Chapter 514: Failure and Success, the Death of Yang Jian

Swish...

Xia Chuan's self-awareness had always been very clear.

He had only broken through to the Manifesting Yang Realm in October of the year before last. Although he possessed the Jade Bone aptitude, his cultivation was still only at the early stage. Counting the various miscellaneous improvements over these two years, his base strength had already reached 9 jun.

With early-stage Manifesting Yang cultivation and 9 jun of strength, when accounting for his Saint Marks and martial arts, the maximum strength he could personally exert could reach over 15 jun.

Why specify "personally"? That was because he had one greatest reliance: the legacy of the Wood Puppet Ghost, specifically this—the giant blade puppet forged at the cost of a vast amount of silver and precious materials.

The secret art of puppetry emphasizes using the small to drive the large, utilizing one's own limited strength in coordination with mechanisms to drive the puppet, thereby unleashing even greater power.

With the research and development of puppets over these years, plus an increasingly comprehensive acceptance of the Wood Puppet Ghost's legacy, Xia Chuan had gained a deeper understanding of his own puppetry secret art.

The conductivity of the transparent silk threads allowed him to drive a weight at most twice his own strength; in other words, regardless of the material or forging method used for the puppet, its final weight could only be controlled at around 24 jun.

An object weighing 24 jun, even without any added force, would create an astonishing momentum just by moving slightly—let alone the blade puppet controlled by silk threads, which was extremely agile and sharp.

The inertia added by the blade puppet's own weight allowed his strength to be amplified beyond its limit, and this degree of amplification continued to rise along with his proficiency in puppet control techniques.

It had been a full fourteen years since he stumbled upon the Wood Puppet Ghost's legacy at the Luo Ge camp back then.

Xia Chuan knew very well that in terms of aptitude, he could not compare to his eldest brother.

Therefore, the Wood Puppet Ghost legacy was likely the only means he had to close the gap with his eldest brother; how could he not value it?

A sixty-five percent increase in strength was the result of his fourteen years of unceasing, diligent practice of the puppet-control art, day and night!

Thus, the strongest strength he could currently exert was 25 jun.

But then again, 25 jun of strength was far from enough to sway the current battlefield. Not to mention anything else, Yang Jian's strength alone was a notch above his; if one counted the Blood Escape ghost art, in a one-on-one fight, he would likely lose to Yang Jian.

Moreover, the strongest person in Beishuo right now might no longer be Yang Jian. Over at Chen Cang, the Yang clan's eldest, Yang Zun, had very likely returned. According to the Four Fiefdoms Heavenly Rankings, the Southern Wilderness Spear Demon Yang Zun had already possessed 41 jun of strength several years ago; now, his strength would only be greater.

Precisely because of this clear self-awareness, Xia Chuan knew very well that his greatest reliance in this current great battle was the Xia Army.

To be precise, it was the five thousand Cloud Dragon Army, the one thousand Dragon Guard, and the First and Second Battalions—a total of ten thousand men, which were all of Does Does Da Xia's elite numbered units.

From the beginning of the war, he had remained stationed in the middle of the military formation, using the blade puppet to entangle Yang Jian, preventing him from causing too much impact on his own soldiers, while simultaneously using the blade puppet's massive size to provide assistance to his own troops.

Facts proved that his approach was absolutely correct.

Yang Jian was entangled, and the Xia Army elites charged forward, crushing the twenty-five thousand Beishuo garrison troops of Bai Mu City with absolute strength. Combined with the pincer attack from the ten thousand troops brought by Lu Yang, Beishuo's disastrous defeat was a foregone conclusion.

The remaining thousands of Beishuo elites had been completely sealed off, and the fifteen thousand Beishuo Garrison troops on the periphery were also trapped outside the city gates. It was just that the battlefield was too large; some who were lucky and quick-witted could escape from the corners, but the vast majority of Beishuo soldiers had only one path: death.

In the largest battle in the history of the Mo Ao Southern Foothills, the Xia Army had achieved an absolute victory with a crushing posture. Carrying the momentum of this great victory, his heart surged, and his emotions inevitably swelled quite a bit.

He seemed to have already seen the grand scene of the various towns in the Southern Foothills bowing in submission after his eldest brother Xia Hong returned. With his emotions swelling, he inevitably began to become somewhat reckless while controlling the blade puppet.

The Beishuo army still had some order after all. After the brothers Yang Jian and Yang Fa shouted for a retreat, almost all the soldiers, including those at the Manifesting Yang level, turned their heads and charged toward the south—the direction of the Bai Mu City gates.

