the people in the valley mouth kneeling and surrendering, his expression decayed a lot.

He knew very well that he was not the Vajra Master's opponent, so he fought with his life for so long before, just to save more Earth-Digging Realm cultivators.

But as of now, it is clearly impossible to turn the tide!

Bang…………

When experts exchange moves, the most taboo is distraction.

Xia Houzhang had a moment of distraction and was seized by the Vajra Master. He suddenly swooped down from the sky and gave a fierce palm to the top of his head.

The Ink Silver Saber was still held on top of his head, but Xia Houzhang, who had been exchanging moves for a long time, seemed to have signs of exhaustion. With this palm from the Vajra Master, if he hadn't deflected the blade at the last moment, his Ink Silver Saber would have almost slashed into his own head.

But even so, the saber surface carrying the Vajra Master's seven-jun force still slapped him hard on the top of his skull, directly slapping him down from the sky and smashing him into the ground.

Boom crack…………

Hongguan is full of ice everywhere. With the Xianyang Grade's physical strength, plus the downward potential energy of seven-jun force, the moment Xia Houzhang landed, he didn't smash any snow mist, but directly smashed the hard ice on the ground, and the whole person was like a pile, directly inserted into the bottom of the ground.

"Die!"

The Vajra Master saw Xia Houzhang was severely injured by himself, and he didn't forgive him. His eyes were cold. Almost in the next second after Xia Houzhang landed, he appeared directly above his head.

He revealed killing intent, his whole body was full of golden light, his right hand turned into a palm saber, and he slapped fiercely at Xia Hou Qin's skull.

If this palm hits, it is bound to be fatal.

"Military Head!"

"My lord."

………………

Outside the east side, Jiang Yuanlong, Jiang Yuanhua, Xia Hou Qin, and other dozen or so Jiangxia generals had not gone far. Seeing this scene, their eyes were instantly split, and their pupils were full of horror and shock.

But looking at Dajue Temple's side, whether it was Yanxin, or the other four head monk monks, or those monastery monks, even the Cold-Resistant Grade Earth-Digging Realm cultivators of Qinghepu, their expressions were incomparably excited, clearly very expectant.

Whoosh…………

However, at this critical moment.

A black cold edge suddenly stabbed at the Vajra Master's face.

No one expected that Xia Houzhang, who was severely injured, would suddenly pull out a incomparably slender black soft sword from his waist at this time. The length of the soft sword was over a meter, and the width was estimated to be less than half an inch. Compared to normal weapons, calling it a fine needle is not an exaggeration at all.

After the soft sword was pulled out, it instantly straightened. Xia Houzhang kicked the ground with both legs, his body directly drilled out of the ice surface, his right arm raised and then pushed forward. This is the origin of that black cold edge.

It is night at this moment, black cold edge sounds very strange, but the cold edge Xia Houzhang slashed out at this moment is indeed black, a black that is purer and more thorough than the black of the night.

"Can't break your whole body, I can't break your aperture? Die!"

Xia Houzhang's blow was clearly planned long ago.

When he flew out of the ice layer, a five-hundred-zhang silver bone image phantom rose behind him, also holding a black soft sword, moving in unison with him, suddenly

The trick he spoke of was the eyes!

The physical toughness of the Vajra Master was simply too high; his Ink-Silver Blade could not break through from any position, and the trick was the only way.

From the moment he appeared tonight, he had been constantly exposing flaws and constantly numbing the Vajra Master, all for this very strike.

This slender, flexible sword hidden at his waist was clearly also prepared specifically for this.

Puchi...

It worked!

Xia Houzhang felt his flexible sword successfully pierce the Vajra Master's left eye. A ferocious look rose on his face, and the strength in his right hand suddenly surged, attempting to shatter the Vajra Master's skull in one blow.

Ka...

However, the flexible sword only advanced an inch. The moment the tip pierced through the cranial bone and emerged from the back of the head, seeing that the Vajra Master before him had no change in expression, Xia Houzhang's expression changed instantly.

The trick and the bone were both shattered, yet there was not even a single reaction...

This Vajra Master is not a normal person!

This thought flashed through his mind, his heart gave a violent jolt, and a feeling of extreme danger surged into his heart. He even abandoned the flexible sword in his hand, grabbed the Ink-Silver Blade at his side, and leaped, attempting to flee.

Peng...

It was as if to confirm Xia Houzhang's thoughts; the Vajra Master, with the flexible sword still stuck in his left eye, acted as if nothing had happened. Before Xia Houzhang could leap away, he extended his right fist and smashed it directly into his shoulder.

The force of this punch did not even change; it was still seven jun.

Puchi...

Xia Houzhang's body was sent flying like a cannonball. Not daring to pause for even a moment, he endured the excruciating pain and fled directly toward the east.