Without the obstruction of the Manifesting Yang level, the Red Silver Blade Puppet directly became the most terrifying existence on the field. Every downward slash almost took the lives of five or six Beishuo soldiers. Because it was a pursuit, Xia Chuan even felt that this killing efficiency was too slow. As the Does Does Da Xia Minister, military merit naturally had no meaning to him; victory on the battlefield was his greatest achievement.

Therefore, he did not control the blade puppet to kill the enemy, but instead pulled the blade puppet to leap high, constantly intercepting the retreating and fleeing Beishuo soldiers, dividing them into small battlefields for the following Xia Army to deal with.

He was immersed in this atmosphere of galloping across the field, dividing more than ten small battlefields along the way, and even chased into the very center of the chaotic Beishuo army.

It was precisely when he was deep in the center, and he raised the blade puppet again, attempting to divide the battlefield, that an ordinary Beishuo soldier wearing hundred-forged silver armor and holding a long spear approached him.

Hundred-forged silver armor meant a Beishuo soldier, but with only 9 jun of strength...

Rather than saying the soldier approached him actively, it was more that he had been caught up to by the blade puppet. Xia Chuan saw through the opponent's strength at a glance and didn't care at all. With a slight flick of his little finger, the blade puppet's left arm tilted immediately, and it slashed fiercely toward the direction the soldier was approaching.

It was precisely this slash that made Xia Chuan's heart twitch violently, and a trace of terror suddenly flashed in his pupils.

Why was this?

Only because that soldier, facing the blade puppet's left arm, did not make an instinctive dodging movement, but instead raised the black long spear in his hand, suddenly lifted his head, rose into the air, and charged straight toward his face.

Rising into the air?

This was no small Beishuo soldier; it was clearly a genuine Manifesting Yang level expert!

Someone is hiding in the Beishuo army, wanting to kill me.

Swish...

A blood-colored spear tip streaked across the sky, stretching for over a hundred meters. The terror in Xia Chuan's pupils suddenly materialized, and immediately after, his hands pulled the silk threads violently. The Red Silver Blade Puppet, which was originally charging forward, immediately turned its head and rushed toward his body.

However, the speed of that blood-colored spear tip was too fast.

Fast to the point of being terrifying, fast to the point of shaking the heavens and earth...

The earth-shaking clamor on the battlefield seemed to have completely frozen in this very instant. Between heaven and earth, it seemed only that blood-red spear tip remained.

It seemed, not entirely...

Only because at the same time that blood-red spear tip rose, a strong black staff radiance also rose outside the North City Gate of Bai Mu City.

Whoosh!

Interestingly, the black staff radiance and the blood-colored spear tip had no sequence; they rose suddenly on the battlefield almost simultaneously.

"Minister!"

"Third brother..."

The stronger a person's strength, the faster their perception and reaction naturally were.

On the Does Does Da Xia side, besides the six great generals including Liu Yuan and Yue Feng, there was also Xu Ning, the battle formation flag-bearer. The seven Manifesting Yang level experts focused their gazes on the blood-colored spear tip at the first moment. Realizing that a killing move targeting the Minister was hidden within the Beishuo army, the seven of them were filled with horror, screaming as they quickly approached Xia Chuan.

On the Beishuo side, the Town Head Yang Fa and the other five Manifesting Yang level experts also realized that a killing move targeting Yang Jian was hidden within the Xia Army. Their faces were likewise filled with horror, and they also screamed as they approached Yang Jian.

Setting aside the thoughts of others, at this very moment, Yang Jian's face was filled with terror. Long before hearing his second brother Yang Fa's loud warning, he had already realized he was in danger.

The reason was that the ordinary Xia Army soldier who was very close to Gu Tianxiong did not have the slightest dodging movement when facing his spear tip.

Not only did he not dodge, but that soldier even raised the pitch-black, shiny, zhang-long iron staff in his hand and slashed down toward his skull.

This is no ordinary soldier...

"To think we had the same idea, wanting to kill someone in front of me..."

When this thought arose in his mind, Yang Jian suddenly heard the voice of that Xia Army soldier. Hearing the extremely familiar and slightly contemptuous tone of the other party, his pupils suddenly contracted, and the terror on his face instantly transformed into a deep, horrified color.

"Xia Hong is here!"

Bang...

He gritted his teeth, and his body suddenly exploded into a cloud of blood mist.

"After lurking for so long, it won't do to let you run away again!"

Xia Hong was mixed in with Lu Yang's army, so he was currently facing north. He suddenly leaped up to ambush Yang Jian, just in time to see that blood-colored spear tip targeting Xia Chuan two or three hundred meters away.

The timing was just that coincidental!

Swish... ===== CHAPTER 515 =====