"Yanxin, take people to clean up the battlefield; I am going to hunt down the thief!"

The Vajra Master clearly did not intend to let Xia Houzhang go. With the flexible sword still stuck in his left eye, he still acted as if nothing had happened. After finishing his instructions to Yanxin, his body suddenly flew up, turning into a streak of golden light as he pursued Xia Houzhang.

Defeated!

In this great battle, the Eight Towns had clearly been thoroughly defeated. Not only were the entire 180,000-strong army buried, and Hong Pass completely changed hands, but even Xia Houzhang, the leader of the Jiangxia Army, had been defeated by the Vajra Master for the second time.

Looking at the situation, it was even questionable whether he would survive.

"It will be dawn soon. Everyone, follow me to garrison Hong Pass Village, count the surrendered soldiers, and screen the Earth-Digging Realm soldiers of the Jiuzhen. Junior brothers of the monastery, guard the Hong Pass mountain pass and the surroundings of Hong Pass Village; strictly prevent spies from the Jiuzhen from scouting."

"We respectfully follow the Head Seat's orders!"

Yanxin walked out of the corpse-strewn Hong Pass battlefield, gazed into the distance at the Jiuzhen territory outside the east side of the pass, and with a disdainful expression, waved his hand to issue orders to everyone before taking the lead and walking toward Hong Pass Village.

The soldiers of the Qinghepu army, having won the battle, naturally followed behind him with their heads held high, escorting the Eight Towns army that had long since disarmed.

Hong Pass Village was just one kilometer east of Hong Pass. With Hong Pass taken, this village naturally fell into their hands.

Thus, this great battle, which began on the 17th of last month and ended today—counting from after dawn, it would be the 30th of the eleventh month—lasting a total of forty-three days, could be considered to have a preliminary result.

The Great Awakening Temple took three villages in a row and also controlled Hong Pass, forcibly snatching the entrance to the north bank of the Heng River from the hands of Jiangxia Town.

To put it mildly, it was Jiangxia Town; to put it broadly, the entire Jiuzhen territory to the east was now completely exposed before the Great Awakening Temple.

It was clear that many people could see this point.

One could tell from the excited expressions of the group of Frigid-Resistant level soldiers from Qinghepu.

Of course, not everyone's expression was excited.

At the back of the crowd, Xiang Liang and Bai Shanqiu, who were mixed in among the Earth-Digging Realm soldiers, had very uneasy expressions at this moment. Strangely, their skin also glowed with gold, but if one looked closely at close range, one would find that their gold still had subtle differences from the other Frigid-Resistant level soldiers of Qinghepu.

"The effect of that Fire-Melting Pill only lasts for two hours. This Zen Gold Powder shouldn't last too long either, right? If it doesn't fade soon, I'm afraid we'll be exposed!"

Xiang Liang and Bai Shanqiu were both crying out in their hearts at this moment. They didn't even dare to get close to the other Frigid-Resistant level soldiers, only able to mix in at the back, anxiously hoping that everyone would quickly return to normal.

This was because the gold on their bodies had been temporarily applied on the battlefield just now, using the Zen Gold Powder given to them by the Bhikkhu.

With the incident of the Fire-Melting Pill on the 17th of last month, how could they dare to use things issued by the Great Awakening Temple? They dared not chant the mantras even more. Just now on the battlefield, the two of them had basically hidden in the furthest corner. Seeing the changes in everyone else, they had used their wits to apply the Zen Gold Powder to the exposed parts of their bodies, and by mixing in the Earth-Digging Realm ranks the whole time, they had barely managed to get by.

Now that the battle was over and the golden light on everyone's bodies had not yet dissipated, the two of them could only bite the bullet and continue to pretend.

"Eyes, skull pierced through, and still nothing happened. This is definitely not an ordinary Xianyang level. What kind of monster is this Vajra Master!"

On the east side of Hong Pass, in an area of about seven or eight kilometers, two golden figures, one after the other, suddenly sped across the sky.

The person in front had a look of extreme terror, turning his head from time to time to look behind him; it was Xia Houzhang, who had just fled from Hong Pass. The one in pursuit behind him was the Vajra Master, who still had the black flexible sword stuck in his left eye.

"Benefactor Xia Hou, you cannot escape your fate today!"

That black flexible sword was not just inserted into his left eye, but had pierced directly through the left side of his head, with the tip extending thirty or forty centimeters from the back of his skull. The Vajra Master's left eye bled continuously, and his entire face was smeared with blood, yet his expression remained as calm as water when he spoke, as if he could not feel any pain, which made it even more eerie.

"Old monster, dreaming of killing me!"

Xia Houzhang had been defeated twice, and his sure-kill strike had just been thwarted. Seeing the Vajra Master's posture of having everything under control, the rebellious spirit in his bones was stirred up, and he did not forget to turn back and mock the other party.

His speed was indeed not as good as before after being injured, but he had already fled more than ten kilometers from Hong Pass, and the Vajra Master had also pursued for more than ten kilometers. He had long since seen that the other party was not good at speed, and catching up to him was basically impossible.

"As long as I escape back to the town city, I will be fine!"

Xia Houzhang gazed toward the town city to the east, not daring to relax his speed in the slightest.

He did not notice at all that the Vajra Master, who had been sticking to him from behind, suddenly had a flash of coldness in his eyes.

Xia Houzhang flew another five kilometers east, nearly twenty kilometers away from Hong Pass. When passing through a snowy mountain area three or four hundred meters high, he suddenly increased his altitude, attempting to fly directly over it.

Boom...

But just as he crossed the mountain peak, a hundred-meter-long fire dragon suddenly surged up from the snowy forest on the peak. The fire dragon opened its fangs, its speed extremely fast, and in an instant, it engulfed Xia Houzhang's body.

"There are others!"

The moment the fire dragon rose, Xia Houzhang's eyes were filled with horror, and the hair all over his body stood on end. He saw clearly that inside the fire dragon was a spear-wielding old monk in yellow robes. The old monk held his spear vertically and charged straight toward the sky.

"It's over!"

A flash of decay crossed Xia Houzhang's pupils, and only these two words emerged in his heart.

In an instant, he understood. No wonder the Vajra Master knew he couldn't catch up yet still pursued him relentlessly; the other party was clearly deliberately chasing him to this snowy mountain area.

Hidden in the snowy forest on the mountain peak was actually another Master.

This was a certain-death trap!

Pu...

The spear plunged into his chest; Xia Houzhang could almost hear the sound of his own flesh and blood being torn open. Violent force surged into his body, instantly interrupting his movement to flee east. The intense flames on the spear directly engulfed his body, and the tip of the other party's spear had already begun to destroy his bones.

"This Master said you could not escape your fate, so you..."

He was already in a state of fleeing for his life. After lingering in mid-air for only a few breaths, the Vajra Master behind him had already caught up, flying all the way to above his head, raising both hands to strike directly at his skull.

Xia Houzhang brandished his Ink-Silver Blade, attempting to repel the Master below, but he was already in a state of severe injury, his strength having declined by who knows how much, and he could not shake the spear in the other party's hand at all.

His chest was pierced, and a giant palm was striking down on his skull.

Xia Houzhang's eyes were instantly filled with thick despair.

He could only close his eyes and wait for death.

"Who is it!"

Peng...

A violent booming sound rang out, but Xia Houzhang did not meet death.

Before the booming sound, he first heard the Vajra Master's voice filled with shock and anger, and then, before he could react, his body was pushed away directly by a giant force.

Weng...

A figure suddenly stood in the position he had just occupied. The person looked to be at most in his early twenties, wearing a black robe with unusually wide sleeves and a distinct texture, decorated with gilded gold threads all over. Not only was the material something Xia Houzhang had never seen, but the style was also completely unlike the Jiuzhen style.

"Not a Xianyang level from the Jiuzhen!"

After this thought flashed through Xia Houzhang's mind, he raised his eyes to see the black-clad man's current movements, his gaze suddenly froze, and his pupils were instantly filled with horror.

That black-clad man had actually used no weapons at all, blocking the Vajra Master's palm with his bare hands. Moreover, the moment he appeared, he seemed to have used his leg to strike the spear-wielding old monk below. That spear-wielding old monk was currently rushing out rapidly from the dust and smoke at the top of the snowy mountain.

"May I ask, Benefactor, which town of the Jiuzhen are you from? Could it be..."

The Vajra Master's tone clearly carried thick apprehension, and the other spear-wielding old monk who flew up from below also had an unusually solemn expression.

Clearly, the brief clash just now had made both of them sense danger.

"What's with all the chatter!"

Unfortunately, the black-clad man looked calm, but his temperament seemed unusually impatient. Without waiting for the Vajra Master to finish speaking, he directly backhanded a fierce thrust forward, slamming it straight into the other party's face.

"Evil beast, how dare you be so presumptuous!"

The spear-wielding old monk was enraged by the black-clad man's attitude. With a roar, his spear instantly exploded into flames, rising with thick fire, just like the fire dragon that appeared when he ambushed Xia Houzhang, and he lunged straight at the black-clad man's back.

Keng...

But the black-clad man's strength clearly exceeded both of their expectations. His speed was somewhat absurd; before the spear-wielding old monk could arrive, his fist had already slammed into the Vajra Master's face.

"Brother, this Vajra Master's skin..."

Xia Houzhang, who had originally intended to offer a warning, stopped before he could finish his sentence, the horror in his pupils climbing another level.